Chapter 79
~MILLIE~
I know we’ve been in this situation before, but this time, everything was for real. It was easier to keep my heart from falling for him when I knew we were only pretending, but this time, everything was different.
A warm feeling bloomed in my belly, spreading to my upper and lower body like an army of ants eating away my resolve.
Just to keep my mind busy and my hand from reaching over and kissing the life out of him, I went for the burger and started munching on it, hiding my face from Damian.
I felt him shake his head, then he asked. “Why are you blushing?”
“Whawt? I’m nowt bwushwing,” I murmured through a mouthful of burger, peering at him for more conviction.
I focused on anything but Damian: the chatter around us, the stale scent of cigarettes and alcohol, and the burger I was eating. It was indeed the best burger I had ever tasted. The meat on the patty wasn’t oily, and the flavors kept exploding in my palette with each chew.
A low chuckle rumbled from Damian. “You already know I love everything about you, Why are you blushing?”
I choked on my food, coughing. Slamming my fist on my chest, Damian handed me a glass of water as he rubbed my back. I dropped the half- eaten burger down the red tray and drank the entire glass of water.
My heart drummed wilder. It must be from my almost choking, right? Uhg… who was I kidding, and why the f u c k am I fighting this thing between us? I love Damian. I’ve been in love with him since high school, and I don’t think I ever stopped loving him. Time just separated us, and my feelings were rekindled by our fake relationship. And now he’s practically waving a neon green flag before me, making his intentions crystal clear. It might not be the ‘I love you’ I wanted to hear, but we’re definitely headed down that road.
I faced him, eyebrows furrowed, while I let him sit in the front row and witness how red my face was. “Even the s t u p i d parts of me, huh?”
He hummed a yes, reached for his own food, and took a huge bite. I watched with helpless abandon as he licked the smeared dressing on his lips, setting my entire body on fire and my cheeks in flames. My mouth hung open, a slow beat pulsed in my cli t, and the inner walls of my pus y clenched tightly.
He knew how to push my buttons, and I loved and hated every second at the same time.
“Everything,” he said, taking another huge bite of his burger. My fist balled as I watched him lick the smear of dressing from his lips again, chew his food slowly. His throat bobbed up and down as he swallowed.
I never thought eating a burger could be this hot and s e x y. Damian could pass for a burger endorser and he’d double his net worth within a
month for sure.
I gulped down the quickly swelling ball of need in my throat and reached for one of the rock glasses Faye brought, taking a huge swig of whatever liquid it was in.
My face scrunched. A warm and smooth sensation swirled down my throat. It’s bourbon.
Shaking my head, I stared at the glass and downed its remaining content, enjoying the hot liquid warming up my entire system. Damian watched me, fascination smoldering in his eyes.
“Then kiss me,” I said. “Kiss me like you mean it, like you regret leaving me, like you missed me all those nights, too… just like I did.” Slack-jawed, he only peered at me as though I had grown two heads. There was a long pause. Everything was hanging in the air. Then his eyes
J M
Chapter 79
blazed. His nostrils flared. Every inch of him bristled. It felt like a lifetime had gone by before Damian pawed the back of my neck, and his mouth covered mine.
His fingers dug deep into my skin, trembling as he held my head in place.
They were wrong. That burger Faye served us wasn’t the best burger in town. Zeppelin’s burger was better served straight from Damian’s mouth. I tasted the flavors with the notes of sin and need and everything in between. Damian growled as I spread my palms on his chest, feeling his heartbeat grow wilder when I opened my lips and allowed him all access to drink deep from my mouth. He devoured me like he meant it like he missed me so badly he couldn’t get enough of my mouth.
I moaned, fist n g his shirt, trying to keep up with each slide of his tongue against mine:
“Damian,” I breathe, my lips moving against his.
His kiss was better than the last. Warm, soft and masculine, and freaking delicious.
I want him to devour every inch of my body, leaving handprints on my skin. I want him to bite me, lick me, f u c k me in every way between tender and brutal. I want him to make me forget the last few weeks we’d been apart. I want him to make me forget that he still hasn’t told me why he
left.
Just for tonight.
J
Resting our foreheads together as we came up for air, I sighed as our lips hovered against one another.
Every ounce of my willpower melted under his searing gaze. I missed him so badly that what I said next fell off my lips like honey. It was a raw and unfiltered need. “Make love to me, Damian.”
There was a moment-a long, breathless moment-when I could almost hear the thread of his self-control tearing apart.
d
”
He growled, shook his head, and stood, leaving me cold and confused in our booth. My mind was still reeling from the toe-curling kiss he had just given me. I watched with furrowed brows as Damian walked away and out of the door. He was out of sight as if I had just imagined kissing him seconds ago.
