Now he looks amused. “You weren’t so opposed all those times I made you come,” he reminds me in a faint whisper.
Oh God. I close my eyes to suppress the shiver of arousal that comes from hearing his words.
“Are you following me?” I blurt out, wanting to do anything, everything I can to dispel the need growing between my legs. This conversation has to stay neutral. I cannot get aroused.
There’ll be no way I’ll keep a level head if I do.
He blinks. “Following you?” he asks. “No.”
“It’s a big campus,” I say. “Explain how we always seem to meet.”
“Well, let me see. The first time we met, you came to my yacht.” He puts one finger up. “The second time, you came to my class.” Two fingers. “The third was office hours. The fourth a party I hosted at my penthouse. Now,” he continues, “I would love nothing more than to say that you came on Friday on a personal invitation from me. But, unfortunately…” He quirks his lips. “I do not remember issuing one. I’m flattered that you sought me out. Really, I am.” He steps into me so I can smell him. All the memories of our two nights together come roaring back. “But I’m not the one following you, Celeste. In fact,” another playful grin, “if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you might be harboring a little infatuation for me.”
I scoff and push him away. As soon as my hand lands on his chest, more memories come streaming back… of his delicious skin, of his hard muscles, of the decadent way he made me feel…
I break off contact with a little gasp. I meet his eyes, see his smile, and immediately look away.
“Am I wrong?” he queries.
“You’re wrong,” I breathe. But even I don’t feel the conviction of my words.
And that is a very dangerous path to tread when I’m trying to get away.
James looks around. Something flashes in his eyes. “Come,” he says, taking hold of my hand. “I want to show you something.”
His hand is sure and steady against my palm. And he holds me so tight –nobody’s ever held me so tight. It’s a little thing, I know, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually had my hand held out in public like this before. Brad was always shy about affection. All the other guys… all the other guys were one night stands, nothing more. They just wanted to fuck.
As did I. That’s what I thought I was cutting off with James, but the warmth of his hand raises up my arm and makes my earlier decision moot. It wipes away the conviction I had even half an hour ago. It makes him feel human, somehow more tender, and that… that affects me.
So I follow him with nary a word of protest.
“Where are we going?”
He looks over his shoulder at me and winks. “You’ll see.”
I lower my eyes purposefully as we walk by a group of students going the other way. I don’t think I know any of them, but I don’t want to risk being recognized as Professor Landon’s latest fling.
“You don’t care at all if other people see us, do you?” I ask, ducking my head the next time we pass a large group.
“Care?” He looks at me. “Of course not. Why should I?”
“There are rules…”
He laughs. “Fuck the rules. They don’t apply to us.”
“No?” I say. “Why not?”
“This is my campus, Celeste. I do what I like.” He raises his hand in salutations to someone walking on the other side. I make a clear effort to look away. “I’m a rock star here.” He gives a cocky grin. “As you can see. Also, we aren’t breaking any rules. Not if I have your consent.” He stops in front of a building. “Ah. Here we are.”
I pull my hand out of his. This is the library.
“I was just in there,” I say.
“Then you’ve come full circle,” he chuckles. “Have you ever seen the faculty club?”
“No, how could I? I’m a student. They wouldn’t let me in. Besides, I only arrived at the start of term.”
“Oh, I know all about your arrival,” he says. “We christened it on my yacht.”
My cheeks burn a furious red.
He doesn’t notice. He just stares up at the grand marble building. “Did you know,” he asks me, “that there was a tradition at my college, when I was an undergrad, that I never got to take advantage of? Come.” He starts up the stairs. “You’ll help me make good on it now.”
I feel a bit of trepidation set in. What does he have in mind? I don’t know.
That trepidation makes me take full stock of the situation. I feel my resolve snapping back in place.
“Sorry, James,” I say. “I can’t.” I turn around in the direction of my apartment. “I’ve got to go and—“
“Do you know what the tradition is?” he asks. His voice cuts in right over mine.
