"You know me," I correct her, stepping closer until my thighs brush against hers. I’m still fully dressed, save for my tie and jacket. The contrast between my armored suit and her naked vulnerability is stark. "You’ve known me for months. You just didn't have a name for the shadow in the corner of your room."
I release her wrists, but she doesn't cover herself again. She knows it’s futile.
I reach out and run my hand down her side, tracing the curve of her waist, the dip of her hip. My palm is rough against her satin skin.
"You’re trembling," I murmur.
"I’m scared," she chokes out.
"Good. Fear heightens the senses."
I push her gently. She stumbles back until her knees hit the mattress. She collapses onto the bed, scrambling backward until her back hits the headboard. She grabs a pillow, hugging it to her chest like a shield.
I crawl onto the bed after her.
I move slowly, like a predator stalking prey that has nowhere to run. I loom over her, planting my hands on the headboard on either side of her head, caging her in.
"Drop the pillow."
"No," she sobs.
I rip it from her grasp and toss it across the room.
"You hide nothing from me," I snarl, my patience thinning. "I have seen you sleep. I have seen you cry. I have seen you touch yourself in the dark thinking about a stranger. Do not play the blushing virgin with me now, Ivy. We are past that."
Her face flushes a deep, humiliated crimson. "I didn't know it was you."
"You knew it wassomeone," I counter. "And you liked it."
I lower my body until I’m hovering inches above her. I settle my weight between her legs, spreading her thighs with my knees. She tries to clamp them shut, but I am an immovable object.
"Silas..."
"Shh."
I capture her mouth.
I don't kiss her gently this time. I devour her. I grind my lips against hers, forcing her mouth open, sweeping my tongue inside to taste her. She tastes like champagne and terror.
She freezes at first, her hands balling into fists against my chest. She pushes, but it’s weak. It’s token resistance.
Then, I feel it. The shift.
It’s subtle. A hitch in her breath. A softening of her lips. Her body is betraying her. Her mind is screamingrun, but her biology is screamingmate.
I break the kiss and trail my mouth down her jawline to her throat. I bite lightly at the sensitive cord of her neck, right below her ear.
She gasps, her head falling back against the black silk pillows.
"You hate this," I whisper against her skin, my hand moving down to cup her breast. "Don't you?"
"Yes," she whimpers.
"Liar."
I pinch her nipple. Not hard enough to bruise, but hard enough to send a sharp jolt of sensation straight to her core.
Her hips buck involuntarily.
