A Higher Education

by Rosalie Stanton

  Elizabeth snorted and shook her head, her feet carrying her from one end of the dorm room to the other. Given that Wickham had been flirting with her for a few weeks now via text message, she seriously doubted he’d give his blessing for her to fuck anyone.

  Not that she needed it.

  A growl clawed at her throat. Not for the first time since getting home, she wondered about texting Wickham for a booty call. Put her no-strings sex policy into action. Something told her he wouldn’t turn her down. The trouble was, Elizabeth had also never been a big fan of sleeping with someone just to forget someone else. It wasn’t fair to anyone. And how would he feel if he knew she was just with him because she’d lost her mind and kissed his ex-bestie and now couldn’t stand still?

  Shitty. That’s how he’d feel.

  And Elizabeth knew she wouldn’t be able to go through with it even if she could ignore his feelings. Nice guy though Wickham was, conjuring his face didn’t do much for her libido.

  The fact of the matter was she didn’t want him. At least not now, and not like that.

  Elizabeth sighed and swung around to make another trek across the room when her gaze landed on her dresser.

  Specifically, the top drawer of her dresser.

  And she thought, for the first time in a long time, about the thing she’d put in it.

  A giddy rush scored down her spine. She cast a glance to Jane’s bed—though why was anyone’s guess, seeing as Jane had not mastered the power to Apparate. Given how lively things had been at the club, Elizabeth doubted she’d see her roommate for another couple hours at least. Maybe longer, if Jane decided to embrace her inner sex kitten and finally put poor Charlie out of his misery.

  She made a beeline for the dresser without another thought. The top drawer was filled with the usual—socks, panties, bras. But under a clump of winter socks was the one sex toy she’d allowed herself to pack when she’d made the decision to reenroll—a simple dildo. The type that was so realistic in appearance it was a little disarming. It didn’t use batteries and had no special functions. She’d never been big on the vibrating sort, rather preferred those that could best imitate an actual penis.

  Elizabeth stared at it for a long moment, then closed her hand around it. She disrobed in a hurry, pondered whether or not to remain naked, and ultimately decided it would be kinder to Jane—should her roommate get home early—if she wasn’t completely nude. While the thought of being caught masturbating didn’t embarrass her too badly, she knew Jane would likely be unable to look her in the eye for a month should that happen.

  She decided on one of her favorite sleep-shirts. It was long enough to hit her knees, which gave her a perfect reason to ditch her panties.

  Elizabeth pulled back the blankets on her bed and slipped onto the mattress, her right foot buried safely under the covers and the left dangling out. Then, slowly, she hitched the hem of her sleep shirt over her thighs and higher until her pussy was exposed.

  And then, at last, she let her thoughts drift to Will. To the way he’d looked at her before pulling her to him, and the sounds he’d made as his mouth had explored hers.

  A fresh rush of lust scored down her spine and her sex became heavy. She inhaled and grabbed the dildo, took a moment to admire how cool and fleshy it felt in her hand, then lowered the head to her clit and pressed down.

  Pleasure jolted through her body at contact. Elizabeth threw her head back and sighed. God yes, it had been a long time. Too long. Maybe that was her problem. Go too long between orgasms and your brain starts finding everyone sexy.

  Will’s image flooded her mind, then, and she knew that wasn’t true. It’d just be a whole lot more convenient if it was. Just thinking about him over her, rubbing his cock against her, dragging the blunt head up and down the seam of her pussy was enough in itself to push her over the edge. But Elizabeth didn’t want to come yet—she was looking for much more than a quick fix. A quick fix on a problem like this would be like throwing masking tape at a broken arm.

  She needed to get him—get this—out of her system so her system and everything else could go back to normal.

  Elizabeth inhaled deeply, running the tip of the dildo across her soaked flesh. She called to mind the feel of Will’s lips on hers, the way he seemed to want to pull her into himself. How he’d felt against her, like he was fighting a losing battle with his own rigid control. Her throat tightened and her clit throbbed desperately for attention. With her free hand, Elizabeth pressed down on her needy flesh as she positioned the dildo at the mouth of her sex.

