Suddenly flustered, I excused myself to the bathroom.
I didn’t really need to use it, but I did go there to check my reflection in the mirror. Realizing I’d forgotten my lipstick, I cursed and hurried out and to the stairs leading to the fourth floor where the dorms were located.
I knew Cory had a free period, so she’d likely be in there with Silas, who’d probably skipped, but I couldn’t let that stop me. Right now, I had class with Jude, and my lipstick was cracking and fading.
I made a mental note to try to be more adept in the makeup department. Long-lasting, my ass. Though I suppose eight hours didn’t mean much after eating a steak as big as my face for lunch and downing half a liter of apple juice.
Cobwebs lined the corners of the stone ceiling, and I cringed, wondering where our parents’ money was going if not to cleaners who would venture to every floor. Portraits of past headmasters and famous writers, politicians, and even an actress lined the rendered gray walls between each dark oak door.
I was two doors away from her room, which sat at the end of the long and narrow hall, when that voice called, “Well, if it isn’t my nosy little neighbor.”
I knew he had to be referring to me. I didn’t care if he wasn’t. I turned to find Jude Delouxe stalking lazily toward me with his hands tucked in his pockets. “What are you doing up here, Red?”
Shocked, I blurted back, “What are you doing up here?”
His dark brows rose, green eyes flaring. “I was curious, not to mention bored.” Stopping mere inches from me, he said ever so soft, “Answer the question.”
His scent was suffocating, killing me in the most wonderful way. Slowly, I dragged my eyes over his half-hidden hands, glanced at his unlaced black boots, then let them feast on his face.
That straight nose, the symmetrical arches of his cheekbones, and that shadowed jawline… perfect. He was too perfect for real life. Too perfect to be standing before me.
But he was, and I could smell him, study him, all I wanted.
Or maybe I could do more than that. “I was waiting for you.”
Confusion danced through his eyes, scrunching the beauty of his face. “Wha—”
I closed the distance before he could finish talking. Rising onto my toes, even in these torturous things us women called high heels, I pressed my mouth to his. It was warm, smooth, and I kept my lips on his even when his mouth parted. Fireworks exploded behind my squeezed shut eyes, and my heart cartwheeled, jumping into my throat.
Then strong hands grasped my upper arms, pushing me back. “What do you think you’re fucking doing?”
Dizzy and a little afraid, I struggled to hold his gaze. “What I’ve wanted to do for too long,” I said, too much breath gentling the words.
He still heard them, his eyes widening momentarily before he tilted his head and studied me.
I wasn’t sure what I looked like, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know, but I could feel my lips tingling, my chest heaving, and my breasts pushing at the confines of my blouse.
He swallowed, his grip on my arms loosening as his gaze dipped to them, then back to my face. To my lips. “So you thought just kissing me was a good idea?”
“The best I’ve ever had,” I said, rolling my lips as I swayed closer.
He nodded once, slowly, as if struggling to digest what I’d said, struggling to believe if I was being earnest. When his teeth dragged over his bottom lip, mine parted in response, and then he shrugged, and we collided.
A brass door handle dug into my back, but I didn’t care. I clasped both sides of his face and parted his lips with my tongue. A groan left him, deep and rumbling, evoking a shiver.
His hands found my hips, pulling my chest flush with his. His tongue skirted over mine, and I heard him whisper, “Have you ever kissed someone before?”
I was too far gone to give a damn about embarrassment, so I shook my head and carefully licked his upper lip.
Another groan, this one softer, accompanied a harsh exhale that heated my skin and tongue.
“I find that hard to believe, but I also don’t.” He squeezed my waist, dragging my lip into his mouth to suck. He released it with a pop. “You’re too cautious, too eager, but far too fucking beautiful to be so inexperienced. How does that even—”
“Dear god,” I whined impatiently. “Just keep kissing me, please.”
Immediately, I turned to stone, fearing I was going to turn bright red and die.
But then he chuckled. “I’m no god, sweetheart,” he whispered, a hand traveling to my lower back and pressing me forward to meet his hard body. I could feel him digging into my stomach, and a strange sound fled me. “I’m the worst idea you’ve ever had.”
“Prove it,” I said, my fingers crawling into his hair, my heart rejoicing and spasming dangerously when he smirked.
I had to be dying because he did.
Grabbing the side of my face, he angled my head back for his tongue to sweep into my mouth and lay waste to every dream I’d ever had. For they weren’t coming true, they were being decimated one by one, replaced with the sweetest type of nightmare I’d never dare run screaming from.
His palm was warm and so large, so right as it gently but firmly held my head still for his tongue and lips to assault mine.
Down the rabbit hole I fell, twirling and internally screaming as my wildest imaginations became a reality. He was spearmint and heat, unyielding and exploratory. Control oozed from his every rough breath, his touch, and in the mating of our mouths.
His tongue plunged and stroked, his teeth clamped and dragged, and my heart became a savage beast as I clung to him with the hope of this never ending.
“Jude?” A feminine voice crashed inside our bubble.
But that was another world, another dream, and I was content to ignore it.
Jude, apparently, was not.
He pulled away instantly, violent curses falling from his thoroughly kissed lips.
Marnie stood near the stairs with her hand braced on the gilded wood railing.
She was too far away to make out her expression entirely, but I could tell by looking from her to Jude that she was anything but pleased.
I didn’t know why she’d be mad when she was the one to dump him.
She turned and darted down the stairs.
“Mother of fuck,” Jude hissed. He glared at me, backing away as he ran a hand through his tousled hair. “You better pray you haven’t gotten on my bad side, Red.”
Then he was jogging after Marnie.
A thrill, searing and thick, shot through me, my fingers tracing my lips.
Jude
Marnie slunk back into her history class before I could catch her, so I waited by her bubblegum blue Jeep after school.
If she thought she could outrun me, she was wrong. Complaining of an upset stomach, I skipped out of class five minutes early to make sure I beat her to the parking lot.
Winter’s kiss was taking its time to fade, the fine layer of pine needles dusting the gravel lot, and cars parked between the trees not as thick as it should be.
Students poured out of the doors, and I waited, my eyes searching. Though I wasn’t sure if they were searching for the right person when I nearly missed her exit.
On her own, thank fuck, Marnie paused on the grass. A breathy laugh preceded tear-clogged words. “I saw you walk by, and I thought…” She threw her arms up and then dropped them. “Perfect. Finally, I get you on your own.”