Obsession (18 page)

Hannah

As I clambered off the back of Leo’s royal blue Ducati street bike, I was uncomfortably aware of all the stares I was getting. It could be because of the motorcycle—it was super awesome and sleek in a way that you just knew it cost bank—or it could be the sight of Leo in padded black leather with his hair tied back and a nice five o’clock shadow. But I was pretty sure it was because I’d almost fallen on my ass trying to get off the back of his bike with my new, heavy backpack filled with gifts from Leo.

Dressed in a black leather riding outfit that matched his, and I mean totally matched, right down to the smallest detail like the royal blue stitching, I shifted on my new biker boots and tried to ignore the fact my outfit was skin tight.

Okay, so maybe our outfits weren’t exactly the same. While his safety gear looked like pants and a jacket, masculine and kind of beat up, mine fit me like a cat suit and made me uncomfortably aware I was nude beneath it. Before we’d left his house so he could get me back in time for class, Leo had kept me nude and spoiled, indulged and petted like some pampered princess. It had been utterly divine. While I was with him, my oversexed body hadn’t felt that sore, but after the bike ride, every muscle was protesting the rough treatment.

I’d been ridden hard—really, really hard—and I was so not used to the intensity of Leo’s lovemaking. While I was already missing him like crazy, my overworked inner core was whimpering with relief. Still, I wish I’d thought to grab a shirt of his to bring with me so I could smell him while we were apart. A pang of longing went through my chest and I really wanted to skip class and stay with Leo, but I managed to fight off my clinger tendencies.

The rumble of Leo’s engine was loud and I felt suddenly shy as I handed him my helmet, sure my hair was a crazy mess despite the braid he’d put it in. “Thanks for giving me a ride home.”

He grinned just the slightest bit and shook his head, the smoky riding glasses he wore hiding him in an odd way from me. I felt like I could read his emotions much easier when I could see his eyes. Then again, we hadn’t been out in public much. Maybe he was aware of the people who’d stopped to watch us like we were important. In a messed-up way, even though it made me self-conscious, I liked the attention and I was more than aware of curious, and sometimes envious, eyes on us.

Leo leaned forward and I met him halfway, my breath already hitching with anticipation as I lifted my free hand to cup his jaw, committing to memory the feeling of his skin beneath mine, the taste and smell of Leo as he sucked on my lower, then upper lip, his touch unbearably sweet.

Sometimes he did this, was so careful with me, and every reverent caress was magnified by his gentleness. By the time he pulled back from what had been in reality a rather short kiss by our standards, I was already flushed and breathing hard. The side of his firm, kiss-swollen lips quirked up and I just about died on the spot of an overload of hormones. He was just so…masculine. His presence made me feel female, sensual, powerful. Standing a little taller, I adjusted the pack on my back and stopped hunching forward, a bad habit I’d developed as a kid when I didn’t want to draw attention to myself.

Which was all the time.

But in Leo’s presence, I felt like a goddess.

“I’ll miss you.”

The words just kind of slipped out like my brain-to-mouth filter was malfunctioning, but before I could play it off, Leo smiled wide and I swore I heard a couple women behind me sigh. “I’ll miss you too, baby girl. What time are you done with your study group tonight?”

I tried to remember when I’d mentioned my study group, but couldn’t. It must have been one of those hazy times when, sexually exhausted and satisfied, I’d just babbled about anything and everything with Leo. He was a great listener and seemed to really enjoy my random thoughts about the best kind of peanut butter, or how quickly the oceans were going to rise in the next century, or what kind of rose smelled the best. Odd conversations with no rhyme or reason, but immensely satisfying. I connected with him better than I ever had anyone before, and the feeling of belonging I got from lying in his arms, being stroked and coddled while we watched a movie, was completely addictive.

And our conversations were interesting. He knew lots about the world, things I’d never considered, ways of looking at events that seemed totally foreign to me. It’s like if we both looked at one of those ink blot pictures, I’d see a puppy and he’d see a gun. Well, maybe not that bad, but I couldn’t easily dismiss how much he seemed to know about the criminal elements of the world.

