Chapter 12: Soft Like Thunder: Chapter 11

HELEN EXITED THE BUILDING IN A BAGGY HOODIE AND FISHNETS. Her silky hair was pulled in a high ponytail, red lipstick firmly in place. Her head swiveled side to side before she locked on my car. Hitching her bag on her shoulder, she took her time making her way across the parking lot. I was holding open the passenger door by the time she got to me. She slipped into my car without a word.

I pulled out of the lot and drove toward campus. Helen tucked herself by the door, turned away from me.

“You strip, Tiger?”

She dragged a finger down the glass. “I’m a waitress. I serve drinks in a skanky outfit to horny dudes.”

The exhale that shot from my lungs was filled with relief. I didn’t know what I would have done if her answer had been yes, but I’d have been more than disappointed. She was too fucking good to give that part of herself up for a few bucks. Way too good.

I couldn’t stop myself from pressing it.

“Do they touch you?”

In my periphery, she shrugged. “It’s not a big deal, dude. Can you just drive me home? I’m really tired and not in the mood for a play-by-play.”

“I’ll drive you home.”

“Thanks,” she mumbled, her head knocking into the glass.

My grip on the steering wheel tightened. I couldn’t let this lay between us. “I’m not trying to encroach on your independence, this is me showing you concern.”

She knocked her head twice more. “It feels like judgment.”

“I promise you it’s not. I saw your and Luciana’s situation. This is what you feel you need to do and—”

She twisted in her seat. “Theo, I make bank working there. Triple what I made at Wheelz. I keep my sister in nice clothes and food that’s not made entirely of chemicals. One day, this place will be in my rearview, but today isn’t that day. It’s a necessity.”

“I get it, baby.” Reaching across the console, I grasped her leg, squeezing to reassure me as much as her. She covered my hand with hers in an attempt to push me off, but I stayed, and she relented with a heavy sigh. “What happened to the job you had last year? You said you worked somewhere els—”

“Can we listen to music? I don’t really want to talk right now.”

Helen was quiet and still the rest of the drive. I almost thought she’d fallen asleep, except as soon as her dorm came into view, she grabbed her things, ready to bolt.

I parked. She hopped out, and I followed. At the door to her building, she turned to me.

“I’m good. I can take it from here.”

Reaching around her, I took her key card, scanned it to unlock the door, and pulled it open. Laying a palm on her belly, I walked her backward until we were both inside, the door falling shut behind us. She frowned at me, her brow crinkling. My mouth twitching, I wrapped my arm around her waist to grip her hip and guided her to the elevator. She scowled at me in silence all the way up to her floor, down her hall, and into her room.

There, I kissed the fucking frown right off her face, pressing my tongue inside to restake the ground I’d claimed that she was trying to take back. Helen shoved at my chest, not hard, but enough for me to pull back.

“I’m tired, Theodore. Go home.”

“No. I’m not leaving. We had a spectacular day. I’m not letting you take tonight to build up your walls because you showed me something you didn’t mean to.”

Her head dropped onto my shoulder, and she sighed. “I don’t do this.”

“What?” Hooking my knuckle under her chin, I dragged her gaze up to mine. “What, baby?”

“I don’t, you know, fuck around. I mean, I used to, but I don’t now. You need to know that and not expect it from me because you’re not going to get it. I shouldn’t have let you touch me today, but I was caught up, because you’re right, we did have a spectacular day. But now we’re back, and this is reality. I’m not having sex with you, so you can just go now.”

I couldn’t stop my flinch. “Fuck, baby. What happened to you?”

Helen’s face went hard. She backed out of my arms, walking straight to her dresser. “I’m putting on my pajamas, washing my face, and climbing into bed to go to sleep. That’s all I’m doing for the short time I remain conscious. You decide what to do with that.” She disappeared into her en suite bathroom, pajamas in her arms.

I did the only thing I do. Shirt and shoes off, I shoved a pillow against the headboard of Helen’s bed and reclined against it while I waited for her to come out. It took her a couple minutes, but when she emerged, I stopped breathing.

“Your mouth.”

She blinked. “You’re still here…in my bed. Why are you in my bed, Theodore?”

“Your mouth, Helen.”

Her hand shot to cover her mouth. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

I patted the bed beside me. “Come here.”

She shook her head slowly. “No.”

Jackknifing upright, I hit the bed with more force. “Get over here.”

Helen wasn’t happy with me, but she came, one knee on the bed. “I’m here.”

