10. Jake
This is what it feels like to walk on air. Knowing that Cherry is mine, that I can walk up to her and kiss her like I want to. That I can touch her, hold her, it feels like victory and redemption all in one.
We still have a lot to learn about each other. I still have secrets that she’ll need to know one day but not yet, not until she trusts me enough to hear them. I need her to know who I am now, so she can forgive the sins of my past later.
Snow falls, blanketing the ground as I walk towards the coffee shop where she’s working the late shift. I hate her closing up on her own and always make sure I’m there with her. I might rule this campus but, as evidenced by Brian Wills, there is always an asshole looking to make a name that will push his luck.
I’ve been around dickheads like him since I was a teen and went to that private school where I met Hunter. They thought they were special because of Daddy’s money or the name they were born with, but they weren’t. Yes, money gave you power but you only held power if you could wield it. Hank McKenzie has taught me that, he was the one to save me after I almost fucked up my life by falling in with Nicholas Kendrick t he Third when Hunter and I were still in the early days of our friendship.
I’d been a stupid punk who hadn’t trusted that Hunter was who he said he was and followed Nicholas down a dark path, stealing a car for fun, which ultimately led to an innocent man’s death. I’d regretted it the moment I set foot in the car but I was wild and untrusting, surviving my own demons as best I could.
When the car crashed, I got arrested. Nicholas walked away without a scratch, even though he’d been the one driving. His father gave him an alibi and I’d been left to hang. Only Hank stepping in had saved me from the year in juvie that I’d been sentenced to for grand theft auto. We hadn’t killed the owner of the vehicle, not directly, but stealing his car had left him walking along the dark road that night where he’d been hit by another vehicle.
So many lives were ruined by one stupid act that I’d never forgive myself for. Three months had been hard enough to set me straight and I still had nightmares about juvie and the accident of the nameless, faceless victim to this day. Hank refused to tell me who the man was, or any details and begged me not to go looking. I knew he was protecting me and, out of respect for everything he did for me, I complied, but even now I thought about it, dreamed about it.
As if thinking about that time had summoned the demon, my cell rang. I glance at it, seeing an unknown number, a feeling of dread runs over my skin like a warning. Shaking it off, I press accept. “Yes?”
“Jake, my man. Long time no hear.”
Revulsion races through my body at the voice from my past, spewing into my present. My muscles brace as if ready for a fight because I’d never run from him. I wasn’t the weak boy he pushed around and manipulated before.
“Not long enough. What do you want, Nick?”
“Can’t a friend catch up with another friend without it being because he wants something?”
I huddle back against the building for shelter as snow falls harder, my shoulders hunching ag ainst the cold, but the cold was coming from the inside this time, not the temperatures outside.
“We aren’t friends. We never were.”
I have no time for this asshole, and want him off my phone as quickly as possible, but I also want to know what he wants and I know ignoring him will make it worse.
“I guess not.” His tone changes from cajoling to cold in a heartbeat.
“Well, why are you calling me?”
“You need to do something for me. A favor, if you will.”
“I don’t need or want to do a fucking thing for you.”
A dark laugh comes down the line and I want to reach through it and grab him by the throat and squeeze until he ceases to exist.
“You’ve changed, Jake.”
“Yeah, I’ve changed and you’re wasting my fucking time.”
I’m seconds away from ending the call when he speaks again. “Your girlfriend’s a pretty one, isn’t she? Feisty too. I bet she’s a handful in the sack.”
My hand tightens on the phone and my vision turns red at the insinuation he’s making. “You stay the fuck away from her or I’ll rip every limb from your body.”
“Don’t be so defensive, Jake. I just need one little favor and you’ll never see me again.”
I grit my teeth so hard, I swear I crack a molar, but I hold my silence, not daring to speak in case my temper gets the better of me.
“Good. Now I have your attention, I need you to get into the Dean’s office and steal the final exam for the Art of Gothic Architecture.”
“Fuck that. I’m not stealing shit for you.”
“That’s a shame. I’d hate for Cherry to find out about your past.”
“You really think holding that over my head is gonna work? Cherry knows me. That won’t matter to her.”
