The Pledge (22 page)

Alec held me tightly, and I was draped against him, loving the way our breaths came in deep, messy pulls.

“Oh my. That was...amazing.” I scattered small lazy kisses along his shoulder blade.

He lifted my chin to look at me, tucking a chunk of hair behind my ear. “Yeah, you are.”

“That was a first for me.” I buried my face against his chest and wrapped my arms around his back.
I wanted him to know. I just didn’t want to admit it while he was looking at me.

Alec’s hands wrapped around my upper arms, and he pushed me back to put space between us so he could look at me. “Are you serious?” His forehead was wrinkled in confusion.

I shrugged.

He smirked and pulled me to him, kissing my forehead. “Well I’m glad I was your first.”

Me too.

The wait had been worth it. Alec Hart had given me my first orgasm. He...he...I froze as realization slammed into me. He hadn’t had one.
Oh, crap
.

I peeked down and stared at his lap, at a very hard, very bulging, very large, and I was sure, very unsatisfied, erection. My face reddened. “Can I…” I blew out a breath. “I mean, would you like me to…” I wrung my hands together. “Or should I say how can I…?”

Alec rested his hand on my clasped ones and rubbed his thumb along my skin. “I don’t want to rush you.”

I quirked an eyebrow at him.

“I’m fine.” He shifted uncomfortably, but he smiled. Then, he winked as if he knew an inside joke that I wasn’t privy to. “For now.”

I cocked my head as the corners of my lips turned up. “For now?”

He was right. We should take it slow. I glanced up at him and licked my lower lip. But not too slow.

I smiled, a confident, albeit devilish, smile. “Want to study again tomorrow?”

***

“So…I want details. Lay it on me.” Julie sat on the floor of my bedroom, carefully polishing her tiny toenails a bright, cherry red.

“He’s quite possibly the sexiest guy on the planet.” Laying on my stomach, I rested my head on my crossed arms. I let every warm, delicious memory of the day before invade my thoughts.

“So you hooked up?” Julie paused from her methodical stroking of the brush and looked up at me.

“Yes, and it was amazing. Earth shattering. Life changing. I didn’t know it was supposed to be like that.” I shook my head and grinned.

Julie paused, her brush suspended in the air. “What? Hooking up?”

“Yeah.” I buried my face and muffled my words. “And orgasms.” A flush of embarrassment heated my cheeks.

“The hell? What do you mean you never knew? Did Pickle the Dickle not know how to ring your lady bell?” Julie’s voice rose in volume.

Lifting my head, I laughed. “Ring my lady bell?”

“Orgasm. Pickle never got you there?”

I shook my head. “Nope. My bell was never rung. Now I think I’m addicted.”

“It’s about time. It’s like getting a hug from the good Lord above. Not that I’ve hugged the Lord, but I imagine it would feel pretty darn great. And a good orgasm feels fucking fantastic, so I’m just saying.”

I stared at her in silence. She was so…weird.

“So what’s the problem? What aren’t you telling me? My best friend radar is shooting glitter bomb warnings at me.” Blowing on her toes, she screwed the cap back onto her polish and then straightened her legs in front of her. “I’m not leaving. I need proper drying time before my top coat. You can’t get rid of me so keep talking.” Her grin was both impish and prim. She was winning this one.

“Okay, okay. He’s gorgeous. His body did things to me that I will never forget, and he’s sweet. He’s also paying his own way through college, so totally responsible and hard working.”

“Sounds kind of perfect, T. What’s the problem then? Does he make a terrible O face? I dated a guy who did that, and I dumped him in a New York minute. The look on his face scarred me for life.” Julie’s expression was so serious that I couldn’t keep from laughing.

“No.” I giggled and sat up on my bed. “My only hesitation is that he totally humiliated me in high school. Talk about scarred for life.” My laughter faded, and I hugged my pillow to my chest.

Julie pressed her lips together and nodded for me to continue.

