Destined To Fall (Reluctant lovers #1)

Chapter Eighteen

“ Uh, what?”

“ Touch yourself.” I hold my breath, fighting the shudder that wants to accompany his words. “ Use your fingers instead of mine.”

“ You can ’ t be serious.”

He nods, and I huff, but I can ’ t deny how hot the thought alone makes me.

“ Here, now, right in front of you?”

“ I can see how much you want this, how much you need this. It goes against all my male fiber to let you walk out that door so unsatisfied. I can ’ t do it. I ’ ve been trying, goddamn it, I tried. But you said so yourself—you can ’ t get off—and it ’ s clear you need my help to do it.”

I groan, and Jeremy grins, getting even closer, his hot breath warming my face, my lips, my insides.

“ I ’ m sure it ’ s been a while since you ’ ve had to do it yourself. Do you need me to talk you through it, or is my presence alone enough?”

Ass . He ’ s purposely provoking me, trying to get a rise out of me, or bait me. Or just drive me fucking crazy. Well, two can play at that game.

I don ’ t waste a second, not giving him time to retreat. I rest my elbows on the edges of the armrests and lift my ass up. With barely an inch between our bodies, I run a hand down my chest, along my corset, and between my legs to cup myself, my knuckles skimming his body in the process. I mock gasp, but raise my head too high, causing my mouth to graze his ever so slightly. A moan escapes, and I sink my teeth into my bottom lip to stop myself from seeking more. My traitorous body is begging for contact.

Jeremy purses his lips, gripping the arms hard, the fabric groaning in protest before he releases them and stands up. His gaze visibly struggles to stay on my face and not my hand.

He steps back a few paces, and I trace my hand back up to the top of my corset and the eyelets keeping it together, watching Jeremy the whole while. I squeeze my breasts tightly, moaning loudly, and internally grin with satisfaction when his jaw goes slack, his gaze zeroing in on my fingers as they take the top clip between them.

“ Wait!”

I raise an eyebrow, waiting for Jeremy to continue. He swallows thickly before he can lift his eyes to mine.

“ I don ’ t think I could handle you naked just now.”

“ You ’ re kidding?”

He shakes his head adamantly.

“ You ’ re not kidding. So, I ’ m supposed to get myself off fully clothed?”

“ You ’ re hardly fully clothed.”

True. My gaze narrows, and my lips thin in frustration. “ This is stupid. I ’ m not doing it.”

“ This isn ’ t supposed to be for me. You ’ re not putting on a show, Vivienne.” Jeremy ’ s brows pucker, seemingly in thought, until one side of his mouth quirks up and his eyes light. He walks off, returning moments later with a scarf in hand.

“ Uh, Jer, what the hell—”

“ Shh, this will help. This way,” he says as he stretches out the scarf, folding it in half lengthwise again and again, “ you won ’ t be watching me.”

“ This is ridiculous. You ’ ll still be watching me, but I can ’ t get naked, and I can ’ t see.”

The last thing my eyes take in before Jeremy blindfolds me, tying the scarf behind my head, is his wicked grin.

My skin sizzles with awareness, knowing exactly how close Jeremy is in relation to me as soon as the makeshift blindfold is in place, shutting out all light and all sense of sight. With the loss of one sense, my others blaze to the forefront, overwhelming me, Jeremy ’ s delicious woodsy scent coming off the scarf every time I breathe in. It ’ s intoxicating and heady, and damn, my body burns even brighter with desire.

I take a ragged breath, sucking my bottom lip into my mouth and clamping down, tasting the metallic tang and telltale sign I bit too hard.

The air shifts near my ear a mere second before Jeremy ’ s deep baritone whispers against it, making me suck in a sharp breath.

“ Better? ”

That one word shivers along my skin like a summer breeze, leaving goosebumps in its wake, and I have the unmistakable feeling that makes Jeremy grin, the satisfaction practically radiating off of him, his tone far too smug.

“ Now, put your palms flat on your thighs.”

My forehead scrunches against the scarf, and I open my mouth to protest, when one of Jeremy ’ s long fingers presses against my lips, halting me in my tracks.

“ Stop talking, stop thinking, and just do as you ’ re told for once.”

My only response is to pull his finger in my mouth and suck—hard. He groans and mutters a curse under his breath before pulling the finger out, my teeth grazing the pad as he does.

