Page 97 of Lust

Resplendent in her dress, I'm almost loathe to ruin the illusion.

"Matthias."

"Yes, darling?" I say, the anger gone now that they're out of my sight, but the intensity of my emotions is still there.

For her.

All hers.

I walk up to her, circling her as she models the dress on the stoop. Her neck invites my touch, and I run a single finger up from her décolleté to her lips. God, I'm so obsessed with her neck. The little stretch of skin between her neck and shoulder is where I want to be reborn, live for the rest of eternity.

"Do you have any idea how fucking beautiful you are? Do you have any idea that it's a privilege to be near you? Do you know that there's never a single moment when I'm not thinking of you?"

"Matthias," she says again.

"Yes, my darling?"

Her bottom lip dips where her teeth bite into it. "Did you mean what you just said? About fucking me here?"

I'm almost scared to touch her, she's too good to be tainted by my hands. "When have I ever said something I don't mean?"

I kneel at her feet, pulling on the hem of the dress, and make a single cut with the scissors.

She watches, as I grab a hold of the two sides of fabric I've just separated, and tear them apart.

The sound of the fabric ripping is oddly satisfying. All the more because I enjoy the sight of the ruined dress in my hands. I keep tearing all the way up the skirt until it meets the bodice. I grab the straps and separate them from the dress with a snip of the scissors.

"Careful, don't move," I whisper to her as I slide the scissors down the middle of her breasts, slicing at the bust until it hangs lifelessly on either side of her body.

My pulse roars in my ears as it rushes to my groin. I walk backwards until I reach the armchair and settle into it, taking in the view of her standing there in a destroyed dress, eyes trusting me all the same.

Under my intense gaze, she starts to feel self-conscious, though, her hands coming up to cover her body where she can.

Good. I want her to feel it, and work through her emotions.

"Take off what's left of the dress off, Clarissa."

"I can't."

"I wouldn't ask you to do something you couldn't do."

She glances at the front of the store. "What if someone comes in?"

"Then let them. It's their lucky day. Take the dress off, darling, let me see you."

Nervously, her hands fidget with the neck of the fabric, and then, eyes locked on mine, she slowly shimmers out of it, until it's a pool of shimmering rose gold and crystals at her feet.

She's topless underneath, with only the thin red thong covering her.

"Turn around."

Teetering on her heels, she spins slowly, giving me a chance to take in every single inch of her until she's facing me again,

"Now take your thong off."

Her skin glows pink. "Matthias..."

"No? Are you scared to show yourself to me?"

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