College Girl (34 page)

“Me, too.”

I reached out and touched her
cheek, and she leaned into my hand. When she turned and kissed my palm, the
unexpected feel of her lips set my skin on fire. I took her face between my
hands and brought my mouth down on hers, growling when her lips parted
immediately. As I tasted her, she was already reaching down and pulling up my
shirt, running her palms over my chest. I slipped her shirt over her head and
kissed the tops of her breasts over her bra before unfastening the back and
drawing the straps down her arms.

When her hand fell to the front of
my jeans, I closed my eyes as her fingers skimmed over my length through the
pants. She undid the belt and slid down the zipper, her small hand slipping between
the waistband and my skin. I felt myself surge against her.

With her other hand, she pushed me
back on the bed. I wanted to be nobler than this, but rational thinking wasn’t a
possibility when she gripped my cock and stroked all the way to the head. She
did it again, and I watched, hypnotized, as she circled the tip with her
fingers. Then she gripped the base again, pausing to look up at me.

“Damn. You didn’t bring any
condoms, did you?” she asked with such disappointment that I nearly laughed.

I sat up, about to strip off my pants
and grab the condoms from my bag. Then I hesitated. Was this a test? Did she
think I had only brought her here for a quick fuck before disappearing again?
Slowing my breathing, I took her chin in my hand.

“
This
isn’t why I brought you here tonight.”

She grinned slyly.

“It isn’t? Then why did you bring
me here, Professor Bennett?”

“I brought you here because I’ve
never felt this way about another human being, Alex,” I said quietly, reaching
out to wipe a tear from her cheek. “And I warned you what would happen if you
called me Professor Bennett one more time.”

She blinked.
She
may have forgotten, but I hadn’t. I watched as realization
dawned in her eyes. Her cheeks flushed even more, and she shook her head.

“You were kidding,” she gulped.

“Does that mean you don’t
want
me to spank you?” I asked, leaning
toward her and taking her face in my hands, brushing her ear with my lips.

Pulling back, I looked at her. The
pink lips, long dark hair streaked with red, bright green eyes, ivory skin.

“Tell me, Alex. Tell me you want
me to spank you.”

Her eyes were wide, and she didn’t
move.

“I … I want you to spank me,” she
said slowly.

She was shaking as I took her hand
and pulled her off the bed, adjusting my raging hard-on as I buttoned my pants
and led her over to the sofa. I placed her hands on the arm before unbuttoning
her tight little jeans and sliding the zipper down. Pulling them all the way
off, I stripped off her panties next and rose up to stand behind her.

“Bend over, Alex.”

She hesitated. Then, gripping the
side of the couch, she bent forward. I didn’t know how it was possible, but
staring down at the creamy skin of her round little ass, I was harder than I
had been two minutes ago when her hand had been firmly wrapped around my cock.
Taking a step back, I watched as she tensed.

“Tell me, and I’ll stop.”

She turned her head and looked at
me, her eyes glittering.

“Hurry up and spank me, Professor
Bennett.”

I pulled back and let my hand come
down swiftly, stopping so that I barely touched the skin. Her muscles were
tense, and I groaned, raising my hand again. When I let it fly this time, my
hand connected with her skin just hard enough to make a satisfying smacking
sound. Alex gasped and then moaned, and I bent down until my mouth was at her
ear.

“Do you think you can come like
this, Alex … or do you need to feel my finger on your clit?”

She let out a desperate mewling
sound, and I pulled back and slapped her ass again.
And
again.
The skin had already begun to turn pink and warm to the touch,
and my hips rocked forward. I couldn’t stop myself from imagining what it would
feel like to slip inside her as she came.

Bending forward, I brought my hand
around to slip between her legs. Tapping the bud of her clit cruelly with my
middle finger, I bent her deeper and slid my other hand over her
ass—lower. She was so wet as my finger slipped into her pussy. I began pushing
in and out as I stroked her clit with my other hand. She was trembling, and
when her legs gave out, I lifted her into my arms and carried her to the bed.
Laying her down, I stalked across the room toward my bag.

I had said this wasn’t why I had
brought her here, but I hadn’t been crazy enough to get caught without
protection. Ripping off a condom, I stripped out of my jeans and boxers and
walked to the bed where Alex lay, cheeks flushed, as she stared up at me.

I wanted her to remember this
night for the rest of her life.

I wanted her to remember it as the
night before I asked her to be my wife.

