Page 77 of All Saints: Pledge

I blink, picturing warm water coursing down on us. Kendall as naked as me. Darkness cocooning us. It feels both right and completely taboo. Itistaboo, it’s absolutely against my contract. And his.

“Let me be the one to do this. Give me this at least. Don’t let it be someone else who touches you first, Helena.” His hands are slow but relentless, pushing my panties down my body, threading through my hair. Steam billows out in the nearly pitch black room, misting only in the amber glow from the twin highlights set to dim on each vanity. His hands, his body, his mouth, they all say “mine” with every touch and kiss.

And I’m not holding back. This tender, vulnerable Kendall? Heismy kryptonite. His mouth gives me life. His kisses innervate my limbs. Slow, delicious heat spreads in my core as he shucks off his own clothes and pulls me into the shower with him.

I’ve never…I’ve never done anything like this. I’ve never been this bold with anyone. Kendall is a massive wall of wet skin, hot to the touch, feverish even under the pouring water. The darkness makes me bold, and I reach out, running my hand over his chest. He freezes, letting me feel the expanse of his muscle.

“You can touch me too. I want it to be you,” He whispers, dropping his forehead to mine.

Then, more hesitantly, I slide my hand down to the hard length of him that protrudes between us. My heart pounds in my throat. Feeling what I do to him—the first real person who I’ve driven crazy—feels surreal. Exciting. Intoxicating.

He hisses through his teeth, briefly grasping my hand. He takes our combined grip and runs it down his hard length once before bringing our joined hands to his mouth and kissing my knuckles. He reaches for me, pulling me close. “This isn’t about me,” he whispers in my ear. “I’m supposed to be the one doing the convincing.”

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Water sluices down over my skin as Kendall presses me to him for a long moment, his center grinding against mine in animal instinct. My hips cradle his erection in response, and I realize I’m breathing in gasps.

His next kiss brings a wave of water with him, and for a moment I’m drowning. His tongue tangles with mine so feverishly I’m bent backward. Water spills over us, running over our bodies. I’m up on my toes, looking for leverage for…I don’t even know. The heat pooling in my core is relentless.

I whimper.

“I want you too,” he whispers, pulling back slightly. “We can’t, not yet. Too much hinges on…on tonight. On tomorrow.” He’s whispering in my ear, his hands stroking over my trembling thighs, brushing against my molten center. I rub against his hand, my body rejecting his logic.

He turns me so that my back is to his front. He takes some deep breaths. “Picture if we could do this any time we wanted. After every long study session.”

It surprises me when his hands come back to my neck and I realize that he’s grabbed the soap. He’s soaping my body,pushing my hair to the side of my neck. I shiver violently as he lathers his hands and run them down over my shoulders, over the taper and flare of my hip. His hands go back up, he lathers more. Then his slides his hands down over my breasts, pulling me back against him. He teases me, hands grazing just above my pubic bone, thumbs toying with my hip bones. I squirm. He hisses again as he steps back, running his hands down over my ass. He kneels down, running his hands down my calves and heels.

He is being so methodical and sweet. Tender. I thread my hands through his damp blonde hair and pull. Something inside of me doesn’t want to be tended to. It wants to rip and growl and tug and pull until he’s closer. Back in the position I crave.

“Helena,” he says, “I’m trying to make up for my actions.”

“You said you wanted to show me what it would be like to be with me.” I realize I’m panting. “And I don’t feel like being gentle right now.”

His eyes are fathomless as he looks up at me, lit only by the candles on the vanity. I have literally never wanted anything more than I want him to touch me.

“No one can know about this,” he says, his voice ragged, eyes boring into mine in the candlelight. “If they do…you are my ruin, and I just can’t say no.”

I shake my head. “I won’t tell.” I don’t even know what I’m agreeing to. I just know I want it. Want him. Want whatever is coming. I want it all.

“Spread your legs a little,” he says. His voice is soft, but commanding.

Immediately, I do. I widen my stance, unsteady on my feet. His hands are shaking.

“Good girl,” He praises, running his hands up my thighs, one on each thigh until they are right beneath my apex. “You are such a good girl for me.”

The praise does something to me. I groan as he comes up on his knees in front of me. I’m mortified and try to pull him to his feet, but he shakes his head, pressing kisses on my belly. Loosening me up before nosing first and then finally using the rough pad of his tongue to lick up my center. My modesty evaporates as the most intense pleasure I’ve ever felt zings like lightning through my body.

“Helena? Are you in there? Are you okay?”

My groan must have been too loud. It’s Clara.

I pull at Kendall’s hair, but he’s a man on a mission. His nose and tongue are… oh myGod, oh my god.My knees are shaking. I realize then that I’m chantingoh my God, out loud and that instead of tugging on his hair, I’m pushing him into me, grinding his face into me?—

“Helena? Are you sick? Do you need me to come around? My door is locked.”

I cough, realizing that if I stay silent, she’s going to think something is wrong. And so, trying to control the wobbling in my knees, and the wave of pleasure threatening to overtake me, I manage. “I’m fine. I’m in the shower. It feels really good to shower,” I manage, and I feel Kendall chuckling.

“In the dark?”

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