Chapter 21
CHAPTER 21
AZARA
The only way I could describe the kiss was…
Electrifying.
Every one of my senses buzzed in the aftermath. Something that I’d never experienced. I’d been kissed before, but none that even came close to how maddening Michael’s lips against mine felt like. I’d never been kissed with so much passion. One that consumed every one of my senses and all I’d wanted to do was drown more into it.
It was hot and wild, and desire was still coursing through my veins long after he’d left. I could still feel the phantom tingling at the back of my skull from how hard he gripped my hair. I could still feel the press of his body against mine.
It was hard to breathe, think or honestly do anything. My mind was spiraling a mile a minute because what the hell had just happened. How could I just go back to normal after what felt like a delirious experience that would be hard to forget?
“Why did you do that?”
“Because you infuriate me just as much.”
His response should have snuffed out whatever he’d made me feel into oblivion, but it only made it burn even brighter. It lit it aflame in a way that I didn’t even know how to extinguish.
I didn’t know how long I’d just stood there, reliving every second of what probably was only a mere few minutes until reality came crashing back like a tidal wave.
What the fuck had I done?
Michael Young had just kissed me. And worst, I’d kissed him back.
Groaning, my head fell back in a loud thump against the wooden panel of the door behind me. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Kissing my annoying coworker should have never happened.
I raked a hand through my hair while I checked the time on my phone. Fuck. It was already almost an hour into my shift and I’d yet to do any actual work because I was too busy kissing someone I definitely had no business kissing.
But why did I want it to happen again?
I shook the unexpected thought away. This was absurd. It was just a kiss. It didn’t mean anything and I clearly was under the weather, hence why my skin was still peppered with goosebumps.
That was a plausible excuse. Or at least that’s what I was trying to convince myself of. Because the only thing I was allowed to feel around Michael was irritation.
I was an expert at pretending. I’d practically done it my entire life.
What was one more lie to myself?
I really shouldn’t be here.
Standing in front of his flat was one of the worst decisions I’d ever made and I’d dare say I’d already hit my quota of bad decisions for the day. Rationally, I knew the smartest thing to do was to walk back to guest lifts and head out.
I prided myself for always being a sensible person, yet I couldn’t bring myself to walk away. That part of me I’d always known to rely on always seemed to dissipate into irrationality whenever he was involved.
Go home, Azara, I tried telling myself, but even I knew it was a wasted effort.
After I’d made a quick pit stop in the small bathroom in my father's office to fix my hair—it had looked like I’d battled someone—and had attempted to make myself look less frazzled, I threw myself head first into my job.
And it worked.
For a while.
But after a small moment of weakness where I’d let the memory of him kissing me with such passion break through the brittle barrier I’d erected, it was all I could think about.
No matter how hard I’d tried not to.
It didn’t help that work was rather slow, which is how I found myself at his doorstep at two in the morning. The plan had been simple. Go home, and rest until one of the junior doctors paged me for help or an emergency, but my body had apparently sprouted a mind of its own and threw reason away for the second time tonight.
I knocked. Once. Twice.
I didn’t even know why I was even here in the first place. What was I hoping for? What would I even say if he answered his door?
A small shiver ran down my spine and I crossed my arms over my chest, hoping the flimsy knit jumper I’d thrown over the dress I’d worn earlier for my date would help.
But it did nothing to help stave off the nerves skittering across my skin.
God this was stupid and I should know better, but there was this craving that I couldn’t seem to get rid of. It had been simmering for months and the contact of his lips against mine seemed to have unleashed it with a force even the most strong-willed person couldn’t combat against.
This irritating ache lingered throughout the night until it slithered its way up my chest and lodged itself there, unmoving.
I’d never experienced anything like it. The feeling was so foreign and unnatural to my nature that the only thing I could think of was how to get rid of it. The only thing I needed was how to fix it.
Because I couldn’t go on like this.
Whatever he’d inflicted me with, I needed to rid myself of.
My myriad of thoughts came to a screeching halt when the door finally creaked open. “Azara?” Michael said, slightly stunned by my presence. He stared at me then rubbed a hand over his face and blinked like he couldn’t conjure me being here. “What are you doing here?”
My heart was pounding so hard inside my chest, I could hear my pulse battering in my eardrums as my eyes fell to his bare chest and torso, momentarily distracted by the tight cords and deep ridges of his muscles.
Holy fuck.
I knew Michael was attractive—as much as I’d tried to ignore it—but this wasn’t what I was expecting. His joggers hung low, and I glimpsed at a dark dusting of hair that disappeared into his waistband that left my mouth watering at the sight.
It left almost nothing to the imagination and countless intricate tattoos covered the expense of his arms and the upper part of his chest. That on top of his messy bed hair and this heady scent wafting off him was a lethal combination.
I heard him say something, but I was too enthralled in my own thoughts to make out what he asked. My breathing turned shallow when my gaze landed on his lips, the sight of them lulling me into the memory of his lips against mine.
