Chapter 23
Chapter twenty-three
Study Buddy
Iwoke to something soft brushing my lips, then nose, but when I opened my eyes, my teddy bear’s face stared at me.
I squeaked and rammed into a solid body.
Angel hugged my waist. “There she is. Good morning, pigeon.”
“What are you doing?” I snatched my bear.
“Waking you up as nicely as possible.” Angel kissed my neck, sending a flutter of pleasure along my nerves.
“What about kisses or breakfast in bed?” I asked, my voice husky with want and sleep.
“I tried. But every time I moved, you'd moan and rub against me, asking for five more minutes. If it were up to you, we’d never leave this bed.”
Had I really done that? Heat flooded my body as he massaged my thigh and raised my chemise over my hips.
“It is really comfortable.” I hooked my leg over his, rubbing my ankle against his bare skin.
How was it possible to go from exhausted to aroused within seconds?
Love? Lust? Was his presence just pure aphrodisiac?
He sucked lightly on my neck and hooked his thumb under my waistband. “Can I have my breakfast in bed?”
My body clenched around nothing. “Wh-what are you having?”
“You, if you’ll let me.” He nipped my jaw, and the noise that came out of me was obscene.
“Shouldn’t I brush my teeth?” I panted.
“You smell and taste good to me.”
I helped him take off my panties and chemise, indulging in hungry, desperate kisses that he continued down the curves of my body.
“You feel so good,” he said, nuzzling his face between my breasts.
I massaged the nape of his neck, then rubbed his ear right by his piercing. “So do you, Angel.”
His eyes flashed, his gaze briefly meeting mine as he took my nipple into his mouth.
It was like he sucked out every thought I'd had. My hips bucked. I rutted against him with aching desire.
“Angel,” I begged.
He rubbed my tender breast before laving attention on the other one. No one had ever known me like this—not even myself.
His tongue was swirling me into another plane and it wasn’t even on my clit yet.
Sweet kisses on my stomach only heightened my need for him. I caressed his cheek, mussed his hair, tried to let my body do whatever came natural because I was finally free to do it.
He kissed the inside of my thigh and stroked my lower lips. “Do you want this, pidge?”
“Yes.” I could barely breathe, but I felt like I could fly, and under Angel’s touch, I sort of did.
He touched, kissed, and sucked me until my whole body shuddered with pleasure, loosening tears and cries of ecstasy.
“Another?” he asked, gently shifting his fingers inside me.
“Okay,” I said hoarsely.
He chuckled, then licked my tender clit with agonizingly light pressure.
Groaning, I bucked against him, searching for more friction. I clutched him and the sheets, a sheen of fine sweat coating me as I imagined what it’d be like if we orgasmed together. If he was inside me. He used two fingers. Three. Pumping, curling.
Oh, scrubs, he was so big. Were his fingers enough to prepare me for him?
Angel lifted his head, his breath warm against my throbbing core.
“Stay with me, Tori,” he said, my essence glistening on his face, and tapped some secret place inside of me.
My brain blanked out with an X-Ray worthy flash. I clenched hard around him, then collapsed onto the mattress. Everything was damp. Our musk permeated the air in a pleasant, overwhelming haze.
“I-I’m sorry. I’ve made such a mess,” I said, my legs splayed open and one arm draped dramatically over my forehead. “I’m so wet. And the sheets were fresh. But I’m not sure I can move, much less do laundry.”
“I'll take that as a compliment.” He kissed my leg, then wiped his chin off on it.
As he propped himself up on his knees, I realized he was hard and waiting.
My lips parted in a silent gasp. “Do you want to have sex? Or I can—”
He caught my hand before I could reach his waistband. “Not yet. I don’t have the time to fully enjoy it. Or snuggle after.”
“Why not?” Wasn’t he off today?
He kissed my knuckles. “I’ve got a morning class.”
“Oh.” My gaze dropped to his aching member, my body still buzzing. “But you had time to give me multiple orgasms?”
“Priorities, pidge.” He winked. “You could thoroughly wash certain parts of me. Or you can stay cozy while I take a cold shower.”
“That doesn’t sound fun.”
“Not everything’s gonna be fun all the time. But it’s better with you.” He caressed my cheek with his clean hand. “Will you come to class with me later?”
