Wanton

by Malone, M.

Natalie appeared at the entrance to the kitchen. Her eyes narrowed. “You have a guest.”

  Jenny walked around her, giving Natalie a curious look. “Trevor, you didn’t tell me you had a sister.”

  Natalie snorted. “I’m not his sister. I’m his new roommate.”

  Jenny shrugged. “Oh. Cool. Nice to meet you.”

  I opened the fridge and got out a bottle of water, and offered it to Jenny. She took it while looking uncertainly between me and Natalie.

  “Nice to meet you, too.” Natalie’s eyes slid to mine before she turned around and left.

  Jenny wrapped her arms around my neck. “I’m glad you called. I could use a little stress relief.” She licked her lips.

  Nothing.

  I glanced down at my dick in disbelief. What the hell? Not even a twitch? Jenny was gorgeous in a rock-chick kind of way, with spiky, jet-black hair, and dark eyes that she rimmed with a ton of black eye shadow. And that mouth? Jesus. Usually just the thought of those pillowy lips could get me hard.

  Today, nothing.

  “Let’s go to my room.”

  Jenny’s eyes lit up in excitement. She grabbed my hand and followed as I led her from the kitchen to the living room. Natalie didn’t even look up, but the guy she was with watched us closely, his eyes locked on Jenny.

  The fucker couldn’t even keep from ogling other women while he was sitting right next to Natalie. I scowled at him until he turned away. Was that the kind of guy she liked?

  Once we reached my room, Jenny was all over me, her hands diving into my hair as she tried to climb me. I gently tugged her hands down and stepped back.

  Jenny frowned. “What’s the matter? I thought this was why you asked me to come over.”

  “I texted you so we could work on your database design. You said you needed help, remember?”

  She rolled her eyes. “I just said that because I wanted a reason to hang out. I figured you knew that.” She tucked a finger into the front of my jeans, brushing the skin on my lower abdomen.

  I gulped. This was about to get embarrassing, or awkward. I was totally not into this, and it wasn’t going to take long before that fact was physically apparent.

  “Let’s watch a movie, then. Get to know each other a little,” I added hurriedly when Jenny narrowed her eyes.

  “Okay. That’s really nice, actually. It’s nice to meet a guy who wants to get to know me.” Jenny settled on the bed, and I took the other side.

  For the next hour, we watched a romantic comedy that made me want to gouge my eyes out. The soundtrack was punctuated by the occasional peal of laughter from the living room. I groaned. Now they were just being obnoxious. Nothing was that funny.

  Just then, the sound of Natalie’s voice floated from the living room, followed by deep, masculine laughter. I couldn’t tell exactly what they were saying, but tried to listen anyway. Ha ha… believe it… ha ha… some women are scared of cock.

  Wait, what? I pushed past Jenny, and flung open the door to my room. Before I could think about it, I stormed down the hall and into the living room. Natalie and Alex both turned to stare at me when my foot banged into the edge of the side table.

  “Fuck,” I muttered.

  Jenny appeared at my side. “Are you okay?”

  I clamped my lips together and nodded. There was no way I would admit how much that had hurt.

  Suddenly, Jenny looked at her wrist. “Crap, I have to go. I’ll call you later, okay?” She grabbed me around the waist and hugged me. “I had fun.”

  “Me too.” I walked her to the door. When I got back to the living room, my toe was only throbbing a little.

  “Everything okay?” Alex asked.

  I ignored him. “What have you guys been doing out here? It sounded like… well, never mind that.”

  Natalie stood, and Alex did as well, stooping to pick up a black backpack from his feet.

  “So I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

  “Bright and early,” Natalie responded.

  Alex kissed her on the forehead and then passed by me, brushing up against me. “Nice tats,” he whispered.

  I backed up, startled by the intimate tone in the man’s voice. I glanced over at Natalie, who was already sitting down again, scribbling something in her notebook.

  I put on a strained smile as I met Alex’s eyes. “Thanks, I guess.”

  Alex leaned closer. “I left my number on your whiteboard. I’d love to see how far down those tats go.”

