Midnight Scent (Amour Toxique Book 1) (10 page)

“Hey, I have a question.” I lick mousse off the back of my dessert spoon. “What’s your take on long-distance relationships?”

Chelsea’s spoon pauses between her mouth and the bowl. “They suck. That’s why I moved here… partly.”

“You think you and Neil wouldn’t have worked out if you hadn’t come to Oaklow?”

Chelsea shrugs and dips her spoon into the mousse. “Maybe, maybe not. Seriously, most long-distance relationships fail. I didn’t want to wait and find out.” She pauses. “And for your information, I didn’t move here only for Neil. Oaklow University offers one of the best photography programs in the country. If it doesn’t work out with Neil, I’ll still be left with a degree in something I love.”

“Right, but let’s say you didn’t move here…” I avert my gaze so she doesn’t read anything there. “To keep the romance alive, would you, like, send him snaps of you in lingerie?”

“So my photos can end up on the Internet or used as blackmail? Hell no. He’d just have to look forward to the real thing.” Chelsea folds her arms on the table and leans forward. “Why all the questions? Do you have a distant lover you haven’t told me about?”

I wave a dismissive hand and attempt to laugh, but only a squeak comes out. “You’re being ridiculous. Of course not.” My eyes meet hers. “I was curious, that’s all.”

Thankfully she doesn’t dig deeper, and we change the subject. It’s ten when we head back to the dorms. After a quick call with Neil, Chelsea falls asleep.

I spend a few minutes thinking about it, and then I finally send a response to Judson.

I’m sorry. I don’t feel comfortable doing it.

I fall asleep only to be woken by another message from him, long after midnight.

Can’t blame a man for trying.

I smile in the darkness, relieved that he understands. He sends another message before I have a chance to think of a response.

I’m alone. No one is watching. Guess what I’m doing right now…

Oh, God. I close my eyes and my mind instantly conjures an image of him in his bunk, a hand inside his pants. What’s wrong with me?

Are you trying to corrupt pure innocent me?

I bite my lip as I send it off. I might have just told him indirectly that I’m a virgin. Do I want him to know?

The phone beeps again.

I want to make you so dirty, you won’t be able to wash me off. One day I will.

I send a final reply, put the phone on silent, and bury it under my pillow. My whole body is on fire.

Who knows, maybe I’ll let you.

Chapter Fifteen

I dream I’m inside Judson’s cell, wearing nothing but the lingerie he sent me. The bra and panties fit perfectly, molding themselves around my body like a second skin. As I step further into the cell, I wrap my arms around me. A chill radiates from the iron bars.

Without turning my head, I take in the closet of a room. The naked bulb hanging from the ceiling outside the cell provides enough light for me to see graffiti on the pitted walls of concrete—inmates’ desperate cries for help, anger, frustration. I lower my gaze as a smiling Judson stands up from his cot, the worn-out springs squeaking with his movements beneath the faded sheets and thin mattress. As he approaches me, the echo of footsteps coming from distant walkways reaches my ear. A toilet flushes.

Someone clears his throat behind me. It’s the guard who brought me to see Judson. His gaze bores into my bare back. Judson’s shoes squeak as he walks toward me. All other sounds die as I focus on his presence.

“You came.” His voice is deep and dusty, seductive.

“I came.” I swallow hard and smile.

“That’s my girl.” Judson moves in closer and wraps his arms around me. Like his cell, he smells of sweat and metal. The talking stops without warning as he unclasps my bra. I gasp as the straps slide down my arms, releasing my breasts. Judson’s warm breath fans my skin.

He starts to kiss my neck, first one side, then the other. He moves on to my shoulders, sucking and kissing slowly, a man with all the time in the world. I’m aware of the presence of the guard behind us, but I’m too intoxicated to care that he’s watching. Judson moves to my face, his hot kisses searing the surface of my eyelids, my forehead, my cheeks, my chin. Judson is fire and I’m plastic. My skin melts wherever his lips touch it.

“We’re not alone,” I say in a fragile whisper, coming to my senses. “The guard… He’s watching.”

