Frayed (Connections #4)

Claire checked on me. “I told you he was a dud.”

I didn’t think that at all.

“Do you want to be assigned to someone new? A few guys just arrived and I’m pretty sure they’re looking for attention.”

“No,” I immediately protested.

She raised her hands. “Okay. Your boredom, not mine. I have to get back to it.”

I nodded, glad for her to be gone. During our brief conversation, I had lost sight of Ben in the crowd. People were pushing and shoving or maybe they were dancing I couldn’t tell. All I knew was the majority of them were drunk. The place stank of cigarettes and beer, and even more disgusting sweat. Even in heels, I was shorter than most of the people and they kept running into me. I threaded my way through the crowd but tripped when one of my heels caught in the fringe on a throw rug. I fell into someone’s hard chest and his girlfriend or dream girl looked as though she wanted to kill me.

“Watch where the f**k you’re going!” she snarled.

My eyes widened. “I’m so sorry!”

She looked as if she wanted to punch me.

“Relax, Ella, it was an accident. Don’t get your panties in a wad.” His voice boomed over the music.

I looked up into Ben’s eyes. My hero had saved me. He took my elbow and tried to steer me away from the crowd, but the center of the room had turned into a mosh pit and I kept getting dragged behind him. That’s when he grabbed my hand. He moved fast and with my pulse pounding he guided me to the safety of the wall. But as soon as we reached it, he released his grip on my hand. I felt an immediate loss, and my body temperature seemed to dip, as the heat that was there between us had suffused me and I missed it.

He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Some chicks are vicious,” he commented.

I giggled, using the wall to support myself as I recovered.

“I like your laugh,” he said, his eyes unknowingly or maybe knowingly scanning the length of my body.

I melted on the spot.

He leaned forward to whisper in my ear, “You look a little shaken. Let me get you a drink.”

I was shaken, that was for sure, but not from what had just happened. I snapped out of it and grabbed his arm. “No, let me get you a drink. That’s my job.” I slapped my hand over my mouth. “Shoot, I didn’t mean my job. I didn’t mean it that way.”

He smirked and then winked. “I won’t tell anyone you said the forbidden word. Don’t worry.”

I swallowed deeply and tried to gather myself as I watched him saunter across the room. God, everything about him was so electric.

When he returned with two cups of beer, he clinked his to mine. “To making it through rush—unscathed,” he joked.

His voice was warm, seductive, and I wanted to hear it again. I smiled at him, but before I could say anything else that blank look crossed his face once more. Then just like that, he nodded and turned back around, getting lost in the crowd. I made sure not to lose sight of him again. I refilled his beer whenever it was empty for the rest of the night and he thanked me, but the conversation never went any further. He laughed and carried on with pledges and brothers as I admired him from afar. I couldn’t do any of the things Claire, or Stacy, had encouraged, because he didn’t give me the opportunity.

The night ended before I expected when all of a sudden Ben stood on a chair and announced to the new pledges their task. They were to comb the campus for pink lace panties. If I could have run home and changed my underwear, I would have, even though the thought was so unlike me.

Once everyone took off, the house was practically empty. Claire had disappeared with one of the guys and so had the other girls I had seen earlier at her table. I had only consumed a few beers, but since I really never drank I was feeling a little tipsy and quite bold. I stared across the room at Ben. He looked insanely gorgeous with one foot propped against the paneling, lazily leaning against the wall while talking on his phone. He flipped it shut and slid it in his pocket and then stared into his red Solo cup. It was then that I made my move because I knew it was now or never. My legs were trembling, so I approached him slowly. I stood in front of him and took his cup again. He glanced up and I swear his eyes were bluer than any ocean I’d ever seen.

“I’m good,” he said. His languid eyes stared into the depths of mine.

The trembling made its way up my body and my fingers started shaking. But when I looked up at him and his hand covered mine, I felt it all over again—the electricity that passed between us. I batted my eyelashes even though I felt ridiculous. “Are you sure?”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

My cheeks flamed because I was pretty sure he was laughing at my attempt to be a dream girl and I decided to drop that act before it even started. He could obviously see through it.

“Did you have fun tonight?”

“What’s not fun about naive college freshmen?” He laughed. “What about you?” he asked, low and slow, with a huskiness to his voice that made my ni**les harden.

“I’ve had more fun,” I answered, reaching inside myself to find a flirtiness that I never knew I had.

He raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? Do tell.”

He caught me off guard. I wasn’t expecting him to ask me that. I sucked in a breath and reeled for what to say. My eyes darted around the room and landed on a poster on the wall that read LA CÔTE D’AZUR and I made something up quickly about the place that I knew would turn any guy on. Of course, it was something I had never actually done.

I summoned all my courage and said, “I spent my freshman year in France, and the French Riviera had so many nude beaches that were always fun.” I made sure to say it in a sultry seductive tone. And technically what I told him wasn’t a lie. I was sure they were fun.

His eyes may have been unfocused, but he straightened his stance and stared at me.

I moved even closer, trying to remember how to breathe.

His mouth quirked and he asked, “When you went to the beach did you do the American thing and wear your bathing suit?”