“No.” I wrapped my arms around the backs of her legs, sweeping her off balance. She fell forward, landing on my chest. “Now you’re here.”

She jerked her head back, and my thumb swiped across her bottom lip. No lipstick, all Helen.

“Your mouth.”

“Yeah, I don’t wear lipstick to bed,” she stated flatly. “Can you let me go now?”

Back and forth, I rubbed her lips, bottom, then top. “Love the red, but this…”

“It’s just my lips,” she whispered.

“I’m seeing something you don’t show anyone.”

She stayed perfectly still, eyes on me while I touched her. “Except I wasn’t trying to show you. I thought you’d listen and leave.”

I shook my head. “Nope. You knew I’d still be here.”

Slowly, her gaze on mine, she lowered her head until her lips touched mine. “I kind of hoped, but I didn’t know.”

Something squeezed deep inside my chest, knowing what that had to cost her to admit. Moving fast, I wrapped my arms around her and rolled her to her back, hovering over her. Her hands came up to my neck, cupping the sides. She lifted her face, touching her mouth to mine again. The kiss I gave her back was a lot more than a touch, pushing her head down to her pillow. Her lips were smooth and warm under mine, her movement languid. It killed me to pull back, but I did.

“You should know I’m relentless,” I murmured. “But you’re tired, and to be honest, so am I. We need to talk, but we need to sleep more.”

“Are you asking to stay?”

I shook my head. “I’m not asking.” Rolling off her, I pulled back the covers, then pulled them over both of us. “I’m not going to take anything you don’t want to give, and I will keep telling you that until you believe it.”

Her lids were heavy as she looked me over. “You’re in my bed without permission.”

Arm around her, I slid her into my side. Her head settled on my shoulder. Her arm draped across my middle. “I saw the bat you keep next to the bed. If you really minded, I have no doubt you’d let me know.” My mouth pressed to the top of her head. “Go to sleep, Tiger.”

She shifted and flung a leg over mine. “This doesn’t mean anything.”

I pulled her deeper into me. “Nothing.”

Warm and wet. Over me. Everywhere. Silk sheets on my skin. Soft hands touching me. Too good to be a dream.

My eyes opened. Helen was in front of me, her body aligned with mine, head tucked against my chest. But she wasn’t asleep. She was exploring, and I was her terrain. Her fingertips traced down the length of my spine. Tipping her head, she pressed her mouth to the base of my throat, sucking gently. My cock responded to her in an instant, swelling behind my zipper.

“Helen,” I rasped. “What are you doing, baby?”

“Mmm.” Her sucks turned to light kisses, and her hand splayed on my back, pressing me closer.

“Are you dreaming?”

“Mmm.”

My hand shot up, fisting the side of her hair to tug her back. In the dawn light, her eyes were wide and startled, but fully awake.

“You know what you’re doing, Tiger?” I gruffed.

She lunged at my mouth, taking my bottom lip between hers for a long suck. “I know what I’m doing, Theodore.”

“You keep touching me like that, I’m going to need to touch you back.”

Helen sat up part way and yanked her shirt off her head. She stayed like that, letting me see her, watching me while I drank in her pretty tits, the tight, brown nipples, the perfectly round swell of them. Then she cupped one, thumbing her nipple, sighing.

I licked my top lip, hungry for her. “Give it to me.”

She dropped forward, bringing her breast to my mouth, and that was it. I was done, gone, fully lost in everything that was Helen. Latching on, I sucked deep, bringing more mewls from her. Her legs shifted and tangled with mine under the sheets. We grappled with each other, touching, kissing, licking.

Helen felt as good as I thought she would. God, she felt even better. Hot and solid, silky and soft, her skin was like nothing I’d ever had in my hands. I rolled her to her back, and she spread her legs, welcoming me between them. But if my cock came anywhere close to her heat, I’d need to be inside. Helen was on fire, but I wasn’t sure we were going there. Not now.

More importantly, I needed my mouth on her before I did anything else.

Rearing back on my knees, I took her in. Swollen lips. Silky hair spread over her white sheets. Puckered nipples. Taut belly. Perfection. The beauty ideal I hadn’t realized I’d carried with me my whole life until I found her.

She hooked her fingers on my waistband. “Stop wasting time, Theodore,” she panted. “Get back here.”

Cuffing her wrists, I tucked them to her sides. “Shut up and let me look at you. After I do that, I’m going to eat you until I’m satisfied.”

Her belly rippled with a breathy laugh. “Until satisfied?”

