Misguided Truths: Part Two (Misjudged #4)

by Sarah Elizabeth

  My eyes land over to my left, and on a couple of unsuspecting girls that are standing only a few feet away from us. They’re in mid-conversation about something, until they get interrupted when a guy walks over to join them, “Which one’s your target?” Mark asks while tapping my arm a couple of times.

  “Wait just a second,” I answer quietly while holding my index finger up to him. Red isn’t particularly one of my favorite colors. It just makes the blonde look a little … loud? Yeah. Loud. I keep my eyes firmly trained on the brunette because she’s most definitely attractive enough.

  “Alright, watch and learn my friend,” I say to him as soon as I see the blonde walk away, leaving her friend standing alone. “Watch and learn.”

  I reach over and quickly grab a couple of champagne flutes from the passing waiter before going in for the kill. Alright. He wanted me to show him how it’s done? He’s got it.

  I straighten my shoulders, and take another step closer to her while clearing my throat.

  Okay, good. That seems to have gained her attention. I stand and wait while her eyes roam over me from the ground up, and when she makes eye contact with me, I know that now’s the time to turn on the charm.

  “Would you care to explain why the most beautiful girl in the room is standing all by herself tonight?” Shit. Did I just say that? Surely she’s not gonna fall for some jackass line like that? From the corner of my eye, I see Mark covering his mouth with his hand while trying to control his laughter. Motherfucker.

  I flash her my widest smile, and offer her a glass of champagne, noticing her cheeks are starting to turn a slight shade of pink. Well, I’ll be damned. She fell for it. For another brief second, her eyes roam over me again, and I use this opportunity to throw a smirk over in Marks direction. Yeah. Someone’s a hundred dollars lighter. Who’s laughing now, huh?

  I clear my throat to gain her attention again, “Do I pass your inspection?” I ask through my own amusement, and then notice her cheeks are turning an even deeper shade of crimson. Yep. I caught you checking me out, sweetheart. “Dance with me.” I say, and offer my arm out to her. She smiles, links her arm around mine, and then I slowly lead her over to the dance floor.

  Turning to face her, I rest my hands on her waist as she wraps her arms around my neck. When we start swaying to the music, she moves in closer. So close, in fact, that I can feel her cheek brush against mine, and smell a sweet vanilla scent, “So, are you new here?”

  “What makes you ask that?” I turn my question back on her. It makes sense to. It’s not like I’m gonna be seeing her again after tonight.

  “I just don’t think I’ve seen you around before,” she turns to face me, and I see her watching me, almost as though she’s trying to read me. “Am I wrong?”

  “Maybe,” I smile back at her. If I play things cool then it might make her stop asking me shit. “Maybe not.”

  She starts to laugh lightly, “You’re not going to tell me, are you?” She shakes her head, and smiles again before resting her cheek back beside mine.

  Okay, think. “Do you know what? I’m not, because, I like that we don’t know anything about each other. It makes it more exciting and intriguing, don’t you think?” I whisper into her ear, hoping this puts an end to this conversation.

  What else was I supposed to do? Tell her that I’m new here because I’ve just got outta jail? That I only came over to her in the first place because I was showing a friend of mine how it’s done? Explain that it doesn’t really matter who I am or why I’m here because, after tonight, I don’t plan on ever seeing her again? Yeah, I didn’t think so either.

  She leans back and stares directly into my eyes. At first, I gaze back. It’s the first time I’ve actually noticed just how attractive she is. Fine, so she’s wearing a mask, but I can still see into her deep chocolate eyes. They’re warm. Trusting even. I’m not so sure that I like the fact that I like what I’m seeing. No. No, I definitely like what I’m seeing here.

  I break away from the intense gaze she’s holding on me, and pull her body closer to mine by her waist. When I look ahead of me, I see Mark pointing his camera directly at the two of us. Shit. No fucking way. I narrow my eyes and mouth the word ‘no’ right at him. He shrugs his shoulders, and then heads toward a group of girls over on the far end of the tent. Thank fuck.

