A Betting Man

Chapter Twenty-One

Adelaide's Point of View

Everything is so bright. So white. So pristine.

Even Justin. Dressed all in white, even with spotless shoes, he's stunning. His hair, in its usual state of disarray, is sharper in contrast. His usually fair skin looks more tan. His brown eyes glimmer.

He looks at me from where he stands, and I face him from several yards away. He lifts a finger and crooks it towards himself. Very come hither. And me? Well, come hither I most certainly do. I'm at his side in a flash.

Fuck subtlety.

I look up into his eyes. They're dark and smoldering, regarding me hungrily. They make me tingle in a completely different, albeit wonderful, way. His stubble, a day's worth, is just too tempting to ignore, and I reach up to stroke his chin. He closes his eyes and sighs against my hand.

"Addie."

Just the sound of my name, the way it rolls from his tongue, makes my drawers twitch as they threaten to drop. What the hell? And I always thought that was just an expression....

He moves in closer, his knuckles ghosting across my cheek. I unconsciously take one step backwards and run into something hard. I frown because there had been nothing there before. When I turn, I see a desk.

I'm confused. There's a desk, here, in this vast expanse of brightness. Just us and a desk.

When I turn back to Justin, he smiles. He seems completely at ease with the strange appearance of the desk and leans forward to kiss me softly on the lips.

"I've waited so long for this," he whispers. I thrill at his words.

He grabs the back of my thighs and hoists me onto the desk. He stands between my legs and kisses me roughly, almost painfully, but I urge him on by tugging his hair with equal force and passion. He leans into me until I'm lying back on the desk, his body over mine. Then he's kissing me again, his lips attacking my neck, my shoulders. He's sucking and biting and nipping, his movements more agitated than the night before. It's painful, yet it's pleasurable, and I take it.

And then, suddenly, he's inside of me. He fills me completely, so fully that my eyes roll to the heavens and I loudly groan. I hadn't even been aware that I was naked, but who am I to complain?

My senses seem heightened. I can feel every single inch. He lays over me, covering my body with his own.

"You feel so good," he says, and his breath is hot in my ear. I want to speak – I open my mouth, try to say the words – but I can't.

"It's about fucking time," he says, grunting with exertion. "I was starting to think you'd never let me fuck you."

My heart, which is already beating at a frantic pace, seems to gain more speed.

"I told Nolan," he goes on. "I told him this would be the easiest bet I've ever won. I mean, God, I could tell from across the room that you're clingy. Desperate." He slams into me harder. "So desperate."

His words hurt, slicing me from the inside out. I want to speak, to cry, to scream, but I can't – I feel like I'm being crushed. I feel like there's a heavy weight on my chest, preventing me from breathing or moving.

I start to panic – I finally manage to suck in a lung-full of air and half of Justin's hair comes with it, choking me in my throat.

I awake with a jolt, coughing and sputtering, only to quickly assess my surroundings. I still can't breathe, and with good reason – Ursula's perched right on top of my chest, ass in my face, an enormous mountain of white fur obstructing my view. Her tail swishes across my mouth - my mouth which sucks up her hair like a hoover vacuum every time I inhale.