Free Monster (Impossible #1) by Julia Sykes Page B

by the gratitude in his eyes.
    “So,” he said abruptly, puncturing the intimate moment.  “Tell me more about you.  What’s your story?”
    What’s my story?  I thought grimly.  My parents died when I was thirteen, I lived in the hell that was the Ames household for the next four years, and then I spent the next seven years throwing myself into my studies and shutting everyone out of my life and my heart.
    I wasn’t about to admit any of that.  Especially not to Sean.  So he would get the cheery, cliffs-notes version that I gave everyone who asked me the same question.
    “Well, in a nutshell: I graduated high school with honors, went pre-med at Columbia, then got my MD at NYU.”  I paused, unwilling to divulge more.  “So, where did you go to college?”  I asked, diverting the conversation back to him.
    I immediately regretted the question as his expression tightened ever so slightly.  But his voice was casual when he spoke.  “I didn’t,” he said.  “Carpentry is kind of the family business, so I did an apprenticeship under my dad.  I’ve pretty much been working at it my whole life.”
    “Oh,” I said to cover the slight awkwardness that had arisen between us.  “I’m kind of the same way, you know,” I chattered.  “My dad was a surgeon, and I always wanted to be like him.  There was never a doubt in my mind that I wanted to go to med school.”
    “So you’re a surgeon too?”  Sean asked, rolling with the new conversational direction.
    “No,” I admitted.  “I decided to become a pediatrician.  I wanted to work with kids.”
    To care for them in a way that the Ames never cared for me.
    Sean distracted me from the dark thought with a roguish smile.  “Do I get a lollipop then, Dr. Ellers?” He asked, eyes dancing.
    His playful mood was undeniably infectious.  “Only if you’re a good boy,” I said, mildly surprised to find myself smiling.
    His grin widened, more a predatory baring of the teeth now.  “That’s not really my style,” he replied, his voice low and rough.
    My breath hitched in my throat as I suddenly found myself trapped in his dark, smoky gaze, and I was unable to summon up the will to break the connection.  My body was urging me to inch forward, to close the gap between us.  I suddenly longed for that delicious electric jolt that I received every time I touched his skin.  I wanted that contact, wanted to run my fingers over the contours of his perfectly sculpted muscles…
    “Sorry,” I said, trying to hold my ground.  But my tone was low and breathy, a voice that I hardly recognized as my own.  “I’m fresh out of lollipops anyway.”
    “Tease,” he accused huskily.  He reached out for me, and I didn’t flinch away.  His fingers traced my jawline, leaving a burning trail from my ear down to my chin.  He gripped it firmly between his thumb and forefinger.  I shivered, enthralled by the way his touch made my skin come alive, relishing the way that he held me in place for him as he slowly moved in to take me, his full lips twisted upward at the corners, his eyes burning into mine.
    No!  The rational part of my mind screamed at me.
    But my body was ordering me otherwise.  Heat pooled in my belly, and there was an unfamiliar tingling between my legs.
    God damn it, Claudia!  Stop being an idiot!  Are you so desperate for your freedom that you’re willing to whore yourself out for it?
    That thought was enough to snap me out it.  What the fuck was I thinking?
    “Don’t,” I said softly, my voice slightly pleading.  I wanted to get away from him, but I couldn’t seem to bring myself to pull away.  I needed him to release me from whatever spell he had me under.
    He paused, his lips inches from mine.  “Claudia.”  I could feel his hot breath on my face as his voice caressed my name, and I almost broke.
    “Please,” I forced out, desperate.
    His eyes clouded over for a moment, and then he blinked hard.  His lazy, cocky