Free Stunned (The Lucidites Book 2) by Sarah Noffke Page B

pulls away, leaving me intoxicated. The combination of his eyes and smile weakens me. However, I yank him closer, asking for more, knowing it will split me forever, but unabashedly I dive head first. I never stand a chance of truly resisting him, but he can never know that.
    He snakes his arms around me and wrenches me into him tightly. “Roya, can I tell you a secret?”
    “Umm...sure.” My voice cracks.
    “I could have done without all this drama, but I’m grateful I had an opportunity to show you how much I care.”
    “Oh yeah? So are you going to fire someone every time I get mad at you?”
    “Whatever it takes,” he teases.
    “I think we can come up with other ways of resolving our conflicts,” I say, zipping up the last bit of space between us.
    “I like resolving conflicts with you,” he says, regarding me with a primal intensity.
    “Me too,” I admit. “But shouldn’t we think about getting out of here? People are going to start wondering why the elevator is out of commission.”
    “Always the practical one, aren’t you?”
    “Oh, I don’t know about that. I’m having some especially impractical thoughts right now,” I say, threading my hands in his hair.
    A fierce smile spreads on his lips. “You never cease to surprise me.” Aiden backs away, never taking his hungry eyes off me as he fires up the elevator. Once we arrive at level five he turns and plants a soft kiss on my cheek. “Please don’t go.”
    Aiden steps out of the elevator, giving me one last licentious look. My life is a massive ball of uncertainty right now, but there’s one thing I know. I’m absolutely, forever in love with that guy.
     

Chapter Eleven
    T he knock thuds at my door. Actually it sounds more like something collided with it. I tap the button and a second later my heart deflates. Joseph leans against the doorway, his eyes closed, head resting on his arm. Is he sleeping? He’s paler than the last time I saw him, although I didn’t think that was possible. I prod his arm and his eyes flutter. He jerks, appearing disoriented, lost.
    “Joseph?” My voice doesn’t sound like my own. “Are you all right?”
    “Stark.” He waves a finger at me. “You. Can’t. Leave,” he slurs.
    “Are you drunk?”
    “Course not.”
    “Then what’s wrong with you?”
    “Tired, that’s all.”
    My mind flips to the vision I’d seen of Joseph tormented in his bed, suffering from a night terror of some kind.
    “You can’t leave,” he repeats.
    “Tell me what you’re working on.”
    “I-I-I can’t.”
    “Then I’m leaving.” Everyone’s got a breaking point. If I hold out, I’ll find Joseph’s. If it means bringing him back from this desolate state then I’ll stay, but I have to know what he’s doing so I can help him.
    “Please, Stark.” He grabs both of my shoulders. Shakes me. His breath smells like dirty lake water. “Please don’t do this. I beg you. You don’t understand. I know I can’t do this without you and it’s so, so, so important. Please. Don’t. Go.”
    Through clenched teeth I say, “What are you working on, Joseph?”
    “It’s so great and you’re gonna love it. But it’s a surprise. I need you to wait until it’s ready.” The bloodshot red in his eyes makes the green of his irises more intense. “Just stay here, please, and I’ll show you what I’ve been working on soon. It’s so worth the wait,” he says with his hands clasped together.
    “No. Tell me what you’re working on or I’m leaving,” I say, a strict firmness in my voice.
    “Stark, I’ll never forgive you if you leave. You’ll ruin everything!” Spit flies, landing on my face.
    Disgusted, I wipe it away. “That’s your threat to me? You’re going to hold some grudge? You can do better than that.”
    “I don’t have anything else I can do to make you stay.”
    “Oh, but you do. If you tell me what you’re working on then I’ll stay. It’s that simple.”
    “I CAN’T! Why don’t you