Chapter 39
THIRTY-NINE
COLE
T hree days into Lana living with us and things are going… well?
They’re not going bad, so I guess that’s something.
The guys were fine with her staying with us until her dorm room was ready, even if they were a little skeptical about the entire thing.
Though if I’m being honest, I’m pretty sure they think she’s here because I made it happen, and I’m pretty sure they’re under the impression that I messed with the water system in her dorm and paid off the admin to say there was nowhere else for her to go.
I mean, it’s probably something I would have done, though the way things went down with Dare could not have gone better.
And it was his idea for her to move in here, which was basically him giving me full access to Lana.
Perfection.
The issue is, she spends the day on campus at classes or in the library and only comes back here to sleep. And even then, she spends half the night in the basement, working out and doing shit on her laptop which I’m pretty sure isn’t schoolwork.
I don’t know what she’s planning, I just know that she is planning something.
And if she thinks she’s gonna go off and deal with it on her own, then she has another thing coming.
Another one of the reasons Dare wanted her to move in here was so that I could keep a close eye on her and make sure she doesn’t go off and do stupid shit, since he can’t keep track of her when she’s in the dorms. And we maaaay have slipped a tracker into that leather jacket she seems to favor.
We only brought it up in his office so that she could shoot the idea down.
I kinda like the dean. He’s a fun guy when he’s not playing the pompous, tweed-wearing prick.
And now it’s the middle of the day on a Thursday, and Lana is nowhere to be seen. I know she’s not in class, so I head to the library to search for her. I’m not sure if she comes here so much because she likes books or just because she likes the quiet. Probably the latter.
There aren’t many people in here when I enter.
I spot Lana straight away, sitting at a table near the back of the room with a girl I recognize as Savannah Marks.
She’s old money, and her family comes from a long line of politicians, though she’s probably nothing like them.
I don’t think I’ve ever even spoken to her before, and we went to all of the same schools growing up.
She’s shy, quiet, and never attended parties or anything like that.
I head over and sit my ass down in the free chair at the table. Their conversation stops as I sit, and they both look up to see who the intruder is. Lana groans quietly while Savannah’s eyes widen and her face pales .
She looks… scared?
Why would she be scared of me?
Sure, me and the guys have a bit of a reputation, but we’d never fuck with someone underserving.
“Lana,” I drawl. “I’ve been looking for you. You weren’t at home.”
Savannah’s eyes dart between me and her friend.
Are they friends? I didn’t know Lana had those. Then again, there’s a lot I don’t know about Alana.
A shiver rolls through me. Nope, I don’t like that name. It sounds too pure and innocent for the likes of my little menace.
“That’s not my home.”
“Oh, come on, little menace. We live together. If you need to talk your feelings out, we can.”
Lana eyes darken and I inwardly smile. God, I love getting a reaction out of her.
“Wait, you two live together?” Savannah asks, speaking for the first time since I sat down. And by the way her mouth drops open afterwards, I’m guessing she didn’t mean to ask that.
“Yes,” I say at the same time Lana growls, “No.”
Aww, is she embarrassed of our blossoming love?
“Cole,” Lana warns, and I chuckle to myself.
Her leg kicks out beneath the table, but I trap it between both of mine and she struggles to get it free.
“Now now, Lana. This isn’t the time or place for foreplay,” I murmur, and Savannah stands from her chair, putting whatever books she had on the table back in her bag.
“I’m just gonna… uhm, bye.” She scurries off, and I watch her leave before turning back to my girl.
“What’s wrong with her? She looked terrified.”
She scoffs. “Seriously? ”
I stare at her, confused. “Seriously what?”
She shakes her head, a look of bewilderment on her face, before putting her own things away and kicking her leg, making me let go.
“I need to go,” she mutters and goes to walk away, but she’s not getting away from me that easily.
I follow behind her, like a dog trailing after its owner, and no, the irony is not lost on me.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
She huffs but doesn’t turn around, she just carries on walking. “ We are not going anywhere. I am.”
Yeah, that’s not how this works.
“Not gonna happen, Lana. I’m in this with you whether you like it or not, so you’re just gonna have to put that pride of yours on the back seat for a while and deal with it, okay?”
She stops walking as we reach the parking lot and spins around to face me.
