Torrid Affair(43)

“Fuck!” I slammed my hands on the steering wheel. Turning the key, I tried one more time. “Come on, baby. Please turn on, please.”

The car wouldn't budge.

Julian didn't have a car I could borrow, and I only had twenty minutes to get across campus. There was no way Delaney was up at this godawful hour, and there was no way in hell I was calling Nate to pick me up. I was left with one option.

I had to run.

Zipping my coat all the way up, I tossed the hood over my head and willed my feet to move as fast as possible before the rain came down. Julian's dorm was about a mile and a half from the library, and between jogging and speed walking, I managed to get nearly across campus before the rain began.

The library was still 500 feet away when the heavy clouds that had been threatening a massive rainstorm began to pour over me. This wasn't a light shower; it was more like a hurricane and I was soaked by the time I reached the entrance. More than ready for shelter from the weather, I tugged on the door handle but it didn't budge.

“Seriously?” I shouted to the universe. I pounded on the door. Terri should have been here by now. I looked inside and noticed the lights were all off. There was no one there.

“Brielle.” I heard my name behind me. I held one hand over my eyes so the rain wouldn't get in my face, and squinted to see. Nate was jogging toward me with an umbrella.

“Terri isn’t here!” I shouted over the hard pebbles of water that splashed against the concrete.

“Come on, you're soaking wet.” He raised the umbrella to cover me. “You’ll get pneumonia.”

Nate led me to his car, our feet splashing in vast puddles forming in the parking lot. He held his Jeep door open for me and I climbed into the warm car. The scent of leather and his cologne was a sweet mixture. Jogging around the car, he pulled back the driver side door and hopped in, turned on the car, and blasted the heat.

“Are you trying to kill yourself?” he demanded. He shifted all the car vents in my direction. “We’re getting a Nor’easter.”

“It wasn't raining when I left Julian’s,” I stuttered, my body trembling as my jaw shook from the cold.

“Take off your jacket. It's drenched.”

I discarded my jacket and tossed it behind me, then took the sweater he found on his back seat.

“Why is it so freaking cold?” I whimpered. Nate’s warm hands rubbed up and down my arms as he attempted to warm my body. “My car wouldn't start.” I held my hand to the vent to catch the heat.

“It's okay. I'll warm you up.” Nate cupped my hand and brought it to his lips. Gently, he blew on them and kissed my fingers. It was a simple touch. One that stoked my heart. I was frozen on the outside, but the second his lips touched my skin, a fire began to burn inside me.

Neither of us spoke as he placed chaste kisses on my hand. The thundering of the torrential downpour hitting his car surrounded us.

Nate’s gaze met mine. I needed to stop. I needed to pull my hand away.

But there was no denying what we both wanted.

Nate effortlessly cupped the side of my face and brought my lips to his. It was soft at first, his warm lips to my cold. He inhaled my scent and my mouth opened for him as a plea. Nate deepened our kiss, his tongue twisting and twirling with mine. My hand ran through his hair as I submitted to his mouth. Moans escaped the back of my throat while Nate grunted and gripped the nape of neck.

Hungry.

Desperate.

Consuming.

Pulling away from me, his eyes scanned mine. “I’m sorry.” He kissed my lips again. “I never want to stop this,” he whispered. His mouth trailed across my cheek and down my neck. My eyes opened and I spotted a security car headed our way.

“Stop,” I moaned. “We need to get out of here before we get caught.” I should have stopped him completely. The smart thing would have been to get in the security car and ask them to drive me home. But in that moment, the only thing I wanted was to feel Nate’s lips on me.





Chapter 14





Nathaniel


My entire life I’ve felt worthless. My father left me, my mother didn’t care, and every foster home I lived in made me feel like an obligation rather than loved. Even when Louisa adopted me, I felt like a responsibility. I had stood up for her kid, so she was returning the favor.

It was hard to grow up feeling like the kid no one wanted, so I acted out in school because of it. It wasn’t until my senior year of high school that I realized it was my life and I had two choices: be the asshole kid and become the asshole adult, or change my ways. So I changed. Although being worthy of someone’s love was never something I fixated on. It became irrelevant to me.