Epilogue
Lila
I returned to my office and stared at the wall while thinking about what Professor Galloway had said. Eventually, I realized that my coffee had gotten cold, so I got a fresh cup before returning to my exams.
The last two exams to grade belonged to Jace and Brock. I had saved them for last because I wanted to devote an extra amount of attention to them, specifically to make sure I was grading them fairly without letting any of my biases slip through.
Fortunately, it was easy to remain objective because both of them nailed their finals.
I felt a swelling of pride. Not just for the two of them, but for Cam as well. With all the rubbing and grinding we had done this semester, I guess some actual classroom knowledge had rubbed off on them.
I spent the next half hour posting the grades online, then packed up all my belongings. I was only going to be gone for two weeks before the summer semester began, but there was still plenty of stuff I wanted to take home.
On the way out, I stopped by my Criminology 101 classroom. My faculty key opened the door, and I strode into the empty room with a sense of sadness.
I was going to be teaching more higher-level classes this summer and fall.
Overall that was a great thing, but it meant I would be in smaller classrooms. This was the last time I would get to stand on this dais, facing a room with stadium seating.
This room felt like the place where grand lectures happened, where real learning took place and the future leaders of America were grown.
I took it all in, allowing the joy—and sadness—to wash over me one last time.
“We thought we’d find you here.”
I blinked and turned to see Jace standing in the doorway, leaning on the frame with his arms crossed. The sight of him filled me with warmth and comfort.
“Are you here to dispute your grade?” I asked.
“I’m not thrilled with my grade,” Brock said while shouldering past the other man.
“You got a ninety-six on the final exam!” I exclaimed.
“He thinks he deserves a hundred,” Cam said while walking inside. “Some people are never satisfied.”
“I just want to know how I could have earned those extra four points,” Brock said.
“We can talk about it literally any other time. I’m ready to get out of here,” I said.
“Are you?” Jace asked. “Because you were standing there for a while before I spoke up.”
“Just reminiscing about the semester,” I said. “It went by so fast. It feels like it was just yesterday when you approached me after class on the first day.”
Jace grinned. “I’ll never forget the look on your face when you recognized me.”
Brock closed the classroom door and twisted the deadbolt. Cam had walked to the other side of class, to the emergency exit, verifying that the deadbolt was engaged there as well.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Making sure nobody can get inside, even with a key,” Jace explained while joining me on stage. There was a lusty look in his eyes that instantly raised my pulse.
“If there are cameras…”
“None in here,” Cam said confidently. “And the ones in the hallway have all been disabled. No recording for the next hour. And if anyone checks, the logs will show that it’s regular maintenance on the servers.”
“The next hour?” I asked.
Brock and Cam climbed the steps up onto the lecture platform. “We figure that’s enough time for what we have planned. But if not, I can disable the cameras a little longer.”
My body practically hummed with excitement. “What do you have planned?” I asked, even though I was certain I knew the answer.
Brock leaned toward me first. His lips brushed mine in a deliberate, testing press. I swallowed against the sudden heat blooming through me, the way his mouth seemed to spark a memory of our last time together two weeks before.
Behind him, Cam’s eyes held a flicker of mischief as he leaned closer, brushing past Brock to kiss my shoulder. Then Jace was there, one hand finding my thigh, his thumb grazing over the soft skin above my knee.
“You look gorgeous in this dress,” Brock murmured.
“A summer dress for summer,” I whispered as he began to kiss my neck. “Should we move this celebration to my place?”
“No,” Jace said firmly. “It’s been two weeks since we’ve been together, Lila, and I can’t wait another second.”
“Call me Professor Carrington,” I breathed. “Just this last time.”
The three of them gave me a wolfish smile.
Their lips moved against mine in turns, and I realized my hands were already tangled in Cam’s hair while Jace’s hand had shifted higher on my leg, ghosting along the edge of my dress.
Oh, I’ve missed you three, I thought.
Each kiss had its flavor: Brock deliberate, teasing the line between careful and daring; Cam fast, hungry, a heat that made me shiver; Jace steady, grounding, claiming without asking.
I let my fingers follow instinct, threading through hair, rubbing skin, feeling the taut pull of anticipation in each of them.
