Her instincts were usually pretty spot on, but they never told her what to do to make sure things went as well as she had expected or, more often the case, to avoid the badness. She had a feeling the day her apartment building caught fire. She had a feeling the day there was a shooting at her local mall. She had a feeling the day her mom got the call about her dad’s accident just over a month ago. The feelings never helped her and only caused anxiety.
She pulled the phone from her purse and looked at the call history. All three were from her mom, but she hadn't left any messages. Ugh. That was worse than if she left three. It meant whatever she had to say was too bad to be left on voicemail. Jolie immediately called her mom back. She picked up on the first ring. Yep, this was not going to be good.
“Jolie, I was just calling you.” Her mom sounded frazzled, but not distraught. Maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad.
“I know, Mom. That’s why I called.” Her mom was not techno wizard, and she most likely forgot or never realized that Jolie would know she had called without a message being left. Her mom actually still had a wall phone complete with a built-in answering machine. She had never even broadened her horizons enough to get one of those newfangled cordless phones from the eighties yet.
“Oh, I forgot. How were finals?” So small talk it was.
“I just finished Calc 2 and did okay on it, I think. I have Russian History tomorrow. I have a ton of studying to do on that.” Jolie started walking back toward the dorms. If they were going to play at the chit chat for a bit, she might as well get to her room before whatever shit her mom was going to fling hit the fan. “Yesterday I had to hand in a final project for Psych, and I am super confident I did amazingly on that. Friday I have Bio, and that should be easy peasy.”
“Sounds like you are on track then.” Her mom’s voice was teetering on what Jolie referred to as her but voice. She always used it before she dropped what she thought would be a bomb.
Jolie stopped walking, knowing the real reason of the phone call was about to be revealed and was probably not about new curtains. “So when are you driving home? Friday or Saturday?” Hmm. Maybe she was wrong and this was just her mom being nervous about her driving back with all her belongings.
“Friday, Mom. I have to be out of the dorms by three, but my final ends at ten, so I should be on the road just after that. Why?”
“Because ...” Oh suck, here it was. “I’m sort of moving as we speak, and I need to send you the new address.”
“You’re moving? I thought your lease was up in August.”
“It is, but I sort of ... got married.” The nervousness in her mom’s voice was almost as strong as the fear. “So I moved to Two Rivers with Garrick.”
“You what?” Jolie walked to the nearest tree and copped a squat. No sense wandering around during a conversation that was going to take all of her concentration. That was the last thing Jolie had expected. The only reason she never got an off-campus sublease for the summer was because she didn’t want her mom to be alone, especially this year after she took Jolie’s dad’s death so hard. How she’d gone from permanently single without even a date to married was beyond Jolie’s comprehension.
“I got married and moved to Twin Rivers.” The silence was deafening, but Jolie couldn’t figure out exactly how to respond. “Don’t worry, Jolie, you have a room and all your things are here.”
“Twin Rivers, Mom? Isn’t that two hours north? How did you even meet this man? Did you go on a dating site?” Jolie had a bazillion questions, but when she heard her mom’s breath hitch, Jolie worried that she was overwhelming her mom.
“Don’t be mad.” Her mom sounded so weak, and Jolie tried to reign in her anxiety. She really wasn’t mad, just freaking out. “Yes, Twin Rivers is two hours north, and of course I didn’t go on one of those sites. Where would I even do that? The library?”
Jolie smiled. “I can see it now, Mom, you at the front desk asking for help figuring out how to contact the hottie on the screen. You know I was just worried about safety. I’m not mad.”
“I know, Jolie. I just was so nervous to tell you, and then you sounded all ... I don’t know, upset with me, and I started to get ... don’t even worry about it.”
A soccer ball hit the tree right above her head and bounced back into the quad, startling her. Sitting in the middle of the quad on a beautiful day was probably not her best option, considering she had already almost been whacked with a ball, but she liked this tree so there she sat. “So spill, where did you meet this Garrick?”
