Even as she spoke, she stumbled toward the sauna, where she’d been headed before the wave crashed.
“Oh, God!” Her head tilted back, the sleek line of her luscious neck beckoning him.
“It’s okay,” he urged. “Come on.”
Summoning as much energy as he could, he helped her into the ten-by-ten room, eased her onto one of the teak benches. The thing was maintained at a steady temperature, so it was already ridiculously warm. Perhaps not the best place for someone whose hormones were obliterated.
When Bijou rolled onto her back, Oliver fought the urge to mount her. It was an animalistic reaction, one spurred by whatever the phenomenon was. No one seemed to have the answers, and yes, he’d attempted to get them after the first time his body had been assaulted by the overwhelming need to fuck. Oliver knew if he sank inside her, it would ease the ache for both of them, but…
Truth was, he’d thought of little else since he’d first laid eyes on her in the dining room.
“Please…” Her head lifted, eyes pleading. “Oliver, please…”
Fucking hell. He wanted nothing more than to fall into her, but he knew that was stupid. They were only friends. Bijou deserved so much better than the likes of him. Even temporarily. Considering he’d fucked a demon … he couldn’t fathom sliding inside her sweet, warm heat, tainting her with the darkness of his soul.
Never mind the fact they were of two completely different species. He wasn’t even sure their biologies were the same even if their instincts were.
Her hand lifted, reaching for him.
Oliver wasn’t even aware he’d moved, but the next thing he knew, she had pulled him down with her.
The sweet scent of gardenias flooded his senses, made his head spin.
“Bijou…”
“I need you,” she whimpered, pressing his hand to her breast.
Though he made no move to take advantage, the beautiful female thrust her chest into his hand, her hips rocking beneath his.
“It’ll pass,” he promised her. He’d experienced it enough to know. All they had to do was hold out and it would dissipate. The lingering need would eventually subside.
Although he was starting to question that.
“Kiss me,” she demanded, reaching for him.
Oliver knew she would regret this, but his willpower waned, leaving him vulnerable to her desires and his own.
Gripping her hair, he kept their mouths separated by a mere centimeter. Their breaths mingled, the need consuming them both.
“Please, Oliver … I want you.”
Lifting his head, he met her gaze, got lost in the sparkling green depths. She held his stare for long seconds, and within those phosphorescent orbs, he could see the approval, but he knew she wasn’t thinking clearly.
“Fuck.” He groaned low in his throat as his mouth crushed to hers.
A fury unlike anything he’d ever known ignited inside him, a desperate ache that had nothing to do with the energy cast off by whoever was responsible. This was something else, something more. He felt as though his skin was too small for his body, the flesh holding in a power too strong for it to maintain.
Bijou’s soft hands slid over his wet skin, her cool fingers gliding down his back once, twice. When her nails sank into him, he hissed, the pleasure overriding any possible pain.
“We can’t do this,” he growled, trying to refrain, failing miserably.
“We have to,” she countered, pulling his mouth back to hers.
She was far stronger than she appeared, her hands holding him there despite his best efforts to retreat. Or perhaps that was his brain making excuses, because there was no denying he wanted her more than he wanted air. This was the perfect opportunity, one the old Oliver never would’ve passed up.
But he wasn’t that man anymore. He’d changed in the short time he’d been here in the mansion. The last thing he wanted was to take advantage of Bijou, to rip through the fabric of their newly forming friendship.
In an effort to help ease her pain, Oliver pressed his thigh between her legs, ground against the heat he could feel through her bathing suit. Fucking hell. She was so hot…