And how much I wanted the phantom sensation that had lingered to become reality again. The small whispers of a warning blared inside my head, but before I could come up with a list of reasons why I shouldn’t do what I did next, I closed the distance between us, threw my arms around his neck, and captured his mouth with my lips.
The butterflies I’d done my best to keep at bay exploded in my stomach, my heart fluttering out of control. The world around us disappeared once again, just like it had the first time he’d kissed me.
All of my thoughts sharpened to only focus on the possessiveness in his response to my kiss. His movements held no hesitation. He wrapped an arm around my back while the other moved to lift me up, my legs wrapping around his waist as we stumbled backward.
I heard the dim thud of a door slamming shut before the weight of his body pressed down on me, trapping me between him and a hard surface at my back. He slanted his face over mine, his tongue dipping past my lips. His kiss turned aggressive and the moan emanating from his throat vibrated into mine, making me dizzy with want.
My strappy heels dug against his back as he rolled his hips up and I felt his growing erection brush against my core, fueling my urgency for him even more. His skin was hot under my roaming hands and I needed to feel it against mine. As if he’d read my mind, his hands gripped the hem of my jumper.
“Off. Now,” he groaned over my lips. He continued kissing me, only briefly breaking away to swiftly pull the fabric over my head.
Michael kissed along the edge of my jaw and I gripped his hair, pulling him closer. His mouth burned a path down my chest, his teeth nipping along the way and there was something so erotic about the idea of him marking me.
“Michael…” my words trailed off as he rolled his hips up again.
He pulled his mouth away. An involuntary whimper of protest escaped me and I opened my eyes to find him already looking at me. His irises were drowned with dark desire as he spoke.
“Where do you want me?” His voice, pitched low and deep, danced across my skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake.
There was an endless list of where I wanted him, but only one held more urgency.
I gripped the hair on the nape of his neck. “On your knees.”
He slowly set me down on my feet, his hands firmly holding me steady by the waist. “With pleasure, gumiho ,” he whispered against my chest as he lightly trailed kisses over my dress until he hovered against my front.
“What do you need?” he breathed, looking up at me. His hands skimmed down to my hips, his fingers gripping over every inch like he was memorizing the feel of my body as I watched him lower himself to the ground.
He gripped the hem of my dress and with an excruciating slowness lifted it up to my midriff as his warm breath hit the inside of my thigh.
I glanced at him down on his knees before me and it sparked a foreign sensation inside my chest at watching him like this. His eyes shimmered with reverence as he paused for a moment and pried my knees apart to settle himself between them.
“Kiss me,” I commanded in a whisper.
“Where? If I aim to please you, I’ll need you to be a bit more precise.” He smiled, slow and lazy, satisfied with his torment.
I was heavily panting as he snaked his tongue up, my skin tingling in its wake. I let out a low moan when he bit the inside of my thigh before soothing it with his tongue and moving further up.
“You liked that, didn’t you?”
I hummed and squirmed against the sensation of his mouth almost exactly where I craved it, so I braced my hands on his head, my fingers snaking into his lush hair.
Emboldened by his possessive touch, I brought his face closer to the apex of my thighs. “Here.”
My heavy eyes fell shut when Michael brushed his nose against my covered pussy.
“ Fuck .” I heard him curse under his breath. “Is this where you want me, Azara?” he asked, his words muffled. The vibration sent a thrill of anticipation up my spine as I moaned the only word I could string together.
“Yes.”
The word was barely past my lips when I felt his fingers slide ever so slowly down inside the material of my thong. He pulled it from my pussy just enough to where I could feel his knuckles graze my cunt.
“Such a pretty pussy, Azara,” he rasped, his voice dripping with need, before he dragged his tongue up my slit in one long lick. My grip on his head tightened as he pulled away. “You’re dripping just for me aren’t you, gumiho .”
Frustration licked my veins at his baiting. I looked down to find him already peering up at me, the fabric of my dress hiding the bottom of his face.
I pushed his head harder into me, slowly twisting my hips to get him back where he needed to be. “Michael, stop fucking around and just?—”
The words died in my throat as he wrapped his lips around my clit and sucked it into his mouth. He then pushed two fingers up inside of me and I gasped at the sudden intrusion.
“ Fuck, ” I hissed under my breath at hearing the wet sound of my arousal against his fingers as they fucked me relentlessly.
He slightly tilted his head back, our gazes locked, as he began rhythmically pumping them in and out. A string of moans rippled out of my throat at the pleasure tingling down my spine as he licked and sucked everywhere he could. Every swipe of his tongue was deliberate, bringing me teetering over the edge.
It only took a few more drags of his tongue over my sensitive clit before my orgasm crashed over me like a tidal wave. I felt Michael hum against me as he continued licking the remnants of my orgasm.
His fingers glistened when he withdrew them. I watched him through hooded eyes as he shoved them into his mouth and the sight almost brought me down to my own knees.
Michael shuddered and satisfied rumbles reverberated from his chest as he stood. The gentle brush of his lips feathered across mine, and the remnants of my own taste flooded my senses.
“Better than I imagined,” he whispered before sucking my bottom lip between his teeth.
