CALLUM
I was at a local sports bar with a few of the guys. Noah and Romeo had an out of town game, so as far as immediate friends, it was just Gabriel, Daxon, and me. It was customary for us to sit and watch our fellow Titans on Sundays when they were out of town, but we had a luxury box for their home games. Today, they were taking on one of the Los Angeles teams which made me think a lot about Nicole. I’d tried to keep my mind off of her, and all day Saturday, it appeared that I had accomplished that until I laid in bed remembering how good it felt being inside of her the day before in my office.
Our phone conversation also played through my head a few times, and I hated that she was my student because I enjoyed the verbal sparring I did with her. It really was like foreplay, which was the last thing I needed to consider it. Nicole was very intelligent, and her Stanford education was proof of that. It wasn’t technically an Ivy League school, but its reputation and status rivaled Yale where I attended. If our circumstances would’ve been different, she would’ve been the perfect type of girl for me to date, and the strange thing was that I’d never wanted to shed my bachelor title before her. I still wasn’t sure I wanted to now, but I would’ve liked to have had the chance to see where it could’ve gone.
“You seem to be thinking hard about something,” Daxon said, his observant skills always on point.
“It’s nothing really. It’s just...” My voice trailed off as I had no idea how to even finish my thought.
I couldn’t come out and tell him, or Gabriel, that I was lusting after my student, and one I’d shared something so profound with back in Costa Rica. I’d told them about a girl, but I’d never expected to see her again so anything I might’ve said about her was not relevant anymore.
“He looks a lot like I did when I realized my feelings for Harper had returned,” Gabriel commented and I rolled my eyes at him.
“You and Harper had an entire past together. The only history I have with any women around here is negligible at best unless you count the string of one night stands I’ve accumulated over the years. There’s never been a girl, and there never will be, either.”
“If it’s not a woman, then what the hell is it?” Gabriel had less tact than Daxon but a glance up at my psychiatrist friend, and I knew he was thinking the same thing as Gabe.
“It’s been a long week at school, and I actually have tests to grade. I should probably head on out—”
“The game hasn’t even started yet,” Daxon interrupted and while I wanted to be there to cheer my friends on with them as I always did, I needed to leave. I wasn’t in the mood to be psychoanalyzed, nor was I in the mood to watch a football game in a sports bar where the entire city seemed to be watching me. There were times when having all eyes on you was more trouble than it was worth .
“I don’t want to fall behind,” I lied, then stood up. The very tests I mentioned had already been graded and entered. My friends wouldn’t know that, so neither tried to refute it. The sports bar had my card on file so there was no need to pay for the beer and basket of wings I had just finished, but I threw a few bills onto the table for a tip. “I’ll catch you guys later.”
I left and on the way back to my Michigan Avenue loft, I found myself walking straight past it. The air was warm and heavy, common for a late September day, but there was an earthy scent in the air that hinted at some sort of rain. My athlete friends were probably glad to be playing inside a dome in Los Angeles today instead of at their home stadium. I’d catch the scores later. For now, I just needed to clear my head.
I lived on the Magnificent Mile, and I wasn’t the only one from my circle to do so, either. Several Titans and acquaintances did, but also Nicole. I still couldn’t believe she was Jonas Courtland’s niece. I’d known the reformed manwhore for over a decade, and I had to admit to being impressed with his entire lifestyle. He owned resorts all over the world and was sitting at the top of his back home in Manhattan. Although he was living his own happily ever after with Kenzie Broderick, rumors of his past never really went away. He was a legend and a man I had the utmost respect for. I just wasn’t sure he would share that same level of respect for me if he knew the impure thoughts I was having about his niece.
Nicole. I found myself in front of the skyscraper where I knew she lived. It would be so easy to just walk inside. After all, I was a Titan, and I knew many people who lived at this affluent address. Maybe that was the problem. Or maybe, I knew seeing her would be a bad idea. I needed to remember I was her teacher, but even that didn’t make me turn back around and go home. My own condo was just a few buildings down from this one. I could pretty much count the steps separating her from me, and it was something I knew I would incessantly agonize over.
