I jumped up off my bed and moved to the door. His hand landed on the door above my head, preventing it from opening.
“I don’t know what you want from me,” Dean said, his voice hoarse with emotion.
I turned to look at him, my back pressed hard into the door.
“He just wanted some advice,” I said.
“And it could have waited until later?” He leaned forward slightly.
I shook my head. “Not right now. He’s got problems, and I’m helping.”
Dean leaned his forehead against mine and closed his eyes.
“I know, and I’m glad you are so caring.” He opened his eyes to look at me. “But you have to see that this is hard on me.”
I stood there stunned. His honesty was so disarming. It left me feeling a little weak.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“And you can’t tell me what it is?” He leaned back to look at me.
I shook my head. “It’s not my secret to tell.”
“Okay,” he said and sighed loudly.
I blinked a few times. “Really?”
Dean shrugged his shoulders. “You can’t tell me, so I’ll just have to trust you.”
Silence fell over us as I studied him in the moonlight. His hair was losing the blond from the summer, but he had retained much of his tan. Tonight, he seemed a little more earthy with his faded jeans and button-up shirt. I smiled. All he needed was his cowboy hat, and he would be complete.
“What’s so funny?” He smiled at me.
“I was just wondering where your hat was.”
He ruffled his hair and grinned. “No way. You made fun of my hat.”
“Actually, I liked your hat. It’s sexy.” I grinned.
“You think my hat is sexy?” He stepped forward and leaned into me. “You know I’d wear it for you.”
My heart fluttered.
“I, uh…” I stuttered. “Shouldn’t we be getting back to the movie? Emma and Gavin are going to wonder where we are.”
Dean smiled and leaned in further. “They went to his dorm for a bit. What’s the matter, Grace? You had no problem kissing me the other night.”
“That was different,” I whispered. “I was angry.”
Dean grinned. “So you can only kiss me when you’re angry?”
I sighed. He was just trying to get me irritated. “No.” I huffed. “I did before, and I wasn’t angry.”
“Oh, are we talking about our first kiss?”
One of his hands slid down the door into my hair. His fingers slipped through my wavy hair.
“No,” I said and put my hands on his chest. “We’re not talking about any kissing.”
“You’re right,” he said. His face was serious as he leaned in. “We shouldn’t be talking.”
I gasped when his mouth touched mine. With the hand he kept in my hair, he tilted my head to the side for a better angle. I meant to push him away with my hands on his chest. Instead, I slid along the hard planes. The muscle twitched at my touch. I sighed when they were around his neck, reaching up into his hair and pulling him closer.
He groaned when our bodies pressed together for the first time. My mouth opened, and our tongues danced together. It wasn’t as brutal as the kiss from the other night, but just as demanding. I pulled back when my knees started to shake and placed my forehead on his chest.
We both panted for a moment, trying to catch our breath.
“Whoa,” I said finally.
I felt him chuckle. “Yeah,” he rumbled. “I think we should go watch that movie now.”
“Really,” I said and looked up to him.
He leaned down and peered into my eyes. “I think it wouldn’t be very hard at all to toss you onto the bed and have my way with you,” he said. My body shook with need. “But I don’t think you’re ready for that step yet. Right?”
I glanced at the bed and then back to him. I shook my head.
“Right.” He took a deep breath. “Movie?”
I nodded and pulled away from the door. We sank into the couch and, unlike before, I settled onto him, enjoying the body heat. I just wanted to be close to him.
* * *
I woke up cold. Freezing cold. We were both on the couch snuggled together, but the air around us had gone all arctic. I sat up and roused Dean.
“Something’s wrong with the heat,” I said. My teeth chattered.
He sat up, still sleepy eyed, and looked around.
“Stay here, and I’ll check the thermostat,” he said.
I watched as he crossed the room and messed with the dial on the wall. When he frowned, I knew it was more than just that it was down too far.
“I’ll be right back,” he said and opened the door to the hall.
After a few minutes, he came back in.
“It’s out all over the building. One of your neighbors said that maintenance won’t be out until the morning.” He moved back onto the couch.
“The morning?” I repeated. “We can’t stay out here.”
“Maybe I should just go home,” he said when I glanced back to my bedroom door.
“Stay,” I said quietly.
Dean groaned but climbed back off the couch. I smiled when he held out a hand to help me up. Hand in hand, we made our way to my room.
“There’s a spare toothbrush in the cabinet,” I said as I pulled out something to wear to bed.
Dean nodded and went to the bathroom across the hall.
My heart beat wildly in my chest. I had no idea what I was doing but inviting him into my bed was pretty much taking things to the next level.
I jumped when he came back into the room. After grabbing my clothes, I dashed to the bathroom to get ready. Despite the chilled air, I decided on a tank and shorts for bed. Not too flashy but still cute. Of course it wasn’t practical for the cold, but I was hoping the warm body next to me would help with that.
I took in a shaky breath. I was surprised at how nervous I was. It didn’t mean we were going to have sex. It just meant that I wanted him next to me. If we did have sex, that would just be a bonus.