“ Put your hands on your damn thighs, Vivienne.”

I smile at his husky tone, almost a growl, but do as I ’ m told, placing my palms flat on my bare thighs.

He clears his throat, and presumably his resolve, before continuing.

“ Trail only the pads of your fingertips up to your waist, slowly. And then back down.”

Somehow, I do it wrong. The gruff dissatisfaction in his voice is evident when he tells me to do it again.

“ I want you to take twice as long and only graze the skin.”

I sigh and drag out the movement, the tips of my fingers barely discernable against the skin on my thighs, and I wouldn ’ t have noticed them if my nerve endings weren ’ t already fried.

“ Good…now close your eyes and do it again. Do it again until you feel it. ”

I feel ridiculous, but I close my lids behind the blindfold. How he knew they were open on the other side of the scarf is beyond me, but I don ’ t bother arguing. It ’ s not like I could see anything.

Yet when I do as instructed this time, I can ’ t help but pay attention.

I feel it. All of it.

The minuscule tingles my fingers leave behind, the heat of Jeremy ’ s gaze as he follows their movement. My head tips back to rest on the chair as my focus shifts to Jeremy ’ s breathing, the soft sound magnified by my blindness. It brings a whole new awareness. He ’ s so close, I can feel the warmth coming off him in waves.

I trail my fingers up slowly, but further this time, flicking the eyelets as I go, my corset coming undone as I make my way to my bra, needing the air on my too-hot skin. Before it can fall away and I can throw it in his direction in defiance, his hands grip my wrists tightly. The sudden contact of his warm skin on mine is exhilarating and unlike anything I ’ ve felt in a long time. I lose my train of thought, and my body goes a little slack.

“ Vivienne, ” he says in warning, a thick edge to his voice.

I nod, and he ’ s quiet for a beat. Jeremy finally releases my hands, but before I have a chance to do anything with the corset myself, he slides it out from behind me. The fabric rubs deliciously on my heated body. The newly revealed skin alights as air brushes against the feverish flesh.

Jeremy takes a step back, and another and another, until the leather groans when he takes a seat. A silent cue to continue, or to force some restraint on his part, perhaps. But I know not, and I care little at this point. I ’ m well past no return. I need release.

Jeremy ’ s melodic voice breaks the weighted silence, his instructions filling the space, and I let all thought escape me, focusing solely on the sound and the feel of my fingers doing his bidding.They tease and tempt, pushing and pulling, bringing me closer and closer until I can ’ t take anymore. Instinct takes over, and the burning need overpowers me, shutting out Jeremy ’ s words to replace them with feeling alone.

I take two fingers into my mouth, my body so lost it would swear it was Jeremy sucking on them, wetting them. Slowly I pull them out to dip them beneath my satin underwear. I needn ’ t have bothered. My flesh is so heated and swollen, so slick with desire, that fingers no longer my own rubs effortlessly against me. A shudder escapes, and the sound of Jeremy ’ s breath hitching crashes back into my awareness as I slide a finger home. And then a second.

I hold my breath, not daring to break the silence, my fingers doing the only talking. My legs part further and further, allowing me to go deeper and deeper with every thrust. The quiet is so deafening, yet so loud at the same time.

The clink of ice in a glass, the deep swallow, and the quickening breaths that follow. His robe rubbing against the chair as he shifts, the tightening of his hand gripping the leather. My panting intensifies, joining the cacophony now becoming my soundtrack, spurring me on.

My fingers move faster, harder, deeper, dancing to the sounds. I ’ m frantic, feverish, so ridiculously close I can taste it. Right on the edge, desperate to jump off the diving board, but my feet are glued. I can ’ t seem to fall.

My other hand shifts to my breast, my grip punishingly tight, pinching the nipple between my fingers. The desperation is thick in the air. So. Close. Yet—

“ Come for me, Vivienne. Just let go and come.”

I gasp, and like a total clich é , I fall apart. The sound of Jeremy ’ s husky voice and hot breath suddenly in my ear flings me off the cliff and pushes right over that edge. My orgasm crashes into me so violently, pulsing so hard through my body my legs shake, my eye twitches, and my back bows right off the chair.

Before I can come down, the tremors still rocking my body, a door slams shut in the distance, jolting me to the present, and the next sound I hear is the harsh spray of water hitting tile.

And I crash. Straight to the fiery pits of hell.

What have I done?