Chapter 10 #2
His lips brushed against her skin, his hot breath gliding over every inch of her neck. A sharp shiver ran through her body at once.
“Come on,” he murmured against her skin. “You want dates, right? We can have a proper date. I’ll arrange everything for you.”
His fingers stayed firm at her waist, holding her in place. His voice was coaxing and soft, yet carried a tone that sent shivers through her entire body.
“That restaurant wasn’t even good,” he continued quietly. His lips brushed the edge of her cheek again. “You would’ve been disappointed with the food.”
His thumb stroked slowly against the curve of her waist.
“And that coffee—” his lips curved faintly, almost dismissively, “—was terrible. I can make better coffee for you.”
Amara’s eyes narrowed immediately despite the current crawling up her neck from how close he was.
“I don’t think it’s any of your business,” she snapped. “My date wasn’t for you to interfere with. What I eat. Who I meet. None of it is any of your concern.”
She pushed against his chest harder.
“Let me leave,” she said sharply.
For a second, Elias just stared at her. His jaw flexed once before he finally loosened his hold enough for her to move.
Amara quickly slid down from the back of the couch, landing on shaky feet. The second she was standing, she immediately tried to put space between them while smoothing her dress down with tense fingers.
But then she suddenly froze.
Cool air brushed across the bare skin of her back.
Her brows pulled together when she realized the zipper of her dress had slid halfway down.
“Damn it…” she muttered under her breath before reaching behind herself awkwardly, trying to pull it back up. But the angle was difficult, and her fingers couldn’t properly catch the zipper.
Elias watched silently.
Then he stepped closer.
“Let me.”
His deep voice slid over her skin like heat.
Amara stiffened immediately.
“No, I can fix it myself.”
“Turn around.”
The command came softer this time, but somehow it felt even more intense.
Amara hesitated.
Before she could argue again, Elias moved closer until his chest nearly brushed her back. The heat of his body surrounded her instantly.
Then he dipped his head beside her ear.
A soft kiss touched the sensitive skin beneath it.
Amara’s breath caught.
“Stop kissing me,” she snapped, though her voice came out less steady than before.
Elias ignored her completely.
His lips lingered near her neck, warm and slow, while one of his hands slid across her back until his fingers curled around the zipper.
Amara exhaled sharply, expecting him to pull it up.
Instead—
The zipper slid lower.
Her breath hitched instantly.
The dress loosened around her body, exposing the smooth line of her bare back completely. Cold air brushed against her skin, making her shiver.
“Elias!”
Her hand flew to the front of her dress, clutching the fabric tightly against her chest before it could slip further. Her other palm shoved hard against his chest.
“UP,” she snapped angrily.
She heard him release a slow breath against her skin, almost frustrated. His fingers finally reversed direction, dragging the zipper back upward again.
The touch of his knuckles against her spine made another shiver crawl through her body despite herself.
Once the dress was fully closed again, Elias stepped back reluctantly.
Amara immediately adjusted the front of her dress and spun around to glare at him, her chest rising and falling unevenly.
“What is wrong with you?” she demanded.
Elias looked completely calm on the surface, but the darkness in his eyes hadn’t disappeared at all.
“I was helping you,” he said quietly.
Amara let out a disbelieving laugh.
“That’s what all men say,” she shot back. “Pretend they’re helping, then suddenly the zipper is down and the woman’s dress is halfway off.”
The moment those words left her mouth, something changed in Elias’s expression.
The teasing vanished completely.
His eyes darkened.
Then he stepped toward her.
Amara instinctively stepped back until the backs of her knees brushed the couch.
Elias stopped directly in front of her, close enough that she had to tilt her head up to meet his gaze.
“How many men,” he asked quietly, “have tried to pull your zipper down before?”
Amara blinked. “What?”
“Tell me.”
His voice had gone low and rough now.
Amara swallowed as she adjusted the slipping strap of her dress back onto her shoulder. But Elias’s eyes tracked the movement immediately, his gaze growing darker.
“How many?” he repeated. “Who tried to take your dress off before me?”
“That’s—”
“Who was it?” he cut in instantly. “Did you have someone before me?”
He stepped even closer until she could feel the heat pouring off his body again.
“Who touched you?” he asked in a low voice. “Who told you to undress for them?”
His eyes searched her face intensely.
“Who tried to unzip your dress?”
Amara’s lips pressed into a thin line.
