entrance, gliding easily through my arousal. “Jesus, you’re soaked,” he whispered. “Come on, Donna, put us both out of our misery so I can drive my cock”—as he said that word, he slid a finger inside effortlessly, making me gasp—“into this warm, wet heaven between your thighs. Tell. Me.”
“It’s nothing. For fuck’s sake. I . . . it’s . . . I’m just moody because I’m on my period, OK?” I blurted.
He froze, his finger still inside me, and I realized what I’d just said. He looked down, then back up at me with a raised brow. I grimaced.
With an amused smirk, he pulled the finger out and held it up between us. His middle finger was slick with my arousal and nothing else. I wasn’t due for another week at least. He held it there for a moment, giving me the finger with my own wetness all over it, then put it into his mouth. His cheeks hollowed out as he sucked on it, and he tipped his head to the side.
“Fucking delicious. But no tangy, metallic aftertaste. Try again.”
“God damnit.” I gritted my teeth so hard a jolt of pain shot through my jaw as I wrenched out of his hold.
“Tell me something real.” The teasing lilt was gone from his voice. “I’m here, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll make you feel good. Just fucking tell me something real, Donna.”
We are pleased to inform you that we are offering you early acceptance to . . .
I cracked. There were so many things going through my mind, so many feelings coursing through my body, something had to give. I buckled and got into his face.
“Fine. You want to know what happened? I got into Stanford. Early acceptance.”
“Is that not what you wanted?” he asked, but there was no confusion in his face, no judgment. He was simply asking.
I paused for a second, some of the tension draining from my shoulders. The next words came easier than I thought they would. “It’s what I’ve wanted since before high school. But when I read that email . . . I felt nothing. Empty. No, that’s not right. It wasn’t nothing. It just wasn’t what it was supposed to be. There was no excitement, no joy, no pride at my accomplishment, no urge to jump up and down and tell my friends and family.” I licked my lips, staring at his teal tie, and forged on. As if I could stop at this point anyway. “I read that email, the culmination of everything I’d worked for all these years, and it felt like the ceiling collapsed. Everyone else just strolled on by, heading into the auditorium, oblivious to the fact that I was holding the entire goddamn building up over our heads, with my knees ready to buckle.”
I looked into his eyes, no longer trying to hide the emotion I was feeling yet could hardly label.
He took hold of my upper arms and stepped closer, his eyes searching mine. “Thank you for telling me. That couldn’t have been easy.”
Tears pricked at the backs of my eyes, and I had no idea why.
“I don’t want to cry, Hendrix,” I told him. “I just want to forget for a little while. Just make me forget. Make me feel good.”
He stared at me for another beat, the air between us getting charged. In the auditorium, a round of unenthusiastic applause went up as students carrying wind instruments filed on stage, ready to play a version of our school song.
He leaned down and whispered, “I can do that. I got you, baby.” Then he kissed me—a bruising, distracting, dizzying kiss.
I moaned, but before I could wrap my arms around him, his lips were gone, and he was pushing me roughly around until his front was flush with my back.
Hot cinnamon breath washed over my ear, sending shivers of anticipation through my body. “Everyone thinks you’re little miss perfect, all your ducks in a row, such a good girl. But I know you, Donna. I know the depravity you crave, the need humming under your skin.”
He squeezed my shoulders, and I leaned back into him, but in the next instant, his warmth at my back disappeared.
“Take your panties off,” he ordered.
I swallowed, the logical, in-charge Donna bristling at the tone. But she was already fading—along with her stresses and anxieties. Dark Donna was taking over, even if I wasn’t wearing come-fuck-me boots and a low-cut top.
I reached under my skirt and pushed my underwear down my legs,