Reckless Together: A Contemporary New Adult College Romance (The Reckless Series) (14 page)

"Not if you really drown the next time," Collin said.

"I'm with Logan," I said. "I'm a fair-weather jumper. It's not hot enough yet."

"We're out," Logan said.

Collin lifted his beer bottle toward me. "She has a point. It's more fun to drink beer and jump off cliffs in the heat."

Zave conceded defeat. "Okay, so what do you want to do?"

Logan slid me off his lap and took me by the hand. "You guys figure it out. El and I have to study." He pulled me toward his room.

"Anatomy again?" Collin smirked.

"Shut up." Logan pulled me into his room and closed the door. "I missed you."

"Are we really studying?" I asked.

"Yeah, anatomy." He got that wicked look in his eyes as he pulled me close and ran his fingers through my hair.
 

His back was toward the bed. I was facing him and it. I had a delicious idea, something I hoped would work to rid him of
Her
. And give him nothing but happy, erotic thoughts of me.
 

We'd made love fewer than a dozen times, always with him on top. My inexperience, especially with being on top, put me at a disadvantage. But love, determination, and complete enthusiasm for the job had to count for something.

I had a hard time focusing as his lips inched toward mine. I braced my hands against his chest and matched his grin, playfully pushing him backward toward the bed, taking full command as I pulled his T-shirt over his head.
 

He matched my move and ran his hot, talented hands beneath my blouse. He removed my blouse in a single, fluid move.
 

He dropped it to the floor with a flourish. "Now you see it. Now I see you." His grin practically stopped my heart. "I want you, El." He pressed an urgent kiss on my neck, sucking gently and pressing me against him.
 

I held back a sigh. Seducing Logan was the easy part. Playing aggressor was trickier. He stripped me of command too easily. And I was sure it was purely intentional.
 

He trailed kisses, hot, wonderful kisses, down my neck to my shoulder. He coiled himself around me, pressing me against the hard bulge in jeans. I was thrumming with lust and already wet for him as he nibbled and raked his teeth over my skin. I momentarily surrendered and spoke his name on a sigh. "Logan."

"I need you, El.
Desperately
."
 

"Only desperately?" I whispered back on a ragged breath. "I need you tragically."

"Tragically?" He kissed the hollow of my neck.

"Achingly."

"Are we engaging in a corny adverb war?"

"Yes, definitely." I ran my fingers through his hair. "Your turn."

He whispered in my ear. "I
love
you."

"Cheater! You win." I caught him off guard and pushed him backward to the bed until he butted up against the mattress. "You're going down, Walker."

"Is that an invitation? Because I'll go down on you any day."

I felt a rush of wetness and heat between my legs. "Shut up." I playfully shoved him backward, hoping I had enough control to hang on and make my point.
 

He fell back onto the bed with an exaggerated bounce.
 

"I like the sight of you on your back. Under
my
control."
 

"Under your control?" He spoke like he was issuing a challenge. "Power hungry?" His eyes danced.

I grinned and climbed on him, straddling him, rubbing my crotch against the obvious bulge in his jeans. I bent and sucked his nipple. "Anyone ever tell you you're a hot anatomy subject?"

He laughed. "No. No one. You're the first."
 

"Glad I'm first at something." I licked the hollow of his throat, feeling his pulse leap beneath my tongue.

He unhooked my bra. I sat up and let him pull it off, holding his gaze, daring him to turn me on even more. He dangled my bra from one finger before dropping it off the side of the bed. He took my breasts in his hands and ran his thumbs over my nipples until they were so hard and erect I thought they might shatter. "Now we're even."

We were
so
not even.
 

His eyes were dark with lust as I reached for his fly. "Are we?"
 

It had all been fun and games up until now, but now he froze as I unzipped his jeans.

"That's right. Just lie there and let me turn you on."

His breathing became shallow as I pulled back the fly of his jeans and slid his pants slowly to his ankles. He kicked them off as I reached for a condom.

I pulled his dick out from his briefs, stroking it slowly before rolling a condom onto it as expertly as my inexperience let me. I was wearing thong panties. There was no need to shed them. The thought of him sliding in around them made my breath catch. I should have talked dirty to him then, but I was afraid of being too obvious. Too similar. And it wasn't really like me.
 

I got up on my knees, took his dick in my hand, and poised myself about him, ready to plunge him into me. "I want to feel your big, hard—"

Before I could sit on him and take him into me, he grabbed my wrist, squeezing it so hard my hand turned almost instantly purple.
 

"Not like this, El."

I gasped and reflexively let go of him, stunned.

He took advantage of my moment of weakness and flipped me over, pinning me beneath him. His chest heaved. He was breathing hard and fast, excited, but he looked pale and wild. "Now who's in control?" His voice was excited and hard.

He plunged into me before I could answer, driving so hard and deep I could barely breathe, let alone speak. I wrapped my legs around him as he drove again and again, harder and harder, deeper and deeper until the headboard banged against the wall in time with us. And someone in the next apartment banged back.

"Logan!" I cried on a wave of pleasure as we climaxed together.

