The Fall of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 2) (47 page)

He laughed incredulously. “Are you kidding? You chained me to a bed in fear
of ‘raping me.’ In the shorter scheme of things, we didn’t do the deed, but at least I know now where your head is at. And to be perfectly honest, I don’t give a damn about keeping our ‘friendship’ safe and healthy. Our friendship can burn in friendship hell for all I care.”

Yoori wanted to gasp at Tae Hyun’s display of hatred for the term she used to describe them. She resisted the urge. She was too angry to even want to loiter on the topic for any significant amount of time.
 

“You’re such a delusional fool.” A small part of her wondered if she meant that insult to be directed at both him
 
and
 her. “Anyway, answer my question now. Are you actually naked under the comforter?”

“Of course I am,” he answered after studying her for a bit.

She gasped.

Not giving her a chance to delve in the glory of his naked body hovering over her, he continued on, his eyes filled with resolution and determination.
 “Anyway, we should talk about what happened last night.” 

“Aren’t we talking about it right now?” she asked, still not over the fact that her
 “friend” was naked above her. 

“We’re talking about
the seduction part – not about the part that really matters.”

Yoori stiffened. She’d rather talk about the seduction part than venture into the part where Tae Hyun told her that he wanted more with her (and where she confessed that she wanted more with him as well). The part that “mattered” was harder for her to have a discussion about.

Tae Hyun persevered, ignoring her reticence with this topic. “I told you that I’m done beating around the bush and I’m not joking about that. I meant everything I said last night. I want you and I want something more with you.” 

“I don’t want to talk about this,” Yoori muttered stubbornly. She knew how immature she sounded but it couldn’t be helped. She really didn’t want to talk about it.

Amusement gleamed in his determined eyes. “Should I bring out the charms again to seduce you into having this conversation?” 

“Oh
, please don’t,” she pleaded a bit too urgently. She knew that she sucked at life when it came to trying to resist his charms. She was only able to skirt away from him last night because she chained him to the bed. She doubted Tae Hyun would allot her the same opportunity this time around.

“Why are you so afraid of all this?” Though his voice was soft, it was powerful enough to lift the walls she had begun to place up.

“Because we’re friends,” Yoori combated feebly. It was such a stupid statement because after what occurred last night, how could she even label them as friends? But she had to try. God help her if she didn’t fight this. She was already melting under him and that was a stupid move for her. It was one thing to lust after him; it was another to even dare to consider having something more with him.

Yoori may be stubborn, but she knew Tae Hyun was just as stubborn as her.

A charismatic grin waltzed across his sexy lips. He caressed her hair and bestowed her with a kiss on the forehead. Yoori held in the need to whimper when he did this.

Oh crap, he was starting.
 

Seduction, Round 2:
 
On
.

“You cuff your ‘friends’ to the bedpost in fear of losing control and sleeping with them?” he crooned temptingly.
 

Yoori braced herself.

“I was drunk last night,” she defended, her cheeks flushing more fiercely. 

“I don’t want to be your friend,” he replied with a sigh.

His gaze ran over the glow of her skin in the early morning. With the boredom of not being able to touch her sparked within him, Tae Hyun brought up a hand, rested his fingers on her cheek and begun to trace it slowly. He was aware that even mere touches from him drove Yoori insane. 

Yoori resisted the urge to blink and breathe in pleasure. Though his eyes were still dazed
with interest, Yoori knew better. Tae Hyun made it appear as if he didn’t know that his casual touch was driving her insane, but Yoori knew that Tae Hyun, being the talented tease that he was, knew exactly what he had to do to get her to give into temptation. It appeared that his tactic was working. She was already beginning to melt under his teasing caress. 

Garnering all the control she had, she went on to say, “But you’ll be my
 
best 
friend. Remember? BFF? That’s more special.”

“Chae Young has that title. I don’t like to share,” he dismissed, distractedly tracing his fingers down to the collar of her bone. Yoori felt her stomach perform cartwheels. She eyed his
striking face and then ran her gaze over the teeth mark that was left on his shoulder, left by her the night before.

“But you’ll
be the boy best friend,” she went on desperately, knowing fairly well that her “control” was being pushed over the edge again. “That’s special too.”

“Hmmm…” he hummed pleasingly, suddenly extracting his fingers away from her skin.
 

Yoori’s body was ready to weep at the absence of his touch until she realized that Tae Hyun’s only intention was to give up on the foreplay of merely teasing her skin with his fingers. Slowly, he dipped down, his warm lips finding the side of her chin. Feathering delicate kisses on her, his lips trailed up her jaw and then found the delicateness of her right ear.
 

Parting his lips over the earlobe, he began
to nibble on it before whispering, “That’s tempting but I’ll pass…”

“Tae Hyun!” Yoori whimpered once his tongue teased her sensitive earlobe.

Her breathing was now utterly shallow. Yoori knew that the best thing to do was to push him off for putting her through this sinful enticement once more. She should push him off. It was 
that
 easy. It was that easy yet she didn’t have the strength to do it. She didn’t have the desire to push him away. It couldn’t hurt if she just allowed that amazing mouth of his to nibble on her ears a bit more…it wasn’t like he hadn’t done it before…

“Can’t I just be your boyfriend?” he negotiated with an innocent murmur. He nibbled again, making Yoori squirm from the pleasure. He hastened to add, “I promise I’ll be the best boyfriend.”

Bastard. Bastard. Bastard.

He was trying to seduce her into being his girlfriend and it was working!
Bastard! Why did he have to be so skillful?
Yoori squirmed uncontrollably, finally letting out a little whimper.

