Lightly pulling her along, I guide her through the crowd, not caring who sees us. I can’t care when I’m already straining against my zipper.
Slipping away from the public and into the back rooms, I keep my steps quick, but not too fast for her. The moment we reach one of the spare spaces with a similar dark interior to match the rest of the club, I barely get the door shut before I’m on her.
My lips find her neck as I memorise every inch of her curves, damning the dress still covering her.
A soft sound escapes her as she leans into the affection, melting before she swallows hard. Her words come out soft andsurprisingly vulnerable. “Is this all you want for us? Hooking up?”
I stop immediately, meeting her gaze again with confusion spreading through me. “Hooking up?”
“Don’t be obtuse,” she murmurs. “I get it if this is all you want, but I can’t—”
“All I want…” I interject gently with a quiet scoff. “You really think this is all I want from you?”
Elena averts her gaze in a rare display of embarrassment, managing a weak shrug.
“Elena,” I say, carefully cupping her jaw to make her look at me while I barely resist the urge to kiss her again until she gets it. My lips hover over hers. “I only pulled you in here because I can’t stand how badly I need you. All of you. Not just your body, and not for anything mindless. You’re killing me.”
At that, her eyes soften, searching mine for any trace of a lie. “You mean it?”
“More than anything. This has never been about hooking up for me.”
Something passes through her features at the words, as if it has finally come loose inside her, and her shoulders relax. She looks me over again, and her lips pull. “Good answer.”
Smiling back despite myself, I take that as my cue.
I should be patient and restrained, but after everything, I need her. I need to feel her.
Elena’s back hits the wall with just enough force to make her breath catch, then my mouth is on hers with a hunger I didn’t know I possessed. Her fingers clutch my jacket immediately, and without any protest, she kisses me right back.
Nothing about this is gentle. It’s all unbridled desire and claiming, and throughout, I make sure she knows she’s wanted. That if one thing is true about all of this, it’s that I have chosen her. She is the one I want.
And as her fingers glide through my hair, matching my eagerness, I swear to myself that no matter what it costs me, and no matter who tries, nobody will take her from me.
Chapter 22 - Elena
I’m already dizzy from how hard Wyatt kisses me, more like he’s been starving for this. Like there’s nothing more he wants in this world than everything I can give him, mouth to mouth while he holds me tightly.
We had sex before. I’ve felt his lips on mine already. Yet, something about this feels monumental in comparison.
Before, it was an inevitable release of the pent-up tension we had both been skirting around. Now, there’s meaning behind it. There’s a raw, unyielding need to make up for lost time, as if Wyatt’s trying to prove his point as well as he can.
And it’s working.
For the first time since all of this started, whatever’s between us doesn’t seem so one-sided. I don’t feel alone in this attachment anymore, like I’m not the only one going crazy because of it.
With that in mind, I can’t stop the way I return that eagerness, pressing up against him.
Wyatt groans as our bodies meld together against the wall, gripping me hard. He breaks it to leave open-mouthed kisses down my neck, hot and impatient.
“I wish I had it in me to wait until we’re home, but I’d lose my mind before we even left the club,” Wyatt murmurs, mouthing at me while his hands glide along my waist and hips. “You look too perfect for your own good.”
The admission makes something in me flutter, and I hum as I take in his affections. “So this frenzy is my fault?”
“Yes,” he utters, like it should be obvious. He nips at my skin in silent reprimand. “But you already know that.”
I do, and it makes me grin.
His mouth continues lower, kissing at my collarbone and chest, palm sliding to the underside of my breast. When he pushes up, sliding his hand under the deep neckline of my dress and beneath my bra, I shiver at the direct contact.
