Page 102 of Corrupt Me

I did better than just kiss him. His lips alone weren’t enough. I crawled over the seat into his lap, unable to wait for him to get out of the car and take me upstairs. My legs straddled either side of him, his hands steady on my hips as he pulled me close, clinging to me like an anchor. He tasted of mint and something smoky, the combination delicious. And I wanted more.

It might be crazy that my body could light up and buzz after feeling such intense fear, but those high emotions only strengthened the simmering desire between us. Human emotions were complex, and what I felt for this man rated high on the complicated charts.

Our relationship might have started morally gray, but it didn’t diminish my love for him. And if tonight proved anything, it was that I was in love with Tristan, and as much as the words wanted to tumble out of me, I forced them to stay inside, not wanting to scare him off. He’d been clear about our relationship, and I respected his boundaries even if my heart didn’t.

My fingers looped behind his neck, tangling in his hair as I deepened the kiss, slipping my tongue into his mouth, eager to erase the terror we’d endured—to replace it with something romantic and urgent. “I thought I was going to lose you,” I whispered against his lips, my voice breaking. “I thought…”

He pulled me closer, pressing his forehead against mine and breathing me in. “I’m here. I’m right here,” he murmured, voice thick with emotion. His thumb brushed my cheek, the one Angelo had hit, wiping away a tear I hadn’t realized I was shedding. “He won’t hurt you again.”

My eyes closed for a second. The depths he would go to ensure he kept that promise was left unspoken, but I understood. More than he knew because it was the same fierce protectiveness I had for him.

I’d end lives to keep him safe.

The thought should have frightened me. The lengths I’d go for Tristan’s life were scary, but it had the opposite effect. His sheer determination to protect me empowered me. It filled me with a sense of security I shouldn’t have felt, not when the threat lingered.

My breath hitched as I pressed my lips to his jaw, his cheek, anything to ground myself in the reality that he was here, warm, and alive beneath my touch. “Stay with me,” I said in almost a plea. “Promise you’ll stay with me.” I didn’t want him to disappear before I woke up. He had a habit of doing that. “I can’t be alone.”

He cupped my face, his eyes searching mine. “I’m not going anywhere,” he promised, full of quiet conviction. “I won’t leave. Not until you tell me to.”

It was good enough for me.

Sunlight poked through the tree branches hanging over the car as the warm breeze teased the ends of my hair. I bit down on his bottom lip. Tristan’s deep groan swirled into my mouth, and my surroundings were lost to the desire swarming me. I couldn’t care less that I was grinding against him in a parking lot with his top down for anyone to see.

But realistically, I’d seen way worse things on public display on campus.

His hands moved to my backside, squeezing, as his tongue did delicious things inside my mouth, sucking, licking, biting. I moved my hips, rubbing against the bulge pressing into my center, making it very clear he wanted me.

The engine turned off, and the sudden quiet filled with soft moans. I heard his door squeak open but thought little of it, my mind and body too preoccupied to be bothered with anything else.

His lips never broke from mine as Tristan lifted me out of the car, my legs wrapping around him. I didn’t know how far we would get like this, but we needed to make it inside to a bed before things got out of hand. My fingers itched to touch his skin, and although I doubted Tristan would complain if I tore his shirt off, I wouldn’t be able to stop at just his tee.

We both needed to get out of these clothes, just not for the reasons going through our heads. A shower would be bliss. But I also needed Tristan.

Why not have both?

“Shower first,” I said between kisses.

Adjusting his hold on me as we crossed the parking lot, Tristan’s lips twitched. “You do kind of stink.”

I rubbed my nose on his. “I still smell better than that motel.”

A smile cracked on his lips, the silver hoop in his lip glinting under the sun. “There’s still time for us to go back.”

“Put me down before people start staring.”

“Let them stare, Shortcake.”

He carried me until we were inside Thorn Hall, only then setting me on my feet, but his arm remained around me, keeping me close as we stepped into the elevator. A few people were in the common area, but they spared us nothing more than a glance.

Pushing floor three, I sank against the corner of the elevator, putting space between us. Memories of the last time we’d been in the contraption together and how he kissed me flushed my cheeks. I needed a moment to clear my head, but Tristan didn’t have the same idea. The light flashed floor two as his palm slammed on the emergency stop button. The elevator came to a jerky stop, and my hands went to the wall, steadying myself. “What are you doing?”

The look he gave me said more than a thousand words. “Finishing what we started.”

“Your room is only a floor away?—”

He kissed me, his fingers encircling my wrists as he lifted them over my head, pinning me against the wall. “You have no idea how scared I was tonight,” he murmured as his lips cruised along the angle of my jaw, the hardness of his body pressing into mine.

My head tilted to the side, giving him more access. “I know.”

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