Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 26918 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 135(@200wpm)___ 108(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26918 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 135(@200wpm)___ 108(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
He shakes his head. “I don’t need a reward. I was just in the right place at the right time. You’ve had a shock and you need to sleep.”
Without even putting me down, he starts up the stairs. It occurs to me that this is the first time I’ve been upstairs in his house. Whose bedroom am I going to exactly anyway? Can I persuade him to join me?
I should never have run out on him like that last week. It was stupid. I can’t even remember why I was frightened.
“Hold on,” I say, starting to go back through the events. “What were you doing there anyway? Not that I’m complaining, it’s just…you were right there. When those men broke in, you were there within five minutes, coming to the rescue. Don’t tell me you were just passing.”
“No. I bought your building.”
“Excuse me?”
“I bought your building last week after you left here. I’ve been staying in the apartment next door.”
I open my mouth to say something else, then close it again. He did what? He bought my building? “You said if I left you wouldn’t come after me.”
“Yeah. I lied.”
“But why?”
“Because I needed to be near you, Keryn. I needed to know you were safe and I couldn’t do that from here. I know what you’re going to say, invasion of privacy and all that shit, but frankly I could care less about your privacy. It’s a damn good job I did what I did because—”
I can’t help it. I pull myself up against him and crush my lips to his.
And he responds.
We crash into the wall so hard the window pane at the top of the stairs shakes against its fitting. His teeth and tongue force themselves against my own, biting, twisting, devouring. My breasts are squished into his chest as he releases my legs and I jump up, wrapping them around his middle as his hands explore my back, my waist, my ass.
“Shut up,” I husk in between kisses.
He chuckles. “Shut up? You’re telling me to shut up?”
I nod, wrapping my fingers around his face as I pull him in close, his lips going to my throat and making me moan as my stomach clenches and releases. Are we really about to do this? He’s my teacher, and yet I can’t stop.
And I don’t think he can either.
“Baby, I should punish you for speaking to me like that,” he says, peppering kisses along my jaw. “But I think you’d like that, maybe a little too much.”
I draw a quick breath, licking my lips as I imagine what he could do to me. Pain, sure, but a little pain can heighten the pleasure. “What sort of punishment were you thinking of?”
His hand dips between us, running thick fingers along my slit through the fabric of my 80s leggings. Then he grips tight and I cry out, throwing my head back.
“Oh, God…”
“What does God have to do with it?” he asks, fingers pressing hard into me as I rock against him, using his arms for leverage. “You aren’t showing much self control right now, little girl. We should correct that.”
“Punishments, corrections. What are you waiting for, permission?”
“Fucking brat,” he laughs. “I was trying to be a gentleman.”
“Well maybe I don’t want a gentleman. Maybe I want—”
I draw a breath, looking away and down.
This is why I ended things before, I remember now. I started to show him that deeper, darker side of myself, and got so frightened he’d reject me that I backed away. The blush rises to my face as I think about what I was about to say. Maybe I want discipline. Maybe I want a master. Maybe I want someone who takes what they want without asking.
But it’s wrong. Nobody should think those things. I shouldn’t have those thoughts.
He grabs my chin and turns me back to face him. It isn’t gentle, and the light I see in his eyes is predatory.
“Baby, I’m going to ask permission. Just once. Right now. Refuse me, and I won’t ask again. I won’t let you go even if you do, I can’t. I have to have you. But I think I know what you were about to say. I think it’s the same thing that’s in my mind too. I think we share a connection we haven’t dared tell anyone else before this. I just need to hear you say it once.” He stares deep into my eyes, and despite the urge to flee, I nod. “Do you want me to take this from you? Do you want me to ignore your pleas for me to stop?”
My heart thunders with excitement. This is it. This is what I want, and yet, I’m about to give up everything. All control. I’m about to hand it to him, not knowing what he might do. It’s exciting. Thrilling. And at the same time it’s the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done.