The Fall of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 2) (43 page)

Yoori gasped mentally when she realized that the sultry gleam in his eyes wasn’t her imagination.
He was actually looking at her like that! 

“I – I don’t know,” Yoori replied, moving away from the touch of his hand. She retreated and stopped only when she backed into a wall, not realizing that it may have been a bad idea to trap herself between a wall and Tae Hyun.
 

“Yoori…you’re acting really strange,” he commented, tilting his head at her. His voice was supple, sensual even.
 

“I – I think I’m really drunk,” she confessed, trembling in her stance.
 

Holy crap. What the hell was going on with her?

“Are you really?” He casually drew closer to her. There was much interest when he asked this. 

She nodded, hiding her hands behind her back to keep from reaching out and molesting Tae Hyun.
 

“How do you know you’re drunk?”
 he inquired.

“Be – Because…” she answered, her eyes strategically placed on the tiles so she wouldn’t have to look at him.
 “You look really different to me right now.”

He smiled uncertainly. “I – I look
 different?” 

She nodded again, contemplating running into the bathroom so she could take a cold shower. She wanted to but she didn’t want to make a scene.
 She laughed fretfully, desperately wanting to appease the sudden burst of desire that was scorching through her. 

“Okay, you’re going to laugh when you hear this. Hahaha um…um…
right now…I think it’s seriously the alcohol in me…but I don’t know…it feels like you’re hitting on me right now. Which I know is 
not
happening. So I’m just a bit freaked out with myself right now. That’s all…heh, heh, heh – ” 

“I
am
hitting on you,” Tae Hyun remarked without any hesitation. 

WHAT?

Her eyes nearly fell out of her sockets. 

She did her best to ignore the thumping of her eager heart.
 “You…you’re joking, right?”

He shook his head, his body already drawing closer to her. When there was a considerable space between them, he placed a hand on her hip and pulled her just a bit closer to him.
 

“I have a confession to make.”
 

“Wh – What is it?”
 

“I’ve been holding back on you,” he whispered, his free hand running up her bare shoulder. He ran his fingers down from her shoulder, to her arms and all the way to the palm of her hands. He continued this hypnotizing motion as they spoke.
 

“Hold – Holding back on what?” she stuttered.

She was downright stupefied with all that was happening to her. She was going crazy with the enrapturing touch his dancing fingers were performing for her arms. His riveting brown eyes stared deep into hers, the adulation within them making it appear as if his eyes were only made for her. It was then that she knew what it was he had been holding back on. He confirmed her speculations by verbally answering her. 

“All these months…I’ve held back from you. I’ve wanted you for God knows how long, but I’ve held back because I thought it was merely infatuation.” He smiled, stroking her hair before lifting her chin up with his fingers. “I’m seeing things clearly now and I’ve decided that I’m not going to hold back on you anymore.”

He sighed and rested his hand back on her hips. 

Yoori tried not to whimper in pleasure from his casual touch. With her confused eyes on him, she did her best to maintain the control that she was slowly losing.

“I’ve decided that I want you, Choi Yoori,” he continued, his expression desirous and serious. “I want your warmth, your body, your essence, your heart – all of you. There will be no more beating around the bushes, no more subtleties. I want you and there’s no more doubt in my mind about that.” 

“This…this is so wrong,” Yoori spluttered out, the socially awkward side of her coming out.
 

He smiled seductively, anticipating her being uncomfortable with his forward nature. He lightly grabbed her shaking hand and laid it above his bare chest, over his heart.

Yoori fought for air when he did this. 

Air!

Where the hell did all the air go?

If Yoori thought Tae Hyun was good at seduction before, she was in for a hell of a show now…
 

“Was it wrong when we kissed at the lake house?” he asked delicately, dipping down and nipping his nose with hers, never kissing her yet attracting her lips like magnets. His warm breath lingered around her, enticing her further.
 

Yoori restrained herself when she saw that her lips were following his as his nose nipped hers upward. She could feel her lips yearning for his. No. It was
burning
for him. 

Damn her weak lips, she cursed in her head. Damn her weak body!

He continued, his voice smooth and sexy, stroking over her senses. It was like his voice was just made for her and her alone.

