Chapter 30

CHAPTER 30

CHASE

T he rumors and the nonsense died down after Barbie got up in front of the entire floor and admitted that she’d been spreading lies about Cammie. It had a domino effect, and it quickly came out that Barbie had been bullying a hell of a lot of people, including her roommate. Annabelle had a complete emotional breakdown in front of the whole floor as she spilled the tea on Barbie and her bullying ways.

It’s been two weeks since everyone found out about Cammie’s fic, and while the initial reception was mixed, she’s gained a whole bunch of ravenous new followers who love her story and can’t wait for new updates. There’s even a group chat on our floor where they try to strategize how everyone is going to take down Saruman and save the Shire.

Every day I fall a little bit more for her. She’s fun and quirky and my favorite person to be around. Christmas break is in a few days and while we don’t live super far from each other, we both have a lot of family stuff going on, so I want to get in as much time with her as I can before we head home for the holidays.

Also, I want to bring up moving in together next year.

But one thing at a time .

My phone pings with a new message.

Cammie

Handed in the submission for the creative writing course

Chase

How soon will you be back?

Cammie

Already in my room!

I give myself a once-over. I look pretty damn good if I do say so myself. I throw open the door. Gage, Brody, and Mac are in the hall.

Brody smirks. “Nice.”

“Couple goals, man,” Mac says.

Gage’s eyebrows climb his forehead. “You two are a match made in weirdo heaven.”

I clap him on the shoulder. “Thanks. Don’t wait up.” I stride down the hall.

“Halloween was two months ago, bro,” some guy says.

“Aragorn!” A girl who reads Cammie’s fic high-fives me as she passes.

I knock on Cammie’s door.

She throws it open. Her eyebrows lift and her gaze travels over me on a slow sweep that heats as it reaches my face. “My Aragorn.”

“My Arwen.”

Cammie grabs the front of my shirt and drags me into her dorm room. The door falls closed behind me and she pushes me up against it, dragging my mouth to hers.

“Congratulations on finishing your first round of exams. Also, that new chapter was so hot, I figured we should try out some new stuff to keep things fresh,” I mumble around her tongue. “And I’m super proud of you for handing in that submission. I know they’ll be begging you to join the creative writing program next year.”

“Thanks. I was way too up in my head about it. And I’m so down for trying new things. I’ve been reading up on interesting positions, but we should probably put my mattress on the floor so neither of us risks an injury.”

Her tongue pushes past my lips again, her hands are in my hair, and her perfect body is pressed against mine.

I’ve definitely fallen for this girl. Hard and fast and out of control. When one of her hands slides down my chest, heading for the drawstring at my waist, I cup her face in my palms and pull back. “Wait.”

Her hand freezes on my abs.

“I need to tell you something important.” I don’t want to freak her out, but I can’t keep these feelings to myself anymore.

“Is everything okay?”

“Great. Good. Awesome.” I stroke the edge of her jaw. “You’re so amazing. The best thing that’s happened to me this year.”

“You’re amazing, too. And so is this Aragorn costume. And this year has been full of a lot of new things for me, and a lot of firsts, and so many of those have been with you and I’m so grateful for that.” She settles her palms on my chest. “And you’re really fucking sexy as Aragorn.” She tries to pull my mouth back to hers again.

“Wait. I’m not done.”

She pulls back and bites her lip.

“I know we’ve only been together for a few months, but I have huge feelings for you. I’m in love with you. I love you.” I feel like my throat is closing up while I wait. And also like a case of hives might be in my future if her response is not the one I want. Maybe I should have waited until after the holidays to say this.

“You love me?”

I nod .

The sweetest, prettiest smile lights up her gorgeous face. “I love you, too.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

I hug her and bury my face against her neck. “We love each other.”

She chuckles and kisses my collarbones.

I pull back and cup her face again. I can’t stop touching her. I want to stare at her beautiful face all day long. “Going home for the holidays is going to suck.”

“Yeah, but we have a few more days, so we can definitely make the most of them.” She runs her hands down my chest. “This is quite the costume.”

“There’s a store downtown that sells a lot of cosplay stuff. They have a whole wall dedicated to all things Lord of the Rings .” I lick my lips. “I maybe, might have bought you an Arwen costume in preparation for scene reenactments.”

“Legolas has been left out a lot lately,” she says softly.

“The last chapter was my favorite.”

Cammie smiles. “Mine, too.”

Aragorn and Arwen spent a night together in a cave with a hot spring on the way home from a mission. It was just the two of them.

She curves her palm around the back of my neck, and I dip down to capture her lips. We both sink into the kiss, lips parting, tongues pressing forward to tangle. I run my hands down her back and cup her ass. In one smooth motion, I lift her and carry her across the room to her bed. We never break the kiss as I adjust my hand and carefully move her laptop to her desk.

And then I lay her down on her bed. She pulls me on top of her and wraps her legs around my waist. My erection presses against her stomach and we both groan.

“I really love kissing you,” I murmur against her lips.

“I really love kissing you, too.” She runs her hands through my hair .

“And that, I love it when you do that.”

“I love your hair,” she compliments. “Please don’t cut it over the break.”

“I won’t. I promise. I love everything about you.”

She pulls my mouth back to hers. We make out and grind against each other until we’re both breathless and I feel like I’m about to burst out of my skin if I can’t touch and taste more of her. We must be on the same page, because she tugs my shirt free from my breeches—that’s what the guy at the cosplay shop called them—and runs her hands over my abs.

I pull my shirt over my head, tossing it on the floor.

“I’m a little obsessed with how hot you are in this costume,” Cammie says as she loses her shirt.

“That’s okay. I’m probably equally as obsessed with you in general,” I admit.

I dip down to kiss her again, but she puts her hand on my chest.

