Chapter Twenty-Four
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
THE RIGHT DECISION
AbrAHAM
PAST
T here’s something about the sway in her hips, like a swinging bell atop an ancient cathedral back home. Burgeoning from her tapered waist, the wideness of them give way to the supple roundness of her ass.
Something about the way she can only stand to look at me for a moment, pressing her lips together to keep her telling smile from forming.
Something about the way she tries so hard not to fall in love with me. Of the two of us, I can’t help myself. I’m half in love with her already.
She makes me earn her, win her, conquer her, her determination crooking its finger, hooking me like a fish. And then she leaves me wanting more. I’ve never met another woman like her, who doesn’t want to relish in what a relationship with me could mean for her. Doesn’t wish for more from me. Doesn’t demand anything of me .
It makes me want to give her everything.
We’re in my office and she’s here on her own before her classes begin for the day. Was it my desire calling out to her that led her back to me?
My cock can still feel the slick grip of her beautiful pussy. It’s far too dangerous, having her to myself in a place where anyone could hear us. But I can’t deny the desire to feel her soft flesh in my hands, to watch her skin flush with desire…or the blood rushing to the surface as I spank her ass. This is more primal than anything I’ve ever experienced before.
“Is there something in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?” she asks, setting her bag down as a cheeky smile spreads her lips.
“There isn’t a damn thing in my pockets,” I tell her as I step toward her before sweeping her into my arms. She wraps her legs around me like she’s meant to fit me. Her long limbs line up perfectly with mine.
The length of her is filled with generous curves that soften her and harden me.
Merda.
“What’s wrong?” She presses the question against my lips as if she’s trying to coax out the truth.
I desire you more than my next breath.
But it’s far too massive to make its way out. Instead, I kiss her, wishing I could’ve met her at another time. In another life where we no longer meet in secret. Perhaps in a few more months…
“I want to taste you again,” I grind out before pushing her onto my desk. She presses her legs together but I’m too impatient for her coyness. “Don’t hide your perfect pussy from me.”
I push her knees apart and slide my hands to her thighs, pressing them further away from each other, dragging her body toward me as I begin to settle in. I can already see the wet spot in her perfectly white cotton panties and my cock hardens near painfully.
She’s going to make me feral, rutting until we’re both unable to walk out of this office with our senses intact.
I’m about to yank her panties from her body when I hear a knock at my door.
The grumble from my chest is animalistic and I reach down to adjust my erection. What the fuck could be so important that it’s worth interrupting this moment? And who the fuck would be here before the morning classes have even begun?
“One moment,” I call out, helping a wide-eyed Sabrina up from the desk. She adjusts herself but her flush makes our interaction too obvious. “It’s okay. Tranqui .”
My reassurance falls on deaf ears, her eyes still on the door.
I chuckle, bringing my hands to her face so she’s forced to look at me. “You may hide under my desk if you’d like.”
Her scowl is immediate, and I hold my hands up in mock surrender, walking over to the door. With a flick, I unlock it and step out, leaving it slightly open.
“Ah,” I start at the sight of Tómas, one of my oldest friends, who also happens to be one of the deans here. “You look like you want to have a conversation. I’m a little busy at the moment, but I can stop by your office later.”
The expression on his face is one I haven’t seen since the end of an era. We were once two young men, sowing our oats and fucking models and actresses after Hollywood parties, coked out of our minds. Only he grew up far faster than I did, leaving that life behind before I’d had my fill of it. After all, it wasn’t like I had much else going for me at the time, outside of chasing my directorial dreams. Being alone in this country hadn’t always been good for or to me.
I try to keep from thinking back on the numbness of it as I meet his shrewd stare .
“Make sure you do that,” he tells me, gazing past me to look inside my office. When I glance back, Sabrina has opened the door, excusing herself.
Minchia!
“Thank you for the notes, Professor,” she rushes out before exiting my office. I watch as she walks away, not bothering to hide the longing in my eyes. I prefer her company over his right now.
Tómas clears his throat and I’m reminded of those talks we used to have when he’d remind me that I have to grow up someday. In his eyes someday has yet to come.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he asks and I finally look at him again, shrugging my shoulders.
I can’t tell him that she isn’t like the others. I can’t tell him that I want her in a way I’ve never experienced before…that I’m falling in love with her. He’d scoff at the notion, as if I’m incapable.
No, Tómas would rather see me wrangled by my controlling ex-wife. Sometimes I think he prefers her over me.
