5. Chapter Five
Chapter Five
Hudson
I finally took my own advice and stayed away from her.
Well, as away from her as I can when I have to teach her several times a week.
But for the last week my interactions with her have been limited.
I’ve refused to engage in her wild comments, even if they have made me twitchy with the need to spank her.
Fuck, does she need a good spanking.
The only thing I haven’t been able to do is keep my eyes off her. I know every time she crosses her legs, every time she chews on the end of her pen; every breath, every blink, it’s all cataloged in my mind and replayed when I make myself come each night.
It doesn’t help that she’s smart — seriously smart. The assignment I’m currently marking is one of the best I’ve read. I can’t fault it and it pisses me off. I don’t need her being perfect. I need to not want her.
She’s twenty-four-years younger than me.
She’s twenty-two.
She’s my student.
I cannot pursue this.
I pull my cell from my bag and text one of my closest friends. He lives in the UK, but he attended college here in the States and we’ve remained close ever since.
Hudson: How did you resist Paige?
Grayson: The woman I’m married to? The mother of my child? Yeah, I did a great job of resisting her
Hudson: You managed it for months
Grayson: She was my son’s. Or at least I thought she was. I couldn’t have her
Hudson: What changed?
Grayson: She sat next to me on a fucking plane
Hudson: That’s it? She sat next to you, and you caved?
Grayson: You’ve met my wife, of course I caved. What’s this about anyway?
Hudson: I want one of my students
Grayson: Fuck
Hudson: Exactly
Grayson: Just tell me she’s legal
I choke as I read his text. What the fuck? He actually has to ask me that?
Hudson: Of course she’s fucking legal. What do you take me for?
Grayson: Age?
Hudson: 22
Shit. Typing it out makes it seem even worse. What am I thinking?
Grayson: Same age Paige was. Did we take something at college?
Hudson: Must have
Grayson: What are you going to do?
Hudson: I was hoping you could tell me
Grayson: Is she worth it?
I glance up from my cell phone to find her staring at me, her beautiful blue eyes an oasis I want to drown in.
Hudson: I don’t know yet
But I do know I’ve never even considered this with a student before, never even been tempted.
Grayson: Then I suggest you find out
Mia
“There’s space here,” Madeline shouts over the top of my head.
I don’t have to turn around to know exactly who she’s talking to.
I can feel him. Sense him. It’s been the same all week, I know he’s going to be there before I even turn the corridor.
For someone I’ve managed to go months without bumping into, he’s now popping up like a damn weed. A beautiful one.
“Miss Edwards.” His voice is a deep rumble just behind me. “I don’t think having lunch with students is appropriate. The staff room is just fine.”
“Why? It’s a beautiful day and there’s plenty of staff eating with students. Take a look around.”
There’s a moment’s silence as, I’m sure, he glances to see for himself that several professors are indeed sitting with students. I’m praying he still thinks the staff room is the best idea because the only free spot at this table is right beside me.
“Very well.” He slides in next to me and I’m instantly enveloped with his scent. It’s woody, masculine, rich, and sophisticated. It’s a smell that I’m coming to crave, that I only need one whiff of and my panties become damp.
The side of his body presses against mine from shoulder to knee, and I heat at the contact, my clit pulsing with need. I think he’s going to pull away, to put a little more space between us, but he doesn’t, if anything, his leg presses even more firmly against mine.
Christ, I need to get my head checked if just touching this man through clothing is doing it for me.
I wrap up the remains of my sandwich and pull my fruit toward me. I need something a little sweeter, something to try and hit that craving I seem to always have around him. He glances at the cherries I pull from my lunch bag, his hand pausing midway to his mouth with his own food.
“Cherries?”
“I love cherries, love the way their sweetness floods my taste buds.” His leg twitches next to mine.
“Oh, do that thing with your tongue!” Madeline laughs across from me. “I still can’t work out how you do it.”
I smirk at the fact she’s just handed me the perfect opportunity to get under Hudson’s skin. I don’t know if she realizes how sexual what I’m about to do is, but I’m positive Hudson is going to have a reaction. The other guys we’re sitting with are all focused on me, knowing exactly what’s coming.
I pop the cherry, stalk and all, into my mouth and chew, a sensual groan leaving me at the taste which earns me another twitch from the man beside me. Less than a minute later I pull the pip and stalk from my mouth, the latter of which is tied in a perfect knot.
Hudson’s eyes are glued to the stalk still dangling from my fingers, his throat bobbing as he audibly swallows.
“How do you do that?” Madeline giggles.
“What can I say?” I shrug. “I have a very skilled tongue.” His eyes flit to my own, the blue of his irises practically drowned out by black.
Yep, that definitely got to him. I’ll be adding cherries to my daily diet from here on out.