Chapter Two
HANNAH
God, why did I feel like I was going to pass out?
My feet felt heavier and heavier with every step I took closer to Nathan and his overwhelmingly good-looking fan club. The girl sitting on Nathan’s lap noticed me first, her eyes narrowing as she continued to rub her hand up and down his manhood. The message was clear, her gaze sharp.
Back off. He’s mine.
I tried to keep her eye contact, wanting to send her a message of my own. You have nothing to worry about, honey, I’m not here for that. Any guy who would let a girl give him a hand job through his jeans in front of a room of people wasn’t anyone I wanted on my radar.
Of course, Nathan was on everyone’s radar.
It wasn’t his fault; he couldn’t control how jaw-droppingly handsome he was or how much money he was set to inherit. He could control his actions, though, and letting his parade of woman crawl all over him in public wasn’t a good look.
Not that I cared, I definitely didn’t.
His conquest let her eyes look me up and down and I pulled my coat across my body again self consciously, having time to tie it just before Nathan moved his blue eyes on top of mine. And I swear I almost lost it right there in the middle of the football house, almost passed out and let my legs fall out from underneath me. I had seen pictures, numerous pictures, I had even seen him across campus before, seen his serious face on the football field while he tried to work out a play.
But nothing could prepare you for what Nathan Cummings looked like up close.
His jaw was angled and tense even under the simple atmosphere of a house party. His tan skin speckled under the bright lights and his cheekbones were defined and sharp around the edges, giving him the perfect model-like appearance. His black hair was full and soft, too soft for a man. But none of that could compare to his eyes. They were deep and intense with specs of green around the edges. I wanted to look away but I couldn’t, I was too busy drowning in them.
My mouth suddenly went completely dry.
Those eyes that were traveling up and down my body now, not even trying to hide the fact that he was taking every curve of me in. His signature smirk tugged at his lips when he finally met my eyes again, a trace of something I couldn’t fully read creeping into the corners of those brilliant eyes.
Was he? Oh, God, was he laughing at me?
One of the guys standing next to him followed Nathan’s body language and took me in, dismissing me right away after he checked me out. “He’s not signing any autographs tonight, sweetheart.” A few of his football buddies chuckled and the girl on Nathan’s lap laughed.
Well, this was going about as well as expected.
I opened my mouth, searching for a sentence but nothing came out. It was his stupid eyes; they were making it impossible to think straight. I forced myself to look down at the ground so I could form a coherent thought.
I don’t know how many beats it was before Nathan’s girl scoffed. “Jesus, is she, like a mute or something?” She moved her hand off Nathan’s cock and crossed her arms over her chest as she leaned forward, talking loudly. “He’s not doing any pictures or autographs tonight, catch him on a game day.”
More laughter.
I snapped my head up, suddenly brave for a minute. “I have to talk to you.”
Nathan’s smirk twitched, surprise written across his face.
“How the hell did you even get in here?” The girl asked now, standing up and trying to look intimidating. She glanced at the guy who was standing next to Nathan again. “I thought you had someone watching the door.”
“I need to talk to you, Nathan,” I tried again, more firmly this time. Nathan shuffled forward, his eyebrows raising at the word need. But he still didn’t say anything, still made no effort to usher me closer to him and find out what it was I wanted from him.
“What you need, honey, is a nice hard cock,” the guy who told me Nathan wasn’t giving autographs tonight told me, shaking his head back and forth. It was clear from his size he was a member of the football team. “You look so fucking frigid I could cut ice off of you.”
“Hey,” Nathan’s tone was sharp. “Manners, Baker.”
His voice was startling, deep and cutting enough to make one’s skin ache.
But it was too late; I was already mortified, already feeling like more of an idiot than before. I felt a sense of panic creeping over my body and before I could fully understand what I was doing I felt the cup of beer Rachel had given me in an effort to loosen me up falling to the ground with a thud.
The liquid went splashing everywhere, spraying forward onto the girl’s dress that already hated me. I took in the scene before me in horror and then did the only thing I could.
I turned around and ran.
“What the fuck?” I heard the girl squeal behind me.