  She closed her eyes then and saw him. Will trapping her beneath him, looking at her the way he had tonight, breathing hard and fast like he was about to come apart. A soft cry tore from her lips as she inched the toy inside her, her mind filling in the rest of what wasn’t there. It was easy to imagine the heat of Will’s body, even the ghost of his kisses along her neck and jawline. That sexy little moan he’d rumbled into her mouth on autoplay, but joined by the sound of her name and a few curses for good measure. Will was always so collected. So poised. With her, though, he’d release the hold he had on his control. He’d fuck her until she couldn’t walk straight.

  Quite the stallion was mental Will. It was likely a blessing she’d never have the real thing, because this act would be a hard one to beat.

  A smile played across her lips at that thought.

  And was immediately chased away by three hurried knocks that thundered at her door.

  Elizabeth froze, the dildo seated completely inside her now, her body so near the edge of a precipice that backing away was nigh impossible. A tangle of frustration pulsed through her, one so potent she just about decided to remain where she was—a good orgasm should not be interrupted, thank you very much—when he spoke.

  “Elizabeth?”

  Her heart performed some funky spastic move.

  You’ve got to be kidding me.

  “Elizabeth, it’s Will. Open up if you’re in there.”

  She remained frozen for a beat, then another, the only sound courtesy of the jackhammering occurring in her chest.

  It’d be so easy not to say anything. Do anything. But her curiosity began to outvote her horniness—much to her body’s dismay—and she found herself easing the toy out of her cunt. A moment later, she rose to her feet on wobbly legs, looked down to ensure her nightshirt covered all the important stuff, and began making her way to the door.

  By the time she got there, the lusty haze that had nearly had her at orgasm had faded into a more comfortable, more familiar irritation.

  What the hell is he doing here?

  “Eliza—”

  She threw the door open before he could yell her name again, took a moment to appreciate the surprise that filled his eyes, then spat, “What?”

  Will stared at her for a moment as though trying to ascertain whether or not he was truly seeing her. Then he cleared his throat. “We need to talk.”

  “About what?”

  At this, he seemed genuinely stunned. “About…about what happened.”

  “When?” Yes, she was being ornery, but she was at her wit’s end. And she so very badly needed release—needed the pent up energy to find an outlet and give her some relief.

  “What do you mean, when? Tonight. Just now.”

  “Just now, meaning when you interrupted my last ditch effort to make the night not totally suck.”

  A welcome flicker of irritation rose behind his eyes. “You know damn well what I’m talking about.”

  She shrugged. “What’s there to talk about, Will? People kiss every day.”

  “You and I don’t.”

  “We’ll call it an anomaly then. A lapse in judgment. Temporary insanity.” She flashed a smile. God, he needed to leave. Now. “So there. We’re all talked out. Thank you so much for—”

  “No.”

  A note of finality carried in his tone, and a shiver ran down her spine. A shiver ran somewhere else too.

  She’d never heard
him sound so…

  God, why in the world would this turn me on?

  Just more proof she was not quite right upstairs.

  After a moment, Elizabeth managed to swallow the lump in her throat. “No?”

  “No. We need to talk about this.”

  “No, you need to talk about it. I need to get back to my night.” She waved at her bed in demonstration, which she realized, a moment too late, had been a mistake.

  Her dildo was only partially covered by her blankets and, thanks to the soft lamplight in the room, visibly slick.

  Elizabeth felt her stomach drop.

  Shit.

  The initial urge was to run over and throw it under the bed, but doing that would be about as effective as lobbing it at Will’s head. Instead, she turned back to Will with what she hoped was a sufficiently unbothered look.

  The second their eyes met, she knew she was out of luck. That strange light that had stormed into his gaze earlier had returned, the fight fading fast in favor of something even more primal. Something that brought to mind how he’d felt pressed against her. He took his time, looking from her to the dildo, then to her again, taking in the state of her undress—slowly. And when he raised his face to hers, what she saw there had her squeezing her thighs together.

