Hunter (Broken Bad Boys 1): A New Adult Bad Boy Romance (28 page)

The feelings rise. My body is so sensitive, but I feel how close to the edge I’m getting. So different from what Hunter did earlier, so much better, so much more intense.

And then I’m falling, my body pulsing inside and out. A bright light goes off behind my eyes and everything goes blank for a moment.

Hunter pushes into me twice more before he roars and he pulses inside me, dragging my orgasm out and out.

Our breaths rasp, our bodies sweaty and limp, as we come back to earth.

I can’t believe what just happened, what we just did. I thought I’d had sex before, but this is so different. This is so much better, so much more. I don’t want anything else ever again.

“I love you.” The words spill from my lips as I kiss Hunter’s shoulder.

“I love you too,” he murmurs, his strong arms around me as he holds me tight. “I love you so much.”

W
hen I wake up
, Lizzy is curled up in my arms, her hair spread over my chest and her face right against my chin. She’s still sound asleep, her breathing slow and easy. I can’t help but smile as I run my hand over her bare back. She’s so amazing, she’s so beautiful, she fits against me so well. When I first saw her, I would have never thought that we’d get to this point. She was so skittish, she wasn’t very sociable and definitely not the snuggling type…

And now, now she can’t keep her hands off me, and neither can I keep my hands off her. It feels nice to just lie here, cuddled up and knowing that we don’t need to be anywhere soon. Just spending time together, being creative without it being a competition.

Lizzy stirs and opens her eyes, looking at me lazily. “Morning.”

“Morning.” I kiss the top of her head. “Did you sleep well?”

She nods and yawns. “Sorry.” She smiles as she covers her mouth.

“No problem.” I pull her tighter against me before I let her go. “I think we need a shower.”

She looks down at herself, though we’re under a blanket, so there isn’t much visible. “Yeah, I guess.”

I can’t help but frown. Did she just revert back to before?

Lizzy looks at me and then reaches up, smoothing out the lines. “I’m not sure I can move. I’m sore.”

We both burst out laughing and Lizzy colors. “Sorry. I was just a little worried,” I say.

“I know. I’m okay though. I think.” She shrugs as she sits up, wincing.

I guess that will have to do then. I run my hand over her back, sliding my fingers down the beautiful skin. “I’ll turn on the shower then.” I slide out of bed, make my way down to the bathroom and turn the shower on. I pass the mirror and something catches my eyes. I turn around, twisting my back to the mirror. There are huge scratch marks going down my back. Whoops.

The door opens behind me and Lizzy steps in. Her eyes meet mine in the mirror and she blushes deeply. “Sorry about that.”

I hadn’t even realized that she’d scratched me, I was so caught up in everything. “No worries. I think I should probably keep my shirt on around other people.” I grin and Lizzy steps closer, wrapping her arms around me and kissing the scratches.

“They look very red.” She frowns slightly.

I pull at her arm, make her stand in front of me instead and wrap my arms around her. “They’ll heal. Don’t worry about it. Stuff like that happens when you have fun.” I kiss the top of her head. “Let’s get in the shower. I’ll clean you up from top to bottom.”

Lizzy looks up at me, one of her eyebrows raised. “Why do I have a feeling I’ll have to have another shower after this shower?” She smiles and I kiss her hard.

“Probably because you will?”

The smile show flashes me tells me that she doesn’t mind, doesn’t mind at all.

God, it’s so good to see her like this. To see her happy, to see her comfortable around me. I don’t know what will happen when we’re outside of this little bubble, but for now, everything seems to be going well.

* * *

I
stand
in the middle of the private room at the workshop. The music on my headphones is loud, blasting at me, making me ignore everything that is going on around me. I’ve been here since five in the afternoon yesterday, and I think it’s nearing eight in the morning now. I’ve been locked in here the whole time. After spending the whole weekend with Lizzy, I knew that I had to change the project for drawing class. The old one was based on a girl who had been hiding herself away for years, trying to deny herself for a long time. But the girl I’ve seen this weekend, that girl finally allowed herself to be happy, and that girl is so different—that girl has different dreams.

So I started over. I locked myself in here and started all over, since I have to hand it in this afternoon.

I stand back and look at the drawing. It’s Lizzy, wearing one of my T-shirts and a pair of leggings. Not the full-on gothic outfit that she normally wears, but the clothes of a girl who doesn’t put up a front to hide behind. Around her I’ve drawn the forest, the sun, her art. So many different elements of the girl I’ve gotten to know. Some would be hard to figure out, like, how do you portray getting better, when getting better is a case of managing, not a perfect cure?

Instead, I went with things that made her happy, things that I know she dreams of doing more. Lizzy’s dream is a happy future. I only hope that Prof Cartwright will accept this. It may be slightly outside of what the exercise entailed, but at the same time, it’s the truth.

We don’t have dreams of a job outside of our art, no dreams of riches or big houses. Our dreams are simpler, more personal: art, creativity… love.

Light streams into the space and I turn around, pulling the plugs from my ears.

Lizzy stands in the doorway, looking at me like I’m insane. “Can I see it yet?” She tries to look past me.

“Nope, not yet.” I crowd her out of the room and close the door behind me, hiding the drawing inside as I take her in my arms.

She sighs as she wraps her arms around me too. Lizzy has been here with me the whole time. She slept here the whole night as I was working on the drawing. I can imagine she’s exhausted too. “When can I see it?” Lizzy asks.

“When it’s finished.” I kiss the top of her head. “Just a little bit more time. Is yours done yet?”

She nods. “Was last night.”

“You’re happy with it?”

