The Hidden (The Hidden Trilogy) (36 page)

After a few dizzying minutes of soft kisses and warm caresses, I pulled away. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into his lap. I rested my head on his shoulder. 

“I love you,” I murmured.

He kissed the top of my head, nuzzling his face into my hair. “I love you more.”

This wasn’t fair. If we were meant to be together, we should get a lifetime, not a few years. 

Too bad “fate” didn’t automatically equal “happily ever after.”

Chapter Fifty-Six

Wednesday, November 11
th

EMILY

I stared at the highlighted text so long that it was no longer a passage I needed to learn for tomorrow’s history test, but just a bunch of letters grouped together, with neon yellow lines running through them. Another few minutes, and words I’d known all my life began to look foreign.

I shoved my book away and curled up on my side, pulling my blanket over my head. That was pretty much my entire approach to school these days–put it off and do something else.

Over the last three days, I’d missed my last two history classes, along with several others. It was just so hard to get out of a bed Thomas was in and go to class. Especially since I’d missed last week with him because of our…fight? I wasn’t sure if it could even be called that, but whatever. I had a week’s worth of Thomas to make up. That seemed
way
more important than school most days.

My bed vibrated, and I pushed the covers off my face, searching for my ringing phone. I saw it at the foot of my bed and grabbed it, briefly looking at the caller ID before answering, “Hi, Mom.”

“Hi, sweetie, can you hear me?”

“Yeah, barely.” She sounded really far away from the mouthpiece.

“Hold on a sec, I don’t have any service here.” A few muffled sounds later, she asked, “Is this better?”

I rolled over onto my back, wrapping the blanket around me. “Much.” In fact, the background noise was much clearer too. It sounded like she was surrounded by a mariachi band. “Where are you?”

“Oh, that Mexican restaurant over on Forrest Glen. Your father’s having a late lunch with a client before his next showing. He forgot the keys to the property, so he asked me to drop them off. How’s school going?”

“Fine. I was studying for a test right before you called.” It was true, more or less.

“And how’s Beth?”

I actually hadn’t seen that much of her lately. She was usually busy with Josh, and it seemed like I spent ninety percent of my time with Thomas. “Uh, she’s good,” I said. “She’s out with some friends right now.”

“And you stayed home to study? I’m impressed, Em.”

“Yeah, well…” I didn’t really have any other choice if I wanted to pass any of my classes.

“Oh, I almost forgot. I called because I need to know when you want to come home so I can book your flight.”

I sat up, my heart spiking. “My flight?” Why would I need to go home? Did something happen?

“For Thanksgiving,” she said.

“Oh.” I placed my hand over my heart, calming myself. “Um…” Damn it, I forgot I hadn’t told her yet. “Actually, I think I’m just gonna stay here. I only have a four day break, so…”

“Are you sure?” She sounded crushed.

I cleared my throat, guilt weighing on me so hard I thought for a second I might crumble and cave in. “Yeah…” 

I was officially the worst daughter ever.

“What will you do for Thanksgiving, then? Are you going to spend it all by yourself?” she asked, almost hysterical.

“No,” I blurted out. “Beth invited me to her house.”

“Oh…okay.” She sounded relieved that I wouldn’t be spending the holiday alone, but I knew she still wasn’t happy. “But you’re coming home for Christmas.” It wasn’t a question.

I had no plans to skip out on Christmas too, but there
was
something I needed to talk to her about concerning that holiday and a particular six-foot-five immortal I seemed to have attached to my hip these days. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that–”

“Emily Grace, you’re
not
missing–”

“
Mom
–I’m not missing Christmas, don’t worry.” I took a deep breath, preparing myself for the worst. “I just wanted to know if I could bring someone home with me…over winter break.”

“Well, sure, sweetie. But won’t Beth’s parents miss her over Christmas?”

I bit my thumbnail, my heart racing. “It’s not Beth.”

“Oh… Then who is it?”

Well, it was now or never. “His name is Thomas.” I bit my lip as I prepared for her barrage of questions.

The silence that followed took me off-guard and seemed to last an eternity, the tension building until it was almost palpable. I was about to say something–
anything
–to break the awkwardness, when she said, “It must be serious, then.”

I exhaled slowly. “Yeah, it is. That’s why I want you and Dad to meet him.”

“Well, tell me about him. Where’s he from, what’s his last name…”

I ran my fingers through my hair. “His family lives in DC. His last name is Paige. He’s an art history major… What else do you want to know?”

“Is he older?”

Only by two-hundred-and-seventy-some-odd years… “Yeah, he’s a junior.”

“And his family’s okay with him missing Christmas?” She sounded dubious, and I couldn’t really blame her. In any other
normal
circumstance, it would be suspicious.

But Thomas wasn’t normal, and I’m sure his family didn’t care. I wasn’t even sure they celebrated human holidays. “He’s not close with them,” I said, carefully hedging around the truth.

“Why not?” she demanded.

“He’s just not, Mom. He’s been on his own for quite some time.” That was an understatement.

Her voice softened. “Poor thing. I bet that was hard on him.”

I shrugged, even though she couldn’t see me. “He’s done okay for himself.” That was also an understatement. I’d learned over the last couple months that Thomas was
loaded
.

“Well, I’d love to meet him. Let me talk it over with your father this evening, okay?”

Your father
. That was never a good sign. “Okay.”

