Death of a Waterfall (The Hayden Falls Saga) (9 page)

"You alright, Teghan?" Donnie asked as he approached her.

"Stay the fuck away from her," Alex said, stepping in front of Teghan, blocking Donnie's path.

"Damn it, Alex. Stop!" Teghan looked at him. His lip was cut and swollen. "I'm not your girlfriend anymore. You can't act this way."

"Fuck this. I'm outta here." Alex walked away.

"Alex!" Teghan shouted and turned to go after him.

Donnie grabbed her wrist. "Don't," he said, his green eyes pleading with her. "Let him go, Teghan."

Teghan yanked free from his hold. She knew Donnie was right, but it was Alex. She had to go after him. Last time Alex had been angry and upset with her, he'd taken off for months without a word. She couldn't handle that again.

"He's right, Teghan," Annabelle said. "If you don't want to be with Alex, then you need to let him go."

"Give him some time to calm down," Trevor said. "I'll go talk to him."

"Thank you, Trevor." Teghan gave her brother a hug.

"Go get yourself cleaned up. You look like hell," Trevor said.

Teghan choked back a sob. It was just like Trevor to make a crass statement like that during a situation like this. "Annie, will you go with him?" Teghan asked.

"Sure." Annabelle hugged Teghan. "I'll meet you back at the dorm, okay?"

Teghan nodded. Annabelle was the voice of reason in their group, and she always knew how to make things right between everyone. Teghan prayed Annabelle could make things right this time, too. Slowly, the crowd dissipated and the party resumed. "I'm leaving," she said.

"Let me walk you to your dorm," Donnie said. "You shouldn't be out this late alone."

Who the hell was he? Her father? Teghan left the house without another word. So much for pledging that sorority, she thought. How would she ever face any of those girls again? She was so pissed, she wanted to kill Alex and Donnie for embarrassing her like that. What the hell had they been thinking? "We're here," Teghan said.

"Are you going to let me come up so we can talk about this?" Donnie asked.

Teghan rolled her eyes. There was nothing for them to talk about. "Whatever." She opened the door and went inside. The only thing she cared about right now was changing and crawling into bed, pulling the covers over her head, and forgetting the entire night. Maybe if she got lucky, she'd wake up and it'd be four days ago, back when she hadn't met Donnie, back when Alex hadn't shown up at her dorm unexpectedly, back when things were just a little simpler. Donnie sat on Teghan's bed and she cringed at the sight of him. She pulled a can of soda from the mini-fridge and handed it to him. "Better put that on your face before it starts to swell," she said.

Donnie put it on his cheek, underneath his right eye. "Ouch." He winced.

Teghan huffed. "Serves you right." She gathered some clothes from her dresser and grabbed her cosmetic bag from the desk. "I'm going to change. I'll be right back."

He tossed the soda on the bed and grabbed Teghan's hand as she walked by, pulling her down onto his lap. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For fighting with Alex."

"It's not like you punched yourself in the face." Teghan sighed. "I just never thought Alex would do something like that."

"He'll be okay, Teghan."

She looked at him, at the remorse in his eyes, at the bruises on his face, and at the sadness pulling on his lips. Teghan tossed her clothes and makeup to the floor. Taking his face into her hands, she gently kissed his bruised cheek before making her way to his mouth. Her kiss was soft at first, and then became harder, demanding. It was a greedy kiss, ripe with passion that left her hungry for more. She kept her lips on his as she adjusted her position on his lap and straddled him.

"Teghan." He groaned with pleasure as he began to work the buttons on her blouse.

Her breath hitched when he guided her shirt from her shoulders. He wrapped one arm around her waist, holding her on his lap as he fumbled to unhook her bra with one hand. "Here." Teghan reached behind her back. "Let me help." Donnie cupped her breast in his hand before taking it into his mouth. His tongue raked over her nipple, coaxing it into a tight, hard peak. Teghan arched toward him, her head falling to her shoulders. The feel of his hot mouth on her lit a fire deep in her that raged with each flick of his tongue. She ran her fingers through his hair and held him to her. She bit her bottom lip. "Mmmm," she moaned. God, why hadn't she let this happen sooner?

