Getting Schooled (Craving #9) Page 20

  He rakes his fingers through his dark hair that I’ve stroked so many times.

  “You’ve taught me so much. Your art inspires me. The student has surpassed her mentor by light years. I’m so proud of you.”

  “Thank you,” I say, but I feel a “but” coming.

  Again, he rakes his hair, a nervous habit I’ve noticed over our years together.

  “But I can’t offer you the position.”

  I stand and lean toward him. “What? You know I’m most qualified. What the hell, Hunter; what’s this about?”

  He stands and reaches for me, but I pull away.

  “Don’t. Don’t touch me. Explain yourself,” I demand.

  Defeated, he sits back down.

  “Stephanie will never divorce me. She’s old-fashioned Irish Catholic. ‘Whatsoever God put together, no man shall separate’ or some such crap. I tried. It’s not happening. And I love you too much to string you along thinking we’ll be a married couple, have a couple of kids, and live happily ever after…”

  “But,” I interrupt.

  “Let me finish, please. I love you, Sara, I honestly do. I’ve never loved anyone like I do you. That’s why I’m saying goodbye…”

  “Goodbye? You called me here to say goodbye?”

  I close the space between us, reach down to where he’s sitting, and slap his face, hard. It reddens immediately.

  “You lying piece of shit. You led me on. You played me. Who’s your next ‘special student?’ Have you already picked her out?”

  He rubs his cheek and says, “It’s not like that. I do love you. I want to be with you, but I love you enough to let you go. You need a life outside this campus, without me. You must spread your wings and show the world all you’ve learned and all you’ve taught me. Since it can’t ever be a full relationship for us, this truly is goodbye. I’m so sorry.”

  I should have expected this. He’s been acting distant lately. More professional than personal. How was I so blind? Love struck blind, that’s what I’ve been.

  “Sorry doesn’t cut it, Hunter. I hate you. I’m sorry I ever stepped foot into this office. You, after all these years of leading me on, promising a future, are dropping me here, now. Well, I won’t let you. I’m stronger than you think. I’m not the naïve co-ed who answered your note to come visit that first day five years ago. I’m smarter now. I’ve got more talent in me than you have. You educated me, but I’ve outdone you, and my revenge will be sweet when you sit at the Metropolitan admiring my creations. You can have your Stephanie and your boys. I’ve got me, and that’s all I need.”

  I slam the door behind me as I leave. When I do, I run into a perky blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl who must be a freshman. She is clutching a piece of paper to her heart and grinning with orthodontist-perfect white teeth.

  “Be careful,” I warn, as I see her reach to knock on his heavy wooden office door. “He’s not exactly what he seems.”

  Epilogue

  It’s been five years since I slammed that door behind me and never looked back. That’s not exactly true. I cried more tears than I thought could be in me for months and months after I left. But then I picked myself up and moved on. I now own the gallery called Sara Quinn-Winston Creations. Business is thriving. I’m pregnant with our second child; she’s to be another girl. Brook and I were married three years ago. Our marriage is honest, strong, sexy, and full of love and laughter. By meeting Hunter when I did, I basically missed out on the simplicity of college life, of being free to be a child for the last time with no more concerns than what sources to use in a term paper. Instead, he took my virginity and taught me sex, until the tables were turned and I educated him. He taught me his textile artistry, and I returned the favor by outselling his creations and showing in galleries and museums in America and Europe.

  Life is wonderful for me now. There are no secrets to keep, no guilty feeling of being the mistress, and no disappointments.

  I’ve learned from my past. The forbidden love I experienced taught me to appreciate the true love Brook and I have now. I’ll never take that for granted as I once did with so much of my first forbidden love.

  About the Author

  Rita Delude creates new worlds with words. Her favorite genre is contemporary romance, but she’s ventured into science fiction, vampires, the circus, and horror in her short story writing.

  She’s published short stories in numerous anthologies by multiple publishers.

