JENNIE
Stunned, I breathe, "You want me to..."
"Move in with me."
"For..."
"Twenty-eight days. Then leave."
He stares at me with blistering intensity. A disbelieving little laugh escapes my lips.
He says, "I told you I don't do relationships."
"And this is your solution? A month of round-the-clock cohabitation, followed by permanent separation? It's a little drastic, don't you think?"
His gaze drops to my mouth. He growls, "I think it's the only way for us both to get what we want without any lasting damage."
I stare up at him. He can't be serious. "Tae—"
"Yes or no. Decide."
I arch my brows and slide my arms from around his shoulders, flattening my hands on the broad expanse of his chest. "And I'm the bossy one?"
"I need to know right now."
"Why? Where's the fire?"
Through gritted teeth, he says, "I can't concentrate on anything else. Every time I see you, it gets worse. It needs to be settled."
"It?" I say archly.
"Us."
I study him for a moment, all his frustration and impatience.
I don't feel a shred of pity for him, the arrogant ass.
"You know, this is how it is for normal people. The not knowing. The uncertainty. This is what most of us have to deal with in relationships all the time."
"I'm not most people," he growls. "And I don't do—"
"Relationships. So you've said."
I turn around and look at him, standing there boiling with heat and danger, like a volcano about to blow its top. "If you want a decision right now, the answer is no."
He falls still and glowers at me.
Heat creeps up my neck. "Oh, I see. It was a foregone conclusion that I'd say yes, right?"
He presses his lips into a thin line and says nothing.
Even more aggravated now, I start to pace the length of the room. It's a small room, so I feel a little ridiculous turning around every four steps, but I have to work off some of this frustration and sexual tension somehow.
"I have a life, you know. Work. School. Friends. I can't just drop everything and disappear for a month."
"I didn't say you had to disappear. You wouldn't be cut off from the outside world."
"You said 'all mine, every minute.' I took that to mean I'd be chained to your bed."
His eyes grow hot. He likes the idea.
"No," he says, his voice husky. "I'm not asking you to be my slave."
"So I could leave?"
"Are we negotiating?"
I stop short and stare at him. He stares back at me from under lowered brows, his gaze level and unwavering.
He's never looked hotter, more intense, or more dangerous. My mouth goes dry.
I whisper, "I don't know. Maybe."
He adjusts the knot in his tie, then adjusts his cufflinks, one by one. He shifts his weight from foot to foot. He stares at me like all the mysteries of the universe can be discovered in my eyes.
"What would make you say yes? Name it."
He really wants this. He wants it so badly, he can barely stand still.
A strange feeling moves through me. It's so unfamiliar, it takes a moment for me to identify it, but then I realize what it is.
Power.
I say softly, "Well, for one thing, you have to kiss me, wolfie. I'm not about to spend twenty-eight days with a man who I'm not even sure can properly kiss."
He cocks a dark brow.
I fold my arms across my chest and gaze calmly at him. "Non-negotiable."
He looks me up and down slowly, eating me up with hungry eyes. When he moistens his lips, I almost groan out loud. Then he moves toward me, takes my face in his hands, and lowers his mouth to mine.
It's immediately evident that the man not only knows how to kiss, he knows how to kiss a woman senseless.
His mouth demands.
It takes.
It owns me.
I clutch his jacket in my fists and take short bursts of air through my nose as his tongue delves into my mouth and sweeps against mine, over and over again with the perfect amount of suction and pressure to get me squirming and rubbing my thighs restlessly together as I press against the hard length of him.
I'm vaguely aware of my lower lip stinging, but I'm drowning in his taste. In the pleasure of this kiss, the decadence of it, the way he's framing my face with his hands and holding my head in place so he can take what he wants and give me what I didn't even know I needed.
I moan into his mouth.
When he suddenly breaks away, I'm so dizzy, I almost fall over.
We stand there breathing raggedly, his breath hot against my cheek and his erection throbbing against my crotch, until he demands roughly, "Well?"
I say faintly, "Well...it didn't suck."
He lowers his mouth to my ear. His voice is a dark, delicious command.
