Shayna kneaded her temples with her thumbs. Words swam together on her white screen. Had his name been Carl of Clark?
She cycled a breath. Her small breasts rose and fell.
Cark. It had been Cark.
She flipped through her notes. Lewis and Clark.
Wind beyond her window let out a loud howl. The pane rattled. A heartbeat squall splashed against the pain.
The lights flickered. For a fractional second it was as dark inside as out. Shay smashed alt-f-s. Word's save progress bar proceeded slowly. Fortunately, the computer did not blink out.
She cycled another heavy breath and slid down in her chair until her feet tapped the wall under the desk. Her skirt pulled up under her buttocks. Her ass practically hung off the chair. She stared at her report.
Okay, Shay, I've just got to—
The lights blinked. Longer this time. Something smacked her window. The computer monitor darkened. An image appeared in its ghostly glow.
Shayna's heart thrashed within her breast. She jerked and her chair toppled. She shrieked.
Floor, as hard as concrete, kissed Shayna, hip, shoulder, head in three successive thuds.
"Ow."
Illumination snapped back.
"Ow."
"Shay?"
"Oh, ow."
"God, girl. What y' doin' on the floor?"
Shayna crawled to her knees. Her neighbor, Tiffany, stood in Shayna's door.
Tiffany's roommate poked her head over Tiffany's shoulder. "You 'k'?"
Shayna clambered to her feet. To ease the pull on her bruised scalp, she teased the scrunchy from her hair. Freed, chestnut locks dipped and bobbed before her eyes.
Really? Why can't I have straight hair, like, Sarah. And blond.
Maybe I should bleach it.
"Shay?"
"Yeah, I'm okay, Sarah. Just—" She paused. "—bruised."
Tiffany strode into the room. "You screamed, girl. And fell."
Heat kissed Shayna's cheeks. "I was startled."
"By the lights? Gee, that—"
Shayna didn't let her finish. "I thought I saw . . . something.
"In the monitor.
"A man."
Sarah had entered the room now as well. Her eyebrow climbed her scalp. "A man made you scream?"
Shayna blew out a breath that fluttered her locks. "It was on my monitor. Old guy. All white, like moonlight, or a black and white photo. Had crazy Einstein hair and a . . ."
"A?" Tiffany said.
"A lamp. A lantern. I think."
Sarah laughed. Tiffany's lips carved her face in a silly grin.
"You've been listening to Levi's ghost stories." Sarah laughed again. "I'm surprised your socks are still on."
Ghost stories? Why was Tiffany listening to ghost stories?
Had she hooked up with Levi?
"Okay - uh -
whatever
. I guess. I've got to . . ." Shayna waved at her computer.
"
Girl
, do you ever stop studying?"
"Not with midterms next week."
"Yeah, 'k' have
fun
with that."
The two girls left Shay's room. She sat and turned back to her computer.
Uh.
The lights flickered once, twice, thrice. There was a pop like a lightbulb imploding. Darkness slammed down. More than one girl's expletive filtered through Shayna's partially open door.
Well, that blows.
The wind outside howled in response.
Shay fished about her desk for her cell-phone. Light blossomed from the handheld monitor. She scrolled through a thousand apps looking for the flashlight.
Before she found it, a boy's tenor trumpeted. "Hey, ladies, come on. Party in the common room."
The response was immediate and gleeful. Doors opened and slammed. Beams of errant light flashed up and down the hall. Girls trooped, or ran, in groups of two or three towards the communal space where the freshman boys and girls wings intersected.
"Hey, Babe, you coming?"
The steel nubs of Shay's chair screamed against the floor tile as she twisted to face Jason. She lifted her eyes from her screen. Her gaze met a deep etched shadowed face, wild hair white hair, a lantern. The icy kiss of fear sucked the air from her lungs.
Shayna's chair toppled. Gravity asserted its hold. Before she hit the floor, she caught the edge of the desk. A cup full of pens toppled and clattered upon the floor like a handful of pick-up sticks. She yelped.
"Fuck, Shay." There was a hint of laughter in Jason's voice. He pointed his flashlight beam such that it no longer highlighted is face in stark white and black shadows.
She pushed herself upright. Her free hand clutched at her wildly beating heart. Her small breasts heaved with every rapid breath. "Don't do
that
!"
"What? This?" Jason pointed his cellphone flashlight at his face once more. "Boo!"
"Yes—" A pen rolled out from under Shayna's heel. It took her balance with it.
Adrenalin seared her veins. "—crap!" Her butt banged upon the desktop. A loud crack sounded. Pens, books and coffee cup jumped.
My phone!
The cellphone tittered upon the edge of the desk. Shayna grabbed at it. Gravity caught it first. The crystal screen slipped past her fingers.