  Her contemporary romance novella set in the tranquil town of Escape, CO, Kaleidoscope, has Alice starting over after a horrible breakup. A contemporary romance novel based on finding love on a dating site is her Catch.net. The sequel to Kaleidoscope is Baby Blues, a contemporary romance about much more than just romantic love. Another novel, Caught in the Middle, the sequel to Catch.net, will release in January 2019. Her first YA novel, Bubble Gum Love, releases in June 2019.

  She has also published dozens of non-fiction magazine articles and wrote a twice-weekly column for a newspaper and hundreds of feature stories for seventeen years. Rita Delude holds a MFA in Writing. She is retired from her position as a full professor at Nashua Community College, Nashua, New Hampshire.

  She lives in New Hampshire, USA with her husband and their rescue dog, Daisy. They have four married children and nine grandchildren.

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorRitaDelude/

  WordPress:

  www.authorritadelude.com

  Goodreads:

  https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Rita+Delude

  The Professor

  By Kenadee Bryant

  Chapter 1

  Deep green eyes were all I could see. They were the color of emeralds and unlike any other green eyes I had seen before. I found myself getting lost in them, not hearing a thing around us.

  The person who belonged to the eyes stood off to my left. He was leaning against the bar, but his gaze was fully locked on me. When I finally forced my eyes away from his, I was able to get a look at the rest of his face.

  The only word I could use to describe the man beside me was gorgeous. Literally that was the one word that jumped out in my mind. A well-trimmed beard graced his defined jawline. It wasn’t the kind of beard that guys my age tried to grow. No, this was a man’s beard, and damn, was he a man even though he didn’t look to be any older than twenty-eight.

  My eyes next landed on his lips. Lips that looked like the perfect size to kiss and nibble on. That thought had me biting on my own lip, imagining what it would be like to kiss those lips. I watched as they parted to reveal a set of perfectly straight white teeth.

  I must have been really drunk as I imagined those teeth nibbling their way down my neck to other parts of me. Clenching my thighs tightly together, I shook my head to clear away such dirty thoughts. I was finally able to catch the end of whatever the man was saying.

  “What are you drinking?”

  “Uh…” I cleared my throat. “A mojito.” My voice sounded really high pitched, making me inwardly wince.

  “Can I get another mojito for the pretty lady? And a whiskey,” the man beside me said to the bartender. His deep voice and the way he demanded the bartender sent a shiver down my spine.

  “You didn’t have to,” I said, surprised he was ordering a drink for me.

  “I couldn’t let a pretty girl like you sit alone at a bar.” He turned so his upper body was now facing me and his one arm was against the bar.

  “What makes you think I’m alone?” I found myself saying, leaning forward a bit. I had no clue what I was doing. Was I about to flirt with this handsome stranger?

  “A guess, and you’ve been sitting here for a while now.” The corner of his mouth lifted up in a half smile, half smirk. I felt my heart beat a bit faster at that.

  “You’ve been staring at me.”

  “No, just casually watching.” I couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s called stalking, you know.”

  “Maybe.” His mouth tilted more into a smile. We s
tared at one another for a good minute, neither breaking eye contact. Despite only saying a few words to one another, there was something about him I liked. He had this cool, calm, dominant vibe about him that I really, really liked.

  Our silence was broken by the bartender setting down our drinks. Without taking his eyes off of me, the guy reached over and paid the bartender. It happened so fast I couldn’t have stopped him if I tried.

  “So what are you doing here alone?” He finally broke the stare down. I quickly grabbed my mojito and took a big sip before replying.

  “I’m here with my friend, actually, but…I think she left.” I hadn’t realized I hadn’t seen her until I said it. Glancing around the guy, I looked for my best friend and inwardly cursed not seeing her. She was the only reason I was here and my ride home.

