Chapter Seventeen - Extra Lessons
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Extra Lessons
THE PROFESSOR LOOKED even more irritated when I sat in front of his desk, like my presence ruined his great evening of grading papers. It wasn’t like I chose this. The last thing I wanted to do was spend my evening with “Professor Rain Cloud.”
“Have you been practicing your blocking?”
“Yes.” I had. It was hard to tell if it was working, but I tried what he said. The idea of someone practicing dark magic on me and getting access to my every thought was not something I wanted. Though lately, all they’d hear is how sexually frustrated I was. Getting touched by Caleb was not nearly enough.
“Good. Keep practicing tonight,” Mr. Ares said with a murmured grunt into his papers. Though his tone was calm, his knuckles were white as he rested them against his mouth .
I imagined slamming metal walls down over my mind, pulling my thoughts inward. I didn’t know why I was doing it tonight, it wasn’t like he would know. If it was something people needed to know in this world, I didn’t want to fall behind in another subject.
“Grab the left book from that shelf there. Read the third chapter. That will take up most of the hour. I’ll ask you questions, and our evening will conclude.” He paused. “We will save magic practice for another evening.”
“Alright.” After retrieving the book and setting it on the desk, I pulled out my notebook. Having notes would be helpful if pushy Lastrada wanted proof of my tutoring and hopefully not assign more.
It felt like forever while I silently read the most boring textbook about potion bases and ingredients that were toxic when mixed together. The professor was intently focused on his grading, like he was getting off on it. I refrained from smiling at my own hilarious remark on how exact it was. My foot flew out a couple of inches when it kicked his. His whole body stilled, I didn’t realize how close his legs were to mine.
Peering up, my chewed-up pen pressed to my lips. His eyes burned into it like it disgusted him. I dropped it, stunned by one of the most heated stares I ever saw.
“Can’t focus, Ms. Solace?” He drawled out my name in a sinister tone that I didn’t know what to make of. His voice sounded playful but also nearly as dark as his stare.
“I am intently focused on the differences of water versus oil bases,” I deadpanned, failing to try to sound serious .
“It’s important to use the correct base,” he started to say but paused. His eyes narrowed. “You have a mark on your neck.”
The sudden anger in his tone shocked me and also made me wonder why he would even care, or notice at all. “I do?”
He stood abruptly, making his way around the desk until he was taking my hand and lifting me to a stand. I was frozen in place as his thumb brushed my jaw, landing on a sore spot on my neck. My mind instantly went to the lake night. I didn’t realize Caleb left a mark, I’d been too busy to pay attention and kept my hair down. I hoped it wasn’t that noticeable, it had to have been fading now.
My heart pounded at our sudden proximity. I could have stepped away, but I didn’t want to.
The professor’s eyes lingered on my neck, then went to my eyes. It was so venomous, so filled with hate for me. Something else was there too, something that mirrored what I was feeling.
All my dirty thoughts about him recently in my frustration made this moment something I was secretly aching for. I never imagined he’d brush my jaw, the soft pressure of his fingers sent a shiver through me, something I wanted since the first day I saw him.
It made no sense, I couldn’t explain it. It was something about the brooding professor that was way too hot for this academy, even if he was an asshole. I knew it was just because I needed a hookup, but my rationalizing didn’t stop his light touch from feeling like he was leaving a trail of heat behind.
“Someone marked you,” he said, as if to himself .
My breath stopped. He gave me a look that was so hungry, so unrestrained, and so opposite of how he always held himself. Within that look, it felt like what I was always searching for. Calling to my deepest desires. My face flushed hot, everything felt so flush. I really needed to work off this extra energy. Maybe I’d just cut lunch short and go for a run tomorrow.
Swallowing with a nervous anticipation, the scent of peppermint and leather was nearly overwhelming. The back of my thighs pressed against his desk, his body caging me in, getting closer. It felt like something was taking over me, but in my own stubbornness, I replied, “I don’t see how that’s your business.”
“It’s really not,” he whispered.
“It’s not at all,” I confirmed, but his hand was still on my neck, like he could will the mark away.
My hand went to his arm, I didn’t push it off me. Instead, my fingers trailed down it. I wanted to pull him into me and have the angry professor work all this frustration out of me right here on his desk.
As if he read my thoughts, his fingers tightened on my neck. My hand gripped his arm, and I did it. I pulled him closer, leaning forward, until he was pressed into my hips.
I gasped, feeling his hard length pressed into the thin leggings I wore today. Of all days not to wear a skirt. At my gasp, he throbbed between us. He was rock hard, pressing against me. I lifted my face up to his. He was hunched over, his face next to me, breathing heavily, looking to the side, away from me. He was stopping himself. Under my touch, his arms were shaking, a barely noticeable tremor .
He exhaled slowly, his breath hot against my cheek as his mouth brushed against my ear. While his body was pressed into mine, his hands stayed firmly gripped to his desk on either side of me.
