Chapter 13 Ezra
THIRTEEN
Ezra
I fucked a student.
Sure, I’ve made my fair share of mistakes, but never this. My job is one of the few things that I take seriously, and this… Well, it could ruin everything.
But how was I supposed to know? She claimed to be a reporter, and she doesn’t look like the typical student. Her self-assuredness and the way she carries herself come with a maturity that I haven’t seen in any students.
I can just imagine Calder’s reaction when he finds out.
He’ll lose his shit. He already reprimanded me for sleeping with a woman the day we moved to town, and now she’s here.
In my office. Despite that, I can’t stop intrusive thoughts about all of the filthy things I’d like to do to her from popping into my head, like how good her ass would look bent over my desk.
“This isn’t good.” I lock my office door to make sure we’re not disturbed. While it’s not my scheduled office hours, a few students have dropped in to introduce themselves. “Do you realize how much trouble we’ll be in if people find out what we did?”
“They won’t.” Victoria’s voice is breathier than it was a few moments ago, reminding me of how her moans vibrated my cock when I was buried deep inside her. She clutches onto my desk like she’s about to pass out. I guess the shock is hitting her too. “I won’t tell anyone.”
“What about Faye?” I ask pointedly. “She’s your friend, I take it?”
Her perfume hits me hard.
“Victoria?” My mouth waters at her potent scent. All my worries about my job evaporate as my alpha instincts ramp up. Victoria needs me. “Are you okay?”
She winces. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
Her pale cheeks flush as another heavy plume of perfume fills the room. She staggers, hanging onto my desk like she’s afraid her knees will give way. Without thinking, I reach for her.
“Don’t touch me.” She straightens, pulling out her purse then rifling around in it. “I have heat patches in here somewhere.” She grimaces, fighting through the pain. “I don’t need your help.”
From her scent, I don’t think heat patches are going to help, but she slaps one on her arm anyway.
“I think it may be too late for patches, baby girl.”
“Don’t call me that.” Her scent thickens. “It’s not… appropriate.”
“I think we’re past the point of being appropriate, don’t you? Tell me what I can do to help.”
I’m not letting her leave my office smelling like this when there are young alphas who aren’t in control of their urges roaming around campus. Scenting an omega about to go into heat could easily send them into a rut.
“Is there someone I can call for you?” I press.
“I don’t need anyone.” She shakes her head violently. “I’ll...” she gasps, clutching onto the desk, “deal with it,” her knuckles whiten, “on my own.”
“Look, I know this situation is far from ideal.” I force my tone to be softer. “But you smell like you’re going into heat. I can’t let you walk out of here alone. There’s a wellness center on campus that’s basically a heat clinic, right? Would you like me to take you there?”
Her eyes turn into huge blue saucers. “I can’t be seen!” She shakes her head. “I mean, I can’t go there. No way.”
“Well, what do you want to do, baby girl?” I sigh, folding my arms over my chest. “Because, right now, you’re running out of options.”
Her gaze meets mine as we communicate silently. There’s obviously another option that neither of us wants to say aloud. She’s a student. Totally off-limits. I can’t touch her. No matter how much I may want to, right?
“How about I take you home?” I suggest, ignoring my boner straining against my pants. “Where are you staying?”
“Omega Village.”
Shit, there’s no way I can be seen dropping a student off there without raising questions.
“You can’t take me there.” She’s clearly having the same thoughts. “I’ll figure something out.”
“I may be an SVU professor, but I’m still an alpha.” I straighten my spine, taking a step closer to her. “I’m not going anywhere until I know you’re safe.”
“Since when do you believe in designation stereotypes?” Even in pain, she’s snarky.
“While I don’t believe in toxic alphalinity, I sure as hell won’t leave an omega alone while in heat.”
I’m already mentally concocting a plan. There’s an area in the greenhouse reserved for faculty that houses some of the rarest plants. It’s one of the reasons why I took the job in the first place.
“There is another option. I could take you to my apartment in Forestville?” I offer. “I have a pack. They can help you.”
“I don’t need an alpha’s help.” Her response comes through clenched teeth.
“Look, I get that you’re a strong, independent woman, but you can’t think yourself out of a heat. My packmates are great guys, they’ll take good care of you. Or you could call a friend to meet you here instead?”
