A Kiss of Color: The Complete 3 Book Collection (10 page)

“Mother!” Even Brandy exclaimed at that particular comment, and Xavier thought he must have misheard for a moment. Sadly, he was mistaken. Helena’s fingers slipped through his grip as she stood, her face deathly pale.

“Excuse me.” With those two, barely audible words, she fled the table, leaving her meal half eaten behind her.

Xavier didn’t have to think. Without allowing his parents the courtesy of an excuse, he leapt to his feet to chase after her, his heart in his throat. What the
hell
? He was still trying to comprehend that his mother could be so cold as he burst from the restaurant and into the parking lot. He looked around wildly for a moment, his breath catching when he couldn’t find Helena. Then, all at once, he caught the pale gleam of her dress near the edge of the parking lot. He quickly hurried down the steps and after her.

The young woman stood in the grass that surrounded the establishment, the heels she’d shed in a hand as she stared off into the woods back towards the highway. “Helena.” Xavier’s tone was soft as he addressed her. “Helena, I’m
so
sorry. I had no idea she would say anything like that.”

He took a step towards her, onto the lush greenery beneath her feet as he reached out to touch her arm. The dark-haired girl flinched away, turning from him. “Why shouldn’t she? She’s right. I
am
from Maynard.” Far from crying, her voice sounded frighteningly numb. “My mother is an addict and a prostitute, and my father…” She shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself as if she were cold, despite the warmth of the evening. “I’ll never escape.”

Her whispered words angered him.

What was
wrong
with her? She’d spent the past five months insisting to him that she was going to succeed. That she was going to make her father proud and achieve her dreams. She’d spent hours in the library and stayed up until the crack of dawn for even minor exams – and now she was going to let the callous words of someone who knew nothing about her cut her down.

“Helena.” Taking her by the shoulders, he spun her around to face him, the emptiness in her expression breaking his heart. “You are
not
going to take this. My mother doesn’t know you. My
family
doesn’t know you. Not like I do. And I’m telling you: You’re going to succeed?”

“How?” She replied weakly. “I don’t have the right connections. I barely have enough money for medical school, and my mother…what if she…” She blinked, and tears finally began to well in her eyes. At the sight of them, Xavier breathed a sigh of relief. Better tears than that terrible numbness.

“Your mother is going to do
jack
shit.” He replied firmly, cupping her face in his hands softly. “You won’t let her. You’re stronger than that. Stronger than some snooty socialite and stronger than what anyone might think of you. Where you came from can’t define you, Helena. I think I’m living proof of that.”

She searched his face slowly, before her eyes closed and moisture streaked down her cheeks. “Xavier, I want this
so
badly.”

“I know you do, honey.” He comforted her in a low, reassuring voice, thumbing her tears from her cheeks. “And no one deserves it more than you.” When her eyes met his gaze again, the vulnerability there took his breath away. For all Helena blustered – for all the coffee she drank to stay awake at all hours of the night and worked on perfecting her notes until they looked like encyclopedias – she was just as frightened as he was of failure.

Lowering his mouth to hers, he kissed her.

Xavier had intended the gesture to be soft – showing her that he believed in her and would support her in anything she endeavored to try. However, a mere beat passed before the gesture turned into something hungrier. Helena’s lips parted against his own and her arms wrapped around his shoulders as she stood on her toes to press her body against his.

Through her dress, he could feel every curve and valley of her body, and the warmth of her form against his was maddening.

The desire that had built up in him for the past few months suddenly ignited to a burning need in his gut and he lifted the young woman from her feet to slide his tongue against hers with a soft groan of want. What was it about this woman that made him take leave of his senses? That made him want to take her apart and put her back together - to make sure that no one hurt her ever again?

She tasted of the wine they had for dinner – of her tears and all the effort she put into everything she did. Nipping at her lower lip, Xavier sucked it into his mouth to nibble softly so she shuddered against him, her fingers curling into the back of his neck.

He wanted her – powerfully; and he’d be damned if his parents were going to dictate what woman he chose.

His mouth still on hers, Xavier hefted her into his arms bridal style, taking her shoes in a hand to carry her back to his car. Somehow, he managed to maneuver her inside, setting her down in the passenger seat before leaving her there, his heart racing, blood slamming hotly through his veins. When he slipped into the driver’s seat to start the car, for once, Helena didn’t protest, and she didn’t ask him where they were going. Her eyes were filled with the same all-encompassing desire as his own, and she squeezed his thigh, urging him to hurry.

Xavier didn’t have to be told twice.

**

It didn’t matter.

As she gazed at the man beside her, Helena uttered the simple mantra to herself.

It didn’t matter. Didn’t matter that she thought someone like him would have never given her the time of day; that she’d underestimated his dedication to the things he loved and his drive to make his own mark on the world. It didn’t matter that she was from Maynard and that his parents didn’t approve of her, or that her struggle would probably be uphill for the rest of her life.

Despite only knowing Xavier for half a year, it became harder and harder for her to imagine a day where he didn’t walk her to class, making snide comments about the amount of studying she’d done the previous night or asking if she meant to visit him in his office later. He was infuriating, exasperating, and a complete and utter distraction.

But she liked being distracted.

When the man hefted her from his car, making to carry her up a flight of stairs in his fancy apartment building, her eyes widened. “Xavier, you’re going to kill yourself.” To which he simply bounced her in his arms, bringing her closer to his broad chest with a smirk.

“It would be a shame to die when I finally have you in my arms.” The comment effectively silenced her and she didn’t speak again until they were inside his apartment. He let her slide down the front of him, igniting every nerve ending in her body to burn hotly. When his blue eyes met hers and she was the raw want there, she shuddered, swallowing thickly. “Xavier,” she tried hesitantly. “I’m…I’m not good at this.”