As I stood there in the center of the sidewalk, something cold and wet fell down onto my arm. I looked to see what it was and realized the rain I’d just suspected had arrived. I glanced up at the sky, which was darkening by the second, then over at the entrance to her building. Courtland Towers. Of course, she would live here of all places. For as much as I knew about Jonas, I knew just as little about Logan Courtland. All I knew about him was that he was a Titan who made his fortune in property development, but a different kind than his younger brother. In fact, the namesake of this building was for her father because he was heavily involved in the residential sector.
As the rain turned to a heavy sprinkle, I looked back at the doorman currently holding the door open for a blonde and two kids. As she dashed toward the door from the car parked curbside, she looked familiar to me. When she turned and looked over at me, I realized why. She was Lucy Davis, the wife of a successful entrepreneur in the city, Caden Davis. Cade was definitely in the upper echelon of high society. Lulu, as she was often called, played the part of a society belle well. She ran a few charities and organized many of the social events we attended each season. Her blue gaze met mine and she smiled warmly.
“Are you coming inside too, Callum?” A loud rumble of thunder overhead pretty much made up my mind for me. I nodded, then hurried inside the door the doorman was still holding open. “I haven’t seen you since the charity auction on Valentine’s Day. How have you been?” she asked as we walked through the lobby together.
“I’ve been great. How has Cade been?”
Something unrecognizable flashed in her eyes, but she quickly masked whatever it was. “Caden’s working hard on a new endeavor. ”
Usually, she was the first one to sing his praises, especially at those events. When I’d mingle with everyone, she was always gushing about her husband. It seemed strange to hear her be so brief. I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to know why, so I stayed silent and watched the floor numbers swiftly descend on the wall panel. The elevator finally came to a stop at the ground floor and the doors opened.
She murmured something to two of her children, then looked at me after she got inside. “Are you going up?”
I shook my head. “No, I’m waiting for someone. It was nice to see you again.”
“Same here, Callum. Have a good afternoon.” The doors closed and I let out a sharp exhale.
I wasn’t waiting on anyone or anything unless you counted my common sense. I had a feeling where Nicole Courtland was concerned, it would be a futile effort. I stood there for a few minutes and when I decided I would simply go home, I headed toward the door. The vicious streak of lightning stopped me, as did the sudden opening of the skies. Another summer downpour.
Who knows how long this one will last?
I turned and went back to the elevator. Showing up here was a mistake, but actually going up to her penthouse was even more of one.
‘The greatest mistake a man can ever make is to be afraid of making one.’ The quote from American writer, Elbert Hubbard, came to mind and I slapped the ‘up’ key. The elevator appeared seconds later, and I stepped inside.
Thankfully, no one needed to use the elevator with me, and I was alone the entire trip to the thirty third floor. 3302. It was the address she’d given on her registration papers and I soon found myself standing outside of it. I was a Titan and remembering that I needed to possess confidence, I didn’t even hesitate to knock. A few moments later, the door opened and I wasn’t sure who was more shocked to see the other—her or me.
Neither one of us said anything as we took the sight of each other in. I was in a pair of jeans and a football jersey, while she was wearing a white button shirt that was knotted in the front exposing tantalizing glimpses of her bare skin underneath. She’d paired it with red plaid leggings and if it had been a skirt instead, she would’ve been dressed for Catholic school. My gaze dropped all the way to her feet which were bare, and the sinful red on her toenails were the exact same shade she had worn in Costa Rica.
“What are you doing here, Professor?” she asked, and her question broke me out of my daze.
My gaze snapped back to hers. “I wanted to talk to you.”
“Talk?” The incredulous tone mirrored my own because she had to know how little willpower I seemed to have when she was around. “I thought we covered everything the other night.”