“Yeah.” She pulls me along to the big piece of paper that is hanging in the middle of the workshop. She’s used both sides of the paper, which wasn’t easy, but it seemed to fit her idea of the project. On the one side, it’s me, with my bike and my metal scrap art, quite dark. On the other side, it’s me too, in the forest, with a horse, some drawings and other art. The two sides of me, something that Lizzy has been seeing from the start. No matter how hard I tried to hide it. No matter how much I tried to be something else, someone else. Still, she saw right through it when no one else seemed to be able to, see through the tough attitude and instead see the darkness inside me, the broken me.

“Thank you. It’s beautiful.” I pull her close, angling her face up and give her soft kisses. I’m not sure how else to show my appreciation, as we’re technically in a public place.

The door to the workshop opens and slams close, followed by the sound of block heels tapping on the tiled floor out front. “Morning.” Tamara’s chipper voice makes us pull apart from each other. “Oh, okay, I can come back when it’s a better time,” she teases and I turn to her, glaring.

“Nothing going on, we were being really PG-13.” I shrug and weave my fingers through Lizzy’s.

“Right…” Tamara rolls her eyes, then she looks around and at us. “Have you been here all night?”

We shrug. Yeah.

“If you did
something
, I hope you cleaned it up.”

“I wish,” Lizzy mumbles, and I burst out laughing.

“Lizzy!” Tamara’s voice rises. “I do not need to know that.” She smiles though, as she looks at Lizzy. She took easily to us dating when she saw that we were actually better together. It wasn’t easy on everyone. Lola is still a bit grumpy about it, but I’m pretty sure that that will be over soon enough when she realizes that the boy she used to know is not the same one that I am now.

Tamara walks into her office and then comes out with some papers. “I’d like it if you would put some of your art into this exhibit. It’s hosted here, and I think that some of your scrap art would fit in well with the other things going on.” She hands me a piece of paper and then Lizzy too. “And some of your amazing drawings and paintings would be appreciated too, Lizzy.” She eyes the drawing behind us, Lizzy’s final project for Prof Cartwrights’ class. “Maybe even that one.”

“I’m not sure…” Lizzy looks up at me, but I shrug. Yeah, it’s personal, but all art is personal. “I guess.”

“What else will be in there?”

“Damon will supply some photos, I think he’s made a whole installation with them, and some others from the workshop will provide art too. It won’t be super-big, but it’s the first one in the new workshop, so I wanted to get everyone involved. That way we all get to show off a little bit of our skills.” She turns around. “I think this place deserves some great attention. I’ve got some of my all-time best students in here right now. Not showing you all off would be stupid.”

I check the paper. It will be the first Thursday after the new year. It’s less than a month away. “How long have you been planning this?”

“For a while.” She shrugs. “But I didn’t want to put too much pressure on everyone. I just want to showcase some art that isn’t specifically made for this.”

I sigh. “A little bit more advance notice would have been nice.”

“Nah, I’ve seen what you’ve made recently. You don’t need more advance notice. You just need to do this and be proud.” She looks at us both. “I expect those papers back in a day or two. Take pictures of the things you want to put up and I’ll make it all work.” She eyes me specifically. “Just don’t bring something that takes up the whole room, yeah?”

I laugh. If I wanted to be annoying, I could do that. But I’ve got a couple of ideas on what to use. There are so many different specializations in here, and behind the scenes, Lizzy and I have been working on something new together. Something that showcases both our skills.

* * *

“
S
o
, Mr Porter, Miss Benton. Could you show your projects?” Prof Cartwright sits in front of the classroom.

My project was finished only an hour ago, so close to the deadline. I take it from the tube and roll it out, putting it on one of the easels and bring it closer to him.

He looks at it and hums. I’m not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing.

He looks up. “And you, Miss Benton?”

I turn to Lizzy. We need to do hers together. I grab two easels and put them a bit away from each other. At the same time Lizzy carefully takes her drawing from the tube. We span the top holder over the two easels and Lizzy slowly lets the rest slide down. Then we pick the easels up together and walk them to the front of the room, right next to mine.

“It’s two-sided.” Lizzy’s voice is quiet, shy.

I’m not sure if I imagine it or not, but I think I saw Prof Cartwright smile a little. “Different, surprising, good.” He stands up and walks around the easels, looking at both the drawings. “Interesting, you took the assignment a little further than the rest. Good. Shows initiative and creativity.”

We stand back, Lizzy trying to suppress her proud smile, but she doesn’t seem to be able to. It’s adorable to see her try though. It’s good that people recognize how good her art is, more people anyway.

“Well, I’ll take a look at these and you should have your grade in a week or two.” He looks at us both. “You did well. I know that it hasn’t been the easiest semester for you two.”

I nod. Yeah, not the easiest, not the worst either. I take Lizzy’s hand and hold on tight. But with Lizzy at my side, I was able to get through.

“Can I… I need…” Lizzy keeps her head low.

“I’ll make sure that Tamara gets your project before the exhibition.” Prof Cartwright smiles. “It’s always a pleasure to have her students in my class. I’ll make sure she gets it.”

“Thank you.” Lizzy nods.

“Good luck with your exams and essays, and have a great holiday.” Prof Cartwright sits back down at his desk.

We walk out the room, making our way to the front doors, and I can’t help the laugh that is bubbling up. One project down, just a few other things to go. Maybe I can actually do this college thing.

Lizzy stops me, wrapping her arms around me as she looks up. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” I put my hand on her cheek and lean in for a kiss.

Lizzy wraps her arms around my neck, pulling me closer, and our lips meet, first carefully before they get rougher.

I pull her closer, dipping my tongue into her mouth, making her moan slightly.

I think that we’ll have a very good holiday…