There was not much more I could take. My abdomen was so tight that I could combust from the heat. The end was coming on fast. There was no stopping the wave washing over me.
The orgasm ripped through my body with such intensity that I swear evenhecould feel it move through me, clamping around his tongue. It rolled through me in waves, each time less intense than the last, before it left my body and took any remaining tension with it.
My body went limp, and my chest rose and fell with a dizzy pant. The corset was not helping me in the slightest to regain my breath.
He slipped that unforgivable tongue out, slicking over his lips in response. “You know, you taste better than I imagined.” He smirked. “But all those lovely sounds really made it an experience,” he teased.
“I cannot... wait... tokillyou,” I breathed, letting my head fall back with a thud against the table. I just needed to close my eyes for a minute.
What have I done?
“Is that any way to thank me?” He dropped my legs, pulling me back up to a sitting position, my thighs shaking. “If you’ll let me do that, why not let me have a different kind of taste?”
“I have to get back?—”
“What’s the rush?” he asked, leaning in. “Why not just stay here all night?” He pressed his hips between my legs again—an awful insinuation.
Sickening.
“You’re delusional if you think that will happen.”
“I saved your life and tasted both of your sweet lips tonight. Anything can happen.”
I lowered my gaze in embarrassment. In anger and in haste, I pushed myself off the table.
“Red looks good on you,” he said, “especially when it is blood rushing to your face.” He laughed, but I was already out the door.
I tied my hair back up again and used the previously secured ribbon to tie it into place. What a mess this was.
My shaking hands fidgeted with my ribbon in an attempt to tie it in a bow before my face smacked into a hard chest.
“Miss Lis!” a nervous voice bumbled. “I am so sorry, I should have seen—” Viktor placed his hands on my shoulders, looking down at me with those sweet brown eyes. His expression twisted in concern when he saw the state of my flustered face. “Are you all right? You look a bit drained,” he said.
“Yes—yes, it’s all right. I just needed a break!” I exclaimed nervously, itching to get as far away from that room as I could, my legs still quivering. “How about we dance? Yes! Let’s dance. Come!”
My hand was clasped in his as we moved through the footpaths into the main event area. Some string instruments lit the room with a comforting spirit among the low ambient light. The sun had set, and a few stars littered the dark sky on the other side of the glass ceiling.
It was best to be surrounded by people, as I wished not to grapple with my thoughts for the rest of the night. I plucked a champagne flute from a passing tray, and I let the cool liquid slip down my sore throat in a single swig.
Viktor looked perplexed as I dragged him with me.
We joined the crowd that occupied the floor, and I clung on to this new figure of mine like a life preserver on a sinking ship.
“Miss Lis, are you sure everything is all right?” he whispered, resting a hand on my waist and taking my hand in his.
“Yes! Fantastic—everything is great!” I forced a smile, peering over his shoulder skittishly, like I might fly away at any sudden movement.
He did not press the subject any longer but pulled my body in gently with a reassuring squeeze of my hand. The gesture calmed me slightly. At least Silas could not make a scene in front of everyone. Not here. I lowered my head to Viktor’s chest, and he rested his chin on my head in response.
“Miss Lis?—”
“Alina.Please just call me Alina,” I mumbled into the lapel of his suit.
“Alina,” he corrected himself, playing with the sound of my name on his tongue. “Do you want me to escort you home?”
“Please.”
The door unlockedwith a heavy click, and I looked back at Viktor.