  My attention’s drawn back onto the girl I’m dancing with when I feel her light breaths breeze over my neck. I take one of my hands from off of her waist, and then lightly brush my fingers upward, slowly stroking her skin until I reach her neck. Man. Her skin is really soft. Doing this makes her lean her head to the side, and I automatically reach up and place a couple of strands of her loose hair behind her ear.

  “You’re beautiful.” The words leave my mouth before I even have a chance to think about what I’m saying, and when I lean in even closer, I skim my lips over her collarbone. Moving higher, I run soft kisses along her jaw until I reach her ear. She smells so fucking good. I start nibbling on her ear lobe, and feel my dick twitch in my pants the moment I hear her quietly moan.

  The song’s coming to an end, and it’s only now that I realize I don’t want it to. I don’t know why, but I wanna spend more time with her. Most girls don’t give up. If they ask a question, they want it to be answered. But, her? Hell, she didn’t push me for an answer once. Now that’s attractive in itself.

  What the hell am I doing? Shit. I was only doing this in the goddamn first place to prove a point to Mr. Anti-Cupid standing over there. Noticing the way she smells was not on my agenda. Or the way small dimples appear on her cheeks each time she smiles. I definitely wasn’t planning on any of this. I think I need to go outside and grab some air.

  I see Mark heading back over this way, and while he’s looking in the other direction, I take this opportunity to prolong my time with her, “Come with me.” I whisper, and take a small step away from her.

  Placing my hand on the small of her back, I steer her toward the nearest exit in sight, and glance over my shoulder a couple of times to make sure Mark doesn’t see us leaving together.

  Once we make it outside, I feel her gripping my hand tighter, “Um, where are we going?” Her voice sounds shaky. I lean down so I can try and reassure her that my intentions are good.

  “Just some place a little quieter,” I whisper into her ear, running my fingers along her waist. I’m not gonna lie. “The music in there isn’t really my taste.” See? I didn’t lie. Blues music isn’t my thing, but indie rock? Now, that’s my thing. I smile while keeping my eyes fixed on hers, my way of trying to show her that I would never do anything to intentionally hurt her.

  I swear I just saw uncertainly cross into her eyes before she broke our eye contact. No. No. Don’t leave. Not yet. When she slows her pace, my stomach churns, but then she brings her eyes back up to meet with mine, and I feel the sudden relief run through me when she nods and starts to walk with me again.

  Leading her toward a place I found earlier today, I glance over my shoulder when we reach a small opening, and smile as we make our way through to the other side.

  “Wow.” She whispers, and I can tell from the way her lips have slightly parted that she’s appreciating the view. Believe me though, the lake is nothing in comparison to the view that’s standing directly in front of me. I now understand exactly why I said what I did when I went over to talk to her before. She was the most beautiful girl in the whole place, without a shadow of a doubt.

  “I know. I found it when I came out for a walk earlier today. Come on.” Taking her hand in mine, I lead her toward the small wall that’s set just in front of the water.

  When she rests her hands on the wall, I step behind her and lean in closer, “You’re more breathtaking than the view.” I lift my hand, and then trace my fingers lightly from the top of her neck until I reach her lower back, before bringing them back up again. I may be overstepping the mark here, but … yeah, no. No, she definitely seems to be liking this if the way she’s leaning in
to me is anything to go by.

  I let my fingers roam a little further, until they’re skimming just above her breasts, and then bring them back down to rest on her waist. No matter how much I wanna be touching them, I know that I need to gain a little self-control here. I turn her around to face me while I take a deep breath, though this doesn’t seem to be helping matters because even her hair smells fucking delicious.

  “You’re so fucking beautiful,” I say, and try to keep my breaths as even as I can. “Damn, I really want to kiss you.” I rest my forehead against hers, and wait for her to say something. She needs to make the first move here, not me. Her. There’s no way I can be the one to do it. She might all of a sudden decide that I’m a creep or something. No. She’s gotta… oh. Okay, she’s running her tongue along her bottom lip. That’s sure as hell a good sign, and damn it’s sexy as hell.

  The next thing I know, she’s brushing her mouth against mine, and I feel my whole body starting to tense up. When she slides her tongue into my mouth, I lose all of my restraint and run mine against hers, gripping onto her hips with a newer found urgency. Without realizing, I’m already pressing myself up against her, and I think it’s safe to assume that right now she must also be in the know of just how excited I am. Yeah. I think Pinocchio might be a little … hard.

