“It wasn’t just for you.” He sounds stilted, uncomfortable. “If they came after you and something happened… we’d all pay the price.”
I press my back into the tree, sliding my hands around his waist. The move makes him look down at me, gaze meeting my own. I concede, “You were right. Being a Devil, being an Adams—it’s complicated.”
He laughs darkly, running his hands down my back until they rest just above my waist. “The less questions, probably the better, don’t you think?”
Making a point, he cuts my reply off with a soft and coaxing kiss. I return it, despite my fears and reservations, my fingers slipping to the nape of his neck, pulling at the fringe of hair there. His movements are restrained, gentler than usual, like he understands that this is a delicate, fragile thing, like he's afraid of scaring me off. If only he could hear the crazy percussion of my heart or feel the ball of tension
in my belly, he wouldn’t play it so safe.
Who knew his soft kisses were as tempting as the harder ones?
He breaks away, moving his lips to my neck. His hot tongue flicks out to taste me, and I release a gasp as his fingers toy at the hem of my shirt. I squirm when he touches a ticklish spot, and he does it again, grinning mischievously against my collarbone. He surges into me, pressing into the bark hard enough that I feel his desire, hard and excited against my hip.
I feel myself slipping, flooded with the sudden awareness that I’m thoroughly unopposed to having sex right here, against this tree. To having sex with Hamilton Bates, at all, anywhere. I don’t care.
Wait, no, I do care.
I want this. I want him.
His hands wander lower, to the swell of my backside and further, just below, to the backs of my thighs. He hooks his palms around them and lifts me up. It’s pure instinct to wrap my legs around his hip. I feel his erection against my core and throw my head back against the scratchy tree trunk, exhaling a keening moan.
It’s the creak of the thick, wooden door from the main building that halts us—an anomaly in the quiet night. Hamilton freezes, his mouth inches from mine. We look into one another’s eyes as footsteps carry down the steps and onto the sidewalk a few feet away. I hold my breath, which only seems to make my heart pound harder. Hamilton fingers gouge into me with the strength of his death grip.
Sure, we both may want this, but having someone else find out—having Heston find out?
Not a chance.
Time passes—seconds, maybe minutes—and Hamilton tilts his head to peer around the trunk of the tree. He exhales and says, “He’s gone.”
“That was close,” I reply, and he nods, releasing me gently until my feet touch the ground. “Probably a good thing—”
“No.”
I bite my lip. “No?”
“Well, you’re right. It probably was a good thing.” The pang of hurt I feel doesn’t even make any sense. He’s just agreeing with me. Except he’s not done. “We shouldn’t do this here,” he explains, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. He trails his fingers down my jaw, hooks one beneath my chin, and tilts my face to his. “I don’t want to screw you against a tree, Adams. I want you in a bed where I can take my time and there’s no risk of interruption.”
“Oh.” Heat rushes through me and I try to comprehend what he’s saying.
“I mean,” he smiles devilishly, “I will take you right here if that’s the only option, but—”
“We’ll figure it out,” I reply, voice a little shaky, but still sure. “But I think we should go. Neither of us can miss curfew.”
He seems in agreement, although his jaw is clenched so tight, I’m not sure what he’s really thinking. But then he reaches for me, pulling me against the solid breadth of him, and presses another one of those slow, tender kisses into my mouth. His tongue sweeps against mine, hot and hungry, but before it can get too far, he releases me with a shudder.
He commands, “Go.”
I do as he says, opting not to fight with him for once, and head across the quiet campus, back to my dorm. At the door, I stop to enter the code, sparing a paranoid glance over my shoulder. That’s when I see him, barely visible under the shadow of the trees, watching and waiting for me until I get inside.
18
Hamilton
The next few days begin something new—strange and exciting.
For years, I’ve been in the spotlight. A golden boy who everyone looks up to, the kid they want to be. I didn’t come into my popularity honestly, I was just bestowed it, simply by being a Bates. It’s in my genes, my blood, and my name. Stepping into the role of leading the Devils was natural. Excelling in sports, academics, was always a given. Things came easily to me.
Gwendolyn Adams isn’t easy, which is exactly why I can’t get enough of her.