Sweetest Obsessions - Anthology

by Anthony, Jane

  “I’m heading into the office. I’ll see you two later. Be good, kitten.” He gives me one final look before walking out the door, and I realize I have to do this. To explain why I’m in her life. What scares me is her hating me after.

  “We need to talk, Sia.”

  She nods and peers at me with those innocent eyes.

  “Can I get coffee before you start?” Jumping up, I grab a mug and fill it with the filter coffee that Ty made earlier.

  I hate that I have to hide things from her, but I need to confess. She needs to know the reason I picked her. “Go shower, and when you’re back, we’ll sit in the living room.” I give her a soft kiss on her luscious lips before setting the mug before her.

  She takes it with a smile and heads toward the bathroom, and I settle on the stool, trying to figure out how to confess something like this without her hating me forever.

  10

  Sienna

  Sipping my coffee, I wait for the shower to heat up and set it on the counter before pulling off the oversized T-shirt that I tugged on when I got out of bed. Last night was like nothing I’d ever experienced before.

  Where Hayden was gentle, Ty was dominating. Hayden was warmth, affectionate and calming, while Ty, was hard, compulsive and impulsive. Tyler took everything I gave, and his passion burned bright. Hayden didn’t just own me, he’d claimed me when he made love to me.

  The thought of him inside me has my nipples hardening and my core pulsing. I’m still sore, there’s an ache deep down, and I know it will be there all day.

  I look at myself in the mirror, expecting to see someone else. Instead, the same old Sienna stares back at me. The girl who let two handsome men bend and mold her to their will. The overprotected girl had finally experienced life in the most extraordinary way possible. I touch my lips, and I feel Hayden’s kiss. My body tingles from each and every touch. There are tiny blue bruises from where their fingers owned me. I touch my breasts and nipples, and I feel Tyler’s tongue. They gifted me a night I will never forget, and showed me things I never dreamed possible.

  I smile at my reflection. At the glow of my skin. I am alive, more so than I have been in years. I have no idea what the rest of the day will bring. I might wake up from this fantasy, disappointed that it hadn’t been real. But I will always have last night as a memory. I didn’t think there’d be any awkwardness between Hayden and I, with him being my Professor, and I was right. This morning felt perfect. It felt right.

  I open the double shower and let it run, steam filling the luxurious bathroom. It’s all chrome and porcelain. I slip out of Tyler’s T-shirt and step under the hot spray, letting the hydro massage shower knead my sore muscles. I turn my neck from side to side, loosening the kinks.

  I remember the way Tyler guided me onto his cock this morning, as my hair blanketed us. The sun is streaming through the windows, his breath heavy, his taut muscles tensing. The way Hayden looked when he opened his eyes to find us in the throes of passion. The contentment on his face as he watched us.

  I lather shower gel on me, and I know it’s Hayden’s, the pine freshness assaulting my senses. I wish I could stay here forever, but I have tests on Monday, and I promised Olive we’d study together. Olive. I wish that I could tell her about Ty, and Hayden, about how I’d taken her advice and just let go. But something in me tells me that it’s not the right time.

  I’d have to give her the PG-13 version with Tyler, leaving out Hayden. I wasn’t ashamed of what I’ve done. There’s no way I ever could be. It wasn’t wrong, not in my eyes. It was the most liberating experience of my life.

  I can imagine what my mother would have to say about me dating not one, but two men. Two older, more experienced men. Men she would prefer to have in her own bed. She’d have a field day reminding me of the importance of upholding virtue and celibacy, none of which she ever lived by. But this was not a day to think about Meredith Gardier and all the ways she’d failed me.

  I take a deep breath, rinsing off, and walking back into the bedroom. I can hear raised voices on the other end of the door. Just as I register I have nothing to wear, I spot a red strapless bodycon dress on the bed, I hadn’t noticed before. It’s my size. Beside the item is a black lace strapless bra and thong, the outfit paired with black heeled pumps.

  Thought you’d need this. H

  “How on earth…?”

