Healing Hearts

Dangerous Temptation

The moment Olivia left Ethan’s room, she pressed a hand against the cool wall outside, inhaling deeply. Her body was still thrumming with tension, every nerve on edge from what had just happened. From how close they had been. From the way his touch still burned on her skin.

This was dangerous. She knew that. But God help her, she wasn’t sure she cared anymore.

Inside the room, Ethan sat back down on the bed, running a hand through his hair. He was still breathing too hard, his body still wound tight with restraint.

She had wanted him to kiss her.

The realization hit him like a punch to the gut. Not just that she had wanted it, but that if those damn footsteps hadn’t interrupted them, he would have done it. He would have crossed that line, pulled her flush against him, and let all that tension between them explode.

And he had a feeling she wouldn’t have stopped him.

He cursed under his breath, frustrated, his hands clenching into fists.

It wasn’t just that she was his doctor. It wasn’t just that this was complicated. It was that Olivia Greene had become the only thing in his life that felt real since the accident. The only thing that made him feel something other than pain. And that terrified him more than anything.

—

Three nights later, the storm outside rattled against the hospital windows, a steady downpour drowning the city in silver streaks of rain. Olivia’s shift had ended, but she was still there.

Still near him.

She told herself she was just checking on him, that it wasn’t about the unresolved tension simmering between them. But as she stood in the doorway of his dimly lit hospital room, she knew she was lying to herself.

Ethan wasn’t asleep. His eyes met hers immediately, as if he had been waiting for her.

“Couldn’t stay away, huh?” His voice was lower, rougher.

A slow exhale left her lips as she stepped inside, closing the door behind her. “You’re the most stubborn patient I’ve ever had. Of course, I had to check in.”

Ethan smirked, but there was something else in his gaze tonight—something darker.

“You sure that’s the only reason?”

She swallowed hard. “Ethan…”

He reached for her wrist, fingers curling around it, warm and firm. He wasn’t pulling her in, but she felt the weight of the unspoken invitation.

“I can’t stop thinking about you.” His voice was raw, like it physically hurt to admit it.

A shaky breath left her lips. “You’re not making this easy.”

“I don’t want to make it easy.” His grip on her wrist tightened slightly, his thumb tracing slow, teasing circles against her skin. “I want to know if you feel it too.”

A sharp inhale. A war raging inside her.

Then—

“Yes.”

The second the word left her lips, Ethan tugged her forward, and suddenly, there was nothing between them. His good arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her flush against him.

Olivia’s hands landed on his chest, feeling the rapid heartbeat beneath his hospital gown, the heat radiating from his skin.

He leaned in, his lips ghosting over her jaw, his breath hot against her throat. “Tell me to stop,” he murmured.

But she didn’t.

Instead, her fingers curled into the fabric of his gown, and when she whispered, it wasn’t to stop—it was his name.

“Ethan…”

A growl rumbled in his chest, his restraint hanging by a thread. His nose brushed against hers, his lips hovering over hers, so close she could taste his breath.

Then, finally—finally—his mouth claimed hers.

The kiss was slow at first, hesitant, as if both of them were terrified of what they were unleashing. But then Olivia made a sound—a soft, needy whimper—and that was all it took for Ethan to lose control.

His grip tightened on her waist, pulling her even closer, his lips pressing more firmly against hers. Olivia melted into him, her body surrendering to the heat, to the intensity that had been threatening to consume them for weeks.

She shouldn’t be doing this. They both knew that.

But right now, neither of them cared.