Page 83 of Ink & Stardust

“I was being generous. Maybe more like an aspirin.” I throw my leg across his waist to find him already rock-hard beneath me. “Yeah.” I fist him in my hand. “Very generous.” I hum, lining him up at my entrance.

He drops his head back on a deep groan as I lower myself down on his thick erection, taking him all the way inside of me in one fluid motion.

And just like that, all talk of ex-boyfriends and almost whispered I love yous flitters away to the all-consuming desire that burns me raw every time this man so much as touches me.

I am the instrument and he is the musician, able to pull from me the perfect note with every strum of his fingers.

I can’t help but wonder if I’ll ever tire of the feeling of this man’s body moving inside of mine, and I get the feeling the answer will continue to be a resounding no. Because how could you ever grow tired of something so exquisite that you want to bottle it up and keep it for forever?

And that’s exactly what I want to do.

I want to keep him.

Maybe for forever.

“Oh my God, she lives!” Maisie announces the second I step through the door of our dorm room to find her and Char lying in the same bed, watching something on a laptop that I can only assume is a movie.

“Ha. Ha,” I deadpan, dropping my bags on the floor next to my bed before taking a seat at my desk to remove my shoes. “What are you watching?”

“Gilmore Girls,” they say in unison.

“Wanna join?” Maisie pats the nonexistent space in bed next to her.

“Might be a bit of a tight squeeze.” I shake my head. “I appreciate the offer, but right now a hot shower is calling my name.”

“I bet it is.” Char gives me a wicked grin.

“You two really are so funny.” I stick my tongue out at her as I stand, quickly gathering my bathroom essentials. “Give me twenty minutes and then I want to hear all about your Thanksgiving break,” I tell them before tugging open the door and stepping into the hall.

Moving toward the bathroom, I startle when the door opens and the bombshell blonde from across the hall steps out. Claire, as I confirmed her name with Maisie after our last run-in, takes one look at me and sneers.

“Hi,” I squeak, attempting to step past her, only instead of moving out of my way, she steps directly into it, nothing more than a towel covering her naked form.

“How does it feel to be the flavor of the month? I bet you find the attentionveryexhilarating.” She smiles but not in a friendly sort of way. In the kind of way that says she’d like to rip out my eyeballs and then serve them for appetizers at her next meal.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I square my shoulders, refusing to be bullied for no reason other than I’m sleeping with someone she used to sleep with. It’s not like they were ever a couple, and it’s not like we are either.

Though, the thought of them together does leave me feeling a bit inadequate, given how incredibly beautiful she is. A vision of Kai above her flashes through my eyes, two perfect specimens moving as one, and it’s enough to make me want to coil into a ball and never unfurl.

“I bet by now he almost has you convinced that this is real, doesn’t he?” Her words send my galloping heart into a full-on sprint. “He did the same thing with me, too, you know. I was his first call to hang out. To get dinner. To... Well, you know. And the next thing I know, nothing. He doesn’t call, doesn’t text, and the next time I see him, it’s when he’s coming out ofyourroom.”

I can see the hurt behind her eyes that she tries to hide.

“I’m sorry. I—”

“You know he did the same thing to Devin downstairs. I think they were hooking up for like two or three months before we met.” Suddenly, hersleeping his way through the buildingcomment makes a hell of a lot more sense.

Jealousy and doubt swirl in my gut in a lethal concoction. I can already feel their venom slipping through the cracks in my makeshift armor, spreading poison through my veins.

“And let’s not forget about poor Annie upstairs. Though I didn’t find out about her until... Well, until the day I saw the two of you together.” She tsks, like a scolding parent who’s disappointed in my life choices. “You’re just another in a long line of women he’s done this to. He wants you when you’re shinyand new, until he tires of you, and trust me, hewilltire of you, then he moves on to the next shiny new toy that catches his attention.”

“It’s not like that.” I clench my things to my chest harder, tighter, not sure who I’m actually trying to convince, me or her.

“Oh, honey, we’ve all said those words at one point or another. Let me guess, he told you he couldn’t give you more, that he’d only hurt you, and yet somehow still got you into his bed?”

My face pales. I can actually feel the blood as it drains from my cheeks as the familiar panic starts to take hold. The crippling anxiety that I haven’t felt in weeks takes my lungs hostage.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” She chuckles, not a trace of humor in her voice. “This is what he does. Ask around. I think you’ll find there are more of us out there. No, Iknowyou will. Painfully gorgeous, broken, closed off. What woman doesn’t want to be the one whosaveshim?”

---