Craving Delphine | Book Three [ON HOLD]

One

Photo of Delphine
Song: Naked by James Arthur (Cover by Sayana)

Delphine tuned out the boisterous applause of the crowd as she waited side stage to make a brief appearance introducing her father for the prestigious award of humanitarian of the year.

Instead, she paid extreme attention to the person who was currently on stage.

Like her father, he was also a recipient of an award tonight, he was an older, more distinguished fellow who was making the rounds, thanking everyone, regaling the crowd with cryptic jokes, and milking the attention he was getting for all it was worth.

Tonight, she and her parents were honorary invites to Forage Magazine's annual celebration and award dinner, where they presented plaques to people who they felt best embodied the different categories of awards, all year round.

Their selection usually cut across the board from well known names in politics, business, industry and entertainment, to lesser known names and brands who had managed to set themselves apart through their contributions to society.

Thus, it was a great night for both the higher echelon in the society as well as the middle class.

However, the inclusivity of the event, of people from all industries, was the reason why she would've preferred to sit the whole thing out.

To her, it only meant one thing, that he would be in attendance.

It wasn't that he wasn't deserving of whatever award he was being presented with, it was just that his mere presence irked the living daylights out of her and brought back memories, that she preferred to keep locked away and forgotten.

Until she'd met Jayden Hicks five years ago, she hadn't realized how small the circles they ran in were, but, now, it seemed like everywhere she went he turned up, bringing with him the dratted memories of their encounter all those years ago, when she'd let her guard slip thinking that perhaps there was something between them that they could both explore.

She'd realized quickly enough, though, that that wasn't the case and that she'd let herself down by allowing herself to consider, even for a moment, that a man like him, who embodied the characteristics she usually avoided when it came to men, would somehow be...different.

She'd allowed herself to get carried away in the moment, and to behave in a manner her parents hadn't raised her to be...

Weak.

But though it annoyed her to no end to be constantly thrown into situations where she had to put up with him, she sucked it up and did her best to represent herself, her family and her firm, as was expected of her.

She'd been younger and naive, back then, with fanciful notions of romance which had made her more prone to his charms.

Thankfully, she wasn't that person anymore.

             __________________

It had been the best and worst day of her life, because as much as she'd enjoyed their 'meeting,' he'd somehow managed to permanently imprint himself on her mind, that even now, thinking about that day, made her pulse race, her breath quicken and her nipples tighten.

She shifted uncomfortably where she stood, thankful that in this moment she was separated from the rest of the crowd as she took slow, deep breaths in an attempt to control her body's reaction to the lewd thoughts racing through her mind.

Flashes of their erotic afternoon together made her efforts futile as she remembered how his eyes had turned a dark murky grey as he'd peeled off items of clothing on her body until she stood naked.