  And damn, that was not a good sign. Not at all.

  “So,” she said. Her voice was a pitch lower than usual. “If you’ll just leave, I’ll—”

  “What?” he blurted, his nostrils flaring. “You’ll…what?”

  She was pleased, at least, to hear his tone was also rougher than usual. Meant she wasn’t the only one perving out at the moment.

  At the same time, knowing that he was turned on did not incentivize her body to pull the emergency brake.

  Elizabeth inhaled. “None of your goddamned business, Darcy.”

  “Did I…” His gaze shifted to the incriminating evidence on her bed and lingered. “…interrupt something?”

  At these words, she experienced a much welcome rush of irritation. Her muscles tensed. “What the hell do you think?”

  He blanched. “I—”

  “I dunno, Will, you seem like a pretty smart guy. I’d have thought you could solve this brain buster all on your own.” She gestured toward the bed again, this time with intent. “But in case it wasn’t perfectly clear, you interrupted me while I was straight on the way to what would have been a truly terrific orgasm. So thank you so much for that. Now please, don’t let the door hit you on the—”

  “Why did you answer?”

  The question was the perfectly aimed wrench at her otherwise flawless rant. “What?”

  “You could’ve ignored me. You could’ve just stayed where you were—doing what you were doing.” He flushed but didn’t waver. “You answered the door for me, Elizabeth.”

  “And I can’t tell you how proud of myself I am for that.”

  “You knew it was me. Why would you answer then?”

  “Because if you look up glutton for punishment, the first thing you’ll see is my smiling face.” She demonstrated said smile. “Now go away.”

  She swung the door hard—so hard it would have sent a fierce tremble through the building had it made it all the way home. But Will caught it without so much as a blink, his gaze still intent upon hers.

  “Answer me one question.”

  “No.”

  “Were you thinking about me?” He paused, swallowed, but didn’t back down. “About earlier?”

  Elizabeth just stared at him, her tongue unwilling to work. And she knew in her silence that she had given him the answer, for the longer he looked at her, the more his eyes changed. His whole face seemed to change, softening from hard lines into something she couldn’t quite identify. It wasn’t pride or snark, either of which she would have expected, rather a sort of quiet awe.

  That look did funny things to her stomach. It also made her intently aware again that she needed to come. If she didn’t get to, she might just explode.

  So she did the only logical thing she could think of.

  She slammed the door. Turned and took three paces toward her bed.

  Then he knocked again, and something inside her raised a white flag.

  Elizabeth threw the door open and lunged into his arms. Will’s mouth came crashing down on hers hard enough to knock her off balance, but he tasted too damn good for it to matter. Every sensation she’d experienced earlier came rushing back with gusto. He hooked his arms under her shoulders and drew her to him, bringing her bare lower half against his body—against where he was hard for her.

  Elizabeth trembled, sucking his tongue into her mouth and swallowing one of those glorious moans. Like before, it seemed to echo its way through her, curling her toes and sending a fresh wave of want through a body already overdosing on the stuff. He stroked her tongue with his, his lips hot and insistent as his hands began to wander. First to her face and neck, then down her shoulders. He paused before palming her breasts, though, rather drew his fingers up and down her sides—close enough to feel his intent. He stayed there long enough for her to realize he was waiting on her.

  For permission.

  Elizabeth pulled her mouth away from his, met his heated eyes, and nodded. “Yes.”

  Will kissed her again and dipped his hands under the hem of her tee. She thought he’d make a beeline for her breasts, but instead he cupped her ass, squeezed once, then pulled her as close to him as possible, allowing her to feel every thick inch of his erection in all its denim-clad glory.

  And yeah. That she hadn’t expected.

