by Marian Tee
“Professor?” Leon halted right in front of her.
Mairi forced herself to look at the younger man. “Yes, Mister…?” She blinked owlishly at him, pretending ignorance.
His lips twitched, but he let it be. She was even cuter now, with the way she pretended not to know him. No one had ever done that to him before. “I just wanted to let you know I’m not on the student list you have,” he drawled. “I’ve only decided to take this one earlier so…”
When Leon handed her a receipt, he managed to caress her hand as she reached for it. Mairi snatched her hand away immediately, face burning.
Behind Leon, one of the male students in the front row whistled. Leaning forward on his desk, he said with a snicker, “Way to go, Leon. I think the teacher’s got a crush on you.”
Mairi shook her head anxiously. “No, no, I—” She couldn’t help tossing a look at the rest of the class, wondering if they had heard what the other student said.
Leon frowned. His little professor was cute when she was worried, but he didn’t like it when another person was the reason behind it. Turning around, he gave his friend a look of mock regret. “You’ve got it the other way around, amico.” Winking at Mairi, he said with a wicked smile, “I’m the one who’s head over heels over our little teacher. Right, Ms. Yay?”
This time, his voice rang clearly throughout the class. Hearing it, everyone broke into laughter and some even cheered.
After writing his name on the list, she pushed the sheet towards him on the desk. “Please sign here,” she muttered ungraciously.
Instead of simply signing it, Leon actually went around the desk to stand next to her, making Mairi gasp and the class laugh. The guys at the back whistled catcalls.
This time, Leon’s proximity made her a thousand times more uncomfortable than earlier. The urge to run away increased, and she could feel her face getting hotter.
A student, Mairi reminded herself desperately. He was just a student, and she was a teacher. She should be the one with an upper hand in this!
As Leon bent his head down and signed the sheet, he murmured, “No need to say thanks, Ms. Yay.”
“Excuse me?” Mairi was incredulous.
Laying the pen down, he looked at her under his lashes, and with him so close she began to realize a few more things. He might be several years younger than she was, but he wasn’t really a boy.
There was nothing boyish and everything imposing about Leon’s height, build, and most especially at the way he looked at her. Good God, he almost looked like he was ready to pounce on her!
She stumbled a step back at the thought, not realizing she was already at the edge of the platform. She flailed and tottered, but before she could fall, Leon was there to catch her, snatching Mairi from the edge.
When her body slammed against his, the class only had one reaction.
Ooooooooh.
“See,” he whispered, his breath fanning her ear, making the side of her face tingle. “If I hadn’t done this, they wouldn’t have warmed up to you.”
He let her go after that, leaving Mairi staring after him in stunned realization. He had done all that…for her?
Her gaze flew to the rest of the class, and by now they were all smiling, in a way she knew she’d never have made them do if it was up to her alone.
When Leon reclaimed his seat, he winked at her from the back. “Go on, Ms. Yay. I’ll make certain everyone’s all ears for you.”
Hoots and giggles erupted from the other students, and it all went downhill – or uphill, depending on how one looked at it – from there.
When Mairi started the roll call and the first student raised her hand, Leon said, “Don’t call her that.”
The girl frowned. “Don’t call her ‘Professor’?”
Leon shook his head with a frown. “Not that. I mean, call her Professor Arlotta,” he suggested. “Because she’ll soon be mine.”
The class once again exploded in laughter, drowning out Mairi’s gasp. She opened and closed her mouth several times, unsure of how to handle this. Give Leon the evil eye? She doubted it would work. Reprimand the class? They really weren’t the ones in the wrong.
In the end, all she could do was bear with everyone’s constant teasing.
When class ended, Mairi was all smiles when she said goodbye to the class. But it was just as clear to Leon she was also exhausted. When he started after her, it was as if some kind of sixth sense informed her of his intentions. Mairi’s head jerked up, and when their eyes met, dismay flitted over her face.