“Let him.” Judson pushes a finger into the elastic of my panties, and slides it from hip to hip. “Let’s give him something to talk to the others about.”

I run my tongue across my bottom lip before slowly sliding it between my teeth. His words and his touch are driving me insane. My whole body boils with unquenched desire for him.

“And allow me to give you something to remember me by.”

I want to respond, but a lump inside my throat prevents me from doing so.

The next moment, my back is against the graffitied wall, with Judson holding me up. The wall is cold, but his body warms me. He kisses me first, sucking on my nipples, massaging them, pinching them. I throw my head back and close my eyes so I cannot see the guard on the other side of the iron bars. He’s not even hiding the fact that he finds us entertaining. But I no longer see him. Instead I choose to feel everything Judson is giving me. No one has ever touched me this way. No man has ignited the place between my legs like he is now.

Judson lowers me back to the cement floor. I open my drowsy eyes and moan, afraid he wants to stop.

“Don’t you dare,” I say, but only my lips move.

Judson grins as he pushes down his pants, leaving them bunched around his ankles. Then I’m in his arms again, back up the wall, my legs around his middle, as his dick forces itself between us, hard and thick and throbbing hot, the tip glistening in anticipation.

“I don’t think it—”

“—will fit?” His throat rumbles with the low chuckle. “Sweetheart, we are made for each other. I will fit perfectly inside you. You’ll swallow me whole—you’ll see.”

“But I’ve never done it before.”

“There’s nothing to worry about.” He covers my nipple with his warm mouth, encircling it with his tongue, and I moan, my worries melting away. “Unless you resist.”

He hoists me higher up the wall and then lowers me down gently onto his shaft. As he glides into me an inch at a time, I bite my lip hard and swallow a scream. I feel both uncomfortable and good, and he hasn’t even filled me up completely yet. He plunges deeper, until he’s halfway in. I force myself to relax my inner muscles, to give him an easy entry into the most sensitive part of me. The more he glides in and out of me, the more the pain melts away, turning into liquid ecstasy.

“That’s it, baby,” he whispers roughly into my ear, his sweat clinging to my skin. “Let me in.”

I do. I open up to him until he slides in smoothly without hindrance. Once he has filled me to the hilt, he stops moving, though I feel him pulsing inside me.

“Don’t you… Don’t stop.” My words are desperate. “I want you. I want you Judson… so bad.”

“Ivy, you have me. All of me.” With that, he moves his hips from side to side, shifting inside me, and then pulls out slowly. Before I can catch my next breath, he shoots into me so hard I slide higher up the wall and bounce back onto him. My screams refuse to be contained. They ricochet off the naked metal bars and concrete walls.

With my eyes closed, I don’t see anything, don’t allow myself to be distracted by anything outside of me, outside of this cell. Right now, only Judson and I exist. Right now, this jail cell is the most beautiful place on earth. Judson grunts as he moves inside me, pushing and pulling, deeper and deeper, grinding from side to side, up and down, driving me out of my mind.

My hands are in his hair, my nails scratching his scalp as I try to hold on to him. If he lets me go now, there’s no doubt in my mind that the fall will break me. He doesn’t let me fall, though, except onto him, over and over and over again. My breasts bounce against my ribs as I move to his rhythm. He’s teaching me to dance, and I’m following along just fine. Our dance becomes faster, following the beat of my screams, and his groans and grunts. I want to freeze the moment so it’ll last forever.

I tremble as he parts my butt cheeks so he can drive even deeper into me. I bury my face into his shoulder. Our sweat mixes, gluing us together. Then suddenly, a ball of fire builds inside the pit of my stomach, raging and spinning through everything in its path. A tornado I can’t slow down. I most certainly cannot stop it. It takes over my entire body before it finally breaks me into a million pieces.