I cleared my throat. “We did, but I...”
“But you what?”
“May I come in?” I asked, and she stepped aside so I could enter. As soon as I did, I heard the door close. There were boxes in front of me for as far as the eye could see. “Are you moving in or moving out?” I suddenly hoped if it was the latter that it wasn’t because of me.
“Moving in. When I told you back in Costa Rica that I lived in California, I’d been telling the truth. I was even still enrolled at Stanford because I wasn’t sure this move to Chicago was going to happen at all.”
“Why?”
She shrugged. “My mother’s quite ill, so it almost felt selfish of me to run off and chase my dreams while she’ s suffering. I—”
“I’m sure she never looked at it that way,” I interrupted, because the last thing I wanted her to feel was regret, even if I had no way of knowing if what I said was true or not.
“Oh no, she didn’t. She was actually the one that insisted I continue on with my plans, so here I am and this is the mess I have to deal with.”
“Would you like some help?” I asked. I didn’t know what all of these things were, but I was willing to offer up my assistance anyway.
“You don’t want to help me hang pictures and put away dishes. I can do that by myself.”
“I’d be happy to help, Nicole. Despite what you might think about me now, I truly do like being around you.” She blushed, then tucked a swath of hair behind her ear. “I think about Costa Rica a lot, especially ayahuasca.”
“You do?” She seemed genuinely surprised.
“Yes, and if I’m not mistaken, your issues lie with being too independent. You said your greatest fear was being all alone, yet you keep everyone at arm’s length.”
“And you hate commitment and anything that involves true intimacy. You prefer to keep everything casual, yet here you are offering to help a girl you’ve already slept with twice. Seems a bit intimate to me,” she teased, and I realized she was right.
“It might, but then again, you’re trying to use scare tactics to help you resist—”
“I think we’ve already established where my resistance is when it comes to you,” she remarked and I grinned.
“You have a point there, Nicole. You’ll probably have many more as I help you. Where do you need me to start? ”
She was a little nervous at first, likely wondering what my motives were and if I had some sort of angle. I didn’t know what type of men she was used to back in Los Angeles, and I almost growled when I thought about her with men like me, or ones like her uncle used to be.
We settled into normal conversation though as I helped her unpack several kitchen labeled boxes and a few for the pantry. I could tell that she liked to cook by the sheer number of small kitchen appliances alone. Nicole told me more about her mother and her cancer diagnosis. I’d lost both grandparents to cancer, so I felt as if I had some understanding of what she was going through.
Still, she’d grown silent after telling me about her fears where it was concerned, and when I broke down the last of the cardboard boxes for this room, I looked over and saw her leaning over a stack in the living room. Her shoulders were shaking slightly, and I knew she was either holding back tears, or very close to doing so.
I moved over to her and on reflex, I wrapped my arms around her. Something warm did drop onto my forearm and I slowly turned her in my arms. Her gaze was focused on my feet until I reached below her chin with my hand and tipped it upward. Her eyelashes were thick with tears, and a few were slowly rolling down her cheek.
“Nicole?” I asked in question. She tried to flash me a watery smile as she wiped at her eyes. “I’m sorry. Whenever I talk about Mama, I just lose it.”
“Shhh,” I told her as I leaned down and kissed the top of her forehead. Her hair smelled of coconut, and the scent took me back to Costa Rica where it seemed to be a mainstay in the air down there. A local had told me that many of the monkeys in the jungle would rip the fruit from the trees and most would end up on the ground, its shell cracked and bruised. The fruit would then perfume the air around us. “You have every right to be worried. Here,” I said, then pressed her face against my chest. During the course of packing, I had removed my shirt, so she was now skin to skin with me. “Just let it all out.”
