Chapter 2 #2
For several breaths—or maybe several minutes—we sat in silence. The din of the bar swelled around us: laughter, clinking glasses, music thrumming from the speakers. And yet, my world narrowed to this man.
We stared into our respective drinks as if the answers to life’s mysteries resided at the bottom of the glass.
“How old are you, Violet?”
His voice broke the taut silence, and I snapped my head in his direction.
“Why?” I asked, narrowing my eyes slightly.
He lifted one shoulder in a lazy shrug.
“I didn’t know what else to ask,” he admitted. “Seems better than the two of us sitting here, wrestling our demons.”
He had a point.
“Twenty-one,” I said, dragging my finger through the condensation pooling on the bar top. “Old enough to drink, thank God.”
“Thank God for small mercies,” he agreed.
“And you?”
“Thirty-one,” he replied. “And apparently way too old for this shit.” He paused, then huffed a dry laugh. “Or maybe too young. I haven’t decided yet.”
I studied him from the corner of my eye—the tiredness in his gaze, the way his shoulders were hiked up around his ears.
A part of me wanted to know his story, simply because it might help me forget my own, at least for a little while. But something told me he didn’t want to talk about it. He wanted to forget.
“Do you want to get out of here?” I blurted. “I’m staying with a friend, so maybe a hotel?”
I didn’t know where I found the courage to utter the words, but there they were, out in the open. It was as if I’d left my own body and was existing in a different reality—one where I could afford to be carefree again.
“Get out of here?” he repeated slowly.
I nodded, my cheeks burning. My skin was on fire, but it was too late to retract the words. Besides, I didn’t want to take them back. There was nothing wrong with two consenting adults choosing to forget their troubles for a night.
“Yeah.” I would have to bolt if he asked for clarification. I only had so much courage stored away. “Do Greeks not usually leave bars with perfect strangers?”
His chest shook a little as a chuckle broke loose.
“They do.” Shit, maybe he wasn’t interested in me. “I have one condition.”
My eyebrows arched. “Hopefully, it’s a condom.”
He laughed fully this time, the sound so damn delicious that my toes curled and I leaned closer to soak in the sound.
“That’s a must, but that wasn’t what I had in mind.
My condition is no hotels.” My cheeks colored with embarrassment at the idea of getting lost in this handsome man in a dark corner.
No, I couldn’t do that. I opened my mouth when he added, “I have a penthouse on the top floor. It’ll give us privacy. ”
“Oh.”
“Is that a problem?”
“No, that’ll work,” I breathed out.
Then his fingers closed around mine and I slid off the stool, following him toward the elevator that would take us up ten floors.
My heart hammered against my ribs as I shoved all thoughts from my mind, yet grief lurked in the hollow corners.
I stumbled and Lykos slowed his stride, steadying me. “Second thoughts?”
There was sincere concern in his voice, and maybe on a different day, I would have left him, gone home, put pj’s on, and debriefed with Sophie on the mysterious man I’d met.
But I didn’t, because deep down, I knew he could make me forget.
And forgetting was the only thing I’d let myself want for years now.
I met his dark eyes and shook my head. “No second thoughts.”
We stepped into the glass elevator and the doors slid shut with a soft whisper, sealing us inside the quiet capsule. Then the lift began its smooth ascent—up, up, and higher still—so effortlessly that it felt as if we were floating rather than rising.
With every passing floor, the city stretched like a living map beneath us. Streets unraveled into ribbons of light, and the higher we climbed, the wider the world seemed to yawn.
Finally, a soft ding broke the silence.
The elevator slowed to a gentle stop and the doors parted with the same quiet elegance.
Towering windows framed the skyline and warm light spilled across polished floors. The space was vast, and I couldn’t help feeling like I’d stepped into the sky itself.
Before I could comment on the view, he whirled me around and pinned me against the entryway wall.
We stood face-to-face, his erection hot and heavy against me. My chest heaved, each quick breath brushing my breasts against his expensive suit.
“I’ve never done this before,” I murmured, then quickly added, “Gone home with a stranger.”
He lowered his forehead against mine and rasped, “Me neither. And truthfully, it’s been a while for me in general.”
I swallowed my disbelief. He was every woman’s dream, and just looking at him made me tremble with desire. But the man had no reason to lie, and I appreciated his honesty.
I angled my face up and brushed my lips against his.
A groan—low and primal—vibrated in his chest as he crushed his mouth into mine with a desperation that sent shockwaves through me.