Taken aback, I snorted a laugh. “No.”
“Why not?” He sounded so offended.
“Uh, I’m not enrolled,” I said. Was he serious?
“No one will mind if we sit in the back row. You can do something quiet during the lecture portion. Besides, don’t you want to see your old friends?”
I shook my head and scrunched under the covers to make myself small. What would I tell them? That I’d dropped out, was selling underwear, not driving, and had a falling out with my family? It wasn’t exactly a good update. Except for the part where I found my potential soulmate.
“It might be good to walk those halls again,” he urged me. “Cathartic.”
“Why do you want me to go back so badly?” I asked him.
He looked away, a tendon in his neck flexing. “I want to be with you as much as I can.”
Guilt twisted in my side like a scalpel.
“I want to be with you too. It’s just hard and awkward and…I don’t want to feel like a failure again,” I said.
“You’re not a failure.” Angel sat beside me on the bed and wrapped his arms around me. “You know that, right?”
My insides twisted tighter. “I almost failed a class.”
“That’s not what I meant.” He peppered my face with kisses and tickled my sides until I giggled and jerked away.
“Don’t you have to get to class?” I teased.
“Fine. Cold shower it is.” He pecked my cheek, then hopped off the bed.
“Wait, Angel. I can still lend a hand.” I laughed, chasing after him on wobbly legs.
***
After our shower, Angel clothed me in his bathrobe and gave me a brief tour of the spots I might want to hang out when not sleeping, hot-tubbing, or watching TV.
“This is the study, if you feel like some light reading.” He opened the door to a room with a laptop and lots of angled lamps. The bookshelf mostly contained self-help manuals, celebrity biographies, and photography compilations.
“Where are all your textbooks?” I asked, cognizant of the few I’d taken from my parents’ house and the extra-clean desk in his bedroom.
He cracked his neck. “Out of the way. C’mon, the workout room is next door.”
“You have a gym?” It had wooden floors and a mirrored wall on one side, white panels on the other. But there wasn’t a bar for ballet. Just a couple of stands for phones, I guessed.
“I don’t see any machines. Do you mostly come here to flex in the mirror?” I joked.
“There’s a storage closet behind that panel with dumbbells and mats, if you want ‘em.” He pulled my robe ties. “But I prefer to keep my workouts to the bedroom, pidge.”
I rolled my eyes and wrapped my arms around his neck to slow-dance with him. “I’m sure we can sneak in another session when you get back.” Though I wasn’t sure how he had the energy for all this.
“Sounds perfect. Try to stay out of trouble until I get back,” he said, holding me flush against him. “Unless you want me to stay?”
I couldn’t ask him to skip class. Even if I was tempted.
“Go on. You won’t be missing much here,” I joked.
“Yes, I will,” he said, his gaze soft.
My legs wobbled. Probably still shaky from those multiple orgasms.
“It’s okay. I-I’ll see you after class. We’ll have the rest of the night together,” I promised.
Love you, I pushed into our kiss.
Why couldn’t I just say it? He’d heard it before and hadn’t spontaneously combusted. Even if he was mostly unconscious.
Angel groaned and broke away from our embrace. “If we don’t stop now, I really will be late.”
“Fine. Go learn stuff.” I giggled and sent him off, admiring the way he flew down the stairs with natural confidence. I wished I had that.
I turned into the room and flinched at my reflection: messy hair, sleep-deprived hollows under bright eyes, and a long, white coat—er, robe.
If I squinted, I almost looked like a doctor.
Maybe one who’d just gotten it on in the on-call room showers. But still.
I could see it.
Me.
The woman I could be.
Maybe that’s what Angel saw: not just me as I was now, but past-me, future-me, all the Tori I could be. There wasn’t one path to becoming a confident, balanced person. Or maintaining a healthy relationship.
I had certifications. I had a degree.
I hadn’t failed at everything.
But I didn’t want to spend all my days afraid of running into old classmates or waiting for Angel to come to bed. I had to get a new job. Or a car, at least.
I had to try. I couldn’t rely on anyone else to make me happy.
I could make this new era my best one yet, especially with a loved one by my side. If only I knew how to tell him that.