Love in Troubled Times

by Gayle Riley

  I was pursuing a degree in mathematical economics. “Yes,” I panted.

  “This teaching position is temporary to see how I would fit. If everything went well, I was going to be offered a long-term position.” He slowly pushed his cock in further. “I can teach anywhere.”

  I grew delirious at what he was alluding to. He was willing to follow me to pursue what we have with each other. My eyes grew watery as I cupped his face and said. “I’m falling.”

  “Too late. I fell. I love you, too.” He kissed me softly as he pounded into me.

  Hard. He squeezed my breasts and continued his furious thrusting.

  “I’m cumming,” I gasped.

  A second later, he followed his warm seed pouring into me.

  The bell rang a few minutes later.

  Too caught up in passion, we failed to notice how much time passed. So consumed by the raw need for each other.

  We sprang into action, fixing our disheveled clothes.

  It was too late.

  Mr. Smith, the gym teacher who I’ve seen have lunch with Dean in the faculty room, entered the class. “Hey Dean, I got a date lined up for y…” His voice trailed off when he spotted Dean standing in front of me, shielding me from prying eyes while I buttoned my shirt.

  We fixed our clothes but our flushed skin and hair gave us away. The scent of what we were doing moments ago still in the air. It didn’t take a genius to know what transpired.

  “What the fuck is going on here?” Mr. Smith straightened and turned toward me and gently asked. “Lily, are you okay? Were you coerced?

  Dean stepped forward and furiously said, “Mike, you seriously think I’m capable of that.”

  “I don’t know what to think,” Mr. Smith exclaimed. You do realize that you’re the one in the fucking position of authority. She’s a student, for goddamn’s sake.”

  “Think, Mike, think.” Dean got into his face.

  Before it could go any further, I jumped in. “Mr. Smith, Dean—I mean Mr. Carter—did nothing wrong. It was consensual. I wasn’t coerced. I was aware of everything that went on. I wanted it.”

  He scoffed. “We have a week until graduation. You couldn’t keep your dick in your pants for a week longer?”

  “Dean,” I screamed when he pushed Mr. Smith against the wall and his forearm was pressed against his neck.

  “You. Do. Not. Speak. Like. That,” Dean bit out forcefully and pushed his forearms to emphasize his point.

  Mr. Smith was unfazed and stared at Dean trying to get a read on him. “Holy shit,” he muttered out, “All these months and I haven’t seen you with anyone. To think all this time, you had it for her.” He gestured to me.

  “She’s it,” Dean said firmly.

  “I have to report this.”

  He pushed off Mr. Smith and started pacing. “No. You’ll ruin her reputation. This will follow her everywhere she goes.”

  “It’s protocol. I have to.”

  I pleaded. “Mr. Smith, I’m graduating next week. No one ever has to know. After that, nothing is keeping Dean and I from being together.”

  “She’s right. If you want to still report me after a week, you can do so. But not her. She remains anonymous,” he demanded.

  Mr. Smith was torn by his duty as a teacher and a friend.

  Friendship won out.

  “I can wait,” he said and turned to leave. “Be careful, next time it won’t be me walking through that door.”

  Dean and I exhaled a huge sigh when the door closed behind Mr. Smith.

  “Whew,” I said.

  Chapter 10

  “I want you to move in with me over the summer before we go to Boston.”

  After the close call with Mr. Smith two days ago, Dean and I took extra precaution.

  No more rendezvous after class.

  We strictly communicated via texting.

  We acted in our professional capacity at school but engaged in the extra-curricular activities at Dean’s apartment. Where we could bask in our passions and not feel guilty.

  No one to interrupt.

  “After you graduate,” he clarified, running his hands down my arms. “I want two blissful months where I can spend days inside you. Not hide in corners for a few precious minutes.”

  “Why after I graduate? Why not now?” I ran my fingernails across his chest. We were lying in bed after being fucked hard on my knees.

  He was built with barely any fat. He ran six miles every morning before going in for work. I showed my appreciation to his toned body. I wanted to lick him all over. This is the first we’ve seen each other completely naked.

  And we’ve made up for lost time.

  Many, many hours later, there wasn’t a place where we haven’t kissed or licked or nuzzled and caressed.

  “Because you’re still my student and I won’t risk your future. I can’t. I care about you too much to do that you. No matter how much I want to keep you tied to my desk and plant my seed inside of you.” His gaze grew appreciative when he removed the sheets covering me to take in my naked form. My nipples perked up for attention.

  “Which means—” he closed his lips over my nipples, lavishing attention on both, “that we have to be careful. We’re going out next Saturday. On a proper date to celebrate your graduation.” His voice brooked no argument.

  His fingers dragged up and down my hot slit and then entered in firm slippery circles. I was already wet. Little did he know that the mere sight of him laying languorously in bed relaxed and sated made me wet.

  “I’d like that,” I barely answered. Forgetting everything except that finger.

  The sheets rustled and then a hot breath was fanned at my center. My back arched. I held his hair and pulled. He was undeterred in his mission. He licked and sucked until I was taken over edge.

  He kissed me as my body was coming down from the earth-shattering orgasm I just received.

