Epilogue
Cassie
Freshman year
The heels of my pretty white sandals click against the sidewalk as I walk hand-in-hand with Tor across the Calhoun University campus.
An icy-blue Dior bag dangles from my other hand, and I’m wearing a pretty white dress he picked out for me.
My dark hair is pulled half back and secured with a clip.
Contrasting my lighter look, Tor is dressed all in black.
It’s a perfect night.
Tor took me to a nice dinner to celebrate my finishing a particularly difficult assignment. I’ve had no free time while I’ve been working on it, so he wanted to catch up on spending time together.
He always takes such good care of us, and he’s managing the challenges of college life brilliantly—not that I expected anything less.
The time management side of it has been more of a struggle for me. I definitely don’t have time for a job, like I thought I might. The coursework at Calhoun is tough, and I love that, but because I spent senior year so foggy, I’ve had to work harder to play catch-up.
I finally feel like I’m back on top of things, and I think that’s what Tor really wanted to celebrate tonight.
We’re not taking all the same classes, but he’s been there to help every step of the way.
He swears he never lies to me, but I think he lied to me back at Holroyd’s.
I wasn’t the smartest kid in our class. He was—he just didn’t tell anybody.
Now we go to school with the smartest kids from a lot of different classes, and it’s awesome. I’ve made so many new friends, and so has Tor. He was right. We had a great life waiting for us here.
Tomorrow I’m planning to meet up with some of the girls on campus to help circulate and collect signatures for a petition Sophie is working on. Tor said the guys wanted to set up early tonight, so we’re heading that way now.
Only, when we get to the spot where we’re supposed to be setting up, no one else is here.
“Uh…” I look at Tor questioningly. “Are we early?”
Tor frowns, dropping my hand so he can take his phone out of his pocket. He checks it, then says, “Aw, shit. Silvan said Sophie wasn’t feeling well so they’re just gonna set up tomorrow instead.”
“Oh no. I hope she feels better in the morning. She’s been working so hard on this.”
“I’m sure she’ll be fine,” he says, tucking his phone back into his pocket. He grabs my waist to pull me close, then drapes his arm over my shoulders. “I guess we’ll just have to enjoy a little walk around campus while we’re here.”
I smile up at him. He knows how giddy I get just soaking up this campus. “Damn.”
“I know. Hope you’re not too disappointed,” he teases.
I lean my head on his shoulder, wrapping an arm around his waist so I can snuggle close while we walk. “I’m so happy,” I tell him.
“I’m glad.”
When we get to the courtyard in front of the Woodworth Library, I gaze up at it like I always do—lovingly—and Tor veers to the right as if we’re heading for it, but I know we can’t. The library is closed for the night.
I don’t question him because I certainly don’t mind taking a walk past the home of the books, but when he lets go of me and takes my hand to drag me up the steps, I grow more than confused—I grow a little concerned.
“What are you doing?” I ask, pulling back, but he tugs me up the steps.
“Let’s see if the door opens.”
My eyes widen. “Are you crazy? We can’t do that.”
“Who’s going to stop us?”
I tug harder, trying to pull back, and scan the area to make sure no one is witnessing this crime in progress. “You’re going to get us arrested.”
“Hey, I haven’t let you get arrested up to this point. I’m not going to start now.”
I shoot him a look as he drags me to the door. “Tor.”
He tugs on the handle, and to my relief, it doesn’t budge.
Of course it doesn’t.
Because the library is closed, and only degenerates would try to break into a library.
“Oh wait,” Tor says, then he reaches into his pocket and produces a key, a mischievous glint in his pretty blue eyes. “I should try this.”
“How did you get that?” I demand, wide-eyed. “That’s not really the key to the library… right?”
He cocks an eyebrow, then pushes the key into the lock.
The door opens.
I gasp, casting an urgent look behind us. “Tor, we can’t. We aren’t allowed—”
He grabs my hand again, pulling me into the building. “What did I tell you about always following the rules?”
I open my mouth to object with more vehemence, but as soon as we clear the massive CALHOUN UNIVERSITY entry rug, I see a path of rose petals in front of us.
My jaw falls open as my eyes follow the path, then jump to Tor. “What’s this?”
He smirks, leading me with less tugging now that I’m stunned into submission. “The second half of our date night.”
My jaw actually can’t open any wider, but it tries.
He hauls me along the path of rose petals, and a moment later, I’m flabbergasted by what I see.
The study area has been transformed into a cozy movie-watching space with a bed in the center of the room surrounded by candles and topped with pillows and blankets.
