Chapter 49 #3
A sharp breath escaped me as I spun around, my instincts screaming at me to move, and I bolted down the closest aisle between the shelves. My footsteps thundered in the silence, echoing too loud, too fast.
A few seconds later, I risked a glance over my shoulder and saw the red glow gaining on me, smooth and relentless. A breathless laugh escaped me as I ran faster, fear melting into something hot and wild.
I darted around the corner of a shelf, pulse roaring in my ears, and I almost made it back to the stairwell.
Almost.
A hand caught my wrist and yanked me back hard, my back slamming against a bookshelf. Books rattled above my head as Julian caged me in, one arm braced beside my face. The mask was inches from me, glowing red in the dark.
“Got you,” he said, voice low and unmistakably pleased beneath the distortion of the mask.
My chest heaved as I smiled up at him, hands curling into his jacket. He leaned in, the stitched neon grin hovering just at my mouth.
“Did you really think I'd let you catch me?” he murmured, one hand sliding to my hip, pinning me more firmly against the shelf. “After everything I went through to set this up?”
“You're such an ass sometimes,” I said breathlessly, still smiling.
“Your ass, though.” His thumb traced along my jawline. “As of tomorrow. Officially.”
"How romant—"
He kissed me through the mask, the hard material pressing against my lips, frustrating and thrilling at once. I made a sound of protest, tugging at his jacket, and felt his chest rumble with dark laughter.
“Want me to take it off?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Ask nicely.”
“Julian…”
His other hand slid up my side, fingers grazing just beneath my breast. “That's not asking nicely, baby.”
Heat flooded through me, pooling low in my belly. He was playing with me. Drawing this out. Making me beg.
“Please,” I finally said, voice barely above a whisper. “Take off the mask.”
He pulled back just enough to reach up and remove it, and suddenly it was just Julian, his eyes dark and hungry, his mouth curved in that wicked smile I'd come to know so well. The one that meant I was in trouble. The best kind of trouble.
“There you are,” I breathed.
“Here I am.” He tossed the mask aside and kissed me properly this time, deep and demanding, his tongue sliding against mine in a way that made my knees weak. I clung to him, fingers tangling in his hair, pulling him closer.
His hands roamed, one sliding beneath my jacket, the other gripping my hip hard enough that I'd probably have bruises there tomorrow. I didn't care. I wanted them. Wanted the reminder of this moment, of him claiming me in the darkness of this empty library.
“Do you have any idea,” he murmured against my mouth, “how hard it was to stay ahead of you tonight? How many times I wanted to just grab you and fuck you up against the closest wall?”
“Why didn't you?”
“Because watching you look for me was too good.” His lips moved to my neck, teeth grazing my skin. “Seeing that determination on your face. Seeing how badly you wanted to find me.”
I tilted my head back, giving him better access. “I really did want to find you. You could’ve given me more of a chance.”
“I know.” His hand slid higher beneath my shirt, fingers tracing patterns on my bare skin. “But I wanted you to want to be caught even more.”
“Cocky bastard.”
He laughed against my neck. “You love it.”
He was damn right. I did.
His mouth found mine again, more aggressive now, and I matched his intensity, biting his lower lip hard enough to make him groan.
His hips pressed against mine, pinning me completely to the bookshelf, and I could feel exactly how much he'd enjoyed this little game he’d created.
I also had the feeling it would be the first of many more to come.
“Julian,” I gasped when he moved to my collarbone, sucking hard enough to leave a mark. “Wait. We're in the library.”
“Empty library, remember?” he corrected, hands already working at the button of my jeans. His fingers slid beneath the denim, teasing. “Called in a favor. The building's ours for the next three hours.”
“Three hours seems optimistic,” I said, breath hitching as his fingers moved exactly where I needed them.
His grin turned absolutely feral. “Baby, I'm going to take my time with you.”
And oh my god, he did…
He dropped to his knees right there between the stacks, pulling my jeans down with him, his mouth replacing his fingers in a way that made my vision blur.
I had to bite down on my fist to keep from crying out, my other hand tangled in his hair, holding on as he thoroughly destroyed any coherent thought I had left.
