Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 64617 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 323(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64617 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 323(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
I needed my voice to be heard, but why did that seem so much harder now?
So much more real.
The moment the elevator pinged on the fifth floor, I stepped off into a quiet hallway and instantly felt it. There was a strong shift in the air, the space, the energy all around me. This strong force steering me, guiding me, taking over my heart.
My mind.
My soul.
Every inch of my skin stirred with an awakening I’d never experienced before. It was surreal, breathing new life into my being.
Something was brewing inside of me, something immense.
Significant.
Life-altering.
The more I tried to make sense of it, the less it did. My breathing hitched, my pulse quickened, and my heart started beating out of my chest. I didn’t move, too afraid if I did the emotions would leave me as well. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in through my nose and out through my mouth, waiting for I don’t know what. Getting lost in the overwhelming senses that were yanking me along for the ride.
I licked my lips, my mouth suddenly dry. This unexplainable urge seized up in my chest, and heat surged through my veins.
Pulling.
Dragging.
Taking me hostage.
My feet began to move, and my body followed as I opened my eyes. Consumed with the electricity that sparked internally, igniting a fire, burning all reasoning down to the ground.
Almost instantly, I was engulfed in a masculine scent that drove all my nerve endings into high alert. Like gas to a flame, I exploded.
Erupted.
A hot blaze seared into my flesh, and just like that I felt it again.
Except this time there was no mistaking it, there wasn’t an it.
The it was a him.
All along, I felt him.
Dr. Pierce.
Aiden.
Chapter 17
<>Camila<>
Now
__________
I softly gasped at the sight of the man standing near the nurse’s station in front of me. My view obstructed by a supply cart, I could see him, but he couldn’t see me. I just stood there unknowingly, glaring at him without even realizing I was doing so.
“What the hell is happening?” I murmured to myself.
I never imagined I could feel this way about a stranger. A man who up until this moment, I thought may have been a figment of my imagination. I lost countless hours, days, months to the endless questions of who he was, where he was, and what was wrong with him.
And there he was in the flesh.
Dressed in blue scrubs and a white lab coat with a stethoscope wrapped around his collar. Emphasizing the three cross tattoos on his neck. My eyes were drawn to them, searching for the story I knew that caliber of ink held.
He was tall. Way taller than my five-feet-four frame. He’d tower over me, and that thought alone sent shivers coursing down my spine just thinking of his dominance. But with that emotion came shame.
“Camila, he’s married,” I whispered out loud, needing to remind myself.
But is he?
Where is she?
Where is his wife?
My captivated stare shifted toward his ring finger, and sure enough proudly on display was his wedding band. A sick effect settled in my stomach.
How could I have this intense response for my married employer?
I wasn’t this woman. I would NEVER be this woman. Although, it was so much more than that.
He was so much more than that.
As was everything I was enduring.
I didn’t understand any of it, looking at the man I’d never met in awe. Words couldn’t describe how handsome he was in person. His piercing blue eyes were as bright as crystal blue water. His salt-and-pepper beard appeared as if he hadn’t shaved in months. He appeared as exhausted as I felt, like he hadn’t slept in who knows how long. But that wasn’t what caught my attention the most, it was the sadness distorting his expression, the detachment in his gaze, the despair radiating all around him.
There was this certain vulnerability to him that I felt in the space between us. However, just as quick as it emerged, it was gone. Whatever it was had me questioning what I believed about him in the first place. The emotional attachment I felt for a man I had only just encountered was as overpowering and controlling as everything else had been up until this point. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him, which only made me even more confused.
More cautious.
More curious about him.
In that place and time, all I craved was to see him smile. To catch a glimpse of the man I’d only stared at in photos. He seemed as though he was a walking paradox of contradictions. I was seeing the side of him that everyone saw, but there was something else under his allure.
All I knew was, I liked it.
I wanted more.
I needed more.
The uncomfortable silence hammered all around me, tearing into my insecurities that this was a bad idea. I shouldn’t be in this hospital. I shouldn’t be feeling anything for him other than what I was supposed to. Only adding to my plaguing emotions.