The only table has a bowl of popcorn, two drinks in big movie theater cups, chocolate-covered strawberries, and candy set out on top.
A projector has been set up, and across from the bed, a large movie screen.
I look over at Tor, my jaw aching from hanging open for so long. “Are you kidding me?” I ask. “How did you do this?”
His hand finds my hip and he pushes me toward the setup. “You can get anything done if you know the right people.”
I don’t even have words. “This is…”
“Like our first date,” he supplies. “You like it?”
I look back at him, my eyes full of emotion. “I love it. Thank you so much. This is so… criminal, but so sweet.”
He laughs, turning me and pulling me in for a kiss. “That’s kind of our thing, isn’t it?”
I smile against his mouth. “I hope you have a plan for after we get expelled for trespassing.”
“I always have a plan,” he says with a mischievous smirk, then he pulls me over toward the bed. “Get comfortable. I’ll grab the snacks.”
I grin as I set my purse aside and climb onto the big, comfy bed. “What are we watching?”
“You’ll see.”
I roll my eyes playfully. “You and your surprises.”
I love his surprises, though. I really feel like I’ve won the lottery with him. Our relationship is such a priority to him, and he doesn’t get caught up in the stress of things the way I do. When we spend time together, we always find a way to make things fun.
Sometimes we have Stepford date nights which are more for Tor, but I enjoy them, too.
It doesn’t bother me as I once thought it would (and frankly, it’s not the worst habit he picked up growing up the way he did), but the feminine Stepford wife style is definitely what he prefers.
I certainly don’t mind getting all dolled up for him and going out for the occasional Stepford night.
I don’t overdo it as much as I did at home when it was just us and I wasn’t embarrassed to goof off and be over-the-top, but I’ll still fuss over him and express exaggerated appreciation over every little thing while gazing at him like he hung the moon.
We do praise dates sometimes too, and those are more for me, though Tor also enjoys them.
The gold-star-seeking people pleaser in me absolutely loves it when he praises me, so on praise date nights, that’s the theme.
He’s very, very good at making me feel beautiful and appreciated and special, and at the end of a praise date, my cup is always overflowing.
We do have our less wholesome role-playing sometimes too, but we like to keep that in the privacy of our own home. I gave him free use of my body before we even moved to Boston, so if I wake up to his cock inside me and his hand clamped over my mouth… well, I don’t mind so much anymore.
Tor says I was made for him, but he was made for me, too.
I smile at him now as he brings over a tray of snacks, setting it on the bed, then climbing on with me.
“I can’t believe we’re having movie night at the Woodworth Library,” I say, shaking my head. “This is sacrilegious.”
Tor pushes me back on the bed, leaning down to kiss me, then presses a chocolate-covered strawberry against my lips. “You still wearing those panties is sacrilegious. Bite.”
I feel a thrill low in my belly at being told what to do. I hold his gaze as I wrap my lips around the candy-coated fruit and do as he says.
“That’s right, baby. Wrap those perfect lips around it.”
My heart skitters. I chew the first bit of strawberry, then I sink my teeth into the rest, causing juice to leak out around my lips.
Tor leans down, cradling my face and kissing the corner of my mouth. He licks the sweetness off my lower lip, then kisses me more deeply, the sweetness mixing with the taste of him.
He leans back and brings his fingers to my lips. “Suck me clean.”
I do, maintaining eye contact the way I know he likes as I suck his fingers.
He sighs, watching me like I’m a treasure he can’t even conceive of. “Look at you, doing such a good job with that perfect fucking mouth.”
My heart twists and soars, fluttering in places it shouldn’t even be in my body.
“You better stop looking so fucking pretty or we’re never going to get this movie started,” he tells me, drawing his fingers out of my mouth.
I break into a helpless smile at my little taste of praise date. “Is it any wonder I’m obsessed with you?” I ask, mirroring a question he’s asked me before.
He smirks, leaning in to kiss me. Then he murmurs against my lips, “You better be.”
He finally stops touching and kissing me long enough to get the movie started, but then he curls up behind me on the bed, and his arm wraps around my waist.
It doesn’t stay put. Before the movie even starts playing, he starts playing with my tits through my clothing—touching me, teasing me, and brushing his thumb across my nipples.
I’m so relaxed, and it’s not until he drags down my panties that it occurs to me to ask, “Aren’t there cameras in this library?”
“Yes,” he murmurs, kissing my neck. “But not in this area.”