I swallow down my nerves. I really hope that wasn’t too much truth.

“Just give me a moment to appreciate all the hard work you put into making yourself such a fine specimen of perfect boyfriend,” Cammie says as she follows the dips and planes, then smooths her hands back over my chest, pulling me to her.

Our chests meet and all that warm skin touches mine, her nipples peaked against me. We go back to making out, hands on the move. I shift to the right, keeping one thigh pressed between Cammie’s as I trail my fingers up her side and skim her breast. She arches into my palm and snakes a hand between us, tugging at the drawstring of my pants—breeches. The moment the bow unfurls, she shoves her hand down the front of my boxer briefs and her warm, soft fingers encase my length.

I break the kiss and press my face into the crook of her neck, groaning. “Fuck, Cammie, your hand feels so good.”

“Just wait until you’re buried balls deep in my precious,” she says in a sultry whisper .

“Can we make love tonight? I feel like tonight is a making love kind of night.”

“We can have whatever kind of sex you want.” She runs her fingers through my hair again.

My thoughts must be written all over my face because she tacks on, “Except anal.”

“I feel like that requires a lot of time, patience, and prep work.”

“I feel like that is also accurate,” she agrees.

“We’ll put a pin in that. We have time to try that later. Much later.”

“Okay.” She pops the button on her jeans.

“Let me do that.” I fold back on my knees, my hands suddenly shaky as I tug the zipper down.

Cammie helps me rid her of her jeans and panties. This time they’re plain black. I take off the rest of my clothes while she tugs open her nightstand drawer and grabs a condom. I try to calm the fuck down and not overthink things.

She passes the condom to me. “Hold on a second. We’re skipping all the good stuff.”

I set the condom on the nightstand and kiss her lips, then trail a path down her throat and over her chest, stopping at her nipples to say hi before I keep going. Most of my bottom half is on the floor by the time I stretch out between her thighs. I loop my arms around her legs and settle in, groaning as I lick up the length of her. “I love the way you taste.”

Her hands slide into my hair. “I love your magical tongue.”

“I love you, my precious,” I whisper against her clit before I circle it with my tongue.

“She loves you, too,” Cammie moans.

I take my time, lapping at her, alternating between gentle strokes and hard suction. I ease two fingers inside her and find that spot that makes her gasp and shove a pillow over her face so the entire floor doesn’t know what’s happening in her room.

Her legs start to shake, and she contracts around my fingers, pulsing against my tongue. I kiss my way back up her body. Cammie tears the condom open and rolls it down my length. I fit myself between her thighs, line myself up, and push in, but just the head at first.

We both suck in a breath, and I lift my gaze to hers. Our eyes stay locked as I sink into her. I’m so right about this being different now that those words have been voiced between us. It’s not just about sensation, although that’s overwhelming on its own. It’s a physical connection that I feel inside my chest. The way I can’t look away from her beautiful face. How perfectly we fit together. The way her palm settles against the side of my neck and her lips curve up in a soft, knowing smile.

“God, I love you,” I murmur.

“I love you, too.”

I’m afraid if I move it will be over before it’s even begun, but the need to just thrust is too overwhelming, so I pull my hips back and tip them forward, filling her again. We make matching needy sounds.

Cammie hooks one leg over my hip. I slide my arm under the other and draw it up, just like Aragorn did in the last chapter of her story.

“Oh fuck, yes please,” she groans.

She tips up to meet my next thrust and grips my shoulder with one hand and my hair with the other. We find a rhythm, moving with and against each other. I can’t get enough of her soft moans and quiet pleas for more. Of the way she shudders under me. Or the way her eyes flare and her nails dig into my back when she whispers, “Oh God, Chase. I—I think—I think I’m going to come.”

I roll my hips, grinding against her. Cammie’s head snaps back and her body quakes as she contracts around me. There’s such primal satisfaction in knowing that I’m the one who takes care of her needs like this. That she feels safe enough with me to let go. That I’m special enough for her to let me see her at her most vulnerable and beautiful .

And when her gaze returns to mine, hazy with desire, I let go, too. Falling into bliss along with her.

I collapse on top of her for a few seconds, then realize I’m probably crushing her and push up on one arm. “I think I’m addicted to your precious.”

“My precious is also addicted to your mighty sword.”

“He is pretty fucking mighty, isn’t he?”

“So mighty. The pride of Gondor some would say.” She smiles. “I’m so glad our hearts caught up to the rest of us.”

I ease out and roll to my side. Removing the spent condom, I tie a knot before I toss it across the room, into the garbage can. “Cuddle time?” I ask hopefully.

“You are such a sap,” Cammie observes.

“You love it.” Cammie and I wiggle around, shoving the comforter down and pulling it over our naked bodies. She tucks herself into my side and I kiss her cheek.

“You love me.”

“I do.”

“I love you.”

“You do.” I can tell she’s fighting a smile.

“We should get matching sweatshirts or something,” I muse.

“Or you can just write it on the message board on my door.”

“When can we move in together?”

Her nose wrinkles. “After first year?”

“We could bring my bed in here and turn it into a double so we’ll both fit and get a mattress topper or something.” I push up on one arm, excited about the prospect of sleeping beside her every night. “And in the summer we can get an apartment together.”

“I don’t know that they’ll allow us to be roommates, but it’s a fun idea. A summer apartment sounds reasonable, though.”

I drop back to the pillow. “Right. You’re probably right. But won’t it be cool to decorate our place Lord of the Rings style? And then we can have a queen- or a king-sized bed and no one has to worry about falling off or hitting our elbows on the wall. ”

“I love this plan.”

“Me, too.” I’ll be her forever Aragorn and she’ll be my forever Arwen.

And we’ll write our own story, one kiss, one smile, one chapter at a time.