Chapter 146

Ava

My breathing was ragged as Chris’s mouth moved feverishly against mine. Our bodies were tangled together in a desperate heap on the plush office sofa, his hands roaming over my curves and bunching up the silky fabric of my black dress.

“Ava…” he groaned against my lips before trailing scorching kisses along my jawline. The coarse bristle of his five o’clock shadow scraped deliciously over my sensitive skin, eliciting a shudder from me.

I wound my fingers into the soft strands of his hair, tugging him closer to me as our hips rocked together. With each rough thrust, the familiar scent of his cologne and body wash overwhelmed my senses, blocking everything else out.

With a low growl, he captured my lips with his. Our tongues swirled together hungrily as his hands slid higher beneath my dress, cupping the swell of my breasts through the thin lace of my bra.

A strangled moan escaped my throat as he pushed his member deeper into me. I felt a new flush of wetness burst forth from me, my back arching away from the couch and a curse slipping from my lips. Chris, grinning like he had just won the lottery, looped his arm around my waist and pulled me up to a seated position.

“Your turn,” he groaned, leaning back on his palms.

He didn’t need to tell me twice. I dug my teeth into my lower lip as I began to grind my hips back and forth, one hand coming up to graze his chest with my fingernails. Chris shuddered and tipped his head back, his throat working nonstop with each quivering inhale and exhale.

Faster, faster I moved until all that was between us were the sounds of our heavy breathing and flesh slapping against flesh. Hiking up my skirt a little further, I pushed one hand into his chest and shoved him down into the couch cushions. I couldn’t help but grin as his fingers moved to dig into the soft meat of my hip, and I placed my hand over his, pushing his fingers in even harder.

“Oh, Ava,” he groaned, gritting his teeth. “I love you, but you’re gonna make me—”

“Come,” I murmured. I leaned down until my breath was fanning across his face, then dipped my head to nip at his ear. “Come for me.”

Chris’s eyes rolled back almost as though his body was instinctively following my orders. Pushing myself up just enough to watch him, I slammed my hips down against him and ground them back and forth, my hair falling into my eyes and sweat dripping down the back of my neck.

Then, with one last guttural groan, Chris finished himself into me—filling me, each pulse of his thick member causing me to shudder with ecstasy.

We collapsed into a languid heap right there on the sofa, our limbs tangled and our skin glowing with a fine sheen of sweat in the flickering candlelight. When we finally pulled apart, the air smelling like sweet musk, it was all I could do to pull my panties back into place before my head fell back onto his chest.

For a while, neither of us said a word. His heartbeat thrummed steadily against my ear as his fingers raked idly through my tousled hair—which had long since fallen loose from its updo. I hummed contentedly, drawing shapeless patterns over the hard plane of his abdomen.

“That was…” He chuckled, his deep voice vibrating against my cheek. “Incredible.”

I angled my head to grin up at him impishly. “It’s been too long since we did that.”

Chris rolled us swiftly so I was pinned beneath him, my giggles muffled by his smiling lips. “Now that our relationship is public, we don’t need to hide so much,” he groaned softly into my ear as his fingers traced circles around my hard nipples. “Although, I admit I’ll probably miss it.”

“I suppose all the sneaking around is pretty exciting,” I replied.

Chris huffed and pushed himself up onto one palm. “We’ll have to find other ways to be exciting. Like me taking you on plenty of dates, wining and dining you…”

I arched a quizzical eyebrow at him. “Is that your plan?”

“Of course.” He brushed a few stray tendrils of hair back from my damp brow. “Now that we’re public, I think it’s finally time to do this relationship justice. Take you on real, proper dates like a doting boyfriend should.”

I snorted softly, shaking my head in amusement. Given the chaos swirling around us lately, conventional dating seemed rather trivial. “I don’t think that’s necessary—”

“It is to me,” Chris interrupted firmly, handing me my wine. “You’re my girlfriend, Ava, and someday you’ll be my official Luna. My partner in every sense of the word. And I’ll be damned if I don’t treat you like the remarkable woman you are.”

“You’d better not spoil me,” I chided him, sitting up and sipping my wine as he tugged his briefs back up. “You know I don’t need much.”

He grinned wolfishly and bent over to me, tangling a fist in my hair to angle my mouth toward his. “Don’t tell me what to do…”

Our kisses quickly grew heated once more, our hands roaming over each other’s bodies and our breaths mingling in the air between us. Despite the reservations I still held over our relationship going public, I couldn’t help but allow myself to enjoy these moments, to lay back and simply let his lips trail hot paths down every expanse of exposed skin.

At some point, we broke apart just enough for me to catch my breath. I could still hear the distant sounds of raucous laughter and music spilling through the office windows from the square below.

“They’re still going strong with the festivities, I see,” I murmured, grazing my fingers along the sharp line of Chris’s stubbled jaw.

He hummed in agreement, nuzzling into the crook of my neck to trail open-mouthed kisses along my throat. “Good... That’s exactly how Degas would have wanted it. And he wanted this for us, too.”

His deep voice was slightly muffled against my skin, sending shivers through my muscles. Sighing, I raked my fingers soothingly through his tousled chestnut hair as he went on. He was right; Degas did tell us to be together right before he passed. It was one of the last things he said to us, and I intended to cherish it.

Chris sighed deeply and sat up, reaching for his glass of wine. He took a sip and mused, “No more hiding, no more sneaking around…” He leaned over and left a lingering kiss just below my ear. “We’re free to love openly now, Ava. And nothing will come between us again.”

I smiled softly at that, although there was still a hint of trepidation inside of me. As much as those words made my heart soar, there was still so much in the way—the Elders, for starters. Elise’s threat from the ball. Olivia was still out there, somewhere, and there was no telling what she might do if she found out that Chris actually intended on making me his Luna.

But right now, I didn’t want to think about any of that. Right now, I just wanted to be with him. Tonight wasn’t just about celebrating Degas’s life—it was about celebrating all of life, all of its weirdness, all of its beauty.

Cradling his face in my hands, I guided his lips back to mine. Our bodies melted together once more as the sounds of the party drifted up from outside.