Page 26 of Run of Ruin

He didn’t pull away. If anything, he drew just a little closer, not enough to cross a line in front of the onlookers, but enough to make meachefor it.

“I don’t know what to trust,” I whispered, the words slipping out before I could decide if I meant to say them aloud.

“You can trust me,” he replied.

“Yesterday,” I began, “you said your only goal was to make Canyon pay for electing you.”

“Yesterday, thatwasmy only goal,” he said. His thumb moved along the curve of my spine, slow enough to feel deliberate. “Then you came along and ruined it.”

I gave a short, breathless laugh, but it died in my throat when our eyes met again. There was nothing guarded in his face now, just heat, and something that felt dangerously close to longing.

“I don’t want to ruin you,” I said.

His gaze dropped to my lips, lingering this time. “Too late.”

I didn’t move. Didn’t breathe. My whole body felt suspended in that space between decision and surrender.

“You look like you want to kiss me,” I whispered because I couldn’t focus on anything else.

He didn’t deny it. “Tell me not to,” he said. But his voice was already unsteady.

I didn’t. I couldn’t.

Our eyes locked, and the world around us faded. It was as if there was no one else in the room but the two of us. The only thing that existed was the heat rising between us, the electric pull that threatened to consume us both. His hand slid lower, drifting gently along the small of my back, pulling me even closer. I felt the heat of his touch sear through my dress, the longing inside me intensifying with each passing second.

By the time the song ended, I was burning with need. Heat pooled between my thighs, an ache I couldn’t ignore. But Ezra didn’t pull away. He just held me there, as the music shifted into another song. And then another. The minutes passed, but neither of us seemed to care. We simply moved together, lost in the rhythm of each other’s presence, and the growing hunger in my core.

When the final notes of the third song rang out, Ezra took my hand, his grip firm and steady. He led me from the dancefloor, through the crowd, and toward the quiet edge of the ballroom. The eyes of the onlookers faded into the background, and my pulse quickened as we left the safety of thecrowd. He didn’t say a word as we moved deeper into the hall, away from prying eyes. He turned a corner, then another. Traveling through a maze that no camera could follow.

As we stepped into a shadowed hallway, the music became nothing more than a distant hum. The air here was cooler, quieter, more intimate. I could feel every nerve in my body tense with anticipation. Ezra stalked toward me, his eyes dark with desire, chest heaving with each sharp breath. My heart pounded as I stepped back, my shoulders brushing against the cold stone wall behind me. The low sounds of the ballroom faded further, leaving only the sound of our ragged breaths.

He didn’t hesitate. His hand shot out, resting on the wall above my head, effectively caging me in. I swallowed, staring up at him. I was desperate for him to touch me, to kiss me, to break the tension that was threatening to snap.

His eyes flicked from my lips to my eyes, the heat building between us so thick it was almost suffocating. I didn’t know what would happen next, but at that moment, I didn’t care. All that mattered was him, and the way he was making my entire body ache for him.

“Please,” I breathed into the darkness, my voice barely a whisper.

In an instant, his lips were on mine, fierce and demanding. His hands cradled my face, fingers digging into my skin as I clutched at his neck, pulling him closer, desperate for more. His kiss was relentless, deep, and as he teased the seam of my lips with his tongue, I couldn’t help but open to him, letting him take control. A moan escaped me, the pleasure building between us, a perfect balance of giving and taking.

I felt weightless, as if the world had disappeared around us, but at the same time, his body pressed against mine, grounding me with its heat and strength. It was as ifeverything else had ceased to exist, and the only thing that mattered was the electric connection between us.

Instinct took over, pure unbridled mindless passion, and I hitched a leg over his hip. One of his hands slid down to hold it in place and he drove his hips forward. I felt the hard evidence of his arousal pressing against my center and I groaned at the pleasure and simultaneous anger that we had so many layers of clothing separating our needy bodies from each other.

“I need to touch you,” he whispered against my lips and the cry I released was nothing short of desperate.

“Then do it,” I exclaimed as our lips locked together.

His fingers danced along my thigh, pushing the flared skirt up and up until it bunched around my waist exposing my panty covered core to him. His fingertips brushed along the sensitive skin on my inner thigh and my head fell back against the wall, my mouth falling open on a pleasure-filled sigh. I didn’t know where to put my hands, I wanted them everywhere all at once. I wanted to explore him, to keep him, to pleasure him. I gripped his hair, holding his lips to my skin. His mouth took advantage of my exposed neck, and he began peppering hot, needy kisses to the skin there as his fingers continued to travel higher and higher on my thighs.

I had only a brief moment where I wondered if what I was doing was reckless. Naive, or indulgent. I should be focused on surviving this, on making it out alive and getting back to my brother. It was selfish of me to feel this much. To lose myself, however momentarily, in the feel of this relative stranger. But just as the doubt came, the resolve washed it away. Tomorrow wasn’t guaranteed. I may not walk out of here alive, and if I do, I may not walk out as myself. So, I would take what little pleasures life offered me, and I wouldindulge. I deserved to be a little reckless since my life was on the line.

The first brush of his finger along my panties sent a jolt of pleasure through me, the second drew out a thick moan. The third had my stomach clenching and my mouth seeking his.

When our lips crashed against each other again, I whispered into his kiss, “Touch me, Ezra. Please.”

His eyes flared, pupils blown with white hot desire consuming him. He was just as lost to this sensation as I was.

He slid the edge of my panties aside and in a delicious, quick thrust, two fingers entered my soaking wet pussy. I almost screamed out, but his lips silenced mine, drinking my scream in his kiss. His teeth captured my bottom lip and bit down, offering a twinge of wonderful pain to perfectly pair with the overwhelming pleasure he was drawing from me with his talented fingers.

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