  I shake my head. He makes me smile, more than I think I should allow, but I can’t stop myself from letting the excitement to bubble inside me. The dress is slightly over the top for a Saturday afternoon as I intended to spend it studying, but I love the thought behind it.

  I change and sit on the bed, waiting for Hayden. I don’t feel comfortable barging into whatever call he’d taken because it sounds heated. It’s obviously important. I pull my phone out of my clutch bag and see a message from Olive.

  Call me. Your mother has been trying to reach you.

  I sigh and look at my call log, and sure enough, she’s tried to call me a few times and left several messages. The last thing I need is to speak to her.

  I respond to Olive’s message telling her not to worry and that I’ll see her in a couple of hours. Throwing myself on the bed, I cover my eyes with my arms. My mother calling meant one of two things, a lecture about something I’d done to upset her or my father, or a reminder that I am required back home for an event. The thought of being stuck with a bunch of stiffs, making small talk and enduring their lustful gawps, makes a lecture sound appealing.

  I know I can’t put her off forever, but I want this happy bubble to last a little longer.

  11

  Hayden

  It’s been too long since a woman has captured me. It’s wrong, I shouldn’t want her because I’m her professor, but I can’t stop my mind flitting back to her each time I sit quietly.

  The door opens, and Tyler walks back in. “Fucking phone is here,” he bites out in frustration, causing me to chuckle. He glances at me, noting that Sienna isn’t in the kitchen. “You tell her yet?”

  If anyone found out, I’d be out of a job, and she’d be the talk of the school—and that’s not something I’ll allow to happen to her. But it’s the one other thing that’s been bothering me. The secret I haven’t let spill free yet and I’m afraid the moment I do, she’ll run the opposite way.

  I wanted to keep her from the lies, from the reason I’m in her life, but each day we grow closer, my chest aches with what I’m hiding. Filling my mug with thick, black caffeine, I take a long burning sip before I feel normal again.

  “No,” I grit out in frustration.

  “You need to go in there, talk to her, then take her home,” Ty informs me the moment he enters the kitchen. A few moments ago, I heard the shower turn off, and in my mind’s eye, I pictured her naked and wet. I wonder how I got so lucky to have had her in my bed. In our bed.

  “I needed to think,” I tell him quickly.

  “Thinking is for the weak, brother,” Ty chuckles from behind me. He squeezes my shoulder, offering some form of calmness to my somewhat erratic mind.

  “Why did you do this?” I question, turning to face him. “You could’ve had any girl, but you knew about her.”

  Ty shrugs, before grabbing his own mug, filling it with steaming liquid. “Hayden, you need to stop overthinking shit,” he tells me. “There are times you have to let go, and you did.” His pointed stare causes me to shake my head. “Didn’t you have fun?”

  “Of course I did, but…”

  “But nothing. She likes you, and you like her,” he utters before sipping his drink. “Nothing wrong with that.”

  “Nothing until the school finds out,” I bite back in frustration.

  Ty is silent for a beat before he shakes his head, “How will they find out? It was one night.”

  “There’s more to this than just one night,” I respond quickly. I don’t have to remind him of the reason I got this job, of why I’m in Sienna’s life. And I certainly don’t have to tell him that
this is far beyond just a typical encounter with a pretty girl.

  She’s so much more than that.

  And I have no idea how I’m going to walk away.

  Leaving Ty in the kitchen, I head up to the bedroom to find Sienna sitting on the bed, her focus on her cell phone. I watch her for a moment, the way her tongue darts out as she taps out a message.

  I wonder who she’s messaging.

  Jealousy courses through me for a moment before I tamper it down. I have no right over her. There’s no reason for me to even lay a claim to her because the moment she finds out what I’ve done, she’ll never want to speak to me again.

  I feel like a goddamned teenage boy, not a professor at one of the major art schools in New York.

  “Hey,” I call to her as I enter the room.