Jolie stood up and brushed any residual grass or dirt from her pants. “Well, you’ve met him, dear.”
Jolie started to meander back to the dorm. “Oh, is he that nice guy from work who drove you home when you had the flat?”
“Oh goodness no, Jolie. I’m no cougar.” Jolie smiled at that. Her mom was a lot of things, a predator not being one of them. “Besides, he is married and has twin three-year-old daughters.”
“I thought he looked kind of young, but he seemed nice.” She stopped at the crosswalk and pressed the button, waiting for the walk light. “So if it wasn’t him, then who? Someone from the diner?”
Her mother answered just as a box truck turned the corner, jumping the curb and almost hitting Jolie. She jumped backward just in time and fell to the ground, dropping her phone.
“What the fuck?” she heard someone behind her yell. She looked over her shoulder and saw her Russian History professor. That was the last language she ever expected out of him. “Are you okay?” He was now next to her, and she nodded, looking around for her phone. Her mom was probably flipping out after hearing the sound of the truck paired with her cussing professor.
“Yes, Professor, I’m fine. I’m just looking for my phone now. I was talking to my mom.”
Just then the phone caught her eye and she reached for it just as her professor did. When his had touched hers, she got a creepy-bugs-crawling-all-over-her feeling. It had happened a few times before when she was really young. Her mom had told her, her arm was just falling asleep when it had happened as a child. She’d never bought the excuse at the time, and she knew her arm wasn’t asleep now. “Thanks,” Jolie mumbled at the professor as she snatched the phone away and brought it to her ear.
“Jolie! Jolie!” Her mom was in full out panic mode and Jolie could hardly blame her.
“Mom.” Her mom was still shouting in the background. “Mom, listen, I am one hundred percent fine. I just got startled by the truck almost jumping the curb and fell. I dropped the phone. All is good.” She could still hear her mom’s heaving breathing, but the sobbing seemed to dissipate. “Mom, I’m going to call you back in a few minutes, okay? Part of my case snapped off and I want to find it.”
“You sure you’re fine?” Her mom sounded more composed, much to Jolie’s relief.
Jolie, on the other hand, was starting to feel more and more frazzled. She had to get her mom off the phone before she sensed the lie. “Right as rain, mom. I’ll call you when I get this thing fixed. It is kind of sharp right now, where the missing cover should be.” There that should get her mom to agree.
“Oh, sorry, dear. I didn’t know. Call me in a bit. I love you.” Her mom was speaking a mile a minute and hung up before Jolie could respond.
The last thing her mom wanted was Jolie to hurt her hand, and Jolie felt bad deceiving her in that way, but full on panic was starting to set in. There had been plenty of room for that truck to turn, and she was far enough away from the edge of the road that she should have been fine. How the truck driver managed to jump the curb without hitting the telephone pole was another question all together. If this was the first time something weird like this had happened, she might have been able to brush it off, but last week she was almost hit by a car that came out of nowhere, which was why she always used the crosswalk to begin with.
Jolie heard someone clear their throat to her left. She turned to find her professor far too close for comfort.
“Oh, Professor Theron, I forgot you were here.” She wished he wasn’t. The man was creepy on a good day. She couldn’t tell if he was a middle aged pervert or just socially awkward, but being around him was one of the last things she ever wanted. He was the only one teaching Russian History though, so she was going to have to endure him ... twice. Didn’t mean she had to stick around now, though. “Listen, I gotta run. I promised Mom I would call her back. Thanks for the help.”
She turned to walk away, knowing she was being curt, but hoping the near death experience would earn her the mulligan.
“Ms. Skuld?”
She didn’t like her last name to begin with, but it sounded extra wrong when he said it—the way he emphasized it every time she was in class, even though he addressed all the other students by their first names. She was always Ms. Skuld, with the emphasis on Skuld. Of all the people to see what happened ...
