Chapter 42
Mia
Waking up in Ethan’s bed again feels like the most natural thing in the world. Waking up in Ethan’s bed naked, safe in his arms, his long, hard body pressed against mine is even better.
It’s daylight outside and his curtains lay on the floor, letting in the morning sun.
I watch it travelling across the floor of his room, half-awake since dawn and listening to him sleep.
I’m an English student and an obsessive reader.
I’ve consumed a million books, a trillion poems, and I’m careful when it comes to choosing my words – hyperbole is no one’s friend – but when it comes to Ethan, I’m lost. There is no way to describe what happened between us without throwing in every superlative in the dictionary.
I’m sore and I’m tired but I’m not stressed or anxious.
I’m not worried about what he’s going to say or do when he wakes up, or what he might tell other people.
My only concern is how soon we can have sex again and judging by the hard length pressing into my lower back, the answer to that question is real soon.
‘You’re awake.’
Ethan follows his statement with a kiss to the back of my neck and my whole body shivers, nipples puckering as his hand dances lightly across my breasts.
‘Yep, I usually am in the morning. It comes right after being asleep?’
‘Very funny. Sass me again and I’ll spank you.’
Hopefully a threat and a promise. His hands are lazy as they take their time surveying my body but there’s an urgency underneath it that neither of us can hide.
While he palms the curve of my ass, his cock pushes against me and I’m wet at the thought of opening my legs and pushing down onto him.
There’s a rustling sound, then the tear of a packet, and I bite my lip, waiting, anticipating what comes next.
Last night, everything was discovery. This morning, I know what’s coming and I want it even more.
Ethan winds my hair around his hand to pull it back, turning my head as I twist at the waist, craning my neck to see him.
My own desire and delight stares back at me, reflected in his beautiful face.
When I rise up to meet his lips, arching my back and spreading my legs, he rubs the head of his cock over me, and I gasp into his mouth.
‘What do you want?’ he asks again.
The answer is easy.
‘I want you,’ I tell him as he continues to tease, circling me with his cock the way I would touch myself.
‘How much do you want it?’
A laugh turns into a whine because I’m not in the mood to play games. I’m in the mood to feel him inside me.
‘Ethan, please,’ I beg, shifting my hips to chase his cock, squirming with desperation. ‘I can’t wait.’
‘Yes, you can,’ he tells me, a low, rumbling command in my ear.
The circling between my legs stops and when he pulls away from me, leaving me soaking wet and unsatisfied, I gasp at his act of withholding.
‘What’s your rush?’
Ethan’s lips kiss and suck and taste their way down the back of my body, traversing the length of my spine, as his right hand busies itself with my breasts, the left propping him up on the bed.
‘I have work,’ I say in a whimper. ‘I have class.’
‘When?’
‘Midday.’
‘What time is it now?’
Through my blurred vision, I can just about make out the numbers on his digital alarm clock.
‘Eight-thirty.’
Without warning, he pushes me over onto my stomach, chasing the movement with more kisses, his teeth grazing my earlobe.
‘Plenty of time,’ he breathes, the tip of his tongue tracing out the shell of my ear.
I shudder, certain I have never been so turned on in my life. No veil of darkness to hide my inhibitions this time, I’m truly laid bare to him and the thought alone is making me wetter than I thought possible.
Ethan inches down my body until he’s straddling the backs of my thighs, the weight of his thick cock resting on my ass.
I clench, not sure what he’s going to do, not sure what I want him to do, but then he moves lower and gently parts my legs to position himself between them.
His finger slips inside me easily, tapping my clit, once, twice, then moves down, slipping inside me, just the tip.
‘Did you like it when I kissed you here?’
‘Yes.’
My fists are full of his sheets, my face pressed against his pillow. If he doesn’t fuck me soon, I’m going to scream. If he does, I’m going to scream.
‘Would you like me to do it again?’
‘Yes, please.’
‘Good girl.’
The please elicits a growl and in a heartbeat, his mouth is on me.
He grabs my hips with his hands as I arch upwards and he yanks me back towards him, the fabric rough against my sensitive nipples.
With his tongue inside me and his fingers on my clit, I’m practically delirious.
The pressure on my clit increases, the tapping devolving into a frantic rubbing, Ethan increasing the pressure as I push backwards, chasing the release that is so close, I can’t breathe.
Any semblance of rhythm is lost as I buck against his face, his hand, screaming his name into his pillow.
The room disappears and I’m lost to the pleasure that rips through me, every muscle in my body tensed then released.
I’m breathless and broken, nothing but a rag doll. But Ethan doesn’t stop.
As soon as I catch my breath, I feel it. His cock pushing into me, slowly, so much slower than last night, filling me inch by inch until our bodies connect and just as I broke the surface, I’m pulled back under.
‘Fuck, Mia,’ he gasps, the self-control he’s shown so far wavering the instant he’s inside me. I don’t care. I want him like this, feral and out of control. I want to know he’s as desperate as I am.
On my knees, forearms flush to the bed, both of Ethan’s hands grasp my hips as his rhythm speeds up.
It’s delicious, the pressure inside me, the way he stretches me and fills me.
Every thrust invokes echoes of my climax until the soft sounds begin to grow louder.
It’s no longer an echo, it’s a new peak and I turn my head, trying to see him, to let him know I can’t stand it.
Then I catch sight of something over his desk.
