Page 19 of Rush of Insanity

Dark ferocity stared back at her. “Why? Because I’m getting to you? I might actually be winning already?”

“No.” Her denial was pathetic. But so was that smirk plastered across his lips. “Asshole.”

He hitched her leg higher over his hip, reminding her of their connection. “You’re falling for me again.”

Falling was an understatement. There was nothing that mimicked the way she currently felt. Nothing in the realm of love and lust that perfectly encapsulated the utterly terrifying sensations overwhelming her.

“Get over yourself.”

He chuckled. “You’re not walking away, princess.”

She shoved at his pecs again. Shoved and shoved and shoved until he rolled off of her with his belly convulsing with laughter.

“I missed this.” He scooted from the bed and strode his naked ass over to open the door. “I’ll be back in a second. Don’t go anywhere.” He padded down the aisle and disappeared into the bathroom, clicking the door shut behind him.

As if she had anywhere else to go.

She leaned on her elbows and took in the pitch black sight through the windshield straight ahead of her. The bus had stopped at some time during their scramble for pleasure and was now dark inside and out. Although Tank wasn’t the usual driver, she assumed he was in the spare bunk, hopefully with a set of earplugs firmly planted in his ears. She had no clue where they were, so walking home wasn’t an option. And the thought of calling her brother or a cab didn’t set well either.

She wanted to stay. For a few hours at least. Until the lust faded and reality dawned with the rising sun. Daylight always brought clarity, and tomorrow would be no different. If anything it would be harsher, highlighting her stupidity in Technicolor.

The bathroom door reopened with a deafening click and her pulse quickened at the silhouette of Judd before her. He padded into the room, flicked off the light and closed the door.

The covers flicked back on his side and the mattress dipped with his weight. She held her breath as his arm snaked around her waist and instead of snuggling into her, he dragged her back, pulling her into his chest. Making her come to him.Alwaysmaking her come to him.

“I need to know why you left me,” he murmured into her hair.

“Go to sleep, Judd.” She scooted under the sheet and nestled back into him, unable to stop herself. “We’ll talk about it later.”

He kissed her shoulder, branding the spot forever. “Later, when?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow,” he repeated on a breath. “I’ll hold you to it.”

The room fell silent, the world dying under the noise of her thoughts. She clung to the arm around her waist, wishing she could be the person needed to maintain this relationship. But she couldn’t. She’d spent her childhood in places she didn’t belong. Scholarships had allowed her to be a temporary part of high society, rubbing shoulders with teenage millionaires and entitled brats. She lived each day surrounded by wealth she couldn’t experience and prestige she didn’t deserve. Then her father became sick and she had to change to a public school closer to home. One without expensive text books that was also overflowing with kids who considered her previous education a point of contention.

She hadn’t fit in with the rich, and the less fortunate didn’t want her either. She’d been a loner who didn’t belong on either side, and she wouldn’t put herself through that again by staying with Judd.

He was the scholarship from her childhood. He was the wealth and prestige she didn’t deserve. He was all the things she wasn’t, and the differences between them had been slammed in her face too many times to ignore.

She sighed into the silence and waited until he was purring with slumber before she slid out from under his arm. She dressed quietly and crept to the door as she finger combed her hair. He didn’t wake when she turned the latch, and she didn’t hear him stir with her progression down the aisle.

“Where the hell are you going?” Tank pulled back the curtain to the spare bunk beside the booth seat and blinked his sleepy gaze at her.

“Can’t sleep.”

He huffed and fell back against his pillow. “There’s food in the fridge if you’re hungry. Or vodka in the freezer if you prefer.”

“I’m good. Thanks.” She slid into the booth and pulled her feet onto the seat, cuddling her knees to her chest. The bus was shrouded in darkness, the moonlight from outside barely shining in through the tinted windows.

She was alone in the middle of nowhere, and all her heart wanted to do was climb back into bed with the man she had to say goodbye to. He didn’t even know her. Not really. She’d placed too many barriers between them, hiding herself behind a shield of sarcasm in an effort to stop herself from falling too hard.

She’d descended in a tumbling free fall anyway.

A thud sounded behind her, and she turned to find Tank striding toward her in boxer shorts and a whole heap of exposed muscle. “You plan on staying out here for a while?”

“Yeah. I’m organizing an escape plan.”

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