Her steps slowed as the professor locked the door behind them. The lab space was cramped. Books and manuals took up one entire wall, while art pieces were scattered everywhere else. The lab had all the look of the absent-minded professor but she had no doubt he knew exactly where everything was. The energy emulating from the space was palpable.
“I’m sorry to disturb you,” she said. “You’re probably here early in hopes of getting something accomplished.”
He brushed her apology aside. “What is this about, Miss Sizemore? You have another piece?”
Her hand covered her purse protectively. Trust was still a tenuous thing between them. “I’ve come upon something. I was hoping we could make the same arrangement we made last time.”
One of the professor’s eyebrows rose but he indicated that she take a seat on a lab stool. She sat down in front of an interesting antique that he’d obviously been studying when she’d interrupted him. He cleared off another seat for himself but, when he sat, Talia found him eyeing her speculatively.
The look didn’t inspire confidence.
“Can you help me?” she asked.
“I don’t know if I should,” he said bluntly.
Her jaw slackened. She’d never dreamt he’d refuse her. Panic slipped under her skin, hard and fast. If he didn’t help her, it had all been for nothing!
And Kinkade was coming for her!
He held up his hand when she started to protest. “What, exactly, is going on with you, Ms. Sizemore?”
“Going on? Well, I…” She’d been asking herself that same question all night long and she didn’t have an answer. She fell back on the only plausible explanation she had. “The after-school program is in great need. I’m doing everything I can to keep it alive.”
“And you find this your only recourse? Stealing? Working through the black market?” He shook his head. “You seem to have put yourself on a slippery downward slope.”
Her grip tightened on her purse. In her head, she knew what he was saying was true. She just couldn’t seem to help herself. “You don’t understand. This wasn’t supposed to happen. I was working on another fund-raising idea. Everything with it was supposed to be on the up-and-up.”
She took a sharp breath. When had she had to start clarifying which of her activities was legal? She licked her suddenly dry lips. “My associate and I are planning a charity auction. I went out last night to ask for items to be put on the block. Unfortunately, the donors weren’t as enthusiastic as I expected them to be. I had to get them to… ahem…contribute in other ways.”
The professor picked up a well-worn pencil and began tapping it on top of the lab bench. “I must be candid with you. I find your behavior disturbing. The first time you came to me, I noticed your adrenalized state. Stealing that bronze cat energized you. From my experience, people who undergo that kind of a heightened rush often become addicted to it. Is that what’s happening here?”
Talia blinked. He wasn’t the first to make that observation. The detective had keyed in on it from the very beginning.
Kinkade! She had to get that dreaded man out of her head.
“I admit I find it exciting,” she said carefully, “But I haven’t intentionally set out to do these things.”
“Yet.”
With one word, he summed up all her uncertainties. A week ago, she would have put a definite end to this trail of conversation. Then again, a week ago, she never would have been having this conversation in the first place. A lot had changed in a short amount of time and even she didn’t know what she was capable of now.
Winston folded his arms across his chest. “Frankly, I’m not comfortable working with… How can I put this delicately? An amateur.”
Talia didn’t know why she felt offended. “I assure you, Professor. I was very careful.”
“Who was it this time?”
A bad taste filled her mouth. “Lydia Thorton.”
“Ah.”
“Please, Professor.” She didn’t like to beg but she would if she had to. “Would you at least take a look at it?”
He pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose. For all his contained quietness, she could sense the battle going on inside of him.
Finally, he let out a heavy sigh. “Your Robin Hood tendencies do strike a chord within me. Let me see what you’ve got.”
“Oh, thank you.” She’d waited hours for this. Her heart began pounding as she pulled the bracelet from her purse. She’d found a cushioned box on her quick visit home and she’d put the bracelet inside for protection. Like a student waiting for praise from her teacher, she slowly opened it so he could see inside.
“My, my,” he said softly. He gently clasped the edge of the box. “Might I have a closer look?”
She let him take it and watched his face intently. He was so hard to read.
“Tiger-eyes mounted on interlocking silver squares,” he commented. “Very nice. I should be able to get two thousand for this.”
Her brow furrowed. “That’s it? I know for a fact it was appraised at $2,500 and that must have been some time ago. If it were brought into my shop, I’d offer closer to three. I wouldn’t have taken it if I didn’t think I could get at least that much.”
One side of his mouth lifted. “So you were paying attention in class.”
A test. It had been a test. At once, Talia was miffed. She was going to have to watch this man like a hawk if their unusual partnership was to continue.
Her nerves jumped.
Continue?
“What’s this?” Turning, Winston grabbed a pair of tweezers from his workbench. Ever so carefully, he used them to remove a short, cream-colored hair that had gotten caught in the clasp.
Talia drummed her fingers along the edge of the desk. She really hadn’t wanted to get into this. “It’s cat hair. I had to be creative to get the bracelet out of the house.”
His sharp gaze drilled her. “Are you certain nobody noticed?”