When it was over, he lay on top of me, breathing hard as I the aftershocks of my climax ebbed away. Finally, he pulled out and flopped next to me on the bed.
 

I rested my head on his chest. His heart was hammering and pounding as I mindlessly rubbed my right wrist.
 

"Shit! That was…some powerful orgasm. Like
nothing
before."

Although I was in total agreement, my experience was limited. I didn't reply. I was lost in my thoughts. I'd tried to replicate the dream and replace the outcome. And failed. As long as he had to be in control,
She
was still winning.
 

He leaned up on an elbow and stared at me. My face must have given me away.

He frowned like he was concerned. "You okay? I'm sorry, El. I don't know what the hell came over me. Was I too rough?"

Logan brushed my hair out of my face. He took my wrist, bringing it to his lips to kiss.
 

Halfway there, he froze. He frowned as he stared at my wrist. "I
was
too rough.
Look
what I've done to you." His voice broke.

I glanced at my wrist. It was circled with finger-size bruises.

"Shit. Sorry, El. I can't believe I hurt you." He sounded truly stunned.

"I bruise easily," I said fiercely. "It's nothing. I get bruises all the time and I don't even remember bumping myself."

The look in his eyes said he didn't believe me. "Shit."

"Don't worry about it. I heal quickly, too." I paused, going for broke. "I know how you can make it up to me."

"How?" He looked intrigued and relieved.

"Next time, let me be on top." I smiled suggestively at him. "It's a fantasy of mine to have you totally in my power."

Logan's cell rang from his jeans pocket on the floor, saving him from answering. He looked away too quickly for me to read his face and didn't answer me. "I have to get that." He rolled off the bed, slid the condom off, and grabbed his briefs, shirt, and jeans.

He pulled the phone out of his pants as he walked to the bathroom and picked up. "Amber, hey," he said just before the door slid shut and cut off his conversation.

A wave of jealousy crashed over me. I hated that predatory Amber. I felt like a knight protecting his castle while a different enemy stormed it from every side. I was losing more than one battle at once. And I didn't have enough defenses.

I needed reinforcements. But I had no idea where to get them. None.

Chapter Eleven

Logan

Logan closed the bathroom door and held the phone to his ear with his shoulder as he got dressed. That was a close escape. How could he explain to El that the thought of her on top caused him to go cold with nausea?
 

He didn't do that position. Ever. Not since
Her
. El could poll all of the girls he'd slept with since, and if they thought about it, they'd realize he not only liked it on top—he insisted on it. Or behind. Or any of another zillion positions. But not that one.
 

"Logan, glad I caught you." Amber exuded her usual confidence.
 

He held himself in check, irritated with Amber for calling, yet grateful for the interruption at the same time. El hadn't known what she was asking of him. And he couldn't tell her without cracking and looking like a coward and a sexual failure.
 

"What's up?" he said.

"We've hit a minor snag with the IPO." Amber's tone was so casual she may as well have been talking about the weather.

Which put Logan immediately on edge. He swore beneath his breath. He needed
one
thing to go right.
One damn thing
.

"It's nothing on our end. I'm already on top of damage control. But I thought you should know—Core Technologies is rattling their sabers and claiming to have a technology similar to ours that they're planning to release within the month."

"What!" The word exploded from his mouth. "They're lying. I did the due diligence. Core has nothing like ours."

"Of course they're lying." Amber laughed. "They're trying to mess with our IPO while they play catch-up. It's nothing more than corporate politics. I wouldn't even think twice about it, except Harlan has connections there."

Logan took a deep breath. "You think Dad's behind this? How would he even know about the deal?"

Logan could almost hear Amber shrug. "I have no idea. I only know he's unhappy with you. And I know what he's capable of if you cross him."

Logan jostled the phone as he pulled his shirt on. "Yeah. That's an understatement. He doesn't want me to testify, but I'm not backing down on that. I can't now, anyway. Too many people are counting on me. What do you want me to do?" He had a feeling that whatever it was, he wouldn't like it.

"He'll be on campus for the College of Business' annual advisory board meeting, right?"

It was rhetorical question. Amber knew the answer, so he didn't bother answering.

"Play nice and try to placate him. We may need him to use his influence to get Core to back off."

Logan swore again. "Only as a last resort. That would mean I'd have to tell him about the deal. It's even odds he'd go ballistic."

"The first rule of business, Logan—play the politics. Dirty politics if necessary. Don't think of it like owing your dad one. Keep the endgame in mind. Think of it more like using Harlan to get back at him. The ultimate double cross. Once you have your cash, you can tell him to go to hell. Isn't that the goal?"

She'd made a good point, but he didn't reply.

Finally, she laughed into the silence between them. "I'll do what I can on my end and keep you posted. In the meantime, don't worry." She paused. "Changing the subject to something more pleasant—I'm coming for Mom's Weekend. One of the speakers at the moms' breakfast had to back out. As a regent, I'm stepping in for her. Leave some room in your schedule for me. We have a lot to catch up on."

Shit.