“Ms. Solace. Our hour is up, please return to your dorm,” he gritted out.
My stomach sank. I had pulled him closer and he didn’t want it. His body clearly did but he didn’t. I brought this on. My face flushed with embarrassment. I led on a professor and made a move, but why did he get so close to me? I couldn’t control myself.
I should definitely leave, maybe find Caleb and see if he would help me get all of this out before I made an even bigger fool of myself, if that was even possible. Biting my lip, I stepped forward, away from the desk to leave. His arms didn’t move, he kept caging me in. Truthfully, I didn’t want to move just yet.
I opened my mouth to speak.
His hand took my jaw and his mouth was on mine, hot and claiming. The intensity of it made my limbs feel like they were turning to liquid, a warmth surged through me. He tasted like vodka and mint. Was this really happening? Mr. Ares had his mouth on mine, and I didn’t hate it. It was irresistible, I could lose control completely, let myself fall into this kiss.
Everything was spiraling out of control. I was kissing my professor, and seriously messing up living in the Realm.
Fuck control. A voice sounded in my head so clearly, it had to have been my own thoughts because I let go, letting myself fall into him the way I wanted.
My tongue pressed into his mouth, sensing he wasn’t going to do it first. I gripped his shirt and pulled him in when I felt his restraint snap completely. His arms wrapped around me, lifting me onto his desk. I wrapped my legs around his waist, his erection grinding against my core, only the fabric of our clothes separated us.
His messy, normally perfect hair, how firm his muscles felt under his dress shirt, how I finally got to run my hands through the hair that I stared at in class. It was all irresistible to me. When I let myself think about it, he was the perfect sinful release I was dying to get.
He tugged my lip into his mouth and bit it hard. I sucked in a breath, then he kissed more gently, savoring me. His mouth trailed down to my neck, sucking and biting. It wasn’t soft or careful. It was rough and eager, like he had needed this as much as I did.
A moan escaped me, nearly finding release already with the way he was grinding against my center and how much I kept moving against him. The heels of my boots dug into his back to pull him closer. His warning growl shot straight through me. The friction was too much, I was going to come.
“Harper,” he breathed against my neck. He pulled back. “We need to stop.”
“I don’t want to stop.”
“I’m your professor,” he said. But we were both adults, the way he said it felt like there was more to it than that.
The look in his eyes looked like he felt the same way I did, like he would be destroyed if we stopped. I had never seen his face hold a softness like that before, a gentleness.
I touched the back of his neck and brought his face down to mine. “Then don’t be my professor right now.”
I kissed him. He hesitated, then relief washed over me as he kissed me back. Tenderly, like he was still holding back, another rock of my hips against the head of his erection had him letting go of that control. My center felt so aching, so sensitive. His tongue devoured mine, both of us breathing heavily but refusing to back down.
He gripped the edge of the desk again and I used him, grinding against him until pressure was building within me. I was so close and the feel of his tongue against mine was a deep desire, so dirty and right at the same time. It felt like me claiming this was the only right thing in my life in a long time. My orgasm built until another rock of his hips, and the pressure released.
I would have been screaming if his mouth on mine wasn’t hushing my moans and reminding me to keep quiet. My body shook as I came against him, leggings nearly dripping as I soaked them. His mouth was softer again. He didn’t stop moving, didn’t stop kissing me, until every ounce of pleasure was wrung from me.
Looking down, I realized the wetness on my leggings wasn’t completely from me. I watched him move against me like it was a sinful gift only for my eyes. He ground himself against me, making me feel overly sensitive in the best way as he rode out his own orgasm.
He pulled back, pressing light kisses against my mouth, making me feel the soreness of his earlier bite. What just happened started to sink in. It should have felt awkward, but it didn’t. Seeing the wet spot from when he just came in his pants made me want even more. While it was so much more than I could process, it also felt like it wasn’t enough.
Loud steps in the hall made me realize we weren’t the only ones in the classrooms this late. He cleared his throat but he didn’t back away. His eyes held unsaid words, questions, then something pulled over his expression. The same guarded face I usually saw reflected back at me.
He shook his head. “This can’t happen again.”
My mouth dropped open. I supposed he was right. It would risk his job, and I was a student, just making my life more of a mess. Plus, I let my frustration put aside that he was still very much an asshole. “I know.”
He nodded and backed away. A wave of his hand and my leggings were cleaned, like our moment was erased. He made his way back to the other side of his desk and sat, placing his elbows down on it and leaning forward.
I slung my bag over my shoulder, making my way to the door. His words stopped me.
“Have a good night, Harper.”
I said nothing, barely acknowledging I heard him as I left. What got over me? I shouldn’t have done that. That was insane. I definitely had to admit to myself that I had a crush on my professor. A really big crush because now I only wanted to do that again. The way he touched me, his smell, his lips on mine, it burned through me like a deep, twisted need. This was going to make class super awkward, especially since it seemed like a one-time thing. Whatever this was, it would definitely not happen again.