“I’m sure.” She felt heat flood her face. “Lydia and Roger were too busy fighting over me to notice their cat had a new collar.”
“Fighting over you? I don’t understand.”
She refused to answer. “They didn’t notice it and, if the police had, they wouldn’t have let me go.”
The professor stood so abruptly, his glasses slipped down his broad nose. “The police?”
Damn! Her lack of sleep was making her careless. Talia mentally chastised herself for the untimely slip of the tongue but it was too late to take it back. Nervously, she began playing with the antique on the workbench in front of her. “His name is Kinkade.”
“If I remember correctly, you mentioned a detective the last time you were here.”
“Same guy.”
Winston’s body stiffened and his ebony features hardened. “You said you were careful.”
She frowned. “I was.”
“This is totally unacceptable! I put myself at risk for a ridiculous payoff. I am not putting myself back into that kind of jeopardy, especially not with the police already sniffing around.”
He pushed the bracelet back toward her. “Get this out of my sight and don’t ever come back.”
Talia held up her hands, refusing to accept it. “No, it’s clean. I swear. The only thing I’m suspected of is—”
Oh, this was awkward. She didn’t want to spread this gossip herself! Especially to someone as asexual as Professor Winston. He’d never understand.
She bit her lip in embarrassment. She had to tell him. It was either that or get thrown out of his office. Then where would she turn? “The only thing I’m suspected of doing is sleeping with Roger Thorton,” she said, hardly above a whisper.
He retreated one step, physically taken aback. “You had relations with him?”
“It wasn’t like that,” she said miserably.
Winston’s brow furrowed. “Lydia found you two.”
It wasn’t a question.
“And she called the cops?”
Talia couldn’t meet his gaze anymore. She focused on the antique and toyed with it absently. “If you’d please, I’d rather not talk about this.”
A chuckle erupted from the professor’s throat. “You are a surprising creature, Ms. Sizemore.”
Her head snapped up and she gaped at him in astonishment. That laugh wasn’t asexual in the slightest.
A wide grin split his face as he picked up the bracelet again. He nodded as he used his thumb to polish the tigereyes. “I think we can come to terms on this.”
His sharp about-face in attitude made her uneasy. Very uneasy.
“You are a most delightful, if unpredictable, supplier.” Walking across the room, Winston began twirling the lock on a small wall safe. Glancing over his shoulder, he silently instructed her to turn away. “Knowing what I know about you now, it’s all the more disappointing to me that you didn’t continue with your graduate studies. You’re very innovative.”
Talia turned on her stool and looked at the assortment of antiques in front of her. The one she’d been playing with was unfamiliar, but intriguing. It was a wooden instrument with a crank and several moving parts. As old as it was, the gear teeth looked worn and smooth. She couldn’t imagine its utility but the piece had been put to good use. “Grad school was tempting,” she said, “but I wanted to get out into the real world.”
She rolled her eyes over the implications of her decision. It would have been safer to stay in school. The real world was turning out to be much darker than she suspected.
“Graduate school might have been more educational than you realize.”
She ran her finger questioningly along the wooden device on the lab bench. The protruding feature looked familiar but, for the life of her, she didn’t know what it was. “Professor, what is this?” she finally had to ask.
At once, he looked discomfited. He paused for a long moment but, at last, looked her in the eye. “It’s an orgasmic manipulator.”
She looked at him uncomprehendingly. “I’m not familiar with—”
“It’s a sex toy, Ms. Sizemore.”
She snatched her hand back.
He sighed. “That kind of reaction is why I normally keep this line of my research quiet.”
“But…but why would you be studying this?”
“It’s functional art,” he said simply, “And the sponsors were quite generous with their funding. In this day, one can’t be choosy. You should know that better than anyone.”
“Yes, but—”
“It’s really quite interesting work.” He cocked his head and looked at her inquisitively. “You took my courses on sensuality in the arts. Human sexuality is expressed in all art forms from songs to paintings to sculptures. Theater and movies have long portrayed the condition of human attraction.”
Talia hurriedly wiped her palms on her jeans. Who knew where that thing had been? “But functional art is something that incorporates art but is used for a different purpose. It’s furniture, pottery…peace pipes.”
“And dildos,” Winston said, matter-of-factly. He reached for the apparatus.
“You’re an art aficionado; you should be able to appreciate this. Look at this piece carefully,” he said, holding it up for her perusal. “You’ll note the intricate carving and the smooth sanding that was done to create this piece. Some craftsman obviously put in a lot of time and effort.”
It was like a car wreck; she couldn’t tear her gaze away.
“This artifact is really ingenious,” he said. “If you’ll watch as I turn this crank, the phallic module moves in a lateral fashion, thus simulating the thrusting motion of a man’s hips.”
“Um, yes,” Talia said, shifting on her stool. She could feel her nipples tightening and her pussy beginning to throb as she watched the workings of the wicked device. It wasn’t that long ago that Roger had left her mid-intercourse, and Kinkade had pawed between her legs.
