The Risk of Falling

On the Edge

The building was nearly deserted, the hum of the air vents the only sound between them. Elena hadn’t meant to stay this late. She told herself she’d finish her reports and leave before she even noticed him.

But Adrian was there — leaning against her office door frame, sleeves rolled, tie loose, that same unshakable calm in his eyes.

“You really should stop tempting me,” he said softly.

Her pulse stumbled. “I’m not—”

“Yes, you are.” He stepped in, closing the door behind him with a soft click that made the silence grow heavier. “And I don’t have the willpower to keep pretending.”

Before she could answer, his mouth was on hers again, harder this time, urgent. She gasped, and he swallowed the sound, pulling her flush against him. His hands skimmed her waist, her hips, as though mapping every line of her body.

She knew she should stop this — but the truth was, she didn’t want to.

Her back hit the desk, papers scattering as he pressed her against it. His jacket slid off her shoulders, his fingers trailing up her arms, leaving goosebumps in their wake. She tugged at the buttons of his shirt without thinking, desperate for the heat of his skin.

“Elena…” His voice broke against her mouth, rough and strained. “This—God, I want you.”

Her breath trembled. “Then take me.”

His forehead rested against hers, his chest rising and falling in ragged pulls. For one suspended moment, she thought he would — that he’d give in and claim everything they’d both been denying.

But then he pulled back, his hands gripping the desk on either side of her as though he needed the wood to anchor him. His jaw clenched, his eyes dark with battle.

“If I start,” he rasped, “I won’t stop.”

The air throbbed with everything unsaid. Her lips were swollen from his kisses, her body trembling from the nearness of what almost happened.

And then, the shrill beep of the night security system arming itself broke the spell, the building reminding them of the world outside.

Adrian’s eyes lingered on her one last, searing second. Then he stepped back, voice low, rough: “Not here. Not yet.”

Elena pressed a trembling hand to her lips, her whole body aching with the promise he hadn’t kept.