Chapter 38 Chapter 38
Amber
"Don't stop now," he murmured. "You're doing so well."
The words shot straight through me like lightning.
"We need the confirmation by next week," Clarke was saying. "No exceptions."
I should be memorizing every word rather than tuning in and out of Clarke’s conversation every few seconds.
I should be doing literally anything other than what I was currently doing.
But Damian's mouth had found that spot just below my collarbone, and I was drowning in heat and the maddening friction between us that wasn't nearly enough.
"Dam," I gasped and stopped myself before accidentally exposing him, my head falling back.
"What do you want, Red?" His voice was dark velvet against my skin. "Tell me."
I couldn't form words because all of me was too busy feeling his hands on my waist, his mouth on my throat, the hard length of him pressed against me through too many layers of fabric.
My hands slid from his chest to his shoulders, nails digging in, and I heard him make a sound low in his throat that went straight to my core.
"That's it," he murmured, and then his mouth was moving even lower.
It continued dipping below the neckline of my dress, his lips trailing fire across my collarbone, down toward the swell of my breasts.
A moan tore from my throat before I could stop it.
I bit down hard on my lower lip, trying to stay quiet, trying to maintain some shred of dignity when his hand came up to cup my jaw, thumb tugging my lip free.
"Let me hear you again," he demanded quietly.
Our faces were inches apart now, so close I could see the darker flecks of silver in his eyes, could feel his breath mingling with mine, could count his eyelashes if I wanted to.
His gaze dropped to my mouth which eagerly parted slightly
The air between us crackled with tension so thick I could taste it.
Kiss me, I thought desperately. Please just kiss me.
As if he'd heard me but wanted to taunt me, his fingers threaded through my hair again, pulling my head back slightly.
My lips parted further as his eyes darkened.
I was restless already and the slick heat between my thighs was making it impossible to stay patient.
So I did something reckless as I grabbed his shirt and closed the distance between us.
It was like touching a live wire and being consumed by raw power that shot through me, reaching to the tips of my nerves that lit up like fire.
His mouth crashed against mine with a hunger that stole my breath, his hand fisting in my hair as he angled my head to deepen the kiss.
I melted into him, my entire body singing with need, with want, with finally getting a chance to satisfy my craving.
This was what I'd wanted since that first kiss in the shadows even though I never admitted it.
This fierce, desperate claiming that made everything else fade away was what I’d been craving.
His tongue swept into my mouth, and I moaned against his lips, my hips rolling harder against him now, seeking friction, seeking relief from the aching need building between my thighs.
His other hand slid down my back, over the curve of my ass, squeezing hard enough to make me gasp into his mouth.
"Fuck," he muttered against my lips, and the rough curse sent another wave of heat through me.
I arched my back, pressing closer, and felt the hard evidence of his arousal against me.
We were making out in the middle of a crowded room, and I didn't care who was watching, didn't care about anything except the taste of him, the feel of him, the way his hands were mapping my body like he owned it.
My hands grabbed his fingers that were on my ass, wanting nothing between his skin and mine. I started leading his fingers towards the zipper at the back of my dress, and I felt him start to pull it down.
He brought his mouth closer to my ear and I waited restlessly for him to strip that dress off me when he murmured against my hot skin.
"Clarke's gone."
The words were quiet and completely at odds with the inferno burning between us.
I blinked, trying to process through the haze of lust.
"What?" I breathed against his mouth.
"Clarke and his friends." Damian pulled back slightly, his breathing as ragged as mine. "They left ten minutes ago."
The world came crashing back and I jerked back, looking around wildly, hoping this was a cruel joke.
To my utter dismay, he was right. The men were gone.
How had I not noticed?
I'd been so consumed by Damian, by the feeling of his hands on me and his mouth on mine, that I'd completely forgotten why I was here.
The realization hit me like ice water.
"No need to continue the act," Damian said, and there was amusement in his voice now tinged with smug satisfaction. "Unless, of course, you can't control yourself."
The haze of lust evaporated instantly, replaced by mortification so intense I wanted to die.
I'd been grinding on him like a sex starved wolf in heat.
Oh goddess, I was going to be sick.
"I—" I started, but no words would come.
His smirk widened. "Cat got your tongue, Red? You seemed pretty vocal a minute ago."
My face burned so hot I was surprised I didn't spontaneously combust.
I scrambled off his lap with zero grace, my legs shaking, my dress twisted and riding up in ways that would have been humiliating if I wasn't already dying of embarrassment.
I yanked at my fur scarf and tried desperately to cover more of myself.
My dress was askew, my hair was a mess and my lips felt swollen.
And between my thighs was an aching, pulsing need that refused to go away no matter how much I willed it to.
This was a disaster, an absolute catastrophe.
"You know," Damian said conversationally, "for someone who claims to hate me, you sure do have interesting ways of showing it."
"I do hate you," I shot back, smoothing down my dress with trembling hands.
"Right. That's why you were begging me to unzip…"
"I wasn't begging!"
"Right, you simply guided my hand to the zipper."
"You're delusional."
"And you just helped me prove that I was right about you being a terrible spy. Now go get changed.”
“What?”
I wasn’t taking any orders from him.
“Are you capable of going back to your room without getting caught by the security guards, or mauled by a wild animal in the dead of the night?”
I opened my mouth to argue and shut it again.
Because even if I wanted to argue and slap that smug face of his, I knew the answer to his question was no.
“Wait for me” I said without looking in his eyes and shot towards the changing room.
“Five minutes is all you get” He shot back, already climbing down the steps.