  Alex winked and then walked out of the room. A few seconds later, the front door closed.

  5

  I knew I should let it go.

  But I just couldn't help myself. He'd spent the whole damn night trying to ruin my study session. For what? For the most part, as a roommate, he was fine. But there was always an aloofness to him, as if he didn't want me there, or didn't want to talk to me. He wasn't unfriendly, but we weren't friends. And he'd made that perfectly clear. When I found him in the kitchen, I couldn't resist poking the bear just a little bit. "So, how was your study session?"

  Trevor looked up from the dishes he was cleaning in the sink to glare at me. "My study session was just fine. How was yours? I don't imagine you got much studying done, since you were talking about cocks all the time."

  I couldn't help but laugh. "Exactly what do you think I was studying?"

  "Well, clearly you were too busy flirting with your new boyfriend." He turned his attention back to the dishes in the sink. "You can do better. You know that right?"

  "What business is it of yours?"

  "Look, it's not my business who you date. But, you know, since we're roommates and all, I do sort of feel the need to warn you. As a boyfriend, that Alex dude sucks."

  I was having fun with this. I crossed my arms and leaned back against the counter. "Oh, yeah? Why's that?"

  "Well for starters, the jackass hit on me. He's totally batting for both teams. If that's what you're into, I don't care. But that's a douchebag move to hit on someone when you're with your girlfriend. No matter who you bat for."

  I blinked at him. Then laughter tumbled out so hard that no sound followed. "Oh my God. You should see your face right now. All righteous indignation." More laughing. More clutching my sides. "Oh my God, this is just perfect."

  He turned the water off, then turned to glare at me. "Just what the fuck is so funny?" He shook his head. "Whatever, you guys have an open relationship, that's your business. I thought I was doing the decent thing by telling you."

  I wiped the tears of laughter from the corner of my eyes. "Trevor. I don't even know where to begin. But you should probably know, Alex doesn't like girls."

  He frowned. "What the fuck are you talking about? That guy was all over you," he growled.

  "No, he wasn't."

  "Yes, he was. For fuck's sake, you were talking about sex. And cocks."

  "You realize that we were discussing our sexual dysfunction paper. I'm a psych major, remember?"

  His brows furrowed. "You think this is funny?"

  I grinned, even as I pushed up my glasses. "Yeah, I kinda do. You're acting ridiculous. Hell, you're acting like a jealous boyfriend. What is your deal? You don't even like me."

  His eyes darkened from emerald green to a rich moss color as he stared at me. Then, in the next second, he closed the distance between us, and bracketed me against the counter with his hands. "You're right. I don't like you."

  Before I knew it, before I could even respond, before I could even mentally prepare, his lips were crushing mine.

  First revelation, Trevor Hamilton could kiss. Not just like oh, “the guy was a good kisser”, but like he should give lessons. He could hold seminars all about the art of it. The course would detail how much time to take. There would be bullets about the slide of the tongue, the pressure of the lips. Each course should be at least a weeklong seminar. Required coursework for all guys.

  After the initial crush of his lips, he softened, gentled. He teased, probed, waited for me to respond,
waited for me to allow him in. He had a subtle way of flooding the senses. He melted my resistance away, as if there had been any to begin with. My body slowly started melting, leaning into him, wanting more, craving more.

  Before I knew it, my hands were sliding up to his pecs, and I was clutching onto his T-shirt. Under the soft cotton, he was all hard muscle and carved stone. When my nails dug in a little, he growled low and shoved one hand into my hair, gripping and angling my head just how he wanted as he took long licks into my mouth. Leaving no corner unexplored.

  His body pressed into mine, forcing me to arch my back, if I didn't want it pressed into the edge of the counter. Of course, that motion made my breasts press against him more. My nipples were tight, my skin too hot. And, Jesus Christ, I could feel the thick length of him throbbing against my belly, as if claiming me. As if letting me know we were just getting started.

  With another muffled groan, he lifted me on top of the counter so that his steel-like erection pressed against my center. Pressing into that spot I desperately needed the most.

