Dialing his number, she blinked the tiredness from her eyes and cleared her dry throat. When was the last time she’d stopped for a glass of water? She was certain she hadn’t eaten. Her new intern hadn’t gotten the memo that she was fueled by espresso yet.

“Hi.” His voice after the first ring sounded sleepy but happy, and she was glad she’d called.

She wanted to reassure him that things were fine...they were still fine. She also needed that reassurance—not from him, but from herself.

“Hi,” she said, readjusting her pillow on the cot and settling in for the night. With less than five hours until she needed to be back there, there would be no going home. “Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“Because my bedsheets still smell like you and I can’t close my eyes without seeing your beautiful, naked body lying beside me.”

Despite her exhaustion, her body responded to the words. A dull aching in her heart mirrored the one in her pelvis. “I wish I was there,” she said, closing her eyes.

“What would you do if you were?” he asked, his husky-sounding voice holding more than a note of desire.

Obviously he planned to steer the conversation away from talk of work that night. And that was completely okay with her. “I’d lie in your arms completely naked and kiss you, hard...savoring the taste of your mouth and lips...” She had no idea where the teasing, erotic words had come from, but they’d had an immediate relaxing, calming, yet arousing effect.

An unexpected and completely new experience for her.

If Reed was surprised by her response, she couldn’t tell. “And then what?” he asked, the sound of his voice telling her he, too, felt this mix of longing and pleasure.

Closing her eyes, she summoned an image of his naked body—sculpted shoulders, muscular chest, abs and obliques that gave way to the sexiest V leading to his cock... She imagined running her hands over his body, feeling every inch of him—so hard, so sexy, so perfect.

She could feel herself getting wet and she wiggled her hips and clenched her thighs together as she answered, “Then I’d crawl lower on the bed, running my hands along your chest and stomach... Wrapping my hand around you, I’d stroke the length of your cock, slowly pumping up and down, watching you get thick and hard beneath my hand.”

His breathing became heavier as he listened. “I’m touching myself just like that now. It feels incredible... Go on, what else would you do?”