I felt drunk on him, the fumes of his scent mixed with my own so intoxicating, I could barely conjure enough words to respond other than with a deep sigh. His tongue circled my parted lips and I caught it with my own, wanting to know what I tasted like in his mouth.
I tore my lips from him and dragged them down his neck as his hands ran over my ass, exploring, but there was nothing gentle or tentative about it. He dragged a hand to my thigh, down the back of my leg, before bringing it to his waist and notching himself between my legs.
The fire that had slowly begun to subside from the high I’d felt between my thighs reignited with a passion when Michael grinded his cock against me.
A strangled sound between a moan and a whimper drowned out everything else around us.
“I need you,” I muttered against his skin before bringing my lips to him again, “inside me.”
“Anything you want,” he replied urgently in between kisses. “It’s all yours.”
His words snapped whatever self-control I was still holding on to and my hands hungrily reached for the elastic band of his joggers. Michael’s forehead dropped against mine and I felt him whimper against my lips travel to between my legs the moment my hand wrapped around his cock and I squeezed.
“Michael,” I moaned breathlessly, at the feel of him scorching under my palm, imagining what that would feel like inside. Our breaths mingled in the small space between our parted lips as I tugged on it, once, twice. I watched in fascination as the engorged tip of his cock slipped past the band of his joggers, a drop of precum leaking on my hand.
I wanted him inside me like I wanted my next breath, and I moved my other hand to shove his pants down his firm ass, but before I could pull all of him out, the sharp sound of a ringtone sounded from afar.
Mindless with greedy arousal, I ignored whatever it was and watched his cock spring free. And oh god , it was beautiful. It was the perfect amount of thick and long, and I could feel my cunt begging to be filled with it.
“ Fuck ,” Michael groaned against my lips as I ran my thumb over his tip, tugging on his length once more. “What are you doing to me?”
His words only managed to heighten my arousal. “I could ask you the same,” I whispered, my voice hoarse. I hadn’t intended to say that, but the words were out of my mouth before I could think twice about them.
His fingers dug into my thigh while his other hand yanked something off my body with one sharp tug, but I was too far gone to realize that he’d ripped my underwear off.
I maneuvered him to rest against me and shifted to slowly allow him to stretch me open when the shrill ringtone from earlier sounded again, the familiarity of it momentarily snapping me out of the haze.
My pager.
“Shit,” I cursed, letting him go and pushing him away. I stood on shaking legs as I looked around for my bag that was nowhere to be found. Where the fuck was it? It rang again, but the sound was more muffled the further into his apartment I went.
Groaning, I swung his front door open only to find my bag’s content scattered across the cream marbled floor. I snatched the small blue phone, answering before it rang again.
“This is Dr…” I started, momentarily forgetting my name. I cleared my throat. “Dr. Ziani,” I finally managed to say. I tried my best to listen to the doctor on the other end of the line while frantically shoving everything that had spilled out back into my bag. Once she finished giving me a quick rundown on the patient and his condition, I quickly laid out for her next steps while the team waited for my arrival.
I swiftly hung up and threw in the work phone amongst everything else. I stood up and expected to be faced with Michael’s disappointment of my dismissal but when I whirled around to face him, he had a giant grin plastered on his face.
A rumble of laughter sounded from his throat and it tugged at the corners of my lips, but I shook it off.
“Why are you laughing?” I asked, as he closed the distance between us. His renewed proximity sent a thrill down my spine but I forced myself to remember that I had to leave.
He grabbed the thin strap of my dress that had fallen to the side and hauled it into place before his lips grazed a small kiss to my exposed collarbone. “Just never thought I’d see the day where I got Dr. Ziani so flustered, she almost forgot her own name.”
I huffed at his implication despite the truth behind it. Before I could come up with a reply, he kneeled on one knee before me.
“I really have to go…” My words trailed off when he placed my free hand on his shoulder. I was about to ask what he was doing when his fingers grazed my right calf and he began undoing the leather straps.
An unfamiliar warmth spread through my chest. I watched as he removed my heel, then the other before pulling socks on my feet and placing them in a pair of Crocs that were at least twice my feet size. The gentleness in his touch was such a jarring contrast from just a few minutes ago that I didn’t know how to react.
“Arms up, love,” he ordered gently before getting back on his feet. I normally would have questioned him, but in this moment, I just did exactly as told.
I felt a butter soft fabric, much warmer than what I’d worn to come here, being tugged down around me, the fabric almost reaching my knees. A woodsy scent mixed with Michael’s body odor enveloped me and I found myself wanting to bury my nose in it for hours.
Michael’s finger pushed the stray hairs that had clung to my face from the static and tucked them behind my ear. “It’s cold outside,” he explained.
I tilted my head to look at him. “Thank you,” I managed to say through the small knot that had formed in my throat. “I should go,” I added, hesitantly.
“Yeah,” he replied, taking a step back and shoving his hands in his pockets.
I didn’t want to leave despite knowing I really had to.
I was so fucked.
I briefly hesitated for a moment before placing a small kiss to his lips and making my first sound decision in the past twenty-four hours.
I left.