Devious Minds (20 page)

I
was leaning against the dorm wall when Sydney burst out of Jack’s door, her beautiful face twisted into scowl and a reckless fury behind her eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

She shrugged her bag up her shoulder and started a brisk walk toward the elevators, leaving me behind in a daze.
What have I done now?

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” I ran up to her side as she repeatedly hit the down button. “Are you going to tell me what’s up, or am I supposed to read that sadistic mind of yours?”

She let out an aggravated sigh. “I’m going to tear Katharine’s face off with my own two hands and hang it from the campus flag pole as a reminder to all what bitches get when they cross me,” she said, channeling an emotionless psychopath.

I took in a breath of relief that I wasn’t the focus of her anger. “Why?”

She pushed the button rapidly, then smashed her fist against the elevator door. Pulling back, she rubbed her knuckles.

I took her hand, straightening her fingers one by one. “Don’t hurt yourself, baby. Who’s going to deliver those sweet beats if you go breaking your hand?”

She ripped her hand from mine and looked up with a warning glare. “Don’t call me
baby
, Peters. You think after one week you can slip back into my good graces?”

Great. Back to Peters.

“No,” I answered coolly, taking a step back. “I don’t, but goddammit, I’m trying. You keep holding a grudge against me for something I
didn’t do
two years ago. I’m getting tired of this shit.”

Sydney shrugged and stared at the closed steel doors. “I never asked you to try, Peters. I was content on ignoring one another for the rest of our lives, and you ruined it.”

I moved in front of her, and she dropped her eyes to the floor.

“Don’t be a pussy, Sydney. You’re just afraid, and the easiest thing for you to do is leave. Just like two years ago.”

The elevator doors opened and she tried to move past me, but I blocked her access. “You just going to leave me again? Maybe I should go get us some waters and get you another bag of fucking gummy bears.”

Her nut-brown eyes shot up to mine, and I could see the memory knocking behind them. She thought I wouldn’t remember her, but how could I forget?

“And I could come back to a cold, empty bed.” I could hear the fury in my tone and my voice rise, but I couldn’t stop it. “Then I’d run up two flights of stairs to interrogate your
friends,
who you’d threatened so they wouldn’t tell me anything about the
real
Sydney. The Sydney I had an amazing night with. Who I wanted to spend more time with. Who I wanted to take to breakfast that morning. Invite to my games every weekend. The girl who rolled in like a whirlwind one night and I couldn’t get out of my head for two fucking years,” I yelled down into her face, and she pulled her head back in surprise.

A few doors opened up down the hall, Jack’s included, and several heads poked out, peering our way. I closed my eyes, feeling my rage swell.
This
was putting myself out there. I wasn’t ready for it, but I couldn’t get through to her any other way.

Sydney was a destructive tornado whipping through my mind and body. I couldn’t stay away. I had to experience the damage she’d inflict, because just feeling anything with her was better than nothing at all. I was an idiot because I loved Sydney, and even her glare in my direction gave me hope.

When I opened my eyes, she dropped her gaze and shook her head, like she was trying to deflect my words. I wouldn’t let her get away with it, not when she was so close to me.

“Sydney, I want to be with you. Not just one night, but for the foreseeable future. For as long as you can stand me. I want to be with
you
. I’m all in, Porter. Don’t ruin this… Don’t ruin us before we even get started, because it could be the best thing that’s ever happened to me… to us,” I said low, for her ears only.

Sydney glanced down the hall, noticing the curious faces. Her eyes paused on the dorm staircase door, and her waist turned in its direction. So I waited. I waited for her to leave me again. In front of all these strangers and her own brother, Sydney was going to take the coward’s way out. I relaxed my body, readying myself for inevitable abandonment and the embarrassment that would follow.
Just get it over with.

Then she did something unexpected.

Sydney rose onto her tiptoes, wrapped a hand around the back of my neck, and brought my face down for a kiss. Not just for a kiss, but for life support.

It was fierce and hungry, and at the feel of the heat from her mouth, I wrapped my arms around her waist, dragging her into the elevator. I could feel her smiling through our kiss as I hit the lobby button. When hoots and hollers erupted from the hallway, I laughed into her mouth.

When the doors closed, Sydney turned away from me and pulled the emergency stop.

“Sydney, campus security will be here in five minutes.”

She rapidly pushed her hands down my pants, and any argument was worthless.

“Jesuuusss,” I moaned when she reached the waistband of my boxers, dipped inside, pulling her hand across me. Pushing her up against the elevator rail, I gathered her skirt around her waist and slid my fingers between her thighs. God, she was wet and ready.

Her mouth skimmed across my jaw and stopped at my ear. “I want you, Gray,” she whispered, and I thought I was hallucinating, but she rolled her hand across me again, reminding me this was about to get real—very real.

I dropped my sweats to my knees and raised her soft, strong body against the metal wall. No condom. Why did I not have a condom?

“I’m clean, Sydney. Are you… protected?”

She nodded and settled her hips against the elevator handrail. “Yes and yes.” Her mouth crashed onto mine again, pulling my lips between her teeth.

