by Adele Hart
I don’t like the idea of anyone else, and it dawns on me that we never discussed outside relationships. My eyes flash down to his left hand, and my breath whooshes out of my lungs.
“Thank God.” I take a bite of the crisp bacon and swallow. My breasts sit out in the open like an offering. After last night, Hugh has seen every inch of my body, so there is no need for embarrassment. I lost my shyness after the fourth time. The time he took me from behind and made me scream his name loud enough for the people next door to pound on the wall. “I should have asked. I’m so stupid.”
He climbs on the bed and scoots next to me. “I’m not that guy. I’m a one-woman man. I don’t cheat, and I don’t do casual. This is new for me too.” His arm wraps around my shoulders, and he pulls me close. “We both took risks, but I’ll never regret what we shared.”
“Me either,” I say.
He turns to look at me with an expression that’s truth mixed with affection. “Never accept less than you deserve. Always demand your share of satisfaction. If a man offers you something, make sure to require more because you’re worth it.” He presses his lips to mine and then pulls away. “And…” he stalls, “...never go with a man you don’t know to a hotel room alone.”
I lean into him. “That was the stupid part, but everything after that was amazing. Thank you for not being a serial killer.”
“Thank you for being you.” He climbs off the bed and straightens his jacket. “Have a great last year of school, Kat. Try everything at least once. Your sister is right. You have to balance work and play.”
“I try. I’ve got one more class that I can’t seem to pass. They say three’s the charm. I’m hoping it is.”
“Get ready, and I’ll walk you to the gate.”
I quickly shower and dress. We make our way to the gate. When his phone rings, he excuses himself to take the call he says is business.
The attendant calls for boarding. Hugh is still on his phone when my row is announced. I realize that this is the end of the road for us. In some way, it’s easier to give him a glance and say an internal goodbye then rush to him and give him a last hug and kiss.
I enter the plane and walk to the back, passing Hugh’s empty seat in first class. It’s another reminder of how different we are. He’s English, I’m American. He’s urbane. I’m rather gauche. The girl he slept with wasn’t the girl I am. She’s the girl I want to be. Brave and fearless. Witty and winsome. Unpredictable and unabashed. That’s not me. I’m driven by logic. My life is explained through math and science.
The problem with last night’s recklessness is that I can’t explain this ache I feel in my chest. I know it’s probably the rush of hormones, but it feels like more.
When the plane lands, I see Hugh waiting for me. He turns as if to make sure he hasn’t missed me, and in that minute, I sneak past him. It’s easier this way.
Six
Hugh
I get off the plane and wait. All the faces that pass me aren’t the one I’m looking for. I’m looking for eyes the color of summer grass. For lips swollen by my kisses. For a body I memorized by touch.
How I missed her baffles me, so I rush toward baggage claim hoping I’ll catch her there. I get a glimpse of her chestnut hair just as she rushes out of the airport and hops inside a cab.
Disappointment sits heavy in my chest. The entire flight I weighed the pros and cons of getting involved with Katy. By the end of the flight, everything tilted toward more time with her. Just when I got the courage to ask her to stick it out with me, she disappears.
Once I collect my bag, I’m met by someone from the university and taken straight to the house they provided. Eventually, I’ll get my own space, but for now, this will do.
I walk into the bedroom and stare at the empty bed. There will never be a night like last night. Hell, how did I get so hard so often, or stay hard like steel that long? One more look at the empty bed and I want to hit myself for being so slow to act. The truth is my feelings for Katy scare me. She makes me feel things I promised myself I wouldn't. She makes me want more. After a year of being without sex, love, affection, and trust, I find the only woman I want to be with and she vanishes.
After a quick shower and a change of clothes, I take the ten-minute walk to campus and meet with the Dean who shows me to my office and points me to my first class, which begins in fifteen minutes. Nothing like hitting the ground running.
When class is over, I check out my new office and prep for tomorrow’s lecture. I’m not supposed to teach the Foundation Writing class, but the professor unexpectedly quit, and I am the only educator left with a hole in my schedule.
Seven
Katy
I’m in the lab with Dr. Hampden when he tells me I’m doing a good job, and I’m going places. Sadly, the only place I see myself going is straight to the unemployment line when I don’t graduate.
“I could have never asked for a better sidekick,” he says with a supportive pat to my back.
“I’m not going anywhere if I can’t pass my writing class. I might be the oldest intern you have if I can’t convince Dr. Storm to pass me.”
“Didn't you hear?”
I drop the stabilizer into the test tube and look at the man who has mentored me for years.
“Hear what?”
“Dr. Storm left, and they’ve replaced her with a new guy. He teaches British literature.”
The mention of British makes my heart ache a little for Hugh. The way he called me love and shortened my name to Kat was so sweet. The way he kissed me and held me all night was everything I could have hoped for. More would have been nice, but he was gone, and I was going to be late.
“Speaking of class, I need to go.” I hang up my lab-coat, pick up my backpack, and race to the class feeling doomed. Dr. Storm was tough, but at least I knew her teaching style. It was a dash of Stalin mixed with a hint of Maleficent.
