Chapter 3
Hunter
She’s hiding something. That much is obvious now.
The question is what.
What could possibly be so bad about being seen with me?
Is it really just the teacher-student issue? Because that can be dealt with.
And for some reason, the more guarded she is, the more obsessed I become with figuring her out. With peeling back every bloody layer and seeing what’s really going on inside that head of hers.
The thought becomes more appealing by the second.
Really why am I following her now through the woods and toward the dorms. This need to be near her to make sure she’s safe is grating on me.
I usually don’t give a fuck about other people.
Not her it seems.
I need control. That’s exactly why I’m so fucking rigid about it, and with her, I can already feel it slipping in a way I thoroughly dislike.
But after all that, I already decided she’s mine, and I’m done fighting it. Even if I don’t like it. Even if I don’t fully understand why.
I told her to come to my room not just because I wanted to fuck her, though I absolutely did.
I want another taste of her.
Another reminder of how perfectly her body fits with mine.
I need to feed the monster inside me before it tears its way out.
And lately, it seems to crave her more than anything else.
But the real reason I wanted her in my room is because she seems genuinely afraid of being seen with me in public.
In class, she looked almost nervous whenever my attention landed on her.
Which is fucking ridiculous.
At this academy, the Thirteen Circle holds more power than the headmistress herself, so I fail to see why the student-teacher rule should suddenly matter when it comes to us.
It shouldn’t.
And yes, technically we come from different syndicates, but the Thirteen Circle and the Ferrum Syndicate are under a bloody truce at the moment.
So her reluctance gets under my skin because the two most obvious reasons shouldn’t even be an issue.
Which means something else is.
She steps into the dorm building, and I follow after her at a slower pace.
She takes the stairs, completely lost in her own thoughts, and doesn’t notice me behind her once.
Which makes me clench my jaw.
Anyone could follow her like this, and she’d be completely oblivious to it.
She needs to be more careful.
And again why the hell do I care is beyond me.
But from the moment Adelaide Reyes introduced her at that party, I knew it was never going to be that simple.
Something about her pulled me in immediately, and deep down I already knew once would never be enough.
Though I’ll admit, I didn’t expect her to flirt back.
And I definitely didn’t expect that not long later I’d have my tongue down her throat and my cock buried inside her tight virgin cunt.
I keep telling myself I’ll eventually get over this fixation, but even as the thought crosses my mind, I know it’s probably bullshit.
But I also can’t love her. Hell, I don’t even know what the word means.
A woman like Piper would want things I was never built for. A relationship, a boyfriend, eventually a fiancé, a family, maybe even children.
All that normal domestic rubbish.
But that life was never meant for me.
And yet the mere thought of her having it with another man makes something ugly twist inside my chest.
Makes me want to put my fist through the nearest wall and cave the imaginary bastard’s face in afterwards.
As it is, I’m already doing it.
In my head, but that’s hardly the point.
And that right there is exactly why she’s bad for me.
I worked too bloody hard to build this calm, controlled version of myself just to start losing my head at the mere thought of another man anywhere near Piper.
I knock on her door, which definitely wasn’t part of the plan. I was only supposed to follow her back and make sure she got inside safely, yet here I am.
And it takes her less than a second to open it.
She didn’t even bother checking who it was before opening the damn door.
But one look at her face tells me she’s not fully present. She looks distraught, like part of her is still lost somewhere inside her own head.
The second she sees me, she tries to slam the door shut again.
I shove my arm through the gap before she can.
She gasps as her eyes fly to me through the narrow opening.
“What are you—”
I don’t let her finish. I push the door open and step inside.
She goes still instead of moving out of the way, leaving barely any space between us. We are so close that I can feel the warmth of her breath.
I shut the door behind me.
Her eyes flick past me to the closed door, and that same fear I’m quickly starting to despise crosses her face again.
“Mr Wardgrave…” she starts, and my jaw tightens at the sound of it.
Fuck.
The way she says my name.
“This is inappropriate. Someone could’ve seen you coming into my room…”
Her eyes lift to mine, clearly waiting for me to step back toward the door.
I don’t.
Her shoulders sink slightly, like she already knows I’m not going anywhere. “Please leave.”
Ignoring the request entirely, I reach up and brush a strand of hair behind her ear.
“What are you doing here?” she asks.
“You left before we had a chance to talk.”
“We have nothing to talk about.”
“You keep saying that,” I murmur. “But let’s start with the fact that I was quite clear when I said I expected you in my room at seven.”
“And I think I was clear that we should stay away from each other.”
I love the little attitude she keeps hidden from everyone else yet somehow always gives to me.
Because at first glance, Piper looks withdrawn. Like she exists in a world entirely her own. Reading her books, keeping to herself. So quiet people probably mistake it for weakness.
They assume she’s shy, that she doesn’t have a spine.
But they couldn’t be more wrong.
She takes a step back and blurts out, “I don’t understand what you want from me. Is it sex?”
I look at her, at the frustration written all over her face.
“I don’t know,” I admit honestly, which is rare. I always know exactly what I want, but this woman has my head completely fucked. “What I do know is that I can’t stop thinking about you. I want to touch you again. Kiss those bloody lips. Just having you near me doesn’t seem to be enough anymore.”
“I told you we can’t.”
“Give me one good reason.” I take a slow step closer. “Not that it’ll stop me, but at least I’ll let you pretend for a moment that it might.”
“I… can’t.”
“That’s not good enough.”
I take another step before bending towards her ear. “I followed you to make sure you got back safely.” My voice lowers. “And because I needed this again like I need oxygen.”
“Need what?”
“This.”
I kiss her before she can say another word.
My hands move over her body instinctively, pulling her against me as my mouth takes hers. The second I taste her again, something inside me settles and spirals completely out of control at the same time.
Fuck.
I deepen the kiss.
She moans softly when I bite down on her lower lip, the taste of blood hits my tongue a second later, and it takes serious effort not to completely lose control right here.
Her hands press to my chest like she means to push me away, but she never actually does it.
I bite her lip once more before I finally pull away, both of us breathing harder now.
“As I said,” I murmur, my mouth barely inches from hers, “one taste was never going to be enough.”
My thumb traces her swollen lip.
“Though I didn’t realise I’d start needing more than one taste a bloody day.”
I straighten before pulling the mask back over my face.
“I’ll see you tomorrow in class, Miss Ashthorne. Have a good evening.”
And with that, I turn and leave.
I force my legs to keep moving away from her even when every instinct tells me to stay.