A Kiss of Color: The Complete 3 Book Collection (7 page)

She was tentative, her mouth firmly shut against his even as she leaned into the press of his mouth, a soft, almost inaudible moan escaped her. Her hand raised to his shoulder to rest there gently and Xavier took her face firmly between his palms to deepen their kiss. His tongue slid against the seam of her mouth a moment before she gasped, and he delved inside to absorb her sweetness. It was almost as if she’d never kissed before, the tentative way that her tongue probed at his, the way that she clung to him as if frightened that he would let go of her.

Christ, if he’d known she would be like this, he would have kissed her during their very first session. God knew she needed to loosen up. While he himself had taken a step back from parties and frivolity lately, it seemed like she could use a good dose of it. He would take her to a party, teach her how to cut loose a little, and then he would try his hand at luring her back to his apartment.

Where he could offer her a relaxation more profound than any she’d ever known.

Xavier drank from her, delighting in her hunger for more. The longer their kiss continued, the less tentative she became, her tongue sliding against his more and more aggressively until he was hard as a rock in his sweatpants, ready to knock every book on the table before him to the floor so he could take her right then and there.

That, he knew, would be unseemly. As absorbed as he was in devouring her mouth, he wasn’t willing to go any further with her in the library – where anyone might walk in on them. He reluctantly tore his mouth from hers, trying to will his erection into submission. God, she was gorgeous with her lips swollen from his kisses. Her gray eyes were slightly glazed over, and the heat there did nothing for his attempts to curb his libido. “Helena,” He breathed lowly. “Let’s get out of here.”

It was like some kind of switch had been thrown. The young woman’s eyes immediately cleared, widening as she gazed at him as if she’d never seen him before. “Oh my
God
.” She shook her head slowly. “I didn’t mean to…I mean…I’m sorry. I-”

He cut her off by kissing her again – this time softer, less intimidating. She was very obviously nervous. He hadn’t meant to suggest…well, that was bullshit. He certainly had. But if he needed to choose between chasing her off with the desire literally burning a hole in his gut and slowing his roll, the latter was the obvious choice. “Not your fault.” Xavier murmured gently against her mouth as he released her, slower this time. “Helena, let’s go to dinner or something. Get out of this stuffy library.”

Staring at him, she blinked once, her expression hesitant. “This…wasn’t supposed to happen.” She managed. “What about your Chemistry-”

“I don’t take Chemistry.” He was taking a major leap of faith here. There was just as much a chance she’d be upset and storm off at his lie as there was that he could charm her into staying. When her face began to redden in anger, he rushed to improve his chances. “I apologize, OK? I didn’t mean to lie to you…I just needed some time with you. I want to get to know you…and you’re a lot more comfortable with books than with me.”

Slowly, the ire faded from the young woman’s face to be replaced but a look of confusion. “You seriously tried to learn Chemistry, even though you didn’t have to?”

He shrugged. When she put it like that, it was slightly more embarrassing. “Small price to pay.” For a moment, he thought that she would still leave. Helena’s eyes darted to the door and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat before, finally, she allowed him a small smile. What seemed like the first genuine smile he’d garnered from her since they’d started their tutoring sessions.

“You’re out of your mind.”

He chuckled lowly, relieved. “Yeah, maybe a little bit.”

“All this time, you were purposefully trying not to absorb a word I said?” Xavier winced, shaking his head as he let the truth come out.

“I have to admit that I was completely lost about seventy percent of the time.”

Sighing, the young woman shook her head – even though her smile never wavered. “You really are completely hopeless.’”

“As a Chemistry student, yes.” He was totally and completely willing to agree with her on that. “But there are other areas in which I happen to believe I’m pretty talented.” Trying to keep the suggestion from his voice, Xavier reached out to place his hand over hers gently. Helena started slightly, but she didn’t snatch her arm away – a definite improvement. “Just come to dinner with me, please?”

Helena’s gray eyes took on an uncertain sheen. When she spoke, her words were soft – almost shy. Very different from the assertive woman he usually dealt with. “Xavier…I’m really busy. I have so much to prepare for…and I’m not like the party girls you’re used to hanging out with.”

Oh.
That
again. How the hell was he going to convey to her that he could give a shit about party girls at this particular juncture? It was she who had caught his attention – and as long as she had it, he didn’t think he’d be running after any sorority girls anytime soon. “How about we discuss this at the restaurant?” Taking her hand in a gentle, but firm grip, he gathered up their books with the others. While she was free to break away any time she wished, Xavier realized that he was going to have to be a little more aggressive with Helena if she was ever going to realize what she did to him. “I’m pretty tired of studying.”

“Well, that makes one of us.” She quipped cleverly, rolling her eyes at him. Xavier cast her his sweetest smile before beginning to tug her from the study cubicle. To his surprise and delight, she didn’t pull from his grip. Of course, her face turned bright pink as he led her through the aisles of the library and half of the immense building’s occupants stopped what they were doing to whisper and stare, but she let him pull her all the way to his car in the main parking lot, whereupon he dumped their books in the front seat.

They were on his terms now – and he fully planned on making the very guarded beauty comfortable with him by the end of the evening.

Xavier chose a restaurant about a half an hour away from the school’s campus – far from all the student chatter and the college crowd. It was probably a place into which they shouldn’t have been admitted dressed as they were, but one look at his face, and the hostess simply beamed and led them to the nearest available table.

Once they were seated, slowly but surely, Xavier got started chipping away at the defenses of the woman across from him.

It was harder than he anticipated. At first, all his attempts at making conversation were rebutted. Helena had excuses on top of excuses. She needed to get home to study, she had to prepare for her next exam – which happened to be four months away - she thought her roommate might be locked out of their dorm…

It was only when he got onto the subject of what she planned to do in the future that she really seemed to calm down. Indeed, it took less than five minutes before she was lost in the conversation; and to his surprise, she didn’t drone on and on about Chemistry and science. Instead, she spoke of what she wanted to do with the skills she worked so hard to master.

