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Leo leaned forward and I met him halfway, my breath already hitching with anticipation as I lifted my free hand to cup his jaw, committing to memory the feeling of his skin beneath mine, the taste and smell of Leo as he sucked on my lower, then upper lip, his touch unbearably sweet.
Sometimes he did this, was so careful with me, and every reverent caress was magnified by his gentleness. By the time he pulled back from what had been in reality a rather short kiss by our standards, I was already flushed and breathing hard. The side of his firm, kiss-swollen lips quirked up and I just about died on the spot of an overload of hormones. He was just so…masculine. His presence made me feel female, sensual, powerful. Standing a little taller, I adjusted the pack on my back and stopped hunching forward, a bad habit I’d developed as a kid when I didn’t want to draw attention to myself.
Which was all the time.
But in Leo’s presence, I felt like a goddess.
“I’ll miss you.”
The words just kind of slipped out like my brain-to-mouth filter was malfunctioning, but before I could play it off, Leo smiled wide and I swore I heard a couple women behind me sigh. “I’ll miss you too, baby girl. What time are you done with your study group tonight?”
I tried to remember when I’d mentioned my study group, but couldn’t. It must have been one of those hazy times when, sexually exhausted and satisfied, I’d just babbled about anything and everything with Leo. He was a great listener and seemed to really enjoy my random thoughts about the best kind of peanut butter, or how quickly the oceans were going to rise in the next century, or what kind of rose smelled the best. Odd conversations with no rhyme or reason, but immensely satisfying. I connected with him better than I ever had anyone before, and the feeling of belonging I got from lying in his arms, being stroked and coddled while we watched a movie, was completely addictive.
And our conversations were interesting. He knew lots about the world, things I’d never considered, ways of looking at events that seemed totally foreign to me. It’s like if we both looked at one of those ink blot pictures, I’d see a puppy and he’d see a gun. Well, maybe not that bad, but I couldn’t easily dismiss how much he seemed to know about the criminal elements of the world.
I vaguely remembered complaining about last semester’s expensive books that I’d been forced to buy for my courses, only to never use half of them. We’d gone on to discuss how the textbook industry was a scam, and Leo had some amazing insights into how a scheme like that worked. Without a doubt, I was now sure our corrupt government could be bought out by anyone, including the textbook industry.
Shaken out of my memories by an engine revving behind Leo in the big circular drive leading to my apartment building, I nodded, the fumes from the exhaust of the bike strong in the desert heat, tainting my every breath. “It was canceled, too many people had other things going on, and for once I don’t have to rush off to work. They gave me two weeks off to heal. I haven’t had this much free time in forever. Seriously. Last vacation I took was to my aunt’s funeral in Michigan three years ago, if you can even call that a vacation.”
His lips tightened and he shook his head. “That’s no way to live your life. You’ve never had a chance to go anywhere, see anything, or experience new things because you’ve been working yourself to the bone. We’re going to change that. From now on, you get to enjoy life, Hannah, not watch it pass by.”
All I could do was nod quickly, hoping my chin wasn’t quivering as badly as it wanted to. Stupid emotions, they always overwhelmed me. Older kids at my school used to love how quickly they could make me cry, no matter how much I fought to retain my tattered pride.
Cars drove past us in the drive, and on the wide stairs leading to my apartment stood three girls I knew from the floor below us, not so secretly snapped pictures of us on their cell phones while Leo caressed my cheek with his leather-clad hand. “I know you’ll positively pine away without me, but I’ll see you at eight.”
Laughing, I shook my head and let go of the past before it could drag me down. “Make it nine. I need a little bit to hang out with my roommates.”
For a moment his lips thinned then turned down, but his angry expression was gone before I could really be sure if I’d even seen his frown. “Nine it is.”
