by Marian Tee
The lecture hall was shrouded in darkness, the only light coming from the PowerPoint presentation projected on the white screen. In front of us, the professor was still talking, her back to us as she explained about art forgery and why we shouldn’t even include it in our vocabulary. I was pretty sure she had a lot of good points, but most of it flew over my head since—
My eyed strayed towards the clock mounted on top of the board.
Ten minutes before class ended.
My teeth clenched. I hate you, Kellion Argyros. The darn biker had turned my life into one big countdown.
I forced myself to concentrate, but it was near impossible. The professor was speaking in English, but I felt like I had suddenly turned Brazilian-Japanese and I couldn’t understand what she was saying.
Time continued to move ever so slowly, and I tried not to fidget in my seat.
*head desk*
But the thought wasn’t enough, and I slowly lowered my head to my desk.
Beside me, KC choked.
Oops.
When I turned to her, she already had her phone out, a message typed on the screen. Did you just hit the desk with your head?
Straightening in my seat, I shook my head. Nope.
She rolled her eyes. You totally did.
I didn’t need that one typed out to get what she was saying, but I just shrugged, determined to lie until the end—
My eyes found its way to the clock again.
Eight minutes.
No. It couldn’t be. Had it just been two minutes? It felt like more time had passed since the last time I checked. I grabbed my pen, twirling it around with my fingers, trying to distract myself—
KC was nudging me with her phone again.
KC: Have you gotten better at signing?
I grimaced at the question.
Me: Improving, but I’m still not as fluent as Kellion and I HATE IT.
KC had to smother her laugh when she took her phone and read my reply.
I tried not to, but my eyes were stubborn, flitting back towards the clock—
Six minutes.
Noooooo.
Something had to be wrong with the clock. It had to be moving slower than it should. It was impossible that just two minutes—
I put a foot on my mental brakes when I realized what I was doing, realized I was freaking out because it was six minutes until Kellion Argyros came for me and I couldn’t bear to wait for him to take me.
*head desk*
Oh, Ashton. Would you still be proud of me if—
I almost jumped out of my own seat when I realized what I had started to think, realized who I had been talking to in my mind.
Ashton.
Oh God, Ashton.
But for some reason, thinking about him now didn’t hurt quite as much, didn’t make me want to cry until my eyes bled.
My chest started to tighten, my emotions working like a wrench on the screws of my heart, making sure it wouldn’t stop beating. Was it because of Kellion that I could think of my little brother now without wanting to kill myself?
Even before I finished asking myself the question, the answer was already there, with the way my chest felt so, so tight, the way the whole world around me was no longer a blur…The answer was in the way I couldn’t help looking at the clock—
Three minutes.
My eyes drifted close, and this time I allowed myself to feel it. All the longing, the excitement, the desire. This time, I allowed myself to imagine. His beautiful face. His expressive green eyes. His rock-hard body. His cock. This time, I just let time pass me by as I allowed myself to remember. Every look, every word, every promise…
The bell buzzed.
It was time.
If time moved slowly a while ago, it moved at the speed of light now. The professor reminded us about our quiz next week. Students filed out of the room.
And then—
Kellion.
He had stepped inside the room, his eyes searching for me, and when our gazes collided, I could have sworn the floor under me trembled, the way he literally rocked my world.
Just by being there, Kellion eclipsed everything else. He was all I could see. All I could love.
His hair was still wet, like he had just taken a shower. He had also changed clothes, looking even more gorgeous than usual in his black sweater and low-slung jeans. The V-neckline of his shirt showed enough of his chest to make me gulp. It felt like a preview of the rest of what I’d be seeing tonight.
His beautiful face was impassive, but oh, those green eyes. His gaze spoke a thousand words. Hello. You’re beautiful. Finally, I get to fuck you…
Yes, exactly those words and more.
Beside me, KC said softly, “Ah.”
It was hard to look away from Kellion, but I managed.
KC smiled at me. “I get it now.”
I blinked.
“Why you guys are not the type to say ‘I love you’,” she explained.
That had me blinking again.
“You guys already say it all the time with your eyes.”
Oh.
Something inside me clicked at her words, my chest tightening, my heart swaying unevenly, intoxicated by the meaning behind KC’s words.
Oh.
It was so ridiculously hard to be coherent when you felt so much.
After that, KC must have said goodbye and I must have said goodbye back. I wasn’t really sure. I couldn’t remember much of it. I wasn't even sure how I managed to stand in front of Kellion.
When he reached for my hand and drew me to him, I didn’t even think of resisting. When he tipped my chin, his head lowering, I only closed my eyes, my breath catching as his lips, warm and tender, brushed against mine. My heart skipped one, two – no, there wasn’t any end in sight, with the way it kept skipping.
God, this biker. He just made me fall harder and harder for him.
****
Kellion had an actual limousine waiting, and the sight of it made me want to turn tail and run. Kellion acted so normal with me, nothing like the conceited ass most rich guys I knew did, that I could easily pretend to myself he was not rich and famous.
As Kellion walked me towards his car, his numerous fans threw daggers at me with their eyes. If only I could catch one of those and throw it at the guy beside me instead.