Anger’s written all over her pretty features, and I wonder how she’d react if I snuck a picture of how she looks right now.
I’d put that baby as my phone’s wallpaper just so I could stare into her angry eyes all day, every day.
“Why are you doing this, Cole? Why are you helping me? Not too long ago, you were doing everything you could to piss me off. You were trying to torture me, and now you’re just—what?” She cuts off as I start laughing.
God, is she really not seeing this clearly?
Does she really have no damn idea of what’s going on here, or is she really that na?ve?
I search her face and see nothing but a mixture of confusion and irritation.
“Fuck, baby,” I say, clicking my tongue. “You’re an idiot. You know that, right?”
Her eyes darken and she takes a step towards me as though she’s about to attack, so I continue talking before she can.
“Do you really not see it? See everything I’ve been trying to do for the last couple of weeks?
I don’t hate you, Lana. I don’t think I ever really did.
I just figured it was hate because I didn’t know what else it could be, but I like you, okay?
I fucking like you, Lana, and like hell am I going to let anything happen to you.
I know you’re perfectly capable of fighting this battle on your own, but you don’t have to.
You don’t have to be alone in anything, because I’m right here, trying to fight with you, if only you’d let me. ”
She blinks at me, seemingly stupefied at my confession, and then shakes her head and begins walking in the opposite direction.
I follow her—because of course, I do—and realize we’re heading back to the cottage.
We don’t speak the entire way there, but her fists clench and unclench as we walk, giving away her anxiety.
Or frustration?
Anger?
With her, it could be any emotion at all.
We reach the cottage and she heads up the steps first, unlocking the door and holding it open for me to enter. As soon as I do, she slams the door behind me and pushes me against it. Once again, her eyes search mine, I’m just not sure what she’s searching for.
“You were telling me the truth back there,” she states, and I nod silently.
But I only nod once, because the movement is stopped as her hand meets the back of my neck and she pulls me down so that my lips meet hers.
I grab her hips and pull her flush against me, reveling in the feeling of her body against mine for the first time in days.
She may be living here with me, but I haven’t had her how I want her.
Whenever we’re in bed, she’ll stay on her side.
We haven’t fucked. We haven’t even kissed.
I’ve been letting her take it at her pace, and I guess she’s finally ready for more.
She jumps up, and I catch her with my hands under her thighs before spinning us both around and pinning her back against the door.
“Fuck,” she whispers as she grinds against me and I moan into her mouth.
I missed this.
I missed her.
I need her.
“Bedroom,” I mutter, because like hell am I going to fuck her out here in the open where any of my roommates could walk in.
She nods, and I carry her toward our room.
The door slams open as we enter, and I kick it closed behind me before throwing Lana down on the bed.
I think it’s about time to finally get that A .
And by A , I mean her name being complete on my skin.
I’ve long since given up trying to analyze why I like what she does to me so much and instead decided to just embrace it.
Everyone has kinks, and mine just happens to be Lana James wielding a knife.
We both strip from our clothes, neither of us in the mood to fuck around and tease each other, before I climb on top of her, my bare skin flush against hers and my throbbing cock digging into her thigh.
“Feelings really turn you on, huh?” I ask with a chuckle, and she punches me in the chest. It’s a light punch, not hard enough to wind me, but it still makes me grunt .
“Shut the fuck up and kiss me.”
Whatever you say, little menace.
My mouth meets hers, and electricity crackles between us. Every time I kiss her, it’s even better than the last, and I wonder if that feeling will ever go away.
Her hand travels down our bodies until it wraps around my cock, and she gives me a squeeze, brushing her thumb across the head to collect the pre-cum that was leaking, and I moan as a bolt of pleasure wracks through me.
She pulls her hand away and brings it up towards our heads, so I pull back to look down at her, waiting to see what she’ll do next. Rather than tasting it like I’d expected her to, she brings her thumb to my mouth and orders, “Suck.”
I hesitate for a moment before taking her thumb in my mouth.
A salty taste hits my senses, but it isn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
Still, I won’t just be tasting my own pre-cum from now on.
I suck her thumb gently before biting down on it.
She yelps, and I release it with a pop, grinning down at her.
“You’ll pay for that.”
Gladly.