“Yes, sir.”
“Do you want help finding the broken piece or getting back to the dorms?” That crawly feeling came back, and he wasn’t even within two feet of her.
“I’m in Kendall Hall.” She pointed to the dorm across the street. She would have preferred he not even know that about her, but he could easily find out that information anyway. She started to inch away. “And I lied to my mom about the piece being broken. She was telling me about her move, and I just couldn’t focus on that now.”
“If you are sure, Ms. Skuld.”
She pushed the walk button, silently pleading it to change quickly.
“I could ...,” Crap, he was next to her again. “Help you prepare for your final.”
This whole situation was just too weird for words, so Jolie took a quick look to make sure the road was clear and booked across the street before the light changed. She turned her head and shouted back, “Thanks anyways, Professor. I have a study group tonight.” She kept running all the way to her dorm and up the stairs to her third floor room.
Breaking and Almost Entering
When she popped out the third floor stairwell, she immediately saw a scarf tied to her dorm room door. Suck an egg. Her roommate had a date at eleven twenty-five in the morning. She’d really lost the roommate lottery with Ashley. That girl had more guys over than Jolie could begin to count, and she had no idea how many she hadn’t even known about in the first place. She felt bad for Ashley in a way because she seemed to find her self-worth in guys wanting her and didn’t realize that one time sexcapades did not make for respect.
Jolie was not a prude by any means; she just liked guys to stick around more than one date before putting out. Well, sort of put out anyway. Except that one time, of course, when she became the slut behind the funeral home, but she chalked that up to the situation. She must have had the death of her bio dad hitting her harder than she thought because her hormones were beyond being on steroids that day. She was practically ready to ride him there on the bench. Who was she kidding? She totally would have if she hadn’t been called, and he hadn’t turned asshole on her.
She walked toward her door, any thought of her roommate gone. For some reason that man took all other thought away from her. She missed him, even if she had no clue what his name was. That ten minutes behind the building was so powerful that she could still feel his hands on her hips and his tongue on her neck.
She dreamed of him nightly. She dreamed of sinking down to her knees and worshipping the cock that she could still remember feeling pressed against her. She dreamed of him making her scream over and over again as his tongue worked its magic. She dreamed that he had her hands tied to a bed made out of what looked like logs, but was actually metal as he fucked her so hard that she was sure she would feel it for days. That one had been so realistic she actually felt phantom pains the next morning, and she savored them.
Not to mention all of the times she touched herself thinking of him. She used her fingers, her bullet, and even thought about expanding her toy collection. Goodness, if it weren’t for her roommate, she would probably be bringing herself to orgasm every stinking minute and be failing all of her classes. She was a sick puppy. She had insatiable lust for someone she would never see again and who pretty much hated her.
She opened the door without thinking and walked inside. As she closed the door behind her, she felt a wave of lust hit her, followed by “You have got to be fucking kidding me.” It was him. The object of all of her desires.
She slowly turned around. The last thing she wanted to see was her skank of a roommate getting it on with her dream lover. “Sorry,” she lied. As she looked toward the bed, she saw it was empty and she felt the lust growing. Perfect. “I almost got hit by a truck and then Professor Pervert tried to help, so I didn’t pay attention when I came in.”
“You what?” He was right beside her, and for the first time since entering the room she looked at him. He was completely dressed.
“Wait.” Jolie looked around the room. “Where is Ashley?”
“My question first.” He sounded all bossy, and while most all of her sex dreams about him included him commanding her pleasure, this was her room and in real life he had been a jack ass to her, so no go.
“My room. My questions.” She turned to face him and hold her ground, but it was a mistake. Standing toe to toe with him made her want to fling herself on him, rip his clothes off, and ride him like a cowboy. Bastard must have sensed it too, because he gave a smirk. She met his eyes, refusing to let him win, and she saw passion turning in them. She shook her head, trying to break the spell. “Where is Ashley?”
