Page 64 of Mud

“It’s okay, sweetness. I’ll wait years if I have to. I don’t mind,” he said, walking closer to the wall behind the phoenix statue so he could put me against it. “How was your day? Did you make it to Dillan’s class on time?”

“Barely,” I whispered, playing with his hair that felt like silk between my fingers. “How about you?”

“It was time away from you. What can I say? I survived,” he teased, but it wasn’tjustteasing. He meant every word. I felt it. He was just as infatuated with me as I was with him—and maybe that was abadthing if I stopped to analyze it, but I didn’t. Not even close.

Instead, I laughed. “Such a charmer, Mister Tivoux.”

“You bring out the best in me like that,” he said, and I about melted.

“Mhm. How was the party?” We were face to face, noses touching, eyes half closed.

“Fine. Couldn’t bring you cake because they ruined it two seconds in, but it was fun.”

I nodded. “Good. I don’t want cake. I just want you.” It wasn’t a joke.

Taland knew. That’s why he growled and kissed me the next second, and stuck his tongue in my mouth. I was moaning within the minute.

My body came alive when I was with him, something that had never happened to me before. I was still a virgin for a reason. I never used to be turned on by anyone, and I never thought I was even capable of thinking about sex and Taland’s lips as much as I had been doing since the moment I met him.

Iwantedhim.

I wanted him with my whole being, and I showed it every time we kissed when I gave him my everything. It was like my body had changed completely since I met him. I got wet when I fantasized about him during class just as much as when he was kissing me, and it had shocked me that first week, but I was quickly getting used to the way of things here. The way it felt tobe mewith Taland.

We kissed for what could have been five minutes, probably more. By then his eyes were bloodshot and he was breathing heavily, and he was so hard, pressing against my center, my panties soaked. He’d hiked up my skirt and his hands were on my ass and he dug his fingers in my skin, and goddess, I wanted them lower still.

“You taste better every time,” he told me. “How do you do that, sweetness? How do you taste better every time?” He grabbed my bottom lip between his teeth right away, and the best I could give him was a moan while I continued to grind against him.

With a growl, he slammed me against the wall again and kissed every ounce of air out of my lungs.

When we heard the footsteps of people approaching, we had no choice but to stop.

Taland let me go and stepped to the side, back turned to whoever was passing by—some students probably sneaking out the building—his hands on the wall near my head, his lowered as he tried to control his breathing. Meanwhile, I crossed my legs and pretended to be looking at my nails while my cheeks remained red and my heart thundered in my chest like crazy.

The students barely noticed us half hiding behind the bronze phoenix statue, and when they walked to the other side, I let go of a long breath.

“Where do you want to go tonight, sweetness? Wheredo you want me to take you?” Taland asked, moving backward to sit on the phoenix’s claw again to get himself together because he was hard.Veryhard if the tent on his pants was anything to go by.

“I don’t know,” I said with a shrug. There was no place wehadn’tbeen to already. He’d planned little dates for us on rooftops and in a deserted cafeteria, and in classrooms in the middle of the night—we’d even watched a movie in the small theatre at one in the morning just six days ago.

“How about outside? We could sneak out, too. I know a great Mexican place, if you’re hungry,” he said, and I had never been more embarrassed than when I said,

“Or—we can sneakinside. To, um…to my room.”

Silence for a second.

Taland’s lopsided smile made my insides tremble. “If I’m alone with you in a closed space with a bed, sweetness, I’m going to do things to you.”

Oh, goddess…

“We can just…we can-we can lie down.” Because I was sick of juststandingwith him, you know? I wanted the full experience. I wanted to feel every inch of him, and even if I was shy enough to want to run right now, I didn’t.

“I’m going to do a lot of things to you if we lie down.” He said it so simply, calmly, like it was a fact.

I tried not to, but I adored the confidence with which he spoke.

Taland got up and stalked toward me—stalkedlike he was a lion and I the helpless gazelle. He was in front of me, towering over me, and even though most of the time I felt like I’d known him my whole life, in moments like this it all felt brand new, too.

“Is that what you want, sweetness? ‘Cause I’ve beenfighting with myself to give you time,” he said, putting his hands on the wall on either side of my head. “Look at me.”

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