Through the rush in my ears, I hear Judson getting louder, feel him moving faster, slamming deeper, ripping me apart. Then he moves me to the floor, the bumpy surface rubbing against my back as he grinds me into the dirt. He yanks my arms above my head and holds them together with one hand. As he pounds and pounds into me, the sound of flesh slapping against flesh echoes off the walls. Then the tornado inside my core comes to life again. This time, Judson and I explode at the same time, and a bell goes off.

Chapter Sixteen

The bell is my cell phone alarm. The harsh ringing drags me out of my erotic dream, and I groan with frustration as I reach for it under my pillow. My body is still quivering in the aftermath of Tornado Judson.

With my blurry eyes I check the screen. Unknown number.

“Hello.” I rest my spinning head onto my pillow, watching the morning light as it pours in through the thin curtain.

“Hi, ummm, is this Ivy Hollifield?”

I rub my tired eyes. “Yes, this is Ivy. May I ask who’s calling?”

“This is... this is Jennifer. Jennifer Hanson.”

I snap to a sitting position so fast, I swear the contents of my brain shift out of place. “Jennifer?”

After reading her letters, invading her privacy, I feel as though we know each other on a certain level. She’s like an old friend… whose boyfriend I stole. “How did you—”

“Paulette Stevens, your guidance counselor, gave me your number. She asked me to reach out to you. I hope you don’t mind me calling so early.”

So Paulette lied to me. She said she didn’t know where Jennifer was.

I glance at the clock above Chelsea’s bed. Six-thirty. The alarm clock on my phone is scheduled to ring in about twenty-five minutes. “I’m sorry, Jennifer, but why are you calling?” My cheeks heat. Why would Paulette hand out my number? I draw my knees to my chest and hug them. As my legs press together, the post-orgasm hum between them reminds me of my dirty dream. “I found your letters. I gave them to Paulette.”

“I know. She told me.” A breathy pause. “She also said last time you went to see her, you seemed troubled. She suspects you’re in touch with Professor Devereux. You don’t know me, and you might not want to listen to a word I have to say, but I won’t forgive myself if I don’t warn you against him. He’s really bad news.”

I let out a stream of air to slow my heart rate down. “Sorry, I don’t understand. Why do you feel I need to be warned against him?”

“Because he’s dangerous, Ivy. I… we had a thing last semester.” There’s a crackle on the line, but her voice is clear again almost immediately. “He seemed harmless at first.” Her voice lowers. “Everything was really great, but then he turned into a jealous, controlling jerk.”

“And why do I need to know this?” I scratch my brow, damp with sweat.

“I’m warning you before he gets under your skin. He can be really charming. He can make you feel like you’re the only girl, you know, in the world.”

“I’m not dating Professor Devereux.” Though I’m not even sure whether that’s the truth.

“I’m sure you heard the… the rape story.”

I nod but don’t say anything. My heart squeezes.

“It wasn’t.” She takes a deep breath. “It wasn’t rape. Oliver Banes was my on-again, off-again boyfriend. We broke up briefly, and that’s when...” Her voice drifts off. “Anyway, when I broke things off with Judson, Oliver and I got back together. I loved him. Judson was a mistake.” Her voice is thicker now. Is she crying? “One night Judson let himself into my room. He found me and Oliver in bed together. He went off the rails, accused Oliver of raping me. Two days later, Oliver was dead. I know Judson did it. I said as much to the district attorney.”

“How do you know for sure he did it?”

“His jealousy got the best of him. He refused to let me go.”

I drop my head onto my knees. It feels as though it’s full of heavy rocks. The air I breathe seems to be getting thicker. “I—I’m sorry.” I have no idea what I’m apologizing for. My head is a mess.

“It’s okay. I’ll be fine. I just called to tell you to be careful. He’s incredibly dangerous and possessive. He said he owns me… and tried talking me into moving away with him.”

“He’s in prison. He can’t hurt anyone.”
He can’t hurt me.

“Don’t let the prison walls fool you.” She breathes out. “He has money and connections, and he’s persistent. I doubt anything will keep him from getting whatever he wants. That’s why I had to go far away from Oaklow. After his arrest, I thought it was over, but I never felt safe. He wrote me almost every day. And I felt like I was being watched.”