Page 16 of Vital Signs
Something softened in his expression. “You’re a real piece of work, Volkov.”
We stood there for a moment longer than necessary, neither of us quite ready to leave. It felt almost normal. Or whatever normal might feel like between us now. “Thanks,” I said again, softer.
“Anytime,” he said. Then he hesitated, just barely, as if there was something else he might say. He didn’t. He just nodded once and walked away.
I stared at the coffee for a long second after he left. It was a stupid thing. Asmallthing. But it felt like a promise.
Chapter 10
Desmond
It happened after the four a.m. rush.
The ER had settled into that uneasy lull where nothing was quiet, exactly, but nothing was on fire either. I checked the board, reassigned one last case, and then made a decision I'd been circling for hours.
I couldn’tstop.
“Anya,” I muttered when I caught her near the physician’s workroom. But my voice was steady. My eyes were not. “Walk with me.”
She didn't ask where.
The office was small and brutally unromantic. One desk. Two chairs. A flickering overhead light. A whiteboard crowded with half-erased notes and phone numbers.
Irarelyused this space. Emergency doctors barely had the time to use the restroom, let alone sit down in a private room and ‘get something done.’
I closed the door behind us and rested my hand on it for a moment, like I needed the contact with something solid.
“This is still your choice,” I said, turning to face her. “You can leave. No explanation.”
Anya didn't move. Her gaze slid to the door, then back to me. “I know,” she said, quirking an eyebrow as I paced the room.
Those two words were all it took. I crossed the room in two strides, stopped just short of touching her, control hanging by a thread. “One word from you, and this stops,” I murmured, my breath catching in my throat. “I’m out of my depth here.”
The kiss this time was different. Slower. Deeper. Still restrained, but barely. My hand came to her waist, firm and grounding, reminding myself where I was. Wherewewere.
She exhaled into me, fingers curling into the front of my shirt once more, and I felt it then — that sharp, dangerous relief. The noise in my head finally quieting.
Anya fit against me like she wasmadefor me alone, her lips matching mine with a fervor that just about sent me to my knees. The way her fingers threaded through the greys of my beard, tugging me closer, holding me here.
I broke the kiss first. Again. Always me.
“Jesus,” I muttered, forehead resting against hers. “This is exactly what I was talking about.”
“Me?” she asked softly.
My thumb brushed once against her hip. Deliberate. Final. “You,” I said, voice rough, “are going to walk out of this room knowing I wanted you — and that I stopped, anyway.”
A beat. Charged. Breathless. Then I stepped back. “Go,” I breathed.
Anya held my gaze for a long moment before shaking her head. “Don't I get a say, Desmond? What if I don'twantto go?” Without turning, she reached behind her and slid the lock into place.
“There needs to be a larger conversation, Anya.” I pinched the bridge of my nose,beggingthe bulge in my pants to let my brain do the thinking.
“So talk.” Her eyes were alight with a mirth I’m not sure I’deverexperienced before. God, the flecks in her hazel eyes sparkled, igniting a giddy warmth that spread through me.
“I was tested about a month ago, after… well, a month ago. I’m clean.” I nodded towards her. “I don’t expect you to just…haveup-to-date testing so?—”
“I’m clean, too.” Her voice was practically asong. “Had my own…aftera while back, too. Haven’t been with anyone since.”
