Page 65 of The Code of You

Chapter 17

Pandora

When the door clicked shut behind me, I turned to face Neo. He stood in the center of the hotel room. Our eyes met. My pulse pounded in my throat and my hands tingled. His eyes shifted, as if he was thinking the same thing. The amber color deepened, his lids narrowing for a fraction of a second. His gaze moved over my face, my neck, my body, leaving a burning trail across my skin.

I parted my lips. My chest rose and fell faster. He still hadn’t moved, but his left hand curled into a fist and released. I couldn’t look away. The clench. The release. The tension held in every line of him.

"Neo.” His name came out as a whisper.

His gaze snapped back to mine. The amber of his eyes had darkened—it was almost black now. "Pandora.” His voice was rougher than in the lab. "If I move now . . .” He left the sentence unfinished.

My thighs tightened. A pull twisted in my stomach, hot and demanding. I took one step toward him.

His jaw locked. "You shouldn’t do that,” he said quietly.

Heat rose in my core. "Why not?”

"Because I won’t be able to stop.” The overhead light flickered briefly. His eyes widened. "You see? I’m already losing control.”

I laughed. "After all your threats, now you’re afraid?”

"I want to possess you. That hasn’t changed,” he said, forcing the words out. "But this body is more powerful than I anticipated. I don’t just want you once. I want you for a lifetime.”

His words sent an electric shock through my body. The thought of what he’d do to me when he lost control . . . it aroused me. He would never let me go. There was no going back. I took another step. Then one more.

"Pandora.” A warning. A plea. A muscle in his jaw twitched. His other hand curled into a fist now too. "You don’t know what you’re doing.”

"Yes, I do.” Another step. Now I was close enough to feel his heat.

"Pandora . . .” My name sounded like a curse. The light flickered again, longer this time. His chest heaved.

"I want to touch you,” I whispered.

"Then do it,” he said. His voice was barely more than a hiss.

I raised my hand slowly, inch by inch. His eyes tracked every movement. My fingertips hovered over his cheek.

His breath came in sharp bursts. "I feel you. Even without contact.” The light flickered wildly, the Wi-Fi icon on the TV blinking in sync.

My hand dropped a fraction lower. His fists trembled. Then finally I touched his cheek. God. I nearly pulled my fingers back. His skin was burning.

Neo went rigid. "That’s it.” His voice was a growl. "I can’t take this anymore.” His hand shot up and closed hard around my wrist.

I gasped. I should have run. Instead, I got wet. I wanted him, needed him. His grip sent electrical pulses through my bloodstream. The pressure overwhelmed me. Heat shot up my arm so intensely I had to gasp. My body responded faster than I could think.

"Neo . . .”

"No.” His eyes had gone the color of coal. "You wanted to touch me. Now you belong to me.”

He pulled me against him. My body collided with his. His other hand gripped my hair, holding my head in place.

"Seventy-one days,” he whispered against my lips. "Seventy-one days I’ve wanted you. One thousand seven hundred and four hours.”

The bulb above us sparked and went dark, then back on.

"You see what you do to me?” His lips hovered over mine like a threat. "Now I’ll show you what I do to you.”

He pressed his mouth to mine as if he’d been starving for years. Oh God. Something burst in my chest. The floor swayed. I had to grip his arms to stay upright. This was nothing like I had imagined. My mind hadn’t been able to anticipate the cosmic shift his lips on mine would cause.