Clumsily, I tried to pull down her underwear but ended up ripping it off like a caveman. “Fuck, I’m sorry,” I said, unable to hide the embarrassment in my voice.

“Shh… it’s okay,” she whispered as she gripped my shoulders tightly and rolled her hands down my back. I relaxed as her fingers kneaded into my muscles. “Please, Gray, I need
release
.”

Taking a quick glance at the elevator’s ceiling, I said a silent thank you to God.

Gently, I slipped inside her, and we both moaned into each other’s mouths. Her legs wrapped around my waist, and I held her up with one hand, resting the other behind her head to cushion the blow.

On each thrust, her head rose and her lips parted, letting soft, seductive breaths into the air between us. I returned her whimpers with slow carnal noises of my own as I watched her arch back her neck and felt her hips roll over me in languid waves. She was tight, just like I remembered. I bit down on my lip, suppressing a moan. I’d always used condoms, and without a barrier, her dripping heat surrounded me like a glove.
Fuck
.

“You feel so good, Sydney.” As I spoke, she moved her hands across my chest, sliding them over my shoulders, finally cupping my face. I closed my eyes at the feel of her thumbs massaging the back of my jaw, and soon her lips brushed over mine, teasing me. “Stop flirting and kiss me,” I whispered and opened my mouth for hers.

She pulled my head in closer and her tongue found its way inside, meeting mine with such gentleness and purpose I nearly unleashed right then. When she pulled away, I opened my eyes. She was moving above me with a smile on her lips and a lusty glaze over her eyes. She looked beautiful, and I regretted not taking her home. An elevator in a dorm full of jocks wasn’t where I wanted to be for our first—second—time. She deserved romance and slow pleasure, not hormonal rabbit Gray.

“Sydney, we don’t have to do this here.” I started to lower her, and she gripped my biceps, digging in my arms.

She let out frustrated growl. “Yes, we do,” she ordered. Her eyes darkened as she pulled her heels across my back, slamming myself into her. “I don’t want soft and slow. I want freshman year, against the headboard, screaming your name.”

She gave me a fiendish smile, and I returned it. Her words were driving me insane, and even though I wanted this so badly, I was going to make her work for it.

“You really want that?” I whispered into her ear, slowing the roll of my hips and torturing us both. Sometimes you have to sacrifice to get what you want. “You gonna just take your fill and leave me if I fuck you?”

She narrowed her eyes and released a frustrated groan when I pumped even slower. “Not if I’m fucked so hard I can’t walk,” she countered, and yep, that about did it.

Grabbing Sydney’s outer thigh, I slammed her back against the metal wall and delivered hard enough thrusts to make her breath hitch. With my other forearm, I pinned her wrists above her head and took every ounce of her, pushing deep inside until she was gasping for breath.

“Should I stop?” I teased. But God, I was seconds away from losing it.

“No,” she cried out, trying to catch her breath.

The elevator filled with the sound of glorious wet slaps of skin against skin. We were animals. Tearing one another apart. Groaning and grunting into one another’s mouths, only to pull away to mutter out a
fuck
or a
yes
every few seconds.

It was rough. It was primal. It was incredible.

“Everything all right in there?” A voice came from the elevator speaker, and we both shot our eyes toward the door. “I’ll have you out of there in three minutes. Please remain calm.”

We both laughed, and Sydney let out a loud moan when I slammed into her again, sending her head back against a metal panel.

“Sorry, baby,” I whispered, and she clenched over the top of me. “Oh… shit, Sydney.” Diving into her neck, I finished my desperate plea against her throat.

“Are you hurt? I hear moaning in there.” The deep voice shot through the speaker again. “Two minutes now and you’ll be safe.”

Two minutes?

Reaching a hand down, I circled Sydney’s clit with my fingertips. She frantically rocked her hips against my hand, releasing hurried breaths. When she rolled her forehead across my shoulder, I sank my face into her hair, stopping just next to her ear. “That’s right, Sydney, come for me.”

Then she cried out over my shoulder, and I kissed her hard to cover the sound. “Shit, that was loud, baby.” I shot a nervous glance at the speaker.

“Come on, Gray.” Her warm voice licked into my ear. “Don’t I feel good?”

“No… you feel amazing.”

She tightened over me again, and I braced my forearms on either side of her head. Sweat dripped from my forehead as she pulled over me, and my face tensed until I knew it was pink.

“Kiss me, Sydney, because when I come, it’s gonna be loud an—” I just managed to get out those words before a satisfied groan fled from my throat, and I released inside her. Instead of kissing me, Sydney moved her head to the side and laughed. Of course she did.

“Jesus Christ. Is everything okay in there?” The mysterious elevator voice was growing more desperate. Suddenly, the elevator began to shift, descending toward the lobby.

Sydney and I stayed forehead to forehead, panting into each other’s mouths. When I finally lowered her to the ground, I pulled off my T-shirt so she could use it clean up. Both our chests continued to heave wildly as the tension we’d built up over the last six weeks—hell, the last two years—left our bodies.