Page 62 of Dare (Fighting Fate)

Leaning over, she kissed me sweetly, before climbing from the bed and slipping out the door, giving me my first chance to appreciate her naked ass from a distance. As she disappeared from view, I drew in a long, deep breath, trying to keep my thoughts from trying to work out where the hell I went from here. I knew I couldn’t push her away again. Not only would that be cruel, I just didn’t have the strength to do it anymore. I wanted her too fucking much.

Pulling the sheet over my lower half, I stretched my body out, sliding my hands under my head as I waited for her to come back. Letting my mind wander back to her kitchen rant, I considered the words she’d used, scrutinizing them analytically—minus the emotion that had been running rampant when she’d said them. There wasn’t a single thing she said that I disputed. I didn’t doubt that she’d be able to study her course load and allow me to get on with mine. It was my ability I was skeptical about. I felt like, now the door had been opened, I could easily just run amok like a kid in a candy store, having her whenever I wanted, however often I wanted. And I had three years’ worth of tension I could easily unleash on her. If I didn’t get myself under some sort of control now, I was going to fuck this up.

As Jess swept back in through the doorway, she grinned before jumping on the bed, landing on her belly beside me, but I didn’t miss the anxiety that had been on her brow when she’d walked in. I was sure she was worried about what she might find. Not that I could blame her.

“All right,” she said, running her hand over my stomach. “Time out on the play time. I was serious about what I said downstairs. Failing is not an option for either of us, so, do you have any work you need to get done today? If you do, I’m going to kick your ass out of my bed.”

The little worrying man in the back of my head quieted a fraction with her words. “I actually don’t have anything I need to do today. My day is free,” I said, running my fingers through the curls that were falling over her face. “That’s why I came to see you in the first place. What about you?”

She bit her lip, suddenly looking a little guilty. “I’m actually a little ahead of my course load.”

The way she said it made me narrow my eyes. There was something she was hiding. “How far ahead?”

“Uh . . . a bit,” she said, giving me an apologetic smile. “Like maybe a lot.”

Moving swiftly, I rolled, taking her with me until I had her pinned under my hands. “Explain a lot.”

She let out a full laugh then, her eyes shining happily. It was the most beautiful I’d ever seen her. It made something inside my chest contract, and I wasn’t sure if it was pleasure or pain.

r /> Calming her laugh to a giggle, she blew out a heavy breath. “I only need three more credits to graduate.”

I recoiled a little. “How the hell did you manage that?”

She shrugged nonchalantly. “Summer semesters in my freshman and sophomore years. And I’ve been trying to do eighteen credits a semester. I was hoping to graduate early, but I didn’t get there in the end.”

Drawing in a deep breath, I hummed, narrowing my eyes suspiciously. “Now I’m not so sure you can be trusted,” I mumbled, my lips descending toward her neck. “Who’s to say you’re not going to be annoying me with all this free time you have on your hands.”

As I kissed her neck, she arched into me. “Because I want you to succeed just as much as you do,” she breathed, her hands sliding over my back. “I want to make you happy, Eli, and I know how hard you’ve worked to get to where you are. The last thing I want to do is fuck that up for you.”

“What if it’s me I have to worry about?” I murmured against her skin. “What if I see you with all this free time, and I just want to play?”

Her fingers twisted in my hair, pulling me harder against her, her breath quickly growing shaky. Underneath me, she parted her legs, my hips falling into place between them. I had no idea how my cock could possibly get hard again so quickly, but he was.

“Jess,” I said, lowering myself down onto my forearms, “I’m really trying to be open to this, but my track record isn’t great, baby. I fucked things up with Anna because she wanted more than I could give her. I don’t want to do the same to you. I don’t want to hurt you.”

Reaching up, she ran her thumb over my cheek. “I get it, Eli. I really do. I was fine with Wyatt’s work load. That didn’t bother me at all. What I didn’t agree with was his decision to meet Zac instead of me when we hadn’t seen each other for a week. Or that we’d be together and then he’d just leave like I was some sort of one-night stand or something. Or that he’d choose to go to a friend’s party-for-the-sake-of-a-party instead of Mom’s birthday dinner. I don’t need my boyfriend to go everywhere I go, but I would like him to show me that I am important to him.”

Lowering my mouth to hers, I brushed my lips against her full ones. “Well, that’s where I’m different, Jess. Because if I consider you mine, I’ll be there for you whenever you need me to, and then probably longer again. In fact,” I said, thrusting my hips into hers, “you’ll probably be telling me to fuck off.”

As she shook her head, her teeth biting down on my lip, she made a little sound of disagreement. “Never.”

Then I would never leave.

Chapter 45

Jess

With my coffee mug clasped in both hands, I leaned against the kitchen counter and gazed out the window. Ever since Eli had left first thing this morning, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him. Or the number of times he’d taken me the night before. I’d seriously never had sex more than once in a night. It was a sad fact, but true. Up until now, I hadn’t thought about how strange that actually was. But now I knew what it could be like when both of you were as equally attracted to each other, and it was nothing short of mind-blowing. I felt like I was floating on cloud nine.

“Oh my God,” Emmy said, shuffling into the kitchen. “I’d ask what you were smiling about, but I have a pretty good idea.”

I smirked as I watched her fill a mug from the coffeepot, but I couldn’t help the slight blush that heated my cheeks. I’d be stupid to think she wouldn’t have heard us last night. The only reason I didn’t feel bad was the fact that we’d gone to sleep by midnight because Eli needed to be up early. Well, that and the fact that I’d lost count of the number of times I’d heard her and Aiden going at it over the last six months. I had a lot of payback to dish out yet.

As she slid her butt up onto the counter, she grinned. “So where is your sex god this morning?”

I inhaled slowly, feeling all the little endorphins scatter throughout my body. “He has a job interview at Studio Lawyers this morning.”

Her head cocked to the side a little as her eyes narrowed. “Aren’t they lawyers for the entertainment industry?”

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