Clarissa's POV

I frustratingly packed my bags with the aching feeling between my legs. I wanted more, and Damon wasn’t giving it to me.

I shut the door as I met everyone outside. It was time to leave. It was midnight, and we had to get home soon since we had classes tomorrow. If we didn’t, we could have stayed an extra night.

“Are we sticking to the same arrangement as before?” Atticus asks. “You can come with us if you want, Clarissa.”

I bite down hard on my lip. I wanted to head back with Damon, but I also wanted to teach him a lesson for not giving me what I wanted. He was playing with my emotions, and I didn’t like it.

“If that’s what you want, sure.” I smile at Atticus.

I could feel Damon’s gaze digging into my back. He was angry that I had accepted Atticus’s invitation. Even though I was doing this to upset him, I knew that it would bother me as well.

We could have gotten more alone time in his jeep. I move that thought out of my head. I had to stick with my plan. Whenever I made Damon wait, he always got more desperate for me. This would work in my favor; I had to suck in all the pain.

The drive home was a boring one, and without realizing it, I’d fallen asleep.

The next time I woke up, it was already morning, and time to get dressed for the academy.

Apparently, all of Damon’s attention had drained me of my energy. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept so well.

I quickly put on a pair of jeans and a top and opened my room door, only to find Damon waiting for me.

I didn’t have time to prepare as he slammed his lips against mine. I gasped against his mouth.

My mouth opened in surprise, and he used that to his advantage as he slid his tongue in. I moaned as he grabbed my waist and pulled me tighter against him.

He broke the kiss a few seconds later. “You left me last night.”

“Because you didn’t give me what I wanted,” I tell him.

I stop talking when his lips touch the spot beneath my ear. It’s a soft kiss, but it travels throughout my body.

“Who carried me to my room last night?” I manage to ask despite the pounding of my heart.

I wasn’t aware of anything that had happened while I was asleep.

“I wanted to,” he growls. “But fucking Atticus beat me to it. I couldn’t do anything but watch. If I tried to make a problem about it, he would have suspected us even more.”

I fight against a smile at his apparent frustration since Atticus was the one who had carried me to my room last night.

“I’m tired of this.” He sighs. “I want to be able to kiss you in the open. I want to be able to tell everyone that you’re mine.”

I gasped, unsure if I’d heard him correctly.

He wanted to tell everyone that I was his?

He gently kisses my forehead before pushing away from me. “I’ll see you in the jeep.”

I watched him walk away as I fell back against the wall. I didn’t know how to react to Damon so openly expressing his feelings. It made me all nervous and giddy inside.

Damon

I couldn’t hold it back much longer. Clarissa was using all the tricks in the book to make me give her what she was asking for. She may think I was unfair, but she had no idea how much harder this was for me. Denying her what she wanted was costing me everything.

She didn’t realize how painful it was for me not to be inside her, especially when she was begging me for it. Saying no to her was never fucking easy for me.

Even now, all I could think about was burying my dick inside her tight pussy. And fuck, it was so tight; yesterday, it squeezed the life out of my finger. I could still feel her walls around it, stretching and pulling.

I groan as I cover my face with my hand. We would be returning to the academy today, and I would have no choice but to keep my hands to myself when it’s the last thing I want to do.

I would be forced to watch her from a distance while dreaming of taking her in every way possible. Clarissa would be the fucking death of me.

I knew her well; she would use this opportunity to tease me for not taking her virginity. And she was a virgin; she saved herself for me. Every time I thought about it, my heart filled with pride. She had never mentioned it to me, but I knew it was true. I was so involved in her life that I knew there had never been another man but me in her life. This is why I wanted to make it as special as possible for her. I didn’t want to rush things. I wanted to give her a chance to enjoy all of the pleasures I could bring to her body. I wanted to take it one step at a time.

Clarissa was becoming impatient, and I didn’t blame her. I felt even worse than she did. I wouldn’t keep her waiting much longer.

“You look like you didn’t get any sleep last night,” my mother says as she examines my face. “Is something bothering you, Damon?”

I swallow. Yes, mother. Somebody was bothering me. The once innocent girl that you adopted and brought home to tease me every damn day of my life.

If she could read my mind, I would be screwed.

“It’s nothing,” I lie. “We just got home late last night, and I didn’t feel like sleeping. Had too much to drink.”

She sighs and kisses me on my cheek. “I was worried that you were still affected by Anya’s death like your brother. I’m very worried about Dante. He didn’t just lose Anya, but he married her sister because she asked him to. Did you discover why he’s getting these random bruises on certain days?”

I shook my head. “Atticus tried finding out, but he doesn’t want to talk to us about it.”

She nods. “I’ll talk to him.”

I say goodbye to her and head down to the jeep where I’d told Clarissa to meet me.

Now I had to prepare myself for the torture to come.