Mairi hurriedly gathered her things, practically dumping everything in her bag in one go. Hell bent on leaving before Leon could get to her, Mairi walked as fast as she could, heading towards the back doors of the school.
It was where she had promised to meet Damen, and the first thing she saw, basking under the afternoon sunlight?
Damen was still in his business suit, elegant, handsome, and exuding both power and sex appeal. Flawlessly and intensely male, he drew gazes and caused jaws to drop and steps to falter without doing anything.
Leaning against Damen, ruining her father’s ruthless image, was Nala, sleeping peacefully, secured in the floral carrier strapped to her husband’s chest.
She wanted to laugh and cry at the picture the two presented. Oh, Nala, if you only knew what you’re doing to your dad.
When Mairi started running towards him, Damen knew right away something was wrong. She wasn’t crying when she reached him, but her smile wobbled and her eyes couldn’t quite meet his. She tiptoed to kiss Nala on the head.
“Missed you, baby girl,” Mairi whispered. Looking up at Damen, she gave him a quick smile. “Is this the carrier your sister gave you?”
“I thought wearing it would make you smile.” And it did, but it didn’t succeed in making Mairi meet his eyes. He noted her bandaged wrist with a frown. “What happened?”
She spoke in a rush. “Just an accident, and please don’t ask the guards about it? It’s just a sprain.”
“We’ll see.” Sensing her unspoken need, Damen unstrapped the carrier. It was the only way she’d be able to hold their baby with her sprained wrist.
“Thanks.” This time, Mairi was able to meet his gaze, her smile reaching her eyes.
When her attention returned to their daughter, some form of primitive instinct had him looking afar. Over Mairi’s head, Damen found a younger man looking at them.
Damen’s gaze narrowed. Could this be why his wife appeared emotional right now?
He had a feeling it was, but Damen forced himself to set the thought aside for the time being. He had more important matters to take care of.
Wrapping a protective arm around Mairi’s shoulder, he drew her close. “Let’s go?”
Mairi nodded.
Inside the Rolls Royce – his concession to her not wanting to be fetched in a limousine on her first day at work – Damen gave his wife some time before asking quietly, “Is anything wrong?”
Mairi froze at the question. “W-why do you ask?” She didn’t dare look at him. She was terrified if she did, he’d know the truth. That she had stupidly given another man a chance to kiss her.
A part of her knew what Velvet told her was true. That it was just a kiss, and it shouldn’t mean anything when she hadn’t even wanted it.
But even so…she hated herself for it. She couldn’t help remembering what happened between her and Drake, and how the knowledge had devastated Damen.
‘His name is Drake. He’s been living with me for a week.’ The agony in Damen’s face almost made her falter, but she forced herself to continue. Hurting him was the only way to free herself, and Mairi wanted to stop loving him now.
‘And when he asked if I wanted him…when Drake asked me if I wanted him to make me come—’
‘DON’T SAY ANOTHER WORD.’ The pain on his face was indescribable.
‘I told him—’
His next words broke the chain of love binding them, but it also broke her.
‘Goddammit, please, I’m begging you. Don’t say it.’
And though it hurt, Mairi had not heeded him, had not stopped hurting him. Because then, in her eyes, Damen was still not as broken, was still not as ravaged the way he had once left her.
The memories made her shudder, and suddenly Damen was next to her, cupping her face, his mouth covering hers. He kissed her fiercely, and she kissed him back just as passionately.
When he pulled away, his face became grim when he saw the unshed tears in his wife’s eyes. “Tell me what’s wrong, sweetheart.”
She shook her head. “I want to…I want to solve it on my own.”
Their gazes held, hers pleading, his brooding.
“It will make you feel better if you do?”
She nodded.
“You promise to tell me if you need my help…before you get hurt?”
She nodded again.
Another moment passed before Damen slowly nodded.
