chapter twenty three
florence thompson
song: someone to lose – ashe

I crawled off of him quickly, my cheeks reddening immediately as I realized just how intimate of a position we were in only a few fleeting moments before.

"I still won," I spoke, attempting to lighten the mood as I pushed myself up off the floor and grabbing my glass of water on my coaster, taking a sip to wet my ridiculously dry throat.

I couldn't bring myself to look back at Vincent as I tried my best to steady my thudding heart in my chest as I placed the glass back down and plopped myself onto his couch. I let it envelop me, my tired muscles relaxing immediately upon impact. I released a deep sigh, closing my eyes and honestly debating sleeping right there.

"I beg to differ," Vincent teased from the other side of the room.

I heard his footsteps as he neared me, the couch dipping on either side of my head, a knee in between my legs against the couch.

My eyes shot open to find Vincent's strikingly handsome face annoyingly close to my own once again. I furrowed my brows at him, wondering what exactly he was doing since he was the one who just encouraged me to get off of him.

"What are you doing, Vincent?" I asked, glancing from between his eyes to his lips after he ran his tongue over his bottom lip.

He flashed me a handsome smirk.

"Maybe that was my plan all along, to get you off of me so I could have you pinned and make you admit that I'm the winner," he teased, causing me to roll my eyes dramatically at him.

A soft laugh bubbled in my chest.

"Good luck with that," I chuckled, turning my head to the side so I didn't have to stare into his intimidating features.

It was a fool proof plan before I felt his nose was nuzzling the crook of my neck, the warmth of his lips radiating onto my skin and causing my breath to hitch in my throat. Instinctively I craned my neck up to give him easier access as he softly pressed his lips against the sensitive skin on my neck.

A small breath left my lips as he continued slowly peppering my neck with gentle kisses, I closed my eyes and simply enjoyed the moment as it came.

"What about now?" He mumbled, his voice coming out hot against my skin. "Am I the winner yet?" He teased, and I could imagine a small smile tugging at the corner of his full lips.

I captured my bottom lip with my teeth, shaking my head softly.

"Absolutely not," I answered, a smile on my lips as I kept my eyes close.

Without warning he dragged his tongue from the corner of my jaw down to the sweet spot of my neck where he placed his open mouth against the sensitive skin, sucking lightly on it. I let out a breath at this, craning my neck even further and finally opening my eyes. I glanced down to see Vincent's mop of dark hair as he continued to suck on the skin of my neck.

A small, breathy involuntary moan left my open lips, causing Vincent let out a groan somewhere from the back of his throat.

My hands found their way to his thick hair and I ran my fingers through it, relishing in the moment I was sure I was going to regret sooner or later. Vincent shifted his weight so more was placed on me below him, and for some reason it felt so intimate to be so close to one another, no space between us.

Eventually he broke the seal between his lips and my neck, bringing his face up to my own to look into my blue eyes with his mismatched ones.

"How about now, hmm?" He asked, his lips slightly swollen, something I wouldn't have even noticed had I not known what he'd just been busy doing.

I grinned, shaking my head childishly.

The ghost of his lips on my neck still drifted over my skin, and suddenly I was wishing he was still attacking my neck with his full pink lips.

"You know, Miss Thompson, you seem awfully content for a girl who made the no contact rule that we seem to be breaking at this very moment," he mumbled, his burning gaze falling to my lips where I had my bottom lip pulled between my teeth.

"To be fair, Mr. De Bellis, I'm not doing anything. It seems to be you doing all the rule breaking," I teased, looking up at him.

"I did warn you I'm a rule breaker, afterall," a playful grin tugged at his lips as he dipped his face down closer to my own, my eyes closing instinctively as his breath began to wash over my face.

He silently pressed his lips against my cheekbone, littering them down to the corner of my closed lips. If he moved over even slightly our lips would meet, ruining every wall I'd intentionally put up and I was trying to determine whether or not that was the worst thing to come out of this night.

My eyes fluttered open to find his face much closer than it had been, my breath hitching in my throat. A thick silence lingered between the two of us for awhile as we stared at one another.

"You're so beautiful, Florence," he mumbled, his gaze darting all around my face as we both analyzed one another.

I released a deep sigh, unsure on how I was supposed to respond to such a compliment from Vincent De Bellis.

"This doesn't feel very platonic," I joked, referring back to the rules I'd set only two dinners ago, last week. It's funny how different things can be in less than a weeks time, especially when it's three in the morning and you're both running on barely any energy.

"If we're going to be honest with one another, I don't think it felt very platonic from the beginning," he joked back, his lips tugging into a smile.

I sighed once more, part of me knowing he was right.

He sat up, no longer hovering above me. The warmth of his body suddenly gone, making me both relieved and upset. I sat up, watching as he grabbed his glass of liquor from his coaster and taking a long swig off it.

His hair was messier now from my hands working through it, the memory of his lips on my skin only moments ago made my face flush scarlet.

I wondered for a moment, in my overly tired brain, if there was an alternate reality where someone like Vincent and myself ended up together. People from two very different universes, with very different morals, plans and goals. Could two obnoxiously different people blend together to make something much more beautiful than I give us credit for?

The thought altogether was absolutely silly. I've only known Vincent for such a short amount of time, but yet I've felt this pull to him since the first day I met him. I knew I was being ridiculous but part of me so badly wanted to humor this fantasy in my mind.

I watched his muscular back flexing through his dress shirt as I pulled my legs up to my chest, wrapping my arms around them.

"You're often so lost in thought," Vincent's voice pulled me back to the present where he was now facing me, his glass still in his hand as he looked over me.

I offered him a small smile.

"I like to think, maybe a little too much," I admitted, referring to my ridiculous brain that likes to overthink any and every situation I'm ever in the middle of.

"I find thinking doesn't usually end well," Vincent retorted, his expression vacant of any type of expression.

I sighed softly.

"I can't say you're wrong."

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q: apple or android?