Chapter 20
Something twists in my chest as we walk down the hall of the resident floor. Mondays are typically quiet here since mostly everyone’s in class. But I’m willing to bet Olive and Chili are playing hooky and sleeping till noon.
Kane barely said anything to me on the drive over. But every time he’d looked at me, it was like he was trying to solve a mystery…or a problem.
One he’s not happy about.
I have a sneaky suspicion I know what it is, but I don’t know how to bring it up. Do I just flat out ask him? This was a whole lot easier with two beers in my system.
I’m ready to put my guard back up. But before I do, I need to know what I did. I slow my strides. “Did I do something?”
He stops four feet ahead of me and turns. “What?”
“You’ve been…” I search his face. “Something’s off.”
His shoulders fall, his response coming out in a breath. “No.”
“Was it...” My pulse pounds in my ears. “Was it the kiss?” The words come out so quiet, I’m not sure he hears them.
But he does. I know he does because his eyes soften and he starts to close the distance.
“I just thought maybe...”
He steps close but doesn’t touch me. It’s just enough that I have to tilt my head to look at him.
“Isla.” His voice is barely above a whisper.
“No,” he breathes again. And it’s so certain.
That one word. He licks his lips, glancing over my shoulder like he’s trying to think of the right words.
“If anything...” He lets out a humorless laugh and drags a hand over the back of his neck.
“I’ve been trying really hard not to do it again since I found you in my kitchen this morning. ”
I frown. “I don’t understand.”
He looks away for a second, jaw flexing. Then back at me. “I promise, this isn’t about you. Or the kiss.” He pushes my hair behind my ear.
There’s no smile behind his words, no warmth. Just tightness. “Then why are you so mad?”
A muscle jumps in his jaw, and I get the sense I’m starting to annoy him.
Taking my hand, he drags me to the dark alcove with the vending machine and water fountain.
He presses me against the blue wallpaper, making me gasp.
“I am mad, Isla. I’m not always good at placing it, or keeping it in check, but I need you to take my word for it.
It isn’t you. And it sure as fuck wasn’t the kiss.
” He swallows, dropping his gaze to the rise of my chest. “It was perfect. So fucking good, I almost didn’t leave.
Spent the night convincing myself not to go back up there and find out what else you’re good at. ”
“I wish you would have,” I blurt out.
He presses his lips to mine like he can’t help himself and I whimper in pleasure, a need for more of this.
And he responds. His hand cups the back of my neck while the other wraps around my hip, devouring my mouth.
“Someone will see us,” I say on instinct. It’s not my biggest concern right now. It should be, but it’s not. It’s the pooling between my legs. The urge to buck my hips against the bugle pressing into his sweats.
He cages me between his arms. “Then tell me to go.”
I don’t.
I lift on my toes and press my lips to his, kissing him back with equal force. Force I didn’t know I had. With an unhealthy fear that if I don’t, he’d leave me here without his mouth, his fingers, or my new toy to deal with this ache.
I’m desperate for his touch, to keep the feel of his lips against mine.
My hands move to his chest, expecting to feel his warm skin beneath my fingers, his taut muscles.
But it’s entirely different right now. For one, he’s wearing a shirt.
But mainly, it’s his heartbeat. It’s out of control. No doubt matching mine.
The growing need has me practically grinding against him.
“Kane,” I breathe when his kisses move to my neck.
One hand stretches down my back and stops when he reaches the crease of my jeans under my ass.
His thumb draws circles right there. Then he squeezes hard, making me moan as he cups me from behind.
His lips find mine again, muffling my sounds. The sensation is too much. It’s taking everything not to move for more friction.
Kane catches my chin between his forefinger and thumb, lifting my head to look at him. “Am I not turning you on?” he asks, rubbing me through the fabric.
“You are.” I’m breathless. Good God, how could he think otherwise?
“No. I’m not. Not enough.”
“Wha—”
He tugs my hair. “You want more?”
“Yes,” I plead.
He unties the drawstring of his sweats and my pulse skyrockets. “Do you want to feel how hard I am for you, Isla?”
I drop my eyes.
“You want to feel what kissing you does to me? What it did to me last night?”
I flick my gaze to him.
“Give me your hand so you never have to question if I liked it.”
Swallowing hard, I lift one hand for him and let him guide it into his pants as he holds my eyes.
A sharp breath escapes. I feel the wet tip first, then something cold, like two metal pearls. “What—”
“It’s a piercing.”
My eyes go wide, but he doesn’t give me the chance to question it. He drives me further down his cock. It’s thick and ridged, so freaking hard.
I watch him lick his lips.
“Now you. Show me how turned on you are when my mouth is on yours.”
I move my hands to the front of my jeans and flick the button. He watches as I pull the zipper down then drop my hands.
He lifts his eyes to mine, then kisses me like he’s starving for it. His hands disappear into my hair again instead of anywhere near where I want them.
“Spread your legs, Isla.”
My chest rises in heavy thuds with nerves and anticipation. I lift my hands over his shoulders for support and distance my feet slightly.
I’m not sure what I expect him to do next, but it’s definitely more than this. Instead, he keeps kissing me like he can’t get enough.
My chest heaves as I break the kiss. “Are you waiting for an invitation?”
He holds my jaw and whispers. “Always.”
I swallow. I was afraid of that.
My mouth falls open as he moves to my ear and down my neck. “I…I want you to feel how turned on I am.”
He hums. “You want me to touch you, Isla?”
“Yes.”