Bonus? Was I ready for sex with him? I had only just decided to see where things went. I decided it was maybe best to take it a little slower. I blinked a few times and then sighed. For once, I was just going to let things move naturally.
I opened the door and found the bedroom swallowed by darkness. The moon from earlier was hidden, and little light filtered in.
Dean pulled out his phone. I followed the eerie light.
“Sorry,” he said. “Didn’t really think about you coming back in.”
“Thanks,” I muttered.
“No,” he sputtered. “I mean, I did think about it and that it might be best if the lights were off.”
I found the bed and snuggled under the warm covers.
“Why?” I whispered.
“So I didn’t see what you were wearing,” he whispered back.
We sat in silence for a moment, uncertain what to do next. I sighed and moved closer to him. When I touched him, I felt him jump. He stretched his arm out, and I laid my head in the crook by his shoulder.
I molded myself to him and shivered.
“You still cold?” He shifted next to me on his side and wrapped his other arm around me, drawing me against his warm body.
I lay enveloped in his heat for some time before I moved. My hands made their way to his shirt and fiddled with the collar.
“You like wearing all your clothes to bed?” I asked.
He cleared his throat and moved away slightly.
“Only when I have to,” he replied.
“And do you have to?” I asked quietly.
The room stilled as the tension grew between us.
“You tell me,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.
“Well,” I started, “I think it would be hard to sleep in a button-up shirt. Maybe you could take that off.”
He shifted, but I pushed him back down. I sat up slightly and pushed m
y hand up his chest.
“I’ll do it,” I whispered.
I started at the top button, slowly unbuttoning each one, letting my fingers skim the skin I exposed each time. When I moved to his stomach, Dean shook with control. I was so close to touching the one area that held my interest. A finger trailed the line of hair to his pants. When I reached the barrier of his jeans, Dean sat up and shucked off his shirt.
“There,” he said and breathed in deeply.
“There,” I said quietly.
When he lay back down, I moved my head to his shoulder. My hand trailed over his now bare chest. His muscles were far more defined than I ever would have guessed. At first, I only trailed my fingers over him, afraid he might decide to just leave. After some time, I ran my palm over his well-muscled abs and smiled when he groaned. I moved up his body and placed my mouth against his ear.
“Touch me, Dean,” I whispered.
A second later, I was on my back and staring up at him. “You are making it hard to do the right thing, Grace,” he groaned.
I wrapped my legs around him and pulled him down hard on me. When the button of his pants rubbed hard against me, I moaned.
“Shut up and just kiss me,” I said.
I smiled when I felt him laugh over me. “Yes, ma’am.”
The kiss was slow. We took our time to get to know each other as our tongues mated. He pulled away when I ground myself against the bulge in his pants.
“Grace,” he moaned. “This is moving pretty quick.”
I planted open-mouthed kisses along his neck. When I reached the crook near his collar bone, I gently bit and licked the area there.
“Shit,” he groaned.
I pulled my head back and looked at Dean.
“No sex,” I said. He started to pull away when I locked my legs around him. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t fool around a little.”
I rolled until I was sitting on top of him. The cool air made my nipples spike with need. I sat up and looked down at him. I slowly ran my hands down his naked chest, grazing his nipples as I went.
“Grace,” his hoarse voice echoed in the room. I reached for the hem of my shirt and whipped it over my head. Dean sat up. His hands trailed up my side as they made their way to my chest.
He caressed the underside of my breast. I ached to have them touched.
“Dean.” I arched my back, so he would palm my aching breasts.
He chuckled and moved his hands back to my side.
“You’ll learn something, Grace,” Dead said as he rolled me onto my back. “I might be passive in every other way but in here.”
Dean growled when his mouth latched on to my nipple. As he bit and licked my breast, his hand pinched and rolled the other.
I moaned under his ministrations and threaded my fingers into his hair.
“Please,” I whispered.
He trailed opened-mouthed kisses down my stomach and stopped at the top of my shorts. Not even thinking, I lifted my hips up. He grabbed them and whipped them down my legs, along with my panties. I watched as his hungry eyes roved over me.
“Beautiful,” he whispered. He looked up to my face and winked. “And for once you aren’t running by or have an audience.”
I nudged him with my leg. “No fair,” I grumbled.
I jumped when his hands spread my legs apart. “Oh, I think it’s perfectly fair.”
He trailed a finger along my seam, making me slick where he moved it. When he moved back up, he pushed through my folds and gently rubbed my clit. I moaned in response. He did this several more times. Each time he rubbed my clit, he used slightly more force.
I moaned and moved my hips with his finger, trying to force him where I wanted it most. He pulled his hand away, and I groaned. The weight shifted on the bed. My eyes shot open when I felt his hot breath on my thigh.
“Dean,” I started, but all thought left when his hot tongue pressed against my aching clit.
My hips bucked off the bed, and Dean used an arm to hold me down. He gently circled me with his mouth, picking up the pace with each circle. He moved his finger around my opening but never really entered, instead just circling. He laughed when I huffed in irritation.
