Page 66 of Mud

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not a baby, Taland. I’m almost eighteen. Just lie down so I can hug you properly!”

He chuckled. “You have no idea what’s coming for you, sweetness. No idea.”

It was a threat as much as it was a promise, but he finally laid us down on his bed. Didn’t let me move or stand from his lap at all, just leaned down with me in his arms and positioned us on his pillow, like I weighed close to nothing.

Within the second, we were wrapped in one another’s arms, face to face, chest to chest, his hand on my ass, big, goofy smiles on our faces. We stayed like that for a while, whispering about how good it felt, then kissing like we had a limitless amount of time at our disposal.

But we did. The night was young, and more than that—wewere young, and we had a whole lifetime to do this with each other every single night.

That’s all that mattered now. That’s all I wanted. In a matter of two weeks, I’d inched into my skin little by little in every second we spent together. Like he had finally given me the courage to justbewho I was, or at least who I’d wanted to be since I was aware of myself and the way I lived. I wanted to do this every day, be me and be with Taland because turns out, I wasn’t just the boring, worthless, unlovable granddaughter—I was funny, too. Taland laughed at my jokes. And I hadopinionson stuff as well—he always listened to them, and always asked what I thoughtabout anything he’d been wondering about. And I hadstyle—he said he loved the way I dressed when I wasn’t wearing the uniform, and how I did my hair, and how I wore my makeup. He thought I was incredibly smart, too—I knew random facts about everything and could tell him exactly what any book I’d ever read had taught me about the world. I knew a lot in theory, that was true, but I’d never thought it was that big of a deal until I saw the fascination in his eyes.

That made me want to continue to just…expand. Be more of myself. Allow myself to grow.

And, of course, allow myself to explore. Mostlyhim.

He had one hand under my skirt, a denim one he liked the most, and the other was wrapped around my back, and all the way to my front so he could cup my boob. He was hard—I felt him against my pelvis when I rocked against him, and when he pulled me to him with a new urge each time.

I was burning.

“Remember what I told you earlier?” he whispered when he let go of my lips for a second.

I nodded—yes, I remembered, but how could I tell him that I didn’t want to stop at all?

No, I was too shy still.

But lucky for me, Taland didn’t need more reassurance. The next second, he moved us, put me on my back and fell on top of me. The weight of him pressed against every inch of my body.

Pure bliss.

Thiswas exactly what I’d wanted when I said I wanted to be alone with him.Thisis what I wanted to feel every single day of my life—and I would. Because David Hill and the IDD were wrong—Taland was not conspiring against anyone about anything at all. He wasnotplanning to stealanything from the school grounds, of that I was sure. He spent every second of his time in class, doing homework, or hanging out with me. Neither he nor I had time for anything else—literally. We even had to shower when everybody else was asleep or early in the morning because we spent every spare second together, the way it had been every day for the past two weeks.

No, he was not who the IDD was looking for, and once the month was over and I was to report back to Hill through the phone he gave me, I was going to tell him that.You might want to search again for the guy you’re looking for because Taland Tivoux is not him, Mr. Hill. Good day.

And then we would be perfectly okay because just like that, in only two weeks, I’d forgotten what it meant to be Madeline Rogan’s granddaughter. I’d become just Rosabel.

So that night I was completely certain thatthiswas what my life would look like forever because this was the only thing I truly wanted—being wrapped up in Taland, just us and a room and a bed somewhere, anywhere in the world.

He started to thrust against me while we kissed, growling and holding onto me tighter than ever. I’d only ever come at my own hand before, but I swear I was about ready to jump over when his hard cock pressed against my center like that.

I wanted to say something, beg him to take me, but all I seemed to know how to do with my voice was moan, so I switched strategies and I began to touch him instead. I began to undo the buttons of his shirt and slid my hands underneath to touch his smooth skin. The heat between my legs intensified when I pushed his shirt down his shoulders and reached for his back. He was more ripped than I’dthought. Every curve and every shape of him was perfect to me though I hadn’t seen it yet.

He whispered under his breath how much he loved the taste of me and how much he was looking forward to kissing every inch of my body. And when he let go for a second and raised his head, I cried out in complaint.

“I’m not going anywhere, baby,” he said chuckling, his eyes sparkling like fireworks. “But I need to know if the rest of you is as sweet as these lips.” He pulled my lips inside his and bit hard, moaning, then proceeded to move down to my neck, planting kisses, licking and biting as he went.

I lost track of time and space and everything that wasn’t Taland by the time he pulled my shirt up, pushed the cup of my bra down, and took my nipple in his mouth.

He’d touched my boobs before, but that didn’t even come close to his mouth. I never knew I could even feel as much as I was feeling right now or that I could move the way I was moving. No thought in my head, only pleasure and only instincts, so my hands were in his hair, grabbing and pulling him down harder as if I wanted him under my skin completely.

Goddess, he felt good. I never wanted to stop.

The need to scream tortured me, but I held it back because I knew how dormitories worked in this school. Louder noises made it through the walls every time. I bit my lips and closed my eyes and felt his tongue as it trailed the space between my breasts. Then he devoured my other one the same way he’d done the first.

He kept going, kissing his way down my belly button, taking his sweet time. I needed to feel everything from him all at once in the same minute, but he refused to rush.

“Breathe, baby,” he said when he reached my pelvis, hooked his fingers under the waistband of myskirt, and looked up at me with a mischievous little grin on that face. “Are you okay? Are you comfortable?”

“Yes,” I choked—hell, yes, I was okay, but he needed to keep going if he wanted me to remain okay and not lose my mind.

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