But it was no use; I was already across the room and out the front door taking off down the street as fast as my feet could carry me. The heels Rachel had forced me to wear stung my feet and I lunged forward, almost falling flat on my face before I pushed my body into the side of a random car, choosing to rest my back against the safeness of the black paint.
I pushed my face into my hands, mortified.
Had I really just walked up to the most popular guy on campus, demanded to talk to him, and then splashed my drink all over him before turning around and running for the hills?
Yup, same old Hannah.
“So, do you always throw your drinks on guys and then take off before they have a chance to react?” I recognized the same brooding tone from inside right away and it sent my body instantly stiff.
I peeked out from under my hands, taking in Nathan’s piercing features in the darkness of the street. He was taller than I expected now that he was standing so close to me and I had to strain my neck a little bit in order to look at him. My eyes traveled up his defined abs and stomach to the muscles on his shoulders and all the way back up to his face.
You could see how ripped he was even under the fabric of his jersey.
He smirked. “Like what you see?”
I gasped and looked down. “You followed me,” I somehow found words.
He chuckled and took a few long strides toward me. “You didn’t leave me much choice.” His body towered over me, barely leaving any distance between the two of us. He smirked knowingly when I took a step backward and stumbled further into the side of the car.
Having him so close to me was unsettling.
“What’s your name?” he asked, leaning next to me against the car.
His body was too large for the small frame of the car so he had to scrunch down a little, his long legs bending at the knees. Only Nathan Cummings could make such a position look graceful.
“Hannah.” I snuck a glance at him.
“Hannah.” My name never sounded better. “I’m Nathan.”
“I know who you are.”
“I know,” he said cockily.
Ugh. He was so full of himself.
I shook my head. God, was this really happening? Nathan Cummings had followed me outside of the party him and his teammates were throwing to find out what it was I wanted? My paper suddenly flashed through my mind like a saving grace, reminding me why I was there in the first place. I looked down at my hand, relieved to find the release still in my grasp.
The release. Right, the release.
I held my hand out to him. “Nice to meet you.” I tried a different approach, determined to make this whole thing professional. If I could get him to just hear me out, I could get this awful night over with and get the hell out of there.
Nathan glanced at my hand and raised his eyebrows. “A handshake, really?” He stood up straight. “You want to know the last time a woman introduced herself by shaking my hand?” He put his hand on top of mine and pushed it to the side of my body, forcing it downward. He was standing in front of me now, so close that I could feel his breath on my neck. “Never,” he whispered into my ear.
A chill ran up and down my body at the same time a sharp heat crept into the middle of my legs. His mouth was still in my hair and he was making no effort to move away from me. God, I had never felt anything like this in my entire body. He smelled like Grey Goose and mint swirled into one. I dug my hands into the fabric of my coat in an effort to stop them from shaking. I tried to focus on the release, tried to remember I was there for a signature and not a roll in Nathan Cumming’s sheets.
I should have had no trouble pushing him away from me. I should have been able to detangle myself from his rock hard body without a second thought. I mean, I didn’t even know him for God sake. Still, I found myself reaching forward and taking the fabric of his jersey in my fingers, turning it over curiosity. It was like I wasn’t in control of my own actions; like someone had zeroed in on my senses and taken control of my body without my permission.
What was more startling though was the way I seemed to be enjoying it.
“I need… I need…” I stuttered over the words, unable to get them out. Just say it to him, Hannah; you need him to sign this release. You need him to give you permission to write a research paper about him and his life. It’s a simple phrase, a simple request.
“I know,” he hummed into my neck. “I know.”
He knew? He knew why I was there? About the article and the release? Was it possible word had already traveled to him, that he heard about the chance the school was giving to up and coming freshmen, a chance to be published on a national level. It would make sense; he knew everything else that went on around here. He probably knew his name was sure to be selected…
Sure to be a chosen headline.
Everyone wanted to read about Nathan.
Everyone wanted Nathan.
Oh, God.
“You know?” I whispered.
He nuzzled the side of my neck with his mouth, pushing my hair back and letting his soft lips trail a soft kiss across the side of my neck. “I know, Hannah.” He licked me gently. “I know you need me.”
I had never had a guy so close to me before, never had someone tracing small kisses up and down my skin before. I felt like the pressure was going to cause my body to crumble. “Yeah… that’s right…. I need….” My eyes flew open and I stumbled backward half an inch. “Wait, what?” Had he just said I needed him? Did he think? Jesus, he thought I meant I needed him inside of me.
