Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chessly

T he absolute last person I expected to see on the other side of my door was Finn McCabe. More than anything, I wanted to wring my best friend's neck for dropping him at my door.

Or hug her.

I wasn't completely sure.

God, he looked wonderful, all broad and strong and gorgeous. Why did he have to be so handsome? He took up so much damn space in my shoebox of a room. And he smelled so good, like outside and something distinctly him . But as I looked closer, I noticed the dark circles under his eyes, the beard stubble, the kind of defeated posture that squeezed my heart.

For a long moment, we took each other in. Then I asked, "Why are you here?"

"I need to talk to you, but you won't return my texts or DMs."

Truthfully, I hadn't opened any of his messages. I was too afraid of what they would do to me.

Remembering my manners, I reached over and pulled my desk chair around for him. "Please, have a seat."

I grabbed a pillow and pulled it to my chest as I sat against the headboard on my bed. Drawing my knees up, I wished I'd had some kind of warning he'd be coming by tonight. I would have been dressed for the occasion at least, rather than wearing a ratty old pair of tights, an oversize Balefire T-shirt, and no bra.

"Are you a fan of the band?" He nodded in the direction of my shirt.

"Yeah. They're awesome."

He ran a hand through his hair, leaving it sticking up on one side. "The director for our last NIL commercial shoot for Stromboli's comped us tickets to their show at the fieldhouse next month."

"Lucky you. I heard their shows are epic." I desperately wanted that word back after it slipped out to remind me of the best date of my life. Snuggling my pillow closer, I bit my lip and tried to calm myself down.

"Chess. I'm sorry. Until that day at the Union, I hadn't seen my ex in almost three years. Hearing her say those things—fuck, it dredged up so much shit." He blew out a breath. "I reacted badly." Clasping his hands between his knees, he stared down at the floor and then found my eyes again. "You didn't deserve that."

"Thank you," I whispered.

"You're nothing like her. Seeing her again put me back in a dark place. If I could take those terrible words back, I would in a heartbeat." His body seemed to vibrate with intensity, as though he was willing me to believe him. "You'd never treat anyone the way she treated me. You'd never say those things. I know that." Those gorgeous whiskey eyes pleaded with me. "You're the most incredible woman I've ever met. That weekend we spent together was the best time I've ever had." He reached out then dropped his hand. "Hannah's right about one thing—I fuck up with women. I try hard not to, but I'm not cool like Callahan or lacking a give-a-shitter like Bax or experienced like Danny. But I think I could get it right more times than I fuck it up with you if you'll give me another chance."

I'd never heard Finn say so many words in one go. But it was the way he held himself, like he was willing me to see him, hear him—the real him, the man who was laying his heart on the line—that crashed through the walls I'd built to protect myself from him.

Still, I needed him to know. "I'm not a jersey chaser or a mean girl like your ex, or Tory Miller. When you said I'd eventually be like them... It hurt so much that you could think for a second I could act like them, devastate people the way they do every time they open their ugly mouths."

"I know, Chess. I know. You're sassy and sarcastic, but never mean." Air gusted from him, then he whispered, "When I'm with you I feel seen—and safe."

Unfolding my body from my perch on my bed, I stood and stepped over to him, seating myself on his lap. I wrapped my arms around his neck and rested my head on his shoulder. For a second, he hesitated, then he enfolded me in his massive arms, hugging me tight as he buried his face in my neck.

"These past two weeks without you have been the longest of my life," he said into my skin.

"I know."

Pulling back, his gaze seared into mine. "While we might have only had one real date, I'm all in with you. You have to know that."

A smirk tugged the corner of my mouth. "What about all our study dates? Don't those count?" An awful thought invaded and I asked, "Or were you seeing other girls after we started studying together?"

"The jersey chasers gave me attention at a time when I needed it. They also didn't demand anything of me."

I tried not to stiffen at his words, but he was talking about Tory Miller and her posse of mean girls, and I couldn't help it.

"But since that night we hung out on the front porch of my place, I haven't spent time with any other girl."

I relaxed, yet his expression remained dead serious.

"Ever since I first saw you the night of the bonfire, you've been it for me." He reached up and tucked a wayward strand of hair behind my ear. "Our date weekend sealed it." His eyes followed the movement of his hand as he smoothed his fingertips over my skin. "You're someone special, Chess. Someone I want to spend all kinds of time with."

Tiny goose bumps broke out over my body at his words and his touch, and I snuggled in closer to his chest.

"Does this"—he gestured to me sitting on his lap—"mean you forgive me? That you're willing to let me prove I know how to talk to you, how to treat you?"

I kissed his neck and enjoyed the way he trembled beneath my touch. "I think you're pretty damn special too, Finn McCabe," I said into his skin. "I don't know how this is going to work out for us considering the plans we have for after graduation, but I can't seem to stop myself. I'm all in with you too."

