Chapter 95: What Do You Want?

Blair lay stiff as a board in the dark.

She was pinned to the mattress. Daemus’s solid, naked chest was pressed flush against her back, radiating a heat that seeped right through her shirt. His muscular arm was banded tightly around her waist, holding her to his body, while his face was buried deep in the crook of her neck.

She could feel the slow, steady puff of his warm breath washing over her skin with every exhale.

She was wide awake. How could she possibly sleep like this? Having him wrapped around her so intimately was sending her nervous system into a frenzy. A small, panicked corner of her brain reminded her of how furious Clarice was going to be tomorrow morning, but that thought was quickly drowned out by her current situation.

Blair’s mind drifted downward. The only barrier separating his hips from her butt was a flat, saggy pillow he had wedged between them. She hyper-fixated on the sensation, her brain running wild. Is he hard right now?

Her face instantly flooded with a fiery heat. She squeezed her eyes shut. No. Stop it. I don’t need to know that.

"Can’t sleep?"

Daemus’s deep voice vibrated against her collarbone, startled her so badly she let out a tiny gasp.

"I-I’m not tired," Blair stuttered shyly into the dark, her fingers nervously twisting the bedsheets.

Daemus let out a low hum. "I can’t sleep either."

Blair swallowed hard, her pulse jumping. "You’re not tired?"

Before he answered, she felt his large, warm hand slide beneath the hem of her shirt. Her breath hitched sharply in her throat, her stomach fluttering as his fingertips brushed the bare skin of her waist.

"I am tired..." Daemus murmured, his voice dropping into a husky, breathless whisper as his hand trailed agonizingly slowly upward along her ribs, "...of holding myself back with you."

Blair’s eyes fluttered shut. His hand slid higher, his palm coming to rest over the soft cotton of her bra, gently cupping her breast.

Daemus paused his movements. "I heard it’s uncomfortable to sleep with a bra on."

His warm lips brushed a feather-light kiss against her neck. "Do you want me to take it off?"

Blair’s heart hammered a frantic mile a minute against her ribs. Every alarm bell in her mind was screaming at her to say no. She knew exactly what this meant. If they crossed this line tonight, there might be no going back. She was terrified.

But her body was completely ignoring her brain. Without saying a word, she offered a small, trembling nod.

Daemus didn’t hesitate. His hand moved with an effortless skill beneath her shirt. In a matter of seconds, he popped the clasp, slipped the straps down her arms from under the tee, and pulled the garment out of her sleeve. He tossed the bra over the edge of the mattress.

When his hand returned, finding her bare breast, Blair gasped.

He gently squeezed, his thumb brushing across her skin. Blair’s breathing instantly slowed, growing ragged and shallow. She clenched her thighs tightly together beneath the blankets, fighting the pooling ache building low in her belly as every slow caress of his hand and every soft, lingering kiss pressed to her neck aroused her more and more.

A soft, breathy whimper slipped past Blair’s lips.

She instinctively arched her back just a fraction, pressing herself deeper into his hand. She desperately wanted more. She wanted him to touch her harder, to ease the unbearable, throbbing tension growing between her thighs, but the embarrassing words failed her. She couldn’t say it.

Daemus felt her shifting. He smirked against her skin.

"You can only get what you want," Daemus whispered smoothly into her ear, "when you ask for it."

Immediately, he withdrew his hand from beneath her shirt.

Blair bit down hard on her bottom lip to silence a frustrated groan of protest as the glorious heat and friction vanished.

The mattress shifted as Daemus rolled away, flipping over to lay flat on his back.

Deprived of his touch, Blair pushed herself up. She sat up on her knees in the middle of the bed and turned to face him. The pale moonlight filtering through the sheer curtains illuminated the bed, casting a silver glow over his features. He was looking up at her, a lazy, smug smirk playing on his lips.

Blair’s gaze drifted on its own accord. Her eyes traveled down his muscular chest, tracing the hard lines of his abdomen, until they landed squarely on the distinct, straining bulge tenting the fabric of his sweatpants.

She quickly snapped her eyes back up to his face, her cheeks burning.

"What do you want, Bunny?" Daemus teased, his silver eyes flashing with dark amusement.

Blair’s mind raced. In this moment, she only had one thought left in her head. She wanted to feel good. She wanted to run her hands over his skin. She wanted his hands all over her. Her heart hammered wildly under his intense gaze.

Daemus just laid there, watching her flush. He made no move to touch her, perfectly content to let her set the pace. He had no intentions of rushing her.

But the longer he stared at her, the harder it became to maintain his casual facade.

He crossed his arms behind his head and sank into the pillows. It looked like a relaxed pose, but in reality, he was hiding his hands. Razor-sharp claws had extended from his fingertips, digging deep into the feathers of the pillowcase. His primal instincts were tearing him apart from the inside.

Take her. Take her! Take her! his mind screamed.

Daemus ground his teeth together, his jaw ticking. I am in control, he fiercely reminded himself.

But that fragile control began to seriously fracture a second later.

Blair reached down to her waist. With trembling fingers, she pushed the waistband of her sweatpants down over her hips. She shimmied the fabric down her legs and kicked them away to the end of the bed.

She sat back on her heels, dressed in nothing but the shirt and her panties.

The sweet scent of her arousal hit Daemus’s senses like a physical blow.

Daemus forced his expression to remain perfectly calm and unbothered, but beneath his skin, he was fighting a war against his own demons.

"Daemus," Blair said quietly, a beautiful, shy blush dusting her pale cheeks.

Hearing his name fall from her lips almost shattered him completely. Surrounded by the silver moonlight, she looked like a soft, delicate flower. She was so fragile, so incredibly pretty, and every single instinct in his body was screaming at him to destroy her.

Blair looked down at her lap, her fingers nervously twisting the hem of her shirt.

"I want..." Blair started, but her voice faltered.