JENNIE

Warning sirens blared in my mind, but it was useless. Her gentle, hesitant kiss roared loudly through my body, drumming back any other sound. Her soft lips moved against mine, cautious and testing, and I answered back. Even more, I encouraged. I opened my mouth to welcome her seeking tongue.

She drew in a sharp breath through her nose as our reckless kiss deepened, but it didn't stop her exploration of my mouth. Behind my back, her palm urged me into her, and her grip on my face firmed. Her lush tongue dipped past my lips, slid against mine, causing goosebumps to burst down my legs.

I couldn't think, breathe, or even move as she kissed me, because I worried I'd break the spell.

Dr. Manoban used the hand cupping my face to tilt me further up, enough to break the contact of our lips, but her mouth was still on my skin. It moved hurriedly over my cheekbone, streaming down the side of my neck.

I shivered.

My skimpy swimsuit was still wet, and the air conditioning was blowing on us from a vent overhead, but the tremble that shook my shoulders had nothing to do with that. It wasn't the cause of my hardened nipples jutting out beneath the triangles of my bikini top either.

Dr. Manoban was.

I nearly lost my balance as she moved in, walking me backward toward the wall. She drew the hand away from my back and threw her palm flat against the wall by my head.

Her haggard breathing filled my ear. "What the hell am I doing?"

Was she thinking out loud? Because she didn't stop. Her damp lips skimmed over my neck and closed on a spot where it met my body, giving me another wave of shudders. When she sucked lightly, a sharp bolt of electricity shot straight between my legs. I had my arms wrapped around her waist, and I clenched her t-shirt in my hands.

I wasn't supposed to like it, but it felt so damn good.

I leaned my head into her hand, giving her more room on the other side to kiss my neck, and I closed my eyes.

"You mean, what the hell are we doing?" I murmured, because I was just as much a part of this as she was.

When I threaded my fingers through her thick hair, the thought pounded in my mind. Is this cheating? No, it couldn't be. I had ended it with Felix. We needed more closure, but I had ended it.

My heart lurched into my throat as Dr. Manoban's hand slipped down the wall and came to rest on my shoulder, the edges of her fingers beneath the black string holding my top in place.

The room was steamy hot and frigid cold in the same instant. I was feverish and shivering while the war between my head and body intensified. Her mouth journeyed back up the slope of my neck until it sealed over mine.

She was twenty years older than I was. My boyfriend's—ex-boyfriend's—parent. What was wrong with me? With us? We had to look insane. She had me pressed against the wall hard enough my swimsuit left damp triangle shapes on her shirt.

I liquified under her lips. The way her mouth moved against mine wasn't just seductive, it enslaved. Her greedy kiss made me thirsty for more.

"We shouldn't be doing this," I whispered. My words said one thing, and my body another. I bowed off the wall, arching my back, causing her hand to creep lower. Her fingertips inched along my skin, heading for the curve of my breast.

"I know," she groaned into my mouth. The sharp edge of her teeth glanced off my bottom lip as she nipped at me.

Down her long, deliberate fingers went, following the string until it met fabric and began to widen into the cup of my top. It was amazing the way the cold swimsuit rubbed against my sensitive nipples, and I ached for more.

Her voice was strained. "I'm going to keep going," she took a shallow breath, "unless you tell me to stop."

Was she warning me, or pleading with me to do that?

My throat closed off. I didn't want her to stop. I was out of control and only thinking about myself. I was too focused on how different and exciting this experience was.

She must have figured out I wasn't going to say anything, because her fingers trailed down the edge of the cup toward the center, all the way to the bottom string going across my ribcage.

I gasped as she slid the triangle of fabric to the side, exposing me, and I moaned quietly when she palmed my naked flesh. To go from the wet, cold fabric suddenly to her warm grip was sensual.

Our kiss had started out tame, but as we learned each other, it grew bolder. She plunged into my mouth, her tongue stroking sinfully over mine. It teased as her fingers traced and plucked at my nipple.

I sighed as the sensations heated me to a thousand degrees. There was an insistent throb in my core, growing louder and needier by the second. It went nuclear as Dr. Manoban shifted, moving her leg between my knees.

The towel unwound from my waist and fell to our feet, but I barely gave it any attention. No, my attention was on the woman who used the top of her thigh to put pressure where my ache was acute. Her kiss conquered me. Before Felix, I'd kissed a few guys, but I'd never had anything like this.

"Oh," I moaned. White-hot pleasure flashed along my spine from the grind of her leg against me.

She lifted her mouth away from mine, and when she drew back, I could see how hazy her eyes had become. Her expression dripped with desire.

"Jesus, Jennie."

Her tone was heavy and sexual, and it was shocking. Three years I'd known her, and never heard her sound like that. I shuddered, enjoying it, unable to stop myself.

"Shit," I gasped, sagging against the wall. I always tried not to swear in front of her, but right now I couldn't control my mouth. My legs were so weak, I was about to fall. "Dr. Mano—"

She must have known. Her hands tightened on my hips, steadying me as she pulled back. "Lisa."

I was breathless. "What?"

"Lisa. My name."

I knew that, of course. Yet she wanted me to call her by her first name? She was an adult. So much older than I was. I'd only known her as Dr. Manonan, and Lisa sounded like—

A stranger.

I struggled to form the word. My mouth fell open to speak her name, but nothing came out, and the room grew colder every moment her mouth wasn't on me. The temperature plummeted further as lust drained from her face and was replaced by an unreadable expression.

Was she realizing the gravity of what we'd just done? Before I could say anything, a phone rang. The ringtone playing from the back pocket of her jeans was one I was familiar with. It was her special one, exclusively for the hospital.

Her muscles went rigid as I flinched, and we both turned to stone. It wasn't something she could ignore, no matter how much the look on her face said she wanted to. "I'm on-call. I have to get—"

"I know you do." I nodded quickly, tugging my swimsuit back in place and trying to act as if it were no big deal. Not like we'd just been making a huge mistake.

It was cold when she took the heat of her body away. She dug out her phone, answered it, and as the person on the other side of the line spoke, she paced, listening thoughtfully.

She asked a question about the patient, but I was still hazy, coming down out of my desire, and my gaze lingered over her. She didn't just have beautiful hands—her forearms and biceps were perfect too. All tight and toned without being bulky.

Once the call was over, she gave me a somber look. "I have to go. I'm sorry."

I didn't ask her what exactly she was sorry for. That we'd been interrupted, and she had to leave? Or the things we'd done before the phone call? I couldn't find my voice, anyway. Words wouldn't even form in my head.

"Jennie." She looked pained. "What just happened . . ."

For the first time, she didn't appear to know what to say. I stared up at her, unable to do anything but breathe shallow breaths.

"It was my fault," she said.

I blinked. What was she talking about? She hadn't coerced or persuaded me. I'd kissed her. The whole thing had been mutual. I opened my mouth to say something, to defend her, but my vocal cords didn't work, and my brain was mute.

Her eyebrows pulled together, creating a deep crease between them. The painful quiet grew acute, and the longer the silence stretched, the more hurt she looked.

Then, it became clear she couldn't wait any longer. Her patient needed both her and her scalpel.

"My fault," she repeated. "You say that to Felix when you tell her about this."

She marched to the door, yanked it open, and disappeared before I could do anything.