Chapter 10 Heroes and Villains #2
“Right… fine… because this is totally normal,” I muttered under my breath.
Clearly, the next logical step when faced with an infuriatingly calm, half-undressed demon was not to just stand there and stare at him.
And engaging with him any longer felt like tempting fate in ways I was absolutely not prepared to deal with.
Nope, not today, horny Eliza!
So, the solution was easy… distance.
Immediate, necessary distance. And the dressing room offered exactly that.
Or at least the illusion of it. Hence why I took it without hesitation, stepping inside and letting out a slow breath the moment I crossed the threshold.
As though the simple act of putting a few feet and a doorway between us might somehow steady the strange, restless energy that had begun to coil low in my chest.
Needless to say,… It didn’t.
No, if anything, it only made me more aware of him.
I could just picture exactly what he was doing now. The slow removal of fabric, the broad line of his shoulders, the markings I had only just forced myself to stop staring at. Would he stop at his shirt, or was he currently pulling free his belt through the hoops of his slacks?
“Stop it,” I whispered to myself, reaching behind me with more determination than necessary as my fingers searched for the ties of my dress.
This part, at least, should have been simple. It had certainly felt simple enough earlier when getting into the damn thing!
But now…
No, now it was like the dress had decided to betray me entirely.
My fingers brushed over the lacing at my back, tracing the tight weave of it as I tried to find where it began.
Or ended. Or however it was supposed to work.
The material was firm beneath my touch, the corset pulled far tighter than I had realized.
Which meant that no matter how I twisted or shifted my shoulders, I couldn’t seem to find the right place to loosen it.
I tugged gently.
Nothing.
So, I tugged a little harder.
Still nothing.
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered, twisting slightly and trying again, only managing to tighten something instead of loosening it. The fabric pressed more firmly against my ribs in quiet defiance.
“How was this so easy to get into and yet apparently impossible to get out of?!” From the other side of the door, his voice carried through, smooth and far too composed.
“Do you require assistance?”
I froze instantly, every muscle going still as though the question itself had caught me mid-movement.
Did I want his help undressing me… Absolfrigginlutely… was it a good idea… Hell friggin no!
“No!” I replied quickly, far too quickly in fact. Now, straightening slightly as though that somehow restored a dignity that had already very clearly been compromised.
“I am perfectly capable, thank you.”
Silence followed, and it was the heavy, knowing kind that had me holding my breath.
The kind that suggested he didn’t believe a single word of that.
I huffed softly under my breath and reached back again, more determined now.
My fingers tugged insistently at the lacing as though sheer stubbornness might succeed where logic had failed.
It didn’t.
If anything, it felt tighter.
“Unbelievable!” I muttered, shifting again, trying to see over my shoulder this time, which only made the whole thing worse.
“Who designs something like this?” I complained before jumping up and down a little, hoping to potentially slip my torso out of the constricting bodice. I had no idea how I looked when doing this, and I wouldn’t have cared. That was until I realized I wasn’t as alone as I wanted to be.
My first clue to this was the faint movement behind me.
So subtle I almost missed it.
Almost.
Because the next thing I registered was warmth. Not the distant kind I had been pretending not to notice before, but something intimately close.
His hands came to rest at my waist, framing my sides in a gentle but possessive way. I gasped, the sound catching somewhere between surprise and something else entirely as my body reacted before my mind could catch up. An abrupt awareness rippled through me at the sudden contact.
“Easy,” he murmured, his voice close enough that I could feel the warmth of it brush against my ear. The quiet sound sent a shiver down my spine that had absolutely nothing to do with the temperature of the room.
My breath hitched.
“What are you doing?” I demanded, though the question came out softer than intended, unsteady in a way that immediately irritated me.
“Playing the hero,” he replied smoothly, and I could hear the faint amusement in it, feel it even, as though it settled into the space between us.
“The dress isn’t the enemy,” I shot back quickly, grasping for something that sounded like control, even as my hands dropped uselessly from the lacing.
“You are,” I added, and a quiet sound left him, something almost like a breath of laughter.
“Ah, but she wounds me so,” he said softly as if speaking to himself. Something I ignored in place of telling him,
“I’m fine.” However, my insistence rang hollow even to my own ears.
Because I wasn’t fine. Not when I was suddenly very aware of how close he was.
Not when his hands were still resting at my waist, not gripping, not restraining, just…
there. Warm and steady, the heat of them seeping through the thin fabric of my dress and into my skin in a way that felt entirely too noticeable.
He didn’t move immediately. He simply waited.
“I can step back,” he said after a moment, his voice quieter now, closer, the words brushing against my ear,
“And enjoy watching you continue to struggle.” I swallowed, my cheeks aflame when he teased,
“I especially liked the part where you tried to jump out of it.” I released a shameful groan; one he chuckled at.
“Or you can let me help you,” he continued, the choice settling heavily between us, and the worst part was, I already knew it wasn’t really a choice at all.
A slow breath left me as my shoulders dropped, the tension easing just enough to feel the shift, my head dipping slightly in quiet, reluctant surrender.
“…fine.”
The word barely left my lips before he got started. His hands settled first at my shoulders before sliding down the bare line of my back. A slow and sensual caress as they followed the lacing all the way to the base of my spine.
I felt everything.
Every gentle touch and slight tug of movement as he pulled the length of fabric through the corset holes.
Every breath against the back of my neck.
Even the faint scent of him, something dark, clean, and unmistakably him, was threading through the air and settling far too easily into my senses.
Goddess, I wanted to drink him all in, consequences be damned!
The first release of tension was subtle, a slight give in the corset, a loosening that eased just enough to make a difference.
A breath slipped from me before I could stop it, my body reacting instinctively as the pressure around my ribs eased.
The fabric no longer holding me quite so tightly.
His hands stilled for the briefest moment as though he had noticed. But of course, he had.
He continued, each careful movement loosening the dress further until the tight structure that had held everything in place began to give way entirely.
My breath caught as he ran his large hands down my bare back, as if soothing the imprints the corset’s boning had left behind. Then I felt his lips at my neck, kissing his way up to my ear so he could whisper…
“Looks like your villain saved the day.”