  “I can’t wait until three weeks so that I can take you however and wherever I want and as hard as I want, consequences be damned,” he deliciously promised.

  We couldn’t get enough of each other.

  “On your stomach,” he ordered.

  And flipped me over. He placed a pillow under my stomach.

  He loved ordering me around. My compliance turned him on. It turned me on too when he used a domineering tone in bed.

  “God, you’re sexy,” he whooshed out and fisted my hair using it as something to hold on to.

  With no warning, he slammed into my sore cunt hard.

  My mouth fell open in pleasure.

  Whenever he retreated to slam back in, my head was pulled back from where his hand was gripping my hair.

  The pain coupled with his thrusts undid me.

  I arched and moved with his body.

  He groaned and let go of my hair to grabbed the globes of my ass and pump into me.

  I moaned and bit my lip.

  So close.

  And we both let out our breaths at the same time, our orgasms in sync. He kept thrusting to make sure all his semen was spent in me.

  He collapsed on the bed besides me and pulled me into the cradle of his arms, uncaring of the sticky juices tainting the bed.

  If he got his way, I would always have his seed in me and coating down my legs. That visual always made him hot and bothered, his caveman tendencies coming through. His seed in me turned him into a wild animal.

  When we lay like this, it was hard to think that there was a seven-year gap. Life and circumstances had shaped both of us beyond our years.

  His family kicked him out.

  My only family, my dad, passed away.

  We were two broken, lonely souls searching and wanting love without realizing it till it happened. We found that with each other.

  People would think it was a silly crush but Dean made me feel alive when I was all alone and depressed. He filled the void that was in my heart.

  Dean with his rough demeanor and soft gruffness made me crazy for him.

/>   In this bed, there was no teacher and student.

  We weren’t taboo.

  Or forbidden.

  We were two pieces of a puzzle that fit when we were together.

  Dean kissed my head softly and asked. “Hungry, love?”

  “Famished,” I responded.

  He chuckled. “Good to know I wore you out. Now, how about you whip us up some eggs?”

  I never responded well to orders outside of sex.

  “Yeah, right,” I said. I pushed him off the bed until he barely managed to catch himself so he wouldn’t fall and snuggled into the sheets.

  “Fine. Fine,” he grumbled, “What’s the point of having a woman around when she won’t cook?”

  My mouth fell open in outraged shock..

  He winked.

  Bastard.

  I threw a pillow at him as he walked out of the door.

  I hugged the pillow to my chests slumberously thinking about the past few months and excited for what was to come.

  I was graduating next week.

  Dean wasn’t going to be my teacher anymore.

  And I wouldn’t be his student anymore.

  We didn’t have to hide.

  We were spending the next three months wrapped up in each other.

  I couldn’t wait to bask in unbridled passion and love.

  THE END

  Bonus 17 of 30

  The Peace Offering

  Description

  Linnea did not expect to become a peace offering, but the princess knows that desperate times call for desperate measures. An enemy faction from the north called the Family Hawke is taking her world one province at a time. Linnea comes from a peaceful kingdom that doesn’t want to see bloodshed. The solution is simple: Linnea will be given to the Family Hawke for them to do as they see fit.

  Linnea finds herself in an odd situation. There are not monogamous relationships in this clan and she is shared by Brendan, the crown prince, and his younger brother, Carter. What should make Linnea scared and disgusted makes her feel strong and alive, and before long she can’t picture herself being anywhere else. Linnea becomes a stronger version of herself and falls in love with two very different men in the process.

  Chapter 1

  There was unrest. Linnea felt it. The air felt electric, the way the atmosphere feels before a storm.

  War was imminent. As princess of the Kingdom of Laurelasa, she was deeply involved in the proceedings and goings on in the world around her. Her family had ruled their kingdom and surrounding provinces in peace. Their world had been thriving until a threat to the north changed that.

  The kingdom ruled by the Family Hawke had long been looking to expand their empire. They conquered more and more southern provinces until they were practically on Laurelasa’s doorstep. Only a small band of neutral territory separated the two kingdoms. Linnea’s father and his advisors were convinced it was only a matter of time before they crossed the line and attempted to take over parts of Laurelasa.

  There was much debate about what they should do. Did they prepare for war? Did they make the first move? Laurelasa had always been a place of peace and forging an offensive was not their style. Despite this, they could not just sit there and wait to be destroyed. They had to find another solution.

  Linnea tried to keep herself busy during times like these. The nineteen-year-old would walk around the castle trying to appear happy and strong for her people who burned with apprehension. People were always on alert, looking to the sky for flying arrows, and no one ventured close to ‘no man’s land’ for fear of being kidnapped or worse. On the outside Linnea was a picture of resolve, but on the inside, she was just as scared as they were.

  “My lady,” a voice called.

  Linnea turned around at the sound of one of her handmaidens racing up the path. During more peaceful times, she would have had the girl accompany her, but she wanted to keep her ladies safe from unnecessary harm. “Is everything okay?”

  “I’m fine my lady. It’s your father. He wishes to see you in his council room.”

