Chapter 17
Chapter
Seventeen
LUCA
I’ve never woken up next to someone before, and I’m lucky that Professor Levine snores, or he probably would have heard me let out a small little squeak when I realized where I was.
I freeze like I’m an animal caught in a trap and wait for the panic to rush along my skin and settle somewhere in my chest.
Instead, I’m just… warm, calm…
I feel…
Safe.
I’ve never felt like this before.
If I let myself, I know I’ll panic. I could go over a thousand scenarios where he wakes up and I see regret all over his face because I’m the person beside him. The thought makes me squirm, and that movement makes him shift me so I’m half splayed over his chest.
When I glance up from beneath my curls, I’m met with a sleepy, warm expression. He doesn’t throw me off his chest. He doesn’t let me go. Professor Levine hauls me up until I’m straddling him and threads his fingers through my hair, trying to pull me down for a kiss.
I slap my hand over my mouth so fast it hurts, and the worry that chases across his expression is instant.
“Luca, is—”
“I have morning breath.” It comes out muffled, but I squirm on top of him, nuzzling down to chase that expression from his eyes. It isn’t that I don’t want to kiss him… that’s kind of all I want to do now that I’m this close.
But…
Morning breath.
His laugh vibrates through my entire body, making me really regret my decision… and then his big hand encircles my wrist and he pulls it down so he can use his other hand in my hair to tug me closer.
“I don’t care.”
His mouth is warm when he kisses me, and all thoughts of morning breath immediately evaporate.
I’m boneless and hard by the time he pulls back, and he doesn’t miss a beat when he rolls me beneath him and lines our cocks up.
It’s rough and fast, the way he takes us both in his hand and rocks against me in quick, hard thrusts that makes me whimper, whine…
and explode in an embarrassingly short amount of time.
The only comfort I have is the way he groans when he uses my cum to slick himself up and gets himself off while rutting against my softening cock.
I’m half dazed when he pulls back, blinking up at him and wondering if I somehow fell into a dream. If I did, I don’t want to wake up.
“Let me get you cleaned up, and then I’ll make us breakfast.”
“O… okay.” That’s about all I can manage before I collapse back onto the bed and close my eyes. When his fingers slide through the mess on my stomach, I think nothing of it… but when he brings them to my lips and gently slides them against my tongue, I moan and suck instantly.
Salty, bitter.
“We taste good together,” he murmurs, leaning down to steal another kiss. The feel of him sucking the flavor of our combined pleasure off my tongue is almost enough to get me hard again.
This…
This could become a problem.
I can’t go straight from no sex to horny twenty-four seven, but I’m worried that’s the road I’m on as Professor Levine gets up and I watch his toned butt walk to the bathroom.
Why does a theater teacher have such a nice… backside?
The memory of exactly how good he looks everywhere flashes through my mind, and I write it off as him obviously being God’s favorite as he comes back to the bed.
He’s tender when he runs a wet washcloth over my abdomen, and I notice that he intentionally hands me one of his oversized sweatshirts instead of the shirt I came in.
It swallows me up, and his throat makes an audible clicking sound when he swallows while looking at me. The heat of his expression makes me feel bold enough that I bite my lower lip, smiling shyly as I tug at the sleeve. “You’re really big, Professor Levine.”
I nearly melt when he steps forward, running his fingers through my hair. “You can call me Maddox, Luca. I think we’re at that point.”
I grin, shaking my head while I pull on my pants. “You probably won’t get this hoodie back, Professor. Sorry.”
I don’t miss the way the corner of his mouth ticks up at the honorific.
Noted.
“Are you hungry? I know you probably need to get to class, but I want to make sure you eat something before you go.” He’s leading me out of the bedroom as he speaks, like I don’t really have a choice in the matter.
Before I can tell him I’m not much of a breakfast person, he adds on, “We don’t want you passing out again. ”
The blush that washes over my face swallows down any protest I might have had.
Professor Levine settles me down in his kitchen while he busies himself at the stove.
I have no idea how he knows what to cook, but a few minutes later he slides a plate of runny eggs and toast in front of me.
I didn’t realize until the food was in front of me how hungry I actually am, and he somehow produces a glass of orange juice before I even have to ask.
When I look up, he’s standing with his hip leaned against his kitchen counter, watching me with an oddly soft expression while he sips his coffee.
“Thanks,” I manage to murmur around a mouthful of toast, feeling braver now that I’m swallowed up in the sea of his hoodie. “You’re kind of really good at taking care of people for someone who half the students are afraid of.”
He laughs before I have a chance to be worried that I offended him, and his fingers are warm when they gently run through my hair as he walks past me to the living room. “I guess there are certain students I make exceptions for.”
For someone who insisted we only keep it physical, Professor Levine spent the entire time we were eating gently prying little facts about my past out of me.
He knows that I’ve never seen a play live, and that I always wanted a pet lizard.
And I don’t think he realized he was telling me about his favorite stage plays until I leaned in with my chin propped on my hand and let out a soft sigh, admiring the way he got so animated and passionate about it.
He turned the conversation to sex and the way I’d passed out after it, and I secretly reveled in the way he preened over that too.
I finish breakfast and grab my shirt. True to my word, I quietly tuck it into the pocket of his oversized hoodie and smile innocently when he walks me to the door. I notice he doesn’t say anything about it. He does walk me out to my car, looking it over.
“What was wrong with it?”
“Something about a belt slipping.” I shrug. “I don’t know much about cars. I just dipped into my savings and fixed it. Tina’s worth the trouble.” I pat the door, blushing a little at the name, at the memory of the last time he saw me near the car…
When I lean back, my hands behind me clutching the handle, I’m not sure what to say.
I want to ask him what’s actually going on, what this is…
but I’m too nervous. The problem with never having something like this before is that I know I’m going to get attached too easily.
Something tells me a professor—someone who would be risking his career and who probably has more experience than years I’ve been alive—wouldn’t want to get saddled with a clingy mess like me.
That’s fine. I can keep my feelings to myself as long as it means I can have this for a little longer, if that’s what he wants. I turn my head up, and he only glances around for a second before he leans in, stealing a quick kiss from me.
“Drive safe on your way back.” Even though he says it, he doesn’t move out of my space. He has me caged in against the car door, and I’m half tempted to ask him if maybe we could go back inside again because I’m ready for that more now… but he leans around me and opens my car door.
Yeah. I can’t ask him if he’s changed his mind, because I’m afraid to know the answer. That doesn’t stop me from leaning up and pressing my lips to his one more time before I jump into my car.
“I’ll see you in class?” It’s the only bit of vulnerability I’m going to show—the only bit of assurance I’ll ask for right now.
He looks me over, a little lost thing swimming in his enormous hoodie… and then he nods. “Wouldn’t miss it, little lamb.”
I grin, worried that everything I’m already feeling is showing in my expression…
so I do the only thing I can do. I pull up the hood of my stolen clothes and roll up my window, knowing I’m already in too deep and realizing that maybe drowning will be worth it if it means I get to fill my heart with the blue depths of the ocean in his eyes.