Deep Surrendering: Episode Seven by Chelsea M. Cameron Page A

and around to cup the back of his neck, drawing him down toward my mouth.
    “It doesn’t matter,” I said before I kissed him softly. He hesitated for a brief moment and then kissed me back, holding me close and breathing me in. I tasted his mouth and smelled his skin, and it was as if everything fell into place and made sense.
    Since he’d been gone, I’d felt . . . off-balance. Like something was missing. You know that feeling you get when you leave the house to go somewhere and you know you’ve forgotten something, but you can’t figure out what it is? I’d been missing him in my life.
    I opened my mouth for him and his tongue invaded. My blood ran hotter as he dominated the kiss. I’d missed my control.
    I heard some strange sounds and then realized they were coming from me. I was begging and gasping and had my leg wrapped around him and my hands in his hair. I was practically climbing him like a tree.
    I broke the kiss with monumental effort. My eyes were blurry for a second, and if he hadn’t been holding on to me, I might have fallen over.
    “Hi,” I said.
    “Hello, Marisol.”

I had to rush to get ready, and I spent half the time talking to (and kissing) Fin. We’d talked every day, but it was a whole different thing, actually having him here with me.
    I decided to forgo a shower so I could talk to him more, so I twisted my hair back so no one would notice it was a little grungy.
    “Are you ready for your exams?” he asked as we rode the elevator down to the first floor. I knew without even looking that Carl would be waiting outside to take us to campus.
    “Yeah. I’ve had a lot of spare time, and I needed the mental distraction so I went overboard on the studying. If that’s a thing.” You could definitely study too much. I’d done it before. Drive yourself crazy doing that.
    I wished we could have walked hand in hand to campus, but it was way too far and I was cutting it close as it was.
    “Have you eaten anything lately?” I asked. How had I not noticed that his face had gotten thinner since he’d left? Did I just not want to see it? I reached up and traced the blue curves under his eyes. He was an insomniac by nature, but something told me he’d not been sleeping well for a while.
    “I’ll have something with you later,” he said, taking my hand away from his face and kissing my palm. He was trying to distract me, and I wasn’t going to let him. I was practically in his lap in the backseat of the car, touching him in as many places as possible. Well, except for that place. If I did, I knew for a fact I’d never make it to my exams.
    “Are you sure? You look pale.” He leaned down and kissed me, which effectively shut me up for the time being. But I was persistent. I wasn’t going to let this go.
     

     
    Fin situated himself in the little lounge down the hall from where I had my first exam.
    “Good luck, Marisol,” he said, giving me a kiss. “Knock ‘em dead.” I gave him two thumbs up and headed into the room. I glanced back once and he was staring out the window, looking lost and exhausted. What was going on with him? I’d have to find out later.
    I walked in and situated myself at a desk. Unlike most days, the room was full of students, some I didn’t recognize because they were rarely in class. Exams and test booklets were handed out and I got to work, but my mind never strayed far from Fin.
    The test was somewhat easy if you studied the material. I was one of the first who finished, and I handed in my booklet and exam as soon as I was sure I had picked the best answers and hit all the points I needed to with my essay questions. Confident I aced it, I left the room and walked down to the study area, ready to throw myself at Fin and then force him to go eat something with me before my next exam in a half hour.
    He was on the phone, so I hung back, trying to give him some privacy. Whoever he was talking to was obviously giving him a hard time. His back was rigid, and he