Ella
Holy shit. I’m actually doing it. I’m dancing with Jacob Colton. His arms are wrapped around my frame and his chest is in front of my face. He smells so good, a combination of wicked spices and some sort of woodsy scent that tingles in my nostrils.
“W-what is it?” I’m breathless, the corset of my dress too tight as I try and fail to drag in lungfuls of air.
“Did you come here tonight seeking something?”
We spin again and this time, the room doesn’t seem to stop even though we do. The string quartet that’s playing in the background is too loud. My lashes flutter. All I can feel are the arms around me, keeping me from falling to the floor. What was his question again?
“What,” I begin, trying to keep my words from shaking too much, “do you think I’d be seeking?”
When Jacob looks at me, his eyes glitter like dark gems. Somehow, they’re brighter and more vibrant than all of the gold filigree and crystal in the ballroom. My heart pounds a rapid beat against the inside of my chest.
The dance slows and his eyes remain fixed with mine as he turns me in a gentle spin and brings me back. Our chests brush and my nipples are hard little points, digging through the fabric of my dress and corset. He has to feel them. There’s no way he doesn’t.
One corner of his mouth curves upward. “I think you might be here for the very same reason I am.”
It takes my mind a moment to catch up with his words. When I do and offer my reply, my throat feels dry and tight. “What are you here for?”
His head bends closer and closer and my heartbeat grows so loud that it threatens to burst my eardrums. Over the crazy violent thudding of my heart, I manage to hear him as his lips brush my ear.
“Escape, Ella,” he murmurs against me. “I’m here to escape the real world. Will you join me?”
I’ve never wanted anything so much in my life than I do to escape with Jacob Colton.
So when he releases me and takes a step back only to hold out his hand for me once more, I know he’s not asking me to go for a walk.
He’s not asking for another dance as the final notes of the last song comes to a close.
He’s asking for something else entirely.
It’s wrong and it’s forbidden. Not just because I’m lying to him. Not just because he doesn’t know who I really am. But because he’s a teacher and I’m one of his students, and I’ve been in love with him for months.