  It shouldn’t have surprised me that Thalia left without me. She’s done it plenty of times before. She must have found a guy she liked and went back to his place. Please have gone back to his place, I silently pleaded. The last thing I wanted was to go home and hear her having sex.

  “Now you definitely need some company.” The smile he sent me let me know he was clearly flirting with me. For some odd reason, I found myself smiling back and leaning closer to him.

  “I guess I do.” Inwardly, I was screaming at myself. This wasn’t me! I didn’t go to bars and flirt with random strangers, hot strangers at that. The guy standing beside me was so far out of my league, and yet here he was smiling and buying me a drink.

  “So what’s your name?” He slid into a seat and turned to face me head on.

  “Tera. How about you?” I didn’t know who this guy was or if this would go past an innocent conversation, so best not say my last name.

  “Hunter.” Of course he would have a hot name to match the hot body and face.

  “Well, nice to meet you, Hunter.”

  “Oh no, the pleasure is all mine.”

  I didn’t miss the way he purposely dragged out the word “pleasure” or the glint in his eyes.

  There was something about Hunter that screamed confidence, but not overly so. There was a certain air about him that just drew your attention, but he didn’t seem cocky.

  Being twenty-three, I’d dealt with my fair share of cocky, over-confident guys who thought they could get any girl they wanted. Hell, I couldn’t even walk across campus without some guy hitting on me like he was some god’s gift to women. Even though I had just met him, I knew he wasn’t like the young boys at school.

  To calm my nerves, I took big sips of my drink. Sitting here flirting wasn’t me at all, but I found myself not wanting to leave just yet. It’s not every day a hot guy wants to talk to plain old me.

  Just stay and talk, Tera. What could it hurt?

  Chapter 2

  A good hour passed with us talking and laughing. I found myself laughing harder than I ever have. Despite being good looking, Hunter was surprisingly funny. He once had me laughing so hard in the loud bar that people stared, but I didn’t care.

  I was now feeling beyond tipsy and was giggling every few seconds. I could still think pretty clear, but the four mojitos I had were definitely taking effect. When I reached to take another sip, a hand grabbed my wrist.

  “I think that’s enough for you.” The teasing smile Hunter had on his face made butterflies erupt in my stomach.

  All night I could feel the sexual tension rising between us. I’d never felt so attracted to someone in my life, and with each passing second, the tension between us rose. All I could think about was the taste of those soft pink lips and to see if what he had under his shirt lived up to what was in my mind.

  “Come on, let’s get you out of here.” I stayed silent as Hunter helped me off the chair, my legs slightly wobbly from sitting too long.

  With a firm hand on my lower back, Hunter led me through the crowd of people toward the door. His hand on my lower back sent a shiver down my spine despite the fabric that covered my skin.

  I stumbled slightly as we walked through the door, but Hunter’s strong arm wrapped around my waist to keep me steady. My mind immediately went somewhere dirty as he pulled me close to his side.

  Now that we were standing up, I noticed just how tall he was. I wasn’t the tallest person at five foot four inches, and even with my four-inch heels, I still had to tilt my head back a bit. Damn, he is tall, I thought, unconsciously tugging on my bottom lip with my teeth.

  We came to a stop near the curb, Hunter’s hand still on my lower back. Seeing a cab pull up in front of us, I felt my heart sink. I wasn’t ready to leave him just yet. I’d had a good night, considering I didn’t even want to come here in the first place.

  It had been a long time since I felt something like this around someone. Too long, in fact. Now with the new semester of college starting in two days, I would have no time for dates or a boyfriend.

  Maybe it was the alcohol that had me suddenly grabbing his arm, gazing up at him.

  “Do you…do you want to go back to my place?” While I tried to sound sexy and sultry like I’d seen my friends do, it came out like I had smoked three packs in the last hour.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.” I didn’t even hesitate. I knew if I thought it through, I would say no, then regret it later. For once I wasn’t going to second guess myself.