“A doctor.” When she said the words, her face lit as if a star shone from deep within her. “I know it’s a long shot for me, but I’d really like to help people. I’m not sure what my specialization will be yet, but I’m thinking maybe a pediatrician. I like kids.”

“That’s a lot more school in the future.” He pointed out teasingly, secretly impressed at the young woman’s vast ambition. Sure, she always tried to escape into her books, but to acknowledge that you needed to study – and to dedicate yourself to it? That was something he himself couldn’t do. He’d had a natural talent for coding ever since he’d started as a teen, and had done relatively little to hone his skills.

“Eight more years.” She smiled at him over a forkful of her salad, her eyes gleaming in anticipation. “I can’t wait.”

He couldn’t help but smile. She was utterly adorable all excited like that. “What made you want to be a doctor?”

The question made Helena’s smile fade somewhat, and for a moment, he was mortified, worried that he’d asked her the wrong question. However, though she looked more downcast, it didn’t seem like Helena was about to flee. She put her fork down, reaching for her water glass to take a sip. When she spoke, her voice held both melancholy and admiration. “My father. He was a doctor. One of the best in the state, actually. He was really dedicated to his job…he loved to help people. He helped me…when I was in a place where I didn’t think I could be helped.”

Xavier proceeded as carefully as he could. “You mean…your mother?”

The raven-haired girl’s eyes darkened. “I don’t really want to talk about it. Suffice to say that I was with her for most of my life. We lived across town close to Maynard…and my life was a living hell.”

Maynard. Everyone in town knew the name of the street. It was like an invisible line you crossed over where the town suddenly became dangerous. People only lived in Maynard when they could afford to live nowhere else, and they got out as soon as they were able. His family being who they were, Xavier had only driven through that part of town a scant few times, but every time he had, his parents had turned their noses up at the poverty there and he himself had cringed at peoples’ living conditions.

Helena had been raised in Maynard. The revelation gave him an entirely new perspective on the way she operated. It was one thing to study because you liked it. It was another thing to study when you believed that it would elevate you from a life that had tied you down. “So you left for college, I assume?”

“A little before, actually. When I was sixteen, my mom and I had a…falling out. My dad wasn’t supposed to have custody of me. He didn’t even have visiting rights. But I had nowhere to go. I was lucky enough to have him take me in. He was the one who introduced me to medicine…and a lot of other things. Since that point, I haven’t really looked back.”

When she talked about her father, it was with a reverence and respect that children rarely used to speak of their parents. He himself didn’t usually afford his mother and father such luxuries. Why should he? They were barely present in his life unless they wanted to show him off – and quite honestly, both of his sisters were better at tolerating them than him in that arena. “He must be really proud of you.” The young man smiled at Helena over his meal. “You’re like a fucking Organic Chemistry machine.”

She laughed softly at his comment, before toying with her salad once more. “I hope he is.”

Xavier’s brow shot up in inquiry. “You hope? Did something happen between the two of you?”

Helena’s eyes darkened once more. “Yeah. Pancreatic Cancer.”

Fucking
shit.

He thought he had it rough with parents that wouldn’t allow him to do what he wanted and a family name that hung over his head like a noose. Xavier didn’t think he’d ever met anyone with
actual
problems….not until Helena. Three or four years ago, her sad story probably would have driven him away. At that point, he’d been all parties and debauchery, with no reason to slow down or check himself.

What a strange thing maturity was. Sitting across from her, he found himself entranced by Helena’s story. What had he ever had to overcome in his life? A little resistance from teachers and parents? This woman had a mother who obviously abused her, and a beloved father who had died before she’d made up for the time she hadn’t spent with him. Now, she was trying to make it on her own.

And if her history was what was driving her, he had to berate himself for being an insensitive clod. “Helena, I’m sorry.”

Her head jerked up at his low apology, gray eyes inquiring. “Sorry for what?”

He sighed, putting his fork down to run his fingers through his hair. “For being such an asshole. I didn’t mean to come off as such a…a…”

“Spoiled rich boy?” She tried, half-jokingly, her smile sincere. He chuckled at her expression, shaking his head softly.

“You know, the funny part is that I thought I changed after my undergrad days. I guess I’ve still got a bit of that mentality.” Helena licked full lips, making his blood run hotly for a split second before she answered.

“What are you going to do? You can’t help who you are. Who your family is.” Her words made his mouth turn down into a scowl. As if he needed a reminder. He now had less than seven months to come up with the money to fund his start-up, and despite the amount of hours he was spending outside the classroom on freelance jobs, things were moving slowly. Of course, his parents had no problem giving Brandy the money she requested to start her own law firm, or lavishing funds on his younger sister Emily for her ballet camps and exhibitions. But they, of course, were engaging in respectable Thompson family pursuits.

He wasn’t. “Sometimes, I wish I could.” He sighed, gesturing to the waitress to bring them more bread. His words had Helena setting her fork down on the table as she leaned forward, her expression somewhat concerned.

“Wish you could what?”

“Xavier, is that
you
?” All at once, he winced at a very familiar, high pitched voice. Stiffly, he turned to see none other than his perfectly groomed, smiling elder sister standing at his shoulder. She was flanked by her eternally whipped husband, Hank, who was smiling at Xavier in greeting. Before he could answer Brandy, she swooped down to kiss him twice on each cheek before straightening. “I just
knew
it was you. I told Hank so. We just finished our dinner and came over to say hi. Oh!” Her eyes finally fell on Helena, who was rooted to her seat across from him, staring up at the impeccably groomed lawyer with apprehension in her gaze.