Disclaimers/content: As before – see Chapter One for full details.
Author's note: Well, here's the next chapter, guys! I feel that there may not be much of this particular story left, maybe a few more chapters. I suppose you can tell me what you think. I have ideas for other stories teeming around in my head, of course, but I'm enjoying this one plenty, as well. Thanks so much for all your reviews and comments – and I hope that this update was speedy enough for you. :D Enjoy!
Neela felt all of the blood drain from her face.
"Hey, Neela," Ray said easily, not moving to get up from his chair. He clasped his hands together in front of him, waiting patiently.
"Ray – I – what – when – you – " She broke off, lost for words.
"I got here about twenty minutes ago," he said, still staring at her quite calmly.
Neela, by contrast, felt her hands trembling something fierce – and she had a feeling her eyes were about to bug right out of her head. "What are you doing here?" She finally managed.
"Waiting for you."
"Ray, I – " She couldn't really argue with that, could she? It was pretty obvious that he wouldn't be sitting here in the break room at the hospital where she worked for any reason other than to see her.
"I decided that we couldn't leave things the way we left them," he explained. He looked so at-ease, it was mind-boggling. It was making Neela more nervous than she already would have been, otherwise.
"How else could we have left things?" She asked, immediately despondent.
Ray finally unfolded himself from the chair, slowly standing up. He stood exactly where he was, however, making no move to step closer to Neela. "I think that's for you to decide," he sighed, crossing his arms over his chest.
He was still very calm, but Neela almost felt like he was bordering on cold, now. In his eyes she saw expectation – and a hint of irritation.
She laughed – a heap of nerves, a pinch of incredulousness. "You came all the way to Chicago to tell me that I have to decide something for you?"
"No. You have to decide something for us."
"You can't just barge in here and make demands of me like this," she retorted, utterly overwhelmed. She turned toward the door, hoping to flee his trap, to just run somewhere else and clear her head for a moment.
"Don't," he said, his voice uncharacteristically harsh. It was not a request – it was a command.
Neela spun around in absolute disbelief. "I'll do what I want, thank you very much."
"No you won't," he snapped, smirking without any humor. "You never do what you want, Neela. You do what you think you should do, which I think is rarely what you want. Why shouldn't I tell you what to do?" He pointed his finger at her. "You know what I think?!"
"No, what do you think?" She asked, the chill of her tone evaporating to nothing as it clashed against the sudden fire of his own.
"I think you like it when people tell you what to do."
He had stealthily gotten closer to her as they'd been tossing words back and forth, and now he was close enough to see her eyes go from freezing to boiling in the blink of an instant. Somewhere deep inside, it satisfied the hell out of him.
"You know what, Ray, you can go straight to bloody hell," she whispered, her teeth set together angrily. But she didn't turn away this time.
"Maybe I will go straight to hell," he said, absolutely smoldering now. "It would be worth it, actually, to see you fall out of your straight fucking line and do something you know you want to do, for a change. Not because you need to, but because you want to. And I damn well know you want to."
Her mouth was open in shock, hanging as if she'd been struck dumb by lightning. "How dare you?! My 'straight fucking line'? How do you know what I want? What gave you the right to stand there and shred into me like this?" Neela was amazed by the urge that was vibrating through her fingertips to actually slap him across the face.
"Someone has to know what you want, if you can't even recognize it," he said, fisting his hands on his hips. He could sense the danger he'd placed himself in well enough – but he didn't back off an inch.
"What the hell do you want?!" She cried, trying not to let her voice break. "Why are you doing this to me?" She didn't want him to see the kind of power he had over her; not when he was acting this way.
"I want you to tell me what you want," Ray challenged, fixing his glare right onto her own.
"But you were doing such a good job of doing that for me already," she retorted, unable to conceal the resentment in her voice.
"Now I want to hear you say it," he replied, unwavering.
"As I think I mentioned, you can go to bloody hell," Neela snapped. Still, she did not move.
"And as I mentioned, I think it would be worth it. And I'll happily go there, once I've gotten what I want."
"I'm not giving you anything."
Ray pursed his lips together, considering his next move as he hid behind waves of uncontrolled frustration. She'd stone-walled him out – and now she wasn't budging.
"You know what, Neela? This is so typical. Leave it to you to try and hide behind your pride. You're so fucking good at it." He tried desperately to stay in control of the anger he was experiencing, but it was getting the best of him.
She laughed, her expression icy. "I've had enough of your insults. Why don't you just go right back to where you came from." She did turn this time, stalking toward the door, shaking her head. She wasn't going to listen to this madness anymore. It was the last thing she needed, after a day like today. He was going to absolutely destroy her sanity.
She couldn't believe it when she felt him grab her arm, yank her back around – looking absolutely murderous. "I told you once before, don't you dare walk out of here," he said, his voice ominously quiet.
"You're about two centimeters away from getting a good clip on the jaw, Ray," she warned softly, pulling her arm easily out of his grasp, feeling absolutely shocked. Something within her shifted, then – and she felt her anger begin to melt away as she took stock of the look in his eyes. "You're not going to get what you want by bullying me like this."
Neela suddenly felt a great bit calmer – and she knew it was because she could see the desperation behind his anger. It was coming through in his expression unabashedly now. And it was because of her.
"I'm going to get what I want," Ray insisted, his emotions raw and unconcealed as he stepped closer to her, just inches from her body.
