Tangled (9 page)

But
Adonis was unrelenting. His thrusts became harder, mercilessly filling her to
the brink, over and over. She felt him everywhere at once.
Under
her skin.
In her blood.
His
scent thick in her lungs.

Her
legs clung tighter to him as she clutched his shoulders, wanting it to end.
Wishing it never would.

Their
pelvises met and ripped apart. Distantly she heard the table scoot and scrape
against the floor, banging the wall in time with his rhythm. But she didn’t
care if the entire neighborhood heard.

Tears
leaked from her eyes as an orgasm built low, culminating to new heights every
time he hit the sweetest of spots. It became too much. “Adonis,” she sobbed,
begging him to end this torment.

Instead
of taking pity, he reduced speed, dragging himself out with near-painful
slowness before sinking inch-by-inch back into her.

Tess
screamed his name as he suddenly hammered into her cervix, the exquisite
torture ricocheting through sensitive tissue. She held out, refusing to submit.

“I
know what you're trying to do. It won't work,” he said with an animalistic
snarl and reached for her clit.

A
scream ripped from her chest as ecstasy spilled in thick, convulsing waves.
Cam’s name vaguely surfaced in her mind, but faded as the aftershocks carried
her into oblivion.

A
hoarse cry, his swollen mouth slashing into hers one last time, seeking,
possessing…
.destroying
, and then everything went
black.

Chapter
5

With
a reflexive jerk, Tess groggily awoke from slumber with a foreboding feeling
that something was off. She cracked an eye and winced at the slight pain that
accompanied the motion, an indicator that she’d had a little too much to drink
the previous night.

Nothing new
there.

Immersed
in complete darkness, the room was silent and, if anything, encouraged her to
return to sleep. Sighing, Tess flexed a hand, her fingertips testing the sheet
draped across her body. The ultra smooth material was completely unlike the
cheap, Wal-Mart sheets she’d invested in freshman year.

The
sheets didn’t bother her as much as the musky scent of sex and cologne
lingering on them; achingly familiar scents that struck Tess with the force of
a careening Mack truck. Her eyes flew open as the events of the last night
streamed into consciousness: the penetration of a slow, burning heat that
invaded every inch of her body, her writhing beneath him in rapturous agony…each
moment captured in the still frame of her memories, suspended forever in
detailed animation.

A
paralyzing sense of horror overtook her.

Tess
lifted her head and the confirmation that greeted her delivered yet another
crushing blow. The vague outline of his body was covered from the waist down.
His chest rose and fell rhythmically.

What
had she done?

Tess
fought to keep from bolting upright and running out like the damned fool she
was. Taking care not to disturb the sheets, she slithered off the bed. Tess
steadied her rubbery limbs and combed the floor for her clothes.

Thankfully
she'd had the foresight to bring them upstairs after their first go round in
the kitchen. Her stomach churned, remembering their frantic stumble up the
stairs after violating the kitchen table.

Her
vision fogged. What the hell had she been thinking?

Tess
struggled to maintain a lid on her composure while descending the staircase,
testing each step carefully for give-away squeaks. Once clear, she flew past
the second floor, too ashamed to even see if Cam had returned at some point
during the night, not that she would have noticed.

She
had been too busy fucking his best friend.

Nausea
coalescing, she barely made it outside in time. Tess heaved over the railing
and retched into the hedges below. Once she finished redecorating the shrubbery
with eau de vie, she pushed away and made for her dorm. Blessedly, it was too
early for people to witness her walk of shame and speculate at the slight limp
in her step.

Her
skin crawled, as if filmed with a layer of filth. She’d debased herself in the
worse way possible.
And for what?

A fleeting victory?

Restoration
of her damaged vanity?

To prove a point?

She
felt sullied and used despite her body’s satiation. She hated the feeling. Her
steps slowed as something else occurred to her.

What
if he told Cameron?

Pressure
built behind her eyeballs, stinging with tears. The one good thing she’d come
across and she had to go fuck it up.

All
this time, Tess had been trying to convince herself that she wasn’t her
mother’s daughter by attending prestigious schools and girding herself with
wealthy people.

Apparently
she was not without a proclivity for escapism as well.

Tess
made it as far as her dorm before realizing she’d left her purse. No purse
meant
no
checkpoint. And no checkpoint meant she would
be standing outside until someone came out or went in.

I am Jack’s utter lack
of surprise
.

____________________

Yawning,
Riley rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He squinted at the clock and scowled. If
there was anything he hated more than getting up at eight in the morning, it
had to be getting up at eight in the morning on a Saturday. As the only free
day in his hectic schedule, he treasured them. Between juggling a part time job
as a day laborer for a local construction company, attending swim practices and
meets, and staying up to speed with his engineering courses, he rarely had time
for himself.

A
loud, grumbling noise threaded Riley to the present, reminding him of the
purpose. “I hear
ya
,” he consoled his stomach and
made a beeline for the kitchen.

He
set up a pot of coffee and opened the refrigerator. Chilled light glinted over
something shiny on the floor. He stooped down and grimaced when he came back up
with an empty condom wrapper and several buttons.
 

"You
couldn't make it to the room, lass?" Chuckling, Riley flipped the lid to
the rubbish bin and paused when he saw the remnants of a meal.
No, not remnants, but an entire dinner course.
So they
decided to ax dinner plans. Had it been anyone else’s thrown-away meal he
wouldn’t have blinked twice. But Tess was a stickler for not wasting food.

