Page 54 of Savage Ambition

Anyone could walk in and find Dante thrusting against me. The threat of discovery caused my hips to buck more insistently against his solid weight.

The heavy denim seam pressed into sensitive flesh. The damp cotton of my briefs created a chafing drag that sharpened every sensation.

Pressure built low in my stomach. I was going to come in my pants like a teenager, reduced to nothing but immediate need.

His fingers dug harder into my thigh. The layers of fabric between us became an intolerable barrier after knowing the feeling of his bare skin.

“Next time,” he murmured right by my ear, “I’m going to bend you over that professor’s desk and fuck you so hard you forget your own name.”

I was teetering on the edge, every muscle clenched tight.

Dante froze. Footsteps echoed in the hallway, growing louder. He lowered me to the floor and steered me toward the nearest stall. “Get in.”

I locked myself inside, leaning against the wall just as the bathroom door swung open.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Jace demanded. “And where the hell is Shaw?”

“Go back to class, Jace,” I called out. My body still throbbed with unfulfilled need.

“And leave you with this asshole? Never.”

“That wasn’t a request.”

Dante laughed.

Jace took the bait. “Why are you even in here?”

“Did it ever occur to you that maybe I’m here to take a piss?”

My patience snapped. “Look, both of you shut up and go back to class. I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll go after he does,” Jace insisted. “I’m not leaving you here with him.”

“Damn it, Jace. What do you think he’ll do to me?” The irony of his concern wasn’t lost on me.

Jace kept his rage planted on Dante. “Once I figure out what’s going on with you, you won’t be so arrogant anymore, asshole.”

Dante chuckled, but the genuine threat in Jace’s voice settled heavily in my gut. If Jace ever discovered the truth about the two of us, I didn’t know what he would do.

I threw open the stall door. It smacked against the wall with a loud bang, making Jace flinch. “I’ve heard enough.” I stepped between them. “I’m tired of listening to your pointless posturing, and you aren’t any better.” I glared at Dante for good measure.

Dante tilted his head. “I think otherwise.” He held enough leverage to destroy everything with a single sentence.

“Of course you do.” I faced Jace again. “None of this is helping my headache. I’m leaving.”

Concern softened his features. “I can walk with you.”

“No. Go back to class.”

He raised his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay, I got it. Feel better.”

I left without looking at Dante again. I was trapped between two dangerous forces. Dante could expose me at any moment, and Jace would erupt if he learned the truth. Yet despite the catastrophic fallout waiting to happen, I still craved Dante.

Igrabbed my things from the classroom and make an excuse to my concerned professor before heading to the archaeology section of the library. The scent of aged paper and leather bindings served as a bittersweet reminder of my parents’ extensive collection now gathering dust in storage. Their absence carved a hollow space inside me that even their books couldn’t fill.

I collapsed into a chair tucked between towering shelves, my body still humming with frustrated desire from the bathroom encounter. Closing my eyes, I focused on steadying my breathing.

Cool fingers traced my cheekbone. I opened my eyes to find Dante looming over me.