“I don’t want anyone else to know about this.” Her chest heaves as her breath comes in shallow bursts. “Fine, take me to your apartment. Somewhere away from campus would be best anyway.”
I swallow hard, pushing down my protective instincts to bend her over my desk to take the pain away right now.
“Are you 100 percent sure you don’t want to call anyone else?” I ask.
Fingertips itching to touch her, I jam my hands in my pockets.
“I want—need—to get away from campus, okay?” Her eyes are clamped shut, arms wrapped around her belly. “If you changed your mind, all you have to do is say so.”
“Nope, not changing my mind. Just double-checking that this is what you want.” I’m probably breaking a thousand SVU rules, but I can’t bear the thought of leaving her to suffer. “Follow me, baby girl.”
“Don’t call me that.” She issues the command, but I can tell she likes it from how her lips quirk a little at the corners and her shoulders release some of their pent-up tension despite her pain.
“This way.” I unlock, what looks to be, a storage closet and push the door open to reveal a dark, hidden passageway. The air is damp and warm, mixing with the smell of heavy blooms and dirt. “Follow me.”
After ushering her through, I close the door behind us, sealing us in our private Garden of Eden. Thankfully, there are no other professors teaching my subject, and all my teaching assistants are out in the greenhouse right now.
“Ezra?” Victoria’s trembling voice echoes through the dark, windowless tunnel, vines creeping up the sides and plant warming lights glow from above. “I…”
I can sense her lust. Her desire. I take her hand in mine, wanting to be the steady reassuring force she needs, even though it puts me in a terrible predicament.
I stroke tiny circles on the back of her hand. “I’m right here.”
“I-I don’t know if I’ll make it to the car.” Her words are muffled, like she’s talking through gritted teeth. “I need relief.”
An omega going into heat—especially one as perfect as Victoria—is any alphas’ wet dream, but I can’t help her. I shouldn’t. Yet consequences and the outside world don’t seem to matter so much now that we’re tucked away in the isolated heart of the greenhouse.
A whine escapes her lips, awakening my raw carnality.
“I shouldn’t…” Her scent catches in my throat, filling my lungs, making it impossible to resist.
“I know.” Her body is inches from mine, radiating heat like a furnace. “We shouldn’t.”
Our feet move of their own accord, like a magnet is tugging us together.
“No.” I stroke her silky hair then rest my palm against her cheek. “We can’t.”
The smell of her slick makes me dizzy.
“Ezra.” She rubs her cheek against my hand before taking my wrist, guiding my arm down. “Please.”
She slides my hand under her skirt, the organ in my chest jackhammering as my fingers graze the top of her stockings.
“Victoria—”
“Shh.” She juts out her hips, pushing against me. “Don’t speak.”
This is a bad idea.
A terrible idea.
The worst idea.
Yet I don’t put a stop to it. I let her rock against me until she releases her grip and allows my fingers to roam free. What other choice do I have? I can’t leave her like this.
“Just enough to take the edge off, okay?” I stroke her over the top of her silk panties, which are already soaked through. “That’s all.”
Yes, that’s reasonable. No knotting. Just a little something to tide her over for the journey.
I drop to my knees and press my lips to her inner thigh, kissing her delicate skin. Her slick beckons me. Up close, she smells even better than I remember—hypnotic jasmine with bergamot. A floral sweetness that makes me want to bury my head between her thighs until I forget what day it is.
I press my mouth over her damp panties and inhale deeply, letting her scent completely consume me.
“More,” she pleads. “Your tongue. Now.”
I hook the fabric aside before paying attention to her swollen clit. I suck and tease her, grabbing a handful of her ass to keep her steady while my tongue eagerly explores her. She quivers, her slick coating my face as I lap it up, eager to quench my unbearable thirst for her.
“You’re definitely going into heat.” I lick my lips.
The thought fills me with both horror and excitement.
I’ve never been with an omega during heat before.
Sure, I’ve knotted many omegas, but I avoid heat hook-ups.
They’re too intense. No strings. No commitment.
No feelings. It’s a motto I live by and why I never sleep with the same woman twice, but Victoria is making me question everything.
“No.” She grinds her pussy against my face. “No, I’m not.”
Clearly, she’s in denial. I thrust two fingers inside her, causing her pussy to clench around them.
Fuck, it reminds me of how good it felt when she clamped around my cock and dripped all over my shaft.