She didn't want to back down. She couldn't back down. He wasn't going to win, acting this way. Arrogant. Childish. Bull-headed. "I'm going to go now, and I think you ought to do the same," Neela whispered, stepping back from him.
He only stepped closer in response. "No, you aren't going anywhere."
She felt a low thrill hum through her at the dangerous certainty in his voice. "You can't really think you can just make me do what you want, Ray."
"I am unequivocally certain that I can make you do what I want," he replied, his eyes burning into her as he stepped yet an inch closer.
Neela felt like her entire body was on fire. His scent was clogging up her brain – the wonderful scent of him, mixed with rain – he was so close, in fact, that it was manipulating every single one of her senses. And she suddenly didn't want to back away.
"Oh, really, and how's that?" She whispered, looking up into those bright, green eyes.
"By making you do what you want," he muttered, dipping his head to hers, tangling his hands with hers, closing his mouth over hers.
Neela felt like every nerve in her body was suddenly being frayed all at once. She moaned loudly, overwhelmed, as she allowed herself to be carried away by the intense waves of sensation that were suddenly rocking her system.
Ray continued to crush into her; harder, heavier, pushing her slowly back toward the wall. He kissed her hungrily, trying to draw her out, trying to break through the stubborn little wall she'd built up around herself, trying to make her show him what she wanted – without words.
With no alcohol to muddle her thoughts this time, Neela felt something bordering on terror – and awe – as she clutched her fingers into his arms, helpless against her response to what he was doing to her. She could hear the sounds that were escaping her throat as if they were part of a dream – surely, that wasn't really her – as she tilted her head back completely, allowing him to burn more kisses down the long line of her neck.
Her chest was pressed tightly up against his own, and Ray could feel her heart beating wildly against him. He found her lips again, leaning into them, opening his mouth to take her in greedily as she wound her arms around his waist, stroking her fingers up the length of his back, pressing her hips forward into his.
This time, it was Ray who was overwhelmed as Neela's enthusiasm began to explode. She slid her hands up into his hair, grabbing roughly at it, moaning again as he slipped his tongue in against hers. She allowed him in quite readily, for several long moments – then pulled back briefly before moving in to take a soft bite of his lower lip, running her fingers delicately along his jaw, driving him crazy.
The heat between them was absurd; Neela felt her scrub-top sticking to the skin of her chest as they carried on, finally bumping into the wall, where they'd slowly been moving all along.
Neela reveled in the incredible thrill of being trapped between Ray and an unmoving surface – as it would have been if they were in bed together. Her mind ran away with the idea, and she dug her nails into the nape of his neck, kissing him with pure, uncontrolled lust.
When Ray finally pulled back, the look in his eyes was unmistakable. Neela knew what he wanted – just as much as she wanted it – but there was also a heavy streak of satisfaction in his gaze, serious though it was.
"I told you I'd get what I wanted," he whispered, smirking, leaning back in to nip at her ear.
She closed her eyes tightly, feeling desperate, hooking a leg up around his thigh. "Fine. You win. I really don't even care."
He was nearly undone by the open invitation she was giving him. He slid in even more closely against her, pressed into her in what was nearly the most intimate manner possible, leaving a line of damp kisses along the generous amount of throat she had exposed to him.
Somehow, part of his brain managed to recall, just barely, where they were.
He pulled back again, against the heavy pull of promise she was offering. "Neela, wait a sec – "
She smiled, feeling bold, as she threw the other leg up around him and fisted her hands on either side of his head, linking her lips with his in an incredibly sexual manner that stopped all of his semi-rational thoughts right in their tracks.
"Neela," he breathed heavily, when she finally tore away for a moment. "Hold on – "
"Oh, what's the matter, are you afraid of getting what you asked for, now?" She challenged, digging her nails even more tightly into his hair, excited by the small wince that crossed his face.
"Oh, no, not at all. It's just that, well, we're… in the… uh… break room…"
"I don't really care," she whispered.
He swallowed hard, perfectly aware of what was being offered to him. With great reluctance, he pushed one of her legs down – and then the other.
"Not here. Not like this," he murmured, stroking her hair softly, trying to convince himself that he wasn't being an idiot for turning her down for the second time in a row.
Neela didn't look crushed this time, though. Her gaze had turned cool and understanding. "Right. We sort of got carried away there, didn't we?" She pulled her shirt straight, stepping away from him, smoothing her hair with a trembling hand.
"That may have been the understatement of the century," he laughed, trying to crush away his nerves – and the need that was still burning in him like fire.
"Well, I'd like to think we could actually behave like adults for five minutes," Neela said, still working to catch her breath.
"On a slightly different note, you're very lucky I didn't topple over," he laughed, desperate to make her smile.
And he was rewarded, as the sparkle came back to her eyes and her lips twitched into a grin. "I suppose I should think myself lucky, in that case."
"Indeed."
Their gazes were locked again; expressions serious almost to a fault. There was no going back from what they'd started – Ray knew that Neela was just as aware of that as he was. This was going to have to be finished – soon.
"What do you want to do, now?" He asked softly, not taking his eyes away from hers.
"I want to go someplace private," she said, looking both nervous and hopeful, her eyes wide and dark.
Ray reached out slowly and took her hand, allowing her to lead him out of the room.