You do, a voice I didn’t recognize popped into my head.
I pushed it away at the same time I pushed him away. “Wait, what?”
Nathan didn’t move much; his body was too big for me to have much effect on him. He reached out and ran his thumb over my bottom lip, tracing small circles back and forth over the softness of my pillow that now felt like it was on fire along with the rest of my body. “It’s okay, Hannah.” He leaned in closer to me but stopped before his lips could touch mine, not fully closing the distance between us.
The anticipation was killing me, my body wanted him to crush his lips against mine, to kiss me in a way that no man ever had. I opened my mouth to tell him that he had to stop, to let him know I wasn’t here for that, but I found myself saying something else entirely. “I don’t normally look like this so if you’re thinking…”
He traced his large hand down my back and brought it to the front of my body, slowing pushing back and forth over my stomach. “You don’t normally look like what?” He asked softly, not bothering to move his lips before he sunk his hand into my jacket and pushed it open roughly.
I gasped and clung to his body tighter. “I-I- I don’t normally look this… sexed up.” I cringed at the stuttered words that came out of my mouth. God, I was so pathetic. Why couldn’t I just form a normal sentence for once in my life? For once when it actually mattered.
Nathan let out a soft laugh and then glanced downward, taking in my tight black dress and ample curves. It immediately made me self-conscious. I knew I wasn’t as skinny or pretty as the girls he was used to having his way with. I started to shake under his gaze in spite of myself.
He pushed a piece of hair behind my ear. “Do I make you nervous, Hannah?”
“Yes,” I whispered without thinking.
I could feel the satisfaction playing across his lips, he was enjoying the fact that he had an effect on me, getting off on the fact that he was able to do things to my body no one else could. “Do you want me to kiss you, Hannah?”
No.
Yes.
Fuck.
I nodded.
“You have to say it.”
“Yes.”
I didn’t have to tell him twice, Nathan plastered his lips on top of mine hungrily, devouring every inch of me, and fireworks took off between my lips. If I thought I had been turned on before the feeling of Nathan’s tongue making its way into my mouth was enough to set me over the edge and I felt the wetness between my legs start to flow freely.
I moaned softly against his mouth and the sound only aided him more, his tongue pushing all the way back into my mouth as I clung to his shirt so tight my knuckles must have been white.
He moved his mouth off mine too soon, moving his way down my neck as he started to suck and nibble there. His hand was between my legs suddenly, tracing small circles around the inner part of my thighs. “I want your panties,” he rasped in my neck in between more sucking.
He wanted my what? Was he crazy? I opened my mouth to tell him there was no way in hell he was getting my…. My neck snapped to the side, causing my eyes to close and roll back into my head as he continued to kiss me.
“Hannah,” he sounded so husky and out of breath. “Give them to me,” he declared. It wasn’t a question; he wasn’t asking me if he could have them, he was telling me he wanted them.
“Now,” he said firmly when I didn’t answer.
I found myself pushing my legs further apart and sliding my hand up my dress as I slid my simple white panties down my thighs. Under any other circumstance, I might have been humiliated by how simple they were but I was too turned on to care. Nathan pushed them the rest of the way down slowly, sliding them over my knees and running his hand over the back of my leg as he pulled them over my ankle and toward the front of his mouth.
He inhaled swiftly and then lunged his mouth on top of mine again. And then his hand was running up the back of my dress, squeezing my ass hard and rough. He took my hand and pressed it toward his crotch, showing me how hard he was. “You see what you did to me, Hannah,” he whispered into my ear.
I ran my hand back and forth over his pants a few times, taking in how large his cock felt. I had done that? I had made him that hard? The thought thrilled me for a second and I couldn’t help but think about how bad I wanted to touch it, how bad I wanted to feel it between my fingers.
But then she popped into my head.
The girl who had been inside, the girl who had been stroking Nathan through his jeans less than twenty minutes ago. What the hell was I doing? Is this who I had become? So desperate for some attention that I was willing to degrade myself to one of Nathan Cummings fangirls?
