Page 3 of Blue Blood Wolf (Big Wolf on Campus #6)

STACIA

E very nerve in my entire body was squealing with delight. Bash kissed me, and then he kissed me again. If my phone wasn’t broken and in his pocket, I’d be texting Selena and telling her what an incredibly smart matchmaker she was. I already had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from awkwardly laughing every time he said anything. Playing it cool, I asked, “How long are you here? One semester or two?”

He took my hand in his as we walked across the main part of campus toward the row of shops and restaurants where the Wolves’ Den and the Moon Bean were. “Not long enough, I think.”

Be still my heart. Now I really did want to skive off so I could spend more time with Bash. It was kind of weird how I felt like we had this instant connection. Yeah, I was beyond attracted to his accent, and I still wanted to see him with nothing but a crown on, but something had happened between us sitting on the benches. Right before he kissed me, when he told me his name, I saw something flash through his eyes. A moment of vulnerability in him that I didn’t think he let very many people see.

“I applied for the study abroad program so I could go to Europe and go royals hunting.” I hoped he didn’t think I was too weird. “Turns out the committee didn’t think that was a good reason to want to study in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Spain, the Netherlands, Bashkiria, or Belgium.”

He huffed out a half laugh, half cough. “Why those eight countries?”

“Those are the kingdoms left in Europe.” He was from there, I would have thought he’d have known. “Princes and dukes and barons and whatnot all over the place. There’re also royal families in Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, several African countries, Thailand, and Luxembourg, but none of them have an exchange program with Bay State University.”

“I see. So you really have quite a thing for the royals then.” He sounded a little disgusted by that.

Very few people understood my obsession. “Ever since I was little. My mom named me after Princess Anastasia and we used to watch the cartoon movie on an old VHS tape she got at a library sale. She even made me a miniature dress-up gown with the big leg-of-mutton sleeves, just like Anastasia’s. It’s my favorite memory of her.”

He gripped my hand tighter. “Memory as in she’s not here anymore?”

Usually this conversation was awkward, but with Bash, the words didn’t get stuck in my throat waiting for the discomfort from whoever I was talking to. “She died when I was seven.”

He stopped us short and turned me to face him. “I’m sorry, love. I can’t imagine losing my mother. She’s a tough old thing and I think she’s decided never to die so I don’t have to—” He stopped himself short. “Well, anyway. I’m sorry about your mum.”

“Thanks.” Most people gave me this kind of condolence by rote, but Bash seemed genuinely sad about it for me. He was sweet and I couldn’t believe I was about to say this, but I was falling for him.

No, ridiculous. It was the accent. It had to be. That and the way he kissed, and held my hand, and called me love.

“Is this it?” Bash pointed to the front door of the Wolves’ Den.

“Yeah. I’d better hurry in. Don’t want to get fired.” The last thing I wanted to do was leave his side.

Selena stuck her head out the front door of the bookshop. She gave me a sideways glare, like she was waiting to chastise me about something. Oh. Ha-ha. Her threat about firing me. Well, fire this, Selena.

I grabbed Bash around the neck and laid a big old smooch on him. He wrapped his arms around my waist and gave back as good as he was getting until we were both breathless. Now I really wanted to skip work and drag him back to my place for the night. Ooh. I bet he was good at talking dirty. But to be fair, he could recite Dr. Seuss and I would still get all swoony.

I broke the kiss much sooner than I wanted to, but for real I didn’t want to get fired for being late two days in a row. “Come by later for dinner? I don’t get off until closing, but I’d love if you were there when I’m done for the night.”

“When you’re done for the evening, we’ll just be getting started.” His eyes were dark like a stormy sky and his voice was rough and husky.

Yas. See? Swooning. I touched his lips with a finger just to keep myself from tackling him there on the sidewalk and having my way with him. “See you later.”

Later could not come soon enough. But the night flew by, busy as all get out. Mostly because Ty called in sick. That guy was never ill a day in his life. I’m sure he was in bed, but not with the flu. Unless the flu was also known as his girlfriend, Hunter.

I was excited to see Bash walk in the door late into the dinner rush, but all I could do was wave and blow him a kiss. He figured out pretty quick that I wasn’t going to have much time for him. As soon as I could, I popped over to the pool table where he was hanging out with some of the football players.

“Can I get you boys anything?” I asked them all but directed my best smile at Bash.

He licked his lips, and I knew what he really wanted. I mouthed the word ‘later’ to him.

He grinned and adjusted his glasses. “I’m afraid I’m a bit skint, love.”

