Sweet and Sinful (4 page)

“Hey, you guys just finish studying or something?”

“Not exactly. We have something to tell you,” Ian said. “Alexis was going to tell you alone but seeing as I’m your RC, I thought I should be here.”

She pushed to her feet. “What is it? Is something wrong?”

“Not at all. It’s good news.” Ian put an arm around me. “Alexis and I have decided to pursue a relationship.”

I flashed her a smile but inwardly I was rolling my eyes. Of all the stiff and formal ways to tell someone—RC or not.

Her eyes widened. “You two are
dating?
”

“That’s the simple way of putting it,” I said and shot Ian a look.

“You two,” she stated again, looking between us disbelievingly. “Dating.”

“Believe it,” I snapped. I knew Ian was miles above me in the looks department, but come on—he was miles above everyone.

“But isn’t that against the rules?”

Ian grinned, his arm hanging around my shoulders casually. “I talked to Bruce about it already. S’all good.”

Melissa didn’t look the least bit happy to hear this. In fact, she was practically bristling with resentment. I cursed my luck that things hadn’t worked out with Gary. People in love are happy for other people in love.

Carly came into the room then, took one look at us and squealed. “I knew it! I
knew
something was going to happen between you two. In fact, I told Alexis that if you two didn’t—”

I cut her off quickly. “He doesn’t care.”

“Pretty sure I do.”

Luckily Lena’s door opened then and Ian looked in her direction. She stumbled out groggily, wearing a tank top with no bra and pink pajama bottoms, her short hair a mess.

“What’s going on?” She caught sight of Ian and crossed her arms over her chest. “Oh hey.”

“They’re telling us their news,” Melissa said with barely disguised bitterness.

“So you guys finally admitted it.” Lena smiled and rubbed at her eyes. “Sweet.”

Ian laughed. “Well I’m heading to bed.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “See you tomorrow.”

“Aw!” Lena gushed teasingly.

I watched him walk down the hall. At the stairwell he paused to look back and I gave him a small wave, which he returned with a grin. Then he was gone and I felt his absence like a hole. I had it bad.

When I turned around again, the girls were looking at me expectantly, their faces all smiles. Everyone except Melissa.

“So? How did it happen?” Carly asked, pulling me onto my bed. She and Lena crowded beside me, one on each side.

Melissa stayed in her standing position and crossed her arms. “I know how it happened. He spanked her at a spanking party.”

Embarrassment flushed my cheeks a dark red. I opened my mouth to deny it, but I’d never been a good liar, and I was certain my expression had already confirmed it. The looks on Carly and Lena’s faces told me they believed it too. The air in the room felt thick, congested, and my tongue was so thick I couldn’t speak.

A moment passed and then a sly grin slipped across Lena’s features. “So Lex is kinky! What was it like? With Ian, too.
Hot
.”

I exhaled with relief as Melissa stomped out of the room.

***

The news traveled fast. By Tuesday afternoon everyone in the building knew Ian and I were an item. People on campus also started to notice me. Whereas before I could go from class to class without passing students glancing my way, now people were practically checking me out. Some gave me a smile, some glared, some shot me looks I couldn’t decipher. My skin felt itchy with all the unwanted attention, good and bad. Some people even stopped me between classes with fake questions, like how to get from building A to building B. In the middle of the semester.

Ian chuckled when he opened the door and saw my expression. “Good day so far?”

“I feel on display,” I mumbled as I stomped into his bedroom. “Everyone was staring at me or making excuses to talk to me.”

“Funny—I got less attention than usual.”

“Makes sense.” I flopped onto his couch. “Now you’re off the market.”

Ian grinned and lounged beside me. “And so are you. Which makes me very happy.”

I sighed and curled up into him, toyed with the string from his sweatshirt. “Is that what it’s like for you? People gawking at you?”

He sighed. “It took about a week before people found out who I was. Though people still looked at me because I’m
so incredibly good-looking
,” he said in a Zoolander impression.

I chuckled into his chest. “I don’t know very much about the modeling industry,” I admitted. “You were big I take it?”

