Chapter 63

Vivian's POV

Dorian climbed out of the car and walked around to open my door. He held out his hand, and I placed my fingers against his palm. “Thank you.” I dipped my head regally as he helped me out, and he pulled my fingers to his lips for a quick kiss. I felt the brush of his lips all the way down in my toes. The only reason I moved out of the way of the closing door was because Dorian pulled me forward. I stumbled against his muscled chest. “Too much wine,” I mumbled, balancing on my heels. “Are you drunk, darling?” He cupped my cheek in his hand. I shook my head slowly. “No. Not at all.” His eyes burned into mine, and it was this intoxicating thing between us, more than any wine in my system, that had me spouting every thought in my head with no filter in sight. “Our date redo was really fun.” “Date redo,” he repeated. His fingers twirled around a strand of my hair. The tension made me dizzy. “You know, a date where I don’t think you’re someone else for the first half.” “It was just my name,” he murmured. “I was still being myself.” He said it like it was simple. Like I hadn’t the faintest idea who the real Dorian Delacroix was. Like it was even possible to know who the real Dorian Delacroix was. “Fine. Then it was nice to go on a date where no mysterious threat forced you to take me home at the end of the night,” I continued. Dorian’s hand slid down my hair and wrapped around my waist. One quick tug and I was flush against him, looking up into the shadowed planes of his face. “No one forced me to do anything,” he snarled. “I could have let you walk out of the restaurant that night and face your fate. I didn’t. I chose to save you—because I wanted to.” I wanted to just nod and move on. Keep things light and airy and fun. But I couldn’t let this go. “I’m grateful for that,” I said. “I’m just also grateful that, tonight, I’m not standing here because you had to make an on-the-fly decision to save my life.” Dorian growled. “You’re going to make me say it.” “Say what?” “Admit that I could have sent you to a safe house that night.” His eyes flashed. “I could have sent you to any of a dozen different apartments I have in the city. A Swiss villa. A hotel room with guards stationed outside would have done the trick. I could have kept you safe and far, far away from me. But I chose to bring you to my mansion. To keep you close.” His hand curved around my neck. “I don’t want a date redo, Vivian. I don’t need one. This thing between us happened the way it was always supposed to.” I was afraid to breathe, to blink. I was afraid that the slightest movement would shatter this moment into a million tiny pieces. “Do you hear me?” he asked. I managed a slow, even nod. Then Dorian turned away and unlocked the front door. He led me inside and didn’t break pace even as we passed the kitchen and he asked, “Do you want a drink?” I shook my head. There was only one thing I wanted. Both of us knew where this was going. I could tell by the tight hold he had on my hand that he was as eager to get there as I was. The bedroom door closed, and Dorian had me pressed against it before my eyes could adjust to the darkness. He had one hand against my lower back, the other flat against the door frame. I was caged in by him, and it still wasn’t enough. “I had a nice time tonight,” I whispered. Dorian gave me a slow, liquid smile. “Darling… we’re just getting started.” Like everything else tonight, the kiss was easy. It was slow and tender. Dorian parted my lips with his tongue and sucked on my lower lip. He tugged on the zipper along my spine until my dress peeled free. For once, I wasn’t even self-conscious. I was glad to get rid of another layer between us. As soon as my arms were out, I slid my hands under the lapels of his jacket and pushed it off of him. His shirt came next. Before it was even over his head, I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his chest. “You smell like rain,” I breathed between kisses. “And wood. And spices.” He chuckled, but the sound cut off when I unzipped his pants and dropped to my knees. He was already hard when I wrapped my hand around his base and took him into my mouth. “Fuck.” The door thudded against the frame as he braced himself against it. I circled my tongue around him. Then I swallowed him down. I took him until my nose pressed to the base of his stomach. His hand fisted in my hair. “You and this mouth of yours, darling.” I slid away and took him again. My fingers dug into the muscles of his thighs as he flexed. His hips shifted forward slightly, pulsing as he groaned. There couldn’t be any better feeling