Tugging on his sleeve to get him to bend down, I hissed under my breath, “Limo…really?”
“It’s a special occasion,” he whispered back just before turning his head towards me, causing our lips to touch.
Oh!
“Oops.” Kellion sounded sincerely apologetic, which of course meant he was not, and the way his green eyes gleamed told me I was right.
God, this biker. Didn’t he know he was just making more enemies for me? Right now, half of the school’s female population weren’t just glaring daggers. This time, their furious gazes were throwing the equivalent of A-bombs on me, hoping I’d disintegrate into nothing.
When we reached the car, the driver smiled at me in greeting as he opened the door for us. As soon as the door closed, I started kicking him, again and again, and harder when it only had him laughing.
“Stop it.”
Another hard kick.
He laughed. “Ah, terataki. Don’t you know that you make me want you more this way?” Ignoring my struggles, he pulled me onto his lap, forcing my head back down against his chest. My resistance was half-hearted, and already I could feel my body slowly relaxing against him. Being on Kellion’s lap was my favorite place in the world, but it was also a secret I’d take to the grave with me.
“I’ve made reservations at Mario’s,” Kellion murmured over my head. “I thought we should have dinner first. Is that okay?”
I nodded against his chest. Mario’s was a cozy Italian restaurant a few blocks away from uni. Great ambience, but not too fancy that I’d feel uncomfortable.
“How is it working for Helios so far?”
I answered honestly, “Like…working…for…mys
elf.”
Kellion laughed, and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling a little, too. “That grumpy, huh?”
“Yeah.” But I didn’t really mind. Helios was a good boss, and designing for the club was a lot more interesting than serving drinks at la-di-dah parties.
“And classes? You’ve got a trip coming up next week, right?”
“Uh…huh.” Talking was still hard, but I tried to do it more and more when I was alone with him.
“I’m going with you, of course.”
My eyebrows shot up in surprise. He was? Before I could react to that, he had already moved on to another question. Listening to him, answering him, a part of me was reeling at just how much this man knew about my life.
“My lawyer will be handling all correspondence from your parents,” Kellion was saying. “He’ll let you know if there’s something you should be informed about.”
“Thank…you.” It was a responsibility I was glad to get rid of since most of Dan and Amelie’s letters tended to consist of demands that I do something to get them released from prison.
“Your investment portfolio went up by 3.1%, by the way.” Kellion was one of the few people who knew I had given away most of my earnings to fund additional research on ADHD, leaving myself with just enough to pay for college until graduation. He was also one of the few who didn’t think I was crazy for doing it, one of the few whose first question was not why I did it.
“Is…the…profit…enough…for…me…to…buy—” I paused, going through my mental shopping list for art supplies. “—new…pens?”
“Depends. How much does it cost?”
“About…$150?”
“You wish,” he said in such a cheerful manner I just had to kick him again. It was hard, since I was on his lap, but I managed. Sometimes, I had a nasty feeling he was praying that I didn’t earn so much from my investments just so he’d have an excuse to buy me stuff.
“Should I buy it for you then?”
I kicked him again. That was my answer.
“So that’s how you want to play it…” As he spoke, I felt Kellion’s fingers moving, my body freezing when I felt him cupping my breast. In a blink of an eye, sexual tension charged the air around us, all of my thoughts centered on where his hand was and what he was touching.
He didn’t say a word, his hand simply resting on my flesh, and even so, it was agonizing, the heat of his touch making me feel faint. Even though the limousine had a shaded partition separating the passenger seats from the driver’s seat, I still couldn’t help feeling like the driver knew what we were doing, and the thought made me shake my head in mortification.
“Kel…lion.” It was supposed to be a protest, but it came out a whimper instead, with his fingers moving again, finding my nipple and tugging ever so gently.
And then he tugged once more, harder this time, and my body jerked.
“It’s your fault.” He raised me up on his lap so he could whisper into my ear while he kept on tugging, making my body jerk, playing with my flesh like it was a violin.
As his wicked fingers continued to wreak havoc, I said, “Sorry. Now…let…me…go.”
“Never.” His voice had lost its seductively teasing tone, and I knew he was saying ‘never’ to a whole new thing.
Oh, Kellion.
How could he still think I’d want to leave him?
Without saying a word, I twisted around and kissed him. He returned the kiss immediately, his hands sinking into my hair. Our lips meshed, our tongues touched, and the kiss became deeper and rawer, the air around us crackling—
Kellion suddenly pulled away, panting. “We’re here.”
We were?
Dazed, I looked around, and it was only then I realized the limousine had already slowed to a stop and the driver stood next to our door, waiting for Kellion’s signal.
Kellion slowly lowered me back to the seat, brushing my hair away from my eyes and tucking loose strands behind my ears. He smiled down at me, a beautiful one because it was real. His voice, however, was serious as he asked, “No second thoughts?”
I took his hand. “Never.”
The dinner went by in a blur. I was pretty sure we were served good food, but I couldn’t remember what it was since all I could think about the whole time was what would happen afterwards.
The ride home was spent in silence, and this time both of us were seated, with only our hands entwined. His grip was almost painfully tight, but I wasn’t complaining. It made me feel like he really wouldn’t ever let me go.
