College Girls Ch. 03

The room was very dark, and Peter bumped around until he found a desk lamp and turned it on. They were in an office. It reminded her of the one in Ken's house, actually – there was a desk with a guest chair against one wall and a big fold-out couch opposite it. Susan looked around and her body went suddenly numb.

Peter and I are going to have sex on that couch.

He threw the cushions onto the floor and unfolded the mechanism until the bed part lay out flat. It was neatly made up with sheets and a light blue blanket.

I'm going to betray Ken and break Kate's heart.

Susan couldn't help it. She started to cry. Peter was about to pull the covers down, but he stopped when he heard her.

"Susan?"

He put his arms around her shoulders and held her. Tears dampened the place where her cheek lay against his chest.

"Bad idea, right?"

Susan nodded mutely.

Peter took a step back. Something had changed in his eyes. He grabbed the bottom of her t-shirt.

"Peter? What …"

"Shhh. I want to look at you."

That made her cry again. Stop, she told herself. I'm being stupid.

When she didn't say anything, Peter lifted the shirt, and Susan raised her arms when the time came. She stood awkwardly in front of him for a moment, then she half-turned and pulled her panties down and stepped out of them. She heard Peter's in-drawn breath as she turned back to face him. The desk lamp outlined the edges of her curves dimly. Most of her body was in shadow, just hints and suggestions of secret, dark places. She wasn't even sure how much of her he could see. But she watched Peter's face. His look went from stunned to wistful to achingly sad.

She didn't know what to say.

She stepped towards him, close enough that their bare chests touched for the first time. Her nipples, fiercely, painfully hard, nestled in his chest hair. She kissed him chastely on his cheek then turned around in his arms and closed her eyes. Peter stood still for a moment. Then, when she didn't move, he began to run his hands along her body.

At the first touch, Susan felt as if she were dissolving. She remembered the foot massage Peter had given her in his room, how intimate his touch had felt. It was like that, a different kind of sex. Better, maybe. At least now it was; it was exactly what she needed. It didn't really matter where his fingers were: brushing the tops of her shoulders, caressing her breasts, bumping over her ribcage, tracing the lips of her pussy. The sense of someone who knew her so completely, who wanted her so completely was overpowering. She let her qualms melt away, let his touch consume her.

Susan sighed. She'd lost track of time, and Peter probably had too, but they both knew it was time to stop. She stepped away and turned back towards him. His eyes were fixed on her, intent and unblinking, as if he was straining to remember every detail, every ill-lit surface of her body.

Susan put her clothes back on and waited. Peter gave her a shy smile.

"I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

"Okay."

He opened the office door, peered out, and he was gone.

Susan exhaled. The long, difficult day unreeled in her head. Her morning convalescence. Ken in the shower. The little bit of skiing. The long dinner. The hot tub. Kate and Peter on the couch. The dancing that almost spiraled out of control. Peter's touches. None of it had been planned. None of it should have happened at all. She shook her head and walked out of the office, back into the hallway. At its far end, where it entered the living room, the hallway suddenly dimmed. Susan stopped, feeling a vague sense of unease. Abruptly there was a hulking figure in front of her, blocking the light.

Luke.

Susan took a step back, cold sweat prickling on her skin.

He came closer, nearly filling the narrow space in front of her. His look was the calculating, appraising one she dreaded.

"I wonder where Kate is," he said mildly.

Susan didn't answer. She was pretty sure he knew exactly where Kate was.

"Peter was in there with you," Luke continued, pointing to the office.

Something in the smugness of his voice ignited a tiny blue flame of loathing in her. "Your point being?"

Luke shrugged. "Maybe I should see if Kate's in there too. You know, just to say goodnight."

"Don't waste your time. She's upstairs."

Now the grin appeared. "Why don't you and I go into the office. Discuss this."

"What's there to discuss?"

"I think you know."

She glared hatred at him, but that just made his grin widen.

"All right," she said, turning around and stepping back into the small room. She was practically admitting some sort of culpability, but she needed to give herself time to think. Unfortunately, it wasn't hard to guess what he wanted.

Luke followed her in and closed the door behind him. Susan noticed for the first time that, like Peter, he was only wearing sweat pants, no shirt. His torso was really quite splendid. And she decided that she'd never seen anyone she was less attracted to.

"Nothing happened in here." That sounded hollow, even to her.

Luke pretended he hadn't heard. "I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to dance tonight. You were very popular."

Susan didn't reply.

"Looks like you're free now. Shall we?"

He stepped close to her and put his hand on her waist. Susan shuddered, but she didn't move. She needed to think. Could she get Peter to … to do what? Threaten Luke? Beat him up? Even if he could, that wasn't likely to help. Damn it, she just didn't know what to do.

"Maybe we should just skip the preliminaries," Luke said.

He reached down and put his hand underneath her shirt. Susan froze.

"Take your hands off of me," she said tightly.

"Sure."

He was breathing on her, stale tequila and sour wine. His hand slid up her leg. "I'll just go upstairs and see if Kate has time for a chat. You two are best friends, right?"

His hand stayed where it was, but he started to turn towards the door.

"No, wait." There was an edge of desperation in her voice. "What are you going to say to her?"

"Oh, I'll just tell her what I saw. She and I go back a ways. She should know what her roommate and her boyfriend have been up to."

"Asshole," Susan hissed.

Luke just grinned. His hand moved further up her leg.

"Come on, Susan, you wanted it in the hot tub. I know you did."

She realized with a cold, certain horror that it was his hand that had touched her the night before. She couldn't let this go any farther. She fought to clear her head. None of this made sense. Whatever he did to her now – it wouldn't change anything. He could still talk to Kate later, or Ken for that matter.

Luke stepped closer. His hand moved up under her shirt to her bare breast. There was no teasing exploration, no sensual discovery. He just grabbed her. At the contact, something flared in her head, the blue flame turning white hot in an instant. She lashed out at him with one arm, trying to push him away, shoving upward and catching him hard across his nose with the heel of her hand. She felt a distinct and oddly satisfying crunch.

Luke stepped back and bent over, holding his hand to his face.

"You stupid bitch!" he yelled, blood starting to spurt out of his nostrils.

Susan glared back at him. "I'm not stupid."

"God damn, that hurts. I think you broke my nose."

"You think? Maybe I should try again, just to make sure."

She raised her hand menacingly.

"Crazy bitch," Luke muttered, backing away and staggering out of the office.

Susan stood in the middle of the room in a sort of trance. There was an old mechanical clock on the desk, and it was so quiet in the room she could hear it ticking. With each passing second she could feel the heat of her fury drain away. She seemed to be collapsing inward, deflating, losing every bit of the energy that had sustained her. Luke was right, she thought. I really am stupid.

She knew that she would have to think of something, and soon. Luke wasn't going to just drop this, although his ego would probably keep him on ice for a little while, at least until his nose stopped bleeding. She couldn't talk to Ken. But Peter … maybe Peter would have an idea. She felt a dead weight in the pit of her stomach. Everything was coming unraveled. But she had to do something.

Susan took a deep breath and headed back upstairs.

End of Chapter 3

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