  Linnea thank the girl before she changed her course and headed toward a part of the castle she didn’t often visit. She and her brother and sisters were always welcomed in her father’s study, and in his various quarters, but seldom invited to the council room. Her older twenty-one-year-old brother, Cavan, had just started sitting in on sessions. Whatever her father wanted to discuss must have been important if he wanted her meet with all of his advisors.

  When she arrived, her father embraced her warmly before she was ushered into the room. Linnea stood by Cavan’s chair as they began to talk about the Hawke Kingdom and how spies stationed on the edge of ‘no man’s land’ noticed activity as if they were planning on moving their camps. Linnea’s father was deciding how to proceed.

  “I am not ready to ride to war,” he admitted, “but something must be done. I want to ride out to meet this Richard Hawke and his family.” Just when Linnea wondered why she had been invited to the council room, her father added, “I will take Cavan and Linnea with me. It will look less threatening that way.”

  Both brother and sister exchanged glances as their father’s advisors agreed. It was settled then. They would send a raven to the Hawke Kingdom when the meeting adjourned and they would plan to head out a day later.

  ***

  The following day, Linnea, her father, brother, three advisors, a small group of knights and one of her handmaidens disembarked from the palace. It was late spring and even though the days were getting warmer, she still wore one of her warmer dresses underneath her cloak. She’d braided her reddish-hued hair back and rode on horseback like the rest of the men, wanting to impress the Family Hawke when they finally met them. The handmaiden rode in a carriage in the middle of the convoy with two advisors too old for riding.

  It was a two-day’s journey to ‘no man’s land’, but Linnea tried to be hopeful. Maybe the Family Hawke would want to work with her father. Maybe they could join forces so that if another threat ever reached them, they would be unstoppable. She didn’t voice her opinions because Cavan looked anxious. He would be king someday. What happened today would someday affect the future.

  When they arrived at ‘no man’s land’, the Family Hawke already had their encampment made. There were half a dozen tents set up with standards billowing in the breeze. This sight caused the group from Laurelasa to raise their guard. The other kingdom looked perfectly at home set up in ‘no man’s land’. How far behind was the rest of their armies and people?

  “You’ve finally arrived!” a young man said as he exited a tent. He had dark brown hair, a well-kept beard and deep blue eyes that seemed bright and excited. It was not at all what Linnea had been expecting. She’d expected savage brutes, not athletic looking bodies covered in leather armor and fur.

  The group from Laurelasa dismounted and let their horses graze as this man shook hands and introduce himself. “I give you my warmest welcome,” he introduced. “My name is Brendan. I am crown prince of the Family Hawke and our empire. My father wishes to speak with you.” His eyes stopped on Linnea and her light coppery hair. “I had heard there was a princess of Laurelasa, but I did not think she would be as fair as you.” Apparently, both sides had made assumptions about appearances. Beside her, Cavan cleared his throat uncomfortably, and Linnea found herself becoming red in the cheeks.

  Brendan guided the group into the largest tent where a man stood at a large table, while others sat around it and conversed quietly. It was almost an identical sized group to the one Linnea had come with. The only difference was that she and her handmaiden were the only women. Linnea knew the man was King Richard of the Family Hawke. He looked important and his son, Brenden, was a younger copy of him.

  “I hope your journey was easy,” Richard said as chairs were brought in and everyone was made comfortable.

  “My good man,” Linnea’s father began, “You speak as if this land is already your own.”

  Richard Hawke sm
iled at him. “It will be, my friend. It’s the Family Hawke’s destiny.”

  Linnea stared at the man dumbfounded as he told her father that there were ancient texts describing the Family Hawk’s ascent to greatness and if he didn’t follow it, he would be ignoring God’s plan for him. Linnea and the people of Laurelasa were god-fearing people but this was madness.

  “You seem like kind people,” Richard Hawke continue. “We’ve learned that your kingdom is one built on peace. We do not want to see any harm come to you. However, we have a mission to fulfill and we will not stop. We will destroy you if we must.”

  “We do not wish to fight you,” Linnea’s father admitted. “We do not wish to have our freedom taken from us either.”

  Linnea tried to hide the fear that was trying to take control of her. Her eyes bounced from the king, his son, to each of his advisors, before she noticed a young man standing in the corner of the room with his arms crossed over his chest. His chin-length hair was jet black and his dark eyes studied her like he felt sorry for her. She didn’t know if it scared her or made her angry to see him looking at her that way.

  “We have a proposition for you,” Richard Hawke offered. “If you are willing to hear it.”

  Everyone from Laurelasa exchanged glances and quickly admitted that they had no other option. “We are willing to hear what you have to say.”

  “We would like to annex your empire with ours. There will be no bloodshed, and you will be able to rule over your provinces just as you always have. You will just have to answer to us from time to time.”

  “What is the catch?”

  Richard Hawke and his son Brendan turned their gaze to Linnea and she felt her pulse race. “In order to continue our family’s golden age, we will need heirs. If you daughter became part of the Family Hawke, that would make that a reality. That, and it would strengthen both of our kingdoms if we were a united force against any other enemy.

  Linnea had a feeling that was part of the reason why her father had brought her along but she still found herself shaking at the thought of being a literal peace offering.