Mairi exhaled, only realizing then she had been holding her breath the whole time she was waiting for his answer. “Thank you, Damen,” she said tremulously.
“I told you, matakia mou. All I want is for you to be happy.”
Chapter Four
Night had already fallen, he was in the thick of things in his part-time job at an I.T. firm, and yet Leon still couldn’t forget what he had seen this afternoon.
Intending to go after the professor and apologize for teasing her too much, Leon had come to a sudden stop when he burst past the back doors and found Mairi running towards her husband.
Even if Mairi had not been there, Leon wouldn’t have any problem recognizing the other man. As someone who intended to make his first fortune in the stock market, he would have been a supreme idiot not to know Damen Leventis by face.
Although a lot of hype had been made about Greek billionaires, most of the ones Leon had met were typically old, balding, and ugly as hell. It was just unfortunate Mairi’s husband happened to be the opposite, and it annoyed the shit out of him the way the billionaire didn’t seem to care whatever people thought about him in a suit and a floral baby carrier.
It had Leon grudgingly acknowledging how fucking cool that was of the billionaire.
He had been about to walk away, deciding to give the professor much-needed privacy, when the billionaire’s eyes suddenly met his. Leon had met it unflinchingly.
He had never backed down, and he wasn’t going to start now, regardless of the other man’s billions. He also didn’t make any effort to conceal his hostility, but even so, Leventis’ face remained impassive.
Which was why now, upon answering a call on his office phone from an unidentified number, Leon heard the other person on the line drawl in a bland voice, “This is Damen Leventis.”
Shit, Leon thought, disconcerted. So this was how billionaires operated.
“To what do I owe the pleasure, sir?” Leon asked mockingly.
Fucking punk. Damen refused to be baited into losing his temper. “I’d like to keep this as brief as possible. To start with, my wife knows nothing about this call and I prefer for it to stay that way.”
“Scared she’ll get mad you’re being over-possessive?” Leon taunted.
“Secondly, she also hasn’t made any mention of you. But I’ve pretty good instincts, so I did my own homework.”
“Which means you probably know I’m on scholarship, broke, and with a family to feed back in Milan.”
“I also know your employer’s impressed by your intelligence, diligence, and knack for the market.”
Leon scowled. “If that’s some kind of dig—”
“Not at all, Mr. Arlotta. I only want to be clear. I know everything there is to know about you.”
He bristled. “You don’t know a fucking thing—”
“Anytime I choose, I can bring the roof down on your head and you won’t recover. We both know you’re going far. You have a bright future ahead of you. But you can’t afford any single misstep right now, and if I choose so, a misstep will be an understatement of how I can turn your world upside down.” The billionaire paused. “Is that clear to you?”
His jaw clenched, but his voice was flat and unimpressed as Leon said, “Get to your fucking point.”
“My wife has told me explicitly she wants to solve whatever’s bothering her right now. And because I love and trust her, I respect her decision. I won’t do anything.” Damen Leventis’ voice hardened. “If you think you have a chance to make my wife fall for you, that’s your choice. Whatever you do, just make sure you don’t fucking make her sad or cry in any way. Do that, and I will bring you down. Do you understand?”
“What I understand is that you may be more insecure than you’re letting on if you have to threaten—”
“It’s not a threat, Mr. Arlotta. It’s a promise. My family is everything to me, and you may choose to believe otherwise, but one fact will never change: my wife will always be in love with me, and I will feel the fucking same way about her. Forever.”
The words might have been delivered in a casual voice, but a mix of arrogance and conviction also underlined them, making Leon grit his teeth.
“Thank you for your time, Mr. Arlotta.”
The phone went dead.
****
Mairi stirred sleepily in the bed when she heard her husband come back to the bedroom. “Damen?”
“Back, sweetheart.” He slipped in beside her, his hard body warm and naked. When she rolled towards him immediately, snuggling close, his lips curved as he teased, “You missed me already?”
