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flame.  It awoke an answering fire in me, and heat pooled in my belly, flames licked across my skin.  The way that they danced over my flesh, contrasting sharply with the coolness of the air, made my skin pebble, and a small shiver ran through me.  One side of Sean’s full mouth curled upwards, a cruel, knowing twist.
    I didn’t know what was happening to me, but I knew that whatever it was, it had to stop.  It felt too… good .
    I jerked myself back, only just realizing that I had unconsciously been inching towards Sean’s sinful body, as though the heat in me was drawn to the dark flame in him.
    He blinked as I snapped whatever was building between us, his eyes cooling as they filled with confusion.
    “You should get some rest,” I said again.  I meant to sound authoritative, but my voice was ragged with some strange emotion that I couldn’t identify.
    “Claudia…”  The way he said my name, with that alluring, enigmatic lilt, made me want to shiver again, but I resolutely held it back.  He trailed off, not finishing whatever it was that he was going to tell me.  I peeked at him out of the corner of my eye and noticed that his eyes were closed, his muscles tense as he took a deep breath.  The act made his mouth tighten in pain, but he made no sound of discomfort.  A little furrow persisted between his brows, but after long moments it eased, his breaths coming more evenly as his body relaxed.  Despite the intensity of our altercation, the drugs had pulled him under as he had attempted to calm himself.  And I was grateful for that.
    What was wrong with me?  I should feel nothing but hatred for this man who was holding me against me will; I certainly shouldn’t be feeling… whatever that was that he had made me feel.  A shadow of the flames that had licked at me flitted across my skin as I looked down at his sleeping form.  He looked… well, not harmless, but certainly not evil.  Unlike Bradley, he did seem to care if I lived or died, but he was also fiercely insistent that I not be allowed to leave.
    What had I witnessed that made me so dangerous?  Well, for one, I could report Bradley for kidnapping me.  And I supposed that for all of my promises that I wouldn’t tell anyone, I would probably turn on Bradley as soon as humanly possible.  But what about Sean?  Would I turn him over to the police?  After he had saved me from Bradley?  And why hadn’t he been able to go to the hospital in the first place?  Why kidnap a doctor? 
    There was only one logical answer to that: Sean was a criminal.  Potentially a dangerous one.
    Something about the idea didn’t sit right with me.  It was easy to envision Bradley leading a life of crime; he had proven his indifference for my life time and again.  But Sean seemed… well, I wouldn’t say sweet, but at least humane.  And passionately so.  I thought of the intensity in his eyes when he had stared Bradley down, refusing to let him murder me.  I had seen that intensity again just now, only when it had been turned on me, it did decidedly funny things to my thought processes.
    And then there was the Sean who was a boyish flirt.  I thought of how he had called me “gorgeous” and couldn’t help flushing in pleasure.
    I shook myself quickly.  Why was I reacting this way to my jailor?  It was twisted and wrong; everything within me was telling me that I was rapidly developing Stockholm Syndrome, becoming attached to Sean because he had proven to be my protector from Bradley.
    Besides, I thought darkly as my eyes roved over him again, it doesn’t hurt that he’s easily the hottest man I’ve ever seen naked.  Well, I blushed, half-naked.
    To be honest, I hadn’t seen any man in this state of undress since before med school.  I was probably only so strongly affected by his physique because I had gone without sex for seven years.
    Seven years.  God, it sounded so pathetic when I thought about it in concrete terms.
    I just haven’t had time