Jacked
Page 4
"What? Getting rid of your project manager while she's on maternity leave?"
I shake me head. "For me."
"You mean you're stepping down?"
"Stepping back. I want to spend more time with you."
"Can we afford it?"
"The cabins are doing better than our best projections. We only got this one because of that cancellation. What do you think of the place?"
"I think it's a nice place for a holiday."
I look out of the window at the tree stump on the distant slope. "That's where we met," I say, pointing in that direction. "Who'd have thought we'd end up like this."
"What? A family on holiday?"
I smile.
A family. That's what we are. It's what we have.
I feel like the luckiest man in the world. The most beautiful woman I've ever met is by my side, carrying my second child. The first is an angel, even when he wakes me in the night I don't mind. It's a reminder that all of this was worthwhile. There will be another generation to look after the mountain, the farm will stay in the family, in our family.
I worked hard up until the birth of George before I forced myself to cut back a little. I can pick up the slack in a few years if it's needed but what's important now is to spend some time with him while he's little, while he's learning so much about the world.
I'm learning too. I'm learning how to relax, hence the stay here. I've left my phone in the car. I'm not taking work calls while we're on our stay.
I put my hand on top of Carrie's and we feel a kick at the same moment. I grin and so does she.
I can't resist kissing her, those soft lips as perfect as ever.
"What was that for?" she asks.
"Because I love you," I say.
"Then you better kiss me again."
I do as she says, my arm wrapping around her. In the corner of my eye, I can see the tree stump over her shoulder.
It seems like a lifetime since I chopped the dead tree down, since a strange woman came yelling at me on the hillside.
So much had changed since then. My farmhouse is now a family home, filled with toys and happiness. My heart is filled with love, more than I thought possible. And beside me is the woman responsible for all my joy.
I kiss her again. And again. And again.
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ALSO BY THE SAME AUTHOR
Contemporary titles
Daddy Dom – Billionaire Age Play
Daddy’s Here – Bad Boy Age Play
Daddy Play – Millionaire Age Play
Don’t Touch – Dominant Age Play
Kept Safe – Dark Romance
Last Week – Billionaire Alpha
Playing Games – Dominant Alpha
Saving Hope – Billionaire Secret Baby
Study Hard - Tutor and Student, A Wild Quickie
Historical titles
A Little Wager – Victorian Submission
Little Conspiracy – Victorian Spanking
Obedience – Five Spanking Stories
Pretty Little Rose – Victorian Spanking
The Sting of Pleasure – Fifteen Historical Romances
If you enjoyed this, you may also like the first two Wild Quickies. Turn the page to sample the first few chapters of Study Hard.
I'm a student, he's my tutor. It could never work.
He might have spent three years starring in my fantasies but it's only a crush. That's all.
He'd never be interested in someone like me. He's far too professional.
But I can't stop wanting him. I can't stop obsessing over him, over what he might look like under that suit.
I can't even look at him without melting.
Because I do love him. I do want him. And now I've heard a rumour that he wants me.
There's only one way to find out if the rumour's true.
I'm going to have to study hard.
JACKED - CHAPTER ONE
I waited nervously on the front row. The lecture hall was empty apart from me. I'd been out of the house before my housemate was even awake, cringing as I walked across the campus, certain someone would spot me, would yell "slut," and send me scurrying back home.
But there was no one about yet. One of the porters was unlocking the door to the Monroe building, home of English, Spanish, and Philosophy. It was also home to Mr Shepherd's office, the sacred space that had filled my dreams more times than I could count.
Today was the day I was going to do it. I'd spent weeks psyching myself up, egged on by Jennifer who seemed more obsessed about me doing it than I was.
"I'm so proud of you," Jenny had grinned when I finally agreed. "You only live once, right?"
You only live once. A mantra that was crumbling around me as I walked. Was this a good idea? That one life that Jenny talked about would forever be impacted by this. What if word got out? I'd forever be known as that girl who flashed her tutor, then got laughed out of university.
Be bold, I said to myself. You don't have to do anything. No one knows you're not wearing any knickers.
I was in my third year of an English degree. If I didn't do something now, it would be too late. I'd graduate and never see Mr Shepherd again, I couldn't begin to contemplate such a fate.
I walked into the lecture theatre and sat on the middle of the front row, facing where he always stood, next to his desk. I looked at my phone. Jenny had messaged me.
You snuck out early, you little minx. Tell me you're going to do it?!?
I didn't reply. I didn't know if I was going to do it. The more I thought about it, the more stupid it seemed. Yes, he'd glanced down at my legs before but that didn't mean he wanted to fuck me. It didn't mean anything. It was a hell of a leap from knowing he'd looked at my legs in a skirt to flashing him.
I'd never flashed anyone. I wasn't the type. Jenny had. Jenny had done everything. Jenny had streaked through the sixth floor of the library from one stairwell to another within a month of starting. All for a dare. My toes curled just at the thought of it.
