Chapter 11 Jack
Chapter eleven
Jack
I woke to the annoying ringing of my phone. Only a few people were able to bypass my do not disturb mode, one of which was Tristen.
Groaning, I pawed at the desk for my phone without lifting my head. Someone had left the curtain open a slit so that the sun beamed right in my face. Finally, my hand landed on my phone, and I lifted it to my face, smacking the answer button without looking at it.
“Yeah,” I croaked, rubbing a hand over my face.
“Woah, already got the college party life going huh?” Tristen’s chirpier voice filled my ears. It was far too early for him to be calling, let alone with such abundance for life.
I only groaned.
“Haha, your dad owes me twenty bucks.”
Sniffing, I shifted on the bed. “Let me guess, Drake? One of these days, you’ll bet on something that will end badly and then we’ll see who has the last laugh.”
“Fine, fine.” Tristen gave in far faster than expected, making this not a social call. “I hope this isn’t a bad time. I tried to call when I thought your roommate might be sleeping.”
I looked at my phone briefly to see it was shortly after ten in the morning. Pushing myself up to a sitting position, I glanced around the room. Tate was gone, his bed rumpled. A vaguely familiar scent lingered on me I couldn’t quite place.
“If they’re sleeping, it’s not here,” I grunted, then saw the dress I’d borrowed riding up my legs. Ugh. Not even bothering with trying to stand, I slid to the ground on my knees, searching for clothes to wear.
“Nice,” Tristen said with a bit too much enthusiasm. He cleared his throat as if he’d been reprimanded. “Anyway, um, yeah, how’s it going? Any information to pass on yet? How’s college treating you?” Suspicion itched at his tone.
“Fine.” I paused for a moment to drag my shirt over my dress, not trusting that Tate wouldn’t come back while I was changing. I pulled my pants up over my legs under the dress, holding the phone between my cheek and shoulder. “I heard some rumblings last night at the party.”
“Party, huh?”
I ignored the teasing tone. “I didn’t get a good look at who was talking… I was a bit distracted.”
“You don’t say…?”
I shifted out of the dress until it was on the ground and huffed. “I have a bone to pick with you, by the way. Why in the fuck did you send Julian to babysit me?”
“Hey,” Tristen grumped, “I didn’t send him to babysit you. We’re treating this mission like any other, and we wouldn’t have sent anyone in undercover on their own. Especially not my goddaughter. You’re lucky you only have one partner. Your mom wanted to send in four others to watch your back.”
My eyes lifted to the ceiling. That wasn’t surprising. My mom might have agreed to let me do this mission, but that wouldn’t keep her from trying to protect me. The fact that she wasn’t blowing up my phone every hour of the day was a miracle itself.
“Well, either way, you could have sent someone who didn’t have such a stick up his ass. I can’t be held responsible if he ends up dead.”
“Is he in danger?” Tristen’s tone grew serious.
“Not from vampires,” I muttered, grabbing my toiletry bag. The inside of my mouth felt like I’d swallowed a dead rat.
“Alright, well, play nice, have fun, and… Jack?”
“What?” I grunted.
“Use protection.”
I hung up on him.
The halls were dead. The music had been turned off. A quick glance at the commons on my way to the bathroom showed the leftovers of last night’s party. More than a few folks were passed out around the common rooms, many in different stages of undress.
I tiptoed through the commons, not wanting to deal with cranky vampires early in the day. The bathroom wasn’t as deserted as the hallways, though it wasn’t much better. A few students stood in front of the sink, looking half-dead and cleaning off bite marks.
The sound of someone retching made me grimace.
Quietly and quickly, I cleaned my face, brushed my teeth, and did my business. When I got back to my room, Tate was there. He was in the middle of pulling a shirt over his head, leaving me an unobstructed view of his chest. Silver balls decorated either nipple, contrasting against his dark skin.
“Doesn’t that hurt?” I commented, sitting my bag down on my bed.
Tate cocked a head at me in question.
“Your piercings. They’re silver, right?” I inclined my head. “Silver? Werewolves? They don’t exactly mesh.”
Tate smirked, stepping close enough that I could breathe him in. “What can I say? I like the bite of them.”