He chuckled darkly, molding his mouth to hers in a kiss so devastating that her legs turned to mush and the man had to hold her upright in his strong embrace. “Don’t worry. I’ll do all the hard work.” He punctuated the statement with a press of his erection against her stomach, which set her pulse racing. The man was definitely proportional – in every aspect – which made her more than a little nervous. As many times as she’d imagined this – and as flagrantly erotic as those images had become over the past weeks, experiencing them in the flesh was something else entirely.

Xavier’s mouth left her own to make its way down over her throat, each hot press of his lips sending streaks of liquid desire to pool low in her belly. He found her pulse point, nipping and sucking at the sensitive spot until she moaned softly, clinging to him for purchase. “
God
,” He murmured against her collarbone before his tongue dipped into the hollow there. “You’re
so
goddamn beautiful.”

It was funny, as many times as he’d told her the very same thing, for the first time, Helena found herself believing it. Here, in Xavier’s arms, she
was
beautiful. No one judged her, and no one cared where she’d come from.

The man reached for the zipper on her dress, pulling it downward to expose the line of her spine. When the tight fabric parted, she felt like she could draw a decent breath for the first time all night, and she told him so, drawing a chuckle from him as he peeled the silk down her torso. “I think it was well worth it.” His breath fell hotly against her almost bare breasts. Magda had lent her some ridiculous little objects she called chicken cutlets to preserve her modesty as the cut of her dress made it impossible for her to wear a bra. She wondered vaguely if Xavier had bought her this particular dress with such a thing in mind a moment before he unceremoniously peeled away one of her cutlets to take the tip of her breast between his teeth.

“
Oh!
” A little gasp of pleasure escaped Helena as she inadvertently arched into his touch. Xavier’s tongue circled the pebbled tip of her nipple as he drew upon it hungrily, the sensation making her toes curl. She moaned his name, her fingers sliding through his hair as she squirmed, rubbing her thighs against one another in concerted need. When Xavier nipped at the small bud, a soft cry escaped her, moments before he switched to its twin. Helena wanted to protest as he tossed her undergarments on the floor. She would have to return those to Magda – but she found she hardly cared.

Her entire form trembled as Xavier suckled and licked at her aureole, and she felt moisture gathering at the seam of her legs in anticipation. Biting her lip, she pressed his mouth more flush against her breast in a plea for more. She gasped as he obliged her with a few quick flicks of his tongue before releasing his treat. He raised his head to meet her gaze once more, licking his lips, and Helena’s womb contracted in almost painful want.

He reached down to shuck her dress over her hips and let it drop to the floor, urging her to step out of it before he took her hand to lead her into the living room. Helena glanced around the large space, her eyes widening. “No bedroom?” Her inquiry was cut off by a soft sound of surprise as Xavier scooped her up to toss onto the couch before beginning to undo the buttons of his shirt.

“We’ll get there, eventually.” His grin was the sexiest, most wicked thing she’d ever seen – and had her biting back a moan. When he finally stripped off the t-shirt beneath his button up, allowing her an unadulterated view of the chest she’d fantasized about for months, Helena felt her mouth dry. Xavier was pure, pale muscled perfection, from his broad shoulders to the slender definition of his waist.

“Dear God, that is not fair.” She squirmed, suddenly self-conscious, as she covered her breasts. “I thought you were supposed to be a nerd.”

He smirked, raising a knee to place on the couch between her legs as he took hold of her ankle to slide her along the length of the leather until her hips rested on either side of his. “I’m a nerd that likes the gym.” He took her hands, raising them from her chest to kiss the palm of each before placing them atop his head. Then, he returned to his feasting on her breasts.

Lying back against the couch, Helena writhed and squirmed as her nipples contracted into tight, needy peaks a moment before Xavier released them to begin raining kisses down the center of her abdomen. He paused briefly at each hip bone, nipping at the protrusions he found there, before his fingers hooked beneath the cotton fabric of her panties to slide them down her legs and onto the carpet.

Immediately, Helena’s hands untangled themselves from his hair to cover the nest of curls at the crux of her legs in embarrassment. “Xavier, I- no.” She swallowed thickly, trying to be firm. No small feat when her entire body was quivering in sensation and she wanted him so badly it was hard to form coherent sentences. “Not there.”

The blue-eyed man arched a brow before the corner of his mouth kicked up in a sinful smile. “Are you sure? You might like it.”

That’s what she was afraid of. That she would like it
too
much. Slowly, she shook her head. Xavier shrugged. “Alright then.” Rising onto one knee, he made to stand up and Helena breathed a sigh of relief – a moment before the man’s hands unexpectedly spanned her waist, turning her over onto her stomach to display the glistening folds of her womanhood to him. In a smooth motion, Xavier’s fingers curled into her behind, parting her before his tongue swiped over her damp folds in a long lap.

Helena shrieked before burying her face in a leather cushion in embarrassment. Xavier, however, didn’t relent. His mouth covered her as he proceeded to do ridiculous things with his tongue – things that soon had her begging for mercy as evidence of her obvious enjoyment slicked her thighs. No man had ever kissed her there – and now, she thought Xavier might be spoiling her for anyone else. She muffled her moans and cries against his sofa, her eyes tightly shut as she tried not to destroy the damn thing with the strength of her grip.

She felt the heat inside her burning brighter and brighter as her completion built, hurtling her towards a peak faster than she’d ever thought possible. Helena tried to tell Xavier – tried to warn him – but before she could, a sharp gasp escaped her as she tumbled over the precipice, her entire body shuddering with the strength of her orgasm. Pleasure coursed through her body, and she clung to the sofa desperately, trying to keep herself anchored in the corporeal.