Chapter 14
LOCHLAN
I’m not a sadist, I swear. Really.
Achilles maybe has a little bit of that in him. Drago, definitely. But it’s not sadism that has me spending the rest of class watching in delight as Galina wriggles like a worm on a hook.
…I just get really fucking fired up watching her reaction to my extremely prying, loaded questions.
Okay, fine. Technically, getting aroused by someone else’s discomfort is a textbook definition of sadism.
But it’s not Galina’s discomfort that gets my dick all swollen and heavy as I sit across the small desk from her.
It’s the fact that the way her body exhibits said discomfort is shockingly close to the way it responds when she’s turned on.
That’s something I’ve become a bit of an expert on.
That pink flush creeps up her chest, neck, and cheeks. Her nipples tighten to those defiant little peaks that beg for my fingers and teeth. Her thighs squeeze and rub together as she quite literally squirms in her seat.
Also, her teeth scrape over her bottom lip, which is apparently industrial strength visual fucking Viagra for me.
I didn’t really give much direction to the rest of the class about how they should be conducting these “team project interviews”, mostly because I only made it up to have an excuse to fuck with Galina.
Some of the other pairs around the room are taking turns asking each other questions about their pasts, their families, their interests and fears…
that sort of shit. Me, I’m fully abusing my position as “professor” and declaring that this first classroom session will entirely be me asking her questions.
“When did you lose your virginity?”
Extremely prying, inflammatory, and inappropriate questions, I might add.
But this girl did empty a can of fucking pepper spray directly into my eyes and nose the other day. My eyes are still watering randomly, much to the amusement of Ronan, Achilles, and Drago, and I’ve become intimately familiar with five different brands of nasal spray.
So I consider this warranted payback, and this five-foot-nothing, red-haired demon’s definitely getting off easily.
Galina’s face turns an interesting shade of pink and her pupils dilate slightly at my question.
“Excuse me?” she says, her throat working heavily.
“When did you lose your virginity?” I repeat, both louder and more pedantically, as if the reason for her “excuse me” was that she didn’t hear me the first time.
Her lips press together as she shoots me a dark look. “You can’t ask me questions like that.”
“That's the assignment—”
“It’s personal,” she says tightly.
“Which is precisely why I’m asking it,” I smile back.
Galina shakes her head, looking anywhere but in my eyes. “Well, I’m not answering. And you really can’t ask it.”
“Why not?” Amusement honeys my words.
“Professors can’t ask students those types of—”
Her mouth snaps shut as I start to grin widely.
“So,” I smile. “I guess we can put that bit to rest now about my status as your professor?”
Her eyes narrow venomously. “You’re proctoring this class. That doesn’t make you a professor or a licensed teacher of any kind.”
“Agree to disagree.”
God, do I love winding her up like this. Maybe I am a sadist. In my defense, though, the fury that creeps into her big blue eyes when she gets ticked off like this is fucking beautiful.
“So….” I clear my throat. “I believe the floor is yours?”
Her mouth thins. “When did you lose your virginity?” she huffs.
“When I was sixteen, on the couch in the basement family room at my cousin Achilles’ Halloween party.”
Galina’s face sours. “Gross! I didn’t need to know that!”
“You literally just asked.”
“Not the details!” Her eyes narrow. “My point was that it doesn’t feel good to be put under a microscope.”
I sigh. “You do understand that the entire point of this project is to look past the Persona at the Shadow underneath, yes?”
“Well, my Persona has nothing to do with when I lost my virginity. Jesus,” she snaps.
Well, that’s patently false. I’m willing to bet her entire Persona hinges on the fact that she hasn't had sex yet.
Putting on masks and sexy outfits and creating thirsty content involving smut books and sex toys is her way of owning her sexuality despite the fact she's never explored it with another person.
I mean, I should be charging her a fortune for this level of psychoanalysis.
“Fine,” I sigh. “We’ll switch to another question.”
“Thank you,” she says primly, smiling smugly to herself.
“What sort of pornography do you favor, and how often do you self-gratify?”
Galina’s jaw almost hits the desk between us as I struggle with every fiber of my being not to grin.
“This is completely inappropriate!” she huffs indignantly, her face throbbing with heat.
“This is Psychology of Deception and Performance at one of the most prestigious colleges on Earth, Galina,” I say flatly. “The entire purpose here is—”
“To teach us,” she snaps back. “Not to humiliate me by asking how often I self…” She trails off and makes a face.