  Those pretty gemstone eyes peek up at me, and the apples of her cheeks turn a shade of pink that makes my cock throb.

  “Hey,” she smiles, setting her phone down, she rises and comes to me as if I’m tethered to her. As if I’ve tugged her closer with a mere glance. “I have to get home. I have some studying to do,” she tells me.

  “I know you do,” I smile, leaning in to plant a kiss on her plump lips. “I hope last night wasn’t… I don’t know, I just hope you don’t regret it.”

  “Why would I?” She tips her head to the side to regard me, her gaze lingering on my mouth before lifting to meet my eyes.

  Shrugging, I tell her, “I’m not sure. Things aren’t always easy with three people.” I consider my words before continuing, “And it’s not the first time I’ve done this, I know how hard it is to let go of control for a time.”

  “It was one of the best experiences of my life,” she informs me confidently, and I see the girl deep down. The one who is all grown up. She’s always hidden beneath the expectations her parents have set for her, and that’s what makes me angry.

  They run her life.

  They rule every aspect.

  And I just don’t know how to release her from their hold.

  12

  Sienna

  I run the events of the last twenty-four hours over in my mind like a movie on repeat. I sift through their words, trying to find something, anything to explain why they chose me, to discover if this was purely a joke to them. Nothing like this has ever happened to me. And even though I loved every moment of it, something feels off this morning.

  Why did the fact that they’d done this before bother me?

  Jealousy isn’t something I’d ever been a victim of before. So, the fact that I feel it right down to my bones is strange. When Hayden dropped me off at Olive’s, I thought he’d kiss me, but he didn’t. He squeezed my hands and told me he’d see me on Monday. I searched his eyes for something, but there wasn’t a hint of a lie in his gaze.

  “Don’t miss me too much, Princess.” Those words were the only reminder that we’d crossed the line that I didn’t want to separate us again.

  I hop out of the car and walk into my friend's apartment building. My heart thuds as I near the door, and I have to take a deep breath to calm myself down. How would I explain this to her without confessing who I’d been with? She would ask, that was a given, and I knew better than to say anything about Hayden. Just as my mine takes a trip down memory lane, the door opens.

  “How did-?”

  “Doorman,” she said quickly, pulling me in. “Give me the dirt, how was he? Is he as sexy as I think?”

  I grinned, and my cheeks heat. “Better.” I bite my lip. “But that is not why I’m here. We have a test on Monday, and I don’t intend flunking, so you need to help me study.”

  “What about mother dearest?” she questions, her perfectly arched brow quirking as she regards me.

  “She’ll survive. I told you not to answer when she called,” I reminded her. When Olive and I met, I knew my mother would be calling her nonstop to keep tabs on me. And if my mother wanted to talk to me, she can call me herself.

  Olive shook her head. “You know what she’s like.” My friend was right, I knew it was not as simple as that. She’d eventually rock up here if none of us answered her.

  We spent the rest of the afternoon, stuck in our books until my stomach growled, and my eyes were tearing up from staring at the words for too long.

  I stretch, trying to undo the tension in my shoulders before I yawn. “I need to call a cab and get home.”

  “You could crash here.” Olive’s eyes light up with excitement at the prospect of a slumber party, but I need sleep. After last night, I want time on my own to mull over the events before school on Monday.

  “Thanks, but I think I should head home, call mother dearest and tell her I’m still alive. I texted her, but she’ll want to lecture me on something or the other.” Grabbing my phone, I open the Uber app and order a ride. “Thanks for the cram session,” I tell Olive before giving her a hug. The moment I leave her apartment, my mind is on Hayden and Tyler again. As the elevator rides down to the ground floor, I feel more and more excited at the prospect of seeing them again.

  My app beeps, alerting me that my ride is waiting outside. The moment I step out of the building, a gasp falls from my lips, as I find Hayden waiting for me.

  “Your chariot awaits.” He offers me a smirk that awakens the butterflies in my stomach.

  “Do you Uber part-time?” I grin, closing the distance between us.