I race into the lecture hall and sigh. This class is like the movie, “Groundhog Day.” I am on perpetual repeat.
I doodle and draw, thinking about Hugh. The class turns silent as the instructor walks to the podium. I reach for my notebook when I hear his voice. It’s like he’s talking just to me. That voice that threads through my body and makes me quiver.
“Good afternoon, I’m Dr. Hugh Fletcher.”
I stare at him in shock. He looks sexy but serious. I try to hide behind a student, thinking there’s no way I can stay in this class. His gaze sweeps over the class, right past me like he doesn’t see me. Or maybe he does and he doesn’t care. My insides fill with relief and disappointment. I want to see that glint in his eyes. The same glint he gives me before he tortures my sex with his tongue. Maybe his words weren’t true. Maybe I am forgettable after all.
I am destined to flunk this class too because although his mouth moves, I never hear a word he says.
I stare at the fresh shirt and the blue tie I hadn’t seen. I watch every movement of his hands as if they are traveling over my body.
He captivates me. He said he was in the arts, but I never asked more. I should have asked more.
A groan escapes my lips and several heads turn my way.
“Did you have a question Ms…?”
I sit up straight. “My name is Katherine Trent and no, I don’t have a question.” I want to add that my friends call me Katy, but I don't because at this point, I don't know if Hugh is friend or foe.
“Nice to meet you, Kat. I’m looking forward to this class.”
He turns back toward the rest of the class, and I wonder if anyone noticed that he gave me a nickname?
I have to give him credit. Once I focus on his lecture, I can see he has a way with words. The way he lectures is different. I’m able to grasp and appreciate the course, or maybe my head is back in Atlanta where he fills me with himself.
I raise my hand to ask a question.
“Ms. Trent. Do you have a question now?”
Maybe it’s all in my head, but I swear I catch him s
taring at my boobs.
“Is the syllabus the same as last year?” A few students laugh because they understand I’m on another round of a class that most people breeze through.
“Can you see me after class? I’ll make sure you have everything you need.” The way he says the word need fills me with it.
I hang back until all the other students leave and I approach him.
“Come with me.” He gathers his things and leads me out the door. There isn’t a hint of the passion we shared. To anyone looking, we’re just two people walking down the corridor.
We walk in silence. I hug my backpack against my chest and look down at my feet. I count my steps hoping to arrive at our destination soon. Out of the corner of my eye, I admire his frame, I feel woozy inside and weak kneed. I thought I said goodbye to him, and here he is again. He's my professor.
“This is the class?” He asks me, breaking the silence.
“Yes. I feel like one of the hamsters in my lab. I keep running around the wheel.”
He nods and smiles. “Let’s see if we can get you off.” He fidgets with the key and unlocks the door, swinging it wide open. The light flickers on and I take in the room where we are—his private office.
“So, would you like to guess what I’m thinking about right now?” He shuts the door and locks it then walks behind his desk and sits in the chair.
“Errrrm, you’re thinking about how to kick me out of your class?” I mutter.
“Wrong, very wrong” he responds. “I’ve been thinking about you. How smart you are. How sexy you are. How one night was not enough. I want more. I need more.” He stops talking and looks at me with desperate need in his eyes.
“But you’re my professor, and I can’t mess this up.”
“Neither one of us knew, Kat. We’ll figure it out.” He slides back in his chair, and pats his lap. “Come here. Tell me what you’re thinking.” He seems to tire of waiting for me to come to him and he reaches for me. One tug of my arm, and I fall into his lap. I smile widely because he said he had been thinking about me.
“I’m thinking about how the last two days have been surprising and wondering where this is going to take us.”
“Are you feeling a little reckless?”
That word sends a jolt of knowing to my girlie bits. He hasn’t even breached the barrier of my pants and I’m wet for him.
“What do you have in mind?”
“It won’t be fun if I tell you, but I can show you. Would you like to see?”
The room suddenly seems too hot for me as I feel sweat breaking forth from my forehead.
I look up at a man who in one night changed my life. There is only one answer. “Yes, Hugh, I want to see.”
My legs tremble, and I struggle to hold them still. He lifts me from his lap and swipes everything from his desk to the floor. The hard wood presses to my back while his rock hard erection presses against my jeans. In minutes, I’m naked and he’s pressing into me.
Eight
Hugh
I can hardly believe this is happening. Here I am in my office with Kat, pressing her against the grain of my desk. Buried deep inside her because that’s where I feel whole. This woman I barely know has clicked the switch inside of me that says I can trust my feelings. This morning I thought I lost her because I didn’t have the balls to want more, and now here she is, and I am going to make her mine.
Her beautiful breasts seem like they are suffocating in her V-neck T-shirt and need liberation. I pull the cotton over her head and set them free. Her lips part and her body twitches beneath my thrusts.
“I’m drawn to you.” My hands cup her breasts. Her nipples taut under my fingertips. I bend over and devour her lips. Craving her taste, I pry past her lips with my tongue and explore her mouth. She’s sweet and my hunger for her is insatiable. I move to her neck, collarbone, and graze my lips across her nipple. Her moans excite me, and my hand slips between her legs to press against her bundle of nerves.