“Yeah, baby. You woke me up, pulled me out of a peaceful sleep, so I need compensation. Eating your pussy is what I’m taking.” I patted her hip. “Lift up.”

She raised her butt from the bed so I could slide her shorts off. When I got a look at her, I nearly came in my underwear. From . She wasn’t even touching me. Jesus, she was pretty . Smooth skin, bare pussy, low, low tan lines, fucking gorgeous.

I traced the line where her skin went from tan to pale, only inches from her slit. “I need to see the bikini that gave you these tan lines. Then I need to burn it so no one else ever sees it.”

Her hips rolled. “Stop talking.”

Cupping her between her legs, I grazed her little clit with my thumb. “You want this? You want my mouth on you?”

Nodding, she wrapped her legs around my waist. “I’m beginning to think you’re all talk. Do you even know how to eat a puss—?”

Hands around her calves, I flipped her to her belly and slid my arm under her to raise her hips. Then I was on her, spreading her thighs and burying my face between them. She moaned at the first lash of my tongue, from clit to ass. I grunted in response, diving deeper, sucking, licking, tasting every inch of her. Holding on to her hips, my thumbs kept her lips parted, displaying all of her to me. Dark pink, glistening with my spit and her desire, she was a work of art. A gorgeous, naughty masterpiece.

Helen reached behind her to thread her fingers through my hair and curl them around a fistful of it. Using her grip on me, she shoved me closer, rocking her hips to ride my face.

“So good, Theo,” she cooed. “I’m going to come for you. I’ve never, Theo, I’ve never—” A long moan cut off whatever she’d been about to say.

“Theo, , don’t stop. Don’t stop,” she begged.

If I could have spoken, I would have assured her I’d never stop. Never leave her alone until she got hers. And even then, I might not stop, not with her tasting the way she did, smelling and looking so perfect. I was already addicted.

Helen’s thighs started to shake. She reached forward, then outward, nails scrambling for purchase on the sheets. Neck arching, she tossed her head back, her long hair spilling all the way down her back to the base of her spine. My name fell from her lips on a drawn-out moan of soul-rending pleasure.

I flipped her to her back again and kept at her, licking her, sucking her, filling myself to the brim with her sweetness. Legs over my shoulders, heels digging into my back, Helen writhed on the bed, just as lost as I was. My cock was aching, pressing into the mattress, so close to losing it, I was shocked I hadn’t. My control was tenuous, but I held it so fucking tight, it was close to strangling. Because I could not lose it with this girl. Not all of it. I had to remember who she was, what she’d shown me, what she carried.

Helen came again, and again after that. I would have kept going, but she grabbed my hair and dragged me up her body. For a second, she held my face and stared, frozen except for her feet on the backs of my legs. Then she raised her head to suck on my lips, taking her flavor into her mouth and moaning.

“Theodore,” her legs banded around my waist, trapping me against her, “why aren’t you inside me?”

“Got busy for a while.” I nibbled her bottom lip. “I need you to tell me that’s what you want.”

She tucked her face in my throat, nodding while she kissed me. “That’s what I want. Right now. Give it to me.

.”

There was my soft. What I needed to hear. My shorts were lost somewhere in the sheets, then Helen’s hand was on me, stroking so well, all I could do was stay still and let it happen.

“Come on,” she said against my lips. “Come inside and let me have this. I’ll give you me. Come on.”

“Shit, fuck.” I peered down at the beauty under me. “Condom.”

“Nightstand. Our RA gave all of us a strip when we moved in.”

I found them in her drawer and ripped open the packet. “Remind me to thank them later.”

“This is just ours, Theodore. Only for us.”

“I know.” Condom on, I fell over her, holding myself up on my forearms. “I get what you’re giving me. I get it.”

Biting her bottom lip, she raised her hips, my tip nudging her entrance. “Take it then.”

Her wet heat surrounded me as I pushed in. Jesus, I tried to go slow, to savor my first feel of her, but it was impossible, not with her fingertips gripping my shoulders tight, her thighs spread wide and welcoming. Not with her lids lowered to half-mast, watching me join our bodies.

I drove into her to the hilt, and I did not stop. Retreating as far as I could without leaving her, I returned to her in another hard thrust. Helen was with me, meeting me, sighing when I slid away, moaning when I came back.

God, I didn’t want to think about anyone else, not when I was inside Helen for the first time, but it took one thrust for me to know I’d never had better. Helen was so there, so incredibly present and part of what we were doing. It wasn’t just me fucking her. We were fucking each other, and god , that made all the difference.