"Don't toy with me."
Oh, god, all I want is to rip off my clothes and climb him like a tree. I'm delirious with desire. This can't be normal. Not that anything about the situation is normal, but I'm having hot flashes a good quarter century before menopause is due.
With my eyes closed and my hands still clutching his suit jacket, I say, "That was..."
He waits, taut and crackling with tension.
"The best damn kiss I've ever had."
Exhaling, he wraps his arms around my body, pulling me tight against him. "So it's a yes?"
I groan and bury my face in his chest. "This is so weird."
"Don't overthink it. Just go with your gut."
When I whimper, he says hotly, "Fuck. I need to hear you make that sound when I'm inside you."
He's trying to kill me. He's trying to fry my brain with a testosterone overload, so he can throw me over his shoulder and take me back to his cave and have his way with me.
So we can have our way with each other.
I have no doubt this little experiment he's proposing would be a two-way street. He'd give as much pleasure as he'd take. He'd make sure he'd send me away twenty-eight days later with crossed eyes, bowed legs, and a goofy smile on my face.
Twenty-Eight Days Later is the name of a horror movie. Coincidence or bad omen?
It could be amazing, though. It could be an absolute dream. No strings, no commitments, just constant sex with the hottest man I've ever met along with a little vacay from real life...
Oh, who am I kidding? This is insane!
I pull away and look him in the eye. "I'm incredibly tempted. But it's too out there for me. Too impractical."
Ignoring the "out there" comment, he pounces on the other reason. "Impractical—how?"
"I can't be off work for a month—"
"Yes, you can," he cuts in. "And your boss will pay for it."
I study him.
When I'm silent too long for his patience, he demands, "Tell me."
I say softly, "You seem to have thought of everything. Except this plan of yours has one glaring issue that all your clinical problem-solving has overlooked."
"Which is?"
"Emotion."
His reply is silence, along with a slow grind of his molars.
"It won't be a problem."
"You sound pretty sure."
He examines my face for a moment, then abruptly turns away to stare out the window. He drags a hand through his hair and adjusts his tie. His voice lowers.
"Falling in love is a luxury I don't allow myself."
I gaze at his profile, so handsome and hard. His expression is unreadable.
I whisper, "Who said I was talking about you?"
Eyes flashing, he turns to look at me. Our locked gazes are an invisible circuit conducting electricity through the air, cycling back and forth between us on a loop. My heartbeat goes haywire.
He says gruffly, "I told you it was selfish."
"You did. You also told me I should slap you and throw you out, but you're trying very hard to convince me to do just the opposite. I'm not sure which version of you I should listen to: cupid or Dr. Doom."
Taehyung crosses to me slowly, his gaze never leaving mine. When he reaches me, he takes my wrists and winds my arms around his shoulders. Pulling me close, he lowers his head and murmurs into my ear.
"Listen to your heart. I won't try to convince you beyond this: I want you like I've never wanted anyone or anything. Give me twenty-eight days, and in return I'll give you everything on earth I have to give.
"I can't promise you forever, but I can promise you a month you'll remember for the rest of your life."
Then he fists a hand in my hair and kisses me.
It's hard and desperate, shockingly passionate, and rocks me with the depth of its need.
He's giving me a preview. A taste of what he's been holding back. A small window into the bottomless ocean of feeling he keeps so tightly locked inside.
What frightens me is just how addictive this one little taste is.
I cling to him and kiss him back, knowing that this is a terrible idea...and also that I'm in real danger of agreeing to it.
Taehyung breaks away, breathing raggedly. His voice hoarse, he says, "I leave tomorrow at six in the morning. You have my number. If I don't hear from you by six, I'll consider it a no."
He releases me and strides off, his long legs taking him away with shocking speed.
The front door to my apartment opens and closes.
Then I'm alone with my thundering heart and a million unanswered questions, wondering how on earth I'm going to make this decision. And, if I say yes to Taehyung, what exactly I'd be getting myself into.
I glance at my laptop lying on the nightstand next to my bed.
"Okay, Mr. Kim," I mutter, headed toward it. "Let's see what we can find out about you."