Maybe it couldn’t hurt to just ask, right? She already knew he was talented in the seductive and physical stuff…

“Will I like being your girlfriend?” Yoori asked stupidly and mindlessly. Her defenses were completely obliterated as she felt his hot breath grin in victory at her question. She was screwed and she knew it. 

He gave her a kiss on her cheek and then rose back up on his elbows. He shook his head at her question and then readjusted his naked body under the comforter. He gazed down at her sensually, his cologne filling her nostrils more so than it did before.
 

“No, you’ll hate it,” he said, the smile having yet to leave his countenance.

A storm of perplexity came into her lustful eyes. 

Noting the bewilderment
in her gaze, his smile widened. He dipped down again, his lips finding her bare shoulder. “You’ll hate it because I’ll spoil you rotten.” His warm breath and tongue teased the burning skin on her shoulder. 

Yoori held back the urge to blink in delight. Surely she must exhibit
some
 control, right?

He went on, his voice shrouded with unbridled sensuality. “You’ll hate it because I’ll always be on your mind – even more so than now.” His lips moved toward her neck. Yoori instinctively arched herself to give Tae Hyun better access to her neck. “You’ll hate it because you’ll get used to my warmth, my embrace, my kisses…”

Yoori gasped for breath once she felt him suckling and giving love bites on the sensitive skin of her neck. He knew after last night that it was her weakness. It should be a cardinal sin that this guy was so damn sexy and so damn good at making her burn with desire. 

After spending a couple of seconds on the spot during which Yoori was breathing in approval, Tae Hyun showered her with kisses
all around her neck, her collarbones and then moved up to her chin and finally rested his lips just above hers. His lips weren’t touching hers but his hot breath continued to act as a sexual stimulant that made her want to pounce on him.

“You’ll love my presence and loathe my absence,” he went on mercilessly, his captivating eyes clearly seeing the control dissipate out of Yoori. “It’ll get so bad that you’ll wonder how you ever came this far without me...”
 

Needless to say, Yoori was more than losing her senses. It wasn’t until Tae Hyun broke eye contact to stare up at something did Yoori fall out of her staring state. Overcome with the spell he placed her in, she involuntarily followed his gaze.
 

“I’ll be your drug, your addictive drug,” he continued alluringly when she caught sight of the handcuff dangling off the bed post, a souvenir of what took place on their bed the night before. Her body grew warm at the remembrance. His lips were still hovering over her lips, teasing her and seducing her further.

And then it happened. 

Snaking his powerful arms behind her back, he smiled when he raised her up to face him. There was a wicked gleam in his eyes that mirrored the look of last night. He was ready again – ready to strip her of her final control. “You’ll be at my mercy,
 baby…just like I’m at yours.”

That was it for Yoori.
 

Her arms instinctively encircled around his neck and all was lost when his teasing lips finally claimed her yearning ones.

“Tae Hyun…” Yoori whispered breathlessly.

Their lips parted and his kiss consumed her. She was completely and utterly lost in a world of ecstasy.
 

“I’m all yours,” he reminded her, pulling her closer to his chest. Their lips crushed upon one another with more passion and care. Yoori was going crazy. She was absolutely going crazy with the longing blazing inside her.
 

“Are you all mine?” he prompted in breathless anticipation.

Panting with fervor, her lips continued to seek out Tae Hyun’s. As the passion swallowed her whole, Yoori finally
 
gave Tae Hyun her unbridled answer.

“I – I’m really afraid, Tae Hyun,” she whispered in between their kiss, meaning it with all her heart. Her fear wrapped over her, pulling her out of the blissful trance Tae Hyun worked so hard to place her in. She hated herself. She hated the unknown fears that just pushed her away from Tae Hyun. “I’m
 so
afraid...”

He stilled at the trepidation emanating from her trembling body.
 

“Why are you so afraid?” he asked, pulling out of the kiss. His right hand caressed and held her cheek. His eyes swirled with questions. He was trying to understand why she was afraid and Yoori felt horrible because she didn’t know the reason herself.

With her arms still wrapped securely around his neck, Yoori just impulsively lied and said, “Because I like being friends with you.” 

It was a horrible lie because that wasn’t the reason. If she knew, she would tell him. But that was the
thing, she didn’t know what the answer was. She just knew it existed and it was coiling in the pit of her stomach.

Annoyance dimmed his gaze. He knew that wasn’t the reason why she was so afraid. However, he didn’t push her on it.

“No offense, but I’ve never considered you as a friend,” he instead bit out.

“But I considered
 you a friend,” she retorted before quietly muttering, “My BFF.”

“What do you want me to do about that, Yoori?” he asked impatiently. She could tell he was annoyed with her using the same old excuse. She didn’t blame him. She was annoying herself too. “Any chance of us going back to the way things were was pretty much shot to hell when you jumped on me last night.”

Yoori blushed. How was a girl supposed to respond to that? 

His face softened at the sight of her blush. “You really know how to ruin the mood, don’t you?”
 He eased himself away from her slightly. “You’re killing me, Brat,” he persisted wearily. “I’ve never had to seduce a girl like this and I’ve never been this sappy with any girl. So just put me out of my misery and awkwardness. Just tell me what I need to do to convince you that it’ll all be worth it.” 

Yoori admired his persistence. She wished she had his confidence and bravery. She had always been spineless. If things got too hard, she would run from them. It was a habit of hers and it was one that was still alive and well in her.
 

“A
re you saying it’ll be easy?” If it was, then she would’ve agreed to it last night, but it wasn’t. She may have been drunk, but she knew she was on to something. No matter how much they both may want it, they didn’t belong together. They wouldn’t have a happy ending together.