Page 79 of The Wallflower

I shouldn't be as excitedas I am to see Drew today. It's been a few days with the football game between, so I feel like it's been forever since I felt those penetrating dark eyes on me. A sensation I used to hate...but has grown on me now. Drew is smart. I'm not sure why his grades slipped, but it gives me a sense of accomplishment when he shares the news that he aced a test.

I shove some books into my bag and then eye the lip gloss on my desk. I don’t know why, but it occurs to me to put myself together, to do my hair or makeup. Not that it'll dress up my hoodie, messy bun, or worn jeans. With an eye roll at myself for being stupid, I grab the ChapStick off the corner of my desk and swipe that on instead. Lip gloss would be wasted on Drew anyway, one way or another. He seems to stare at me no matter what I'm wearing or not wearing, for that matter.

I gather up my pens, highlighters, and other study materials and shove them into my bag. It’s lighter now that I’m not tutoring twenty-five different people in ten subjects. I zip up the bag, throw it over my shoulder, and head to the kitchen. I grab a granola bar from the counter and an apple from the fruit basket,then head out the door. I’ve barely shut it behind me when I crash into a solid wall.

No, not a wall.A person.

I stumble backward, and big hands reach for me, circling my biceps and keeping me from falling over. My skin burns where he touches me, and his fingers gently press into my flesh. I look up at him, my eyes moving slowly over his fucking disturbingly handsome features: that sharp jaw and high cheekbones. Those penetrating dark eyes that will me to spill all my secrets or else. It’s getting harder to tell myself I’m not attracted to him. I shake the thoughts away before I can get distracted further.

"What are you doing here? I thought I was meeting you at the library?" I attempt to take a step back, but I’m trapped between the door and him. The energy rolling off him makes me nervous. Did something happen? I’m ready to ask him, my lips parting, when he descends on me. His mouth slams against mine, and my brain momentarily short-circuits. Those big hands of his move from my arms to the back of my neck and hip, their path leaving a blaze of heat on my skin. A shiver ripples through me, and his tongue slips inside my mouth, tangling with my own.

I whimper as the kiss assaults me both physically and mentally. Holyhell, can he kiss. At his mercy, I clutch onto his jacket and let him devour me from the inside out. Drew terrifies me, not because of his actions, but because of the way his actions make me feel. In his arms, I’m so much more than the nerdy girl. I kiss him back with the same fever he kisses me with. The entire building could be burning to the ground, and I wouldn’t notice, not with his lips on mine.

The spell breaks a moment later when he pulls back, leaving me dazed and limp. His other arm snakes around my waist to hold me in place. I peer up at him and notice the dilation of his pupils and how much darker his eyes are.

"I need you. Let’s go inside.”

His deep timbre reaches something inside me, and I stumble as he urges me forward but doesn't release me from his grasp.What the hell is going on?Inside the main room of the suite, my ass bumps against the dining room table, and he gives it a fond smile.

"Put your bag down. We aren't studying today. Just—" He pulls me into his arms again and steals another brutal kiss from me. This time, his searing kiss is harder, leaving my lips swollen and wet.

"What..." I'm a little stunned, and my eyes flutter open. "What's going on?"

Drew is breathless, his cheeks a soft pink, his gaze frenzied. He looks exactly how I feel. "Nothing. I wanted to see you."

"We were about to see each other at the library in like ten minutes. Why..."

Like an animal stalking its prey, he pounces on me and slants his mouth against mine. In a haste, he pulls my bag off my shoulder, and it falls to the floor with a thunk. I’m about to pull away and remind him how expensive textbooks are, but then his fingers grip onto the hem of my hoodie, and suddenly he’s lifting it. I have to wiggle to make sure my bun doesn't get caught in the neck hole. With it out of the way, he tosses it across the room.

I hear some glasses tink together, but keep my eyes on him. It's dangerous to take your eyes off him when he's like this. A predator, ready to attack. His eyes drop to the tight T-shirt I’m wearing. It's got the school logo across the chest, worn and faded from too many washes.

“Fuck, you look beautiful. Have I ever told you that?” The words come out in a flurry.

I shake my head, feeling vulnerable with the way he’s looking at me like I’m a piece of porcelain. This is different, and I’m not sure I like it. His hands smooth down the length of my body, stopping at the waistband of my jeans. “As sexy as you lookwith these jeans on, I’d rather see them on the floor and my cock stuffed inside your pussy. Fucking you will make me forget, make it better.”

The lustful haze in my brain lingers, but the end of his sentence snaps me out of it. This isn’t right. It’s not just the sex part. It’s the urgency, the deep-seated need. He’s using my body to cope with something, using sex to forget. I wrap my hands around his wrists to stall him.

"Wait, Drew. What's going on? What's wrong?"

His expression shifts from abject need to cold indifference. I can see the walls coming up again. Every time I think I’m getting closer to seeing the real him, he disappears behind his mask.

"I don't pay you to be my therapist…"

I squeeze his wrists a little harder. "You don't pay me to fuck you either, so what are you getting at?"

The grin he gives me makes my stomach flip. "No, you'll fuck me for free, right? I’ll bet if I slip my hand into your panties right this second, I’ll find you soaking wet. I mean, you were practically begging me to fuck you out in the hall. The mind-blowing orgasm you get each time I fuck you is how you’re paid.”

His words make me flinch, and I try to pull away. Of course, he doesn't let me move, and pushing against him is pointless. Instead of releasing me, he presses closer, crowding me, forcing me to back away while also guiding me where he wants.

“Don’t tell me you’re objecting to me fucking you,” he growls.

I don’t even realize we’re crossing the threshold into my bedroom until I spot my belongings out of the corner of my eye. "Wait, let me guess, you want to say no while I take you? Will it make you feel better to tell me how much you don't want it as your pussy milks my dick like it's the only thing in the world? Is that your fantasy? No control? No decisions? Nothing to care about but chasing the high? If that's what you want, we can do it. Don't pretend you don't want me. No matter how much yousay no, your body betrays you every single time. We both know how this is going to end. The only question is, will it be with your submission or without?"

Why do his words shoot lightning bolts of pleasure through my body? Like the more he's a bastard, the more I want it.No. He can't keep doing this to me. He already admitted that he came here to use my body so that he could forget something. I don’t want to be that to him. I want to be more. Sensing the defiance in me, he grabs the back of my neck again and tips my face up, capturing my mouth in another brutal kiss. It burns sogood. His lips. His body. It hurts and rages and leaves me with a hunger I've never known.

Why does he make me feel this way? And what did I do to deserve someone like him? Karma isn't even that much of a bitch. Coming to my senses, I push at his chest and break the kiss, my heartbeat roaring in my ears.

“I don’t want to be an object to you, not when I’m a human with real feelings and emotions.”

---