“Was it wrong when we were about to kiss on the bridge?” He nuzzled his chin against her neck, leaving her with the strongest desire to bring her hands up and just hold him there.
 He moved his lips against her ears. “The only thing that’s been wrong,” he began, his warm breath caressing her skin, “is us denying
 
each other all these months.” 

“This…this is only infatuation,” Yoori struggled to answer. She combated the urge to wrap her arms around him and kiss him until the fire burned her alive. “Your words right now are just infatuation.”
 

“It’s not.”

“Yes, yes it is!” she yelled, wondering why she had no strength to just push him away. “This…this isn’t right, Tae Hyun. We’re not meant for each other.” 

If her words spiked any pain within him, he surely didn’t show it. In lieu of saying anything, he merely held the wrist of her hand, which was still pressed firmly above his chest – above his heart.
 

“This…” he began, never flickering his gaze from her, “is all yours.”
 

She could feel the heat from his skin and the beating of his heart, and she wondered if it was true.
 

As if anticipating her doubt, he moved her hand downward, slowly –
very slowly –
past the muscles of his chest, past his breathing abdomen and stopping only when her hand reached the hem of the towel that wrapped around his waist. 

“All of this…is
 
entirely
 yours.” 

With her hand still hanging over his towel, he released his hold on her and allowed her to make her own decision on what she wanted to do next.
 

“Make the first move, Yoori,” said Tae Hyun, his voice fine and smooth like seductive chocolate. His voice, however seductive it was, was also veiled with a light of apprehension. He wasn’t going to force her to do anything she didn’t want to do. It was her choice.
All her choice… 

“Just let me know,” he stated gently, his desire for her driving her crazy as well. “Let me know that you want me just as much as I want you and I’ll take care of the rest.”

He smiled warmly at her, taking her breath away with the mere handsomeness of his stare. 

It was working, he was breaking through the barriers of her senses and he was commanding the attention and desire of every fiber on her body. All she wanted to do now was rip off his towel.

Damn him, she thought. Damn him for making her lose control. Damn him for making her do what she was about to do. Damn this hot bastard for making her give into her temptations, especially with the last of his words that drove her over the edge.

“I promise it’ll all be worth it. Every splendid, euphoric and magical moment of it will be worth it. You’ll have me, baby...
all of me.”

Dazed with disjointed thoughts, Yoori found herself mindlessly touching his abdomen, her shaky fingers floating around the towel for God knows how long. The silky heat of his skin embraced her touch and warmed her senses. Her fingers murmured over the tight packs of his stomach, moving up and down between each packs. Breathing was definitely becoming an issue for her. Trying to breathe regularly while also trying to stay alive from the hormones raging through her was suffocating her.
 Then, as the fire seared within her, she traced her fingers over his torso, the journey of which led her eyes back to the hem of his towel and the little knot that held it up. 

She could only imagine what lied beneath all that cloth.

All the while she did this, Tae Hyun stood still, his body breathing quietly, encouraging a still dazed Yoori to continue. His voice was barely audible, yet she could hear him say, “
Touch all you want
…”

How much longer could a girl resist
the temptations of a guy who had driven her crazy since she first met him? Yoori wanted to think that she could hold out longer because she didn’t want to be that weak girl who gave in so easily, especially to guys like Tae Hyun who had more than his share of beautiful girls. She wanted to be guarded, but her mind’s desires and her body’s desires were two separate things that were at war at the moment. 

“This…this is all a dream, isn’t it?” Yoori asked, her heart growing heavy. There was a tremendous surge of hope soaring through her, telling her it was actually happening. Nevertheless, with a heavy heart, Yoori pushed those thoughts aside. There was just no way this could be real. No possible way.

How was it possible that Kwon Tae Hyun was throwing himself at her and how was it possible that she was ready to accept this offer?

“It’s a dream, Yoori,” he confirmed, his head nodding steadily.
 

Her heart dropped to her stomach at the news. It
was
a dream after all.

He reached out to her and began to run his fingers through her hair, his expression adorned with longing.

Yoori bit her lips in agony. Even if he only was a figment of her perverted imagination, he definitely knew how to make a girl go crazy just by staring at her.

Yet…something was unsettling for her as she felt him stroke her hair.
 

“Really?” she asked again, her voice soft with remnants of melancholy.

But something was odd. His touch felt so real.

