“Great.”

He stepped towards me. His voice softened, “She’s not you, Alex. Cord’s not Ethan. Don’t get confused about that. No one can touch either of you guys.”

My chest swelled with emotion. I found myself blinking back tears. As he moved another step closer, my hand lifted to rest on his chest. His heart was pounding and his gaze seared into me. He was deadly serious. There was no humor, only dark promises swirling in his depths, mixed with the same lust that was pounding inside of me.

I asked, feeling raw, “You promise?”

His hand touched my pants. He tucked his thumb inside of them and pulled me against him. Closing my eyes, I felt him. I felt every inch of him. Then his thumb moved to the front of my pants and slipped farther inside. His entire hand went underneath my underwear until I felt him at my entrance. My legs wanted to press together, but I willed them to stay still. I didn’t move to give him better access. I couldn’t do anything except keep still and stop myself from launching into his arms. My heart was a continuous thunder now and I already knew I was wet for him.

His finger dipped inside. I gasped. My head hit his chest as I concentrated on breathing. In and out. In and out.

I clutched onto his shirt. My legs threatened to buckle, but I couldn’t do anything. Pleasure rippled through me from the sensations he was building. “Jesse.”

He ducked his head down to rest his forehead on my shoulder, then he turned and kissed my bare nape.

I shook my head, struggling to form a thought as a second finger slipped inside.

Kissing down the side of my neck, he nuzzled under my chin before he started up the other side. His other hand gripped my hip and he held me anchored against him.

The edge was nearing. He kept pumping faster, holding himself still against me. When he stopped kissing me, I felt his breathing grow labored as he continued to rest his forehead on my shoulder. My head fell back and my eyes were heavy-lidded, but I saw him from underneath my eyelids. He was watching us. He was watching as his hand moved against me and his fingers kept thrusting into me.

Then I felt myself hurdling over it and I exploded on him. As I trembled against him, he kept his fingers in me, but pressed his forehead against my neck. A sheen of perspiration had built up. I felt the moisture now and then his lips curved against my skin. He pressed them to me in a soft and lingering kiss as he withdrew his fingers.

Pressing my lips together, a moan escaped from between them. A flush of renewed heat flared through me and lit up my face. As he began to lift his hand, my legs squeezed together. I felt empty. I didn’t want him to leave, but he tilted my head to meet his gaze with his free hand. His eyes had darkened until they were black with lust.

Cupping my head with his hand, he ran his thumb over my lips. When it settled between them, my lips parted and my tongue darted out to brush against him.

His eyes fell to my mouth. As he watched my tongue sweep against him again and then tasted the end of his finger, he stepped closer. He crowded me against the door. We hit it with a thud, but it didn’t stop us. I scrambled to lift his shirt, which he yanked over his head then he shoved my pants down with one foot. When they were on the ground, he hoisted me up underneath my arms and carried me to the bed.

When he lowered me to it and held himself above me, he looked at me for a long moment. He seemed to be absorbing every inch of me. I felt ready to burst and reached for him to pull him down.

He blocked my hand and shook his head, a small grin appearing as he held it down on the bed. He positioned my other one above my head and I was now pinned beneath him.

He still continued to study every inch of me.

“Jesse,” I rasped out. I tried bucking my hips up to touch against his, but his grin only grew wider.

“It’s been too damn long, Alex. I’m going to make this last a long time.”

The throbbing burst inside of me again. I gasped out, huskily, “Touch me, dammit.”

Then he bent over me and I closed my eyes.

His lips were coming.

Knock, knock

“Jess-” I started again, but then the door started to open and I heard instead, “Alex, I thought I heard some-oh!” It was slammed shut. The sound echoed in my head. Everyone had heard. Everyone would wake up and come to see what had happened.

Then my eyelids lifted. What had just happened?

Jesse had frozen on top of me with his head turned to the door. In slow motion, he turned to look at me. “Some girl came in here.”

“Really?” I rolled my eyes, frustrated and pissed about the whole thing. “No shit, Jesse.” Shoving against his shoulders, I groaned, “Get off.”

He sat on the edge of the bed.

When he made no move to put his shirt back on, I scrambled off the bed and threw it to him. At the same time, I threw mine on and hopped around as I tried to pull my pants up, as quickly as possible. When I was covered, I checked one more time. Everything was good and then I bolted out of the door. They’d be milling around, looking for where that door slam had come from, but I came to a halt instead.

Nothing.

The lights were still low. The doors were all closed.

Then the bathroom door was opened and light flooded the hallway before it swung shut again.

Beth strolled back to me with a caddie in hand. She was in a robe and a towel. As she saw me, she grinned. “I thought you were in bed.”

I paused, was there something more in that question? Did I hear her insinuating that I’d been in bed?

I wanted to slap myself. Get it over with. “You saw?”

The grin widened and she nodded, a sparkle came to her eyes now. “Oh yeah. I saw. And I know who that is.”

“You can’t say anything.”

She snorted. “Like hell. You were with Jesse Hunt. Is he still in there? Does Kara know? Is that why she said we should be friends?”

My head dropped and I wanted to crumble to the floor. This couldn’t have started on a worse note. But she said not to judge. In the back of the cab, those were her exact words. Hope stirred in my gut again. “You can’t say anything. Please, Beth. That would be horrible for me.”

The realization of who Jesse was on the campus and how many knew him was settling in. Mortification and horror was starting to take root and I felt like smacking myself in the forehead. Going to his house before had been a horrible idea. I wanted to demand answers about Ethan’s death, but if someone else had been there and not just Chandra, I gulped. It could’ve been bad. Really bad. I was starting to think the best way to start life as a student at Grant West was for no one to know about our relationship.