A
cool draft whisked into the kitchen as the sliding glass door opened. Riley's
brows rose as his roommate stumbled in. "Rough night?" he asked,
taking in his disheveled appearance.

“I’ve
had worse.” Cameron heaved the pane shut and sank into a chair. “What are you
doing up so early?”

“I
could ask the same of you.” Riley raided the fridge and piled the ingredients
of a promising breakfast on the counter. "How was yesterday?"

“I
crashed at Lance’s for a Call of Duty marathon.”

Riley
gaze zeroed in on Cameron’s polo, all of the buttons still intact. “So you
didn’t drop by at all after meeting with your lab partner?”

“Nah.
Why? Did I miss something good?”

Riley’s
shoulders flattened as he toyed with the idea dumping the trash over his
friend’s head. But he wouldn’t do that to Tess. As much as he hated Cameron
giving her the run-a-round, it wasn’t any of his business. And he knew Tess
didn’t want to guilt the guy into a relationship.

“Forget
it,” Riley said tightly and set about making his breakfast. He cracked the
egg’s shell against the counter and slung its contents into a bowl.

His
uncharacteristic coldness began to piss Cameron off. “What’s your deal?”

“My
deal? I don’t have
bleedin
’ deal. It’s you who needs
to sort
y’self
out.”

Cameron
pinched his sinuses. “It’s too early for this shit, Riles.”

“Forget
about it.” He hacked off a chunk of butter. It sizzled and popped as it skated
across the hot skillet. “
Y’want
in on this?”

Baffled
by his
mercuriality
, Cameron waved him off. “No
thanks.”

The
house creaked as footfalls slumped down the staircase. Adonis entered the
kitchen seconds later, clad only in drawstring sweatpants. “Hey,” he said, his
voice thick with residual sleep, and headed straight for the coffee maker.

Cameron
eyed the cut on his lip and angry, red scratches welted across his chest. “Was
she trying to carve her name into your skin?”

Adonis
glanced down and smirked. “Possibly.”

They
stared at him, expecting elaboration that never came. “So,
you
going
to keep us waiting in suspense or what?”

“I
don’t fuck and tell.” He retrieved a ceramic mug from the cabinet.

“Since
when?” Hitching an elbow on the table, Cameron tipped his chair back on its
hind legs. “I thought you enjoyed giving us the low down.”

Adonis
poured coffee into his cup. “Since now.” He took a swig. “Also, I'd think twice
before sitting at that table.”

Riley
roared as Cameron almost toppled over in his haste to shove away from the
table. He narrowed his eyes at the dark-haired man. “You could've warned me.”

“I
could have.”

Riley
dumped his eggs on a plate. “So who is this mystery
doxie
?”

“You’ll
find out soon enough.”

Cameron
cocked an improbable brow. “Has she done the impossible and earned a special
place in that nonexistent heart of yours?”

Adonis
didn’t answer right away and savored the smoothness of the expensive prime
roast. “Hardly. Once I finish with her maybe I'll give her to you as a
present.”

“Because
I’m so looking forward to consoling your hand-me-downs with my dick. It’s not
my fault your shit leaves girls scarred for life.”

He
spread his hands. “It’s a gift.”

“Speaking
of which, how about gifting us with a sanitized table?” Riley questioned with
in a cynical smile.

Adonis
scoffed. “Like you haven’t defiled your share of college-owned property.”

Coughing,
Riley turned back to prepping his breakfast.

Cameron
frowned. “Hey, did Tess stop by yesterday? My phone died on me and Lance didn’t
have a Droid charger.”

Riley
grated his molars as he struggled between protecting his best girl and giving
his boy the real deal. “I think she may have popped in for a bit.” He scowled
at Adonis’s answering snicker.

“Oh.”
His brow furrowed with a thought before he shook his head. “Ok. Later.”

Riley
waited until the upstairs floorboards creaked overhead before pinning Adonis
with an unreadable look. “Do you know what time Tess left last night? Usually
she tells me good-bye before
leavin
’ out.”

Adonis
met his gaze unflinchingly, aware of his angle. “Maybe she was too emotionally
distraught. Guilt can do that to a person.”

Riley's
vision became awash in red. “At least that implies she has a conscience. Too
bad the same can’t be said for others. How could you fuck her
knowin
’ they’re in love?”

“Love?”
he mocked the notion. “He’s not in love with her. And she’s an idiot if she
thinks she has a chance.”

“Cam’s
not an elitist fuck,” Riley said coldly. “And he happens to care a great deal
for her. You’re blind if you haven’t noticed that by now.” His smile was void
of mirth. “Some bud you turned out to be.”

“I
did him a favor by sleeping with that whore,” Adonis snapped. “Now he can see
her for what she truly is.”

“Is
that so? Who are you
tryin
’ to convince? Maybe you’re
just jealous that he has someone who genuinely cares for him, whereas all you
have is a string of forgettable fucks.”

The
air pressure in the kitchen dropped measurably. Hellfire leapt into Adonis’s
eyes. Riley steeled himself for a fight. A born and raised brawler, he wouldn’t
have a problem putting the pampered rich boy in his place.

Riley
relaxed his stance as Cameron reentered. “Are you sure you didn't see Tess?” he
asked, worried. “Jade said she was supposed to crash here last night. And she
left this.” He strung up her purse.

Riley
watched as an emotion flickered across Adonis’s face. “Really now?” He let a
beat pass before swiveling to their dark-haired roommate. “Adonis, I believe
you were the last to see her. Care to enlighten us?”

_________________