When his finger and tongue stopped, I reached down to his hair, hoping to encourage him to finish the job. His finger pushed deep inside me. His tongue flicked rapidly over my clit, and I rose off the bed to meet him.
It came rolling quickly through me like a wave. The first minor tremors of my orgasm were just the start. He pushed harder and faster until I was screaming out his name in release.
I fell back against the bed, limp and exhausted. Dean worked his way up my body, kissing me as he went. When he was near my face, I kissed him hard, the taste of my juices still fresh in his mouth.
“That was amazing,” I said and sucked in more air, trying to control my rapid heartbeat.
Dean grinned and leaned back on the pillow. He laced his arms behind his head, and I snuggled next to him. My hand trailed down his body and stopped just above his button when his hand landed on mine.
“You know I could…” I stopped when he shook his head.
“I want you too much,” he said. “I’d rather just wait until you’re ready.”
My heart fluttered.
“Besides, it made me happy to see you come undone like that.” He smiled.
I kissed him again on the mouth, this time slowly and meaningful. If one kiss could convey all my feelings, I hoped that this was that kiss.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
He placed a hand on my head and pulled it to his chest. “Now go to sleep. We’ve got school tomorrow.”
I sighed and fell into a blissful sleep, wrapped in a loving embrace.
* * *
I sighed and stretched as the morning sun filtered in the room. It seemed considerably warmer than last night, despite there being one less body. I sat up and looked around for Dean.
I smiled when he came in fresh from the shower.
He smiled and walked over to my side of the bed.
“Go back to sleep.” He kissed me gently on the mouth. I wrapped my arms around his neck and went it for a deeper kiss.
Dean groaned and broke away. “You keep doing that, and I’m going to miss my class.”
I flopped back on the bed and giggled when he pulled the covers up.
“Stop tempting me.” He winked at me. “This is a busy week. Midterms are coming up, so I might not see you until class.”
I groaned. “Don’t even talk about midterms.”
He grinned at me. “Go back to sleep, Grace.”
I smiled and snuggled back under the covers. I could get use to this new bossy Dean.
***
Chapter Thirteen
The week flew by. Dean was right. It was busy, and stupid midterms were the cause. Here, I wanted nothing more than to spend time with him, but our schedules didn’t sync nearly every turn. The only time I really got to see him was in class, and even that was limited.
There was only so much time we could spend talking when we were supposed to be learning.
Fortunately, we were on hiatus with the movies. It was hard to catch a breath, let alone watch a movie.
After nearly two weeks of being so busy, the last thing I really wanted to do was dance club, but Emma and Heather weren’t letting me off the hook that easy.
“Move your ass, Princess,” Heather yelled outside my door.
If I didn’t like her so much, I really think I could have killed her.
I swung open the door and sighed. Maybe it would be good to get some exercise. Either that, or I’d stroke out, and it would be all over.
We walked in the quiet of the evening to the gym. Another week, and it would be Thanksgiving. It was amazing how the evenings had gone from cool to just cold. I shivered as the sun set.
“So you and Dean,” Heather said finally.
I smiled. She had been waiting to say it all afternoon.
“W
e’re seeing where things go,” I said.
“If you don’t know where things go, you’ve got more problems than I thought.” She grinned at her double entendre.
“Very funny,” I said and swatted her. “You know what I mean.”
She grinned. “I do, but that’s nowhere near as much fun.”
“So is everyone coming to the house?” Emma asked.
Ever since her Gran died, Emma had taken over her house. This was the second year we would be having Thanksgiving there.
“Looking forward to it,” I said and smiled.
“So,” Emma said. She blushed. “Should I prepare one or two rooms?”
My mind stuttered at the question. We had only spent the night together. I wasn’t ready to take it to the next level, but that didn’t mean I didn’t want him near me.
My face heated. “Can I get back to you on that?”
Emma nodded.
“Haven’t done the deed yet?” Heather blurted out.
“No,” I said. “Well sorta.”
She grinned at me. “Well maybe that will be the big weekend.”
“Oh God,” Emma moaned. “Just don’t tell Gavin. He’s been on edge since you two started making goo-goo eyes at each other. He’s paranoid he’s going to walk in on you.”
I snorted loudly. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Your brother is bat-shit crazy sometimes,” she huffed.
“Whatever. You still love him,” I said.
Emma smiled a dreamy smile. “Yeah,” she said softly.
“All right, enough with the mush,” Heather said. “I need a sexy Latin man to teach me how to move.”
We giggled and filed into the gym.
* * *
“You need to let go,” Emilio said as we moved around the room. “These long legs of yours, there so much we could do.”
I laughed when he winked at me. “I’m really trying,” I said. “Letting go is something I’m working on.”
He nodded over my shoulder as we continued to move.
“Is that your boyfriend?” he asked.
When we turned, I saw Dean standing by the door, his cowboy hat in place. I grinned. He watched us with open irritation.
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