Nine
COLTON
I walk into the school and am hit with the scent of cheap perfume and hints of oak. I look at the teachers' lounge to see a fire going and a few teachers in costume standing with a drink in their hand, talking. I give them a nod and walk toward the gymnasium.
The cheap perfume smells stronger, and there are also hints of aftershave. I can't recognize anyone in the room. A man walks toward me, and judging by his demeanor, I can only guess he’s the principal.
“Colton, so glad you can make it.” Principal Heartley gives me a giant bear hug, trying not to tip his drink.
“Glad to be here, Sir,” I reply, now wishing I had a drink in my hand.
“What have you been up to?” he asks.
We talk for a few moments before another teacher takes his attention. I try to find a drink.
I return to the teacher's lounge, find a bottle of whiskey, and pour it into a glass.
The whiskey is well hidden, considering that this is a high school, but teachers know where to hide things and as a teacher, I had a clue.
The whiskey burns down my throat, and heat pools in my stomach.
It's a great relaxant and calms me down.
I hear chatter outside the room, and just as I turn around to see who it is, Greg and his wife come into the room. He takes off his mask and says,
“Colton, is that you?” Leave it to my friend to recognize me even though I haven't worn a tux since their wedding.
“Yeah, man. How are you?” I ask him, and we exchange a hug, and I give a peck on his wife's cheek.
“Not bad,” he says and points to my drink.
“I see you found the whiskey,” he says as I pour myself another glass. I can always get a taxi home if I get drunk, which is probably a given.
“You should have hidden it better, friend,” I joke.
I raise the glass to my lips only to freeze in place as a woman in a red dress walks by the room.
We exchange glances, but she keeps walking.
She looks beautiful. Need rushes through me, and it takes all my willpower to stand here and still talk to Greg, even though I would love to find that girl. I feel like I’ve seen her before.
“...she should be here somewhere,” I hear Greg say, looking at the door.
I blacked out and don't know who ‘she’ is but considering there aren't a lot of women in Greg's life, I think they’re talking about Pearl.
The thought of Pearl drags me away from thinking about the mystery woman.
I haven't talked to Minx since the dinner at Greg’s house.
Part of me wants to find Pearl and press her on the issue.
Then there’s another part of me that doesn't want to know.
That part of me doesn't want to know that there are other men she talks to like she talks to me. In my head, it didn't bother me. Just a sexy voice on the phone, but now there’s a body attached to it. And it’s not just anybody.
It's Pearl. Jealousy vibrates in my body, and I can't seem to shake it.
“I think I’m going to go look around,” I say, finishing my drink, and I leave the room. Greg and his wife follow me out but go the opposite way. They head to the gymnasium, and I head to the library.
The library was always my favorite spot when I went to high school and even college.
I love books. My grandfather and my dad used to read to me all the time.
They’d read me anything from John Grisham to The Concept of Law by H.
L. A. Hart. Before the age of twelve, my room was covered in books.
All books that I have read and or re-read.
That's when I started going to the library in our school. It was also quiet, which I liked. I read books mainly about the law since that was what I was interested in.
I didn't know Pearl went to the university where I worked, but we never crossed paths, and since I hadn't seen Pearl for years, I had no idea the gorgeous woman she had become.
I walk into the library and graze through all the books.
There were books from every genre here. Animals, genes, plants, and other countries.
I cruise into the romance section of the library.
In my school, there were no books like these.
You would have to go to the main library to get anything remotely sexual that wasn't health-related, even that was scarce.
I pick up a Tessa Bailey book and flip through the pages.
I start to read a steamy sex scene, then a flash of red sneaks into the corner of my eye.
I lift my head up, and there’s the woman in red on the other side of the shelf.
I walk around, and the girl sits on the floor with a book in her lap.
The cover is of a woman in glasses with her hands placed on a wall by a man.
“Hi,” I say, trying to be polite. “I didn't mean to interrupt.”
When she stands I recognize her as the woman who walked down the hall and caught my eye. She’s even more beautiful up close. Brown eyes with eye lines, a red mask, and a matching red dress. I have the sudden urge to hike her skirt up and fuck her on the wall like that man on the book cover.
“What are you reading?” I ask, and she looks down at the book and back at me. Instead of telling me, she hands me the book.
I glance at the book, then back at her, and I see her taking off her mask. I inhale as I look at the woman before me.