What? Poor guy couldn’t afford a beer? Too bad he hadn’t come in on coin night for a quarter beer. “I got you.”

He made a funny little face. That was the second time I offered to pay for something for him, and I got the distinct feeling he didn’t like it. That gave me a little tickle. Welcome to America. Making independent women, since 1776.

I brought the round of beers the players ordered and set a mug down for Bash too. He shook his head but smiled. As I walked away I heard him say, “You gents in for a game of billiards?”

By the time I made it back to them with another round, Bash laid a twenty-dollar bill on my tray. “That should cover it.”

“I thought you didn’t have any money.” I wasn’t going to take his last dollar.

“Your boyfriend here is a shark when it comes to pool. He’s won his weight in beer, so I thought it would be easier to pay him off,” one of the football guys groaned.

My boyfriend. Is that what he’d told them? I think my heart ka-thumped right out of my chest. “Uh, okay, well, I’ll just, uh, be over here... if you need more girlfriends. Ack, I mean drinks.”

No one but Bash seemed to notice my verbal diarrhea, and he pursed his lips together like he was trying hard not to laugh. But somehow I knew he wasn’t laughing at me, but with me. Gah. I was such a dork.

A dork in love.

As I walked away, one of the football guys started jingling his keys anxiously.

“Hey, I’m just going to check on my bike.”

“Why?” Another guy looked up from the shot he was about to take, grinning. “Do you think it ran away?”

“No, jackass. But a lot of cars and bikes have been getting boosted near campus, and I don’t want to lose my ride.”

It was true. The crime rate had been going up in the area lately. The bikers that had taken to prowling around made it so people didn’t exactly feel safe wandering around after dark, and there’d even been a couple break-ins. In a weird way, it kind of made me glad I didn’t have a car. And at least the guys were usually willing to walk me to the bus stop after shift.

Finally closing time came, and Liam said he didn’t mind if Bash hung out while I closed out the till and bussed the rest of the tables. He’d mentioned something about a hot date and tossed me the keys to lock up.

That left me and Bash all alone. Perfect. “I’ll be finished in just a few minutes.”

He sauntered over and nuzzled my neck. “You remember what I said about when you were finished?”

Gulp. “Yes.”

“Good. But I don’t think I can wait that long to get started.” Bash pulled me straight into a soul-deep kiss.

I think my toes literally curled up, it was that hot. He backed me up until my butt hit the edge of the pool table. God, it was fricking sexy how he wanted me this bad. Nobody had even looked at me like they wanted me before, much less got all handsy and desperate like what Bash and I were doing at the moment.

I pushed my hands up underneath his sweatshirt and he groaned at my touch. “Your skin is so hot. You’re not sick, are you?”

“Every time I touch you, my temperature rises. If I’m sick, I’m sick in love.” He tugged at the buttons on my shirt and took my mouth in another kiss.

My tongue was way too busy clashing with his to bother asking him if he meant what he’d said. Could he really be in love with me? It was crazy, right? But if he was crazy, so was I. Two tickets for crazytown, coming up.

Bash grabbed me under the butt and lifted me up to sitting on the edge of the table, easy, like it was nothing. “I can’t wait to get you to a bed, Anastasia. I need you too much. Let me take you here and now.”

Ooh, he took the words right out of my mouth. I touched the weird green fabric of the pool table beneath my butt. “Liam will kill me if we ruin the pool table.”

He shucked his pants and pushed me back onto the table. Then he crawled up and over me like a prowling panther. “I’ll buy him a new one.”

Wow. Had he won that much money? Also... who cared? I wanted him just as badly. Gone were the fantasies about him wearing a crown and calling me princess while he made love to me. I just wanted Bash, the sweet, adorkable glasses wearing, poor, British exchange student who’d somehow captured my heart.

In no time we were both down to our underwear and Bash was nibbling his way across my cleavage. “I want to taste every single inch of your curves and have you screaming my name with my head between your legs.”

“Yes, let’s do that, but next time. Right now, I want you inside of me. Please.” My heart skipped a beat. He needed to know I was a virgin. It was so not fair to keep that from him. God, I hoped he didn’t freak out about it, because my vibrator was not going to have enough power to get me through that disappointment.

Here goes nothing, or everything. “Bash, wait. I have to tell you something.”

“Anything, love, you can tell me anything and everything. I want to know you inside and out.” He punctuated his words with kisses up one side of my neck and down the other.

“I- I mean you, umm... you’re my first. I’ve never done this before, much less on a pool table with a hot British guy who makes my heart go all wobbly.” I stopped myself from rambling, but it was a close call.

