16. Chapter 16
Chapter 16
Rebecca
T he sound of the fire alarm is excessively loud.
Everybody around me packs up and files out quickly, but my gaze is stuck on Eli, who’s still standing at the podium in front of class, gripping it so tightly his knuckles are white.
As is his face. His eyes are vacant as they stare at a nondescript spot in the front of the room.
Though I know I should leave him alone, something’s not right. And it goes against my nature to just leave him here like this.
Chewing the inside of my cheek, I look around and find the last few students trickling out. I throw my bag over my shoulder, but instead of walking out the door to my right, I go down the amphitheater steps and slowly approach Eli.
His breaths are fast and shallow, his jaw tense, and I can see the rapidity of his pulse in his neck.
Very tentatively, I step next to him, reaching my hand out before curling my fingers back into my palm. Am I going to scare him? Is it worth it? I don’t even know how he’s handling the sound that’s still echoing through the room and rattling in my chest.
When I place my hand on his forearm gently, he nearly jumps out of his skin, the podium shifting with him. His eyes are wide when he turns to look at me but fear laces through his irises.
Though I’m incredibly perplexed by the situation and what has this man so freaked out, I nod at him and extend my arm toward the exit. His gaze darts over to the table where the papers are still sitting, and I move to collect them, tucking them into my bag.
With a deep swallow, he lets go of the wood and takes a step toward me. I loop my arm through his and pull him up the stairs.
When I start to turn right toward the exit, he pulls on my arm and shakes his head. “My. Office.” The words are broken and strained, like he can barely even say them.
“But…the alarm.”
“It’s fine.”
Though I don’t think we’re supposed to be in the building, I listen and lead him to his office. We push through the door, and he flops into his chair.
But I’m still on edge as the alarm continues to ring. “Eli, I really think we should be outside.”
“It’s…just…a drill. Will stop…soon.” As though obeying him, the sound stops, and everything suddenly becomes so silent and still.
Except for his rapid breathing.
I kneel in front of him, putting my hands on his knees. “Eli, look at me.”
For a moment, he refuses, looking away, then turning toward me but closing his eyes. Something must change his mind, because then he opens them. When our eyes meet, my heart stutters.
But I don’t let it get the better of me. “Deep breaths. Can you do that?”
He shakes his head, but his chest puffs a little.
“Good. Do it again.”
With a small nod, he does it again, his chest pushing out a little more than before. He does it a few times and color returns to his cheeks.
When he seems to have control again, I smile and start to stand, but his hands on mine stop me as I’m hovering just above him.
“Thank you.” His voice is low, but his words are steady.
A tremble sets in my bones and a sigh bleeds through my lips. “You’re welcome. I’m sure you didn’t want me, of all people, to help you but—”
Before I can even blink his hand cups the back of my head and he crashes my lips to his.
I stiffen, not quite sure what to do with myself since he made it exceptionally clear he did not want this. But he moves his lips against mine, parting them gently and I melt against him.
The angle is awkward, and my back is starting to hurt, but when I make a move to stand, his arm wraps around my waist and pulls me into his lap. My legs land on either side of his, through the arms of his desk chair.
Pulling back slightly, he cups my cheeks between his palms, a thumb running over my lower lip.
“I…I thought you didn’t want me.”
“I never said that.”
“But…you…you said you were willing to leave the past behind us. You told me to drop your class.” Confusion swirls through my mind, and I can’t remember if it really happened or was some weird dream.
“I fucking lied, Bex.” The way he breathes my name makes my eyes flutter shut.
“I haven’t stopped thinking about you since my sister’s wedding. Finding out you were one of my students? It made things murky, to say the least. But I can’t get you out of my head.” His eyes drop to my lips. “And I don’t want to keep trying.”
His mouth is on mine again, moving forcefully and with a newfound vigor that makes my core clench. As his tongue glides through my lips and against mine, his hands lower, sliding down my back to slip into my back pockets and tip me toward him.
“You’re way too young for me, you’re one of my students, and if I was a stronger man, I’d be able to resist you. But I’m not.”
He moves his mouth to my neck, and my head falls back as he moves parted lips along my skin, leaving a trail of fire in his wake. My whole body ignites and whatever sense of self-preservation that was holding me back incinerates.
I press my mouth to his and loop one arm around his shoulders while the other hand grips at the short strands at the back of his head.
Pushing the chair back, he reaches behind him and fumbles through a drawer, pulling out something with the familiar sound of foil.
Is it presumptuous of him to think I’m going to have sex with him again? Maybe. But is he wrong? Absolutely not.
“So tell me, sweet thing, are you going to let me fuck you again?” His lips brush against mine and the words he grumbles float into my mouth and straight to my clit.
I grind my hips on his, pulling myself as close as I possibly can, needing more. “Yes, Eli, please .”
It’s all I’ve thought about for weeks. Every time he stands in front of the classroom, I have to forcibly make my mind go anywhere other than his bare chest.
“Well, since you asked so nicely.” A coy smile quirks one corner of his mouth, and his hand lowers to my jeans, flicking open the button with a mere twist of his wrist.