Donnie wrapped his other arm around her waist, lifted her off his lap, and laid her on the bed. He came over her, pressing his erection between her thighs. He slanted his mouth over hers, and their tongues feverishly slashed at each other as if they were both afraid the other would put an end to what was about to happen; to what they both so desperately wanted from each other. "Donnie," she breathed against his lips.

"I've wanted you from the moment I met you." He kissed down her neck, lingering on her rapid pulse before savoring the salty warmth of the valley between her breasts. His kisses were deliberate, firm yet gentle. He looked up at her under his lashes, a roguish grin on his face, as he unbuttoned her jeans and tugged them off over her hips. "You're so sexy," he whispered as he stood and removed his jeans.

The sound of his voice, deep, husky, drowning with need, whispering seductive compliments had her pausing for the briefest second. The knowledge that he was going to be the second lover she'd ever had, that they'd reached the point of no return, made her wonder if this was really what she wanted. He was so purely male it was slightly intimidating. Sex with Alex had always been gentle and loving. She had a feeling that sex with Donnie would be just the opposite and that terrified her. Could she really go through with this? Then he touched her again, and her mind went silent.

He ran his hand down her naked body until he found the silky slit between her thighs. A startled, desperate cry tore from her lips when he slid a finger into her fiery hot warmth. She dug her heels into the mattress and pushed against his hand, urging him to go deeper. Donnie nipped at her bottom lip and bit at her neck. She cried out as the pleasure-pain ripped through her body. Donnie stroked the delicate flesh, coaxing it, teasing it until Teghan was moaning his name.
More! She needed more of him.
He slid his finger from her.
No!
Her hips moved with his hand, desperate to keep his fingers buried inside of her. Teghan watched the way his muscles rippled under his tanned skin as he undressed himself and fumbled for a condom. The look of desire burning in his eyes had her throbbing with anticipation. She'd wanted this more than she realized, more than she could've imagined. She put her palms flat on his chest and looked at him as he tried to enter her. Doubts started to creep back into her mind. Suddenly, this seemed very wrong. As if taking it to the next step would be a decision she'd live to regret.

Donnie stopped. He put all of his weight into his arms and looked down at Teghan. "I'll be gentle," he whispered the promise against her lips.

Teghan hesitated. She wasn't ready. Not yet. Not like this. They weren't even dating. A loud wailing sound filled the room. "Oh shit!"
Thank God!
She pushed Donnie off of her, jumped out of bed and grabbed her bathrobe.

"What the hell?" Donnie asked.

"Fire alarm," Teghan said. She tossed him his jeans. "If we're not out of this room within two minutes, the RA will come knocking on the door."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." He yanked the condom off and pulled on his jeans. Teghan grabbed his hand and led him out of the dorm. He was shirtless and shoeless.

Teghan, dressed in just her bathrobe, shivered as a light breeze swept over her. Donnie put his arms around her and laughed. "Could this night get any worse?" he asked, kissing the top of her head.

"Yup." She stepped away from him and nodded over his shoulder.

Donnie spun around to see Alex, Trevor, and Annabelle walking toward them. "Great."

"Let me handle this," she said, stepping in front of Donnie.

"What's going on?" Annabelle asked.

"Fire drill," Teghan said.

"Really?" Annabelle folded her arms over her chest. "So, where's the rest of the dorm then?"

Teghan looked around. The quad was nearly empty. A few students trickled out from nearby dorms, but for the most part it looked as if no one bothered to leave their rooms. Son of a bitch!

"We're not stupid, Teghan," Alex said.

Teghan swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "I never said you were."

"Then cut the crap already and just say it. You were fucking him weren't you?" Alex said.

"Yeah, because I make it a habit of fucking random guys then parade around outside half naked." She ran a trembling hand through her hair. "For god's sake, Alex, you need to calm down."

