Atlas #2
Her bravery with me is borderline reckless, and that can be hot as fuck, but it’s time to show her who’s in charge.
Grabbing her hair and wrapping it around my fist, I pull her back, enough to get her in my close orbit.
Close enough for our bodies to submit to the gravity of our pull and collide.
I draw my face to hers, our breaths tangling, letting my growl vibrate through her bones.
“Call me that one more time, and I won’t care where we are or who’s around us—I’ll fuck you right there on the spot until you can no longer say your own name, let alone have the audacity or the strength to insult me!”
I don’t know what my face looks like, but it’s not gentle. Still, she meets it without a shred of fear twisting her features. Stone-cold facade until the curled corners of her lips dare to further defy me.
“I’m not into the whole exhibition coitus, so no thank you, wolf.” She winks. Fuckin’ winks! “Now let go of my hair! Respect goes both ways. You want mine? Start treating me accordingly, and I’ll return the favor.”
I blink. Or I don’t. I have no fuckin’ idea, before the realization of what Summer actually wants hits me.
To treat her as an equal. I’ve never given that to a woman before.
And I’ve been too preoccupied with my payback to realize she’s simply reacting to my actions.
She’ll attempt to push back for what I did to her tonight, but that doesn’t mean I can’t give her the respect she deserves. Or at least some twisted version of it.
Those soft-as-silk flames slip through my fingers as I release her from my grasp.
I let the back of my hand glide down her arm with one final destination—threading my fingers with hers, holding tight enough to lead the way.
“I told you, you’re not getting inside my room tonight,” she protests, but I don’t stop as I keep leading the way, climbing the first set of stairs to her building before she rips herself from my grip.
“Didn’t you fucking hear me? I said—”
“I heard you,” I cut in. “And with all due respect, I choose to ignore it. But let me make you a deal.”
“No deals.”
“Then I’m spending the night in your bed.
I won’t touch you if you don’t want me to.
” Fuck! I do want to sleep next to her again.
But after the shit I pulled on her, I might have to tie her, so she doesn’t go stabby-stab on me in my sleep.
She won’t kill me. But I wouldn’t bet on waking up unscathed.
“Or you can make good on the whole wanna hear something funny. Tell you what, make me laugh, and it’s up to you whether I get inside your room tonight. ”
Now it’s her turn to wonder whether she blinked.
“You want me to tell a joke? What am I? Your personal comedian?” she scoffs, hands crossed before her chest.
“I gave you an option. Don’t tell me I’m not kind to you.”
I flip a strand of hair away from her face, and she takes a step back.
“Yeah, an option like suck my finger or my dick. The most magnanimous man I’ve ever met.”
I choke on a laugh, and she shifts her weight to one side, pointing at me.
“Does that count?”
In all truth, I did laugh, but I refuse to let her get rid of me that easily.
“No. It doesn’t.”
“Are you for real?”
I nod and mimic the pose she’s sporting, further irritating her with that.
“Great! I’m a fucking clown now.”
Summer goes silent for a minute or so before she lets go of the girl boss pose and starts walking up the next set of stairs. I’m a single step behind.
Grab the hand, not the ass! Grab the hand, not the ass!
“Do you know the joke about the bunny and the wolf?” she asks, glowering at me, but I use the moment to take hold of her again.
“No, I don’t, but how very fitting.”
I bet she would gnaw my hand to the bone if she could, grilling the flesh there with her glare, so she wouldn’t have to eat it raw.
“So it goes like this.” Summer sighs, walking without looking back at me.
“One day, a bunny was strolling through the woods when he came across a pit. He looked down and saw the big bad wolf stuck at the bottom, unable to climb out. The bunny remembered all the times the wolf had chased him, so he started unloading. ‘You piece of shit, you got what you deserved. I hope you rot in there.’”
She stops her ascent up the stairs and looks back at me.
“‘I hope a bear finds you and fucks you in the ass.’”
Oookay. Now I don’t know if that’s part of the joke or meant for me.
“‘I hope hunters put your taxidermied head on a wall and use it for target practice.’”
Summer resumes climbing.
“The bunny kept spewing venom for ten solid minutes, then got tired and decided to head home. He took a couple of steps, then remembered he still had a few things to say about the wolf’s mother.
So he went back, leaned over the edge, and slipped straight into the pit.
The bunny stood up, dusted himself off, put a hand over his heart—”
She stops, inching closer to me, before placing her palm over her chest.
I want mine there.
“—and with the utmost sincere voice he could muster said, ‘I know you probably won’t believe me, but I felt terrible about what I said, so I came back to apologize.’”
My laughter echoes around us, making her think it’s okay to try to tear away from my grip. But she’s not getting rid of me just yet.
“I’ll accompany you to make sure you’ll get to your dorm safe and sound.”
“Aren’t you sweet!”
She might mock me, but her hand stays in mine.
Progress!
I walk her to her room, inebriated on her scent, until she slips from my hold and slides inside. But she doesn’t slam the door in my face.
Is this an invitation?
Her slender fingers move to my shirt, unbuttoning it torturously slow. Each button popping open dismantles both my sanity and my barely-there control.
It’s a trick. She’s playing me. And despite that knowledge, I let her. Or more like my dick lets her.
Bracing myself against the doorframe, it takes everything in me to hold back when she unbuttons the shirt all the way down, teasing me with memory instead of skin.
Then the door slams in my face, yanking me out of the fantasy where I was already inside. Not just her room.
A second later, it cracks open, only for my shirt to fly in my face.
“Put your fucking shirt on and stop walking around half-naked.” She slams the door again before she’s even finished the sentence.
“Are you bothered by the fact you drool over my half-naked body or that others might?” I shout loud enough for her to hear me, though I’m sure she’s plastered at the door. I swear, her heat is radiating from the other side when my palm lands on the wooden surface.
“Good night, Chocolate Bar Thief!” Summer returns, and I almost high-five myself for being right that she’s still so close to me, some flimsy, less than two inches being the only thing separating us.
That nickname, though . . .
Well, it’s not like I didn’t bring it upon myself with my petty thievery. I’m surprised it took her this long to mention it. Yet, I don’t intend to let it slide unpunished.
Bringing my phone out, I turn the vibrator that’s still inside her to the maximum level.
Her loud “Fuck!” makes me laugh.
“I’m not gonna wish you good night, because I hope you have a horrible one without me, Succubus,” I shout as I double tap her door, turning the device off. I don’t know which would madden her most—the fact I turned it on in the first place, or that I didn’t let her finish.
Another night with her inserted in my mind as a core memory. The thought that I’m going to miss her over the next few days while I’m away on business catches me off guard. I don’t want to be this attached to her or care whether I’ll see my little demon again, but that ship has sailed.
And here I am, heading home with another painful hard-on to show for it.
Fuckin’ pathetic!
To top it all, I’m already debating which one of the guys I should leave behind to look after Summer, so Jacob won’t dare approach her.
I pull my shirt on while walking back to my car, cursing under my breath at the lingering sweetness of her scent, making it impossible for my mind to drift elsewhere.
Summer is single-handedly scrambling my brain, rearranging all thoughts so every road leads to her.