“Nothing illegal,” I assure him, stepping back into my office and leaving the door open, should he decide to continue the conversation. Much to my annoyance, he comes in and closes the door.
“You’re not here to cherry pick your next fuck, Pugliesi,” he spits out, his face reddening. “I put my ass on the line to get you here and with each rumor, I regret it more and more.”
I settle in my seat behind my desk, trying not to smirk.
Because we both know that I don’t have to be here. We both know he nearly begged for me to come.
And if I fucked a student or two, it’s nothing compared to the money and attention my presence has brought back to this school.
“In your version of events, what is your resolution?” I ask, folding my hands together and watching as he yanks one of my chairs back and sinks into it .
“Don’t fuck with my job.” He glances out of the window behind me before meeting my gaze.
“I thought I was here to help your job,” I remind him, leaning back in my chair before bringing my ankle to rest on my opposite knee.
He shakes his head and points his finger at me. And from any other man, I would accept a lot less. I have to remind myself that this is my friend. That when I had nowhere to go, I slept on his couch. He was the best man at my wedding, and I was at his.
“I offered you this job because I thought you wanted some time out of the spotlight after your messy divorce.” The reminder stings but I don’t hold much weight in what the latest gossip is anyway. Hollywood is fucking stupid. A waste of space, more often than not.
“You offered me this job because you needed help getting students interested in this department again,” I remind him. “And people are going to talk, no matter what.”
“You’re going to make it worse for yourself, fucking my goddamn students!”
“I’m not just fucking her,” I insist, wishing he would stop talking like she’s some kind of cheap transaction. She isn’t like the others. She never was. “She’s…different.” I fight the desire to keep her close to my chest, the ache there making it hard to be rational.
I ignore the way Tómas rolls his eyes, determined to not let my protectiveness of her permanently damage my friendship with him.
“All the more reason to stop this. But if you don’t, I’ll have to put an end to it.”
I still, staring at him, feeling the heat of anger rise within me.
“Are you threatening me?”
“You and I have been friends for decades. But if you can’t have the discipline to protect yourself, I’ll have to do it for you.” He says the words like they’re that simple. Like I require assistance taking care of myself. Like I’m not here to save his ass.
“What are you talking about?”
“I’ll remove her from the program.” It’s a simple statement that makes my blood run cold. Surely, he couldn’t. He wouldn’t.
“You can’t do that,” I shake my head, exhaling. “She’ll sue you and I’ll help her.”
“What do you think her future will look like, after dealing with a mess like that? You think she’ll go on to live successfully?” He leans forward, as if to make sure I hear him clearly. “She’ll be forever marked by this ordeal. Labeled a whore?—”
I’m standing before I can help myself, fuming.
“ Vaffanculo! Non sono affari tuoi ,” I grit out, glaring at him.
“It is my business. The reputation of this school is my business.” His eyes soften as he stands, straightening the waist of his slacks with his chest puffed out. “As is the reputation of my dearest friend.”
He presses his palms together, holding them still a moment. Then he points them toward me and I await the sound of the other shoe dropping.
“Think about what I said. Make the right decision, amico .”
Without another word, he opens the door and walks out of my office.
By the time I see Sabrina in class later that day, I’m in a wretched mood. I’m not a man with much patience for things I don’t enjoy doing in general.
I don’t enjoy teaching. And now that it has the potential to harm someone I care deeply for, I’ve lost every desire to do it.
I should walk out of here and never return. But I can’t find the stomach to, knowing it would blow back on someone else I also care for.
Lust made me clumsy, and emotions made me careless.
I’ve asked question after question to the class, ignoring Sabrina’s raised hand and losing what little patience I have left to stand here, babysitting these little shitheads.
“ Mannaggia ! It’s a wonder you are all here for an education, given how fucking dim-witted the majority of you are.”
In my frustration, I toss the chalk across the room, ignoring the way it snaps and skitters in different directions.
When I look up, I my gaze snags on the green pair of eyes that stare at me, but I turn around, unable to face her, and yell, “Class dismissed. Get out, all of you.”
I pray, that when I turn back, she won’t be here, wondering what the hell has gotten into me. Because if she does, I’ll never let her go.
Still, I yearn to feel her soft palm at the center of my back, asking me what’s changed, insisting we can make figure this out together.
But when I turn to face an empty room, I shake my head, knowing it’s for the best. I’d likely fuck it all up one day anyway.
I don’t deserve her. But I still fucking want her, still picture her in my life in a space I hadn’t even held for my ex-wife.
Someone needs to save her. From ruin…from me.
And it’ll have to be me.