Page 52 of Savage Rose

I push my chair back and stand. “Yuck, no thanks. I kind of hate bananas. And I’m not really hungry right now.”

“Not for food, anyway.” Max chuckles as his gaze roams over to Xander, who has also just stood up. “Don’t worry about your tray. I’ll eat some of it.”

“Thanks,” I murmur, lifting my backpack and walking away.

Chapter 34

There are far fewer students out in the garden behind the cafeteria, and it’s much less noisy. I haven’t taken any time to explore this area of the grounds yet. Hooking my thumbs through my backpack straps, I wander around on a path through the flowers and behind a hedge until I find a bench under a tree.

Straddling it, I slip my backpack off and set it on the ground. It’s not more than thirty seconds before Xander comes into view and joins me. He doesn’t say anything immediately but throws his muscular leg over the bench so he faces me and drops his bag next to mine.

He reaches forward with one of those big hands—the same one that can pluck a football out of midair—and grips my bare thigh just above the knee, making me shudder. “I wanted a few minutes alone with you.”

I take a deep breath. “Xander, what are we doing?”

“Just getting to know each other.” His hand slides a little farther up my leg.

My eyes follow, then flare when he squeezes. When I’d sat down straddling the bench like this, I’d made sure to arrange my skirt so I was completely covered, but now I’m not so sure this position was my best idea.

“I really wanted you to sit with me in the lunchroom, but Aria would have thrown a fit. She’s still—” He shakes his head, and I wonder what he was about to say. I’m distracted from it, though, when a second hand roams up my other leg, then both slide under my skirt. “Maybe some other time. She’s not ready.”

My brows raise at his admission, and I finally tear my eyes from his hands, which have all but disappeared. My pulse skyrockets at his touch. “I’m not worth her wrath, huh?”

He shakes his head once. “That’s not what I meant. This is just going to be harder than I thought. Especially here at school. I told you—she feels threatened.”

I gasp as his fingertips tease the hem of my little yoga shorts under my skirt. “I don’t know what to say about that.” I sink my teeth into my lip and slowly hiss as his knuckles lightly caress the juncture of my legs. A low-level hum of need rolls through me from head to toe.

“You like when I play with your sweet little pussy, Red?”

A strangled sound is all I can manage in response as my pelvis tilts to give him better access.

He looks down at where his hands have disappeared under my skirt, and the hunger in his eyes is unmistakable. “I like your little shorts. I’d like it better if they were off, though.” A deep growl rumbles at the back of his throat, and it sends shivers through me. I begin to squirm against his fingers as they tease my clit through the fabric.

I’m so lost in sensation I’d almost forgotten we are in a public place on academy grounds until a girl laughing nearby catches my attention and makes me go still. I start to pull away, but Xander’s grip on my leg prevents it.

“Xander, someone is going to see us.” My voice comes out breathy, and fuck if I’m not completely turned on by this whole scenario.

“And if they do?” He smirks a little and keeps right on playing with my clit through the thin shorts.

Who am I kidding? I have no answer for him and don’t want him to stop. Pleasure coils in my lower abdomen, my body responding to his touch effortlessly.

“I can feel how wet you are right through your shorts.”

My already flushed cheeks feel extra hot at his words, and my nipples tighten. I can feel the wetness of my arousal as he continues to drag his fingers up and down.Oh my God, this is crazy.I’m completely dressed, but with his dark, hungry eyes watching me come undone, I feel utterly exposed. And I can’t stop. I grasp the bench behind me for support and begin to rub myself against his fingers, seeking release. I can feel it. I’m right on the brink.

With a grunt of approval, he murmurs, “Are you going to come for me, Red? Right here, where someone might walk around the corner at any second?”

My blood catches fire, my orgasm ripping through me, sizzling in my veins and making me buck on the bench, completely out of my own control. “Oh, God!” My head drops back for a few seconds as I ride it out.

When the pulsing finally stops, I sit up some, looking around quickly. Xander’s fingers brush over me once more before he pulls his hands out from under my skirt. He grins. “That was so fucking sexy to watch. I thought for sure you were going to make me stop there for a second.”

I quirk an eyebrow at him. “You must not know me as well as you think you do. What was it you said? Oh, yeah. We’re ‘just getting to know each other.’”

“Maybe you’re not who I thought you were. I might like you even more now. Does that scare you?”

“Should it?” The challenge is in my eyes, and I can tell from his expression that he reads it as just that.

“You don’t have to be afraid of me.” His head drops, and he looks down for a second, his lashes grazing the tops of his cheeks. When he lifts his gaze back to mine, he narrows his eyes on me, tilting his head. “Now, Aria, she’s a wild card sometimes. I think it would be best if we tried not to antagonize her until she gets used to the idea of us.”

---