Chapter 25 Crimes Of Passion
CRIMES OF PASSION
PATIENCE
It’s impossible not to squirm in my seat, and each time I do, the toy rubs against my clit.
This is wrong in so many ways.
Class fills around me, and I try not to think about what happened in Jacob’s office. Or how he sent me to class with a toy rubbing against me every time I move in my seat. It’s going to be torture watching him teach, looking hot as usual with his sleeves rolled up and his forearms on display.
If he keeps this up, I’m going to have to walk out of the room just to take the edge off.
I swear that man unlocked my sex drive.
Before Jacob, I started to wonder if people could be born without a sex drive at all. No one tempted me to so much as kiss them. Now here I am, in the middle of class, soaking my thighs because my professor shoved a vibrator in my pussy to teach me a lesson on jealousy.
Sophia glares at me from where she’s standing at the front of the room.
If she only knew just what happened, she’d probably hate me even more.
I still can’t figure out what Jacob sees in me when he has girls like her throwing themselves at him. Today, she’s wearing a short, pleated skirt that shows off her long legs. Given the chance, she’d probably wrap them around Jacob’s waist without having to be asked twice about it.
That thought has me gripping my pen to the point where the plastic cracks. I hate the thought of anyone looking at him, much less touching him.
He was right to call me jealous, and it’s getting out of control.
“There you are.” I startle as Violet slides into the seat beside mine. “You disappeared again after lunch.”
“I was dropping a book off at the library.” I lean forward, but my ponytail does little to hide my warming cheeks.
Violet frowns.
“What?”
“Nothing.” She shakes her head. “I was just hoping you were meeting up with your mystery man from last night or doing something exciting. That’s all.”
“Sorry to disappoint you.” I keep my gaze elsewhere so she can’t get a hint that I was doing exactly what she suspected.
“Professor Gray looks like he’s in a good mood today. Maybe that means we did a good job on our Irsite research papers.”
I glance up to see what Violet’s talking about, and she’s right, he’s grinning as he walks into the classroom. His smile is downright dangerous for my heart. And when I shift in my seat, I’m reminded how the rest of him is bad for me as well.
I’m still sore from last night, and yet, each time the toy rubs me, I wish it were him, taking me again.
Jacob’s eyes meet mine for a split second. Just long enough for me to catch a shift in his expression. Shadows in his eyes that promise to consume me the second we’re alone.
“Everyone, take your seats.” He stops at the front of the room, waiting for Sophia to stop leaning against his desk before he takes her spot facing us. “Sixteen of you are still here with two weeks left in the program. Not bad.”
There are only two weeks left?
My heart sinks. I’ve spent so much time with my nose buried in books this summer that time has flown by. I’m not ready to go back to Bristal when this is over. Especially after last night.
On top of that, I’m not ready to leave Jacob behind.
I watch him scan the room, and I wonder if he even cares. He might be attracted to me, but I don’t live here. He walked into this knowing there would be no attachments. It’s temporary, and I’ll be gone soon.
“Just because we’re almost done, doesn’t mean you should stop trying.
I expect your best work at this point. Anything less and you won’t receive my recommendation.
” He dips his hands into his pockets, and I have no doubt he means it.
“And for one of you, I’m going to ask you to stick around a little longer after the program ends, to help with the interview. ”
Students perk up around me.
“Now that your assignments are turned in, I’m happy to announce who I’ll be interviewing. Does anyone know who Vance Osentago is?”
My hand shoots into the air, but I don’t wait for him to call on me before answering.
“The most notorious serial killer on the West Coast from the past decade. The police are still sorting through the body parts they uncovered in his basement, and they think they haven’t even discovered all the graves on his property yet.
But he’s better known as the Puzzle Killer in the media for hacking up his victims into such tiny pieces that it’s nearly impossible for the cops to determine how many of them there are. ”
All eyes in the room are on me, and I realize I sound a little too excited about a serial killer. But Vance Osentago is a criminal psychologist’s dream interview. I’m not surprised Jacob was chosen for it.
