Forever Innocent
Page 50

“Corabelle and I already have plans for that.” Gavin held the door open for us.
“Party poopers,” Jenny said. “Well, maybe something Sunday? We have to stay away from campus. Robert isn’t supposed to fraternize with his students.”
Gavin coughed. “I’m guessing there is a bit more than fraternizing going on.”
Jenny laughed, a tinkling sound. “You bet there is. Ta-ta, you totes adorbs two.” She dashed ahead of us. “I have to meet my lumberjack at an undisclosed location!”
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” I called after her.
She turned back. “I have a feeling that doesn’t leave much out.” Her pink hair streamed behind her as she raced out of the building.
I turned to Gavin. “So, your scowl could have peeled paint off the walls earlier,” I said. “You’re not seriously going to be upset every time I talk to some other guy.”
Gavin’s jaw started working and I squeezed his hand. “We’ve got this, right?”
He nodded.
“Shoot, I just remembered something.” I stopped walking. “I have to pick up a book on reserve for my lit class. Do we have a minute?”
Gavin checked his watch. “Sure. Even if it takes a bit, I can call Bud.”
We doubled back toward the center of campus and the looming Geisel Library. I had only been inside once, taking a cursory look at the Dr. Seuss memorabilia. Gavin walked along the clear cases of drawings and war posters as I collected my book. “Have you been on the top floor?” he asked when I came up beside him.
“Nope. Are there stacks up there?”
“Not many. I think they use it for storage. It’s a mess. You want to see?”
I glanced at the clock. We still had a half-hour before we really needed to head to work. “Okay.”
When we stepped out of the elevator, I saw what Gavin meant. Most of the library shelves were empty. Shrink-wrapped crates blocked some of the aisles. But the view through to the windows was unobstructed, and I wandered in a daze over to the giant panes of glass. “It’s beautiful,” I breathed.
“You can get a full panoramic of campus,” Gavin said.
Students worked at small tables facing the windows. A sign above their heads read “Silent study area.”
This would be an incredible place to write papers. The side facing the ocean was inspirational all on its own, even if partially blocked by other buildings, including the dorm where we had our star parties. Between the towering buildings, the vast white-blue of the Pacific expanded out forever like an empty canvas. Craggy bluffs bordered the shore, leading to houses, and eventually back to campus.
“This is interesting,” Gavin said.
I turned around. He’d discovered a cache of huge crates among the empty stacks. These were upended to rest on their sides, forming a circle almost as tall as he was. I turned my head to read the black numbers spray-painted on the wood. Dewey decimal numbers, maybe. Between two of the crates was a gap filled in with the heavy-duty plastic that had been cut away.
He pushed aside the plastic and ducked in among the crates. At first I could see the top of his head, but then he disappeared.
“Gavin!” I whispered. “What are you doing?”
His hand snaked out from the opening. When I grasped it, he pulled me through.
“It was a trap,” he said, his voice raspy and low. He pushed the plastic over the gap, obscuring the opening.
The crates surrounded us, but the empty space in the middle was plenty large enough to stand in. “What are we doing?” I asked.
He slid his hand beneath my shirt and moved up to cup a breast. “This.” He lowered his head to kiss me.
My heart pounded, but I relaxed into his mouth. His free hand tugged the backpack off my shoulder to rest on the carpet. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” I asked.
“This is always a good idea.” He unsnapped my jeans. “We’ll see if you can control yourself enough to be quiet.”
His hand slipped inside my panties and searched out the spot he was looking for. My mouth opened, but he closed his lips over mine before I could cry out. “Easy, girl,” he said against me, his fingers spreading me so he could get better access. “How’s this for a new challenge?”
I gripped his shoulders, breathing into his ear.
“That’s it,” he whispered. He grew frustrated trying to work inside the jeans, so he jerked them down past my hips. I leaned forward to bite his shoulder as sensations splintered through me.
He worked me carefully, using all the new knowledge he’d gained in the last few days. When I was writhing against him pretty hard, he withdrew, silencing my protest with a kiss.
His hands on my waist guided me in a circle to face away from him. He pushed on a crate to make sure it was heavy and steady. It tilted a little, but braced against one of the stacks. He moved my hands to grasp the corners of the box, and I heard the jingle of his belt.
Heat flashed through me. We were going to do this, here, in the library, with students a few yards away. Gavin steadied me with one hand on my hip and pushed me down a little with a firm press on the back. “Just a little more.”
I bent over and felt him seeking me, getting the angle right, then he was in, and I clutched the crate, still worried we could tip all the empty stacks in a domino crash worthy of a sitcom. He held both my hips, rocking into me, and just the idea that we were here, doing this, made everything so much more intense.