  Tomorrow, I would rethink this whole kissing situation, and have the wherewithal to be embarrassed. Tomorrow, I would look back on this and wonder what the hell I was thinking. Tomorrow, I would vow to never, ever do this with him again. Right now? Well, right now, I couldn't help it. Because he was kissing me like I'd never been kissed before. It was like he was reaching deep inside me, stroking every single pleasure center simultaneously.

  The worst part was, he knew he was good. He would make little teasing licks and act as if he was withdrawing. And then I'd whimper, or instinctively follow the source of my pleasure, and he would give a muffled chuckle before delving in for more.

  Before I even knew what the hell was happening, I felt a tingling electricity over my skin. As if all the synapses were firing at once. The heat built in my core until I was on the edge of eruption. The tingle started in the base of my spine, and I leaned into it. Leaned into every sensation, every touch, every lick.

  I slid my hands into his hair, scoring his scalp with my fingernails. And he shuddered, just before growling low. He tucked a hand under my T-shirt, sliding over my belly, stopping just under the edge of my bra.

  Oh, God, yes. Please, God, just let him slide up a little bit more. I wanted his hands on me. I wanted to know if he would be rough, gentle, anything. I was so down for it all. All I wanted was his hands.

  Then suddenly, they were gone. Trevor tore his lips from mine. For several long moments, we glared at each other. Well, he glared at me, letting me feel the full force of his anger and confusion. For the most part, I could barely keep my eyes open. All I wanted to do was let them flutter closed, so I could escape to that drugged, sexual euphoria. I wanted to live in that place forever.

  But that place came complete with an asshole for a roommate.

  Trevor shoved me several inches away from him and scowled, before doing an about-face and marching off to his room. I expected him to slam the door and braced myself for the loud bang. Instead, there was only a soft but audible click.

  6

  Jesus Christ. What the fuck did I just do?

  One second, I'd been giving her shit about her little playmate. The next, my tongue was in her mouth, and she tasted so fucking good I could've come just from that. Another thirty seconds, and I might have had the chance. And I knew she'd been close, too. So close. I was so tempted to go back out there. I wanted to watch her as she came, working her hips over me. God, I wanted her so bad. Shit was way out of hand. At this point, I couldn’t tell the difference between my constant fantasies and the reality.

  What the hell is wrong with you? I knew what the hell was wrong with me. I had the hots for my sexy roommate.

  But fuck, I knew better. She was Professor Washington’s niece. There was no way I could do that. The whole thing was a recipe for disaster. My advisor had the kind of tech contacts that could set me up for life. Jesus, with her contacts, I could get a job at SpaceX if I wanted. And she liked me. She'd already written a couple of great recommendations for internships, but for the jobs I really wanted, those were still pending.

  I'd always made it a rule not to shit where I ate. So what was the problem now?

  Oh, I knew what the problem was. The little librarian out there was fucking with me. Running around in her cardigans. Every time I saw one, I wanted to rip it off, and use it to tie her to the bedpost. Lots of girls wear them, asshole. Well, other girls didn't wear them like Natalie. On her, cardigans were lingerie.

  My hands twitched. I'd been so close to cupping her full tits. If I had, I'd have fucked her right there. End of story. Done deal. Because she had the most gorgeous, God-given set of perfect tits I'd ever seen in my life. Or at least it looked that way from a distance. From a distance being the key word. That was the only way I should ever look at her from now on. A distance that had obstacles in between.

  I ran my hands through my hair as I paced the length of my bedroom. I had so fucked that up. How did I come back from that?

  Or maybe you don't. Since you've already fucked it up, why not march on back out there, kiss her again, and see where it takes you? The killer of it was, I didn't think about where it would take us. I already knew.

  My bed, her bed, the couch. That fucking countertop. Basically any flat surface. Also, the shower. No. No. No. Things were still salvageable. They had to be. We could talk about it: how things had gone too far, and it wouldn't happen again.

  Is that really what you want to do? The devil on my shoulder wouldn’t shut up.