She stayed still for a few seconds, then wrapped her arms around me as she finally allowed some of the tears to break free. Something like this would’ve normally freaked me the hell out. I was a ‘good times’ type of guy. I was there for fun, but when things got serious or the woman showed anything emotional, I would run for the hills. Hell, her uncle used to be the same way, and I could probably challenge him to a 40 yard dash and win. Something about Nicole was different, though. Maybe it was showing her my vulnerabilities during ayahuasca that made it that way, or maybe I liked her more than I’d thought.
Nicole cried for a few minutes until she went lax in my arms. When she pulled away, I looked down into her eyes and saw something much different swimming in those watery depths. Before I could even ask if she was feeling better, she brought one hand to the back of my neck, then pulled my head down to hers. I let her control this until she pressed her mouth to mine. Costa Rica. My office. I’d not nearly had enough of her and knowing we were in a place where no one would see us made me part her lips with my tongue, then thrust it inside.
As we stood there kissing, her hands were sliding down my chest. I growled against her mouth as she flicked my nipples, then dragged her nails lower. I didn’t stop her when she unbuttoned my pants or unzipped them, but when she slipped her hand inside, I covered hers with mine and broke off the kiss.
“Don’t start something you can’t finish, Nicole. If we go any further, I don’t think I’ll have the willpower to stop—”
“I don’t want you to stop, Callum. I want you to make the entire world disappear like only you can. Fuck me, and give us what we both want. ”
Her words had me outwardly groaning. I did want her, and as she undid the knot on her shirt and tossed it to the side, I looked down at her barely there bra and tore it off of her. She gasped, then knelt down enough to remove her pants. She was wearing a thong which met the same fate as her bra, ending up in a tattered pile of lace on the floor.
I grabbed a condom from my wallet, then kicked off my shoes and pants. When we were both naked, I let her continue with what she had started. Her hand began to slide up and down my shaft as she stroked me. I was so hard for her, which seemed to be a perpetual state around her. I let her carry on for a few more seconds before I backed her against a half stack of boxes. I swept her up in my arms and set her down atop one of them as I quickly sheathed my cock.
Nicole’s fingers were tightly squeezing the edges of the box, so I grabbed her legs and yanked her toward me. I thrust inside of her, drawing a low cry from her. “Callum.”
“I love hearing my name on your lips,” I admitted as I pulled out, then slammed back inside of her. “Tell me what you want, Nicole.”
I started to fuck her, so slowly that it was likely more torturous for me than it was for her. “I want you to talk to me—”
“Talk?” I interrupted. I thought she’d say many things, but not that. “I can stop, so we can talk this out.”
“No, I want you to talk dirty to me. I want your words to echo in my head while I’m pleasuring myself and imagining your face. I want to hear them when—”
“I think about you too, Nicole.”
“What!?”
“When I’m alone, I think about Costa Rica, and I wish we were back there so I could comb my hands through your hair as you cry out in pleasure. I remember the sounds you make when I hit a specific spot deep inside of you, and how much different they are when I’m knuckle deep inside of your tight pussy, or when you’re riding my face.”
I continued to fuck her, never breaking my rhythm. “G-go on,” she urged.
“I love how sweet you taste on my tongue. In class, I’m constantly imagining bending you over my desk so I can fuck you all period long. And I wouldn’t even care if the entire class watched.”
She gasped, but I knew the very idea of being seen appealed to her. It could never happen, but the fantasy didn’t have to die because of reality. “M-more.”
“They’d be able to see me fuck you in every hole. I’d tongue your pussy until your juices dripped down my chin, before taking you hard like I am right now, then later...”
“Later, you would—”
“I would sink balls deep in your ass and make you really scream. Just like I’m doing to your pussy right now, I’d split you wide open. You’d come harder than you’ve ever come before. Do you—”
“Callum,” she cried out as her entire body tightened like wire. Her inner walls squeezed me as her head fell back. When she came, my name slipped from her lips repeatedly, and I fucked her through that orgasm and into another before allowing my own release.