  Hearing her moan again only makes it impossible for me to stop, and when I move my hands up into her hair and start gently pulling her head back, the kiss deepens and I grip a hold of her hair in-between my fingers even tighter.

  I pull away and stare right into her eyes. If there’s one thing that I’m certain of in this precise moment, then it’s that I need to hear her moan again. She sounds good when she makes those kinda noises. So good that it’s making me wonder what other noises she can make. Images of her sprawled naked over my bed are starting to run through my mind, and I have to take another deep breath while I try to block them out. No. I need to touch her.

  Skimming my hands to the top of her breasts, I dip my fingers underneath her dress, and run my thumbs over her. My eyes widen when I see her leaning her head back and closing her eyes. I watch her lips starting to open again, and know that I need them back on mine. Now.

  I press my mouth against hers, and cup her breasts in my hands when I feel her gripping her fingers through my hair.

  When an unexplainable burning sensation starts to run through my veins, I pull away, and see her running her hands down to my waist before pressing herself against me. Molding her body even closer, my eyes widen when she pulls me back down to kiss her again. Damn I want her. “We should …” No. It’s not gonna happen. I wouldn’t be able to stop now even if I wanted to. Instead of trying to talk myself out of this, I grab her by the waist, and then move my hands around to her ass. She’s feeling a little hot? Well, I think I need to show her exactly what she’s doing to me right now.

  She glides one of her hands over my chest, and I look down when I feel her running her fingers over the waistband of my pants. I inhale a sharp breath when her fingers skim across my dick on the outside of my pants, and this action only makes my whole body tense up again. She wants …? Shit. I didn’t bring any fucking condoms. Before this gets outta hand, I really need to stop this, “Please, we should …” It’s still no use, how am I supposed to stop this when she’s rubbing her hand over me like that? It’s pretty simple. I can’t.

  Fuck it.

  Grasping her by the hips, I’ve decided to finally give in at trying to play the gentleman. I pull her back with me until we’re on the grass, with her now laying directly on top of me. Flipping her over until I’m hovering above her, I gaze back into her eyes, and then slowly lean down to kiss her again. Everything about her is addictive. Her lips, the way she moans.

  My heart is hammering so fucking hard in my chest that I’m damn sure she’ll be able to feel it against hers, especially with the way our bodies are rocking against each other’s. I want to touch her. I want to hear her. I need to feel her.

  I place my hand lightly on her thigh, and go to move her dress to the side before bringing my hand a little higher. As soon as I reach her panties, I stop, “I need your permission, because right now, I’m dying to feel how wet you are for me.” Damn, I need to feel this. When she opens up her dress, I swear all of my unspoken prayers have just been answered, and it takes all of my willpower to not look up at the sky right now, and whisper a silent prayer in gratitude. Thank you for wearing a dress with a high split up the side!

  I run my fingers slowly over her panties, and lean closer until my lips are skimming over hers, gently rubbing my thumb against her. Keeping my eyes on hers the whole time, I see hers flicker closed. When I slide my fingers underneath the fabric, I try my hardest not to groan or grab for my pants when I feel her lifting herself up against my hand. Oh, she feels good, “Shit, you’re so fucking wet, baby.” I say against her mouth, and when I slide a finger inside her, I watch as her eyes completely close.

  Studying her as I slide my finger slowly in and out, I notice her cheeks beginning to redden under the moonlight, but when she reaches for my pants again, I pull away. She looks at me with a questioning expression filling her features, but I shake my head. Bowtie? Yep. Camera? Yep. Condoms? Fuck my life. But, when I see her eyes close again and her lips pulling up into a smile, I don’t think that I actually regret forgetting them for a single second. You wanna know why? Because never in my life have I ever wanted to watch someone like this before. I don’t need her to touch me because I’ve realized that I’m already feeling satisfied just from being able to watch her writhing in pleasure beneath me.

  When I slip in another finger, I feel her tighten around them, and know that it’s not gonna be long before I hear her moans again, “You’re close.” I say softly into her ear, and it’s now I feel and see her whole body beginning to tremble.