When he covered my mouth with his, it was glorious. No one had ever kissed me the way Finn did, like he couldn't—wouldn't—ever be able to have enough of me. At some point while we were devouring each other, I turned, or he turned me to straddle him, and the glorious friction of my center sliding up and down along his shaft heated me from the inside out. Then cool air rushed over my skin as I tugged my T-shirt off.

Finn groaned as I exposed myself to his gaze and his touch. When he covered my breasts with his big, calloused hands, I couldn't help but to arch into him as he kneaded and squeezed my sensitive flesh.

"Fuck, Chess. You're so perfect. Do you even know how perfect you are?"

The question was rhetorical as he buried his face in my cleavage. Then he plumped and kissed my curves while his thumbs rubbed and teased my nipples, needy for his mouth on them, which he denied with a chuckle when I squirmed in an attempt to make him give me what I wanted. When at last he sucked one turgid peak into his mouth, I moaned his name so loud, I was sure anyone walking in the hallway outside my door would have heard me.

Transferring his attention to my other breast, he teased me with the tip of his tongue before gently closing his teeth and tugging, following the tiny nip with a long, deep kiss. I kneaded and squeezed his shoulders as I dry-humped him, desperate for the additional delights his attention promised.

Instead, he pulled off me, clamping his hands on my hips to still my movements. Tortured eyes stared into mine.

"When I left the house this morning, I had no idea my day would end here with you back in my arms. As bad as I want you"—he pumped his hips—"need you," he rasped, "I didn't come prepared. At. All." He gritted his teeth. "Fuck."

My body was on fire for him, and while we could take care of each other in many ways, the one I wanted was Finn inside me.

Leaning in, I kissed him, making promises with my mouth I intended to keep.

"Chess," he groaned. "We have to stop. I don't have any protection with me."

"I can fix that." Reluctantly, I slid off his lap and pulled my T-shirt back on over my head.

A rueful chuckle accompanied the once-over he gave me. "Covering up that gorgeous rack of yours fixes jack shit, babe. I know you're naked underneath that shirt."

"Hold that thought."

I slipped out the door and hotfooted it down the hall to the communal bathroom where to my relief, I discovered the condom basket still contained a few packets. For a second I debated before snagging three and hustling back to my room. Finn remained seated where I'd left him, one hand covering his glorious crotch. From what I could tell, he was trying to talk himself down, which wouldn't do at all.

Turning the lock on my door, I said, "Dorm furniture isn't as sturdy as the nice stuff you have at your place, but if we're careful, we can still have a good time."

"What?" he began before I thrust the handful of protection at him. A smile like daylight lit up his face as he reached for my offering, setting the condoms on the desk beside him. "Come here, you resourceful girl." He patted his lap. When I straddled him again, he said, "Where were we? Oh, yeah, I remember." Without ceremony, he whipped off my T-shirt and covered my breasts with his hands. "I believe my mouth was here"—he suckled one excited nipple—"and your hips were doing this." Clamping his hands over my hips, he lifted me up and down until I took over.

In seconds, I was clawing at his hoodie, silently demanding he take it off. He reached behind his head and dragged off the offending clothing in the cool way guys do. I grinned as a second later his T-shirt joined it on the rug.

Desperate to feel his skin on me, I flattened my chest to his and dove in for a kiss. Our tongues stroked each other as I ran my hands over his shoulders and up into his shaggy hair. Tingles chased up and down my back wherever his calloused hands smoothed and caressed. Then they found their way inside my tights, kneading and squeezing my ass as much as the body-hugging fabric would allow.

At last we came up for air, smiling at each other as I ran my fingers through his hair and he continued to fondle my butt.

"I love the way these pants or whatever show off your gorgeous ass"—he glanced down—"and these delicious long legs of yours, but I'd like 'em better if they were on the floor."

"Only if your jeans join them," I sassed.

I slid off his lap and pushed my tights and panties down to the floor. He unlaced his boots, kicked them off, then stood and shoved his jeans and boxers down to join the rest of our clothes on the rug.

Running his hands up and down my arms, he stared deep into my eyes. "I missed you so much. Until you opened the door tonight, I was only breathing half the air I need." Sliding his hands around my waist, he tugged me close, our bodies touching from chests to knees. "Tonight I took my first full breath in two weeks." He ducked his head to run his nose along the column of my neck. "Because I need you like breathing. I didn't see that coming until you walked away."

Soft kisses along my skin raised goose bumps over my body.

Against my lips, he said, "You're it for me, Chess."