“I always miss you,” she mumbled against his shoulder, her arms wrapping more tightly around him, her leg slipping between his.
The new position allowed his cock to nestle against her belly, and the mere contact had his member fully erect in moments. Desire surged inside him, and he suppressed a groan. “Mairi,” he said hoarsely. “Your wrist?”
“It’s okay.” She pressed herself closer to his body, an answer in itself as well.
“Thank fuck,” he growled, making her laugh as he rolled her onto her back. Their lips fused, their tongues dancing against each other. He nipped her lower lip as her legs tightened around his waist.
“Damen.” She moaned his name out loud, throwing her head back as his lips moved down. He sucked on her neck, hard and sweet. He sucked on the tender skin for so long it had her crying out, her fingers sinking in his hair.
When he finally lifted his mouth, she palmed his chest and pressed, a silent request to let her take the lead. Damen understood, and he rolled them again until he was under her. Straddling her husband, Mairi licked his nipple, laving it with her tongue before her lips closed around the pebbled flesh and she started to suck.
Damen bucked against her and squeezed the soft, round cheeks of her bottom.
She moved to the other nipple, doing the same thing, and loving the way her husband stiffened more and more under her. When she lifted her head, Mairi gasped. Damen moved quickly, twisting her around until her pussy was on his face and hers was on his cock.
She gasped again when she felt her husband licking the folds of her pussy. His cock bumped against her parted lips, and she moaned. Trying to balance herself on top of Damen with just one hand, she finally managed to take hold of his cock and slowly worked her way on swallowing his entire length.
A groan erupted from Damen as his wife actually managed to deep-throat him. “Mairi.” Pleasure roughened his voice. “So fucking good.” He tried to return the favor, thrusting his tongue inside her.
She gasped around his cock as her husband tongue-fucked her. Pleasure had her dizzy. She started to tremble, and she knew she was so, so close.
Mairi tried to move her mouth faster, wanting them to come at the same time. Damen was doing the same, and when his fingers joined in, tweaking her aching nub of flesh, it was all over. She came with a gasp, and her eyes squeezed shut at the sheer beauty of it. She sucked his cock hard as she came, and dimly she heard Damen g
roan before his hips began to move on its own, his cock thrusting in and out of her mouth. Another moment passed, and Damen rasped out her name as he came, flooding her mouth with his cum.
Damen licked his wife dry as he came, hard. Hungrily lapping up every creamy drop he could find, he didn’t stop until the sweet tremors shaking her thighs had started to fade. Raising himself up, he watched Mairi do her best to swallow everything, her throat bobbing furiously as she tried to demolish him by sucking Damen dry with all her might.
When it was over for both of them, he gently lifted her up and carried her to the bath, filling the whirlpool tub with warm water before lowering her inside it.
Mairi closed her eyes and leaned against her husband’s chest the moment he followed her in. Tendrils of pleasure started to unfurl once more as her husband gave her a luxurious bath, her toes curling at the way he so beautifully massaged her scalp while shampooing and conditioning her hair.
Her body trembled anew when his soapy caresses lingered on her breasts, his fingers playing with her nipples. “Damen, no,” she protested weakly.
He didn’t answer, but she could feel him smirking behind her. A moment later and she was moaning, his fingers finding her swelling, aching pussy under the water. “This doesn’t feel like no, my love,” he whispered. He bit her ear afterwards, and she gasped again. Two fingers thrust inside her at the same time, and this time she cried out.
By the time Damen carried her out of the tub and started drying her with a towel, Mairi was half-dead on her feet, her second orgasm causing her to sway, her eyelids starting to droop.
I need to tell him about what happened, Mairi thought drowsily. When we get to bed, I’ll let him know.
By the time Damen laid his wife back down on the bed, she was already fast asleep. His lips curved. Good. He would wake her just in time for her to have a quick shower and breakfast. Hopefully, she would be in too much of a hurry to notice anything until it was too late.
Chapter Five