“Fine. But then you answer mine.” She couldn’t remember what she asked, but she nodded and her wet panties were now moving toward soaked. “I don’t know who he is, but he wasn’t here when I got here.”
“He?” She looked at his face again, noticing the stubble and wondering briefly what his face would feel like between her thighs. What was wrong with her? “My roommate Ashley. The chick with the thick Long Island accent who I am assuming let you in.”
“Oh her, yeah. I thought Ashley ... never mind. She let me in and told me she wouldn’t come back in with that darn scarf of that door. She told me to leave it on her bed when I left.” His voice became harsher as he continued, “I’ve answered yours, now you answer mine. What truck almost hit you, and what did some pervert do to you?”
She took a step back. She had no fear of him and his bossiness, but she couldn’t trust herself in this proximity with him. “Not so fast. Why are you in my room? Are you doing Ashley and needed a nap?” He looked far from sexed over, but the jealousy she felt while asking him intensified every second he didn’t answer.
“Honestly?” He took two steps toward her, closing the space between them to just inches. “I came here for work crap, but couldn’t stay away from you.” He leaned in close to her ear. “Tell me about the truck and the pervert because I need you now and that is the only thing standing in my way.”
She gasped. Maybe she had been hit by the truck after all, and she was in a coma somewhere dreaming of him. Well, if that were the case, might as well get a piece, and if not, a little somethin’ somethin’ would not hurt then either.
“A box truck jumped a curb and a professor, who is a ten on the creepiness scale, tried to help me when I fell. That is all.” She leaned into him. The lust was even thicker than that first day, probably because they were inside and alone. She grabbed the front of his jeans and pulled him closer, sliding her hand to his button as she did.
His hand grabbed hers as she began to work the button. She looked up at him, and her need grew exponentially. “This can never happen again.” She nodded. Lust had officially taken over her brain, and in this that moment she could care less. She went to continue on her mission, and his hand squeezed tighter. “I mean it.”
She was done with this chit chat. Screw it all, or at the very least, him. Yes, screw him. She stood up on her tip toes and slammed her lips into his. No more talking. No more thinking. It was time to live out all of the fantasies she had b
een having for the past month. If this was never happening again, she might as well make the most of every second. He took little encouragement.
He quickly took control of the kiss, exploring every inch of her mouth. Her hands began to once again fumble with the buttons on his fly. He had her so worked up she couldn’t focus on the task at hand. Finally the first button popped, then the second, and by the third she realized he was free balling. No longer able to wait for the rest of his buttons she nipped his lip and reached on in. He made an almost feral sound as she touched his cock for the first time.
He was silk over steel, and as she tried to wrap her hand completely around him, she realized it was an impossible task with his jeans still on. She reluctantly withdrew her hands from his pants, lingering momentarily on the tip, earning her a hiss as his mouth left hers and traveled to her neck. His hands sat on her hips and slowly snaked their way up and under her shirt. His touch set her even more ablaze, and she hastily went back to the task of undoing his buttons.
She reached victory just as his tongue, lips, and teeth reached the spot just below her ear and his hand hit the clasp of her bra. Unable to figure out how to get his pants off without ducking from his touch, she whimpered. If she wasn’t careful, she was going to end up begging before the night was over, just like in her dreams.
He pulled his head from her neck just enough to speak. “We need all these clothes off.” His voice was husky and demanding.
“Yes.” Her voice sounded far less confident and much needier than she had intended. Before she could add anything else, he was on his knees in front of her, frantically working the belt lose so he could remove her pants. Within moments, he had both her pants and her panties down to her ankles. If he had any doubt she wanted him before, it would have flown out the window upon seeing them. He tapped her left foot and she lifted it up so he could remove her shoe and she could step out of her pant leg. He repeated the process with the second leg.
Beyond The Veil: A Paranormal & Magical Romance Boxed Set Page 63