Something came over me and I became someone else entirely. I wasn’t someone made up, but rather someone that knew what she wanted, and suddenly any apprehension or nervousness I had slipped away. I leaned in and whispered, “No, I didn’t even bring one to France.” My voice sounded saucy.

His eyes widened and I couldn’t believe what I had just said. But I wanted him. I wanted him as I’d never wanted anyone else before. I felt different with him and I liked who I was. I was pretty sure he liked it too because when I glanced down at his jeans, there was no mistaking he was turned on. Needing to keep his attention, I bit my lip and averted my gaze, trying to summon the confidence to seduce him. I took a deep breath.

“Everyone was completely nude. There were a lot of beady-eyed older men conspicuously peering over the top of their newspaper.”

“And you?” he asked.

“I stripped it all off,” I answered confidently.

He swallowed. “You weren’t alone, I hope.”

Shoot, who was I with? “No. My friend brought me. She was obsessed with staring at n*ked men.” What?

“Were there more men or women?”

“Oh, many more women.” I had no idea.

The more detail I described, the more his gaze shifted from my eyes to my body. When I noticed he was interested, that he was paying attention, I became S’belle. I let my inner vixen reign and continued to paint the picture—making it as hot as I could.

Suddenly he cleared his throat. “Excuse me, I forgot I have something I have to do.” He turned and walked away without even glancing back.

I couldn’t let him go, so I followed him. He went into one of the downstairs suites, but no one answered when I knocked, so I turned the knob. It was unlocked. He wasn’t in there, but a light from a corner room told me where he was. I heard the water running and knocked again. I didn’t hear any protest, so I walked in and there he was, leaning over the sink, looking at me in the mirror. I quickly closed the door behind me and locked it. I was his dream girl and I wasn’t going to give him a chance to ask me to leave. I summoned all my inner strength and went for it, tugging my skirt down and standing before him in my black lace panties. The way he looked at me gave me all the strength I needed to proceed. I had never stood in front of a guy with the confidence I felt with him that day. It was because of the way he looked at me.

His lips parted and he watched me with a reckless abandon that made me yearn for him. I slowly unbuttoned my low-cut blouse that was already partially undone anyway. When I finished with the buttons, I glided my palms down my stomach. I was so nervous that when I slid my fingers in the waistband of my panties, I scratched myself. But the way he watched me in the mirror made excitement surge through me.

“They aren’t pink, but will they do?” I asked, finding that same flirty voice I had used earlier.

He turned around to face me but said nothing. I didn’t move. His eyes locked on mine and he licked his lips as though he was hungry for me. I took my shirt completely off and then quickly removed my bra. I still wasn’t sure if he was going to stay. I thought maybe his girlfriend would win out in the internal battle he seemed to be waging within himself.

But once I twirled around slowly and said, “This is how I looked on the French Riviera,” I knew he wanted me as much as I wanted him.

His eyes held me in his stare.

My heart pounded from the heat I saw in his gaze. He strode across the room and caught me by surprise when he stopped short. He stood in front of me and drank me in but didn’t move. I looked up at him, but at the want I saw in his eyes, I was done waiting. I tugged on the waistband of his pants and pulled him toward me. His soapy scent smelled fresh and clean and I breathed it in—knowing I’d never forget it.

In a flash he grabbed the back of my neck and found my mouth. His tongue licked my lips. I opened my mouth, allowing him entrance. His lips were warm and soft. My stomach fluttered from the contact. The tingling between my legs became almost painful as electricity surged through my entire body. I kissed him back with the same urgency he kissed me with. The kiss felt different from anything I had ever experienced before; he felt different. He kissed me with a need no one had ever shown me before and I knew then that what we were doing couldn’t be wrong.

What I didn’t know was that one kiss would change the rest of my life.

Both of us breathless, he pulled back and just stared at me for the longest time. Then finally he touched me. His fingers brushed the lace of my panties. He moved them back and forth, up and down—it was slow, it was torturous. When he slipped his hand inside them, my blood rushed through my veins to that very spot and I was sure he could feel it.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he breathed against my neck, his fingers right where I wanted them.

My pulse pounded and this time I was certain he could hear it. “Yes,” I answered without hesitation.

His small featherlike touches made me gasp.

“Take them off,” he ordered.

His tone, his demanding demeanor, made a thrill erupt inside me. I felt as if my blood were boiling. No one had ever spoken to me like that. He crossed his arms and leaned against the counter to watch me. My pulse raced as I slowly pushed the fabric down my h*ps and over my thighs, letting it fall to the floor.

“Come over here,” he commanded.

I was far too excited as I stepped out of my panties. My br**sts had already swelled and I could feel the arousal between my legs. I did as he said. I thought I might do anything he asked. His tone was so deep and sultry that it oozed sex appeal. He swooped me up and set me on the counter. There I sat, naked, before him and I used the same force he had used just a few moments earlier and pulled his head to mine to kiss him. He returned the kiss, his hands sliding down my chest. The heat of his touch erased any doubts I had that he might leave. My ni**les pebbled at his touch and when he bent down and sucked on one I thought I might explode.