The phone landed upon edge. There was as sharp crack. A kaleidoscope of light cast by a million prisms danced across the floor and went out.
A cyclone of black moths within Shay's stomach lifted up an acid vapor within her. Her lungs, her throat, her eyes burned. A single sob escaped her throat.
Two full strides and Jason was before Shayna. Strong, muscled bands of comfort enfolded her. Shayna's fingers dug into the front of Jason's shirt. Her head fell against his collar bone.
Another sob escaped her.
"It's okay baby. I'm here." His hands ran over her back. His words turned the acid to something gentler. His hands massaged the moths down, down.
She sniffled loudly. "My report. My phone. The . . ."
"Don't talk. I understand. I'll get you a new one." He hands continued their slow strokes down her back. His fingers pushed at knots of muscle.
As each tangle untied itself, her flesh released a warm rush that drenched the moths' wings. The flock, born of sorrow, was baptized in relief. They metamorphosed to golden butterflies whose wet wings dropped them from flight. They fanned themselves, a million feathers, stroking her core.
Jason's hands followed her spine. On turned around and worked its way buck up when it reached the edge of her sweater. The other, though, continued its path down. When it reached her tailbone, Jason smoothed her pleated skirt over her rump. She flinched a little. A spark torched a few of the butterflies who went up in flame. Heat, and a slight ach, erupted in their wake.
Jason's hands froze. "Did that hurt?" There was a note of surprise in Jason's voice.
Shayna scrubbed her eyes on Jason's shirt. "I bruised my tailbone." She pulled back a little. "On the edge of the desk."
"Ah." His lopsided grin was all but invisible in the dark. "Then perhaps I should kiss it all better." His fingers ratcheted up her skirt, which was not particularly long.
"Don't you dare!" She clutched his shirt to prevent him from turning her around.
His other hand slid down her back to cradle her ass alongside the first. "Aw."
Fingers slipped under the cradle of her bikini panties. More butterflies went up in flames.
"Silk?" he said.
"Polyester. You keep stealing the expensive ones."
"What can I say? I'm a trophy hunter."
"You're a thief." She kissed him to take the bite off her words.
Jason held the kiss. His hands slid lower until they were completely underneath her. He lifted just enough such that when he pushed into her kiss she had no traction and had to retreat. He backed her into the desk, hooked his fingers through the crotch of her panties and pulled.
It was elegantly executed. The way his arms wrapped around, underneath and then between her thighs the motion slipped Shayna's legs from beneath her and sat her on the desk. He drew her legs high and pulled back to remove the garment completely.
Shayna followed Jason with her lips. She nearly overbalanced upon her seat. He caught her under her knees and pushed forward again. He leaned into her. First one, and then a second, of Shayna's hands left his shirt to catch her weight against the surface upon which she sat. He pushed her legs up and wide. He hooked the heels of her booties upon the lips of the desk.
Jason plied Shayna's mouth with his tongue. He drank the air from her lungs replacing it with a heady, wet warmth that seeped through her and ate away the last of her caution.
His hands moved away from her. The rattle of a loosed belt buckle chimed. Jason shifted. A heavy, hot weight fell between her legs to bounce upon the flesh guarding her womb.
A sharp gasp seized Shay's lungs. She broke their kiss, half fell and grabbed his shoulder. She hooked her arm around Jason's neck, pushed against the desk with her heels and raised her ass a finger-width or two off the surface. Jason manhandled his member into position.
Shay lowered herself. Jason pushed. His steel rod invaded her, bending as it forged a path along the back contour of her quench. Heat flooded her. She boiled.
"God." Shayna wrapped her other arm about Jason's shoulders. She buried her face in his neck. "Jason."
He pulled out slowly. She clenched, vainly trying to hold him within her. He extracted the length of his heat and then shoved it back in.
Shayna gasped. She cinched down. The ache between her legs escalated. He withdrew. He rammed her again. A squeal escaped her lips. She trembled. Her fingers clawed Jason's back. He grunted and a cauldron's heat splashed within her. Her womb clenched, opened and clenched again. She groaned.
After its sharp climax, the ache within Shay dissolved into a warm glow. She loosened her grip. Her lips longed for Jason's touch once more. She leaned back. Her eyes opened.
A knotted, twisted fist clutched Shay's throat. Every muscle stiffened to ice. The lantern light winked out.
"Shay?"
She pushed Jason away and jumped off the desk. She pressed by Jason.
He grabbed her arm. "Shay, what is it?" His other hand tugged up his pants.
"I saw him again."
"Him? Who?"
"He was watching us."
"
Shay
, who was watching us."
Shayna wrested her arm from Jason. "The old man. With the lantern." She hugged herself. "He was right here."
"What old man? Shay, are you sure you're okay." Jason reached for her.
She twisted away. "
Yes
