Page 80 of Between Desire and Denial
“The best. And you know, now that I’m back, I keep finding out more and more about her.”
“Like what?”
She looked away for a moment and then said, “I think she truly would have built us a bubble and protected us from everyone she felt would wrong us. And I sort of hate that she can’t be here to do that, because… I think Knox needs it.” She sighed.
“It’s okay for you to need that too, Olive.” I stepped in her path now and touched my hand to her cheek. “And it’s okay to miss her. But you don’t have to run from me or from how someone out there is making you feel. You’re entitled to be here just as much as anyone else.”
She shook her curls back and forth. “You don’t get it. Melly’s right. You should be with someone like her, and you probably want to be.”
I slid my thumb across her smooth skin to wipe away one tear. “I wouldn’t touch that woman with a ten-foot pole, Olive. You could drag me across hot coals at this point instead of having me look at another woman, honestly. You have my attention 24-7, and I’m struggling with how to not act on it.”
She closed her eyes tight and murmured, “Her lipstick is on your collared shirt, Dimitri.”
“Fuck me.” I groaned. Melly had tried to lean in and kiss me, but I’d sidestepped her, and she’d fallen into my shirt. “I didn’t do a damn thing with her, you know that, right?”
“You know, in my heart, when Rufford cheated, I knew. Right away. With you, I knew right away too, Dimitri. It just… it hurts to see the idea of it and to see she’d be that cruel still. I know, though, you wouldn’t cheat, even if this was only fake.”
“But you know it’s not fake with me and you, right?” I needed to hear her say it now.
She nodded instead and looked up at the sky. “I don’t know if I can add one more complicated thing to my life though. I can’t… What would we even tell Kee?”
“I’m not worrying about that now, Olive. I’m just enjoying the dance.” With that, I pulled her close and kissed her softly.
She gripped my shirt and moaned into me. When she stepped away for a second, she murmured, “You know, my brother and dad and Georgette would actually tell you that you’re indulging in my dramatics tonight.”
“Hardly. I was the one who carried you into the woods.”
She giggled. “Like a caveman.”
“Because I am one when it comes to you. I’d fuck you in the woods if I could.” She bit her lip before she glanced away. “Youwant me to do it?” I asked as I touched the blush on her cheeks that was suddenly there. “I’ve been waiting to fuck you all night.”
“We aren’t supposed to do anything else, Dimitri,” she whispered. “Remember, you crossed the line with the birth control. It was completely reckless, and even if you’re reckless, I shouldn’t be. Melly’s friend just said that in there. I’m a perfect example of a mess. Complete chaos. And even still, I’m about to give into you because I’m getting to the point where I can’t deny myself.”
“Good. Don’t deny yourself. Give in. How are you supposed to experience everything you want to after Rufford without giving in to me, huh?” I wrapped my arm around her waist and lowered my face to her neck. She tilted her head, giving me instant access to drag my tongue over her soft spot. “You going to deny me even while standing here in Melly’s backyard?”
She licked her lips so slow. “If you try,” she glanced around, “I might run.”
“But if I catch you, Honeybee, I’m taking what I want.” I dragged my hand over her chest and then twisted her nipple through the fabric. She gasped as she watched me do it.
“You want this? Me? All my chaos over Melly?” she said, a vulnerability in her tone, like she needed to hear it. “Tell me, please.”
“I only want you. I’d run through the damn woods for you, chasing you like I’m as unhinged as you tell me I am. I want only your pretty pussy. I want to fuck you against a damn tree and make you scream my name for everyone to hear.”
She was panting now and clinging to my suit jacket. “You’d do that here?”
“I’d take you anywhere. Butespeciallyhere.”
“Melly could find out you did that in her backyard,” she warned, but I saw how her nipples puckered as she said it, like she wanted that woman to know how we truly were together.
“I hope she does find out, Olive. I hope she does. You have five seconds to run. When I catch you, I’m not going to stop until you scream.”
She didn’t even let me finish. She bolted off through the woods, and I only counted to three because I wanted her that bad.
I sprinted through the grass in my expensive loafers, not caring about anything but catching her. I swerved around some hedges before the forest thickened a bit. I heard a branch break under her weight, then a gasp once or twice.
I turned in the night at a snapping branch. When I heard her breathing turn rapid as she ducked behind a large tree, I walked slowly toward it. “Honeybee, you can’t hide from me. I’m always going to find you. Don’t you know that?” I reached around the tree and grabbed her arm. She yelped as I pulled her to me. “Caught you,” I murmured against her neck.
She didn’t face me as she said, “So take what you want.” She bent at her waist and put her hands on the tree.
