เข้าสู่ระบบ==Elliot==I didn’t even make it out of the parking lot before I had to adjust myself.Three days.She said it like it was nothing. Like it was just a number. Like I could walk away from her, get in my car, and go back to my normal life.Normal.Right.My hands weren’t steady on the wheel when I started the engine. I flexed my fingers, tried to get a grip, but it didn’t help much.Three days.Seventy-two hours.Too long.Way too long.I let out a breath and leaned back against the seat for a second, closing my eyes.I could still feel her hand.Not even where I wanted it, just my thigh. Barely anything. And still…I swore under my breath and shifted again.This was ridiculous.I was thirty years old. I handled equations that made other people’s heads spin. I worked through problems that took weeks to solve.And right now?I couldn’t even sit still because a woman had touched me and then stopped.The drive home was worse.Every little movement, every turn, every bump dragged my attenti
==Elliot==“...Yes.”The word slipped out before I could catch it.Too fast. Too easy.Like my mouth had made the decision without waiting for the rest of me to catch up.Del didn’t move right away.Her hand was still at my back. Warm. Steady. Like she knew exactly what she was doing just by standing there.“You should think about that,” she said.“I have.”That wasn’t true. Not really.Her eyes narrowed just slightly. Not suspicious, more like she was measuring something.“No,” she said quietly. “You reacted. That’s different.”I swallowed. My throat felt dry all of a sudden.“Then explain it,” I said. “Properly.”She pulled her hand away.The absence hit harder than I expected.Cold air filled the space where she’d been touching me, and I had the strange, sharp urge to pull her back.But she stepped further away instead.Creating distance.Control.“I’m offering to teach you,” she said. “Not just technically. Not like a manual. I mean… awareness. How to read someone. How to respond.
==Delilah==He didn't stop me.His silence was permission. Invitation. Surrender.I pressed another kiss to his palm. Then the inside of his wrist. His pulse hammered against my lips."Delilah." My name came out strangled. "I need to tell you something.""Tell me.""I don't. I haven't." He swallowed hard. "I'm not good at this.""At what?""This. All of this. Flirting. Whatever we're doing."I lowered our joined hands but didn't let go. "You seem pretty good at it to me.""That's because you're doing most of the work.""Is that a complaint?""No. It's a confession."Something in his voice made me pause. Look up at him properly.His face was flushed. Jaw tight. Eyes dark with want and something else.Fear."What are you trying to tell me?" I asked gently."I don't do this," he said. "I don't meet women at lectures and follow them to balconies and. I'm not. I've never been good at reading signals or knowing what to say or.""Elliot." I squeezed his hand. "Breathe."He did. A long, shaky
==Elliot==I found her at the reception.Not hard. She was surrounded by at least a dozen people. Professors. Graduate students. All vying for her attention like moths to a flame.She smiled at something someone said. Laughed. Touched a colleague's arm in that casual way confident people do.And I stood there like an idiot. Holding a glass of wine I didn't remember getting. Wondering what the hell I was doing.This was insane.I didn't do this. I didn't follow beautiful women to networking receptions. I didn't proposition strangers. I was a physicist who spent most evenings alone with equations and research papers.But then her eyes found mine across the room.Everything else disappeared.She excused herself from her admirers. Walked straight toward me. The crowd parted without her having to ask."Dr. Hayes," she said. "You stayed.""You invited me to continue our discussion.""I did." Her smile was dangerous. "Though I'm not sure a crowded reception is ideal for the kind of discussio
==Delilah==He was hard.I could see it in the way he sat. The careful positioning. The way his hands rested strategically in his lap.The gorgeous stranger in the front row was trying very hard to hide the fact that my lecture had turned him on.And I was wet because of it."Let's open it up for questions," I announced, finishing my presentation.Hands shot up across the room.I pointed directly at him."You. Front row. You've been very attentive."Panic flashed across his face. Then something shifted. His jaw set. Shoulders straightened.He wasn't running."You mentioned arousal is ninety percent psychological," he said. His voice was deeper than I expected. Rough. "But that seems reductive. Physical stimulation must play a larger role."Oh.Smart and gorgeous.Dangerous combination."The ratio varies by individual," I said. "But the principle stands. Without mental engagement, physical touch has limited effect.""Limited. Not absent.""True. But there's a difference between mechani
==Elliot==Wrong room.The realization hit the exact moment I heard a woman say "clitoris" into a microphone at nine in the morning.My hand froze on the door handle.Too late.I'd already stepped inside. Already let the door click shut behind me. Already drawn the attention of at least a dozen heads turning to see who'd arrived late."Don't be shy." A woman's voice from the front. Confident. Amused. "We're all adults here. Take a seat."I should have backed out immediately. Mumbled an apology and fled.But she was looking directly at me.And I forgot how to move.The woman at the podium was devastating. That was the only word my brain could produce. Dark hair swept back from her face. Sharp cheekbones. A dress that clung to curves in ways that made my mouth go dry.Navy blue. Professional. Somehow obscene anyway.She smiled at me. Like she knew exactly how rattled I was."Go on," she said, gesturing toward the seats. "Front row has space."Of course it did.Heat crawled up my neck as