This wasn’t helping at all.
“With this lever,” the professor continued, “an added feature is engaged. This donut-shaped structure will traverse the length of the faux penis, giving additional stimulation to the walls of the woman’s vagina.”
How could he touch and describe that devilish thing with such clinical detachment? She couldn’t take it. Awkwardly, she slipped off the stool and put a good distance between them. “I’m sorry, Professor, but I find it hard to believe that the college supports this. No respectable publisher would print this type of research.”
Winston pushed himself upright, obviously offended. “Oh, but they do. Feel free to ask the provost. It isn’t something we promote due to the sensitivities of the parents and the alumni but we are known worldwide as a leader in the field. Several respected companies in the sex market regard me as an authority. I’m also well-known in the medical community.”
He gestured to the bookshelf and she looked closer at the titles. There was volume upon volume of books relating to the subject. Many had his name on them and several were co-written by a professor from the Nautington Institute with whom she was familiar.
“This is serious research?” she asked.
“Do you think I would risk procuring these collectors’ items on the black market if it were something perverse?” the professor asked, affronted.
Talia was taken aback. That was why he worked as a fence?
The realization nearly knocked her over.
“Of course not,” she said hastily. She just couldn’t say anything right about this. Whatever tack she chose, she was bound to be embarrassed or learn more than she ever wanted to know.
Even worse, just looking at that devious machine was agitating her.
And making her too curious for her own good.
She nearly jumped out of her shoes when she heard a key in the lock on the door.
Winston merely glanced at his watch. “Relax. It’s my graduate student, Jennifer. We tend to conduct our studies before the more conservative students and faculty arrive.”
Grad student? Talia looked quickly at the sex toy in the professor’s hands. Heat flooded her entire body. She didn’t want to know. She did not want to know.
She reached for her purse. “I really must be going, Professor. I’ve already interrupted you enough and I have to get back to my shop before anyone becomes suspicious.”
“Of course,” he said. He set the piece down carefully.
Talia turned, but stopped dead in her tracks when the door opened and a beautiful young blonde walked in. A tall, beautiful, blonde wearing jeans and a ponytail.
“Oh! I’m sorry,” the girl said. “I didn’t realize you had a visitor, Professor.”
Talia was speechless. It was like looking in a mirror from ten years ago.
“It’s fine, Jennifer,” Winston said. “This is Ms. Sizemore, a former student of mine.”
An amused, but interested, sparkle entered the student’s eyes. “Hello,” she said as she stuck out her hand.
“Undergrad!” Talia blurted. She felt her face flush at her outburst. Hastily, she shook the girl’s hand. “I received my bachelor’s degree here. I…uh, never went to grad school.”
Vivid images flew through her mind. If she’d continued with her education, would Winston have involved her in this line of research? Just how in depth did the research go? And what exactly was Jennifer’s contribution?
Moisture pooled in the crotch of Talia’s panties and she pressed her thighs together tightly.
“Ms. Sizemore runs a Foundation that supports the arts for school children,” the professor explained. “She was just telling me about a charity auction they’ll be holding in the near future.”
“Um, yes,” Talia said, distinctly uncomfortable.
“That sounds interesting,” Jennifer said as she took off her backpack.
Talia glanced away from the girl’s lush body. “I’ll provide the details once I have them, Professor Winston.”
“Wonderful,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “And I’ll let you know
about that donation I promised.”
She nodded stiffly in understanding. She tried hard to shake off her unease. He really was putting himself on the line for her and he deserved more gratitude than she’d shown. Who was she to judge anyway? Had her actions been any better? “I know I’ve been a nuisance but I do appreciate all you’ve done for me.”
“I’m doing it for the children.”
She smiled. “That makes it all the better.”
Talia nodded at Jennifer and headed for the door but every step she took made the ache in her lower belly intensify. She couldn’t block out the heated visions that were rushing through her tired mind. She could see Roger kneeling in front of her spread legs, the professor demonstrating the sex toy, Kinkade searching her for the bracelet…
Kinkade doing anything!
Her fingers turned white when she gripped the door handle. What had gotten into her?
Why was she suddenly feeling so reckless?
Had the detective been right? Was she becoming addicted to the rush?
Whatever it was, this had to stop. This wasn’t her. She was a dependable, sane person. She had to get herself under control before this wildness got her in trouble.
Or worse yet, got her caught.
Chapter Nine
It was still before hours when Talia arrived back at Coolectibles. The sun had risen and the newspaper was on her doorstep. A new day had begun but to her it was just the continuation of an already lengthy night. She looked longingly at her bed when she went upstairs to change into work clothes. A quick nap was tempting but she couldn’t do that again. Once her head hit that pillow, she wouldn’t wake for hours. She couldn’t get into the habit of sleeping the day away. Sadie would get worried and others would get suspicious.
Or more suspicious than they already were.
She forced herself to eat a muffin but the comfort food didn’t help her relax. The events of the night before had been too exhilarating. Tired as she was, she still had a buzz.
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