“Don’t get me wrong, I love Raph like a brother, but we all know that he’s not exactly one for self-restraint and who can blame him? Hot girls offer it to him on a plate, he takes it. Only Baron can top his record.”
I feel sick to my stomach now, and I don’t want to ask the next question, but I do anyway.
“You think he’s …” I can’t even finish the sentence without feeling like I’m going to vomit.
Keller’s eyes widen again.
“No—no. Of course not….” She trails off.
“At least, I don’t think so. I mean, anyone with eyes and ears can see that Raph is totally sprung on you, I’ve never seen his royal highness like this. Ever. I mean Baron’s having the time of his life teasing Raph about how whipped he is.
“But this is just so unlike him, that I don’t really know what to make of it.”
Keller looks at me thoughtfully.
“If he’s willing to wait for you, then it must be because he feels something really fierce for you,” she says.
“So you should have nothing to worry about with Layla.”
I try not to feel the hope growing inside me at her words.
“Except, Jethro St. Tristan was quite clear about Raph’s betrothal and that hasn’t changed as far as I know,” I reply pointedly.
Keller’s expression turns somber then.
“I’m not going to lie to you, Jazmine. You don’t need me to tell you how complicated and fucking messy this whole thing is. That’s what comes with getting involved with a Dynasty heir …”
Dani’s eyes flicker with something like understanding, and some part of me thinks that must be why she’s taking it slow with Lance, being careful, whereas I’ve been so totally foolish.
“Raph in particular, because he’s the heir to the throne. He’s always had the most pressure on him. But something tells me that if he’s as serious about you as I think he is, then nothing will stop him from being with you.”
I want to believe her, but I can’t quite let myself. I’m reminded of my own warnings to myself back when I still had some sense in me, before Raph’s lips stole that sense away. The warning that I’m way out of my depth with Raph. If I’m honest with myself, I’ll admit that somewhere along the road, I’ve taken a wrong turn—I’ve let myself get involved with a guy who is, in all likelihood, going to break me in two, just like he promised to do that very first day.
My warnings seem to disappear into vapor, though, when Raph rounds the corner, looking sexy as hell in his white shirt, dark grey Regency blazer and black tie. I didn’t think I had a thing for guys in uniform. But clearly, I do. Despite my best efforts, I can’t help but notice how insanely beautiful this guy is. His ash blonde hair, perfectly mussed, his vivid blue eyes, those perfectly chiseled features, coupled with those dimples, could make even a nun leave her calling. He flashes that devastatingly beautiful smile which makes him look like how I think an angel might. Except I know there’s nothing angelic about that wicked mouth of his. Nothing angelic at all.
“Hey, Jaz,” he says, dropping a kiss squarely on my mouth. My face flames, but there isn’t a hint of embarrassment in Raph’s. It’s another thing that makes me believe that there is really more to this. Because far from trying to hide it, he doesn’t seem to care who knows about us. In fact, it almost seems like he wants everyone to know that he’s laid claim on me, that I’m his and his alone.
Baron, who I hadn’t realized was with Raph, makes a gagging sound from behind him.
“Get a room,” he quips.
“No, wait. On second thought, your room is down the hall from mine, so it’s not like that’s any better.”
“Shut up, B,” Raph growls.
Keller and Dani chuckle at that. Baron turns to Dani then.
“Hey, Dani, I hear you’re going to be spending the holidays in my neck of the woods.”
Dani flushes in response.
“Yeah, I’ll be visiting my parents at the workers’ residences.”
“That’s cool,” he replies with a smile.
My eyes travel from Dani to Baron and back again, the cogs in my mind turning. Beside me, I can feel Raph and Keller doing the same thing.
“Anyway, let’s hit the cafeteria. I’m starved,” Baron says, seemingly oblivious.
Raph hangs back as Keller and Dani follow Baron.
“We’ll catch up with you guys,” he says.
Baron rolls his eyes, as does Keller. Dani shoots me a wicked grin.
I turn to Raph, and I see that Dani’s look wasn’t unwarranted. I know that look. Those were definitely bedroom eyes. We’re in the middle of the school day, standing right in the middle of a busy hallway, but I still feel the thrill racing down my spine at that look and the promise within it.
Before I can object, Raph pulls me into an empty classroom and locks the door behind us. I don’t know who makes the first move and it doesn’t even matter, because next thing I know, our lips are crashing together, our tongues intertwined.
Raph lifts me up so that I’m sitting on one of the desks and he positions himself between my legs. I gasp at the feel of his hard length against the center of me, and he lets out that sexy as hell groan as he rolls his hips against the pressure building inside me.
“God, Jaz, I can’t even get through two classes without feeling like I’ll lose my goddamn mind if I don’t get my hands on you,” he says against the skin at my neck. The rawness of his words and the way he growls them into my mouth sends shivers down my spine.
He reaches between us, his hand reaching up underneath my skirt. He growls again in approval at what he finds there. I should be embarrassed at the clear evidence of my arousal, but the need I feel whenever Raph’s lips are on mine, or when his hands are on me, never leave room for anything else but that hunger.
“I love how much you want me, baby,” he says, referring to that evidence, that very damp evidence.
“I want you inside me,” I say unabashedly. A few weeks ago, I’d have been mortified at those words coming out of my mouth. But ever since this thing between us started, I’ve become aware of this whole other side of me. This side that Raph has awakened and only he could invoke in me.
He complies with my plea and his fingers plunge inside me in an instant. My back arches and I claw at his shoulders as I wrap my legs tighter around his waist.
“Oh, god, Jaz, you’re so beautiful when you’re like this.”
He trails kisses along my neck then, kissing and sucking at the sensitive skin.
“Your cheeks flushed, your perfect little mouth parted like that. Those fucking beautiful eyes of yours cloudy with how much you want this, how much you want me.”
His words do something to me, because every single one of them are true. If there was a mirror in here right now, I’m sure that’s exactly what I’d see.
I don’t know what makes me say these next words. Maybe it was something to do with Keller’s words earlier or just the fact that I can never get enough of Raph, and how much I want him.
“I meant that I want you inside me for real, Raph,” I whisper.