I shook my head and pushed him away from me. “I can’t.” My eyes were wide and I could feel myself gasping, struggling to regain my composure from the roller coaster of a ride my body had just been on. “That’s not what I want.”
"Really?" He glanced down at his hardness. "That's a first."
I flushed.
Nathan kept his distance, his breathing heavy as he ran his hand back and forth across his neck. It satisfied me that he looked just as turned on as I felt. “I know what a girl like you wants, Hannah, and I can’t give it to you.”
Excuse me? I crossed my arms over my chest. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He sighed and moved closer again. “It means you want the same thing all the other girls on this campus want. You want me to tell you that you’re going to be different than everyone else, that I’m going to make you mine tonight and every other night for the rest of your damn life but that’s not going to happen.”
My mouth hung open. Was he joking right now? “You’re a pig!”
He shook his head. “And if I told you a bunch of lies I would be an asshole who never called you again, at least this way I’m being honest.” He ran his hand up and down my shoulder. “I can’t be that guy for you, I’m never going to be that guy for anyone, I’m not made that way.” He pushed his lips into my hair. “But if you want to forget all that, if you want to live right here and right now,” he whispered into me heavily, “then, Hannah, I can take your body to places you’ve never been before. I can make you scream in ways you never have.”
Ugh! Did that line actually work for him?
Suddenly, all the overwhelming feelings of flattery and hotness were gone from my body and the only thing I had left was an overwhelming need to slap the smug look away from his face. “You’re the biggest jerk on the planet, Nathan Cummings!” I pushed my hands into his chest roughly, trying to send him flying backward. “Do you think every girl on this campus wants to have sex with you?”
“Well, duh.” He smirked, unaffected by my outburst. “Can you not throw a tantrum in the middle of the street, Hannah? I mean, really, it’s unbecoming.” He stuck his hands in his jeans pockets and rocked back and forth on the back of his heels.
I laughed sharply. “I hate to break it to you, superstar, but I have no interest in being another notch on your belt.” He was unbelievable. I couldn’t believe I had allowed myself to get caught up in his seduction for more than five seconds.
“Really?” He raised his eyebrows. “Because you sure seemed like it a second ago.”
I lunged forward and pushed the piece of paper I had been clutching into his chest roughly. “Here! Sign this!” I moved away from him and narrowed my eyes. “And then I’ll be on my way! Never having to see your smug face again!”
“What’s this?” Nathan looked amused as he unfolded the paper. “If you want an autograph I can get you something better, a nice headshot of me in my uniform, perhaps.” He frowned as he read the words typed in little black letters across the paper. “A print release?”
“That’s right, superstar,” I spat out at him. “I came here so you could sign that. A research paper on you is 40 percent of my English grade and I can’t get started without your permission.” I crossed my hands over my chest. “So, why don’t you go ahead and sign it so I can get the hell out of here!”
“A release?” Nathan sounded completely thrown. “So, let me get this straight. You didn’t come here to try and hook up with me?” He glanced down at the paper again, scanning the contents. “You came here so that I could sign off on me being the subject of your class project?”
“That’s right,” I told him happily.
The realization sent anger into his eyes for reasons I couldn’t fully understand. Was the idea that a girl didn’t approach him with the intent of stripping her clothes for him really that earth-shattering to a guy like him?
“Forget it,” he said, annoyance laced his tone. “I’m not signing shit!”
“You have to!”
“Actually, I don’t have to do anything.” He shook his head. “Why the fuck would I? Are you crazy? It says here the Westfield Times might pick it up; like I trust you to write anything half decent about my life.”
“It says right there you have to approve the final piece before anything is published!”
He smirked. “Sorry, babe, but the only thing I plan on signing tonight is your virgin pussy with my tongue.” He pushed forward and stuck the paper back at me. “If that’s something you’re interested in then you let me know, otherwise, you’re dismissed.”
My mouth hung open. My virgin pussy? I was dismissed? Who the heck did he think he was? “Fuck off!” The words were out of my mouth before I could fully grasp what it was I had said. And then, for the second time that night, I took off on Nathan Cummings, leaving him standing alone in the middle of the street.
And later that night, when I’m back at my dorm, tucked into my bed safely and just about to drift off to sleep, it finally crept into my mind that Nathan Cummings still had my panties.