18
“We can’t do this, Clem!”
“Not only can we do this, but we have to do this! And come sit down. You’re making me dizzy!”
Sitting cross-legged on her bed, in the small dorm room where I rushed after leaving Abrams, Clémentine grabs me by the arm and pulls me down beside her.
“Do you know how to do graffiti?”
It’s the best idea I’ve come up with—right before realizing it might also be the worst.
“No, but if some meathead from Timothy’s crew managed it, we can pull it off.”
“For all we know, it was my brother who did it.”
That thought makes me sick.
“We’re getting off track here! Focus, Alma! Graffiti tore you apart, and now it’s going to bring you back together. Your idea is awesome!”
“Yeah, but doing it in the gym is risky.”
“You’re the one who told me the back door is never locked! At least something useful will come out of dating Tim. Do you know any other place on campus we can sneak into in the middle of the night?”
“What if the guard does his rounds and we get caught?”
“The gym is really isolated; he’ll go by there once at most. We won’t make any noise, we won’t turn on any lights, and you’ll bring Vadim there when we’re finished.”
I smile at the thought. Me, Alma Lancaster, about to break the rules. For a guy.
All this for your gorgeous eyes, Vadim Arcadi.
“Plan approved. I’ll go buy the spray paint,” I say, standing up.
“No, it’s better if I do it. I should get red, right? Yeah, red graffiti is romantic. You can go home and you tell your parents we’re going out, like every Friday night. We’ll meet at the gym at 9 p.m. If you spot the security guard, you whistle.”
“Clem, he’ll hear me if I whistle!”
“Good point. Just imitate a bird call; I’ll know it’s you.”
“Oh, this just gets better and better,” I laugh. “Wait—I know a magical and discreet way we can contact each other! It’s called texting. But don’t forget to put your phone on silent.”
“Now that’s a good idea! We really make a killer team!” Clémentine cries out, holding up her hand for a high-five.
Instead, I hug her until she can hardly breathe.
“You’re amazing! The best friend ever.”
“Say that again. I think the lack of oxygen is affecting my hearing.”
***
I stand in the dark, a little unsteady on my feet, in the middle of the basketball court. In front of me, large, red letters drip down the wall.
It gives me chills.
I didn’t want to do anything more complicated or more original. And I had my work cut out for me convincing Clem not to add a massive heart next to it.
I want him to know that what he and I have is real. It’s important to me. But I sent Vadim a message to meet me here twenty minutes ago. It should take him less than ten minutes to get to the gym from his apartment.
What if he doesn’t come?
I hear the back door open with a quiet click. Maybe it’s the security guard, deciding to be extra vigilant tonight? Or perhaps Clémentine, too excited to go home?
Feeling jittery, I rush into the small booth where the switches for the basketball court are located. That was the plan. If it’s him, I turn on the lights. Otherwise, I stay hidden here.
A slender silhouette, a casual stride, a leather jacket shining in the dark…
He came.
“Alma?” Vadim calls out, turning around.
I flip the light switch.
His eyes narrow against the harsh glare of the lights. He turns again, searching for me, then spots the graffiti.
I hold my breath.
Vadim takes a few steps back to get a better look at the wall. Suddenly, his laughter echoes through the empty gym and ricochets off the glass of the equipment booth. He runs a hand through his hair, and I dart out of my hiding place and rush to meet him at the center of the court.
“See? I had the guts to do it.”
“You’re crazy, Lancaster.”
“I wanted you to remember this graffiti, not the other stuff.”
Vadim turns to me, lifts me off my feet, and spins me around, laughing even harder before setting me back down. He pulls me into his arms. Holds me tightly. So tight. He smiles at me, then presses his face—so full of emotion, so handsome, so breathtaking—against mine.
“What kind of sorcery is this?” he murmurs in his deep voice.
“Huh?”
“What you do to me…” With his battered hand, he takes mine and presses it against his heart. “Can you feel that? I don’t get it. I don’t understand why it’s happening so fast, how it can be this intense… but I love you too, Alma.”
His low voice carries me to another world.
“You have no idea how much I love you.”
In the middle of the empty, silent gym, his whisper sounds like a shout. It hits me right in the heart.
“And I’m sorry for the way I reacted. For doubting you…”
I throw myself into his arms so I don’t have to answer, so I don’t become overwhelmed by emotion.
“Wait, you don’t have a comeback? Alma Lancaster, are you really letting me have the last word?”
He can tease me all he wants—it rolls right off me. The guy of my dreams just told me he loves me.
He’s. In Love. With me.
I silence him with a kiss. Vadim kisses me back, with his lips, his tongue, his hands. Something flutters in my belly.
“We’d better turn off the lights,” I whisper between kisses.
“Oh yeah? What for?”
The hint of a smile playing on his lips sends a thrill through me.
“Catch me if you can, Arcadi…”
“What do I win if I catch you?”
“You’ll see!” I yell as I take off.
I dash across the basketball court as fast as my dress allows and make for the booth where I’d been hiding while waiting for him. Vadim follows at an unhurried pace, the picture of indifference, infuriatingly self-assured.
I flip the light switch. The tiny booth is swallowed by darkness, and it takes a few seconds for our eyes to adjust. Too impatient, I reach out for Vadim, and my hands find his chest. I freeze.
He takes my fingers, lifts them to his mouth, kisses them, then slips them gently between his warm lips.
I melt. He nudges the door shut with his foot and presses himself against me. Hard against me.
