I Dare You (Truth And Dare Duet 2)

Fire burned under my flesh. My stomach tightened.

Maddox groaned into my lips, and his hips jerked against mine. He swore and broke the kiss, his fist curling around my hair, to tug my head back, before he attacked my throat. He bit into my skin and suckled the pain away.

He hurt me.

He soothed me.

His palm cupped my breast, squeezing the heavy weight. There was a riot of emotions, brewing inside of me. So loud, so insane, so reckless.

I cried out, as his teeth sank deeper into my throat. It hurt. He kissed the pain away, whispering against my skin. “Lila. Lila. Lila. Lila.”

Oh God, it hurt so good.

My nails dug hard into his scalp, and he grunted, a rough sound that had my core pooling with warmth.

The distant sound of the knob turning pulled me out of this insanity. My eyes snapped open, and I saw the bathroom door opening. I gasped, pushing Maddox away and gulping for air.

He stumbled back, his eyes wide and glassy. So blue… deep like the ocean. Burning with so much need. A lust so fiery, it scared me.

I jumped off the counter and brought a shaky hand to my lips. Two elderly women joined us in the bathroom, and Maddox pushed past them, walking away without a word, without another glance.

My skin tingled with the aftermath of our kisses, even as coldness seeped through my pores. The two women gave me a knowing look, but I quickly averted my gaze and left the bathroom.

Maddox was pacing the corridor. He didn’t meet my eyes, when I settled in the chair, wringing my hands in my lap.

That… would have destroyed me.

That kiss, if it had gone any further, would have killed me.

I wasn’t strong enough to stop Maddox, because I was just as greedy for him, as he was for me. Such passion was too dangerous to be tested, to be played with.

There was no way we could dangle such temptation in front of ourselves and not snap. Neither of us was strong enough to resist it. In a single heartbeat, we’d be devouring each other.

Hours later, I still hadn’t moved from the chair. Maddox and I hadn’t spoken a word to each other. Though, we were, both, hyperaware of each other’s attention and closeness.

Savannah walked out of the room, looking completely exhausted. “Should I order dinner? You two must be hungry.”

I swallowed past the lump in my throat. It hurt. God, it hurt so much. Shaking, I stood up and avoided looking at Maddox. “I should leave. It’s late…”

Savannah gave me a small smile and mouthed, thank you.

She walked back inside, but left the door open, this time. For Maddox. A silent invitation.

The back of my eyes burned. It was time for me to leave. I took a step away, my heart dropping to my feet, as I did.

Maddox’s hand snaked out, and he clasped my wrist. Our eyes met. There was a heartbreaking silence between us, as if he could tell what I was thinking. He begged me with his eyes. I pleaded to him, silently.

Such foolish love it was.

“Stay,” he breathed.

“I can’t,” I whispered.

This second lasted longer. It lasted a lifetime. This second was the beginning, the middle and the end of our love. It was the first sentence, the paragraph, the page of our incomplete story.

The blue in his eyes darkened, and I memorized every speck in them. Eyes that I could drown in, and I guess… I did. Blue eyes that were the first thing I noticed when I bumped into him in that coffee shop, almost five years ago. It was his… eyes. Always.

A second.

Maddox let go.

I walked away.

Riley put her textbook away, when I walked inside our apartment, and gave me an expectant look. It must have been the expression on my face or the tear-stained marks on my cheeks, but Riley, wordlessly, opened her arms for me.

I slumped into her embrace and choked back a sob that threatened to escape. “God, it’s so hard. Walking away from him hurts, and every time I do it, it chips off another piece of my heart.”

She rubbed my arms, soothingly. “Why did you walk away, this time?”

“I thought we could be just friends again.” My voice leaked my pain, and I shuddered, holding back another cry. “I even gave myself a little pep talk. I said I won’t fall for his charms, won’t succumb to his touches. But the moment he kissed me, I forgot all of it and kissed him back.”

I wiped away the tears and lifted my head up, staring at Riley’s face. Her brows were pinched, and she gave me a sympathetic look. “We almost had sex in the hospital’s bathroom, Riley. If those two women didn’t walk in on us, he would have fucked me right against that sink, while his father laid dying a few feet away.”