I smiled and shook my head at his flirting. “You’re incorrigible.”
“I was going to grab something greasy and then head to the library. Want to come?”
The way Tate jumped from flirty to general friendliness was too confusing on an empty stomach. The mention of my stomach made it growl. A nice greasy burger sounded like exactly what I needed right now.
“Yes, please. Give me all the grease,” I groaned, making Tate grin.
“Keep making sounds like that, and I’ll be ready to eat something else.”
“Jesus,” I laughed, my face burning. “You don’t quit, do you?”
“What can I say?” Tate shrugged his shoulder, shoving his hands into his pockets as we walked out the door. “I’m a charmer.”
“Something like that,” I grumbled, letting him lead me through the commons and down the walkway toward the cafeteria.
Only Tate and I broke up the otherwise barren quad. Normally, I was fine with walking in silence and yet, for some reason with Tate, I needed something to fill the tension that I felt between us.
“How long have you been a human servant?”
“About five years.” Tate’s arm brushed mine with each step.
“That’s surprising, I figured it was longer.”
Tate pulled his lip ring between his teeth. “Well, my family, my pack wasn’t exactly thrilled that I bonded to a vampire.”
“Yeah, that whole vampires versus werewolves thing.”
“Right.” He paused and opened the cafeteria door for me. “When I got with Kyren, there was a big fuss about it. Mostly because I was supposed to be the next Alpha.”
I continued to listen as we moved through the cafeteria line. Unlike the vampire crypt, the cafeteria had a handful of students downing coffee or doing what Tate and I were about to do, getting our greasy fill.
“Isn’t it so weird to see the professors out of class?” Tate chuckled, ushering me down the line.
My eyes followed his line of vision to the group of studious types sitting around a table, drinking coffee. A familiar blond head sat amongst them. As if feeling my eyes on him, Julian’s head turned, his blue eyes locking on me through his glasses.
Suddenly, I felt guilty. Like I was cheating on him by standing here with Tate. Which was ridiculous since we hadn’t even done anything, and Julian had made it abundantly clear that we weren’t and wouldn’t be anything.
“Coffee?”
“Huh?” I jerked my head back to Tate, then to the cup of coffee in his hands. “Yes, please.” I took the cup with a grateful smile.
“How are your classes going?” Tate placed a plate of greasy fried eggs on my tray. Then, without asking, he added a pile of bacon on the side and a large glass of orange juice.
I stared down at the tray, surprised by his choices.
“Sorry.” Tate dipped his head with a grin, “It’s my go-to hangover cure. Grease and vitamin C. And I figured you probably didn’t have one of your own.”
My brows furrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Tate and I shifted down the line, paying for our food before finding an empty table.
“No offense,” he sat sideways on the bench so he could face me, “but you don’t seem the type to have needed a hangover cure before.”
I ducked my head and focused on my food. “That obvious, huh?”
“It’s cute.” Tate tipped my face so I looked up at him. “It almost makes you innocent, you know? Sans being blood bonded to a vampire.”
Busying myself with putting cream and sugar in my coffee, I tried not to let his words bother me.
Innocent. Tate saw me as someone innocent because I’d never had a hangover. If he knew that I spent most of my nights hunting down his kind and other supernaturals, many times coming home covered in blood, would he still see me as innocent?
“Hey.” Tate bumped his head against my shoulder. “I didn’t mean anything by it. Just ignore me. I sometimes say things without thinking them through.”
I gave a tight smile. “No, it’s fine.” I shoved bacon in my mouth and instantly perked up. Nothing in this world could not be solved with bacon.
We ate our food quietly after that. Between Tate shooting puppy dog eyes my way every few bites and Julian’s eyes boring holes in my back, I was surprised I could keep anything down. When I was about to give up and leave, Xinyi appeared with a dramatic groan.
“Coffee, give me coffee.” She reached across the table and stole my cup. She downed half of it before gagging. “Ugh, fuck. How about some coffee with your sugar, Jack?”
I took the cup from her and pursed my lips. “Then get your own.”
“But I don’t wanna,” Xinyi whined.
“Here.” Tate pushed his cup toward her. “It’s black, promise.”