He nodded again, causing all the hope to deteriorate from her confused body. “This is all a dream, Yoori. None of this is really happening.”

Her breath lodged in her throat after hearing his reply. She knew it. It was because she was too drunk.

“So what’s the harm in us doing what comes naturally if this is all a dream,
 right?” he suggested seductively.

Yoori was ready to nod in agreement when she detected a certain
 mischief
 
in Tae Hyun’s voice. 
What the?
Without another thought, she abruptly lifted her groping hand off the silk of his abs and grabbed a handful of his right bicep. Granted there was no fat for her to pinch, there was enough muscle for her to at least squeeze as hard as she could. And that was what Yoori did, she pinched Tae Hyun like he was a cute fat kid.

“
Ow!” he roared, pulling his tensed bicep away from her pinch. “What are you doing?”

“I was making sure if this was a dream or not!”
 

He gaped at her incredulously. “What the hell? Why didn’t you pinch
yourself?
”

“‘Cause I didn’t want to hurt myself!” she shouted back, realizing now that everything was truly happening and that Tae Hyun was lying to her.
 She gaped at him with a mixture of horror, disbelief and drunkenness. “You…you…” She pointed accusingly. “You were trying to trick me!”

A smile graced the sexy curves of his lips. He tilted his head at her with guiltless charm. “You
think, babe?” 

Yoori’s heart fluttered at the smile he presented her. Why did he have to appear so dashing whenever he called her “babe”?
 

“Why’d you try to trick me?” she asked, trying to sound infuriated when she was only confused.
 

He shrugged carelessly. Sighing with boredom, he reached a hand out and started playing with the pink strings that held her pajama pants up. She froze instantly, afraid that the slightest movement would have her pajama pant
s falling faster than the speed-of-light. 

“Wouldn’t you be more inclined to follow your inner desires if this was a dream?” he asked ingeniously, slowly undoing one string. One string was left to work alone as the puny knot helplessly held up her pants.

“So you were telling me it was a dream so I’d ripped your towel off?” she asked, pushing herself against the wall like he was holding a gun to her stomach. Of course, she wouldn’t dare say that a gun would turn her on as much as Tae Hyun. 

“No,” he replied, tugging at the final string that held the knot for her pants. “I was telling you it was a dream so I could rip
 
your
 clothes off.” 

Oh no
! Yoori gasped inwardly, feeling the tingle stream through her quivering body. That really turned her on!

And then, much to her horror, he did it. He pulled the other string, his eyes glittering as if he was expecting his birthday present to appear before him.
 

Yoori held her breath, expecting a whiff of cool air to touch her skin. Surprisingly, all she felt was the same reserved warmth. Confused, she stared down. She saw that the elastic band was still sturdy enough to hold her pants up.
 

“What the fuck, Yoori,” Tae Hyun complained, clearly pissed that the pants didn't fall according to plan. “You should cut those strings if they don’t even help hold your pants up. It’s misleading...”
 

“It’s for stylistic purposes,” a drunken Yoori explained before it occurred to her that Tae Hyun was actually trying to strip her naked!

Though it was impossible for her to go anywhere, Yoori pushed herself harder against the wall as her defense mechanism. Acting just like a scared child, she brought her hands up and covered her face, only unveiling the brown orbs in her eyes through the spaces between each fingers.

“Tae Hyun! You’re so drunk!” she cried desperately. “You
have to stop playing! I’m
really
drunk and I’ll rip off your towel if you don’t stop this soon!”

“You think I’m drunk right now?” Tae Hyun began, gently grabbing her wrists and pulling her hands down from her face. “I’ve never been more sober in my life.”

“But at the park – you – you were slurring – and you couldn’t even stand by yourself—”

He sighed at the confusion in her voice. “If you knew that I was sober the entire time, would you have listened to all my confessions?”
 

The murky confusion streaming in her mind cleared at his simple question.
His confessions…his confessions at the park. The confessions she played off as insincere because he was drunk and the ones she was afraid to take seriously because it meant that she would have to confront certain things that she didn’t want to confront. 

“Would you have listened to everything I had to say, without running away or trying to change the subject?” he asked, his eyes noting that there was fear in her tentative eyes.
 

No,
Yoori answered in her mind. She scratched her head briefly, trying so hard to reorganize her drunken thoughts away from her sober thoughts.