His mirror. Obscured by the darkness, I hadn’t noticed it last night, but now it’s right there, reflecting the bed right back at me.
Me on my knees, Ethan behind me, fucking me.
His cheeks are flushed, his hair damp and clinging to his face, his beautiful lean, muscular body a masterpiece in motion.
I groan, shocked by the rush of pleasure that follows, unable to tear my eyes away from us.
Ethan slows for a split second, looking down at me before he follows my gaze and meets me in the mirror.
Eyes locked, he slows down his strokes, withdrawing his cock almost all the way then pushing back inside me slowly, watching every inch of himself disappear inside me in the mirror. His lips part and I watch as he bites down on his bottom lip to hold himself together as he does it again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
Then it’s too much, too hard to hold back.
His moans become groans and his strokes get shorter, harder, slamming into me but I keep watching, even as my hand slips between my legs to find my clit, the friction delicious and more than enough to send me screaming over the edge, exploding into a million tiny pieces.
But this time I don’t muffle myself. I let him hear it.
Ethan yells my name, thrusts one more time and in a brief moment of clarity, as I feel the throb of him emptying himself inside me, I wonder if I’ll have bruises on my hips tomorrow.
He held me so tightly, I’m sure he’s marked me down to my bones.
I hope so.
‘So, I’ll see you at lunch? Say, 12.30 at Members?’
‘My shift starts at twelve,’ I confirm two hours later, full of resentment for the game of soccer as Ethan slips his feet into his sneakers. ‘I’ll be there. I don’t think we’ll be busy.’
He picks up his duffel bag and looks back at me in his bed, shaking his head like he can’t believe what he’s seeing. Me. He’s seeing me.
‘Or you could stay right where you are,’ he suggests. ‘Screw your shift and wait for me in bed.’
‘You know I would but I have class after the lunch shift and I really need to know how Christopher Marlowe got into that knife fight.’
I pull the sheets up under my chin, inexplicably bashful now he’s fully dressed and staring at me like I’m some kind of unbelievable treasure and not the same girl who was tutoring his teammate in English. He crosses the room in three long strides and presses one more kiss to my lips.
‘Members at 12.30 it is. And, uh, do you maybe want to do something tonight?’
I give him a grin.
‘Define something.’
‘Members at 12.30,’ he recites like he’s memorizing it, convincing himself to leave. ‘See you then.’
The door closes behind him and I lie back in the bed, luxuriating in the damp sheets.
As tempting as it is to stay right here, bury my face in his pillow and wrap myself up in a post-sex burrito of joy, I have things to do.
Shower, for one. Rolling into class with Ethan all over me sounds sexy in theory but in practice, unhygienic and kind of gross.
Reluctantly, I climb out of bed and gather my things.
The twin beds in Carpenter House were not designed for two people, especially not when one of them is a six-foot-something athlete.
How is this going to work? Do we take it in turns, one night in my bed, one night in his?
Will we spend every night together? Because that could be intense.
I pull on my underwear and catch sight of a frown on my face in the mirror.
I’ve gone from hating the guy to tolerating him, to the two of us basically moving in together in a few short weeks.
A rumble of something I don’t like at all rolls through me.
‘You’re getting ahead of yourself,’ I mutter aloud, hoping the sound of the words will help them sink in. ‘It was one night. And one morning. Chill, Mia.’
I wish I could be someone who lives in the good parts but I’m not. How can I when there are so many things to worry about? But I’m determined to try.
When I step out of the shower in my room, all wrapped up in a soft towel and post-coital haze, I notice my phone for the first time, the screen lit up with notifications, every single one of them from my family.
Mom’s cell, Dad’s cell, the home landline, even a bunch of texts from Kane.
The panic that swells inside me narrows my vision because something is wrong, something is terribly wrong and I missed it because I was hooking up with Ethan Taylor instead of checking my phone.
I open Kane’s messages first because the thought of hearing whatever bad news is coming my way in one of my parents’ voices is too much to stomach.
Where the fuck are you?
Weren’t you supposed to call tonight?
Mom is losing her shit
Pick up asap before dad puts me on a fucking plane to come find you
I’m not exaggerating Mia
FFS ANSWER YOUR PHONE!!!!
I press my lips together so tightly my teeth cut into the tender flesh and I can taste blood.
I completely forgot about our Sunday night check-in call.
Should I call now? It’s still so early at home and I have to leave for my shift soon.
I should, I know I should, but I’m a coward.
My folks are going to lose their minds at me and I deserve it.
‘Hey, sorry I didn’t call last night,’ I mumble aloud as I furiously type out the words. ‘I was …’
I was what? What am I going to say? Even if I had legitimately solved world hunger in the last twelve hours, I don’t think they’d accept it as a justifiable excuse for failing to call.
There’s no way I can tell them the truth, so I go with a classic, difficult to disprove, even if they don’t believe me.
‘I had food poisoning. Bad sushi.’
Shouldn’t be too hard to believe. Hemden isn’t exactly a region of the world known for its culinary expertise when it comes to raw fish.
Will call tonight. Sorry to stress you out. Love you.
I snap a selfie and add it to the chain, doing my best to look as feeble as possible.
One thing goes right, something else has to go wrong, that’s the rule of the universe and I should’ve known better than to tempt fate.
But it was worth, I decide, staring at the picture of myself and running a finger over my swollen lips.
More than worth it.