I vaguely remembered complaining about last semester’s expensive books that I’d been forced to buy for my courses, only to never use half of them. We’d gone on to discuss how the textbook industry was a scam, and Leo had some amazing insights into how a scheme like that worked. Without a doubt, I was now sure our corrupt government could be bought out by anyone, including the textbook industry.

Shaken out of my memories by an engine revving behind Leo in the big circular drive leading to my apartment building, I nodded, the fumes from the exhaust of the bike strong in the desert heat, tainting my every breath. “It was canceled, too many people had other things going on, and for once I don’t have to rush off to work. They gave me two weeks off to heal. I haven’t had this much free time in forever. Seriously. Last vacation I took was to my aunt’s funeral in Michigan three years ago, if you can even call that a vacation.”

His lips tightened and he shook his head. “That’s no way to live your life. You’ve never had a chance to go anywhere, see anything, or experience new things because you’ve been working yourself to the bone. We’re going to change that. From now on, you get to enjoy life, Hannah, not watch it pass by.”

All I could do was nod quickly, hoping my chin wasn’t quivering as badly as it wanted to. Stupid emotions, they always overwhelmed me. Older kids at my school used to love how quickly they could make me cry, no matter how much I fought to retain my tattered pride.

Cars drove past us in the drive, and on the wide stairs leading to my apartment stood three girls I knew from the floor below us, not so secretly snapped pictures of us on their cell phones while Leo caressed my cheek with his leather-clad hand. “I know you’ll positively pine away without me, but I’ll see you at eight.”

Laughing, I shook my head and let go of the past before it could drag me down. “Make it nine. I need a little bit to hang out with my roommates.”

For a moment his lips thinned then turned down, but his angry expression was gone before I could really be sure if I’d even seen his frown. “Nine it is.”

Feeling like I’d somehow offended him by not seeing him at eight, I tried to hand him the helmet. “Thanks again, Leo. I had an amazing time.”

He gently pushed the helmet back at me. “Keep it, it’s yours. And I had an amazing time as well. Now get in your fucking apartment before I rip that tight suit off your ridiculously hot body, bend you over my bike, and fuck you in front of your neighbors. Show them who you belong to.”

Thankfully he said the last part low enough that I was probably the only one who’d heard him—well, me and the girl from down the hall, who was now staring at us with her mouth hanging open a couple paces away and her tanned cheeks darkened with a hard blush.

“Hannah,” Leo growled, “eyes on me.”

Without thought, I did as he commanded, already responding to his orders like I’d been born to do it. I’d be more concerned about my sudden passivity if it didn’t feel so good to let him take charge. Handsome, successful, and so charismatic, he was a man who obviously had his life together and knew who he was and what he was doing. I was more like a lump of half-formed clay, waiting for someone to finish me off, to help me find the shape I was meant to be.

“Good girl,” he said in that same low, growly voice. “Entirely too tempting. I’ll see you at nine. Text me when you get back to your apartment so I know you’re safe.”

His concern over my safety made me all glowy inside. “Okay, goodbye, Leo.”

“Don’t say goodbye.”

“What?”

“Say, ‘I’ll see you soon’. Say it, Hannah.”

“I’ll see you soon.”

“Before you know it.”

With that, he smiled and put his helmet back on, leaving me with a wet crotch and cursing the fact I wasn’t wearing panties.

During an uncomfortable walk through the small foyer of my building, I smiled at the people openly staring at me, faces I’ve seen a hundred times who never gave me a second look. Now, dressed like some rich street racer’s girlfriend out of an action flick, I had their attention. One guy who was cute even tried to hit on me, but I found him completely lacking, and for the first time in my life, didn’t feel desperate for more of a man’s attention.

There was only one man I wanted thinking about me, lusting after me, and it wasn’t the sad excuse for manhood from unit 5A, who regularly left his laundry moldering away in the communal washers on the main floor.