My lips parted instantly, welcoming his warmth while his tongue slid against mine in a way that had me pressing my thighs together.
He kissed me like he was starving for affection. Just like I was.
He tangled his fingers in my hair and pushed my strands to the side, cupping my nape. I was at his mercy and my body relished it.
He abandoned my bruised lips and buried his face in my neck, sending shivers down my spine as his lips traced my collarbone. I slid my fingers through his thick hair.
He skimmed every inch of my exposed skin until his teeth found my earlobe and he bit down. It was almost as if he wanted to mark me, and I didn’t mind the idea one bit.
He licked the sensitive spot, nibbling, assaulting it with his tongue, before whispering, “Tonight, you’re all mine, golden one.”
“Yes.” My voice was too breathy. “Just for tonight.”
His thumb grazed my pulse and he rasped, “And I get to do whatever I want to you.” I moaned in response, the idea thrilling. “You’ll tell me if you don’t like something, won’t you?”
“Yeah…” I trailed off, because I was certain this man knew exactly what he was doing and I would love every single second of it. Or maybe I couldn’t think rationally, but then that was the point, wasn’t it?
“Good.” His tongue lapped at the shell of my ear. “Open your legs.”
I did as he said, and while he was still holding my nape with one palm, he reached under my dress with his other and cupped my pussy.
“I’m going to rip these little panties right off you.”
A gasp tore from my throat. “Please.”
His thumb slid up and under the waistband of my panties.
“I’m keeping these,” he said before shredding the delicate lace and circling my opening, teasing me.
My hips arched into his touch as his fingers slid against my wet entrance, sending shudders down my spine. Then he thrust a finger inside me.
I went on my tiptoes, stifling a moan.
“Fuck. You’re drenched,” he rasped, driving his finger deeper. His other hand was in my hair now, fisting it. “I’m not going to last long like this.”
Maybe there was a part of me that was wrong, because I liked the idea of being the reason this man spilled too soon.
My inner walls clenched greedily, needing to be filled.
His hand dropped away, and a light slap to my pussy followed.
My eyes snapped open. “Wha—”
“I’ll give you what you need, but you’ll take it my way.” I exhaled sharply. Another, firmer smack landed in the same spot, and I had to bite my lip to keep from audibly panting. “Understood?”
“Yes.” I reached up, wrapped my hands around his neck, and pulled his head down. “But then you’ll take what I give you too.”
Without hesitation, his hands slowly drifted to my ass, and I realized I loved his hands on me. He squeezed hard and hoisted me up, letting me wrap my legs around him as he shoved my back against the wall.
“You even smell like violets,” he whispered into my ear. “How is that possible?”
“You smell amazing too.”
A groan reverberated from his chest and he pulled me off the wall. Holding me firmly against him with one hand, he carried me through the penthouse while the moon watched us kiss like tomorrow wasn’t promised.
He dropped me onto the bed, immediately reaching for my dress and pulling it over my head. My bra soon followed, and I sat naked on the edge of the mattress, his gaze reverent on me.
It should have bothered me that he was still in his suit while I was naked, but it didn’t. It made me feel strangely powerful. Maybe it was the way he watched me, or maybe it was the bulge in his pants that seemed to twitch at the mere sight of me.
Either way, it was intoxicating.
He lowered to his knees and began kissing the inside of my knee, then slowly trailed his lips up my inner thigh.
Desire ignited through every nerve and demanded more. I felt lit up, like he’d flipped some hidden switch.
“I want to taste you.”
“Lykos…” It felt like he was branding my skin everywhere his fingers caressed, making me his. And I wanted him. I needed him. “You don’t have to take it slow with me,” I choked out, my pulse hammering.
“Yes, I do, because you, golden one, need worshiping.” I gulped as his fingers dug into my flesh. “Spread your legs.”
I did, and he settled between them like he belonged there.
I cried out as his tongue dragged slowly over my clit, arching for his mouth.
As if he knew exactly what I needed, he sucked. Licked. Flicked his tongue over my sensitive clit over and over again. My lower torso bowed off the bed, straining for him, moaning for him, aching for him.
“Oh God… God…” I breathed, the words barely a sigh. He licked me with purpose, his tongue flicking just where I craved it. “P-please. I need you.” I broke off, my voice sounding vulnerable to my own ears.
He parted me with his tongue, then thrust inside my entrance, and my orgasm detonated. I came undone, waves of pleasure tearing through me.
“Oh,” I sighed.