Fighting Fate (Granton University #1)(69)

Instead of stopping just outside the door, he led her around an outbuilding that abutted the fraternity house to an open area that held a fire pit and a couple of picnic tables. Tiled with cobblestones, the clearing was undoubtedly a popular spot in the warmer months. But tonight it stood deserted.

“Brr.” She hugged herself and rubbed her bare arms briskly.

“Cold?” Dorian shifted closer. “Here, let me help with that.” With a smile, he tugged her to him and wrapped his arms around her. Heat poured off his large body, and she soaked it up gratefully, burrowing closer to him.

He chuckled and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. “Better?”

She sighed. “Lots.” Closing her eyes, she focused on the generous warmth he was sharing. “Though I always thought quarterbacks were a lot smaller than you.”

Laughing again, he nuzzled his nose against her hair. “They tried to make me a lineman my first year I tried out, but I was so good at throwing the ball, I became the quarterback.”

“Hmm.” She could fall asleep like this. It was so cold, and he was so warm.

“I’m going to kiss you,” he murmured in her ear.

She didn’t say anything. It had been far too long since she’d kissed anyone. When he tilted her chin up, she let him. She wanted to see if he could make her heart race like a certain other person she didn’t want to think about.

His mouth was pleasant enough, and she definitely wasn’t repulsed. But he seemed to like to take control, which was a little unsettling right out of the gate. After she let him open her mouth, he became even more enthusiastic and backed her against the wall of the outbuilding until they were framed by the ivy growing up the vinyl siding. And it didn’t shoot a single spark of chemistry through her.

Depressing.

But maybe if she imagined he was Logan…

Just thinking that name launched a bolt of heat straight down the center of her spine. She moaned, and a hand began to wander up from her waist, cupping her where she didn’t let just anyone cup her, especially on the first kiss.

She broke her mouth away from his. “Okay, that’s enough.” She nudged him in the chest to get him to step back.

He didn’t. If anything, he moved in closer, trapping her more firmly against the wall.

Paige frowned. That was not how he was supposed to respond.

“Stop.” When she shoved against him again, he caught her hand and tugged it close, wrapping his fingers securely around her wrists, imprisoning her. She didn’t like that and frowned her disfavor. “Dorian. Stop. I said stop.”

He grinned smugly. “But we’re just getting started.”

Dipping back in, he kissed her neck, giving the sensitive skin a sharp, painful nip with his teeth just as his hand caught the hem of her dress and started working its way up.

Startled by his audacity, she lurched so violently in his arms she was able to dislodge him enough for her to gain a bit of breathing space.

As soon as she slipped out from between him and wall, she took off running, but tripped in the heels she’d borrowed from Mariah. She got another awkward fumbling step away before a big meaty hand hooked her around the waist.

“Hey!” She flailed in his arms as he picked her up off the ground. “Dorian. This isn’t funny. Let me go.”

“Not until I’m finished with you.”

He spun her around, the vertigo catching her unaware. The wall he shoved her into smacked her hard and fast in the face, cutting her scream short. Sharp pain spiked through her cheek and rattled her brain.

Dorian snickered as he pressed against her from behind, grinding roughly against her bottom. “Know what I like most about skirts?” he rasped into her ear, his breath sticky on the back of her neck. “Easy access.”

Panic gripped her. Fingers on the back of her legs tugged her dress up. She felt sick. She swallowed and tried not to lose the Jell-O shots she’d slugged down. “No,” she moaned. “Stop. Somebody help me!”

Dorian slapped his hand over her mouth. She couldn’t even bite him, he held her so hard. She tried to scream for help, but his fingers gagged her.

Bitter cold air rushed up her legs, letting her know he’d exposed her. Her panties tore next, but the sturdy waistband caught and held, keeping him from shredding them off her hips. He cursed under his breath, and she bucked and wiggled, making him lose his grip before he caught her again and tried once more to rip her underwear off.

Terrified tears stung her eyes. Her esophagus burned from the screams he trapped in her throat with his hand. She tried to swing her arms behind her to fight him off. She tried to lever her legs up and push from the wall in front of her. But the attempts were useless. She couldn’t even slam her skull back and hit him in the face; he held her head too firmly against his shoulder.

Just as the fabric of her panties began to tear, Dorian leaped backward away from her, releasing his grip. Relieved, she sank to the ground and shimmied her skirt back down over her thighs. Still in a crouch and not sure if she could stand on her shaking legs, she spun to face him, prepared to fight him off again…when she realized he hadn’t voluntarily left.

Someone had ripped him away. Her savior spun Dorian to face him, putting Dorian’s back to Paige, a split second before he reared his fist back and cracked the star quarterback in the jaw.

From her huddle on the cobblestones, Paige couldn’t see her hero’s face…until Dorian crumpled, revealing a livid Logan Xander, decked out in his bright red Designated Driver shirt.