Her thighs twitch as I savor her taste, feeling my knot swell from the desperate urge to fill her in the way she craves.
I take out my own sexual frustration with my fingers, fucking her hard, until her slick slathers my knuckles.
It’s torturous, knowing that this is as far as I can go.
She grabs my hair, holding on for dear life as I bring her to orgasm, sucking on her clit in a way that makes her wail. Her sounds of pleasure tremble through me as I slurp up her slick, refusing to let any of it go to waste.
Once she’s rambling incoherently, I go against every one of my instincts and pull back.
I look past her glistening pussy to her face, eyes hooded in post-orgasmic bliss. “How do you feel?”
Our apartment isn’t a long drive away, but she needs to be thoroughly satisfied in order to make the drive more comfortable.
“Better.” Her eyes flutter closed. When they open again, a coldness sweeps over her features, and she jumps back, smoothing down her clothes. “We should go.”
“Yep. This way.” I rise, loosening my collar. “Don’t touch anything. Some of these plants are poisonous.”
I internally kick myself. I should have said something about how drinking an omega’s slick is an honor, yet all I could muster was a warning. She stays a few steps behind me, seemingly trying to create distance between us as we pass the lush blooms and thorny branches.
I stop when we reach the door that leads out of the dome into a small staff parking lot. “Wait here.” I poke my head outside, breathing a sigh of relief to see that the coast is clear. “Come on.”
She raises her eyebrows at Hale’s rust-bucket truck. Usually I take the bus, but I needed to transport gardening supplies today. She shimmies around to the back then taps her foot. “Open it.”
“You want to ride in the bed of the truck?” My mouth falls open. “You can’t be serious.”
She ignores me, slapping her hands on the bed cover. “What’re you waiting for? Someone might see us!”
“Do you know how bad it’ll look if a cop stops me and they find you there?”
“Okay, I’ll compromise.” She rolls her eyes dramatically. “Just let me lie in here until we’re out of campus, then stop, okay?”
“Are you sure you really want to do this? You’re in heat. You shouldn’t be trapped in a cramped space.”
She lifts her head up high, unflinching. “Shut me in the back, and drive, okay?”
Going against my better judgment, I swing open the tailgate. She clambers inside then curls up, her blonde hair splayed out next to my gardening gloves.
Her eyes narrow, sensing my hesitation. “Close it!”
I shake my head, reluctantly clicking it closed before climbing into the cab. What the hell am I doing? There’re a thousand reasons why I shouldn’t be doing this, but I can’t handle the thought of her being anywhere but with me.
I fumble with my keys before backing out. Doing my best to keep my eyes on the road, I grab my cell from my back pocket then put it on speaker. I have to speak to Hale.
“Okay, so I’m in a tight spot…” I blather before he can even say hi.
“What did you do this time?” he groans. “If you’ve scraped the paintwork off Janice again—”
“I’m with an omega who is going into heat,” I interrupt him. “She needs our help.”
“Wait, what?” His tone sharpens. “If this is another one of your conquests, Ezra, I’ve told you, we’re not interested in casual pack hookups.”
“This is different,” I bark. “She’s a student.”
“A student?!” Hale’s calm demeanor wavers as his voice increases in pitch. “You better have a good explanation for this.”
If it were Calder, he’d be flipping out and calling a lawyer.
“It’s not what you think. Look, I’ll explain everything when I get back, okay? Just get the apartment ready.”
“Isn’t there anyone else who can help?” Hale sounds frantic. “Why does it have to be you?”
“She doesn’t want to go to a heat clinic, and there’s no one else to call. Would you rather I’d left her alone? She needs our help, dude.”
“I don’t think this is a good idea.” Hale sighs. Despite his disapproval, he’s a caregiver by nature. The kinda guy who’d dive off a cliff to save a puppy struggling to swim. “I’ve never met her before, and helping an omega through a heat is a big deal. You know that.”
“Trust me, she’s not exactly thrilled about the idea either. She’s independent.”
“Riven and Calder are out right now,” Hale informs me. “Should I ask them to come home?”
“No.” I’m not going to upset Riven’s routine nor am I ready to deal with Calder’s judgment. “Just you should be fine.”
I hang up before he changes his mind, wondering what the hell I’ve gotten us into and what it is about this omega that I can’t walk away from, even though I know I should.