Fair Game (The Rules 1)

His other hand tightening around my hip, he caresses my skin with his thumb and all the power drains out of me, just like that. I want to scream. I want to press my mouth to his and end this torturous moment. I could. It would be so easy. Just lean in and do it. Settle my mouth on his and force him to kiss me.

But I don’t. Something inside me makes me hold back. Instead I lift my forehead away from his and lean back, studying him. Look my fill since this is the first time I’ve had Shepard Prescott so close. Like I can see every single one of his pores close or I can count every single one of his eyelashes close.

He has a lot of eyelashes. And those dark, dark eyes that reveal nothing. He watches me as intently as I watch him, his lips slowly parting as he works his jaw, drawing my attention to the stubble that grows there.

It’s tipped with gold too, just like his eyelashes, his hair, his fucking bank account. I bet he has a secret stash of gold bars buried deep somewhere and again, I’m hit with the notion that I’m nothing to this guy. He’s just a player and I’m most likely setting myself up to get played.

“It’ll be worth the wait,” he finally says, his deep voice breaking the silence.

I raise a brow. “Are you saying you’re worth the wait?”

He smiles and shrugs. “You tell me. You’re the one who’s on top of me.”

It’s the way he says it, his words layered with all sorts of sexual innuendo. I’m both irritated and aroused. Irritated more at myself for being aroused.

How I feel about Shepard Prescott is ridiculously confusing.

With an exaggerated sigh I lift away from him, noting the way his hands suddenly become involved as I tumble back into the passenger seat. His fingers tickle along my back and drift across the inside of my thigh in the move and I yelp, falling into the seat like an idiot, breathless and frazzled by his sneaky touch.

Shep doesn’t say a word. He barely even looks at me. Merely puts the car into drive and pulls back into the street, turns up the music as we continue our drive back to the dorms. Like what just happened between us is no big deal.

But it’s a huge deal. I almost kissed Shep. I threw myself at him and he refused. Talked like he plans on doing this with me again. And again. That in the end, we will end up naked together and oh my God, I can’t freaking wait.

“So what happened, you big ho? You totally fucked him, didn’t you?”

I barely crack my eyes open at first sound of Kelli’s voice. When Shep dropped me off at the dorms a few hours ago, I’d found my room empty. I figured Kelli was out with Dane.

I’d been thankful for the alone time. My head still spinning from too much alcohol, I’d stripped down to my panties, threw on an old tank top and collapsed into bed. But I couldn’t sleep, too wound up from my weird date with Shep, going over and over in my mind everything that happened. The way he looked at me. How he touched my lips, his fingers light, the tortured sound of his voice. The things he said.

You’re drunker than I thought because I want you so fucking much it’s killing me.

I want you just as into this as I am. Nothing less.

There’s something to be said for anticipation.

Unable to stop myself, I slipped my hand beneath my panties, feeling sneaky. When was the last time I touched myself like this? It was sort of difficult, what with a roommate and all. So I took advantage of my opportunity and proceeded to bring myself to orgasm with my fingers, imagining they were Shep’s fingers instead. Then immediately fell asleep to dreams of Shep actually completing that kiss. His mouth soft and firm as it took command of mine…

“Wake up, slut bag,” Kelli insists, her voice shrill.

“Leave me alone,” I tell her, rolling over on my side so I’m facing the wall.

She doesn’t leave me alone. Instead, she plops her ass on my bed and shakes my shoulder again, her voice insistent. “Come on, J. Tell me what happened with Shep. Is his dick big? Oh wait, more important, does he know what he’s doing with that big dick? I’m surprised you’re back so soon. I figured you’d at least spend the entire night with him. I know I would’ve.”

Oh God, her rambling is going to drive me insane. I squeeze my eyes shut, my head throbbing already. I need water. Hydration. And fries. Fries sound good. Maybe I’m still drunk. “What time is it?” I keep my eyes tightly closed, anticipating Kelli’s reaction when I tell her nothing happened, not even a kiss.

She’s going to blow up. Worse, she’s probably not going to believe me. We are talking about Shepard Prescott, after all. King of the Hookup. I wonder if they have a crown for that title.

“Just after one. I made Dane bring me back. I have class in the morning.”

I roll over, cracking one eye open so I can look at her. “Like you care about your classes all of a sudden?”

Kelli shrugs and looks away. “I wasn’t feeling it. We haven’t been getting along lately.”

I sit up, yanking the sheet up over my chest. It’s cold in our room and my nipples are probably full on headlights right now. “Is everything okay?”

She waves a hand, dismissing my concern. “Don’t worry about it. Tell me about you. About Shep. And you. And his dick in your vagina.”

“Stop.” I shove at her shoulder but she hardly budges. Looks like she’s not going to budge on wanting the details either. “Fine,” I sigh. “Nothing happened.”

Her jaw drops open. “What?”

“I’m serious. Nothing happened. I got drunk on vodka and Red Bull and I almost did a line of coke but otherwise, nothing.”