A laugh that causes the hair on my arms to shift falls down the line. I hate this man with a vengeance .
“No, she doesn’t and thanks to Daddy McKenzie coddling you, neither do you. Have you any idea who it was you killed that night, Jake?”
I swallow, my throat dry as my heart rate kicks up as if it knows something I don’t, my animal instinct sensing a trap. “I didn’t kill anyone. I never stole that car, you did. I was just your scapegoat.”
“Semantics. Just steal the paper and give it to my cousin, Brian, and you’ll never hear from me again.”
“Is that what this is? That piece of shit got his feelings hurt and now it’s time for payback?”
“Something like that, Jake.”
“Yeah, well, you and Brian can go fuck yourselves because I’m not stealing shit for you or him, and if anyone goes near Cherry, they will live to regret it. Or maybe they won’t live at all.”
“No, Jake, it’s you who are going to regret it, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
As the line goes dead, the feeling of sand falling through my fingers falls over me. Like I’ve set something in motion I don’t understand, and I want to reach out and grab it back.
“Hey, why are you huddling in the doorway like a stalker?”
Glancing up, I see my Cherry Blossom walking toward me with a smile that rivals the sun. My belly twists, my heart beating faster at the sight of her huddled into her pink puffer jacket and pink earmuffs over her head.
Reaching for her, I drag her close and bend my head to kiss her, inhaling the sweet scent of her and letting it soothe me. Never in my life had someone settled my soul like she does. The second we met, I knew she was the one for me. It felt like the world sighed in relief when she grinned up at me. I knew I couldn’t tell her I loved her yet, but I did. I think I did from the first second. I’m going to marry this girl one day, she just doesn’t know it yet.
I just have to get past my fear of showing her who I really am. Nick’s threat hangs in the back of my mind as I drag her closer, fisting her jacket as I take her mouth, tasting her sweetness. I need to stop worrying she’ll run wh en I show her who I am, and maybe I can start by telling her about my family, and the heartbreak that set me on this path.
Lifting my head, I look into her bright blue eyes and grin. “Only woman I want to stalk is you.”
“Is it wrong I find that kind of a turn-on?” Her admission makes my dick harden and I hiss in a breath. I grab her hand and start towing her toward my dorm room.
Cherry laughs. “Where are we going?”
“My place so I can show you just how hard that comment made my dick.”
I glance back to see her eyes widen in delight before she jogs to catch up to my longer strides.
We fall through the door of my dorm, our hands tearing at each other’s clothes, as a growl slips past my lips when I feel her cool hands reach inside my pants and grip my dick.
“Fuck, your hand feels good.”
“I want you inside me, Jake.”
Since the day I’d eaten her out like my favorite meal, we hadn’t done much more than kiss and fool around, mostly because her period had started the next day. While I didn’t give a fuck about a little blood, Cherry did, so we held back. Now it seems all bets are off and I’m desperate to feel her pussy tighten around my cock.
“I’m gonna fuck you so good, Blossom.”
With the lightest of shoves, I push her back onto my king-sized bed, the mattress bouncing as she laughs and throws her arms above her head onto the dark green comforter. Smirking, I turn to put some music on, finding the right playlist from my library. Then I flick a lamp on low and close my curtains to keep out the cold.
Turning around, I expect to find her watching me, and I do, but I wasn’t expecting to see her on her knees on my bed completely naked, looking like a fucking siren. I want to rush at her and bury my cock inside her, and fuck away all my self-doubts, to exorcise all my demons on her body, but this was too important for that .
With my eyes still on her, I peel off my coat, and let it fall to the ground before shucking my sweater and t-shirt in one move and dropping my jeans and boxers to the floor at my feet. Her hungry gaze wanders all over me and my dick flexes in appreciation.
“Open your legs and show me what’s mine.”
I’d hesitated to show Cherry this side of myself, but after the way she’d responded to me before, I know she likes this. My Blossom doesn’t hesitate to do as I command, sliding her lithe thighs apart and leaning back on her hands. Her skin is flushed pink and I want to kiss and caress every inch of her perfection.
Fisting my hand around my cock, I pump my length slowly as her gaze follows every movement. Her teeth bite down on her bottom lip and I almost lose it. She’s like every erotic dream I’ve ever had come to life.