“Very good, Ms. Lancaster.” He smirks, and my stomach flutters. “He’s finally agreed to speak, and I’ll be the one conducting the interview. Along with one student, who will be chosen to join me.”
Whispers kick up in the room. Excitement dances in Violet’s eyes as she crosses her fingers and smiles at me.
“I’ve had a chance to review your research papers on the Irsite case, and I’ll be awarding this opportunity to the person who correctly identified how I tied Haven Matthews to Ms. Irsite’s murder.
While most of you were focused on the hair found in the hallway, that was irrelevant.
As some of you might have guessed, I left pages out of the report on purpose, including the dates we gathered certain pieces of evidence.
The hair was found after Haven already confessed. ”
Grumbles stir around the room.
“You didn’t think I’d make it easy on you, did you?” Jacob smirks. “If there’s one thing you need to remember when working with criminals, it’s that things are rarely as they seem. You should always assume someone is lying.”
His eyes land on me, and my mouth dries.
“So what was it if it wasn’t the hair?” A fellow student speaks up. “How did you figure out he was involved?”
“The toxicology report.” Jacob holds my stare.
He gave me such a hard time about dissecting the toxicology report, knowing I was right.
“Ms. Irsite’s hCG levels were elevated, indicating pregnancy.”
“But she wasn’t pregnant,” the student points out.
“She wasn’t pregnant anymore.” I speak up. “She had an abortion the day before her overdose. It was left out of the report.”
“Then how did you know?” Sophia glares at me.
“After I noticed her hCG levels and determined they wouldn’t have been elevated because of anything that might have been laced in the heroin, I went back to her bank statements.
I wanted to see if she’d seen a doctor recently, thinking she might have had a miscarriage.
That’s when I found the transaction to a clinic, and I made a guess based on the doctor’s specialty. ”
“A guess?” She hitches an eyebrow. “That’s very lucky of you.”
It was, especially after Jacob tried to steer me away from digging into Molly’s blood work. The hair in the hallway was a stronger guess. But I always knew he wouldn’t make it that easy for us. There’s always more than meets the surface when it comes to Jacob.
“It was creative thinking on your part,” Jacob says, turning to the rest of the class.
“And it was correct. Ms. Irsite had recently been pregnant. And when we searched video footage from the clinic, we saw Haven was the one who brought her in. After we established his involvement, we began to question him, and he confessed. Good catch, Ms. Lancaster.”
“But I didn’t have any proof,” I argue, even though I got it right.
“You found as much as you could have given the resources provided. And as the only student who did, the seat beside me at the Vance Osentago interview is yours should you want it.”
I can’t form words. I can barely think, so all I do is nod.
“Then congratulations are in order. Great investigative work, Ms. Lancaster.”
Jacob lifts off the desk, and Violet nudges my arm.
“Congratulations,” she whispers.
My cheeks are burning from all the attention. On top of that, they’re on fire from Jacob’s praise. He sounds genuinely impressed by me.
“Now let’s change gears,” Jacob says, drawing my attention to the front of the room. “We’re going to spend some time today talking about provocation.”
My eyebrows pinch because this wasn’t on the agenda, but he’s been known to go off script from time to time.
“You’ll find that many criminals place blame for their actions on someone else. They claim they wouldn’t have done what they did if they weren’t provoked.”
“Crimes of passion,” I blurt out again, immediately sinking into my seat.
“Very good again, Ms. Lancaster.” He smirks. “Crimes of passion. They deem what they’ve done justifiable considering the circumstances.”
“That’s an excuse.”
“Is it?” He sinks back against his desk again. “Try to put yourself in their position for one second. Extreme irritation. Extreme frustration. At what point would you snap?”
I open my mouth to tell him I wouldn’t. To fight a little more because I can’t help it with this man.
But right as I do, something deep in my core pulses, and I shift in my seat.
Vibrations hum against my clit, and I snap my mouth shut before I moan out loud.
And that’s when I realize Jacob’s hands aren’t in his pocket because he’s relaxed.
He has a remote to the toy he stuck inside me, and he just turned it on.