I swallow. There’s an unspoken command behind his words. It tells me that I’m not going anywhere, not until he’s done with me.
It tells me that I’m helpless to resist.
It’s the tone he used when he said he’d fuck me.
I look up at him, blink, and swallow again. I’m a nervous wreck.
I never feel this off-kilter with men.
“Do you,” he repeats slowly, stepping down the steps like a prowling predator, “know… what the tradition… is?”
The last word is said as a bare whisper as he positions himself a mere half-inch away from me.
I swallow for a third time and shake my head.
“The tradition,” he tells me, curling around me like a snake, his husky voice freezing me in place, “says that before graduation, every student is to go up the steps of the grand library, in pairs…” he lays his palm out flat and makes a walking motion with the fingers of his other hand, “…a man and a woman, united in common goal, going there together…” he twists around to my front, smooth as a silk ribbon blowing in the breeze. “And once they get through the front doors…” He stops again before me. “They are to descend into the underground labyrinth known as the stacks, and there, find a private corner, a hidden spot, in the dark.” His jaw snaps shut with the last word. He brushes my hair aside to expose my ear. “And fuck!”
I gasp in a deep breath. My head is spinning from his proximity, from his words. From the passion and desire obvious in his every fluid movement.
“That, lover,” he tells me, “is what I intend to do with you.”
I shake my head. “No,” I say. But it’s a flimsy defense. Every cell in my body is screaming, “YES!”
He trails his tongue over his lips. “You don’t want to be fucked by me?” he asks, his words dangerously soft and low. “You don’t want my mouth on your cunt? You don’t want my cock deep in your pussy, pulsing in and out, in and out, as I spur you on toward your climax? You don’t want me to swallow your scream of pleasure as I make you come?”
Oh, Jesus. My panties are soaked. I’m a wet mess, and all I can think about is him doing all those things.
He’s not finished.
“You don’t want my hands on your ass, gripping tighter, as we’re locked in a passionate kiss? You don’t want to bite down on every delicious moan I elicit from you as people wander nearby, oblivious to what’s going on?”
“But… what if we get caught?” I whisper.
“Ah. My dear.” He brushes my cheek, and fire spreads through me from his scorching touch. “Getting caught, being discovered, the need for surreptitiousness… that is what makes it all so very thrilling. The excitement,” he steps into me, “rouses my deepest passions.”
Oh God. I can barely think anymore. All I know is that I need to get fucked. By him. Right now.
I nod quickly. “Yes,” I say. “Yes. I want you.”
His eyes dazzle. “I know you do,” he tells me. “And you’re going to get me. Very, very soon.”
***
James lays out the instructions for me. I’m to go in alone, first, through the front. Then I’m to take the elevator to the third lowest level.
I’m to find a seat and wait for his
arrival.
He’ll go through the faculty entrance and meet me down there. It’s imperative, he says, for us to separate outside and look like we parted ways. That way, nobody would suspect a thing.
I’m in agreement on that. So I trot up the stairs, a mixture of excitement and nerves bubbling in my stomach. Public sex isn’t something I’ve done before. The danger that comes from someone seeing us… that does turn me on.
Oh, how it turns me on!
I swipe my student card to gain entrance in the lobby and make a beeline for the elevator. I hit the button and wait. I can’t help sneaking looks around me to determine if anyone’s watching.
Nobody’s paying me any mind.
The elevator doors open. I start to step in… and my eyes almost bulge out of my head when I see the old lady from my apartment building inside.
I met her once, briefly, the very first day. She bitched at me and Summer for making too much noise. While moving in, for crying out loud! You try carrying a sofa up five flights without being loud.
What was her name? Meredith, Sue, something like that?
I don’t remember. I don’t care to remember, either. If that makes me a crappy person, so be it. Right now, my mind is focused on one thing: getting fucked by James in the crypts of this massive building.
