Pride & Pre-Med Curriculum

Chapter 14

Will stalked Lizzy like a hungry lion, internally cringing that maybe he had been reading too many teenage girls' romantically inclined essays if he was seeing himself in those terms.

But the lovely feast of flesh before him made him feel base and animalistic, a nawing hunger burning in the pit of his stomach. Perhaps the heat was based a little farther south. But, it wasn't just sex. Will could get that anywhere. He knew that she posed a danger to him simply because he was terrified he would want much more with this remarkable woman.

He wanted to experience Lizzy's body on an elemental basis. He didn't just want to have sex with her, kiss her; he wanted to lose himself in her. Tasting her lips to see if she was acidic while spouting some cutting retort with that luscious mouth. Asking her what she was thinking when her brow wrinkled in confusion or consternation. Watching her eyes flash as she challenged him, making his blood stir.

He wanted to feel every inch of her creamy white flesh, watching her reaction as he conquered each peak and valley. He wanted to bury his face in the mass of dark curly tendrils to see if he could desensitized himself to the exotic scent that had been torturing him for weeks every time she walked past, stood near.

It was a fight he had been losing by inches over the last several weeks. Every time she walked out of his class, he fought the urge to follow her, talk to her, kiss those sweet, pouty lips at last.

Slowly, he had felt his will crumbling as, degree by slow degree, while he came closer and closer to giving in to these feelings. Each day that dawned, he found the battle harder, fought his own desires longer. Every evening as he laid his head on his pillow, his thoughts were filled with her.

Fate was indeed cruel, he decided as he stood over the sleeping woman. She was so relaxed, her beguiling lashes resting on her cheeks as if in demure invitation.

If only he could escape her. If only he could banish her from his thoughts, his dreams. Will felt as if he was in a prison of his own making and Lizzy alone held the key. If he let himself love her....

There were just so many reasons it would be wrong. Wrong for himself and wrong for her. Wrong for his family, his career, his future. They would both be ruined. Disaster lay at the end of that path.

If he let himself have a taste, would he not be addicted? Could he make himself walk away as he knew he must? Standing here, looking down at her, he realized how he yearned for her- down to the core of his being. He was the moth to Lizzy's flame and she was his damnation made real.

Her heated skin glistened with perspiration, and he was filled with the need to touch her. His fingertips extended . . .

He had made the firm resolution to stay away from her, knowing that he could never be satisfied with a brief liason. He already found himself lost in her to the point of obsession, so no, no passing encounters, no one night stands with this one. His need to possess her was something that couldn't be satisfied that easily.

He had done well and avoided her with dilagence, too. It hadn't been easy, when all he wanted was to be near her. But he had stayed away, watching her only from a distance.

His friend Charlie had sabotaged that, however. Charlie was never one to take a hint, even as Will had repeatedly changed the subject and steered the conversation away from the infuriatingly intoxicating Bennet sisters each time he droned on and on about them.

Now, here he was, trapped by the inclement weather in a secluded ski lodge with this delicious bit of womanly flesh. It was more than he could take. He had tried to get away from her, hiding in the only spot that came to mind. How could he be held responsible now after she followed him? She had practically served herself to him on a platter. His fingertips brushed some damp hair from her face.

Will groaned in anguish. How had they gotten in such a poor predicament?

Charlie was over the moon for Jane, it was quite clear. Darcy knew that she was a sweet girl and rare in beauty and grace. She also seemed to be one of the few that wasn't nearly so enamored of Charlie's money as the man himself.

Charlie, however, was in a similar situation as himself, though. His family had a station in industry and society and they had Charlie's life all planned out for him. Unfortunately, those plans could never include someone in Jane's position and with her family's glaring eccentricities.

No matter how taken with the lovely Jane, Charlie would never be allowed to have a long, meaningful relationship with her. He also wasn't the type to dabble and dash. Charlie had never had a one night stand in his life. He had never been able to master his emotions well enough to use people and throw them away.

That meant that he would be the one that would truly be hurt when his family demanded that he break it off with the seemingly shy girl. And that was the other thing that concerned Will. She was obviously flattered by the attention from Charlie and seemed to get on with him well, but didn't seem "into" him like Charlie would have preferred. She blushed often and would hide her eyes, which made Will wonder if she actually welcomed his attention. Maybe she was trying to find a way to let him down, or to avoid leading him on. At any rate, Charlie was oblivious to it.

He had wracked his brain on how to save Charlie from such a heartache. He knew his friend had nothing but heartbreak ahead. What could he do to save him from himself? How could he possibly save Charlie when he felt like he was being pulled under as well? Immersed in the same plight and faced with a rapid descent into pain and degradation, he had to find the strength to stay away from the enticing Elizabeth Bennet.

For everyone's sake, he needed to turn and leave this steamroom, grab Charlie and get them the hell out of here.

At that moment, Elizabeth shifted a little and took a deep breath. Will was paralyzed as he watched her breasts rise, her lips parting slightly as she fell into a deeper sleep.

How could she be so beautiful? How could he get away from her unscathed? Without even realizing it, he had leaned forward, unconsciously. He was just inches away from her covering her lips with his own before he realized what he was doing.