He wasn’t wearing his mask, and his hair was still damp from the shower. He smelled of soap with a masculine undertone. Sandalwood perhaps.
“I can’t stay away from you, Odessa. I won’t pretend that I don’t feel something for you. And I think you feel it too. No, I know you do. You saved me when you didn’t have to. You grabbed me by my arm earlier and pulled me to follow you out of danger. Don’t tell me that you don’t feel this pull between us. From the moment I saw you, I felt drawn to you in a way that’s distracted me from why we’re really here.” He sat at the edge of my bed and took my hand in his. My hand with a very noticeable, very meaningful ring. His thumb grazed the ring and my breath caught in my chest. “I know you feel it, even though you’ve promised yourself to someone else, your body betrays you.”
His free hand rested on top of my ribs, right between my breasts. I was certain he could feel how hard my heart was beating. The staccato pace of each beat at wanting more. Every single nerve felt hypersensitive. I was acutely tuned into him, waiting to see what he would do next. I licked my lips in anticipation.
“It’s only fair, you know, that you let me see you like how you saw me.” His words stole my breath. “What do you say, Deveraux? Why don’t you let me see what a gorgeous body you’re hiding behind these clothes of yours.”
I don’t know what made me do it. Curiosity? Desire? But before I could think twice, my head nodded my consent.
His nostrils flared as his hand drifted to the side with my permission, mapping the prominent curve of my breast as he pulled my shirt down, exposing my naked flesh to him.
Dex inhaled and ran his thumb over my pert nipple. “Fucking gorgeous just like I knew it would be.”
I could feel his touch radiating all the way down to my toes. I should be pushing him away and telling him to stop, but my mouth couldn’t form the words.
“Tell me to stop. Tell me you don’t want this,” he pleaded, not stopping for a moment. He seemed to be possessed with the need to touch me, his eyes aflame with want.
My mouth seemed to not work still, but I bit my lip, eyes wide, pleading for him to keep going, urging him on.
His hand dipped lower, caressing my stomach, my sides, lifting my hips to help guide my pants off.
I let him.
Gods forgive me, I let him touch me like I was his, while still belonging to another. In all my time with Theo, not once did he make me feel desired. I felt like an obligation. The means to an end. But Dex? I felt like a choice. There was a pull between us like no other that I had fought to deny.
Once my pants were a pile of fabric on the floor, Dex stared down at me while I opened for him. The wet desire evident between my legs. He crawled over to me.
“I’ve never seen anything more beautiful,” he said taking me all in. “Gods, you’re going to be my undoing.”
My shirt was hardly covering me, and I was naked from the waist down. I’d never been so vulnerable and so free with anyone. I’d always been pushed away and made to feel shameful for wanting intimacy. But now? I felt desired. I felt wanted. And Dex wanted me. Fiercely.
His large hands grazed the skin on my inner thighs as he came down on his elbows, his mouth so incredibly close to me. I could feel his breath skating over my clit. There was no denying that Dex had a wickedly magnetic presence that had captivated me.
If I allowed this, then the good girl that I’d been when I arrived was as dead as the bones that lined these catacombs.She’d be replaced with a newer, more daring one that tip toed on the edge of danger, stroking the flames just to see what would happen. Was that something that I really wanted?
One look at Dex, and I had my answer.
Yes.
“I’ve wanted to taste you. Wondered what it would be like.”
“I haven’t showered yet,” I realized, suddenly feeling embarrassed. Remembering that I’d been running around all day training.
“I don’t fucking care. I want to taste you. All of you.”
Just as his mouth came down on my bundle of nerves, I jolted awake.
The room around me was still. The only sound I could hear was my own breath, panting.
My hand clutched at my chest, and I sat up. It was just a dream, but it felt so real.
More real than any moment I’d experienced in my life this far, and I feared how much I liked that.
Chapter 13
Odessa
The dress I had picked for tonight sat snuggly along my frame. While Marley had originally bought it for herself, I couldn’t deny that it fit as if it were made especially for me. The sweetheart neckline accentuated the curve of my breasts and the black fabric glittered with each small movement, dancing like liquid starlight had been draped over my body. It was, in a word, dreamy. Shame I had to wear it to such a foul event. Oh, everyone was supposed to act excited, and I’m sure some were. But I couldn’t find the feeling of excitement. All I felt was dread.
