Page 140 of Soul So Dark
“Shit.” He lifts his head. “I don’t have anything.”
Good thing I grab a handful of condoms from the basket at the student pharmacy every time I need cold medicine.
“I think I have one in my bag,” I murmur back. “You don’t have to stop.Please, just don’t leave again.”
“Say it again, Dallas.” He kisses the corner of my mouth. “And mean it.”
“I want you to stay, Jesse,” I moan as the heat pools between my legs. “I want you to stay.”
He pulls back, furrowing his brow with amusement. “Why’d you just call me Jesse?”
“That’s your name, isn’t it?”
“No, it’s a guy I went to high school with,” he smiles.
I open my mouth in surprise. “I heard someone call that name, back when I first met you, and then you looked over, so I thought it was yours.” I roll my eyes with embarrassment. “No wonder I couldn’t find you.”
Suddenly, his face softens. “You looked for me?”
“Of course, I looked for you!” I hiss incredulously.
The guy formerly known as Jesse taps his forehead against mine. “I guess there are worse people to be mistaken for, but no, sweetheart, I’m most definitely not Jesse.”
“OK, then who are you?”
He sinks down and slowly slides his tongue between my lips, emptying my lungs of air, then slides his hand up my shirt to cup my breast. “That depends,” he says between deep kisses that make me curl around him tighter.
“Depends on what?” I ask, raking my fingers up the back of his scalp.
“If your brother’s around.”
I pause with confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Where's your brother?” he asks again. “I haven't seen him for a couple years now. I thought he'd never leave.”
“Who…” my voice trails off in a crackly whisper.
He dips down and kisses my forehead. “Where—” He kisses my nose. “Is—” He kisses my lips, then slowly pulls back. “Colson?”
There’s a bright flash in my head.
A photo…
A soccer player with a red jersey. I see his face, his dark eyes, and the same mouth snarling at Colson. There’s blood, and I can hear Colson’s voice…
“This is who killed Evie. And he’s going to come after you, too.”
Bowen.
Bowen Garrison.
My arms fly up and I try to grab the back of the seat, but he clenches my hair at the back of my head with one hand and grabs my wrist with the other, his weight pinning me down.
“Shhhh…” Bowen hisses.
“No, no, no, no…” The panic rises, bubbling over. “Let me out!” I scream in terror, thrashing beneath him.
“Dallas,” he deadpans.