“After he embarrassed me, the rest of my senior year was miserable. The bullying got worse, if that was possible. Almost every day someone would tease me about that night and remind me what a loser I was.”

“Pecker heads. Seriously, T, what I wouldn’t give to go tell them all to go fuck a duck.” I would have paid anything to see her tell my worst attackers to
go fuck a duck
.

“Thanks, Jules. I love you, too.” I smiled. “But seriously. What if he changes his mind and rejects me again? I really like him and that would destroy me. I feel more for him after two days than I felt with Pickles in a whole year.”

“T, sometimes you’ve got to take the leap. You’re awesome, and if he can’t see that, he doesn’t deserve you. If he is stupid enough to break your heart again, so help me God, I will ruin him.” She got up off the floor and sat next to me.

“Your nails, Jules. Be careful.” Julie took her beautifying rituals seriously. She’d be in a funk for hours if she smudged her perfect piggies.

“Yeah, well…you’re worth it.” Julie wrapped her arms around my shoulders and hugged me tightly. “I mean it. You’re worth it.”

***

“Wait up, Denton.” Doug jogged after me. I zipped up Alec’s sweatshirt, the one I had conveniently forgotten to return to him a few days ago, and turned to face my ex.

“I can’t talk. I’ve got a class in ten minutes.” I bounced on the balls of my feet, desperate to avoid a conversation with Doug.

“Really? We dated for a year, and you can’t give me five fucking minutes?” Doug scowled. I wanted to remind him that after finding him sucking face with another girl I didn’t owe him jack shit. Instead, I shrugged, hoping that listening would get this over more quickly.

“What is it?” I kept my hands in the pockets of the sweatshirt so I wouldn’t be tempted to punch him in his cheating face.

“Are you really breaking up with me just because of one dance?” He paced back and forth in front of me and ran his hands through his hair.

“First off, I don’t think it was just that one dance. And by the way, it wasn’t just a dance. You were humping her on the dance floor and shoving your tongue down her throat.” I glared at him. “My sisters have been telling me for months that they’ve seen you flirting with girls. I’m not surprised you took it to the next level. You’ve never had the best judgment…especially when you’re drinking.” I raised an eyebrow at him, and he rolled his eyes.

“Taren, trust me. It was just a dance. I gave you a year and my letters. That’s a big commitment. I can’t believe you’re just over us, like it was nothing.” Doug stopped pacing and stood in front of me.

“What you and I had wasn’t nothing, but it also wasn’t love. You wouldn’t have cheated on me if it was.”

Doug frowned at me. “Taren…”

I held up both of my hands, palms facing him as I cut him off. “What you and I always were was friends. Let’s stay that way. Friends?”

He hesitated and then sighed. “Okay, Denton. We’ll try this your way, but I know you’re gonna miss me. You’ll be asking me to take you home by the end of the month.” He winked.

Clearly his cocky attitude hadn’t been affected by our breakup. I opened my mouth to argue, but stopped. I’d give him the last word. His pride was damaged, and I knew what that felt like.

There was only one guy I wanted and he wasn’t named after a vegetable. His nickname might even be god, based on the number of times I called it out when we were together.

Chapter Eighteen

ALEC

I propped my head up on my hand so that I could look at Taren. She was lying next to me on my bed—her shirt tossed on the floor, her long blonde hair a beautiful mess of tangles, and her lips still marked with the touch of mine.

“I love kissing you. I could kiss you forever.” Taren reached up to run her fingers lightly down my arm. I noticed that she touched me a lot, like I was a piece of art her body had to memorize.

“We’ve got a pretty good start on forever. I don’t think we’ve been out of this bed in hours.” I nipped at her shoulder, and she giggled.

As soon as my bedroom door had been shut and locked, our study session had turned into a frantic kiss-fest. Our books lay forgotten on the floor, our need to study falling victim to our need for one another. Later on, when I was up all night doing the work I had neglected, life would suck. Right now, I didn’t care.