Kane grins down at me. “Keep your eyes on me,” he says as he eases the zipper lower, his fingers brushing somewhere no one’s touched before.
My thin panties are pushed aside and he pauses, only ghosting over my entrance.
I roll my lips, closing my eyes.
“Isla.”
I pry them open again.
“What am I going to feel when I touch you?”
“You’re—you’re so close to finding out.”
He hisses. “Your panties are soaked.”
I gasp when I realize what we’re doing out in the open. “Kane,” I panic as my head swings toward the hall.
“Shhh…everyone knows these machines don’t get replaced. College kids will eat anything, but stale crackers aren’t one of them.”
I relax but only slightly, licking my lips and focusing on him.
He rewards me with a swipe of his finger along my slit.
“Gah—”
“Give me words, Sunshine. I need your words.” There’s a desperation in his voice as he tugs my hair.
I release a breath. “Gah, keep—keep doing that. Faster, harder, anything, please.”
His fingers come alive, stroking and teasing my clit with minimal pressure. I squirm under him.
“That’s it. Don’t hold back. I’ve got you.”
A sound slips out of my lips but I press them together.
“You’re so fucking wet. I can’t wait to taste you.”
I whimper, fighting not to buck my hips.
“You want my fingers, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“You want me sliding them deep into this pussy, Sunshine?”
“Yes.”
“Then move. Suck my fingers in with those sexy hips of yours. Use your body to get what you need from me.”
I start to move my hips, and it’s like a magic wand, pulling him in at just the right pace and pressure. The more I move the deeper he pushes.
“That’s my girl,” he whispers in my ear, pumping harder, then adding a second finger. “You’re so tight.”
A squeal escapes as I try to hold back a moan. My orgasm builds like a rollercoaster that just keeps going higher in the air before the inevitable drop. And fuck, I just know it’s going to be intense.
As scared to death as I am that someone is going to walk in on us, I don’t want this to end. I dig my fingers into his shoulders and urge him on.
Before I can take my next breath, he curses, his fingers pausing.
“Fuck,” he growls. His cock presses against me, making my insides twist.
“Why are you stopping?”
He swallows. “Because I’m getting carried away. I need to hear what you want first.” He keeps his fingers moving but it’s too slow, practically slipping away.
“Is begging a kink of yours?” I ask with a whimper.
“Not usually, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you made it one,” he grunts.
“More.”
“Say it. Say what you need me to do for you.”
I need him faster. I need to come undone with ravaging force. I need him to… “Un…ravel me,” I breathe.
He pauses like he wasn’t expecting that. Then growls, “As you wish,” before pushing back into me.
My mouth falls open as my head tips back. “Oh God.”
He deepens his thrusts, pumping in and out of me, and slamming his mouth against mine to swallow my cries. I grip his shoulders, riding the incredible friction, feeling like I might both cry and die from how good this feels.
My legs start to shake. It’s when his thumb starts swiping my clit in tandem with each deep pump that I come apart.
“Fuck, yes, that’s it,” he rasps.
I flip my head to the side, covering my mouth with my hand as my orgasm hits in a wave I wasn’t prepared for. I’m pulsing, squeezing around his fingers, silently screaming into my palm while he continues making an absolute mess out of me.
He fists my hair and buries his face in my neck, breathing hard as he slowly pulls his fingers out of me and shudders against my leg. “Fuuuck,” he groans against my flesh.
When he pulls back, one hand goes to the front of his sweats. A dark stain blooms through the gray fabric.
“Oh, shit,” I breathe. “Is that me?”
“Technically yes,” he winces and adjusts with a grunt. “But no. That’s all me.”
I bite my bottom lip, lifting my eyes to his.
He presses a hand to my lips. “Don’t even think about it.” He chuckles. “I might be doing the walk of shame on my way back to my car, but I’m not ashamed of anything we did here today. And neither should you.”
I nod, still hanging onto him like I might fall.
“You okay?”
I grin up at him in response.
He smooths my sweater down before pulling up the zipper on my jeans. “Come over later.”
“Tonight?” Excitement floats in my stomach.
“Yes.”
I grin. “Do I have to look at my text history to find out what we’re doing?”
“I mean, it would save a lot of time,” he teases.
A soft laugh breaks from me.
His expression sobers again and his jaw tightens. “But no, before we do anything else, there’s something else I need to teach you.”
“Interested…”
“It’s not…physical.”
“Less interested.”
He grins and smooths my hair. “To respect yourself. To not let anyone intimidate you.”
I frown.
“Shadow is a badass. She’s not afraid to ask for what she wants. She shows up. She doesn’t hide…”—he swallows— “in a closet. She’s in you and we’re going to find a way to let her out.”
My pulse starts to race, the metaphor hitting me a little too roughly. “What does that have to do with flirting and intimacy?”
He presses his forehead to mine. “Everything.”
I blink and slip past him, my back brushing the wall. “I’ll let you know about tonight.”
It takes him a beat to turn around. “Isla.”
He glances down the hall and I wonder if he heard someone coming. “Obviously it’s your choice. But this one’s important.”
I nod, but don’t promise anything.
He sighs. “Can I give you my number?”
I smirk and give him my phone. “That depends, you think I can make a decent profit selling it around campus?”
He takes my phone and programs his number in. “I’d be disappointed if you didn’t try.” He winks and it barely scratches the surface of lightening the mood.
He smiles, then calls himself so that he has my number. He stares at it for a moment, then swallows. “See you later.”