Alex

I tried to slow my breathing, but
I was aching. I wanted him too much. As he walked toward the bed, I realized
that Ryan was too perfect. Even the scars—the one at his brow and the one
at his jaw—only made him more incredible to me. His sculpted jawline, not
too square, not too sharp, and his impossibly blue eyes, darkened with desire.
His bronzed skin, broad shoulders, and the strong muscles that made
up his tall frame.
Complete with the golden hair, he was more beautiful
than anything my imagination could have come up with on its own.

When he came down over me, I felt
more exposed than ever before—and not because he had just spanked my bare
ass. It was because for once I wasn’t running away. Opening myself up to him
was riskier than anything I had ever done. Before Ryan—before
tonight—I had always carefully calculated my emotional risk at every
turn, and I had taken the easy out with everyone. It had protected me, but it
also left me alone.

Ryan watched me carefully as I
reached to touch his cheek. Then his lips met mine, and the tension melted out
of me. It was such a strange feeling, knowing that neither of us was pulling
away. Right or wrong, for the first time in my life, I felt like I was on equal
ground. I wasn’t second place—I felt loved without qualification or
hesitation.

Equal.

Ryan rose up on one arm, cupping
my cheek in his other hand as his eyes searched my face. Slowly he bent his
head to mine and nipped my lower lip before bringing his mouth to mine again. I
gasped, the possession of his kiss taking me by surprise as his hand traced
down the side of my neck.

I expected him to be quick.
Instead, he kissed his way down my body, and when his lips touched my inner
thigh, I shivered. He ran his hands all the way down my sides before taking my
knees and urging them farther apart. At the feel of his breath on me, I closed
my eyes. Then his tongue touched me. I arched against him until he gripped my
hips he held me completely still as he began to stroke me slowly. I shook my
head. It was too much.

“Please.”

When he stopped and raised his head,
I opened my eyes and looked down at him.

“Let go,” he growled.

“I can’t.”

“Yes, you can. Because I’m not
going to stop until you come with my mouth on you.”

His tongue caressed over me again,
gentler this time. I whimpered, and he began sucking, stroking, teasing me
until I couldn’t catch my breath. My head fell back on the sheets, and I
squeezed my eyes closed, each stroke of his tongue sending me higher until I
lost control, my muscles clenching over and over.

Ryan rose up, and I watched
breathlessly as he rolled on a condom and came down between my legs, grasping
my hands and bringing them above my head as he kissed my neck below my ear. He
guided himself between my legs and then pushed slowly until he filled me
completely. Pulling out, he watched me as he thrust in again. When he released
my hands, I wound my arms around him.

His eyes never left mine, and my
cheeks flushed deeper. Then suddenly he was lifting me to my knees and turning
me in his arms. Lowering me slowly onto his length, he gripped me around the
waist and slid his other hand down my stomach, his finger stroking me as he
began to rock me up and down. When his touch sped up, I moaned, the tension
building to the point of pain. My head fell back against his chest, and he
didn’t slow until I cried out again.

“Yes,” he whispered.

He drew me all the way down and growled
my name as I felt him come. Then he held me close as we sank onto the bed, his
lips pressing against the back of my neck as our breathing slowed. I locked my
hands with his, loving the fact that when I woke up in the morning I would be
in Ryan’s arms.

“I love you, Alex.”

Rolling over, I stared at the
empty bed. The light was blinding, and for several seconds I forgot where I was
in time and space. Irvine? The dorm?
The hotel on the coast?
With a jolt, I sat up in bed and saw Ryan sitting in a chair across the room,
fully dressed, clean-shaven—gorgeous.

Fuck. My mouth went dry and
adrenaline spiked painfully through my veins. The only thing I could think of
was that first morning I had woken up at his house—the look of guilt on
his face. I searched my memory of last night. Had his experience been so
different from mine? Suddenly I was livid. What the
fuck
? I had been so sure last night that we had finally gotten past
the regret and indecision. Hell, I had let him spank me. When Ryan laughed, I
wrenched the sheet up around my bare chest.

“This is not at all the way I
pictured this,” he said, suddenly way too amused for my taste.

“How you pictured what?” I
snapped, reaching over and grabbing my T-shirt and yanking it over my head
before scrambling around on the bed to find my underwear.

He rose from where he was sitting
and started walking toward me. It took me several seconds to realize that he
was holding a black box in his hand. I froze, my eyes riveted on his face. When
he kneeled down at the side of the bed, I started breathing too fast. It felt
like everything had just tipped horizontal. Then he opened the box.

“Ryan?”

“Alexis Jolene Reed, will you
marry me?”

The color drained from my cheeks.

“Are you pregnant?” I sputtered.

He laughed.