“Show me how you make yourself come, Blossom.”
Her hand slides down her belly, over her hip and I watch, my cock rock solid in my hand as she pushes two fingers inside her wet cunt, and moans. Her juices glistened on her fingers as she slides them out and rolls her clit in tight circles.
“Feel good, baby?”
“Yes, but you feel better.”
“Damn right, I do. Now, get that cunt nice and wet for me.”
Putting a knee into the bed, I climb between her thighs and kneel there watching as she fucks herself with her fingers as I drag my hand up and down my cock. The scent of her desire fills my nostrils and I want to taste her so badly. I knock her hand away before she can come, forcing an annoyed snarl from her pretty lips, which makes me grin.
“Don’t worry my good greedy girl, you’ll get your orgasm.”
Before she can respond, I grasp her thighs and lift her cunt to my lips and feast. Her body half on the bed, the rest at my complete mercy, I eat and eat, as her desire coats my face and her moans drown out the sounds of the bass of my playlist.
Forcing two fingers inside her, I scissor them as she rides my face and hand with compl ete abandon, chasing her release like nothing else mattered and I fucking love it. I feel the muscles in her pussy contract, her clit pulsing against my tongue as her climax races toward her.
“Jake, I…”
Her hands scrabble for purchase on the bed and then I bite down on her clit and she detonates. Her legs clamp around my head, like a vice, her hips bucking and her cunt squeezing my fingers so tight I know my dick will be in heaven inside her.
My name is a scream from her lips and I drink down her release like it’s nectar. Her legs fall limp and I squeeze her ass before kissing her inner thighs and letting her go. Reaching for my bedside drawer, I draw out a condom and Cherry watches as I roll it down my length.
Bracing my arm beside her head, I kiss her deeply, her fingers tunnel through my hair, dragging her nails across my scalp. Her nipples rub my chest, and I lift her leg around my hip as I stroke my cock through the evidence of her climax.
“I need you, Jake. Make me yours.”
“You’ve always been mine, Cherry Blossom.” Then I push inside her, her pussy walls hugging the tip of my cock like a glove as I work my way inside her. She wriggles and I look down at her.
“You okay?”
She nods. “Yes, you’re just big. I don’t know if I can take all of you.”
I smirk at her words but I know she can take me, she was made for me. “You can take it all, Blossom. You’re my good girl.” I push in another few inches and she moans, her cunt squeezing me. Dropping my forehead to her shoulder, I wait, giving her a minute to adjust to my size before I push the rest of the way inside her.
“Jake, move. Please.”
“Impatient minx.”
My hand slaps her ass and she yelps but it turns to a moan when I shove my cock into her to the hilt and my pelvis rubs her clit just right. She feels like th e tightest fist hugging my cock, warm, wet perfection.
“Fuck, you feel good, Blossom.”
Cherry holds my face in her hands and locks her gaze on mine. “Fuck me like you hate me, Jake. Don’t be gentle, I won’t break.”
God, could she be any more perfect? I don’t question her, just take her at her word and withdraw my hips before slamming back into her, hard. Her pussy sucks at my dick like it doesn’t want to let go. Her hands claw at my back, her legs lock around me as I suck a nipple into my mouth and bite down, making her cry out in pleasure.
“Harder.”
A growl slips from my lips and I lift her leg from around my hip and push her thigh open and up so I can see my cock pounding into her pink pussy. Her juices coat my cock, and slide down my balls as I slam into her.
“This what you want, Blossom? You want my huge cock to destroy that sweet pussy for any other man?”
“Yes, make me come.”
Her small hand goes to her clit and I knock it away with a snarl. “Nobody makes you come but me.”
An angry snarl rolls past her lips and she glares at me, all fight and fire and I fucking love it. “Then stop dicking around and do it.”
God, this woman.
Bending, I take her bottom lip between my teeth and bite down hard enough for her to gasp before I lick my tongue over the tender spot and kiss her like she’s the most cherished thing in my life and she is. I run my hand from her ankle all the way up her thigh, over her hip, and belly before cupping her breast and rolling her nipple.
