Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 234281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1171(@200wpm)___ 937(@250wpm)___ 781(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 234281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1171(@200wpm)___ 937(@250wpm)___ 781(@300wpm)
Diana held her breath when the professor suddenly spoke. "I wouldn't know about being arrogant..."
Their eyes met.
"But if you think that and yet you still say you love me..."
And suddenly everything became clear.
"Then I suppose you are an idiot."
Oh God.
A laugh escaped her, and once again it turned into a sob halfway, and then it kept on coming, laughter and sobs mixed into one. Because with him saying those words - with him joking - with him looking at her like he also knew - like his soul also found its mate - Diana knew she had won.
They had won.
She threw herself at him, still crying and laughing, and it was like coming back home as his arms locked around her shaking body.
Her tears wet his shirt. I really love you, Professor.
His arms tightened around her. I know. And more fool you.
Her body shook with laughter, and so did his, because even if words hadn't been spoken, their souls heard each other just fine.
With Diana once again in his arms, the professor carried her to the living room, but as soon as they were both on the couch, she came crawling to his lap, arms around his neck and her head lying against his chest.
The strangest feeling crept upon him, something unfamiliar and powerful, and it took him a while to realize the feelings were nothing but...peace.
Because she was with him again, he was at peace, and while his own feelings were probably just a fraction of what Diana's beloved Saint Augustine had felt upon finding his perfect dwelling in God's love, Matthijs could think no better than the sainted bishop's words to describe how he felt—-
Our heart is restless, until it repose in Thee.
He closed his eyes.
That was exactly how he felt.
His heart had been restless until it rested in Diana, and it was just too fucking bad he had not met her sooner, at a time when he had been a better man, and his heart had been purer, and his body uncontaminated.
The thought reminded the professor of the many things he was still honor-bound to say, but when he tried to pull away, he felt her sweet, gentle resistance, with the faint shake of her head and the way her arms tightened around him.
In spite of what she now knew, she still didn't want to be apart, and the realization was as humbling as it was painful.
Tipping her chin up, he found her eyes wet and swollen, but also soft with love.
For him.
And his throat burned, for there were words he wished he could say but didn't deserve to.
"Diana—-" Her gaze turned wary the moment he spoke, and he couldn't help feeling amused. "I haven't said anything yet," he pointed out.
"You don't have to," she muttered. "And the answer is yes, yes, yes. I know what I'm getting into. I know it's not going to be a bed of roses. I know it's going to be hard, harder even than the worst that I can think of. I know, Professor, but it doesn't change a thing."
"You deserve someone whole," he said flatly. "Someone—-"
"I love," she finished for him fiercely. "Don't you think I deserve that, too?" And when this only made the professor's strikingly handsome face turn stoic, almost as if he was still trying to find a way to kick her out of his life, she knew just what to do.
If it had worked earlier, then it should work once more.
"I love you, Professor."
An expletive slipped past his cruelly beautiful lips, and she could barely suppress her smile, thinking it was just like the professor to swear at a declaration of love.
"I've been in love with you for some time now, and I think, deep inside, you knew I felt that way." She felt his body turn rigid under her and knew that she was getting through to him. But because he was still silent, she also knew she had to do something bigger, something to completely knock him off—-
And before she knew it, she was already cupping his face, and her lips were moving to cover his.
"NO!"
Matthijs had a hard time believing the ridiculous situation he had just found himself in, with him doing his best to evade Diana's lips.
"But you seem to need proof of how committed I am to this." She couldn't help grinning as she spoke, with the professor contorting in every way possible just to avoid her mouth. "So just let me kiss you—-"
"Diana, dammit—-"
"It's just a kiss—-"
"You haven't had a fucking medical clearance yet," he growled.
"I'll leave it to God," she said with feigned carelessness.
Exasperated and frustrated at her stubbornness, Matthijs decided to take matters in his own hands and rose to his feet as he swept her off the couch.
Diana let out a shriek when the professor suddenly swung her up in the air, but then she burst into laughter when the professor slung her over his shoulder the next moment.