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Cupping my forehead, I blinked away the sudden tears stinging my eyes. “I’m not—I don’t look like the girls here. I’m not the right type. I know that, and it’s okay. Those idiots think I’m a joke. But I just...well, I think they’re jokes too, so I guess we’re even.”
“You’d never laugh at anyone.”
I swiped at my eyes with the heel of my hand. “Of course I wouldn’t.”
Shaking his head, Amir took a step back from me. “It kills me.”
“What?”
“You.” The sneer he shot me was so ugly, it made me want to curl up on the sidewalk. “You fucking kill me. You have no idea.”
I rubbed the spot on my jaw he had been gripping. “I don’t know…” And I really didn’t want him to enlighten me. “Can I go inside now? I’ll email you the notes as soon as I’m in my room.”
“No.” Amir’s arm shot out, gripping my nape and pulling me into his side. “I said I’d walk you home. That’s what I’m going to do.”
So, he did. He held on to me like a possession, steering me all the way to the steps in front of my dorm. Then he backed me into the stone baluster at the base of the stairs and pinned me in with both arms on either side of me.
“If you want the truth, I wasn’t coming tonight. I was going to let you send me the notes and be done with it.”
I tipped my chin. “So, why didn’t you? You didn’t trust me to do a good job?”
“No. I knew you would. I don’t think there’s anything you’d willingly do half-assed, even if it’s something for me. I know that because I ate your lasagna for dinner last night, breakfast this morning, and dinner again tonight. And when Marco saw the empty pan in the sink, he came close to taking a swing at me.”
“What?” I pushed out a little giggle.
Amir’s somber expression didn’t budge. “You made that for me, no doubt hating me for making you do it, and it still tasted like heaven. I knew you’d take the most perfect notes anyone’s ever taken because that’s who you are. I don’t think you’re even capable of being less than your best.”
I refused to let his compliment coat me in warmth. Honestly, I wasn’t even positive itwasa compliment, but it felt like it.
“So, why did you come?” I asked softly.
“Because I don’ttrustyou, Zadie.” He fingered one of my curls. “If I’m not watching you, how do I know you won’t be meeting up with Schiffer? How do I know you’re not gonna be fucking him the second the lecture’s over? My little pet needs supervision.”
I jerked my head away, banging my skull against the stone behind me. His baseless accusation hurt far worse, though. It was like we hadn’t spent hours talking in my dorm. Like he didn’t remember a single minute of it. It had only been four months ago.
Tsking, Amir tugged me into his chest and rubbed the back of my head.
“Need you back at my house tomorrow. Saturday night, we’re going out, so don’t make plans.” He shoved his fingers in my hair. I braced for him to yank hard, but he didn’t. He just stayed there like that, his hand buried in my hair, my head against his chest, holding me to him. “Go inside, mama.”
My bag was back on my shoulder, and Amir was gone, backing away from me while watching every breath I took with narrowed eyes. I watched him back for a few flurried heartbeats, then I turned on my heel and ran inside.
Safe.
For now at least.
Amir might not have trusted me, and the feeling was mutual. After what we shared and the way he’d turned off his emotions like a light switch, there was no going back to that stolen moment from four months ago.
Amir kissed me like no one ever had. We weren’t captor and hostage anymore. Something had shifted. Our desire had stirred up the air, our reality, the entire world, and resettled it in an entirely different way.
His hands were under my clothes, inside my bra. I shoved up his shirt. His skin was hot and smooth under my palms. I soaked him in, touching him freely, without a second thought. It felt like I wasn’t me anymore. I was Amir’s now.
And when he stood with me held flush to his body, I didn’t stop him. My feet moved with his, taking us to my bedroom. And then I was on the bed, shirt rucked up under my chin, bra cups down, his mouth latched to my nipple, as he worked on the button of my jeans.
He reared back to his knees, and in the dim light of my bedroom, his wild eyes peered down at me. Fingers hooking into the waistband of my jeans, he pulled them off in one swoop. My legs tried to press together, but Amir caught my knees, putting pressure on them to keep them apart.
“Let me see you, little mama. Show me your whole universe,” he growled like a wolf to his mate. My legs fell open, showing him. I wished I could close my eyes, but they were glued to his face. I didn’t know how to read his expression. His parted lips and deeply furrowed brow. Then he touched me with the very tip of his finger, so featherlight, I barely felt it, and still, I nearly vaulted from the bed.
His exhale had jagged edges all around. “Like silk.” His finger dragged down the center of me, pausing at my entrance. “Pretty, Zadie. So fucking pretty. Like a little flower, showing me your bloom. Wonder what you taste like.”
“You can try me,” I breathed.
His eyes flicked to mine. “No fucking way I won’t. You’re mine now.”
For now, for now, for now. We were Zadie and Amir, not captor and hostage.
For now.
