26. Chapter Twenty-Six Dante
Chapter Twenty-Six: Dante
S he was gone.
Jade had left, her parting words slicing through the din like a blade. My mind was a scrambled mess of thoughts, all tangled up with images of her walking away. Desperation clawed at my insides, disbelief nipping at its heels.
“Check, please,” I muttered to no one in particular, tossing down a wad of cash without counting. It could have been hundreds or just ones – didn’t matter. Nothing did, not without Jade.
The cold night air slapped me as I shoved through the restaurant doors. The city was alive around me, uncaring, while my world crumbled. I spotted her, a retreating figure on the sidewalk, her shoes clicking out a rhythm of escape.
“Jade, wait! Let me drive you home,” I shouted, my voice slicing through the cacophony of honking cars and chattering pedestrians. The raw edge of my plea hung between us, desperate enough for both our sakes.
She didn’t stop, didn’t turn, but I’d be damned if I let her walk away into the night. Not like this. Not when every fiber of my being screamed to pull her back into my arms.
I caught up to her, my hand closing around her arm, more gently than I had intended. She spun around, a flash of anger igniting in those steel eyes. “I’ll take the subway, or a cab. I don’t need a ride,” she spat out, an icy barrier forming with each word.
“Absolutely not.” My words cut through the chill, laced with a menace I didn’t bother to hide. “Let me at least do the gentlemanly thing.”
Defiance etched her features as she crossed her arms, but she followed me, silent and seething, to where my car waited. The sleek, black sedan stood like a shadow against the concrete and the dim glow of the streetlights.
Unlocking the doors with a beep that sounded too loud in the night, I held one open for her. She slid into the passenger seat, her movements stiff, as if every inch of her protested the act. I got in beside her, and the tension swelled, filling the confined space like a malevolent ghost.
My hand found her thigh, a move once welcomed, now fraught with a desperate need to ignite what we’d lost. She flinched away from my touch, her body language screaming louder than any words could.
“This is over, Dante,” she said, her voice so stern it might as well have been a slap.
“No, it isn’t,” I said. “I can smell how wet you are, Jade.”
“Stop it,” Jade insisted, her voice strained with an emotion she was trying too hard to mask. Her eyes darted away from mine, but I could see the pulse quicken at the base of her throat.
I ignored her plea, my fingers inching up the fabric of her skirt, determined to reclaim the connection between us—forcefully if necessary. Her scientific mind might be a fortress of logic, but her body...her body never lied to me.
“Jade,” I growled low, pulling her face closer, “you can’t deny this part of us.”
“Let go of me, Dante,” she demanded, but even as she spoke, her lips parted slightly, a telltale sign of her ambivalence.
The patrons in the parking lot were lost in their own worlds, oblivious to the tempest brewing within the confines of my car. Our breaths mingled, her resistance faltering as I found the warmth between her legs, my fingers moving with a familiarity that belied the chaos of our situation.
She bucked against me, caught between protest and surrender, and I knew I had her. The fight left her eyes for a fraction of a second, and I seized it, pressing my advantage with a relentless pursuit of her pleasure.
I pulled the fabric of her panties to the side. “See, I know exactly what you want,” I said. “And you’re going to sit here and let me pleasure you until you’re screaming my name.” I shoved two fingers inside her, her body arching under the violation, under the pleasure.
“Dante...” she gasped, and there it was, the surrender I’d been chasing. Her eyes fluttered shut as she sank into the sensation, her hands clutching the sides of her seat while I worked her into a frenzy. “Please stop.”
“No,” I said. “If you didn’t want me, you wouldn’t be sitting here in my car.”
Each stroke of my fingers sent a jolt through her, the sheen of sweat on her skin catching the faint glow from the city lights outside.
“I want to memorize what the inside of you feels like,” I said as I continued fucking her with my fingers. “I want you to remember what it feels like to be taken apart by me.”
Her protests fell silent as waves of pleasure coursed through her, her senses overtaken by the relentless rhythm of my touch.
The taste of victory was sweet on my tongue as I delved deeper, matching the rhythm of her body with my strokes. Her breath hitched, her eyes fluttering open to meet mine. There was a spark in them I hadn’t seen in weeks. It was resistance, yes, but also a flicker of the desire she’d been trying so desperately to bury.