  Hunter looked at me for a second before he grabbed my hand tightly in his and yanked me toward the cab. I fell against him and somehow managed to close the door after me before I felt his lips against mine.

  The first thing that hit me was the taste of whiskey on his lips. It tasted so…masculine. One of his big hands grabbed the side of my neck as he continued kissing. My own reached for his head, grasping his brown locks and tugging.

  The kiss seemed to go forever. All I could see, feel, taste was Hunter, and I felt like I was getting drunk off of it. I briefly heard the cab driver saying something about us knocking it off or he’d throw us out, but I felt like I was on cloud nine. We did eventually pull apart, both panting heavily.

  “Damn, you taste good,” Hunter whispered in my ear. I shivered, my lips already feeling swollen.

  Thankfully, the car ride to my place only took five minutes. During that time, I was silent, and so was Hunter, but his hand kept running up and down my bare thigh, distracting me slightly.

  The moment we reached my apartment, Hunter threw some cash to the driver before yanking me out of the cab. I had barely caught my footing before he was moving us toward the entrance. Knowing that I was minutes away from getting to see what was under those clothes made me quickly take out my keys and push open the doors.

  The two of us took the stairs two at a time so we reached the third landing in no time. Reaching my door, I tried to get my keys in the lock, but the feel of Hunter’s lips on my neck and his hands gripping my waist distracted me.

  After a good minute of fumbling, I finally got the door open. The two of us stumbled into my apartment, and I found myself giggling, only for it to be silenced by Hunter kissing me once more.

  My hands fumbled with his dress shirt as I walked backward in the direction of my room. When my hip hit the corner of the counter, I pulled away.

  “Follow me,” I breathed softly, grabbing his hand and tugging him toward my room. My stomach was churning with butterflies as I led him through the door.

  Hunter took a moment to look around my plain room while I leaned back against the door, shutting it. It felt odd to have him in here, especially since it has been well over seven months since a guy has been in here. While my room wasn’t small, Hunter made it seem that way. His big frame took up quite a bit of space. In the club, I hadn’t realized just how big he was. He definitely worked out.

  The longer I stared at him, the more I wanted to jump him. I was seconds away from launching myself at him and attacking his lips with mine. Judging by the look on his face when he turned toward me, he was thinking the exact same thing.

  We stared at each other for another
minute, the tension rising to an almost unbearable level. It almost felt like a thread was between us, and it suddenly snapped. In a matter of seconds, I was across the room, jumping into Hunter’s arms and my legs going around his waist.

  We were both so impatient that we were practically ripping each other’s clothes off. One second I had my dress on and the next I was completely bare. And same went for Hunter. I tugged at his clothing like a starved woman.

  My whole body felt like it was on fire as he laid me down on my bed. I had no time to feel embarrassed or nervous before his body was on top of mine. The scruff of his beard tickled down my chest, and the feel of it against my skin turned me on even more.

  The moments that followed passed in a blur. One moment I was lying on my back with Hunter kissing down my body, and the next I was sitting on top of him moaning louder than I ever have before.

  The next thing I knew, I was cuddled into Hunter’s side, drifting off to sleep, my entire body worn out.

  Chapter 3

  I woke to the feeling of a kiss on my forehead. I managed to creak my eyes open a little bit to see Hunter leaning over me.

  “You’re leaving?” My voice was groggy with sleep.

  “I have to get going, but I had a great time.” I felt a part of me swell in pride. “Go back to sleep.” The caring tone he had and the soft smile on his face made my lips form a smile of its own.

  My heavy eyes started closing once more as sleep threatened to take me back under. My body was so tired it didn’t take long for me to fall back to sleep.

  “Sleep well, Tera,” was the last thing I heard before I passed out.

  When I woke the next morning, I felt like I had been run over by multiple semi-trucks. My head throbbed and my limbs felt extremely tired. I laid there with my eyes closed, trying to fight off the nausea. I should not have gone out last night and had that many drinks. Being hungover was a bitch.