Shit.

It wasn’t working. Everything was mixed together. Damn. How she wished she didn’t drink so much. She apprehensively played with her nails and avoided eye contact with Tae Hyun. He was still standing in front of her, looking as tempting as ever. Just then, another important tidbit filtered into her already stupefied mind. She gasped. The park bench!

She gazed up at him worriedly.
 “Were…were you actually asleep while we were sitting on the bench?”

A coy smile spread across his face.
 “I was falling asleep,” he drawled out before adding, “But then something woke me up.”

Heat reddened her already blushing cheeks. “
Something...something woke you? So – So you were pretending to dream?” 

She cursed
in her mind, somehow already knowing the answer just by analyzing Tae Hyun’s sneaky face. Why did it suddenly feel like someone had just stripped her naked and threw her out into a stadium filled with millions of Tae Hyuns? How mortifying! 

Rather than answering, Tae Hyun simply released his hold on her wrists and laid both of his hands flat against the wall behind her. With his strong arms to either side of her, he leaned in, his enrapturing cologne filling bliss in her nostrils. Temptingly, he maneuvered himself so that his lips were hovering above hers.
 

Yoori bit her lips to keep from instinctively puckering them up for him.
 

“You stole something from me, Princess,” he stated simply. The scorch of desire enhanced his voice, mesmerizing her. “Give it back.”
 

“Give…give it back?” she stuttered, blushing even more.

She shook her head at the command. How the hell did this tease expect her to kiss him again? She was only brave enough to do it when he was asleep. Now that he was wide-awake, gazing at her with those sex eyes of his, Yoori knew she couldn’t do it. She could already hear his critique in her head: 
“Your kiss was salty, just like last time.”
Yoori shuddered at the thought. Damn it. The first time she did something naughty and stole a kiss from a guy, she got punished. The world sucks.

“You…
you take it back,” she countered. There was no way she could kiss him again – even though she really wanted to. She didn’t have the nerve to do it again. Yoori, as blunt as she may be at times, was very socially awkward when it came to romantic things pertaining to the good-looking opposite sex. 

Amusement
enveloped his eyes. He raised a curious brow. He had no problem teasing her further. “You were the one who stole it, Princess. It should be you who returns it.”

Yoori stubbornly shook her head. The fiery blush on her cheeks r
esembled that of a red rose. “Take it yourself or leave me alone and go tease someone else.”

He frowned. “You
 still think I’m playing around?” 

She nodded, though she knew better. It didn’t help that she was not only afraid of him now
, but it also didn’t help that she was becoming awkward and was yearning for him. 

“You really believe that, Yoori?” he asked, his cunning voice now a soothing whisper. He leaned in and nipped his nose with hers, causing her to hold her breath as she bit her lips harder to keep from being magnetized to his lips.
 

“I…
.I….I…”

It was official.

She was now a babbling buffoon. 

Even in her wildest fantasies, Tae Hyun didn’t get
 
this 
sexy and irresistible. Was it because he was actually this sexy or was it because she was drunk? She wanted to think the latter but deep in her desirous heart, she knew better. Tae Hyun always had the charms. Apparently the tease never showed up until this fateful night. 

“You really can’t see how much I want you right now?” he continued. “How much I want to rip those clothes off of you? How much I want to throw you on that bed? I want you so badly, I swear I’ll die from the need unless I can have you.”
 

“Oh Jesus Christ, Tae Hyun please stop this,” Yoori cried, near
ly falling to her knees when the implication of his words seared through her. “I’m so socially awkward right now it’s not even funny!”

It was getting harder; it was getting so much harder to resist Tae Hyun. God help her, she was so caught off guard with everything that she felt like wax. She was melting under the fire that exuded out of him and she resented that she
 
liked
 the feeling. It was at times like this that she hated her own body for reacting the way a woman should when an attractive guy hits on them. 

With her back still pressed against the wall, she unknowingly wrapped each of her hands around his arms, her nails digging into his biceps.
 The purpose was to hold onto him to keep her from crashing to the ground. Surely it would be a horrible idea to fall to her knees while Tae Hyun was only wearing a diminutive towel over that sinfully enticing body of his. But good heavens, the feel of his warm muscles under her hold was only doing worse things to her body.