Sure, I had a tiny little exhibitionist streak, one that I kept strictly under wraps. There was nothing wrong with fantasising about flashing, safe in the comfort of my bed with the lights out as I read one of Jenny's erotic stories on her Paperwhite. But the thought of actually doing it had always terrified me. I thought people would yell at me, would call me the most awful names, would shun me.
I knew where it had come from. When I was little, I was happy to wander around naked. I couldn't remember exactly when but I remembered vividly the time my mother told me I had to stop doing it.
"But why?" I had asked, trying to shove away the towel that had been wrapped around me. "I like the sun on me."
"It's not proper," my mother had replied. "You'll understand when you're older."
"But why?"
"Because it's private, that's why. People will look at you and it's not right."
A lecture had ensued, one that blurred in my mind. I remembered it beginning, I remembered crying and coming away thinking there was something shameful about exposing my body. That contradiction had remained with me ever since.
Could I even do this? Should I do this? Why did I feel excited even through my shame?
I sat pondering on the answers to those and myriad other questions for so long, I didn't notice the clock ticking around to nine. The lecture began at ten past. Around me, other people began to file in, few of them taking any notice of me. I was usually on the front row, seen as a particularly diligent student by those that bothered to notice such things. A swot, I'd been called at school. I still was. Except around Mr Shepherd. When he spoke, I could barely focus on what he was saying, too busy staring at him and picturing his arm through mine as we walked down the aisle to the cheers of my
friends, my parents weeping as they cried out, "We were wrong about him. He's not too old for you. Forgive us, darling."
It was a pleasant daydream but it wasn't in my mind this time. What was in my mind was that I was making a huge mistake. I couldn't do this. I looked up at the clock. Was there time to run home and put some panties on?
I was about to get to my feet when Mr Shepherd walked in. He looked as good as ever. Black suit that fitted him perfectly. Red tie today. Chiselled chin with just a hint of stubble. No matter what time of day I saw him, he always seemed to have that hint of stubble there. Maybe it was a tattoo.
Above the chin was his elegant nose, those broad cheekbones and then those eyes. I swooned just at the sight of them, I could dive in and drown in those eyes. Dark blue and sparkling.
"Good morning," he said, his voice rich and deep. "How are we all today?"
Petrified, I thought, watching him dump his bag on the desk. He leaned back against it and folded his arms, his eyes scanning the room. It seemed to me as if he looked at everyone apart from me. Had I done something to offend him? Did he know what I had planned? He turned away, digging his file out of his bag, giving me time to look at his back, my eyes glued to his ass, wanting to run over and yank his trousers down, take a look and see if he was as toned naked as he looked dressed. I could reach around and find his...
"Let's get started," he said, turning back.
I wondered if my cheeks were as visibly red as they felt. The room was too hot. It was always too hot when he was there. I fanned myself slightly with my notebook, keeping my legs clamped together. I couldn't do it. I was an idiot to think I could do it. Then I did.
CHAPTER TWO
She was there on the front row just as she always was. This time she'd chosen to sit directly opposite me. It was so difficult not to look at her. I couldn't look at her. I only had to glance in her direction to start getting hard.
It wasn't supposed to be this way.
I was a professional. I'd been working there for nine years. In all that time, I'd never had a crush on a single one of the students. I'd had several of them throw themselves at me but I'd remained the consummate professional. There was no way I was going to risk my career over something like that.
The rules were simple. You did not have any kind of personal relationship with a student. It wasn't illegal, they were all over eighteen after all, but it was professional misconduct just as if I turned up drunk as a skunk like Mr Kennedy did last year. He managed to slip away with early retirement. I doubt I could get away with that at thirty-nine. I'd be out the door and all my qualifications would be for nothing. Dole queue or supermarket shelf stacking while those I taught rose through the echelons of their careers around me.
So I avoided even thinking about it. To look at me, you'd think nothing had changed. The year Donna started, it was all going fine, I was even being marked for potential head of department in the not too distant future. Then I met her.
I'll never forget the first time I saw her. It was Introduction to Study Methods, how I started all the first years off. One hour a week for six weeks before we got going on the proper stuff.
I'd prepped it all over the summer, tweaking what I'd learned from last year, the main thing to not be too dry, get some activities on the go, persuade them to start talking to each other and to me, break the ice before the hard work began.
I walked in, put my bag on the desk, turned around to look at them all and there she was. It was like the entire room was plunged into darkness and there was just a single spotlight shining on her. It was only for a few seconds but it felt a lot longer. The sentence I was halfway through fell out of my brain completely. All I could do was stare at her.
She had a nervous smile on her face and she was chewing on the end of her pen. In front of her was a pristine notepad, yellow highlighter parallel to it on the left, pencil on the right. It was a perfect freeze-frame of time that I only have to close my eyes to see whenever I want.