My eyes watered, his rejection hitting me straight in the heart, but before the cr a c k of heartbreak spread like a deadly virus meant to end me, he barrelled through the door and headed for me. He was a bull seeing red.
”
**
He gripped my elbow and guided me up from my seat and out of the diner. Catcalls followed us through the door until it slammed shut.
“C
דיי
“Damian. What’s going on?” I hissed, s ta g g e r i n on my sneakers as he dragged me towards the side of the diner.
First, we fought, then we talked about the past, and then that kiss. My brain malfunctioned just keeping up with the emotions this night had brought me.
I was both confused and hurt and lost in what was happening. He pushed me against the wall, caging me with his hands and body.
“I left not because I’m rejecting you, Millicent,” he said. “The devil knows how much I wanted to be balls deep buried inside your p u s s y. I f uc k i n g missed you.” His dark eyes grew softer as he gripped my jaws, swiping his thumb over my lips. “But I want to take things slow and make things right this time, and you’re making it so f u c k i n g hard, you know that?”
Lost for words, I could only gape at him. My wild eyes take in the storm raging inside him.
“Why are you holding back?” I asked, leaning in to kiss him, but he stepped away from me. I hugged myself, suddenly cold and agitated, as he turned his back on me.
His shoulders were a bunch of knots as he exhaled. “I’m not doing this for myself.” Then he faced me, the low light of the parking lot
Chapter 79
illuminating the agony he was holding in. “If we do this now, you’ll regret it tomorrow.”
I shook my head no. “Why would I regret something I want, Damian?” Removing the space between us, I released a breath when he allowed me to cup his face. “I want this. I want you.” He closed his eyes. I could hear the war raging inside him. “Don’t you want me, too?”
How the tables had shifted was beyond me. How did I end up the only party here who wanted us to be together again? Didn’t he say that he wanted to win me over? This was me waving the white flag, surrendering to this force pulling us together.
“I do. G o d knows how much I want you, but it’s not a matter of what I want this time,” he murmured. “It’s about doing the right thing. When I make love to you, I don’t want it to be fueled by lust.”
What he said was a bucket of ice-cold water dumped over my head. I recoiled, stepping back. He reached for me before I could get away. “Don’t… don’t go down that road, please, baby,” he said, cupping my face gently. His voice was soft, and so were his eyes. “Don’t overthink. It’s not just sex that I want from you. I want to win your heart the right way. I made that promise to you, and I meant to keep it, even if I die from having blue balls every time you’re near me.”
I smiled at him, feeling lightheaded.
Who was this man standing in front of me? The pretend boyfriend I’d been with would jump at any opportunity to sleep with me. His self-control was stronger than mine.
There was no point in arguing with him when he said the right things, so I smiled at him and threw my arms around his neck, burying my face in his chest.
“What happened to you, Damian?” I murmured.
He sighed, enveloping me in his warm embrace. “A lot, Millicent, and it made me realize how important you are. I don’t want to ruin this chance that you’re giving me.”
I pulled away and looked up at him. He smirked and you stared at me with those f c k me eyes.”
can you promise not to test my self-control from now on? I almost lost it when
“F u c k me eyes?” I chuckled, raising an eyebrow at him as I smiled wickedly.
His brows knitted together. “You’re not going to make this easy for me, are you?”
I giggled and laced our hands together, tugging him back inside the diner. “When did I behave like a ‘bad girl?”
His hold on me tightened, pinning me with a dark-lashed gaze. It was a warning, a sign for me to stop playing with fire. But like a moth attracted to the flames, it only made me want to push Damian’s button.
I pressed my body closer to him as we walked back to our booth. Catcalls and hooting followed Damian, but he paid them no mind. His eyes were pinned on me as I pressed my breast on his arms, rubbing myself on him like a feline seeking warmth.
“I’m warning you, Millicent,” he said in a low voice as we settled in our booth again; our food had gone cold. He raised a hand and called a server passing by, ordering a bottle of bourbon. He leaned closer and whispered in my ears. “I might be keen on not f u c k i n g you yet, but that doesn’t stop me from punishing you.”
Excitement brewed in the pit of my belly. “What are you going to do, Sir?”
He growled. “Keep testing my patience and you will find you soon enough.”
I meant to throw another comeback, but his phone rang. He pulled it out, frowning at the screen. It wasn’t my intention to peek at who was calling him, but because I was practically sitting on his lap, I saw the caller ID.
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