“I did well. Made a good amount of cash at a young age. I was also an extra in the film
First Chance
. It was a Rom Com and I was just in the background at a party, but the director liked my look and told me I should go into acting. Even got an agent in touch with me.” He chuckled. “That’s what got my mother on the scent.”

“Wow.” I continued to play with his string. “So people have seen you in the film?”

“Yeah. I don’t say anything but I’m in a lot of shots. On a small campus like this, I guess that rockets you into celebrity status.”

“And does this agent still contact you about opportunities?”

I felt him tense. “Sometimes.”

“Like what?”

“There’s a movie being filmed this summer and into the fall. They want me to play a member of a rival band. Small role but there are a few lines. It would be a different gig than my last one.”

My hand stilled. “But there’s no chance you’ll consider it?”

“No. He’s been rather insistent, even called my mother—but I stopped answering his calls.”

Relief flooded through me. I sat back on my knees to look at him. “When I was a little girl I wanted to act.”

He grinned. “Every little girl wants to be an actress.”

“I think it’s proper nowadays to say
actor
for both sexes.” I tried to arch a brow like he always did, giving him my best condescending look.

“I think you’re right.” His eyes dropped to my lips and I unconsciously licked them. “Are you still into acting?”

I shook my head emphatically. “No way. I’m way too shy.”

The side of his lips turned up. “I wasn’t talking about that kind of acting.”

“Oh.” I glanced down and my eyes fell on the fly of his jeans. I instantly reddened and shifted in my kneeling position on the couch. Times like these I felt naïve, like Ian knew the score, and I was only pretending to keep up.

“We’ll find out soon enough. How are you feeling today?”

“Better. Good.” I peeked up to see him watching me. “I don’t feel sore at all, in fact.”

He reached out and ran a thumb along my lips. “Is that so?”

“Mm hmm.”

His thumb slid into my mouth. I instantly closed my lips around it, sucking softly. His eyes widened and his lips parted in a silent gasp.

“What are you doing?” he asked, even though he knew exactly what I was doing.

I licked the length of his thumb, gave one final suck before releasing him with a coy smile. There was a noticeable bulge in his jeans that gave me more than a little satisfaction. He wasn’t the one in charge.

Ian’s eyes narrowed. “Proud of yourself, aren’t you?”

I shrugged—but yes, I was very proud of myself.

***

We returned to campus hand-in-hand. The moment we emerged from the basement of the block, people turned to look at us and Ian gave me a reassuring squeeze. Confronting all the faces felt a lot better with him beside me. At least the people who’d been skeptical now knew the truth, and the females weren’t as apt to give me dirty looks with Ian there to witness it.

I only had Astronomy lab every second week and it was scheduled in the evening so we could see the stars from the observatory. The sun was already beginning to set as we left the residence area and entered the campus.

 “Will I see you tonight?” Ian asked as we walked.

“I can’t, I’m going to the library. You’ve distracted me enough and I really do have to keep my grades up. Need to catch up after skipping yesterday’s classes too. Not all of us can charm the profs into giving us good grades.”

Ian opened his mouth in mock shock. “Is that what you think I do?”

“I wouldn’t put it past you.”

He rolled his eyes to the sky. “You’re itching for it. You really are. When I decide you’re ready, I’m going to make it good.”

“Ready for what?” I asked, batting my eyelashes innocently.

In response he squeezed my hand tightly.

We were on the other side of Quad from the fountain and almost at the Astronomy building when someone called Ian’s name. He stopped and squinted to see across the darkening campus.

“It’s Zach. Come meet him—you’re early.”

“Do your friends ever go to class?”

“Never.”

Ian draped an arm around my shoulders and steered us to them. “Guys, this is my girl, Alexis Watson. Lex, these are my bros.”

“Zach.” A tall dark haired guy I recognized from somewhere stood up first and put out his hand. “Nice to officially meet you.”

Zach’s hand engulfed mine and he smiled down at me, his eyes such a dark brown they looked to be all pupil. He was all black—black leather jacket, black jeans, black hair—and his height and demeanor was more than a little intimidating. I blushed slightly under his gaze and then dropped my eyes guiltily.

