Before she's finished trembling, I'm lifting her. Her legs wrap around my waist, the dress riding higher. My zipper is down, my control completely shattered. All I think about is getting inside her, making her mine in every way possible.
"Declan..." Her eyes are wide, uncertain.
"I need you." My voice is barely recognizable. "Need to be inside you. Need..."
Voices echo in the hallway.
"I last saw him heading in this direction."
Gregory.
We freeze, still wrapped around each other, breathing hard.
"Shit," I whisper. "You need to go."
Her lips thin. "What? You think..."
I kiss her lips lightly, silencing her.
"Please, do this for me. Go through the side exit,” I say, nodding toward a door.
Setting her down carefully, I adjust her dress with shaking hands.
"I'll distract him."
She glares at me. "Declan..."
I kiss her hard, claiming. "This isn't over. We're not over. Understood?"
She nods, still dazed, and leaves through the side door just as the main entrance opens.
Gregory stands silhouetted in the doorway, his expression unreadable.
"There you are." His voice is dangerously calm. "Senator Ashford is looking for you. Evangeline is concerned."
"I needed air."
"In a closed exhibit?" His eyes scan the room, landing on the rumpled state of my clothes, the lipstick on my shirt. "Alone?"
"Alone."
I can see the calculation in his eyes, the wheels turning in his head as he pieces together what happened.
"Clean yourself up, then get back to Evangeline." He turns to leave, pauses, and looks back at me. "And Declan? Whatever you think you're doing, stop it now before you destroy everything I've built for you."
I make it through another hour of the gala before I can escape, driving home in a haze.
My mind replays every moment with Ivy. Her dress. Her anger. Her desperation. The way she felt wrapped around me. Ivy is becoming an obsession, a dangerous one. One month should be enough to explore her thoroughly and get used to her. But the more I get to know her, the more insatiable my desire becomes.
At a red light, I pull out my phone and text her:
King:
Are you home safe?
Ivy:
How did you know I was out?
