Page 69 of Love in the Dark

Arousal is easily snuffed out by concern as I grip both of her arms and hold her against me. She’s so small she fits into my body like a glove. Her eyes are dazed and unfocused as I peer into them.

“Nera?”

The moment passes like it never happened and she rights herself, pushing my chest to get away from me.

“I’m fine,” she says. “Just let me go.”

My hands trail off her hips slowly as I make sure she can hold herself up once more. She looks pale and unwell. She shakes a little, almost imperceptibly. I wonder if her blood sugar isn’t low.

“Here,” I say, reaching into my duffle bag and pulling out one of my muscle up protein bars. “Eat this.”

“I’m okay, thank you,” she says, trying to hand the bar back to me.

I cross my arms, my tone and stare on her firm. “You looked like you were seconds away from passing out just then. You need to eat.”

She looks the bar over like she’s looking at the branding and flavor, but I see her eye the nutrition label. My brow furrows on that one detail.

“Thanks,” she says, brightly. “I’ll eat it on my way home.” She reaches for her bag and drops it into the front pocket. She picks up her water bottle and shirt and heads for the door, looking very much like she’s running away for some reason. “I’ll see you around.”

“Nera.”

She pauses at the door and looks back at me.

“If you let one of those boys touch you,” I pause, stretching out the menacing silence so she knows just how serious I am, “there won’t be anything left of his corpse once I’m through with him.”

The protective and territorial side of me comes out swinging, hungry to defend my claim on Nera.

She opens the door, pausing on the threshold.

“I told you I’m not interested in dating you, Tristan.”

I smile, a quiet chuckle falling from my lips. “Eat the protein bar, jailbait. I want to be able to dig my fingers into the meaty flesh of your ass the next time I fuck you.”

“I don’t sit around waiting for you to decide if and when you want to sleep with me, Tristan. You said that was the end of it last week, and turns out, I agree. There won’t be a next time.” With that, she steps out, letting the door slam closed behind her.

I almost don’t hear the noise over the sound of my grinding teeth. Resisting her isn’t a viable goal long term. Every single one of our interactions is laden with sexual tension, innuendo, and outright advances.

I feel my control slip with each passing day. Whether I like it or not, I’m eventually going to break.

It turns out I can’t stay away.

If she can keep her mouth shut about us, then we can continue our extracurricular activities for a while longer. She’s not looking for anything more than physical and God knows I shouldn’t even be doing the physical, let alone the emotional, so it could work.

Now, all I need is to convince her.

No matter what her mouth says, she’ll be desperate for it in a few more days. I know because I’m starting to feel a bothersome fire in my veins that I’m sure is spreading similarly through hers. Mine unleashes a need that calls for her, to have her submissive beneath me, to finally have her mouth on my cock when I’ve been haunted by the desire for weeks.

I know just when to do it. And maybe I’ll have a chance to satisfy one of my long-held fantasies at the same time.

???

Chapter 19

Nera

“Do you think Dami really likes Indiyah? Or is he just playing a game?” Thayer asks.

Bellamy blows out a breath dejectedly. “If I knew how to tell the difference, my life would be so much easier.”

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