“You’re my favorite.” Xinyi snatched the cup up. After a few swallows, she peered between the two of us with a sly grin. “You two were awfully cozy last night.”
A sideways look at Tate made my skin heat. Suddenly, I wasn’t hungry anymore. I pushed away from the table, taking my tray with me. I brushed past Julian’s table on the way, and his eyes followed me as I dumped my tray and left.
I kept walking, focused on getting to the library and not on the strange feelings swirling in my stomach. Feet thudded behind me. I shot a look over my shoulder to see Tate trailing after me. Our eyes locked, and something low tightened.
His nostrils flared, but his steps didn’t quicken.
My hands pushed the library door open. The librarian, a gentleman in his late forties, glanced up from his computer before ignoring me.
I found an empty table and sat my bag down, pulling my History of Vampirism book out.
I felt him before I saw him. His presence pressed in around me. His fingers brushed my shoulder, sending a shudder through me as he sat next to me at the table.
“Princess.” Tate’s words were soft, quiet. “About last night.”
Keeping my eyes down on the book, I shrugged. “What about it? We were drinking. It doesn’t mean anything.”
His finger traced along my jawline, turning my face toward him. “It meant something to me.”
I swallowed and licked my lips. Tate’s gaze darted from my eyes to my lips and back, making me inhale sharply.
“If you hadn’t been drinking,” Tate continued, his thumb tracing along my lower lip, “the night might have ended the same way, but you wouldn’t have gone to bed alone.”
Lust settled low between my thighs. My heart thudded in my chest. Tate inhaled, and a low growl rose in the back of his throat.
It wasn’t as if I’d never been with a man before. Sure, it’d only been the one time, and half the time I pretended it didn’t happen. Julian certainly liked to act like it hadn’t.
But Tate… Tate was different. He was sweet and clearly a gentleman. He could’ve taken advantage of me last night and didn’t. Sure, he was a bit of a flirt, but not in a creepy way. And who was I kidding? I knew, even if I hadn’t been drinking, I would have let Tate kiss me.
Only two things pushed back against this happening. First, the fact that he was my roommate, which meant if this went bad, things could get very awkward.
Then there was my mission. I was supposed to be looking for those who might hurt my family, not thinking about making out with werewolves.
My lashes fluttered close as I exhaled. Then I stood, my decision made. With a glance over my shoulder at Tate, I walked into the rows of books.
Letting my fingers trail along the shelves, I didn’t have to wait long for Tate to catch up to me. He caught my wrist in his hand. My back hit the wall of books. Then his mouth was on mine.
Tate cupped the back of my neck, holding my head exactly the way he wanted, his tongue licking at my lips.
Arching into him, my mouth opened in a moan.
Our tongues tangled around each other, Tate drawing mine into his mouth, sucking on it until my knees weakened.
My hand clutched in his shirt, holding onto him as I gave myself over to his kiss.
Hand around my waist, Tate lifted me until my legs wrapped around him, putting my core right against the heat of his body. My hands found the braids of his hair, and I tugged on them, making him growl.
The reminder of what he said before about his piercing had me sucking his lip ring between my lips.
Tate jerked back. His low growl vibrated between my legs, and I whimpered. “We should stop. Someone could see…”
“Okay,” I breathed against his lips before dragging his mouth back down to mine.
We kissed again for a few moments, my hip rolling. The longer we kissed, the more I wanted, and while I wasn’t exactly a virgin, doing that, here with Tate, where anyone could see us? It was enough to pull me out of my aroused state.
“You’re right,” I panted, abruptly dropping my legs, a hand on his chest. “We should…”
“Yeah,” Tate swallowed, taking a step back. “I should… you know… go get ready for class.”
“Exactly.” I nodded, watching him back away from me, his lips curling up as he went.
His fingers swept over his lips as he grinned.
When he was out of my view, I sank back against the shelves, touching my own lips.
I couldn’t believe I did that. Why did I do that? What about my mission? A shot of guilt hit my stomach out of nowhere to dim my post-kiss vibe a bit.
Well, it wasn’t like I was giving it up because I kissed a boy, and my mom did say she wanted me to explore other experiences. Though… I smiled to myself as I made my way back to my table… I didn’t think she meant this.