“Gratify,” I finish for her helpfully. “But honestly, it's fine if you’re more comfortable saying masturbate. Rubbing one out could add a nice levity to the subject—”
“Yeah, fuck this.”
Her chair scrapes back as she abruptly stands. Most of the class is engrossed in their one-on-ones, but I notice Bella glance up with a curious frown.
Galina stuffs her notebook into her bag and hefts it onto her shoulder. I make a mental note to stick a Smart-Tag tracker into this bag the next time I break into her room.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Literally anywhere but here,” Galina says sharply. “This so-called project is bullshit. Not to mention completely inappropriate.”
My brow furrows. “Class is still—”
“So flunk me, asshole.”
What's that saying? I hate to see you leave, but I love to watch you walk away?
It suddenly makes perfect sense to me as my eyes glue to Galina’s swaying ass in her blue and gray plaid uniform skirt as she marches out of the classroom.
Okay, it’s pretty obvious that this was a bad idea. But what can I say? The more I watch Galina, the more I don’t want to look away. I like being near her. In fact, I’m becoming fixated, and I pretty sure even I can say I’ve been watching her on camera way too much.
Do I feel like a creepy pervert for watching Galina change, shower, and furiously masturbate last night? Not really.
Should I? Probably.
But I don’t.
I end up dismissing the class early. When the entire reason I’m teaching it in the first place storms off, there’s no real point in sticking around, is there?
It’s dark and I’m drenched in sweat by the time I get back from my run. This one was a grueling one: all the way to the top of Griswold Hill from Knightsblood, then down into Hawthorne Hollow, then all the way back up to campus.
I'm a sucker for physical endurance punishment when I need to clear my head. And having now fallen down the rabbit hole of obsessing over Galina?
This run wasn’t just to clear my head. This was a lobotomy.
In the pool area at the back of Kingsward Hall, I peel off my sweat-soaked shirt and eye the gleaming water, glowing from the underwater lights.
My shorts are next, but just as I’m about to lose the boxers and jump in for a dip au naturel, my phone dings with a message on my group chat with the guys.
Drago
No
Achilles
***
Drago
That was for Loch.
My brow puzzles.
Me
Huh?
Drago
Weren’t you giving your cousin shit about skinny dipping in the hot tub with Kirill?
I scowl at the screen.
It's true. At the very same party where I crossed paths with Galina filming her Velvet Villainess content in the library, my cousin Selene was apparently in our patio hot tub with Kirill Tsarenko.
Now, Selene is a grownup, obviously, and can do what she wants. But Kirill is a Bratva heir dirtbag, in my humble opinion. He also fucks anything with a pulse. On top of that, Selene was in her goddamn underwear, and Kirill was allegedly naked and waving his newly pierced dick all over the place.
Call me old-fashioned, but it makes me want to rearrange his fucking teeth.
Me
Why do I suddenly feel watched.
Ronan
LMAO. Look up, bro.
I cock a brow when my eyes lift to the top floor of Kingsward Hall and the windows of the third-floor bedrooms overlooking the pool. My brother is grinning like an asshole in one of them, jerking his thumb to the side. My gaze slides over, and suddenly, it all makes sense.
Ro’s room is next to Drago’s. And there, pressed against one of Drago’s windows, is a blonde I don’t recognize, her face twisted in ecstasy, her tits smooshed against the panes, her fingers clawing at the glass as she gets legit railed from behind.
Drago
Keep your shorts on, Loch. No one wants to see that.
Achilles
I’m not home. What the actual fuck is going on over there?
Me
Drago’s worried about his date seeing me naked and realizing she may have drawn the short straw.
Drago
Does it LOOK like she’s drawing a short straw?
Ronan
Dude, are you seriously texting us while you’re inside her?
Drago
It's called multi-tasking.
I snort as I look at the window again, watching the girl moan and fog up the glass her face and tits are pressed to.
Achilles
JFC. Would it kill you to inject a little class into your life?
Ronan
Think he’s a little busy injecting his dick elsewhere.
Drago
No class? I’m the one telling Loch to keep his dick in his pants in front of my lady friend, FFS.
Me
Comparison is the thief of joy, buddy.
Drago
lol
Achilles
How about you stop texting us and just fuck the poor girl. Christ.
Drago
Says the guy messaging the group while he STALKS a poor girl…
I chuckle. Achilles is, no question, somewhere with Galina’s friend Yelena De Luca…or if not with her, he’s shadowing her or following her or whatever the fuck he’s calling it to avoid using the word “stalking”.
Amusingly, he seems to think none of us knows about his new obsession.
Spoiler alert: we all do.