Bash took a long, slow breath and then looked deep into my eyes. “You are my first too, Anastasia. I had to come all the way across the world to find the right one, and it’s you.”

Is it possible for a girl to die of swooning? Because I might. “I’m so glad you found me. Took you long enough.”

Bash pulled off his glasses and his face lit up with that smile I adored. God, his eyes were beautiful and I could get lost in them. After one day, he was so familiar to me, it was like I’d known him for forever.

He laid the glasses on the pool table and he kissed me deep again and whispered into my ear. “You may be my first, but I will be sure to make sure you’re well pleasured, love. No skipping to the me inside of you part.”

He licked and kissed his way down my body, nipping and nibbling every inch of me. I pushed my hands into my hair, living in the moment as much as I possibly could. “Feel free to skip those wobbly bit, right there.”

“You mean this one right here?” He swirled his tongue around my belly button.

“Uhh.” Maybe I was changing my mind about the skipping bits thing. “You’d better do that again, because I’m not sure.”

Bash chuckled and did not do as I asked. Instead he took one long lick up the side of my stomach, following the line of the faint lines of my tummy stretch marks. “I’m very turned on by all of your… bits, the wobbly, and the soft, and the rosy pink, and all the rest.”

He nibbled his way right between my legs and whoooooo-boy was I wrong about my assumption that vibrators were just as good as the real thing. This wasn’t just pleasure, lightning and moonlight and stardust pushed shivers through every cell in my body.

“Bash, you’re, oh, god, you’re going to make me come.” I gripped his hair tight.

His head popped up and he grinned like a loon. A sexy loon. “More than a few times if I’m lucky.”

“Wait.” I leaned forward and grabbed his face, cupping his cheeks. “I…I want to come with you, together.”

He licked his lips, and a I swear the gold in his eyes flared, almost like a sunburst trying to get out. “Your wish is my command, my princess.”

Princess, huh? It was cute and adorable that he remembered my obsession with them.

“I’ll do my best to go slow. Tell me if I hurt you, okay?”

“Okay.” I know we were being all honest with each other, but maybe next time I’d tell him that while he was my first lover, there was no way my hymen was intact. Hello… masturbation, party of one. I owned my fair share of vibrators and other sex toys meant for her pleasure. I was a chubby college girl, not dead.

He wasn’t going to hurt me, and I couldn’t wait to be with him. I’d never wanted anyone or anything so much in my life, and my body was more than ready for him.

He pushed into me and groaned so deep and low that I felt it in my own chest.

“Fuck, you feel good, Anastasia.” He gritted his teeth and his legs shook.

“Don’t hold back. You feel just as good to me. I love this, I love you.” I wrapped my legs around his hips and pushed my core forward, taking more of him in.

His eyes rolled back and he buried his head in my neck. “Fuck. I want to make you come, but if you do that again, I won’t be able to last that long.”

I swirled my hips just to see if I could get him to groan like that again. I had a feeling he always had a tight rein on his emotions and even his actions. I wanted to see him let go. For me.

He did.

“Goddess. I am going to fuck you and make you come every day, twice a day, until the day that I die just to get you back for that.” Bash thrust into me, and I was the one seeing stars this time. He pumped fast and hard and bit the skin behind my ear.

With each of his thrusts, his body hit me in just the right spots. I’d certainly never found my g-spot before, but he sure as hell did.

“Anastasia, your cunt is gripping my cock so tight, I fucking love it. God, tell me you’re close.” A sheen of sweat glistened on his chest and throat and I wanted to lick it off him.

“Please don’t stop, I’m close too, so close.” Tingles raced across my body, ready and waiting to burst from all the excitement and pleasure.

Bash pushed into me fast and hard and kissed me, sucking on my tongue. It was all too much and my body took over, exploding into the best freaking orgasm of my entire life. Bash cried out my name at the same time and his hips jerked, losing his rhythm as he came with me.

There was a sharp pain at my shoulder where Bash had bitten me, but I barely even noticed. But the wave of absolute bliss that came rolling over me, sending me crashing right back into another orgasm that seemed to go on and on and on, now that I did notice.

Afterward, I collapsed back onto the pool table, my shoulder throbbing deliciously, my whole body relaxed, with little aftershocks of pleasure zinging along my nerves. I couldn’t stop grinning like an idiot.

I couldn’t have asked for a better first time. Neither of us were virgins anymore. We’d given that to each other, something we’d never share with anyone else, and that was something special to me.