“I caught you, Alma Lancaster. So, what’s my reward?”
“Me…” I murmur, rising on my tiptoes to wrap my arms around his neck.
As I kiss him, I feel his hands caressing my thighs and lifting my dress a few inches. Then he slips his fingers beneath the fabric, caresses my backside, lifts me up, and sets me on some kind of counter.
“Aren’t you afraid we’ll get caught?” he whispers against my neck.
“I am… But you make me want to take risks.”
Spreading my legs, I pull him against me, and my boldness seems to please him. Between kisses that leave our lips swollen and red, we struggle with our clothes, until his bare skin meets mine.
At last.
His skin is silky, warm, and taut over the muscles of his arms and broad shoulders. I want to taste him, feel him, dig my nails into him. Vadim slips his fingers between my thighs, and this unexpected intimacy makes me moan.
“Do you like that, Alma?”
I let out a groan that makes him smile.
“And this?”
His hardness brushes against my clitoris, slips away, and comes back. This cruel game is driving me crazy.
“Vadim, we don’t have much time.”
The urgency only intensifies my need for him.
“We don’t have to do anything, Alma. I just want to make you feel good…”
His whisper only fuels the fire inside me. I kiss him fiercely, then bite him. I need him inside me, badly.
Vadim understands what I want. He pulls away from me for a moment to rummage in the back pocket of his jeans, then produces a condom. He tears open the wrapper with his teeth.
Sitting in the dark on this little counter, I can’t believe I have the most gorgeous guy in the world standing in front of me, whispering the most exciting words I’ve ever heard.
I’m not even thinking anymore; my body is in charge. My hands find his lower back, urging him closer. My eyes fix on him, the forbidden fruit I’m about to bite into. No matter the consequences.
His intoxicating gaze locked on mine, he reads me, understands me, and slowly steps between my thighs. Our bodies come together, our sighs answering each other, until pleasure carries us away, one after the other. I soar, my eyes closed, but my heart wide open. Beating only for him now.
I collapse onto the floor and lie beside him, breathless, my body languid. Vadim grabs his jeans and hands me my dress. I struggle with it but manage to slip it on, with nothing underneath. He watches me, laughing softly.
“Stop making fun of me.”
“Do I look like I’m making fun of you?”
“What’s your secret, Arcadi?”
“What do you mean?”
“To make me forget the rest of the world. To slip into my mind, beneath my skin…”
“I’ve got nothing to do with it. It’s just… us. It’s You + Me.”
You + Me.
He brushes a strand of hair away from my face and leans in close to my lips.
“I’ve never felt anything like this before either, Princess Lancaster.”
That damned nickname.
I give him a playful tap on the shoulder, then curl up against his chest, breathing in his scent, his warmth.
My legs tingle, and my lips ache from being kissed so much.
It’s a strange sensation—well-being mixed with pain, fullness, and inner peace.
I’ve given him everything. I feel like I’m floating outside my body.
I don’t even know if it still belongs to me.
Vadim gets to his feet first, looks around, then says in a playful voice, “Your turn to catch me this time.”
“Hmm… When I can walk again.”
Without hesitation, he lifts me off the ground, one arm under my knees, the other around my waist, and carries me across the gym. I have no idea where we’re going, but I cling to his neck anyway.
“Where are you taking me, my knight in shining armor?” I murmur in his ear.
“Patience, Your Highness. I’m looking for a place worthy of your rank.”
He leads us straight into the basketball players’ locker room, where he spots a cart piled high with fluffy, neatly folded bath towels. He lowers me gently into it, and I sink into the fresh-smelling cotton.
“Does this cozy little nest suit you, my darling?”
Standing in front of me, he performs an exaggerated bow that makes me smile. His gaze wanders over my bare legs in the dim light, and his mischievous look vanishes. He runs his hand over my neck, over my cheek, then through my hair, gazing at me with his intense, sexy look.
“We skipped a step, earlier…”
He leans in slowly to kiss me, and a moan slips from my lips.
My heart is beating way too fast. I place my palms on his chest and push, challenging him.
My eyes wander over his body: his bare chest, unbuttoned jeans, messy brown hair, the hands resting on my thighs, and the small scar marking his full lip.
“Do you like what you see, Princess?”
“Not bad, for a man without a crown…”
My teasing makes him smile.
He kneels in front of me, still perched on my cushioned cart, and slips beneath my dress.
His tongue traces my stomach, circles my belly button, then moves lower, and lower still.
It’s as if his mouth has learned me by heart.
I forget everything around me, everything that keeps us apart, everyone who stands against us, and I surrender myself to him, to us… until pleasure takes over.
Vadim wraps his arms around me and rests his face against my burning stomach.
“Dare to take a shower with me?”
I don’t have time to answer before he hoists me up again, this time slinging me over his shoulder.
“You’re crazy! Put me down right now!”
“Didn’t you say you wanted to be brave enough to try anything with me?”
He imitates me, putting on an exaggeratedly high-pitched voice, and hauls me around like a sack of potatoes. I flail my arms and legs around in an attempt to stop him and even try to scream, but I quickly dissolve into laughter.
We reach the showers, and he turns on the water, which sprays us with an icy blast. I shriek, and he laughs even harder. The water warms up, eventually becoming scalding hot, and he finally agrees to set me down on the cold tiles.
Our eyes meet, and I glare daggers at him.
“You’re beautiful even when you’re mad.”
Jerk.
“You’ll pay for this, Arcadi.”
“Anytime, Princess. I can’t wait…”