Chapter 9
TESSA
Ican’t shake the knot in my stomach, the gnawing fear that Derek’s not done with us. Vanessa might’ve been scared off, but Derek’s got that damning footage still in his hands.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
Lachlan’s eyes flick from the road to me.
I stare at my hands twisting in my lap. “I just have a bad feeling about Derek.”
“What do you want me to do? Go to his place? Beat the shit out of him?”
“No,” I say quickly. “That’ll only make it worse. I’m just worried he’s going to find out who you are. A professor. And expose you.”
“So you do want me to threaten him?”
“No, Lachlan.” I sigh, frustration bubbling up. “I don’t want anything to happen to your career because of me. We’ve been reckless, so reckless. I mean, we had sex on campus, multiple times.”
His lips twitch, a ghost of a smirk breaking through the tension. “But we’re more careful now.”
“I know,” I say, but the fear lingers.
“Tessa, please don’t worry about me.”
His hand finds my knee.
“I love you. That’s all that matters.”
The words steal my breath. He loves me. He’s never said it before. Sure, he’s said he was falling for me, but this is different.
I turn to him. “What did you say?”
He glances back at me. “You heard me. I said I love you.”
“You never said it before.”
He chuckles, his fingers sliding higher, under my dress.
“Ahh, well, I certainly showed it, didn’t I?”
A mischievous spark ignites in my chest. “Having sex with me doesn’t mean you love me,” I tease.
Without warning, he swerves the car into a deserted lot, the tires crunching against gravel as the headlights cut through the darkness.
“Lachlan, what are you doing?” I ask as he slams the car into park and turns to me with a feral expression.
He unbuckles his seatbelt and lunges across the console, his hands deftly undoing my seatbelt. He yanks my dress up, bunching it around my hips.
“It does for me,” he growls. “You think I’m kidding, Tessa? I haven’t been with anyone in years. Years. I don’t fuck around. I don’t take this lightly.”
Before I can respond, he pulls my panties aside, and his mouth is on me, his tongue finding my clit.
“Lachlan, my God.”
My hands tangle in his hair as he devours me, his lips sucking, his tongue circling, teasing, driving me wild. I buck against his face, a wicked urge rising.
“Are you sure you love me? Maybe I’m just here for the sex,” I tease.
He freezes, his mouth stilling, and I feel the shift in him. He pulls back. “You’re playing a dangerous game, Tessa.”
He climbs out of the car, slamming the door, and before I can react, he’s at my side, yanking open the passenger door and pulling me out with a firm grip on my arm.
“Lachlan!”
He spins me around, pushing me against the side of the car, the cold metal biting into my palms as I brace myself. The headlights cast a stark glow across the empty lot. His body presses against mine from behind.
“Say it again,” he grunts, lifting my dress, digging his hands into my hips. “Tell me you don’t feel this, that you’re just here for a fuck.”
I bite my lip, the thrill of toying with him making my blood sing. “Maybe this is just a game to me. Just sex.”
He lets out a low groan as he yanks my panties down completely, letting them fall to the gravel.
“You’re a fucking liar,” he says. “You think I don’t know you? You think I can’t feel you love me?”
His fingers dip lower, brushing my soaked entrance. “What do I need to do to show you?”
His fingers slide up from my pussy to my ass, circling the tight, untouched entrance with a pressure that makes me tense.
“You think you can keep playing with me, Tessa? Do I need to take you right here, in this tight little ass, to prove how much I love you? To show you you’re mine?”
He slides his cock, now free from his jeans, along the curve of my ass. I’ve never done this before, never even considered it. But the way he’s touching me… it’s a rush I can’t resist.
“Yes,” I whisper, my body aching for him to push me further.
He bends me over the hood of the car, the metal warm from the engine against my stomach. He teases my entrance with his fingers, easing me open.
“Fuck, Tessa,” he says, his fingers stretching me. “You’re so fucking tight, so fucking perfect. You think this is just sex? You think I’d do this with anyone else? I love you, and you’re gonna feel it in every fucking inch of you.”
I bite my lip, my heart racing as he positions himself, the tip of his cock pressing against my ass, slow and careful.
“I love you,” he growls, pushing into me slowly, the stretch so intense I need to scrape the hood with my nails. “I fucking love you, Tessa.”
He moves slowly at first, letting me adjust. “You feel that? That’s me loving you, Tessa. That’s me giving you everything I’ve got. You’re not just a fuck. You’re my fucking world.”
My body relaxes around him, the pleasure overtaking the discomfort as he moves. “Maybe I don’t believe you,” I gasp, still teasing. “Maybe you’re just good at this.”
“You want me to prove it?” he says, his thrusts growing deeper, more insistent. “I love you. And I’ll fuck you until you believe it.”
The burn is so intense, but the pleasure makes me feel alive, wanted… loved.
“Say you love me,” he demands. “Stop fucking playing, Tessa. Say it.”
“I love you,” I finally gasp, the words spilling out as my orgasm crashes through me. “I love you, Lachlan.”
He groans, his thrusts faltering as he follows me over the edge.
“Fuck, Tessa. I love you. Don’t ever fucking doubt that.”
He helps me stand, pulling my skirt down gently.
“You okay?” he asks, his eyes searching mine.
“More than okay,” I say, reaching up to touch his face. “I was just messing with you. I love you, Lachlan. I mean it.”
He exhales, a low, relieved sound, pulling me into his arms.
“You’re gonna be the death of me. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”