Chapter 115

Asher’s heated gaze set fire under my skin.

One minute, we were standing outside the faculty office, looking at each other, and in the next, he had my hand in his grasp and was tugging me, fast-walking, back to his dorm room.

As soon as the door was closed behind us, he turned on me and pounced. He wrapped his arms around my waist. His mouth descended on my neck, refreshing the love bites that had begun to fade.

I clawed at his shoulders, scrambling for purchase, as desire slammed hard into me.

“Asher,” I moaned.

He eased me further into the room and together, we tumbled onto his bed. He was on top of me, pressing me down into the mattress. His mouth was so hot and wet on my skin.

“Asher, please.” I didn’t know what I was begging for. I only knew that I wanted more. More of this. More of him. More of everything. “Please. More.”

His hand snaked down through the limited space between our bodies and cupped the apex of my thighs.

My head fell back. My mouth dropped open. It was too much and not enough all at once.

I reached out for him, eager to return the favor. I wanted to make him feel as good as he was making me feel, but he caught my hand. Collecting both my wrists in one of his hands, he pressed them into the mattress above my head.

I was exposed, stretched out for him. He growled his approval as he slipped his hand down into my jeans, finding my clit through my panties. He rubbed at me, sending sparks of pleasure shooting through my body.

I was so turned on, but with my hands bound, all I could do was writhe on the mattress. I grinded my hips down against his hand, chasing my desire.

I was a live wire, overstimulated but still wanting more. I wanted everything he could give me.

He panted against the corner of my neck and shoulder. Each of my moans of his name was punctuated with a groan from him.

“Asher…”

“Hn. Cyn.”

The gravelly depth to his voice kicked my heart into overdrive. I moved faster against his hand. Two of his fingers hooked around my clit, tugging slightly, and I nearly jumped off the bed in pleasure. Yet his hold on my wrists kept me pinned.

He slipped one of his thighs between mine, further restraining me. I was left fully at his mercy.

As I reached the edge, I closed my eyes. I could help but laugh, delighted and pleased, as he bucked his hips against my thigh.

I teased, “If I had known that pretending to be mates would get you so excited, I would have done so sooner.”

Immediately, he stilled.

Sitting on the cusp of an orgasm, I frowned at his reaction. I tried moving my hips, rubbing myself against him, but too soon he removed his hand from inside my jeans. He released his hold on my wrists as well.

Then he rolled away from me and sat up on the edge of the bed.

“Asher?” I asked, beginning to feel concerned. I forced down my disappointment at my unfulfilled horniness, and sat up beside him. Something was wrong. My lust could wait.

He hunched over. He rested his elbows on his knees, with his hands dangling down into the space between them.

Asher’s voice was soft in the quiet room. “You said ‘pretend.’”

“Yeah?” I didn’t understand what the big deal was. We were pretending to be in a relationship already. What did it matter if we took it one step farther, for the sake of keeping Asher out of trouble?

“I see.” He sounded so distant.

“Is something wrong?” I asked, already knowing it was. He was closing himself off. I hoped my prompting would bring him out of his shell enough for me to understand what I did to bring this on.

“I’m sorry.” He shook his head. “When I heard you agree to be mates, my instincts ran wild…”

“Hey.” I touched his shoulder. “You don’t have to apologize for this. I was enjoying myself.”

“It was inappropriate of me. I should have realized you meant to pretend.”

My heart sunk. Was this why he was acting strange? Because he felt like he overstepped?

“It’s not anything, Asher. We’re okay.”

“You don’t understand,” he said.

He was right. “Then explain it to me.”

He stared at the floor as he said, “For Alphas, being mates isn’t something that we can pretend. It’s a lifelong commitment that can’t be undone.”

“Oh.” My heartrate picked up speed as his words sunk in. He had thought I was suggesting we’d be bound for life? No wonder he was so upset! How could I possibly presume to tie him to me for his entire life?

Although… his reaction had indicated that he didn’t seem to mind so much. In fact, he seemed to… like the idea. Or at least, his body did.

That didn’t mean anything though. A body’s reaction wasn’t always indicative of what was going on in a person’s mind.

“I’m so sorry, Asher. I never would have suggested we pretend if I’d known.”

“It’s fine,” he said, but still wouldn’t look at me. Not even when I leaned into his side and notched my head on his shoulder. “Maybe don’t suggest it again.”

“Okay,” I promised.

I stayed with him for a while longer, but the air between us had grown awkward. I didn’t know what to say to clear it. It wasn’t like we could jump back to what we had been doing before.

“I think I should go back to my own room,” I said, when the silence became too much.

“I can walk you,” he started but I said no.

“I’ll be okay.”

I knew he felt the awkwardness too, because he didn’t insist like normal. Instead, he just showed me to the door.

“I’ll call you later,” he said.

“Sounds good.”

With the door closed between us, my embarrassment surged. I couldn’t believe I had suggested something so outlandish! I basically had proposed marriage to him! No, worse! Because with mating an Alpha, there was apparently no divorce!

Ashamed, I scurried back to my dorm room, eager for this whole day to be over with. What I really needed was a few days of quiet, where nothing happened and I could recharge my batteries.

But there were too many unknown variables for me to fully relax. I didn’t know what would happen with Coach, or what Asher’s punishment would be. And now I’d messed up my relationship with Asher, maybe for good.

Still, I’d managed to unwind the best I could, when my phone started to ring.

Glancing at the screen, I saw Aimee’s name and quickly picked up.

“Hi, Aimee.”

“Cynthia, oh my God.” Panic made her voice shrill.

I immediately tensed again. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”

“You won’t believe this,” Aimee said. “But some strange nurse came by my mother’s house and… Cynthia, she seemed to know things. Things no one should know about.”

Fear began to rise in my throat. “What exactly did she say?”

“Meet me,” Aimee said. “I’m afraid to talk about this over the phone. I don’t know who’s listening.”

Who’s listening? Did Aimee think her phone was tapped?

My panic spiked. “Okay. I’m on my way.”