  “Ah!” That’s it, beautiful. Feel it. Not once taking my eyes away from her face, I press my fingers deeper inside and rub my thumb against her more firmly this time, a smile forming over my mouth when I hear her moan again. “Fuck!”

  When her body finally stops its trembling, I watch her chest rise and fall before moving over to lay beside her, “Are you okay?” I ask while reaching over to pull her dress back to how it was before.

  “Yes, I um …” She tries to answer, but her breathing hasn’t fully calmed yet.

  “I’m sorry. I got carried away.” I tell her, and rake a hand through my hair when it becomes clear that she’s starting to regret what just happened.

  “I don’t think you’re the only one,” she turns and smiles. Her smile is warm, and it’s making me feel a little more at ease. “You didn’t want me to …?”

  When her eyes land lower, I think I know what she’s referring to, “I wanted to feel and hear you,” I say, and smile while my eyes roam over her again. “I didn’t need you to give me anything in return.” You gave me enough just then, believe me.

  Lying on my back, I reach over and take a hold of her hand, stroking hers lightly with mine while staring up into the sky. I don’t talk, and she doesn’t seem too eager to start a conversation either, so we just stay like this for a while. It’s nice. Well, it was nice right up until some voices from behind us just disturbed the silence. As I sit up, I notice her glance to her watch, “What time is it?”

  “It’s just before midnight.”

  Jumping onto my feet, I offer out my hand, and help her back onto hers. She doesn’t look at me again until I start chuckling when I see her hair. Although she still looks as good as she did earlier in the evening, it wouldn’t be such a great idea for her to be walking back with grass in her hair, “You um, there’s a little grass in your hair.” I reach over, move it away, and then bring my hands down to the straps of her dress. Moving them until they’re back in place, I swallow, and then take a step away from her.

  Running both of my hands through my hair this time, I take a deep breath, and know that it’s probably gonna be a good idea for us to start he
ading back, “I’m sorry, but I’ve gotta be somewhere.” What I just said isn’t exactly true, but I think this is the part where we’d arrange to meet again, or swap numbers, or something. I don’t even know her name, but y’know what? That’s most probably a good thing. I reach up and stroke her face with the back of my hand. “Can I walk you back?”

  “Sure.” She smiles as she answers, nods, and then reaches up to my eye mask. I stop her before she manages to grab a hold of it, and then lift her hand a little higher before placing a kiss on the back. I keep a hold of her hand the whole time as I lead her back toward the campus grounds.

  I know I should say something, say anything to break this awkward silence, but I have no idea what to say to her.

  As we make our way back up along the pathway, I notice there’s a few students hanging around one of the entrances outside the tent. The music seems to have finally stopped, so I’m guessing the ball has already finished for the night.

  Slowing when we reach one of the buildings by the fountain, I turn around to face her, and place a kiss on her forehead while stroking my fingers lightly over her arms, “Thanks for the dance.” I smile, keeping my eyes solely on her while taking a few steps back, only turning away when I hear a couple of voices approaching me from behind.

  Once I make it onto the sidewalk and around the corner, I rest my head against the cold brick wall and remove the mask. I take a deep breath and smile over what’s just happened and the feelings I just felt, but when I reopen them, it hits me. Hard. Like someone just delivered a knockout blow to my lower abdomen and chest simultaneously.

  A different sensation is starting to course through my entire body, and it’s making me feel paralyzed. I slide down the wall until I’m sitting on the pavement, trying to understand what the fuck just happened, and what this new feeling is. A few seconds ago I was fine, but now my gut is starting to twist, my chest is aching, and images of Holly are beginning to flash through my mind.

  Tonight was supposed to be one dance. Just one fucking dance, and I wasn’t supposed to feel anything. I wasn’t. But, I did. I did, and it felt good. Really good to actually feel something. To feel normal again. I tried to stop. But, I couldn’t. The overwhelming rush I felt when I was with her … kissing her. It was addictive. I felt like I could be myself again. A carefree guy, having fun with someone. I felt like I did before. It was the same feeling I had when I was with … when I was with Holly.