"And you need to stop acting like a whore!"

Donnie stepped around Teghan and pointed at Alex. "
Don't
talk to her like that."

"Fuck you," Alex bit out.

"Enough!" Teghan shouted. She grabbed Alex by the arm and dragged him away from the group. "Alex--"

"Just stop, Teghan." His voice was full of a sadness that broke her heart. "I can accept the fact that we're not together anymore, but I won't watch you with him." He pointed at Donnie.

"Now it's your turn to cut the crap. You can't handle anything, Alex. You can't handle the break-up, or the idea of me being with someone else, and you sure as hell can't handle being friends." He'd made that very clear by his actions and his words. She couldn't believe he'd called her a whore! The guy in front of her was not the Alex she remembered or loved. In fact, she really disliked who he was becoming.

"That's not true," he said.

"Isn't it? What other explanation is there? If you truly wanted to be my friend, you wouldn't be acting like this."

"I saw you, Teghan! I saw the way he kissed you." Anger flashed in his brown eyes. "And I saw the way you let him touch you last night."

Her eyes widened and her heart beat triple time. "What?"

"Yeah, that's right. I saw everything. Tell me. Why didn't you just let him fuck you last night? On the cold, hard concrete under the stars. It would've been really romantic."

Teghan slapped him. "How dare you! You hang all over
my
friend, you fall asleep with her in your arms, and you have the nerve to question what I'm doing?" She wiped tears from her eyes. "Go to hell, Alex!" God, why did this have to be so hard? Why did it have to hurt so much?

Alex grabbed her wrist as she turned to walk away. "I didn't do anything with Beth," he shouted.

Donnie rushed over, grabbed Alex's free arm and twisted it behind his back. "Get your damn hands off of her," he said through clenched teeth.

"Stop it!" Teghan screamed. Alex released her wrist at the same moment that Donnie released Alex's arm. "I can't do this," she sobbed. "I will not watch you two beat each other up."

"Teghan," Donnie said.

"No." She shook her head. "I'm done. It's obvious that I'm the problem here, so consider me gone."

Alex's eyes frosted over as the truth set in. "What're you saying?"

"I don't want to see either one of you again." Teghan walked away.

"Teghan!" they shouted in unison.

She ignored them and continued to walk toward her dorm. If she stopped now, she'd fall apart. She was at her breaking point.

"You can't just walk away like this," Alex said.

Despite her better judgment, she stopped and turned to face them. "Why the hell not? You two seem to do whatever the fuck you want without any concern for me." Teghan shrugged. "Well, guess what? I don't give a shit anymore either."

"What do you want from me, Teghan?" Alex asked, his voice full of defeat.

Teghan looked at him. "I know nothing happened between you and Beth, but like it or not, something did happen between me and Donnie. You have to accept that."

Alex shook his head. "No. I won't watch you with him."

"And I won't choose between you two," she said before walking away.

Chapter Eight

Rob stood inside the house, looking out the sliding glass door and watched Trevor throw Teghan then Annabelle into the pool fully clothed before Trevor dove in after them. Rob almost smiled, until he realized he was probably going to have to buy new cell phones. Again. He frowned. Damn kids. Well, they weren't going to have it handed to them this time. He'd make them earn them.

He slid open the door and stepped out onto the patio. His eyes scanned the yard and rested momentarily on the waterfall he'd installed for Teghan. It'd been done in an attempt to curtail her growing obsession with the damn things. He'd hoped by having one in her own backyard, she'd stop nagging him to take her all over the world to see them. Unfortunately, it hadn't worked out the way he'd planned. If anything, it only served to intensify her interest. A shriek from the other end of the pool had Rob looking away from the waterfall, his brief reverie broken. Trevor was wrestling around with Annabelle. Now that was a relationship he'd like to see--Trevor and Annabelle. He liked Annabelle a lot, and he was sure Teghan wouldn't mind if her best friend became her sister-in-law. He'd have to see what he could do to make that happen.