Nicholas couldn't remember the last time he felt this desperate. This undone.
Ella had always been a problem. A walking temptation in every sense. But tonight—tonight she was something else entirely. Not just beautiful. Not just infuriatingly smug in that dress that fit her like a secret meant only for him to discover. She was his. In his lap. In his arms. Under his skin.
And God, he was losing control by the second.
She leaned in, her lips brushing just beneath his jaw like she had no idea what she was doing to him.
But she did. She absolutely did.
She had him wrapped around her finger, and they both knew it. Her perfume, soft and sweet, curled into his lungs and made him feel intoxicated. Like she was the only oxygen in the room. The sound of her laugh, the curve of her smile, the way she tilted her head—it was all becoming unbearable.