“Oh, hello dear,” she says, smiling as if we’re the best of friends. “Are you going up, or down?”
“Down,” I say, shuffling in. I bring my books over my chest to hide the hardened nipples showing through the thin fabric of my shirt.
“You look flushed,” she comments innocently. “Did you just do some exercise?”
I give her a tight smile. “Back from a run,” I lie.
She nods. “Yes, yes,” she says. “That must be it.” The doors open, and she uses her walker to slowly depart.
They close again, leaving me alone. I turn around and check out my reflection in the mirror. Jesus! She’s right. My cheeks are red, my eyes dilated, and dammit, even my lips looks swollen.
And I haven’t even been kissed yet!
The doors open on my level. I turn around –and give a startled gasp when I almost walk into Summer.
“Jesus!” I say, my heart beating out of my chest. “Summer. How’d you end up here?”
“I came here to study… and look for you,” she says. She rubs her hands together. “You coming or going?”
I glance over her shoulder. “Uh, coming,” I say.
“Oh,” she frowns. “Well, I’m about to head out.”
I sneak another anxious look behind her. If she sees James here… well, she’s not dumb. She’ll be able to put two and two together.
I step out the elevator just as the doors start to slide shut. Seeing Summer only amplifies my guilt about what I’m about to do…
But it also makes me want to get rid of her faster.
What she doesn’t know can’t kill her, right? Besides, it’s not like I’m cheating on her with her boyfriend.
“Listen, Celeste,” she begins, hesitating a little. “You know, I didn’t like what happened between us this morning. I wanted to apologize for being such a bitch. I like you, you know. You’re my best friend. I don’t want that stupid argument forming a gulf between us.”
“It’s forgotten,” I say quickly. “Seriously. It was my fault. I over reacted big time.”
“Yeah,” she gives an uneasy grin. “But I shouldn’t have egged you on. So… sorry.”
Oh, Jesus. I thought my guilt was amplified before? It’s ballooned up to ten times its size now.
And seriously –now is not the time to be thinking about that. Or having any kind of heart-to-heart with Summer. All I want is for James to fuck me, and fuck me hard.
“That’s fine,” I say. “No problem. How was your paper? You got some reading done?”
“Oh yeah, tooonnns.” She sounds sarcastic. “No, listen Celeste, really. I felt like such a shitty friend this morning. I don’t want it to happen again. I know I can be –rude, at times. But it all comes from a good place. At least with you. You’re my best friend. The whole time we were apart in college I kept thinking about how much I missed you and how good it would be to finally live together, experience life together, you know? Just like we were supposed to before our acceptance letters came from different schools.”
And cue more guilt, more guilt, more, more, more, until I feel like I’m going to explode from it all ballooning up inside me.
“Anyway.” She shrugs, and looks down at her feet. “That’s all I wanted to tell you. I’ll get out of your way now. You’re probably still mad.”
That type of sincerity breaks my heart.
She starts to edge around me, but I catch her by the shoulders. “No way,” I say. “I’m not mad at you. Honestly. It took a lot of guts to say what you did. I appreciate it, Summer.”
“So…” a tremulous smile forms on her lips. “Still friends?”
“Fuck yeah!” I exclaim. “As if that was ever in question.” I grab her and give her a great big hug.
But just as I’m about to let go…James emerges from behind the far stacks.
He sees me, smirks, gives a little wink, and starts strutting right for us.
No, no, no, no, no! I start shaking my head, ever so slightly, so that Summer doesn’t notice, telling him to stay away.
But he won’t take the hint. He keeps walking.
“Um, Celeste? You can let go now,” Summer says. “You’re making it kind of hard to breathe.”
“Oh,” I say. “Sorry.” But I still cling to her, while James gets closer and closer with every passing second. There’s a sly glint in his eye. The evil bastard, he knows exactly what he’s doing!
“Celeste, let go of me!” Summer exclaims, pushing off. My arms break free, and she stumbles back. Her foot catches. She starts to fall… only to have Professor Landon catch her.
