Temptation's Playground

CHAPTER 2Sleep never came.I lay in the dark, sheets twisted around my thighs, skin burning like he was still in the room. Every time I closed my eyes I felt his voice inside me, low and filthy, promising things no suspect had any right to promise. My fingers had slipped between my legs twice before I forced myself to stop. I came anyway, biting my own wrist so the neighbors wouldn't hear me whisper his name.By morning I was a wreck hair damp at the nape, uniform sticking to places it had no business sticking. The precinct smelled like burnt coffee and desperation, but all I could smell was him. Dark. Male. Dangerous.Captain Harris didn’t even let me sit down.“My office. Now.”I followed, pulse already skidding. He shut the door, leaned against it, and looked at me like he was trying not to notice the flush riding high on my chest.“Crest is asking for you again,” he said. “Only you.”I crossed my arms so he wouldn’t see my nipples still hard from dreaming about a criminal’s tongu

CHAPTER 4 I didn’t sleep a wink that night.The sheets tangled around my legs like a clingy hug,my skin feverish and slick with sweat that had nothing to do with the humid air seeping through my cracked window. Every time I tried to close my eyes, his face flashed behind my lids those dark, predatory eyes, the wicked curve of his lips, the way his tongue had felt dragging slow and deliberate between my thighs. God, the memory alone made my core clench, a fresh wave of heat pooling low in my belly.It was morning now. Sunlight sliced through the blinds in thin, accusing strips, mocking me as I lay sprawled on my back in my tiny apartment bed. I wasn’t on duty today thank fuck for that. No twelve-hour grind, no prying eyes from the precinct. Just me, alone with the ache he’d left behind, the one that refused to fade no matter how hard I tried to ignore it.But ignoring it was impossible.My hand drifted down my stomach almost without permission, fingers skimming the edge of my sleep sh

CHAPTER 2 The lights went out without warning.Not a flicker.Not dim.Just utter, swallowing darkness.Valentina froze mid-step in the hallway outside the on-call suite, her breath catching as the emergency lights hummed to life a heartbeat later, casting the corridor in a sultry, crimson glow that made everything feel illicit. The storm outside unleashed a crack of thunder that shook the windows like an angry lover, rain hammering against the glass in relentless sheets.“Great,” she muttered under her breath, her voice barely cutting through the chaos.A power outage. Of course. Because her night wasn’t already a simmering disaster.She shoved the door open and stepped into the on-call room, the cramped space lit only by the faint red strip running along the baseboards. One worn couch. One narrow bed that suddenly looked far too inviting. A desk cluttered with forgotten charts. The air hung heavy with the sterile bite of antiseptic mixed with the stale remnants of coffee and someth

CHAPTER 4 Valentina’s body was still trembling from the aftershocks when Rafael rolled her onto her back. The narrow bed creaked under their combined weight, but neither of them cared. The red emergency lights had dimmed even further, casting everything in a haze of crimson shadows that made his face look sharper, more dangerous. His eyes were almost black now, pupils blown wide with raw want.He knelt between her thighs, hands sliding up her legs with deliberate slowness, pushing her scrub pants down inch by inch. She lifted her hips to help him, hating how eager she felt, how desperate. The fabric caught on her ankles before he tugged it free and tossed it aside. Her panties followed, ripped down in one swift motion that left her gasping.Cool air hit her heated skin, but it lasted only a second before his palms were on her again, spreading her thighs wide. He looked down at her, exposed and glistening in the faint light, and the sound he made low, guttural sent a fresh wave of wet

CHAPTER 1 I was already running as fast as I could when I stepped off the private elevator onto the 52nd floor. Four hours of sleep, if you could call it that. My apartment’s radiator had clanked all night, and the alarm on my phone had gone off three separate times before I finally dragged myself out of bed. But I couldn’t be late. Not again. Damien Knight didn’t tolerate excuses, and I needed this job more than I needed oxygen right now.The executive suite was quiet except for the low hum of the city far below and the soft click of my heels on the marble. His office door was already open, which meant he’d beaten me here. Of course he had. The man didn’t sleep; he conquered.I balanced his black coffee in one hand (no cream, no sugar, exactly 190 degrees) and the stack of contracts he’d demanded by nine in the other. My skirt felt too tight after last night’s stress-eating, my blouse a little wrinkled from the subway ride. I probably looked like hell, but there was no time to fix