Our sweaty bodies mold together, and I allow myself one beat of time to be weak and lean forward, inhaling her scent deep into my lungs. She smells clean, flowery, but also like me. Perfect. Mine.
I’m floating back down from my euphoria when I realize I forgot to pull out. Fucking shit! I gently ease out of Aspen, and the evidence of my wrongdoing slips down the inside of her thigh.
“You came inside me,” she announces, like I don’t already know.
“I know.” It’s all I say.
I should’ve pulled out. Should’ve blown my load on the ground, but that seemed like such a fucking waste. I steady her on her feet while she’s still catching her breath, one hand pressed against the wall. Grabbing the hem of my shirt, I pull it off over my head.
“Here, put this on,” I order, handing her my shirt.
She lazily turns around and grabs it from me.
I drink her in. Beautiful, she is fucking beautiful with her face flushed and her hair wild. She still appears to have a little wobble when she lets go of the wall and puts my shirt on.
Her wearing my shirt doesn’t help with the alpha ‘you’re mine’ vibes I already have going on, but I must admit she looks good in it.
“You look thoroughly fucked,” I point out.
“Thanks, I wonder why,” she replies sarcastically.
Grabbing her by the waist, I pick her up and throw her over my shoulder. She must be exhausted because she doesn’t even complain as I carry her out of the showers and back to her room.
Now the bigger question is, who was fucking with her, and why? I know she thinks it was me, but it wasn’t. I’m not going to tell her that yet, not until I know who the real culprit is.
I’m still thinking about it when we reach her room. I unlock the door with my keycard and step inside her room. Using my foot, I kick the door closed behind me and walk over to the bed.
I lay her down on the mattress and reach for her comforter to cover her up. Her small hands come out of nowhere, and she places them against mine to stop me. I look up at her and find her staring at me.
Her eyes are clouded with sleep, and my gaze gravitates down to her parted lips as she speaks, “Stay with me.”
Stay with me… it’s an innocent request, but one that will ultimately become my ruin. It’s bad enough I can’t help the physical draw I have toward her. I don’t need to develop actual feelings.
I shake my head. “No. Go to sleep.” I say it a little colder than intended.
She frowns but snuggles deeper into her pillow. “Is that what you do with Anja? Or do you actually treat her as your equal?”
“I’ve never fucked Anja,” I admit. “Not planning on it either.” I don’t have the heart to tell her she’ll never be my equal. There is no future for us. We will never go past fucking.
Instead of voicing those thoughts, I tuck her in, and before I can think better of it, press a kiss to the middle of her forehead. I walk out of the room quickly because if I don’t, I’ll do exactly as she wanted and crawl under the sheets with her.
When I step into the eerily quiet hall, a strange tingling fills my gut. Someone is trying to hurt Aspen, and the only person who gets to terrorize her is me. When I find out who’s messing with her, I’ll kill them. I know it, even while knowing the consequences could be dire.
Jogging back to my dorm, I’m halfway down the corridor when I spot Matteo. He leans against the wall with his arms crossed like he’s waiting for someone. I slow, my gaze darting around the hall for anyone else. Matteo’s got it out for me, and I wouldn’t put it past him to ambush me. He’d be signing his own death certificate if he did.
My gut instinct tells me he’s the one who tried to fuck with her, but I can’t be certain. Still, I’m going to drive home that he’s dead to me and that if he fucks with Aspen again, I’ll bury him six feet in the ground.
“Quinton,” he greets.
“Matteo. I’d say it’s nice to see you, but I don’t really give a fuck.”
He laughs. “Same. I couldn’t care less about your existence. Now, Aspen… She’s a different story.”
I have to stop myself from physically lashing out at this fucker, because I think he really wants to see how far he can push me.
Well, lucky for him, he’s about to find out.
“I didn’t think you were that fucking stupid, but it appears you are, so let me put this into words that even you can understand.” I take a step toward him so he can feel the warning in my words, but not too close, so I’m not tempted to punch his fucking lights out. “If you don’t stay away from Aspen, I’ll kill you.”