I can just die right now. I have such a bad feeling about this. “Thanks,” she says, righting herself. “I’m sorry. I lost my balance, and—“
She cuts off when she sees who it is that caught her. “Oh. Professor!”
James smiles at her, then casually glances at me.
He keeps one hand on Summer’s lower back.
“Ms. Adams,” he says. “Ms. Blair. How good to see you. What a pleasant surprise, running into the both of you here.”
His eyes dance as they meet mine. I bite my tongue, desperately hoping he won’t do something stupid.
“Hi,” I squeak.
He withdraws his hand from Summer’s back. “I got your application for the TA position,” he tells her. “Very impressive. You are most definitely a front runner.” He looks at me with those sparkling, green eyes. “I don’t think I received yours, Ms. Adams.”
I force a tight smile. “I don’t think I submitted one,” I say through gritted teeth.
Summer bursts in over me. “Really?” she exclaims, “You think I’m a front runner?”
“Well, nothing’s official yet,” he winks, all dignity and poise and charisma and charm, “but seeing as how I play a small part in making the final selection, I think I might tip the scales in your favor.”
“Yeah?” she beams, excited.
“Oh yes,” he tells her. “You could learn some initiative from your friend, Ms. Adams. She seems very capable of getting exactly what she wants.”
His eyes pierce mine, and the double meaning behind his words makes me extremely uncomfortable.
“Thank you, professor!” Summer says. “Can I just tell you how brilliant I think you were in Little House by the Sea? You captured the struggle between tradition and modernism in the family of today’s world so perfectly. I couldn’t stop reading. When I finished, I couldn’t stop thinking about the book.”
“Well, thank you,” he says. “It’s always nice to meet a student well-versed in my work.” His eyes flare to mine again. That secretive grin comes to his lips.
“Oh, I’m not just well-versed, professor,” she gush
es. “I’ve read everything you wrote. I even found your senior thesis from when you were at Harvard, the one that won you the Hoopes Prize. It was spectacular. I mean, I see how you’ve developed your style since then, but having a glimpse of your genius at the beginning was just so, so special to me.” She gives a nervous giggle. “I hope you don’t find that weird.”
“No, not weird, no.” He brushes off the remark. “Not weird at all. In fact, it’s like I said: I like your initiative.”
She beams once more. “Oh!” Then she jumps. “I’m taking up so much of your time. I’m sure you have places to go, things to do.”
“Yes,” he says, looking straight at me. His next words come out as little more than growl. “I do.”
If he could be any more obvious without ripping my clothes off and fucking me before Summer’s eyes, I can’t picture it.
Thankfully, Summer is oblivious. Or maybe she’s just so entrenched in the little la-la world she’s built up in her mind centering around the professor that she doesn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.
Either way, I am thankful.
“Then I’ll let you go,” she says, hitting the elevator button. “Celeste, are you coming?”
“No, I, um.” I swallow again, feeling the professor’s eyes on me. “I—I’ve got to find a book here.”
“I’ll go with you,” James says, stepping in the elevator with her. “I’m on my way out, anyway. Might as well share a ride with a fan.”
As the doors close on the two of them, the last thing I see is James giving me a very suggestive wink.
16.
What the hell, what the hell, what the hell?
My mind is racing and I cannot stand still. I pace back and forth in front of the elevator doors.
Do I stay? Do I go? Why on earth did James leave with Summer? What about his promise to me? The reason he sent me here?
I look at my phone. Five minutes have passed. Five minutes, and he’s still nowhere to be seen!
My mind starts coming up with all types of warped scenarios. Did Summer throw herself at him? She’s been dying to have a moment alone. She can’t be that forward, can she?
She could. Fuck, all I know about her comes from high school. I don’t know a thing about her now. James… how would James react? What would James do?
Uncovering You: The Complete Series (Mega Box Set) Page 127