By the time I made it to my apartment, I had about twenty minutes to get ready before I had to leave for class. I needed to get in, get dressed, and get my shit together.

This plan was thwarted by Joy and Kayla both being in the kitchen, arguing about who needed to do the dishes. Joy wore jeans and one of her blazers, probably on her way to her job as a tutor for rich and spoiled kids. Joy’s blonde hair was up in an artful bun, and her tanned cheeks were dark red, her body language promising violence as she yelled that she did not have time to clean up Kayla’s shit, and that we were going to get fruit flies.

I wasn’t surprised in the least to see that the sink was full of Kayla’s crap, and I knew there was no way Joy was going to clean up after her.

No, that fun job was reserved for me, because even though I didn’t like it, I let Kayla guilt me into doing it, unable to handle it when she’d basically shun me for not doing what she wanted.

Except, for the first time in what felt like forever, I wasn’t guilt-ridden for being mad that Kayla couldn’t clean up after herself for one damn day.

“Just clean up your shit,” Joy yelled, her cheeks flushed with anger. “You’re disgusting! There’s a moldy bowl of oatmeal in there that has dried to concrete. How long has it been since you picked up after yourself?”

“I don’t have time—”

“You don’t have time? Are you kidding me? Hannah and I both work full time and go to school; what the hell do you do? Attend your
one
class? Bullshit. You party until six a.m., drag your ass in here and sleep all day, then get up long enough to destroy everything Hannah spent all day cleaning before going out with your new fucktard dealer friends and getting wasted.”

Kayla squinted her eyes and dramatically threw her dish into the sink, milk and cereal splashing everywhere, including the wall, and one lone piece of brightly colored cereal slid down the window. “Fuck you!”

Before Joy could respond, I said in a low, super-pissed voice as I set my helmet down on the small foyer table, “I am
not
cleaning that up.”

“Hannah?” Kayla blinked once, twice, then cocked her head to the side like a confused dog.

“Holy shit,” Joy squeaked before setting her bowl on the counter and coming to look at me. “What the hell is this?”

“This,” I couldn’t help but grin, proud to be the one showing off for once, “is Leo’s version of ‘something to wear when you’re on my bike’.”

Kayla suddenly appeared in my line of sight, her gaze locked on my ears. “Are those real?”

I self-consciously touched my ears, where a pair of lovely diamond and gold-filigree hoop earrings sparkled. “Um—yeah.”

An ugly frown distorted Kayla’s normally pretty face. “He gave you diamonds? This guy fucks you for a few days and gives you
diamonds
?”

Joy turned on Kayla, pissed, but I spoke first as anger sparked through me. “He sure did. He not only gave me diamonds, he also gave me a designer wardrobe, more jewelry—oh, and his super-thick cock. And let me tell you, he is absolutely amazing in bed. Fucks me like a grown man who knows what he wants, and he eats pussy like a starving person. Anything else you want to know?”

For a long, long moment, both Kayla and Joy stared at me before Joy lost it, laughing so hard she was cackling as she held on to the counter. “Ohhhh, burn.”

“Fuck you,” Kayla hissed at Joy then flounced off to her room, her black bob bouncing with her pissed-off gait.

Still snorting with laughter, Joy waved her hand in the direction Kayla had stomped off. “Ignore her. Stupid bitch just got home from partying with some rough, and I do mean rough-looking guys. I don’t know what’s up with her, but her taste in men has gone right down the shitter.”

Loud music poured from Kayla’s room, like a teenager throwing a tantrum, and Joy and I exchanged a look then sighed.

Glancing at the mess Kayla made, I shook my head. “I really am
not
cleaning that up.”

Her light green eyes slowly examined me from head to toe, then back up again. “So, you finally got some dick?”

Laughing, I gave her a one-armed hug. “Yes. Now, let me get changed and I’ll give you the scoop before I go to class.”

“Wait, you have to tell me something!”