Chapter 261: alone in a suite II

Chapter 261: Chapter 261: alone in a suite II

The television continued playing in the background.

Nothing had changed.

The same news anchor was talking about the storm.

The same rain was hitting the windows.

And Damian was still sitting a few feet away from Vivienne, looking far too tense for someone who insisted he was perfectly comfortable.

She glanced at him.

He cleared his throat.

"I’m not stiff."

Vivienne turned toward him.

"You are."

"I’m comfortable."

"You look uncomfortable."

"I’m fine."

She studied him for a moment.

"You don’t look fine."

Vivienne laughed softly.

He was adorable when he was embarrassed.

She shifted a little closer.

Damian noticed immediately.

His body seemed to tense even more.

That only made her smile.

Her gaze dropped to his arm.

Then she reached out.

Her fingertips touched his bicep.

She pressed lightly.

"Oh."

Damian froze.

Vivienne smiled.

"All muscle."

He looked at her.

She laughed.

"Wow."

She touched his arm again, just to make sure she wasn’t imagining it.

"You really are stiff."

She knew exactly what she was doing.

She was teasing him.

And, if she was being completely honest with herself, she wanted to see what he would do.

Judging by his expression, she had finally gotten the reaction she wanted.

--

(Damian POV)

Vivienne laughed.

"You really are stiff."

Damian looked at her.

She was still touching his arm.

Still smiling.

Still completely unaware—or perhaps simply unconcerned—with how close she had pushed him to the edge.

Something inside him finally snapped.

He had spent the entire day telling himself to stop.

Not to hope.

Not to misread her.

Not to let himself be pulled back into wanting her.

And she had spent the entire day doing exactly the opposite.

Sitting beside him.

Remembering what he liked.

Feeding him cake.

Eating from the same fork.

Touching him.

Teasing him.

And now this.

They were alone.

She was sitting beside him in a robe, her fingers still resting against his bare arm.

He could feel the warmth of her touch.

Could see the amusement in her eyes.

She wasn’t pulling away.

She wasn’t uncomfortable.

If anything, she seemed to be enjoying his reaction.

Damian’s heartbeat thundered in his ears.

He knew he should stop.

He knew this was the point where he was supposed to regain control.

But he had already spent the entire day fighting himself.

And he was tired of fighting.

His gaze dropped to her lips.

Vivienne noticed.

For the briefest moment, her smile faded.

Neither of them moved.

Damian searched her expression for some reason to pull back.

He found none.

Only curiosity.

Only that faint, playful warmth that had been there all day.

His restraint finally gave out.

He turned toward her and...

He kissed her.

It wasn’t careful.

It wasn’t planned.

It was simply the kiss of someone who had finally run out of restraint.

The first touch of her lips against his made his thoughts disappear.

Soft.

Warm.

Real.

For one stunned second, Damian could barely comprehend that he was actually kissing her.

Vivienne didn’t push him away.

That small fact was enough to send his heart racing even harder.

He had expected shock.

Perhaps anger.

Perhaps the sharp realization that he had gone too far.

Instead, she remained there.

Still.

Then, slowly, she relaxed.

Damian took that as encouragement.

The kiss deepened only slightly, his hesitation giving way to the overwhelming relief of finally doing what he had imagined doing for far too long.

He had dreamed about this.

More times than he wanted to admit.

But none of those dreams had prepared him for the reality of her.

For the softness of her lips.

For the warmth between them.

For the simple fact that she was actually here.

With him.

Not Anthony.

Not anyone else.

Just him.

His hand lifted almost instinctively, stopping for a moment before settling lightly against her arm.

He was still afraid that if he moved too quickly, the moment would disappear.

So he stayed there.

Kissing her.

Trying to convince himself that this was really happening.

And when Vivienne still didn’t pull away, something dangerously hopeful settled inside his chest.

Maybe—

Maybe she wanted this too.

--

(Vivienne POV)

Vivienne didn’t move.

For several seconds, her mind seemed to have completely stopped working.

Damian had kissed her.

Actually kissed her.

She hadn’t expected it.

Not really.

She had been teasing him.

She had wanted to see how flustered she could make him. 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

She had touched his arm because she found his reaction amusing.

She hadn’t expected him to suddenly turn toward her and—

Kiss her.

Her first instinct was surprise.

Her second was the very reasonable realization that this was, in part, her fault.

She had been pushing him all day.

Testing him.

Seeing how far she could go.

And now he had finally reached his limit.

Vivienne knew that.

She couldn’t exactly blame him for reacting after everything she’d done.

But then another thought slipped through her mind.

She liked it.

That was the inconvenient truth.

She liked being kissed by Damian.

She liked the warmth of him.

She liked the fact that someone who had spent the entire day trying so hard to restrain himself had finally stopped pretending he didn’t want her.

And Damian—

Well.

He was very handsome.

Very.

Vivienne had been aware of that for a long time.

But knowing someone was handsome was one thing.

Feeling him kiss her was another.

She wasn’t nineteen.

She wasn’t some inexperienced girl who had no idea what she was feeling.

She had loved someone before.

She had been in a long relationship.

She knew attraction.

She knew desire.

And she knew the difference between liking someone’s attention and actually wanting them.

The problem was that, right now, she was feeling both.

She liked Damian’s attention.

She liked the way he looked at her.

She liked knowing that he wanted her.

And she couldn’t deny that she wanted him too.

At least physically.

That was the part she wasn’t ready to examine too closely.

Because there was still Christopher.

Her heart still leaned toward Christopher.

That hadn’t changed simply because Damian had kissed her.

She still liked Christopher more.

She knew that.

So what was she doing?

Vivienne’s thoughts tangled together.

She should probably stop this.

She should probably create some distance.

She should—

But Damian was still there.

Still kissing her.

And for one selfish, impulsive moment, Vivienne decided she didn’t want to think about tomorrow.

She didn’t want to think about Christopher.

She didn’t want to think about what this meant.

She simply wanted to stay in this moment.

Because being wanted like this felt very, very good.

And perhaps that was the most dangerous part of all.

--

TBC

AN: High time we reach this kiss, though yes, sorry, it’s a little abrupt and... but come on!! I think this should be the normal reaction. He wants her so much so uhm a normal man his age wont think of, let’s go walk under the sun walking hand by hand. Hahahahaha