That smile, just a flick at the edges of those luscious red lips. Rounded cheeks and cute button nose and eyes that were fixed on me. As I looked at her, she looked away and she looked embarrassed, as if she'd been caught staring. Her hair perfectly framed her face and she was wearing a light summer dress, red and white, like something out of a fifties movie. Holy fuck, I wanted her at once.
So I did what I had to do. I looked away. I've been looking away ever since, taking only the slightest glances at her when I was sure I could get away with it.
I couldn't help myself that first time. It was a mistake, not one I made again. When they were split into groups, talking to each other in their rows, I nonchalantly headed her way, trying to make it look as casual as I could. I was sure that once I spoke to her, the feeling would go away. She was just pretty, that was all. She'd be an idiot or up herself or something that would pour cold water on the churning feelings inside me.
I'd never felt like that about anyone, not when seeing them for the first time. Just my luck that it was someone almost twenty years younger than me. I listened as she talked to the others and her voice made me want to grab her, drag her out of there, take her to my office and lock the door and not let her out until I was finished with her.
Instead I made a vow, a vow I kept throughout the first and second year. I would avoid her. It was the only way. I could pretend she didn't exist.
Which worked fine until the third year. In the first two, I was able to get someone else to take on the tutorials with her, making one excuse after another, making sure I was never alone with her. I knew I wouldn't be able to trust myself otherwise.
But in the third year I ran out of excuses. We'd only been back a week when her name appeared on the schedule outside my office door.
I was glad of my desk during those sessions, the only way to keep her from seeing how hard I got, especially when she wore those short skirts of hers. I felt more like an undergrad myself than a bloody grown up. I shouldn't have been feeling that way.
Then the spider came into the lecture hall. If it wasn't for that spider, things might have gone very differently. But it did come. It walked right along the floor in front of my desk, an enormous great thing with big spindly legs. It scurried towards the front row and people began pointing.
"All right," I called out over the noise. "It's only a spider, don't panic."
I walked over and knelt down just as it ran towards her feet. She jolted backwards in her seat and let out a yelp of fear. As she did so, her knees separated. It was only for the briefest of seconds but it was long enough. I had my hands around the spider but I was looking up, unable to resist, being closer to her than I'd ever been before.
She wasn't wearing any underwear. I thought for a moment that I'd imagined it but as I carried the spider over to the window and dropped it through onto the hedge outside, I knew I was right. I replayed the last few seconds in my head.
I'd glanced up. She'd jolted backwards, her knees separated as she scrambled to her feet. I caught the slightest glimpse of the most perfect sight I'd ever seen in my life, then she slumped back down, her knees clamped together, her face bright red with embarrassment. Did she know that I knew? There was only one way to find out.
I was a professional. Note the past tense. Because from the moment I got that flash of her, any hint of professionalism went out of the window. I was lost.
End of Sample.
If you want to read on, you can pick up Study Hard here. Next up on the 6th of October, the third Wild Quickie, Wrecked will be released. Find out more here or read on for a sneak peek...
Rich
I didn't ask for her to land on my island. I didn't ask for her to invade my private wilderness. But now she's here, I'm not letting her go any time soon. I have to make her mine.
Forget the vow I took, forget the fact I'm alone for a reason, forget everything but her. She's not leaving until I say so.
Joy
I thought I was in trouble when I first washed up on the i
sland. I had no food, no way of contacting anyone, and no chance of survival. Then he appeared and the real trouble began.
I tried to resist him. I tried to remain pure and good and innocent. But the way he looks at me, the hunger in his eyes when we sit together by his campfire, I know I can't resist any longer.
I want to know what it's like with a real man and I'm about to find out.
WRECKED - ONE - JOY
It was just me and the water. I held the oar loose, letting the tide nudge the kayak along, enjoying cutting through the deep blue, the ocean my friend, buffeting me slowly along the coast. I never saw the wave coming.
It was my first time kayaking along the seashore at Amble. I'd spent months on the river and naively assumed that meant I'd be fine setting out to sea for the first time. I was wrong.
It all went smoothly enough at first. I had parked the car up at the end of the road, beside a rusty old camper van and a mountain bike, both next to the steel barrier that barred access for vehicles. Drive any further and you'd be in the sea.
I stood by the barrier, looking down at the golden sand and the sparkling light that played across the azure blue ocean. The waves were almost non existent, the wind barely enough to make the dune grass rustle at my feet. It was a perfect day for my first attempt.
I unloaded the kayak from the top of the car and hefted it onto my shoulder. Once I'd got that down to the shoreline, I returned for my bag. Inside was my phone, purse, car key, and emergency flare, not that I thought I'd need it on a day so calm.
My plan was to follow the shoreline between the mainland and Coquet Island, situated about a mile off the coast. From where I stood on the beach, I could see the island. It was barely a quarter of a mile long. There was a lighthouse with someone just visible walking out of it. Next to that was a clump of trees and a few walls. Not much to describe but beautiful to look at. I'd long said this would be my first destination when I felt brave enough to head out to sea.