My heart slams against my ribcage and my breath stutters. But I quickly regain control. I can’t let him think I’m not ready for this by being awestruck.
I climb off his lap and kneel between his legs, my fingers flying to the clasp of his belt and undoing it, pulling it from his belt loops and tossing it to the ground. Despite the loud clang it makes, I don’t turn around to see where it fell, my focus on unbuttoning his pants.
He helps me shimmy them down a little so I can free his erection from his boxer briefs. When he pulls the condom forward, I snatch it from his fingers and tear it open.
Eagerly, I roll it down over his shaft, giving him a few firm pumps before looking up at him.
His eyes are so dilated there’s barely any iris left, pure hunger residing on his face.
It makes me squirm. I release my hold on him and stand, sashaying off my pants and panties before climbing back into his lap.
His hands close around my hips and he runs parted lips along my neck.
Gripping the base of his cock, I slowly lower myself onto him, my head tipping back as a moan eases from my chest. Once I’m fully seated, I take a moment to adjust.
But he doesn’t wait for me, tipping his hips up as his hands slide under my shirt and cup my breasts.
“I tried too hard to forget you, Bex. But I couldn’t.”
A tweak of my nipples between his fingers makes me whimper.
“Those sounds especially. They’re all I hear at night when I have my dick in my hand.”
Just the thought of him thinking of me while he touches himself has my pussy clamping down on his cock.
He groans and lowers in the chair, gripping my hips tightly and rocking me forward and back.
My hands fly to his shoulders and twist into the material of his tweed jacket. It gives me pause for a moment as I realize we’re both half-dressed, just came from a class that was interrupted by a fire alarm and are in his office.
But a slight lift of my body from his before he plunges back into me has the very thoughts flying right from my head.
I need to focus on what we’re doing because, for all I know, he’s going to decide that this was yet another mistake and shun me for the rest of the semester. And I don’t think I could handle that.
Every time he looked my way in class, no matter how infrequent, there was a glimmer in his eye. It was a tiny beacon of hope that he hadn’t completely shut me out.
This? This is like finally approaching the shore and being bathed in the light. It’s being able to see clearly for the first time in weeks.
His hands cup my cheeks and thumbs rub under my eyes. “Are you okay? You seem like you’re not here with me. Do you want to stop?”
“No. Sorry, so. I’m just…I’m thinking about how right this all feels.” I pull my bottom lip between my teeth, ready for him to shove me off and tell me I’m insane.
But instead, he smiles and stands from the chair, lifting me with him. With one hand under my thighs, he pushes some books off his desk. He keeps the surface relatively tidy, so there’s not much to move. Regardless, the action is hot as can be.
Slowly, with one hand supporting my back, he lowers me against the surface. Grabbing my hips, he pulls out before slamming back into me.
I shift on the desk with the hard thrust, and something pokes me in the back. But I can’t focus on it too closely because he repeats the motion and my hands fly to his forearms, gripping tightly.
“You feel so fucking incredible, Bex. It’s almost sinful.”
I want to respond, the words are on the tip of my tongue, but he pounds into me again and all that comes out is a garbled moan.
He picks up momentum, plowing into me so hard that the desk squeaks as it shifts across the floor.
And while I’m enjoying every single second, I need him closer. Twisting my fingers into the lapels of his jacket, I tug him down toward me, meeting his mouth partway as I tip my shoulders off the desk.
Our tongues war, and breaths collide in the space between us in heavy pants. A bead of sweat drips to my forehead, and I realize he must be roasting in two layers. I want to tell him to take the coat off, but I don’t want him to stop and, honestly, it’s pretty sexy on him.
He glides his tongue along my lower lip as he moves his hand between our bodies, his thumb settling over my clit.
As he swirls his finger, my head tips back, and I wrap my legs around his waist, hooking them at the ankles. It only takes one more hard thrust and the pressure of his thumb to have me biting my lip as I try to stifle my scream.
His mouth moves to my neck, and he buries his face in the crook of my shoulder as he groans and makes stilted movements.
Shifting slightly, he rests his forehead against my chest, just under my collarbone.
Though I drop my legs, he makes no shift away from me, breathing heavily while I lay splayed open on his desk.
With one small kiss pressed to my ear, he pulls out from me, disposing of the evidence and redressing. He’s entirely silent as he does so, not even making eye contact.
Heat courses through my body, and I hop off the desk, quickly putting my bottoms back on and slipping into my shoes. Keeping my eyes down, I grab my backpack and hook it over my shoulder.
“Well, um, I guess I should be—” Before I can even finish the thought, he grabs my wrist and tugs me into his chest.
“The only place you’re going is home with me.”
My heart pounds and my eyes flutter shut as a smile creeps across my face. For a moment, I was certain he was going to shut me out again.
When I don’t look at him, he hooks one finger under my chin and tips my face up. His brown eyes are filled with passion.
“I told you, Bex. I can’t resist you anymore. And I’m done trying to.” His lips ghost over mine, and all I want is more.
More time, more kisses, more Eli.