Yet.
I watch from the corner of my eye as he notices me and watches as I cross to the back of the reference section. I drop my bag on the table and pull out Don Juan, then sit and cross my legs slowly.
With all my swimming, I’ve got great legs. They’d always been my best asset, until the rest of my body finally caught up this summer. I run a hand over my thigh, lifting the hem of my skirt just a little higher, as I open my book.
“Hey,” Caiden’s smooth timbre comes from just behind me.
I look up and catch his eyes on my legs before they lift to my face. The blonde at the desk is gone. “Hey.”
He gives a quick glance around the library, then slides into the seat next to me. “I wanted to apologize for what happened on Friday.” His eyes drop to the tabletop, where his finger is tracing nervous circles. “It won’t happen again, but if you feel the need to report me to Dr. Duncan or the university, I’d totally understand.”
A laugh escapes on a breath before I can contain it. “For what? I kissed you.”
He tips his head and his eyes pour heat into mine. “I was a very willing participant, Blaire,” he says, low. Secret.
His tone and the hungry look in his eyes cause my insides to ache.
There’s a long minute that we just sit here staring at each other, the charge in the air between us building to critical mass and prickling goose bumps all over my body. The storm in his eyes intensifies, darkening the steely blue to nearly black and tightening my groin. He watches as I stand and move toward the stacks behind our table. I turn the corner and lean against the shelves in the first row, out of his line of sight—and anyone else’s for that matter. I wait for a century, it feels like, breathing my erratic heartbeat back into rhythm. When he doesn’t follow, disappointment pools inside me. I was sure I saw something in his gaze.
I’m just deciding my seduction tactic failed when he turns the corner of the shelves and stares at me from the end. “What are we playing here, Blaire? Hide and seek?”
I spin and pretend to be looking over the books on the shelf in front of me, suddenly feeling like a stupid little girl. “I’m using the reference section of the library. Not sure what you’re doing.”
I don’t look as he moves behind me, but I feel him there in the crackle of the air and the way it makes all the hairs on my arms stand on end.
“Hmm…” He stands close and looks over my shoulder. “What other classes are you taking this semester?” he asks, running a finger along the spines. “Because I’ve seen Dr. Duncan’s syllabus and I know for certain he didn’t assign anything on Aristotle or Socrates.”
I shift a little and my backside brushes against the front of his pants. “Maybe I’m reading on my own—expanding my horizons and trying someone new.”
A rush shudders through me when he doesn’t pull away. I press my ass tighter against him and feel a bulge behind his zipper.
Knowing that he wants me as much as I want him is exhilarating. It makes me bolder. He stands rock steady, coiled tight and not even breathing, as I start to move my ass against him. After a minute, he lays his hands on my hips and presses his whole front against my whole back.
“This is so wrong,” he whispers into my hair.
I lay my hands over his so he won’t take them off me as I turn slowly in his arms. “Why?”
He tips his head back and stares at the ceiling for several beats of my racing heart. I take the opportunity to study the V of his collarbones and the curve of his Adam’s apple as he swallows. Finally, he lowers his gaze to mine. “I’m not even going to tell you all the ass I’ve had to kiss and the mountain of debt I’ve buried myself under to get this far, but I’ve been at this university for seven years.” His fingers dig into my hips. “If we do this…” He trails off and bites his lips into a line with a sharp shake of his head, then blows out a shaky breath and lets me go. “There’s a reason for University policies,” he says, backing away a step. “I can’t take the risk. I’m sorry, Blaire.” He backs away another step and the storm in his eyes ravages me as hurricane Caiden sweeps over my body. “You have no idea how sorry.”
He spins and the next second, he’s gone.
I lean against the shelves and tip my head back, catching the breath that he just stole from me. The empty ache in my chest rivals the hot aching need low in my belly. My mind is spinning, grasping desperately for anything that might change his mind. I could drop poetry class…add a literature class that Professor Duncan doesn’t teach.
But I don’t think that would be enough. And if he finds out I’m still in high school…
I’ve been at this university for seven years.