I couldn't stop the moan that bubbled up from my throat as he kissed me slow and easy. His unhurried savoring after so many days apart came close to driving me straight out of my head, but intuitively, I understood he needed this, needed to take his time with me no matter how badly I ached for him. Especially with the way his hard shaft rubbed against my lower belly, the promise of so much pleasure so close to where I needed him most.

As though he'd read my mind, he stepped us over to my narrow bed and pulled me down to lie on top of him. "I want you so much, babe. But if I take the lead, we're likely to break something." A self-deprecating chuckle escaped him, and I smiled.

Sitting up to straddle him, I smirked. "So that's your way of getting out of doing the work, huh?"

"Just taking care of the furniture." He thrust his hips up a couple of times. "Does this bed have any springs in it at all?"

I snorted. "Barely." Stretching my arms over my head, I gave him a wet dream's view of my body before I reached behind me to retrieve a foil packet from where he'd dropped them on my desk.

His busy hands covered my breasts, plucking and kneading and driving me wild. I wasted no time tearing open the packet. Then it was my turn to tease and play. Fisting him with one hand, I enjoyed his hard length. I held him right where I wanted him as I rubbed my clit over the head of his cock.

"Chessly," he warned through gritted teeth. "Be careful."

"I'm always careful." With a secret grin, I rubbed my wet center along his length. When he groaned and clamped his hands over my hips, I stopped and smoothed the condom over him. "See how easy that was?" I asked.

He answered with a deeper groan. "If you don't sit on me properly in the next two seconds, I won't be responsible for what happens to this bed. Fair warning."

It occurred to me it would be fun to tease him, and on any other day, I probably would have. But I was as desperate as he was to reconnect, to feel him moving inside me, to know the pleasure I'd only ever experienced with him.

Positioning him at my entrance, I slid down his shaft slowly, savoring the sensation of Finn filling me full. When I was seated, I couldn't stop pulsing around him. "Oh, oh, Finn ! You feel so good."

Sweat broke over his brow as he gritted out, "Move, babe. For the love of all that's holy, move ."

His eyes glittered up at me, and he put his hands on my breasts. Rubbing, tugging, twisting, he teased my nipples, arrowing sensation straight to my pussy. It wasn't long before my long, languid glides up and down his shaft had shortened in duration and increased in intensity.

"That's it, Chess. Ride me."

The pleasure built as I rode him faster until rivulets of sweat chased each other down my spine, and air sawed in and out of my lungs as I chased my release. When I couldn't move fast enough for either of us, Finn dropped his hands to my hips and took over from beneath me.

"Hands on your titties, babe. The girls need more attention."

When I hesitated, his brow shot up in challenge. Then I remembered how he'd put himself out there by showing up at my room in the first place, and I covered my breasts with my hands.

"Play with them like I was playing with them," he commanded.

Diving deep and channeling my inner goddess, I did as he wanted and watched in wonder as his eyes turned black with desire while he thrust up into me harder, deeper.

"That's it babe." He smiled. "Your pussy likes it when someone is playing with your tits."

Under us my narrow dorm bed protested the vigorous workout we were giving it. But I was too close to bliss to care. And then Finn pressed his thumb to my clit, and I clamped both hands over my mouth to muffle the scream that erupted as the mother of all orgasms exploded through me. A few seconds later, Finn let out a shout, his body going rigid as he held us both off the bed.

Slowly, I floated down from outer space to lie across his broad chest as the aftershocks rippled through me. His heart pounded against mine in a mirror rhythm, and I kissed the space where his shoulder met his neck. Leisurely, he traced his fingers up and down my spine as the sweat cooled on my skin.

"For the record," he said, "two days is too long to go without this, Chess. Never mind two weeks. My heart is still racing in my chest from what you just did to me, and already I'm thinking about doing it again."

"Mmm," was all I could respond.

"But I have to be up at the butt-crack of dawn for morning lift, so as much as I want to stay here with you and use up all the condoms, I can't."

Resting my chin on my stacked hands, I stared at his sculpted lips and said, "I have an eight o'clock quiz, so as much I'd like to entertain you all night, I can't."

Groaning in unison, he lifted me off him to stand and stretch. He tied off the condom and tossed it in the trash beside the bed. Pointing at the two unused packets on the desk, he said, "We'll leave these here for emergencies, but from now on we're playing at my place." He pushed on a spot on his lower back. "I'm too big for the kiddie bed the university gives you to sleep on."

Wrapping my arms around his waist, I massaged the spot where his hand had been. "Poor thing. Did you get a cramp?" I teased.

"Be nice."

"I thought I was being nice."

He smiled down at me. "Yes, you were very, very... nice. The fucking nicest." For a long minute, he hugged me hard. "Can you come over to my place tomorrow night after class? Or are you on call?"

"I'm not on call."

Clearing his throat, he said, "Will you stay the night?"

Hugging him back I said, "How can I pass up that king-size bed?"