"Julian," I gasped. "God, Julian—"
He hummed against me, the vibration making my legs shake, and I would've collapsed if he wasn't holding me up, hands gripping my thighs, keeping me exactly where he wanted me.
When I finally came apart, it was with his name on my lips and stars behind my eyes.
He stood slowly, kissing his way back up my body, and I could barely stand, barely breathe, barely think. Somehow we made it to one of the study tables, books and papers scattering as he lifted me onto it. Then his hands were everywhere, stripping away the rest of my clothes.
"Last night before we're married," he murmured against my skin, lips trailing down my sternum. "I wanted to make it memorable."
"Mission accomplished," I gasped as his mouth closed around my nipple.
He looked up at me, eyes gleaming with wicked intent. "I'm just getting started."
With that, he drove into me in one forceful motion, filling me so suddenly it knocked the air from my lungs. My head tipped back as my body struggled to catch up, and then he was moving again, setting a brutal pace that left no room to breathe or adjust.
The stretch of him burned deliciously, thick and demanding, pleasure sparking so sharply it had me seeing bright stars in the dark library. I gasped with every drive of his hips, clutching at him, legs wrapping tight around his waist to pull him even deeper.
There was nothing gentle in the way we were fucking. No romance or softness. Just urgency and fury and want colliding in a way that felt almost violent. Julian’s thrusts turned harsher, faster, and I met every one of them, pushing back just as hard.
“This is what you need, baby,” he breathed against my ear, voice rough, timing his words with a powerful snap of his hips. “Me fucking you like this.”
“Yes,” I cried, fingers clawing down his back. The obscene sounds of skin on skin filled the enclosed space, wet and desperate, echoing around us. “Fuck, yes.”
My body started to come undone, muscles tightening around him, pleasure spiraling out of control. “Please,” I whispered, voice breaking. “Let me come.”
“Do it,” he growled, thrusting harder, faster. A handful of punishing movements shattered me completely, my climax tearing through me in blinding waves that left me shaking.
With a raw groan, Julian slammed fully inside me and froze. I felt the pulse of him, the way his body betrayed him as he found his own release.
Afterwards, we lay tangled together on the floor beside the desk, my head on his chest, his fingers tracing lazy patterns on my bare shoulder. Our clothes were still scattered somewhere in the darkness, and both of us were breathing hard.
“I can't believe you organized all of this,” I said, voice hoarse. “The hunt, the empty library, everything.”
“Worth it?”
“Absolutely worth it.” I tilted my head to look up at him. “Although I might be a little sore tomorrow.”
His smirk was unrepentant. “Good. You'll think of me every time you move.”
“I was already going to be thinking of you. It's our wedding day.”
“Now you'll be thinking of this specifically.” He pressed a kiss to my temple. “Of me chasing you through the dark. Of what I did to you when I caught you.”
Heat curled through me again despite my exhaustion. “You're insatiable.”
“Only with you, baby.” His hand slid down my spine, possessive and claiming. “Only ever with you.”
We lay there in comfortable silence for a few more minutes before reality intruded.
“We should probably get dressed,” I said reluctantly. “Before security comes back.”
“They won't for a while,” Julian said, but he started sitting up anyway, reaching for his discarded shirt. “But you're right. We need sleep before tomorrow.”
I found my clothes scattered across the fourth floor, getting dressed while Julian watched with obvious appreciation. When I reached for my purse where I'd dropped it earlier, he was already there, handing it to me.
He walked me back to my dorm, hand in mine, neither of us speaking much. We didn't need to. Everything that mattered had already been said. At my door, he kissed me goodnight; sweet and chaste and completely at odds with what we'd just done in the library.
“See you tomorrow,” he said, smiling. “At the end of that aisle.”
I smiled back. “I can't wait.”
I watched him walk away, then let myself into my dorm and collapsed on the bed, still buzzing with adrenaline and satisfaction and bone-deep happiness.
Tomorrow, I'd marry him. Tomorrow, everything would change. But tonight had been perfect.
A hunt. A chase. A claiming. Exactly what we both needed.
I fell asleep with a smile on my face.