“Stop... Dante,” she managed through gritted teeth, but it was a plea without conviction. Her gaze held mine, the fierce determination that was so uniquely Jade slowly giving way to a raw need.
“No,” I said again. “This isn’t over until you come for me.”
“Enough,” she gasped, trying to pull away. But my grip tightened, and I pressed my fingers deeper, setting a rhythm designed to tip her over the edge. The car filled with her soft moans and my low growls, punctuated by the sound of fabric rustling against skin.
“You’re so fucking wet,” I said. “Does that feel good?”
“That’s not the point—“
“You know, anyone could stop to watch you,” I cut her off. “They could see that you’re getting fingered in a parking lot like a cheap whore. But you know what?” I leaned closer, my lips brushing her earlobe as I whispered the next words. “I think that turns you on.”
She gasped, a blush creeping up her neck and coloring her cheeks. Whether it was from embarrassment or arousal, I didn’t know – and frankly, I didn’t care. I had her where I wanted her: teetering on the edge, caught between her stubborn mind and traitorous body.
“I’m not...I don’t—“ she stammered out, only to be interrupted by my thumb grazing her clit.
“That’s it, Jade,” I encouraged, smirking at her sharp intake of breath. “Admit it, you like being watched. You like being taken like this. You’re a scientist, a fucking genius. That doesn’t stop you from being a whore for me.”
Jade gave a half-sob, half-moan, her eyes welling up with tears. But beneath the hurt, beneath the betrayal, there was something more. Something wild. Something untamed.
“God damn it, Dante...” she gasped out, her words ending in a breathless moan as my fingers picked up the pace inside of her.
“That’s it, that’s my good girl,” I coaxed, determined to wring every last ounce of pleasure out of her.
My fingers continued their ruthless assault, matched by the rhythm of her breathy moans and gasps.
Clinging to the last vestiges of her resistance, Jade twisted away from me. But with my free hand, I caught her chin and turned her back. My gaze burrowed into hers, unyielding and heavy with unspoken promises.
“You don’t turn away. You look at me when you come.”
“And what if I don’t want to?” she shot back, defiance lighting up her eyes. But even as she spoke, her body betrayed her. Her hips jerked against my hand, seeking me out despite the words that hung in the air between us.
“I said look at me,” I demanded, my tone hardening. “Or do you want me to stop?”
Her gaze met mine, her eyes a tumultuous mix of desire, pride, and resignation. “Don’t… don’t stop,” she whispered, swallowing hard as she conceded.
“That’s my girl,” I murmured, satisfied. My movements became relentless, pushing her further into the pleasure she was so desperately trying to deny.
As I felt her walls clenching around my fingers, I knew she was close. “That’s it Jade,” I purred into her ear, “Come for me.”
“No,” she whimpered in protest, but even as she tried to fight it off, her body was betraying her. Her release was imminent, ready to break its hold over her and reclaim her body with an intensity that would leave her breathless.
“Come for me, Jade,” I repeated, my voice a low growl in the near silence of the car. My finger found her clit again, applying just the right amount of pressure to push her over the edge.
“No...I…” She gripped my arm tighter as she fought for control, her resolve wavering under the onslaught of pleasure. But I was relentless, thrusting again and again until with a gasp, she went rigid beneath me.
“That’s it,” I whispered into her ear as her orgasm washed over her. I didn’t let up, kept moving within her until the spasms subsided and she dropped against me, panting and spent. Each twitch of pleasure that pulsed through her sent a triumphant thrill down my spine.
I cradled her against me, my fingers stilling inside her as she rode out the aftershocks. Her body was warm and lax, the tension that had wound her so tight now dissipated. But despite her surrender, I could see the battle raging within her. The fight between morality and desire, between fear and yearning. She was a creature caught between two worlds: one of cold logic and sterile laboratories, the other of darkness and forbidden pleasures.
“You’re mine,” I said softly into her hair, my fingers gently stroking through the damp strands. She flinched at the words, but there was no denying the truth in them. Jade Bentley belonged to me, in a way I hadn’t imagined possible. In a way, perhaps, that neither of us was prepared for. She looked up at me, her eyes glassy with tears. “And this is only over when I say it’s over.”