  Elizabeth was a firm believer in the size-doesn’t-matter philosophy, having been with men who were exceptionally endowed but clueless where it counted, and others who weren’t packing as much but definitely scored marks in the performance category. Will seemed to be a rare breed, because she could feel how large he was, and she was already sold on the thought that he knew what to do with it. Just having him there, the hard length of him, pressed against her damp pussy was enough to have familiar sparks shooting in every direction.

  And she needed to have him inside her. Right fucking then.

  “Please,” Elizabeth whispered, thrusting her hips against his and watching his expression darken. “Please, please, please for the love of god tell me you have a condom.”

  The look on his face would have been funny had she not been so close to the edge. Will’s eyes widened and the heat there began to cool almost immediately.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “Damn, you have no idea how sorry I am.”

  A pitiful mewl scratched at her throat, but she refused to let it out. No matter if she felt she could start bawling at any second out of sheer frustration. “You don’t bring condoms when you go out?”

  “I wasn’t planning on any of this tonight.”

  Elizabeth closed her eyes. Right. Raging hormones aside, this was likely a good thing. A healthy thing. Jumping into bed with Will might seem like an awesome idea now, but in the morning, she’d hate herself enough for letting him feel her up. Toss actual sex into the mix and she might need to transfer to a different college on principle.

  Except at the moment, her rational brain had taken a hike, and her primal brain wasn’t very good at making her otherwise logical arguments sound convincing.

  Especially with Will so close, his cock still rubbing her in all the right places.

  He pressed his forehead to hers. “Can I touch you?”

  Elizabeth’s eyes flew open. “What?”

  “Say yes.” He fingered the edge of her nightshirt. “Please let me touch you.”

  She shivered as her rational brain tried to rally and failed. The need in his voice shook her to her core. “Yes,” she said.

  The word had barely touched the air when Will captured her lips again. It was unfair how skilled he was with that mouth—equally unfair that her primal brain took the bait to flash her suggestions on what he might do with it. Elizabeth whimpered and he answered her with another o
ne of those panty-wetting moans, which made her want to whimper all over again.

  When he slipped the hand that had been toying with her nightshirt under the hem, she did.

  Loudly.

  “Oh fuck,” Elizabeth gasped, breaking her mouth from his as his warm hand palmed her pussy. “Oh fuck.”

  “God, how wet you are.”

  Will Darcy was a talker during sex? Color her stunned.

  And he wasn’t lying. The situation had just about gotten out of control. His fiery skin was freaking kindling on an already blazing inferno. She might have been embarrassed if she weren’t so damned turned on.

  Will rubbed the heel of his palm against her, nearly at the cost of her balance. He pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth as he spread the swollen lips of her sex. Then—shit—he was dragging his finger up and down her slit, edging near her clit but not close enough. He seemed to need this as much as she did.

  “You’re gorgeous, Elizabeth,” he whispered hotly, dipping a finger inside her. They both moaned. “God, that’s tight. So tight.” He pulled back slowly so she felt every drag against her skin, then pushed back inside. Out and in. Again. And again.

  Then he added another finger and she about came undone.

  “Will…”

  Something that sounded like a growl rumbled through him.

  Goddamn.

  “Please.” She barely recognized the voice as her own. Her hips had begun moving of their own volition in time with the thrusts of his fingers, crashing back against him every time he tried to pull away. The breaths tearing from Elizabeth’s throat had gone from heavy to ragged. She needed more.

  Needed him. In this moment, she needed him.

  Will peppered a series of hot kisses along her throat. “Tell me what you want,” he whispered before nipping at her skin. “I’ll give you whatever you ask.”

  “Please…”

  “Please what?”

  The start of what she knew would be an intense orgasm began to flicker. Elizabeth clutched his shoulders and squeezed.

  “My clit.”

  He pulled back far enough to see her face, a grin spreading over his. A grin that made her tremble harder, made her breath catch. It was a smile unlike any she’d ever seen him wear—one she would have thought out of place on him. Both the quiet, reserved guy she’d gotten to know and the picture that had been developing over the past few weeks. Even when her mind was being its most unforgiving in its depiction of him, it hadn’t gone so far as to make him cocky.