Pearl.
“Pearl,” I say, and now looking back at my thoughts about this woman, I’m not surprised it's her.
I look back down at the book and back at her.
“You like this,” I say, not really asking.
She nods. “I like romance. What's it to you?” she asks. Her tone is crisp, but I sense embarrassment in her voice.
“I'm not making fun of you, Pearl. I was just asking. I like romance too,” I say calmly.
Pearl's eyes widen, but she doesn't say anything. Just shrugs then I hand the book back to her. The alcohol I had makes my judgment cloudy and the urges that’ve been bothering me all night come crashing into me. With the knowledge of what she does, to the book, she’s reading.
Pearl is a dirty girl with a dirty mouth and I want that mouth on my dick.
“Do you like what they do in the book, Pearl?” I ask in a low voice and take a step toward her. “Do you like it when he puts his hands on her wrists and puts them on the wall?” I take another step toward her.
Pearl doesn't move. Only nods her head. Yes.
I’m now flush against her. My body cages her against the wall of the school.
“Is that what you want me to do to you, Pearl?” I ask. She thinks she's good at dirty talk? She hasn't seen what I can do yet. Maybe she’ll learn a thing or two.
I ignore my better judgment and grasp her wrists. I place them above her head. Pearl gasps, and it goes straight to my cock. I growl in her ear and place my lips against her neck. She smells so sweet, like roses and something citrus.
I look straight into Pearl's eyes.
“Tell me to stop,” I tell her, desperation coating my voice. “You have to tell me to stop,” I beg her. The alcohol, mixed with my desperation, makes it impossible for me to stop unless she tells me to. But she says only one thing.
“I can't.” It's a faint whisper, but I hear it. She doesn't want me to stop. So I don't.
I place both her wrists into one hand and, with the other, drag my fingers against her leg until I grab some of her dress and hike it up. My fingers graze her bare skin.
“Oh, baby,” I moaned into her ear.
Once I reach her hips, I let go of the dress, but my hand is inside the skirt. My fingers graze her panties, and when I get to the apex of her thighs, I feel the heat radiating from her core. I touch her panties lightly and can feel her wetness.
She truly does want this.
Little gasps escape her lips, and I graze my fingers over her pussy. She moans when I finally slide my fingers into her panties and touch her there. It's those moans that I hear over the phone sometimes. They make it harder knowing she’s just as turned on as I am while on the phone.
I grin and give her a kiss on the cheek.
“You like that, baby? You like what I can do to you?” I tease.
Pearl wiggles in my grasp, and her hips move forward and rub against my fingers.
“You want more?” I ask.
“Yes,” Pearl answers, her voice breathy and full of lust. I turn her around quickly so she’s facing the wall, and I’m behind her, pressing on her back.
She gasps, and that just feeds me on. I lift up her whole dress just up to her hips and cup her pussy. Meanwhile, I undo my belt and free my aching cock. I reach my hand around and rub her clit while my dick slides against her pussy.
“Colton,” she moans, and I get even harder.
I groan, and I move my hips and play with her cunt. Even though this is all outside her panties, I can feel the wetness dripping on me. Pearl's breaths start to pick up the pace, and I know she's close. I keep playing with her cunt when suddenly noises are coming our way.
Pearl tries to push me away, but I don't let her go.
“You said you wanted this, so we’re finishing it,” I tell her.
I've never been this demanding, but she pulls out a need in me. I need to dominate this pretty little redhead.
She looks at me with such lust and nods her head.
I keep rubbing, and the voices are getting closer and closer. I feel Pearl start to come, and I place some of the dress in her mouth to silence her moans.
She shakes, rubbing me against her even more, but I don't come. I don't have time.
After she comes down, I pull her dress back and turn her around. The people who are coming have stopped to talk. They’re very close, so I put a finger to my lips to tell her to be quiet.
I fix her hair, and I’m disappointed when I have to pull my hands away. Her hair is so soft.
I pull her mask on and send her out first. I hear her talk with the people in the library foyer, and I walk out after they’ve left.
Immediately I walk outside and hail a taxi.
Luckily, there are a lot of cabs milling around.
The principal probably called them, anticipating people would be drunk after the party.
I don't look back or think of returning for a second. I made a huge mistake, and I know there’s nothing I can do to fix it.
In fact, it only makes me want her more.