“You come when I say you come, Blossom.”
Sweat slicks our skin as my hips move with power, the headboard crashing against the wall in time. I know others will hear and don’t give a fuck, I want them to hear, to know who she belongs to, to know that she is mine and I’ll incinerate anyone that tries to hurt her .
Tears leak from her eyes and I wipe them away gently with my thumbs, as I slow a fraction. “Blossom?”
“Happy tears, Jake. Just don’t stop.”
My lips kiss her eyelids, my tongue swiping away the tears on her cheeks. This is more than fucking, more than lovemaking even, this is a claiming and she’s claiming me just as hard as I claim her.
My balls tighten, an electric buzz running along my spine as I roll her clit with my thumb, and then lift up so I can angle her hips up and hit that sweet spot inside her that makes her see stars.
Her breath hitches as I run my hand up her belly and grip her throat lightly, her hand covering mine and she squeezes it tighter, showing me what she wants. I’ve never been so turned on in my life and as I squeeze her delicate neck, her body flails and then I let go and command, “Come all over my cock, baby.”
Her keening moan is pleasure filled with pain and her cunt grips me so hard I can hardly move, as I fuck her once, twice, before I come, shooting my seed inside her on a roar that leaves my throat raw.
Rolling off her, I quickly tie the condom off before chucking it in the trash. Cherry is lying just where I’d left her when I roll back, her eyes hooded and slumberous as she watches me. She looks so vulnerable, so stunningly beautiful, and so mine. Tugging the comforter from under her, I settle us in my bed and hold her close, pulling her thigh over my hips. My dick twitches with interest but I shut that shit down. I need to care for her now, to show her how much she means to me, not go at her again like a horny dog.
“I’m making a mess on you,” she mumbles against my skin.
Squeezing her thigh, I kiss her head. “I like your mess all over me.”
“Weirdo.”
I chuckle as I stroke her hair through my fingers. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you or frighten you?”
Cherry pushes off my chest so she is leaning over me, her tits resting on my abs. I can’t help but look at her, she has amazing tits, and my hand reaches for her nipple, rubbing it through my knuckles .
“You didn’t hurt me, Jake. I liked what we did, I want to try everything with you.”
Her eyes are soft, the blue of her irises, darker than usual as she offers up that admission with a shy shrug. I want so badly to tell her I love her, to admit that she holds my soul in her palm, but that call has shaken me. Have I destroyed us before we even begin? I don’t know but I suddenly have the gut-wrenching feeling that our time is finite, that I have to cram a lifetime of loving her into the short space of time before my secret comes out and it will. Even if I agreed, and I don’t want to, and steal those papers for Nick, my time with her is coming to an end. “Go on a date with me.”
Her fingers draw patterns on my chest as she cocks her head in question. “Why?”
I roll us so she is beneath me, and see the way her eyes flare wide with desire when she feels me between her legs.
“Because I want the world to know you’re mine.”
Cherry rolls her eyes. “You pretty much pissed all over me a few weeks ago. I think they know.”
“Then how about we do it because I want to spend every second making you smile and I think you’ll like what I have planned.” I nuzzle her neck as I run my hand up her thigh, making her arch into my touch.
“Fine but if it’s a boring dinner, you’re going to pay me back with orgasms.”
Smiling against her neck, I feel her pulse flutter before I lick her skin, tasting the salt. “You get those either way, Blossom.”
“Well, okay then.”
“Tomorrow, after your morning shift?”
“What should I wear?”
“Is nothing an option?”
She smirks at me. “Only if you don’t mind everyone looking at your naked girlfriend.”
A growl leaves my lips and I want to rip apart anyone who’s seen what belongs to me .
“Yeah, not happening. Unless you want me to kill any man who looks at you.”
Cherry shrugs. “Hey, this was your idea, not mine.”
“Wear whatever you want, baby. I don’t mind smashing a few skulls for you.”
“Animal.”
I nudge her folds with my cock as I suck her nipple between my teeth and the rest of our words are forgotten as I fuck my girl until nothing else can penetrate the fog of my brain except her.
Little do I know that it’s the last time I get to have her like this before our world implodes.