“Oh, God,” she says in a muffled voice, because her lip biting gets in the way of her words.
I move swiftly, in and out of her body. Her hips rise to meet each thrust. “This is just the beginning, Kat.”
“Yes,” she says, and I take that as affirmation. Katy is back in my life, and I’ll do whatever is right for her.
We jump off the cliff together and ride the pleasure down in a slow spiral. I plant soft kisses on her belly and help her off the desk. Not ready to let her go, I sit in my chair and pull her onto my lap. She turns her face to mine, and I kiss her with more passion than I knew I possessed.
We kiss for minutes, and I gently bite her neck. “You're mine, love. Mine.” I say. Inside of me, the statement feels true and right.
“Yes, yours... all yours.” She curls into me and lays her head on my shoulder. I love the way she fits against my body. The way my heart races when she’s near.
My fingers dance lovingly against her nakedness. “I’m done for the day. I’d love to take you out.” I look at her clothes sprawled around my office, and it’s a fucking turn on. “No room service or bubble baths I’m afraid.”
She climbs off my lap and pulls on her jeans while I wrap the condom in a tissue and stuff it into my pocket for later disposal.
“What are you hungry for?” Her voice is like a stroke to my cock. It jumps to attention, but I shove it inside my pants. I’m hungry for her. All of her. I know this girl’s body, but I want to know her mind.
“Let’s go somewhere nice. A real date, Kat. You deserve wine and candles, not a quickie on my desk.”
She pulls her shirt on and hops on top of my desk. “I like this desk.” She runs her palms over the knotty grain like she’s touching my cock.
Katy takes me to a ramen house far from campus. I’m not sure if she’s trying to hide me or protect me.
We sit in the corner next to each other and drink Asahi beer and slurp noodles.
“You acted like you didn’t notice me,” she says.
“I noticed you.” I reach my hand under the table and set my palm on her thigh. “Years of being a professional helped me school my features and get me through the class. You did notice that I stood behind the podium right?”
“That’s not unusual.”
“It is for me. I like walking around and interacting with my students, but I had a hard on for you.”
Her lush lips broaden into a smile. “Does that happen a lot?”
I wasn’t sure if she meant with her or with others, but it was time to clear the air and get the questions out of the way.
“Kat, I’ve never slept with a student, and if I had known you were my student, I would have tried to resist you.”
Her smile flops over to a frown. “It does pose a weird kind of problem. I need your class, and you’re the only one who teaches it.” She pulls the bottle to her mouth and drinks. “Maybe this is a bad idea. Won’t you get in trouble if you’re caught with me?”
“It’s not illegal or unheard of for professors to have relationships with their students. The problem comes when the grading begins, but I will grade you fairly, Katy. No special treatment.”
“None?” She laughs. “Does that mean my private tutoring sessions in your office are over?”
“Hell no. I’m beginning to think my office might be my favorite part of the campus.”
She stirs the broth in her ramen and turns in to face me. “What’s an English professor doing in Denver?”
“I needed a change.” I tell her about my girlfriend and colleague and how going to work felt like walking into a dungeon. About how I want more from my life and the people in it. How I came to Denver looking for something special, but I don’t tell her I think she’s it. I vow to show her.
“What do you want from me, Hugh?”
I thumb her chin up and tell her, “Everything. I want everything, Kat.”
After dinner, I walk her back to the apartment she shares with a classmate, and I kiss her softly on the lips.
> “Homework is online, Kat.”
She lets out a groan, and I pull her in for a hug. “You’re smart. You’ve got this.”
Before I leave, I ask for her phone and plug my number in. “I don’t want you to ditch me again like you did at the airport.”
She leans into my chest, and we stand on her front porch for a while. She pulls back and looks up at me with her gemstone eyes. “I was protecting my heart.”
“Aw, Kat. I’ll take care of your heart and your body.”
After one more languid kiss, I’m on my way.
Nine
Katy
“Your date is here.” My roommate says. I check my cherry lip-gloss in the mirror. This is our first real date in weeks. Hugh got caught up in staff meeting and bogged down with lesson planning and homework, but we’ve managed to sneak in “afternoon tutoring” in his office several times.
“What’s he wearing?” I call out from the bathroom. I peek around the corner just in time to see my roommate Hazel open the door and let Hugh in. He’s dressed in a pair of khaki pants and a button down shirt. My heart skips a beat.
Hazel turns to me and mouths the words, “Wow, what a hottie.”
I take a last look in the mirror before I show myself. My hair is loose around my shoulders, and I’m wearing a dress my sister gave me. The heels are borrowed from my roommate. Hugh said to dress nice. I hope I don’t disappoint.
My roommate disappears into her room, and Hugh and I are left to gawk at each other in the entryway.
“You look beautiful,” he says in a low hungry growl. “I almost want to skip dinner and move on to dessert.”
When he licks his lips, I’m totally game for an alternate plan.
We get into the car he’s recently purchased and before I can buckle up, he pulls me to him and kisses me. It’s the kind of kiss that says I’ve missed you. He raises a brow. “You want to skip dinner?”