My mouth covered hers, kissing her hard and fierce. She answered with her own brand of fierce, nipping my lips, sucking my tongue.

I tore my lips off when I couldn’t take it anymore. “You’re too damn hot, baby.” My nose grazed hers. “Pussy so tight, so wet, I can’t fuck you as long as I want to.”

Shifting back to my knees, I held her hips in my hands, digging my fingers into her ass. Helen let out a gasp, hands flying forward so she could brace herself on my arms.

“Theo, please, please, don’t stop.” Nails scratched at my forearms.

“You think I’ll stop?” My eyes went to where I entered her, her pretty pussy taking me again and again. Clinging to me, sucking me in deeper with every pass. “Look at that. Look how you take me.”

She watched too, her pants coming a little faster. “I’m close. I didn’t think I could, but I need it. I need to come, Theo. Fuck me harder.”

“I’ll give it to you. I have you.” Rising on my knees, her back half off the mattress, I slammed into her. Long, deep strokes, slapping her pelvis with mine, making her moan and claw at my arms. I thought she was gorgeous before, but nothing compared to Helen writhing on the sheets, wholly giving herself over to me.

It took everything out of me not to follow her over when she came apart on my cock. Her swollen lips parted, breathing her pleasure into the air. It was a show in itself, and I wouldn’t allow myself to miss any of it.

“Theo,” she sighed, sweet and soft.

Shifting again, I fell over her, hiking her knees back so I could drive into her. Her breath came in stuttering pants each time I seated myself. I took her tit in my hand, the other cupped her jaw, and I fucked her until there was no more holding back. It was savage and rough, but I wouldn’t have gone there with her if she hadn’t been right there with me. The fact that she was, that she was mewling like a kitten in my arms, sent me over the edge, draining every last ounce of pleasure until I had nothing left.

“

,” I gritted out, collapsing on top of her.

Helen shoved her face into my neck, heating my skin with her uneven pants. I stayed there, out of strength and energy, until I had to move to take care of the condom. Then I flopped on my back with a deep groan.

Something light landed on my chest. I laughed when I saw it was a tissue. “Thanks, baby.”

Helen’s grin was as lazy as the flick of her fingers. “Any time, Theodore.”

I got rid of the condom, wrapped it in the tissue, and tossed it on the floor. Then I tucked Helen into my side, closing my eyes.

“What time is it?” I asked.

“I don’t know. My phone’s behind me on the nightstand.” Her nail traced the outline of the muscles on my chest. “Before I woke you, it was four.”

I threw my hand up. “No. Four? Jesus, why?”

She smacked me. “You’re complaining that I woke you up?”

My eyes opened, and I dipped my chin to look at her. “Nope. I’d give up sleep forever for another shot at sinking inside you. Best I ever had.”

She smacked me again. “Don’t play me.”

“Was that not the best you ever had?”

Instead of answering, she rolled away from me onto her other side. I followed, bringing her back to my chest. She squirmed, but she didn’t put up much of a fight.

Brushing her hair from her face, I kissed her ear. “Was that a hard question?”

“No. Maybe.” She crammed her face into her pillow so it muffled her voice, but I heard her anyway. “That was the first time I’ve had sex sober.”

I stilled. “First time ever?”

She nodded, still buried in the pillow.

“I have to say I’m honored. I don’t know what I did to deserve being woken up by your mouth, but I want to know so I can keep doing it.”

She waved me off, keeping her face hidden. “I thought sleepy sex might be like drunk or high sex. It wasn’t.”

I touched my lips to her shoulder. “You were wide awake.”

She nodded. “Yeah. Now I’m tripping.”

“No need to trip. That was incredibly hot. I want a repeat as soon as possible, but we’re not getting married. Let’s just let this ride, okay?”

When I’d picked Helen up to take her to see Shakespeare, I hadn’t envisioned us ending up here. I liked her, I was attracted to her, but I really wasn’t in a place to pursue anything serious. Not that I wouldn’t treat Helen right now that we were here. I didn’t have it in me to mistreat this girl who’d been mistreated all her life.

She blindly swatted at me. “Go back to sleep.”

“You too.” I settled behind her. After a minute or two, she relaxed against me, so I kissed her shoulder. “Cute little spoon.”

The giggle she let out hit me square in the chest. “Shut up, Theodore.”

I grinned against the back of her neck and pulled her tighter to me.

“Night, Helen.”