“And those lazy asses are Josh and Bracken,” Ian said, motioning at the guys still sitting on the edge of the fountain, one of whom was lighting a pipe. Josh had closely shaved hair and dark skin and was wearing a polo shirt. He looked completely opposite next to Bracken, a pale dude in a sweatshirt with a mess of long brown hair and pipe against his lips.

Josh gave me a curt nod and Bracken exhaled a large puff of smoke, followed it up with a grin and a sheepish “Hey”.

“I’m happy for you and my boy,” Zach said and slapped Ian hard on the back. “Surprised the fuck out of me when he first started talking about you. Never seen him hung up like that.”

“Shut up, man,” Ian said, but he was grinning.

Zach turned his attention back to me. “I hope you don’t mind I outed you for being at the party. Looks like it turned into a happy ending though,” he added with a knowing smile.

My pulse quickened as understanding set in. Of course—Zach was the dark-haired guy I’d seen in the front hall of the spanking party. Obviously he was the one that texted Ian and let him know I was there. I heated at the realization he must know Ian spanked me. Then again, Zach had been at the party to do the exact same thing.

 Ian pulled me into his chest and kissed the top of my head. “I’d say you’re right, man.”

I peeked up at Zach and he winked at me. I quickly looked back down, busied myself with hooking a finger through one of Ian’s belt loops.

“You should get to class,” he murmured into my hair.

“Meh,” I responded, tugging gently on the loop and hoping he’d get the hint that I wanted him to walk me back.

“It starts in five.”

“I know.”

“Kiss me.”

I tilted my head up to meet his waiting lips. The moment we touched, everything felt right. I couldn’t care less that Zach was still there watching. I breathed in Ian’s scent, sighing involuntarily as we broke the kiss.

Ian stared down at me, his eyes heated. “Get to class before I don’t let you go.” He gave me a playful swat on the butt. “And stay out of trouble.”

***

In this week’s lab we were focusing on the apparent motions of the planets and how to predict where to find them in the sky. My lab partners Jacqueline and Charlotte were already at our table when I arrived. They were sitting sideways on their lab stools and whispering to each other. Charlotte glanced up and noticed me, gave Jacqueline a nudge with her elbow and the other girl stopped talking.

“Hey,” I said, pulling my books out and placing them on the table before climbing up onto the stool. “How was everyone’s weekend?”

Both of them glanced away. At first I didn’t think either of them was going to respond, but then Charlotte responded with a soft, “Good.” Jacqueline simply tossed her auburn mane over her shoulder and opened her lab manual. Charlotte quickly followed suit.

Frowning, I opened my notebook and started filling out the Purpose and Procedure using the manual as a guide.

Our lab instructor James was old and a stickler—we had to write everything out by hand and submit our notebooks by the end of class. The point was to work as a team and finish in the time allotted. But very quickly it became evident that the two girls planned to shut me out. Jacqueline actually used her manual as a sort of wall, propping it up in front of her notebook so I couldn’t see what she was writing. Charlotte turned sideways on her stool again and dutifully hid her notebook behind the wall.

Confused by their actions, but knowing I was being punished for something, I focused on working through the lab on my own. It didn’t seem too difficult, I reasoned. First I had to calculate the planets’ longitude by using the Astronomical Almanac, and then plot these positions on graph paper using concentric circles as orbits. That would help me determine when I could expect to see the planets during the day, which I was supposed to report in a table. The next step was to calculate the ecliptic longitudes and determine which constellation each planet was in. Last step was to look at the planets’ positions along the ecliptic and determine their declination and right ascension. This is where I felt the first twinges of panic. I had no idea what the last bit even meant.

Math had never been my strong suit. I had forgotten this, however, when I’d decided to register in a full year Astronomy course. The science intrigued me but the math freaked me out. Taking yoga breaths, I decided to focus on each step in turn.

In order to plot where the planets were today, I had to calculate how many degrees each planet moves a day. Easy enough—just take the difference in degrees a planet moves a month and then divide it by the number of days. I started with Venus and calculated it to move 1.6 degrees per day. Then I moved on the next planet until I had a nice table and the first step was complete.