“I’m eighteen,” I added seriously.

“I know.”

I closed my eyes, took a breath,
and tried to imagine in ten years being married—to someone else. Touching
someone else. Kissing someone else. Then I started crying.

“Alex?”

Opening my eyes, I stared at Ryan.

“Yes, I’ll marry you … in five
years. First, let’s live together, okay?”

I expected him to look
disappointed. Instead a grin broke out on his face. He took my hand and slipped
the ring on my finger. I looked down, a little stunned that it fit.

“Wow.”

That was all I could manage,
seeing as I was still sure that I was going to pass out—or wake
up—at any second.

“Is that good or bad?” he asked
with a smile.

“Good,” I choked.

I paused and looked up at him.
Emeralds surrounded the enormous diamond. I tried to figure out some logic to
it—because emerald wasn’t my birthstone.

“The emeralds …”

“Match your eyes.”

I swallowed.

“I feel like I’m having an out-of-body
experience,” I smiled weakly.

Ryan frowned.

“Are you okay with this?”

I wrapped my arms around him.

“God, I love you.”

He swept me off the bed and
carried me into the bathroom, where he set me down and turned on the shower. I
pulled off my shirt and watched as he stripped off his clothes.

“Do you think we’ll leave the room
before we check out tomorrow?” I asked.

Smiling, he pulled me under the
spray of hot water.

###

We did leave the
room—eventually. Ryan took me to a breakfast place with gingerbread
pancakes and poached pear. Then we walked around Golden Gate Park before
finding a quiet spot to lie in the grass. Enjoying the feel of cool, spiky
grass, I looked up at the sun shining through the green canopy above us. We
were quiet for several minutes before he turned toward me, leaning on his elbow.

“This is perfect,” I sighed.

Lifting my hand, I stared down at
my ring. I was engaged—to Ryan Bennett. But, just like that, I felt
reality begin to leak in like clouds that weren’t supposed to be here.

“How did you get the ring?”

“Becca’s friend is a jeweler. She
owed me a favor.”

I paused as I thought about the
timeline.

“This morning?” I asked,
dumbfounded.

Ryan smiled sheepishly.

“No. I called her when I realized
I had made one of the biggest mistakes of my life … so pretty much right after
I left your dorm two weeks ago.”

A rush of anxiety and excitement washed
over me as I thought about having to tell other people—that I was engaged
… at eighteen. Julie would die. Rachel wouldn’t believe it. Brit—
who
the fuck cared?
My family, though.
Ryan’s family.

“You do realize that we’re going
to have to tell our families, right?” I swallowed. “Wow. I’m not even sure
who’s going to be more flipped out—my mom or yours. It might be a tie.”

“If I had done everything that
made my mother happy, I would be married to someone I didn’t love by now. And
you’d still be suffering through pre-med coursework,” he reminded me.

“You’re right, but I can
practically hear everyone saying, ‘
Are
you fucking crazy?
’ Can’t you?”

Ryan brushed my hair away from my
eyes.

“We don’t have to tell anyone.”

I bit my lip.

“That’s a big secret.”

“Not a secret. A postponement.”

“So when do we tell them?”

“Three years?”

I cracked up.

“At my graduation?”

I studied him seriously.

“You’re going to finish your doctorate,
aren’t you? I mean, at some point. And we’re going to go see your dad, right?”

He laughed and reached forward to
smooth my brow.

“Alex, relax. We don’t have to
have all the answers today.”

His features turned serious, and
he looked up at the sky.

“I kept thinking that all these
other things mattered. I kept looking for what was wrong about us.”

“Yeah. Me, too,” I admitted.

“Then you know what I realized?”

I shook my head.

“That I love you, and as long as
you know that, nothing else matters.”

I felt my eyes fill with tears. I
wasn’t going to lose him. This wasn’t our last moment. Looking around at the
blooms on the trees, the budding flowers, I thought about how I had always
secretly hated spring because it had felt like a big obstacle to summer. Now,
though, it was like I was seeing everything around me with new appreciation. I
felt weightless … I felt
happy
, which
scared me. Like someone was about to show up and take it all away. I put my
hands on his chest and studied Ryan’s perfect features.

“I wasn’t joking last night. Not
one of my favorite books or movies has a happy ending. It’s stupid … but I
always kind of thought it was a bad omen for my life. Like happily ever after
was just some kind of cruel joke.”

Ryan pulled me to him and kissed
my forehead.

“But this isn’t a happy ending,”
he said softly. “It’s the beginning.”

I smiled.

Not happily ever after.

The beginning.