  “No, but I don’t think you’ll like the answer.” His voice turns from happy and playful to severe and solemn, causing those butterflies to stall their movements.

  “What do you mean I won’t like the answer?” I question once we’re both seated, my gaze locked on him. Noticing the tick in his jaw, I feel the tension which was tight in my shoulders only moments ago grip me further.

  The air between us is thick with something. Secrets. “This shouldn’t have happened. Not like this,” he gritted through clenched teeth. Anger palpable as he grips the steering wheel with a white knuckle hold. He weaves through traffic, which only makes me more nervous.

  “What are you talking about, Hayden? I’m not going to tell anyone about what happened.” My voice cracks on the last word, knowing my emotions are getting the most of me.

  “What happened was my mistake, Sia. You’re a student, my student, and I took advantage of that.” His gaze is locked on the road ahead, but it’s as if I can feel him all over me. My chest aches at his words. He regrets it. Yes, it was wrong, well, it was against the rules, but I wasn’t taken advantage of.

  “Hayden, I understand what you’re saying, but I don’t see it as a mistake. I mean, I wasn’t coerced in any way, I’m an adult, and I can make my own decisions. Please don’t treat me like a child.”

  He sighs, slowing down the car, he pulls over and puts it in park. I reach for his hand, and he seems to calm down somewhat, but there’s still tension coursing through him because I can see his muscles flex in his fitted shirt.

  “Look at me,” I urge, hoping he’ll see the truth in my eyes.

  He turns his azure gaze on me, and my heart stills for a second. Moments ago, when anger overtook him, he somehow looked even sexier than before. Reaching up, I boldly place my hand to his cheek. The stubble is tickling my fingertips, making every nerve in my body alive with electricity.

  “I wanted it as much as you did, as much as Ty did. And I still do.”

  “You don’t know what I am, what we are?” he tells me earnestly. His gaze holds so much pain, there’s agony hidden in the depths, and I’m not sure why, but I want to hear every sordid detail. I want him to tell me his dark secrets, so I can offer him something he may not be used to—affection.

  “Then show me.” My voice is low, and all I want is for him to kiss me. He leans in, and for a second I think he’ll throw caution to the wind and take me right here in his car.

  “You’re my student, Sia, we need to keep it that way,” he whispers along my cheek, the warmth of his breath holding me hostage, causing me to whimper.

  I�
��m almost pulled over the console as I press my lips to his, featherlight at first and then when I wrap my hands around his neck and pull him closer, he deepens the kiss. He holds me to him, so close, it’s as if he’s trying to steal every breath and every moan. Our tongues fight for dominance. He pulls away moment later, breathless and holds my face in his hands.

  “You’re going to burn, Sia.” The warning in his tone should scare me, it should have me running far away, but it doesn’t.

  “Then it’ll be my choice,” I affirm, waiting for him to tell me to leave. To get out of his car and never look back. When he doesn’t, I sit back in my seat, and he drives the rest of the way in silence. When he pulls up to my apartment block, I mutter, “I want to see you and Ty again.” I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I sure as hell wanted to explore this.

  He grabs my hand, pulling it toward his mouth, and places a kiss on the knuckles. “But before you make that choice, I need to tell you something important. Something that may make you change your mind.”

  “Let’s talk upstairs?” I ask, hoping he’ll agree. When he does, I exit the vehicle with him hot on my heels as he follows me into the building. When we get to the elevator, I push the button and wait as nervous energy surrounds us. I want to say more, to tell him nothing can change my mind, but I don’t. I allow the tension to hold me in its cold grip.

  By the time we reach my apartment, I’m practically vibrating with nerves. I don’t like the feeling of foreboding that’s hovering over us. Shoving open the door, I step aside and allow Hayden to enter. When he does, he doesn’t seem surprised at the opulence of the space which surprises me. Not all students can afford something like this, and him not saying anything sets unease heavily in my gut.

  “Would you like something to drink?” I ask, watching him from the open plan kitchen, living room area.