I knew from the start that this would be an uphill battle, and I tried not to get my hopes up. Convincing my dad to let his daughter’s boyfriend sleep under the same roof as her would not be an easy task.

In fact, it’d be damn near impossible.

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Thursday, November 12
th

EMILY

Using the pad of my ring finger, I swirled some strawberry lip balm around its little jar and applied it to my lips. I bent over and shook out my curls, then finger-combed them into place.

Stepping back from the mirror inside my closet, I took in my appearance. I was freshly showered, shaved, and lotioned, with a wee bit of makeup and my air-dried waves. There was not a lick of clothing on me.

A knock at the door had my stomach fluttering, my heart racing. I really hoped Thomas liked this.

I grabbed my gray cotton robe off my bed and threw it on. Loosely tying the sash around me, I walked to the front door, feeling the hem tickle the tops of my thighs. I paused with my hand on the doorknob, breathing deep to steady my jitters.

I’d never tried to seduce anyone before, but I’d quickly learned it was some nerve-racking shit. And this was even
knowing
I wouldn’t get turned down. I couldn’t imagine doing this and not being one-hundred percent certain of the outcome. That’d take balls I just didn’t have.

I opened the door, immediately greeted by Thomas’s smiling face. He had a brief second to raise an eyebrow at my robe before I grabbed his hand and yanked him inside, pushing the door shut behind him.

My hands went to my sash, slowly untying it as I let the robe fall open. It fell to the floor, along with Thomas’s jaw. His eyes raked over my naked body, and any remaining anxiety melted away, replaced with want as I watched his lids grow heavy with lust.

I stepped away from the fabric pooled at my feet, closing the space between us. “Like what you see?”

He nodded, eyes glued to me as I unbuttoned his jeans and zipped down his fly. I reached into his boxers and pulled out his erection, the heavy length bobbing between us. I stroked him, hearing his sharp intake of breath. I wanted to look up at his face and see the reaction I’d caused him–see his gorgeous face twisted in pleasure–but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the warm, hard shaft in my hand.

Damn
, he had a beautiful cock.

I felt myself growing wet, my muscles clenching in anticipation of having him buried deep inside me. I
needed
this. I needed to feel close to him and connected in a way I’d never been with anyone else.

Glancing up at him, I bit my lip. “We have about an hour before Beth comes back from her study group.”

I groaned and picked Emily up, her legs wrapping around my waist as I kissed her. My tongue slipped out to meet hers as she undulated herself against me, her slick flesh gliding up and down my cock with ease.

Fuckin’ A, I wished she’d greet me like this every–single–time.

Her teeth nipped at my lip as I carried her into the bedroom, kicking the door shut behind me. I tossed her on the bed and had my clothes off before the springs stopped squeaking. 

Laid out before me, she was a glorious sight. Just fucking perfect. I kneeled at the foot of the bed, taking her in as I ran my hands up her creamy legs, to the juncture of her closed knees. “Spread your legs for me.”

They fell open, revealing her pink slit. It was already glistening with her arousal. My shaft throbbed, aching to be balls deep inside this sweet little slice of heaven. It would have to wait, though. I intended on finding out what heaven tasted like first.

I bent down and kissed the inside of her thigh, murmuring against her skin, “You’re so goddamn beautiful.”

She threaded her fingers through my hair as I trailed kisses higher. Her breath caught when she realized where I was headed. I stopped and peered up at her through my lashes, seeing her chest heave and her wide eyes rapt on me. I placed a kiss further up her thigh, keeping my eyes on hers. When she didn’t stop me, I placed another one higher. Her shallow breathing completely ceased when I licked up her folds.

My eyes slid closed as I tasted her on my tongue. She tasted like pure fucking Emily. I circled her clit before gently sucking her sensitive flesh, all while watching her reactions. Her hands released my hair to claw at the sheets as her hips bucked against my mouth. I continued the alternating movements as I slipped my fingers inside her, pumping slowly. 

Her head strained back into her pillow, her eyes squeezed shut as rapid breaths escaped her. I ground my hips against the mattress, desperately needing some kind of friction against my erection.

“Wait.” Her eyes popped open as she tried to catch her breath. “Come here,” she breathed as she pulled me up her body. 

I nuzzled her neck, my face pressing into her hair as I kissed along her shoulder. Her body felt unbelievable underneath mine, all soft and giving. My tip pressed against her entrance, but I didn’t push forward. She was probably still sore from Saturday night and I didn’t want to hurt her further. Instead, I readjusted myself, thrusting the underside of my shaft up and down her folds.

“Please,” she breathed. Her hands went to my hips, urging me forth as she placed open-mouthed kisses on my collarbone. “I need you.”

“You’re not too sore?”

She shook her head. “I’m fine.”

In less than half a second, I’d rolled us over so she was on top, straddling me. At her curious expression, I said, “It might be easier this way. You can be in control of…” Depth. Speed. “…everything.”

She bit her lip, her eyes darting down. “I don’t know what to do.”

Neither did I, really. I’d never done it like this before. But I would love to learn with her. “That’s okay. We’ll go slow.”

She nodded and raised herself slightly, reaching below her to grip my length. Lowering herself ever so slowly, I watched my cock disappear into her pink flesh inch-by-inch, her warmth and tightness enveloping me completely.

Holy fucking–

I gripped the sheets next to me and sucked in a ragged breath, on the verge of coming just from the sight.