The minutes flew, and soon we were standing in front of my door. My hands were shaking so bad Kellion had to take my keys from me and unlock the door himself.
And just like that, it was time.
Kellion changed the moment the door closed behind us, a predatory look entering his eyes as he came towards me. I found myself backing away, the way he didn’t take his gaze off my face making me gulp. Back, back, back, I kept thinking as something like a cross between fear and excitement skittered over my spine.
But then the back of my knees hit the bed, and there was nowhere else to go. I let out a silent gasp as I fell back. When my eyes opened, he was looming over me, my body imprisoned between his arms, his hands flat on the bed.
At that moment, he was all I could see. Above me, his lips curved slightly, softening his beautiful face into something almost ethereal, his smile telling me that somehow, he knew, too. Both of us knew. This was right.
My arms moved as he lowered himself down on me, both of us reaching for each other at the same time. Our lips met as our bodies came into contact. It wasn’t the first time we kissed, but the way he gasped against my mouth, the way my toes curled, oh God, it felt like it was.
Everything else felt as new. The way his hands caressed my skin, molding to each curve. The way his own body felt, the hardness of it, even the beauty of it. We undressed each other, my fingers clumsy on the buttons, his own hands shaking the moment he unclasped my bra and bared my breasts to his sight.
Clothes couldn’t be thrown to the floor fast enough, but somehow it still felt so slow, like time was teasing us, prolonging every moment, making us savor every tiny point of contact. His fingers on the underside of my breast. My hip against his hip. And oh, oh, his cock, hard but still against my throbbing core, a sleeping beast all on its own.
I stroked his hair as he moved down, Kellion sucking on my neck, harder and harder until I could almost swear he had drawn blood. If he had, I wouldn’t mind. Not at this point. Right now, it would feel right, him and me bonding that way.
My fingers tightened around his hair as he nuzzled the valley between my breasts. His hands shaped my flesh, petting the twin globes like they had been begging for his attention all along. Somehow, it did feel like that, the way my breasts swelled in his hands and my nipples puckered for a kiss.
When he bent his head, I tensed, knowing what was to come next. Anticipation made my skin tingle, and when his lips closed over my nipple, his teeth nipping and tugging, the tingling intensified, making my body feel alive like it never had before.
Tingle, TINGLE, TINGLE.
It escalated until I was yet again a mass of sensations, existing only to experience the pleasure of his touch. His hands clasped me under my breasts, lifting me up so he could take my nipple deeper into his mouth. By the time he moved to my other breast, I was dazed, wondering if I could stand more of his beautiful torture.
My toes started curling again as he released my breasts and his lips moved down. I writhed under him, my hands clutching his shoulders. He nuzzled my belly before moving lower, his hands pushing my legs apart as he stopped at eye level with the juncture between my thighs.
He stared so long and hard I couldn’t help but try closing my legs in mortification. But it only made him push my legs wider apart, and when I saw him lick his lips like he couldn’t wait to eat me, my body bucked. It didn’t stop bucking as he caressed my folds, his touch tender but deliberate. There was no doubt h
e was seducing me, and it was working. By the time his tongue joined in, I was beyond aroused, my every nerve stretched to the breaking point. He started with soft, languid licks before his tongue started to move faster and harder, tiny stabs of pleasure against my most sensitive part. His fingers started to pull my folds wide open, allowing his tongue to thrust inside me—
I arched against his mouth. “Aaaaaaaaaaaah.” It was my first time to let out such a sound, the feel of him pleasuring me with his tongue so unbelievably sharp it was excruciating and I could feel myself splintering.
“Kellion.” I couldn’t help but sob out his name as I started to break, and I felt Kellion’s hard naked body jerking against mine at the sound of his name on my lips.
When he pushed one finger inside me, I broke apart completely, my world spinning out of control as he thrust his finger in and out of me. I sobbed his name over and over as I came, unable to help it even though it hurt my throat. His penetration felt strange and all-consuming, intimidating and thrilling at the same time, and I couldn’t stop my hips from jerking up to meet his.
Even as the tremors of my orgasm died down, the thrusts continued. A second finger soon joined, followed by a third. I shook my head in shock, my eyes flying wide open. “We’re…not…done…yet?”
He smirked down at me.
It was all the answer he was giving me, the only warning he granted me before he was lifting himself up, pushing a pillow under my body and then spreading my legs open.
The new position had me gasping. I was more exposed and vulnerable than before, but rather than frightening me, I was even more aroused, my body stirring into life.
“Aria.”
I looked up, my fingers tightening on his shoulders, a part of me instinctively recognizing the need to brace myself.
Kellion’s face was hard and tense. “When I take you…”
I swallowed at the sound of his voice. It was tight and controlled, and I knew he was exerting the same restraint on the rest of his body.
“I want you to say my name again.”
Before I could answer, he was already inside me, his cock pushing in deep, breaking past the barrier of my virginity. The pain wasn’t minimal, hurting more than I expected it to. I couldn’t help crying out, couldn’t help the lone tear from slipping down my cheek as I clung to him more tightly.