  Shit, I needed advice. Maybe Cage could help. Besides, I could call and check in on my sister at the same time. I dragged my phone out of my pocket and dialed my best friend.

  Cage answered on the first ring. "Yo." His voice was low, almost cautious.

  "Everything okay?" I asked.

  There was a beat of silence. "Yeah, great. Perfect."

  "Okay? You sure? You sound funny."

  "Nope. I'm good. So what's up?"

  "Just figured I'd check in on Talia."

  "I, uh, saw her this morning. For, uh, coffee. At a cafe."

  What the hell was with Cage, anyway? "Well, okay. Things are cool, right?"

  There was another pause on the line. "Absolutely. I'd tell you if they weren't."

  "Yeah. Actually, I have another reason for calling."

  "Yeah?"

  I cleared my throat. "I have a situation."

  My friend chuckled. "Oh boy, who'd you fuck that you shouldn't have?"

  "Shit. Nobody. Yet..." With a deep breath, I told Cage what happened. When I was done, my friend was silent for a moment.

  "Let me get this straight. Your advisor, who you're counting on to get you the dream gig of a lifetime, sends her niece to live with you."

  "Yeah."

  "She must not know my boy." Cage laughed. "Seriously though, is she hot?"

  "Yeah. Really hot."

  Case chuckled. "And you kissed her?"

  "Yeah. I kissed her." I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to exorcise the memory of how soft her lips were from my memory.

  "Any chance it was just one of those ‘I-meant-to-kiss-your-cheek-but-oops-there's-my-tongue’ kind of kisses?"

  I had to laugh. "No, man. It just sort of happened. You know, I barely even like her."

  Cage sighed. "Look. That's good that you don't like her. That means that you won't let it happen again."

  What? "I was pretty sure you would tell me to go out there and bang her senseless."

  "Well, if she were any other chick, then yeah. One that wasn't related to your advisor; the one that holds your future by the balls. If that wasn't the case, man, I'd say you go out there and make that chick yours. Maybe that would make you less uptight."

  I frowned. "I'm not uptight."

  Cage laughed. "Man, when was the last time you relaxed, or let yourself lose control of anything?"

  "That is not the point." Cage may or may not have a point there. Growing up, I'd been
the one who always had shit together. I always volunteered to take care of everyone else. Who knew where I got that from. My parents never put any extra pressure or me or anything, but still, I always felt like I had to push himself.

  "Yeah, whatever. My advice?"

  "Yeah, that's why I called your stupid ass."

  "Look, I suggest you get laid. You find someone else. Someone very, very hot. Use that pretty face of yours. Chicks have never been a problem for you. You just have all these things called standards. But now, no more standards. You will bang the hottest girl you can find. Because you cannot fuck the woman who is living in your apartment. You hear me?"

  I frowned. "Yeah, I feel you. I'm not fucking her." And I wasn't. But that didn't mean I wasn't going to think about it. It looked like I was going to be spending a lot of time in the shower.

  "And while we're having this conversation, you may not want to think about her, you know, when you're letting off some steam."

  Fuck. "What do you mean?” I swallowed hard.

  "I mean, it's going to be a lot harder to get her out of your head if you keep thinking about her naked. So, whatever extracurriculars you’ve got going on, which I don't want to know about, thank you very much, I would stop them. Right the fuck now."

  "I don't know what you're talking about. The thought never crossed my mind," I lied.

  "Yeah, sure, whatever you say."

  I was eager to change the direction of the conversation. "So, what's going on with you? Anything new?"

  For a moment it sounded like Cage was choking. "Actually man, I gotta go. I have class in ten minutes, so I'll call you later and we'll catch up?"

  "Yeah, sure. Just call me later." I hung up with my friend and dropped back on my bed. This was going to be next to impossible. But I could do it. I had to.

  * * *

  I stared at the piece of paper on the front of the refrigerator and seriously contemplated burning it. A chore list? Trevor had kissed me and practically incinerated my panties. Then he had the nerve to avoid me and post a chore list?