For a moment, she simply stared at him. Then she straightened on her feet, smoothing a hand over her dress as though completely unbothered by the storm raging in front of her.
One brow lifted slightly.
“How many did I tell you there were?” she asked casually.
Then, as if she had already lost interest in the conversation, she tried to move around him and walk away.
She barely made one step.
Elias immediately moved into her path again.
The look on his face was almost unbelievable—shock mixed with jealousy and something dangerously close to offense. Like she had personally shattered something inside him.
“You told me I was the only one!” he said immediately.
His voice rose slightly with disbelief as he stared down at her.
“You said I was your first.”
He stepped closer again, blocking her completely.
“You told me I was the only man you ever liked.” His jaw tightened harder. “You told me there was nobody before me.”
Amara tilted her head slightly as if thinking about it.
“Oh?” she said lightly. “Did I?”
Then a scoff slipped past her lips, followed by a soft laugh that carried pure disbelief.
The complete indifference in her laughter only made the expression on Elias’s face darken further.
“I probably made a mistake,” she continued carelessly. “You know how one and eleven look so similar? I must’ve gotten confused.”
Elias stared at her like he had just been stabbed directly in the chest.
“They don’t look similar at all!” He snapped instantly. “Don’t try to fool me.”
The offended disbelief on his face was almost absurd.
He looked like a man who had just discovered someone else had taken the first piece of birthday cake that belonged to him. Completely appalled. Completely betrayed.
Amara could literally see the vein in his forehead beginning to show.
Meanwhile, she only looked at him with cool indifference.
That seemed to make him even worse.
“How can you say that to me?” he demanded.
His voice became rougher with every word.
“You told me I was the only one.” He pointed toward himself angrily. “You never told me there were other men before me.”
His eyes searched her face intensely, jealousy practically radiating off him now.
“Who was it?” he asked sharply. “Who chased you?”
Amara rolled her eyes and tried to sidestep him again, but Elias immediately stepped sideways too, blocking her path once more.
“Did someone try to make you fall in love with him?” he pressed. “Who was he?”
His voice kept growing harsher.
“Show me his photo.”
Amara blinked at him in disbelief.
Elias dragged a frustrated hand through his hair before looking back at her with visible irritation burning across his face.
“Fuck it,” he muttered. “What is his goddamn name, Amara?!”
Amara stayed silent.
That only made him more agitated.
The jealousy on his face was so obvious now that it almost looked vicious.
Meanwhile, Amara simply looked at him with a smirk on her face before trying once more to move past him.
Again, Elias blocked her instantly. This time, Amara’s patience finally snapped.
“For god’s sake! We’re already divorced, Elias,” she said sharply.
Her eyes lifted and locked onto his without backing down.
“The men I have around me now—or had before—have nothing to do with you!”
Elias’s expression hardened.
Amara crossed her arms tightly over her chest before continuing.
“We have nothing to do with each other now. Whatever relationship we had already ended.”
Her gaze didn’t waver from his.
“You don’t have the right to ask me anything anymore.”
Elias went completely still for one sharp second.
Then his jaw clenched hard.
Anger flashed openly across his face as he stared down at her, his chest rising heavily. His brows lifted slightly, almost in disbelief, but the look in his eyes was far darker than disbelief alone. It looked wounded. Furious.
“Really?” he asked quietly.
The dangerous calm in his voice made Amara’s stomach tighten.
“We have nothing to do with each other anymore?”
He took one step closer.
“You have nothing to do with me anymore?”
“No, I don’t,” Amara answered coldly.
The words had barely left her mouth before Elias suddenly grabbed her face.
His fingers closed around her jaw firmly, and before she could even react, he yanked her toward him.
Amara stumbled forward with a startled gasp.
Then his mouth crashed against hers.
The kiss was sudden. Fierce.
It stole every thought from her head instantly.
For the first second, she froze completely in shock, a sharp breath catching in her throat. But Elias didn’t give her even a moment to recover.
His mouth moved against hers hungrily, almost desperately.
He kissed her like a man who had been starving for years and had finally snapped.
His lips captured her lower lip first, sucking on it roughly before his tongue brushed over the softness of it in a slow, devastating stroke. Then his mouth shifted to her upper lip, drawing it between his lips before moving back down again.
Soft licks. Rough pulls. Slow teasing kisses followed immediately by aggressive ones.
The contrast made her head spin.