Chapter 21 #2
She arrives exactly at eight. The moment I see her, my resolve wavers. She's radiant, glowing with the confidence she's been building over the past months. Not only that, but she’s wearing the pearls I got her for Christmas.
She has no idea I am about to break up with her, and it’s shattering my heart with pain.
"You look beautiful," I tell her, because I can't help myself.
"So do you! This place is incredible. Why haven't we come here before?"
"I wanted to save it for something special."
I can see the love in her eyes. It makes what I have to do infinitely harder.
"Gabriel, I have to tell you about yesterday. What happened with Cassandra—"
I pull her into my arms, cutting off her words with a kiss. I can't bear to hear about Cassandra right now, not when I know what she's done to us. Rose melts against me, her hands finding the buttons of my shirt.
Her lips press against mine, and I kiss her back, unable to stop. But sadness is tearing through me because this is the last time we are together.
I slide my hands along her waist and pull her body against me. She unbuttons her coat and lets it fall to the tiled floor. I push her dress up slowly, and my fingers are brushing her thighs.
She’s not wearing underwear, and my cock hardens fast, wanting her despite the pain in my chest. I lift her onto a wooden table and spread her legs widely. My hands move over her hips, and firmly grip her ass. She kisses me deeply, and I feel how much she needs me.
But I’m breaking on the inside. I know that I have to let her go.
I quickly unbutton my shirt and toss it aside. She opens her legs without me asking. Her pussy is wet and glowing, pulsating already, hungry for me.
“Tell me what you want, Rose…”
“I want your fingers in my pussy. Please… Fuck me…”
She pulls me closer, and I slide my fingers into her pussy, like she asked. I rub her clit softly, and feel her body respond, but my heart aches.
I undo the pearls around her neck and slip them off carefully.
“What are you doing?” she asks me, confused.
“Trust me,” I say, and she nods, unaware of my plan to end us.
I lower the pearls in between her legs and lube them with her wetness.
“Open your legs even wider for me. That’s it… Good girl.”
She leans back onto the wooden table so that she can do as I ask. She rests her legs on each side and offers me her pussy, her ass, her everything. I crouch down and lick her in one long motion.
I want to say goodbye to her pussy. I want to remember her taste on my lips, and the way it pulses just for me.
Then I get back up and position myself between her legs.
“Relax, Rose…”
I press the pearl necklace against her ass gently. She gasps, and I push it in slowly, one pearl at a time. Then another, and another, until five pearls are inside her ass. I slide them out carefully, and push them back in, feeling her ass clench tight.
My cock is throbbing, and I unzip my trousers, freeing it quickly. I lift her hips slightly, and slide into her pussy, feeling her heat.. I fuck her slow at first, and pull the pearls out one by one, then push them back in, matching my thrusts.
She grabs my shoulders and lightly digs her nails in. Her body is trembling with pleasure, and I speed up. I thrust harder, and slam my cock into her pussy, moving the pearls in her ass. I want to make her feel good, even if it’s the last time. But the sadness of the moment is choking me.
I firmly rub her clit with my thumb, and feel her pussy tighten around me. She’s close. I fuck her faster, pulling the pearls out quick, then pushing them in deep. She comes hard, and her pussy pulses on my cock. Her body is shaking against the table.
I thrust one last time and come inside her. My cum spills and mixes with her wetness. I hold her close and softly kiss her lips. My heart is breaking because I love her, and I’m about to lose her.
We make love there among the vines and orchids, desperately and passionately, as if we both sense this might be our last time.
Afterward, all I can do is stroke her hair. I want to memorize the feel of it between my fingers. The greenhouse feels like our own private world, separate from all the outside complications.
But I can't put this off any longer.
"Rose." I shift slightly, putting some distance between us. "We need to talk."
She lifts her head, sleepy and tired now after the lovemaking. "What is it?"
I sit up and reach for my shirt. The movement feels symbolic somehow, like I'm putting my armor back on.
"Rose, this has to end."
That’s all I manage to say.
The words hang in the humid air between us. Rose sits up, too, pulling her dress back on.
"What do you mean?"
"Our relationship has to come to an end now, Rose. I should have done this a long time ago, but I just couldn’t. It’s time now." Each word feels like swallowing glass. "The private lessons are over."
"I don't understand." Her voice is faint, confused. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No. You've done nothing wrong. This is about protecting you."
"From what?"
There's no gentle way to say this. "Cassandra has a video of us from the museum trip."
Rose's face goes white. "A video of us doing what?"
"Everything." I can't meet her eyes. "Someone filmed us in the car. Everything we did that day. Us having sex, the diamond anal plug, just everything..."
She's quiet for a long moment, processing this. When she speaks again, her voice is barely above a whisper. "How do you know?"
"Professor Thompson told me. It's already circulating among some students. It's only a matter of time before it spreads everywhere."
I can see her mind working, calculating the implications.
"If this gets out," I continue, "you'll be expelled. And you will be blacklisted from every decent school in the country. Your inheritance, your future with the family—all of it will be gone."
"And you?" she asks. "What happens to you?"
I shrug, trying to appear nonchalant. "I'll lose my job. My Senate campaign will be over before it starts. But I'm established. I have money and connections, and I'll survive."
"That's not fair!"
"Life isn't fair, Rose. But I won't let you pay the price for my mistakes."
She stands up abruptly, reaching for her coat. "Your mistakes? Is that what this was to you?"
"That's not what I meant…"
"Then what did you mean?" She puts her coat back on with sharp, angry movements. "Because it sounds like you're saying our entire relationship was a mistake."
I stand too, wanting to comfort her, but knowing I can't. "What I'm saying is that I should have been more careful. I should have thought about the consequences before I let this happen."
"Let this happen? You’re making it sound like I had no choice in any of this."
"You're twenty-three, Rose, and you're my student. The power dynamic—"
"Don't." She holds up a hand, stopping me. "Don't you dare reduce what we have to a power dynamic. Don't minimize my feelings or my choices."
I want to tell her she's right. That what we have is real and beautiful and worth fighting for. But I can't. Not when it could destroy her.
"I'm trying to protect you."
"By abandoning me?" She buttons her coat with shaking fingers. "By ending everything without even asking what I want?"
"What you want doesn't matter if it ruins your life."
The words come out harsher than I intended. Rose flinches as if I've slapped her.
"I see." Her voice is cold now, distant. "Thank you for making that decision for me, Professor Thorn. How considerate of you."
The formal address cuts deep.
"Rose, please. Don’t be angry with me. You have to understand that I’m doing this for your own good."
"No." She picks up her purse. "You've made yourself very clear. But I do have one question. Did it ever cross your mind to talk to me about all this? So that we can find a solution together?”
“Rose, I am here to protect you and…”
“Oh, stop it! Even better—did you ever stop to think that, if you gave me the choice between you and this fucked up world, I would have chosen you?”
She walks toward the door, then pauses. "For what it's worth, I would have chosen you. Every. Single. Time."
She leaves without looking back. I know I've done the right thing. The logical thing. The thing that will protect her future and preserve her reputation. But I can't shake the feeling that I've just made the biggest mistake of my life.
The greenhouse feels empty without her. Everything feels empty without her.
But this is how it has to be. I repeat this to myself as I walk back across the snowy campus. This is how it has to be.
Even if it's killing me.