than the one I got bringing this powerful man to the brink. My dress was pooled around my legs. Without taking him out of my mouth, I worked the material down my body so I was in nothing but my panties. “Beautiful.” Dorian was looking down at me. He curved his hand around my cheek and lower, palming my throat. “Fucking beautiful.” He thrust faster and faster into my mouth. I would have been more than happy to let him finish like this. I wanted to drive him right over the edge. But Dorian popped out of my mouth suddenly. He scooped me under the arms and stood me up. For some reason, I was the one with shaky legs. “One day, I’m going to finish in that pretty mouth of yours.” He kissed me deep, dipping me back, his tongue sweeping into my mouth until I was panting. Then he backed me towards the bed. “But tonight, I need your mouth free so I can hear you moan when I fuck you to within an inch of your life.” My body was practically vibrating with need. Every place we weren’t touching ached. A smile curved across his mouth before it disappeared between my legs. I was already swollen and pulsing. Every press of his tongue was like a jolt of electricity up my spine. I bucked and writhed under his mouth until he banded a strong arm over my hips. “Take it like a good girl, Vivian.” He held me down and licked me in long, decadent strokes. The electricity settled. Instead, it was a fire growing in my belly. He circled my clit with his mouth, lapping the swollen bud until the heat was too big for my body. I curled my fingers through his silky hair and ground my hips against his mouth. “No,” I moaned, tugging on his hair. “I want to feel you. I can’t—I need you inside of me.” He circled his thumb over my aching center and smiled. “I will be. But you have to earn it. Now, be my obedient little princess and make a mess of my face first.” He devoured me, his tongue driving deep inside of me until, sure enough, I didn’t have a choice. I exploded. I arched off the bed and fisted the comforter. My body twisted as he lapped me up, groaning along with me. When he was done, Dorian kissed his way up my body to my mouth. Like he had ordered me to do, I had made a complete and total mess of his face. His lips and jaw were slicked with my juices, shining in the light. I would have been embarrassed, but then his tongue flickered out, licking his lips clean, and instead, I melted into a puddle of need. I scrambled for his cock, but he lifted himself just out of reach. “You’re trying to make me rush,” he accused. “You’re the one who said we have time. That means we can do this now and later. As many times as we want.” Dorian dropped his forehead to mine. “You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.” “Then show me.” His eyes flared just before he lowered his hips and parted me with a slow, persistent push. I scraped my nails down his back and took him. He filled me and filled me until I was positive I couldn’t take anymore. Then he slipped deeper. “I fucking dream about being right here, buried inside of you.” I hadn’t let myself hope for more when it came to Dorian. But when he said things like that, it was impossible not to lose myself in dangerous fantasies. I kissed his shoulder as he drove into me, pulling back slowly before pushing deep again and again. I spread my legs wider, wrapping them tightly around his back, letting out soft whimpers with every thrust. I wanted to be his princess, his good girl, his obedient little plaything. “Those sounds you make.” His teeth grazed the spot where my pulse raced in my neck. “I love knowing they’re for me. Because of what I do to you.” I clung to him, holding on tight, not wanting this moment to slip away. He pushed me deeper into the mattress, each thrust of his body and every filthy word leaving me breathless, stirring up emotions I didn’t know how to handle. Somehow, I kept my focus just enough to remember we weren’t alone in the house. I pressed my lips to his shoulder, stifling my cries against the warmth of his skin. Dorian’s fingers gripped my hips hard. “Come for me, Vivian. Come now. I want to feel you around my—” His words were cut short as a surge of heat rushed through me. I writhed and arched off the bed, clawing at his back to pull him closer, to take everything he was giving. He broke into ragged, breathless Irish. My eyes refused to open even as Dorian kissed my neck and released inside me. When he rolled me onto my side and wrapped his body around mine, I didn’t say a word, not wanting to break the magic of the moment. So I nestled into him and drifted off, wrapped in the warmth of a perfect dream.