I leaned down to kiss Taren again, and her mouth immediately parted. Her tongue twisted with mine as if we’d been kissing each other our entire lives. The slick warmth of her mouth was like fucking heaven.

When I moved my lips from hers, she let out an adorable growl of frustration until they touched her neck and she realized my kisses were heading to where my hands were tracing the edges of her bra. She arched up into me, and her head pressed into my pillow as she closed her eyes.

The way she placed her trust in me made me wild with the urge to protect her, to keep her innocence all to myself. That need to keep her safe was in constant battle with my darker side—the side that needed to claim her. I wanted to own every sexy sound that ever came out of her mouth.

I reached around her back until my fingers found the clasp of her bra, and when her eyes opened, I thought that she’d tell me to stop. Instead, her lips lifted into a shy smile. The clasp snapped open under my fingertips, and her eyes closed again. She reached up to the back of my head to pull my face into her skin.

My nose ran along the lacy edge of her bra where I could smell her perfume and Taren sighed. My thumbs slowly eased the fabric up until it was draped across her collarbone. Nothing but my heavy breaths were between my lips and the smooth skin of her breasts. Hunger gnawed at me. She was so beautiful I wanted to savor every inch of her skin with my tongue. I wanted to devour her.

I leaned down and kissed the curves of Taren’s perfect chest, stealing a glance up at her face to see her reaction. I wondered if she’d stop me. I hoped not. I wanted her to trust me.

We were taking things slow, but I was going to make sure that when we were apart, she’d still feel the echoes of where my mouth and hands had been. I wanted her to ache for me.

“Don’t stop.” She threaded her fingers into my hair and pulled me into her until my lips touched her again.

“You’re so damn sweet. I can’t get enough of you.” My voice was rough against her skin, and my body was rigid as I held myself over her. I licked her nipple with a flick of my tongue before drawing it fully into my mouth. She pressed up into me as if she couldn’t bear for any part of her body to not touch me.

“God, yes…” She let out a thankful groan when I settled my weight between her legs, rolling my hips into hers. “I need you.” She pleaded, trying to press our bodies closer together.

She didn’t need to beg. The taste of her kisses, the smell of her skin, every soft and exquisite curve—I could never get enough of her. I would give her whatever she needed.

***

Taren sat down on the opposite side of my bed, her eager gaze reeling me in like I’d swallowed not only the bait but the entire hook. I crawled across the mattress toward her, and she held up her hand.

“Hold it. Before we get started, I want to know how late you stayed up last night to get your work done.”

I smiled. “I like it when you’re bossy. It’s pretty damn hot.” As I started to make my way over to her again, she pulled her backpack into her lap like it was a shield.

“Tell the truth, Alec. How late?”

“Three in the morning.” I shrugged like it was no big deal.

Her forehead wrinkled with worry. “Don’t you get up at six to work a few hours in the physical therapy office before class?”

“I’m used to it. I used to work three jobs. Now I only have two. Three hours of sleep is an improvement.” I’d give up sleeping entirely if it meant more time with Taren.

Her face became serious, and I was reminded of the straight-laced Taren I knew from high school. “That’s not healthy, Alec. I don’t want to be the reason you’re exhausted.”

“You’re worth it.” Leaning forward, I inched toward her again. My hands and lips itched to get a taste of her.

Her eyes flashed, and I could see my eagerness reflected in them. Her lips parted and I could tell that she wanted me to kiss her. Instead, she shook her head slightly as if she were clearing her head. “I’ll make you a deal.” She held up her finger and looked at me in determination. “For every item you accomplish off your study list, I’ll reward you.”

I stopped my slow crawl toward her. The smile that crept across my mouth held back all the wicked things I wanted to say. “Reward me?”

She narrowed her eyes. “If you’re a good boy and do your work, I can make it worth your while.” When I didn’t answer, she lifted her eyebrows and jutted her chin out in defiance. “Do you doubt me?”

Remembering our last few nights together, doubt was the furthest thing from my mind. Her lips however...“You’re serious? Not even a kiss?”