Twenty-One

Rose

Christian and Dimitri walked through the door, and I narrowed my eyes at them. "That wood took a suspiciously long time to collect," I directed towards Christian.

He lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. "I think we should head back, it's nearly curfew anyway."

I narrowed my eyes further, but didn't argue. Apparently his talk with Dimitri hadn't gone as he wanted it to. "Sure."

We said our goodbyes and headed back towards campus. Christian didn't say anything like I expected him to, but he took my hands and laced our fingers together. I didn't object, but squeezed his hand and hoped it gave him whatever reassurance he was looking for.

When we got onto campus we had to drop the hand-holding, but we walked so close together that our arms brushed against each other.

Back in his dorm, Christian began to pace. I stood in the centre of the room, watching him and feeling a slowly growing helplessness.

"Christian," I murmured, reaching out to grab his arm and stop him in front of me. "Talk to me. What's going on?"

"I'm sorry for arguing with you about Court. If I was in your position I wouldn't be leaving, either." He took a deep breath, and then I was suddenly pulled flush against him. He wrapped an arm around my back and tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear. "It's just, I really care about you Rose, and I'm finding it really difficult to accept that you're not safe."

My breath caught, and I brought my hands up to rest on his chest. "I care about you too, Christian. So much."

Christian brought his head down so his face was buried in my neck. "We might die in the next few weeks, and I don't want to die never having got the chance to do everything." He pressed a kiss to my neck, and my head leant back automatically, giving him greater access. "I want to know what it's like to kiss you, to be with you, to fuck you," he murmured, voice raspy.

I moaned into the bedroom as he continued to trail kisses up to my ear.

He bit my lobe. "Let me love you, Rose."

I laced my hands through his hair and brought his lips to mine. Our kiss was frantic, and our hands were everywhere, dragging each other's clothes off. My body was on fire as we finally gave in to the tension that had been simmering between us for weeks now.

I hurried to undo the buttons on Christian's shirt, cursing his need to wear nice clothes. Christian had an easier job, breaking our kiss for just a minute to lift my top over my head and discard it somewhere in the room.

He started walking us backwards until we were lying on the bed, Christian hovering over me. I finally got his shirt off, and my fingers danced over the hard muscles of his chest. He'd been right about magic being physical. His body was sublime. I dug my fingers into his skin, relishing the fact I could finally touch him.

His hands were just as eager. They reached behind me to unclip my bra, and then his fingers were brushing over the hardened skin of my nipple. I gasped, arching into him. My legs wrapped around his waist and began pushing his trousers down.

"I don't think I can deal with foreplay," I told him, voice deep and ending on a moan as he took my nipple into his mouth. "I need you now."

"Fuck," he groaned when I took his cock in my hand. I couldn't find it in myself to be nervous about losing my virginity. The deep hunger in Christian's eyes when he looked at me was enough to get rid of any inhibitions.

He wanted me.

We kissed again as he worked to get my pants off. I took his bottom lip into my mouth and bit down, lifting my hips off the bed to help him.

And then we were both naked. Christian reached over to grab a condom from his bedside table.

He put the condom on and then he was trailing his hands down my body, fingers ghosting over my clit. I jerked with the jolt of pleasure, and found myself swallowing.

"Christian," I murmured. His gaze snapped to mine, and I resisted the urge to flinch. "I've never done this before."

His eyes widened just a bit, but he began kissing my neck, and any tension disappeared. "Just relax," he breathed against my skin, before his fingers slipped inside me. I moaned as he curled them and pleasure exploded through me.

And then he removed his fingers and I could feel his cock pressing against my entrance. I swallowed, and let myself relax into everything that was Christian. His hard body pressed completely against mine, his lips kissing my neck, his fingers rolling my nipple between them.

It hurt when he pushed into me, but not unbearably. It was a dull sting that I barely felt compared to the pleasure that his fingers were causing playing with my nipple.

He let me adjust for a moment, and then I pulled his head up and kissed him, hard. He pulled out and slammed back in again, and I moaned into the kiss. Every nerve was on fire, and I scrabbled to touch every part of Christian I could get my hands on. My nails raked down his back and my legs dug into his thighs as he fucked me in earnest.

"Fuck, Rose," he breathed against my skin, causing a shiver to run down my spine.

He reached between us, and his thumb worked against my clit.

I bit my lip to stop myself crying out. We still had neighbours in these dorms, and I definitely didn't want anyone knowing that Christian had been sleeping with someone when I was the only person that could be in his rooms.

Curses slipped between my lips as Christian brought me closer and closer to the edge, never tiring in his pace.

When I climaxed, I threw my head back and bit my hand to stop my scream. He slammed into me a couple more times before collapsing on top of me.

I welcomed his weight, humming in contentment as we clung onto each other.

"We should do that again," I told him, voice already drowsy. "Lots."

He chuckled, rolling off me and letting me curl into his side. "We should."

Facing each other, I finally got to tangle my legs through his and rest my head against his chest. "I've been wanting to cuddle like this for so long," I admitted. "But I was always scared to in case I gave in and kissed you." I reached up and pressed my lips to his, drawing him into a long, sensual kiss. "And now it doesn't matter."

We laid in silence for the longest time, fingers dancing over each other's naked skin, relishing the feeling of being this close, until I fell asleep. It was the most content I'd ever felt.