When Jace’s lips left mine, he slid his hand beneath my dress. A gasp caught in my throat at the first press of his fingers. Brock leaned down, lips near my collarbone, and I trembled, feeling the weight of all three on me at once.
“Lila,” Jace whispered, voice rough, and I couldn’t stop the shiver that ran down my spine. Then he remembered my demand and said, “Professor Carrington.”
“Don’t stop,” I breathed, knowing they were already far beyond needing permission.
“Know what’ll make this celebration even better?” Brock’s eyes flashed with mischief as he smiled at me. “All three of us sharing you for the first time.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, eyes flicking to Cam.
He immediately nodded. “I was ready two weeks ago at your place. Before we got interrupted by Jerry’s email. This is all I’ve been able to think about since then. I’m about to explode, Professor.”
The three of them stood around me, shoulders squared, chests rising a little too fast, each of them looking at me like I was the center of gravity in the room.
My fingers brushed over the hem of Jace’s shirt first. “Off,” I murmured.
Jace didn’t hesitate. He lifted his arms, letting me peel the fabric up and over his head. His skin was warm, muscles shifting under my palms. He watched me like he was memorizing every move I made.
Cam was next. He grinned and tugged his own shirt off, dropping it somewhere behind him. His stomach tightened as I skimmed my nails down it, and he drew in a sharp breath like he hadn’t expected the touch to hit that hard.
Brock didn’t wait for me at all. He simply grabbed the back of his T-shirt and pulled it over his head in one clean motion. His dark gaze pinned me as if daring me to look away. I didn’t.
I stepped back until my butt hit the edge of the desk, letting myself take in the three of them. All warm skin, strong lines, and barely contained hunger.
“Pants too,” I said.
“Who says you’re in charge?” Brock asked.
“This is still my classroom,” I said firmly. “Until midnight tonight, I’m the one calling the shots in here. And I’ve decided that it’s a crime you are all still wearing pants.”
“You are a Criminology expert,” Cam said.
Jace smirked and unbuttoned his jeans, sliding them down with the kind of controlled confidence that made heat pool low in my belly. Cam fumbled with his for half a second, cursing under his breath until Brock chuckled.
Within seconds, denim and belts were a messy ring on the lecture platform around them, leaving nothing between us but tension and the kind of anticipation that made my pulse hammer.
I sank to my knees. Because the sight of them like that made it hard not to. “You locked the doors?”
“Deadbolts too,” Jace confirmed. “Nobody can enter from the outside, even if they have a key.”
That was the only thing holding me back.
Their bodies were warm against my hands as I settled myself between them, my palms resting on their thighs.
Three pairs of eyes locked on me, hungry and reverent all at once.
And in that charged, breathless moment before anything else happened, I felt powerful. Desired. Worshipped.
Jace was already breathing hard, chest rising like he’d been holding himself together for too long. When I touched him, a low, involuntary groan rumbled out of him. His fingers threading into my hair as if he needed something to anchor himself.
I could feel the shift in him… the way his control thinned, the way his body tightened under my touch. Heat pooled low in my belly, spreading, blooming. Every little tremor in him made something deep inside me tighten in response.
God, the way he responded to me.
Every inch of him beneath my hands and lips made my pulse thrum in my ears, and the way he caught his breath against me had me leaning closer, desperate to feel his shiver while I began sucking him off.
His body stiffened with each subtle move I made, and the low, ragged exhale he let slip into my hair sent a rush straight through me, hot and electric, leaving me trembling.
After weeks of holding back, I was drunk on the power I held over them. Even if today was the last day.
That just means we have to make this count.
Jace choked on a breath, and the rush of it curled through my spine. I loved knowing I could do that to him. That I could take this man who was usually so composed and make him unravel with nothing more than my mouth.
He tugged on my hair, not hard, just insistent, like he needed me closer. Needed more.
But I wasn’t giving him more. Not yet. I wanted to feel him tremble for me. I wanted to savor every second he fought to hold himself together. I wanted the power of it. The way he looked at me like I was the only thing he could focus on, the only thing that mattered.
And God… feeling that kind of desire aimed at me? It lit me up from the inside out.
Cam’s impatience was tangible. His hands pressed on my shoulders as he guided me toward him.