Page 68 of Realm of the Wicked

‘Hmm… that’s a hypothesis I think I’d be willing to test out.’ He pulled at the hem of my dress, tugging it up my leg.

He was touching me, running his hand over my bare thigh. I was going to lose my mind. My brain short-circuited. ‘I used to have a sweater this color.’

‘I know,’ Damien groaned into my neck.

‘You know?’

‘Yes, silly girl. How do you think I know how incredible this color looks on you?’

I gasped as he pressed a kiss along my jaw. ‘How… how would you know that?’

His hand brushed higher up my thigh, tracing words on my skin I wanted to translate. ‘I told you when I first brought you here. I wouldn’t have made a deal with you without knowing you.’

Damien pulled at my chin, snapping my face to look up at him. His dark eyes looked through me, seeing everything I hid away. ‘Does that bother you? Knowing I watched you?’

It should. It should’ve made my skin crawl, leave shivers trailing across my skin. I should leave his study, barricading myself in my room. Except I wasn’t scared in the slightest. ‘No. It almost feels reassuring.’

‘Reassuring,’ he repeated.

‘Yeah. Like all the times I thought I was trying to handle things on my own, I actually wasn’t.’

His thumb stroked my jaw, soft and tender and sure.

‘Does that make me weird?’

‘No. No, Bambi, it doesn’t make you weird. It makes me sad I couldn’t have saved you the stress before.’

This time, it was me closing the distance, pressing my lips against him, pulling him closer while he let out an unholy moan.

His hands drove higher under my dress, so close to where I wanted them, where I needed them, and yet not close enough. I gasped into his mouth when his tongue demanded entrance, losing myself in him.

I pulled away, straightening his glasses with a smile. ‘I like these,’ I breathed. ‘You should wear them more often.’

‘Anything for you, Bambi.’ I expected him to smile, but his face was completely serious.

‘Anything?’

He nodded. ‘I would give you anything and everything that is in my power to give. All you have to do is ask.’

I kissed him again, his hand brushing along the seam to my underwear, already damp with how much I wanted him, needed him, right this moment. It seemed my body would always know before my heart caught up to speed.

‘Fuck, Stella. You’re so wet for me. I just want to sink inside you, fuck you until you scream my name, see those pretty lips beg me for more,’ Damien murmured against my neck, sliding his finger against my pussy.

I’d noticed that every time he touched me, he seemed to lose control. There was no filter between his brain and his mouth; everything he thought or felt spilled out from between his lips, his innermost thoughts brought to life while his hands caressed my skin. It was probably one of the most erotic things I’d ever experienced, knowing I turned him on enough that he simply just lost control. I kissed him back, trying to urge him closer, to help me soothe the ache between my legs that hadn’t gone away since the first time he brought me to the Fringe.

I desperately clawed at him, wanting to be closer. Closer. Closer.

Until Damien pulled back, annoyance written all over his face. ‘Fuck.’

Seconds later, Agatha burst in through the door. She looked between us, not even remotely shocked to see the position we were in. ‘Silas is here.’

‘I know.’ Damien cursed under his breath, stepping away. ‘Of all the times. Fuck. Stall him. Stella, come with me.’

Agatha hurried out of the office. Damien pulled me across the room, stopping in front of a bookcase. He reached around the side, pulling at something I couldn’t see and the whole bookcase swung open, revealing a small, dark closet hidden inside.

‘And here I thought we’d already gone over every scary mansion cliché.’ I tried to smile, staring at the small space.

He rested his forehead against mine. ‘I’m sorry. I wish I had somewhere more comfortable for you to hide. But this is the closest place. I promise I’ll get rid of him as quick as I can. Silas is lazy, and if he can’t find you immediately, he’ll leave.’