by Marian Tee
Pulling out all the stops with her smile, she apologized sweetly, “I’m sorry, Professor.”
The smile did it, and the professor mumbled something incoherently. Yes, he really was a big softie inside.
When she plopped back down on her seat, the guy next to her remarked, “You’re good.”
She looked at him again, and this time she really looked at him. He was extremely good looking. He was probably her age since this was a first-year class, but his dark green eyes were too knowledgeable and experienced.
“Like what you see?” he drawled, startling her.
She almost blushed but managed not to. Even so, the way he smirked told Keanne that he was perfectly aware he had succeeded in discomfiting her.
She said baldly, “I see you’re just as good. Maybe even better.”
Her honest words took him by surprise, causing a smile to slowly form on his lips. “You are not what I expected to find on my first day,” he said.
“You are not what I expected to find either.”
The way he looked at her made Keanne feel self-conscious, his gaze telling her that he was interested in finding out more things about her – preferably those that were hidden by her clothes.
“You’re practically undressing me.” She knew she should be insulted, but for some reason she was not.
“Yes.”
That almost had her choking. “You’re unreal,” she said laughingly as she bent her head down on her iPad like the rest of the class, which was busy taking note of the instructions for their first assignment.
“Just as you seem unreal to me,” he returned.
His voice was low and throaty, yet another silent invitation for her to prove to him she was of flesh and blood. Let me touch you. Let me feel your body so I know you’re real.
She shook her head. “Unreal,” she muttered to herself.
And the realization hit her.
Not wanting to give herself more time to figure things out, Keanne said in a rush, “Would you like to go out with me?”
“Would it mean getting to kiss you?”
That had her head jerking up. It was such an unexpected question for a first date.
A sardonic smile was on his lips now, but his voice was gentle when he said, “You do not seem to be the type to let a guy kiss you on your first date.”
She laughed bitterly. “You’d be surprised at what I can do.”
“Let me qualify,” he said smoothly. “What I meant was that you are not the type to let a guy you do not care about kiss you on your first date.”
This time she gave him an incredulous look. “Do I look like some shy wallflower to you?”
He looked at her, his gaze intense enough to cause Keanne to fidget in her seat. And then he said quietly, “I don’t think now is the right time to tell you how I see you.”
One moment they were flirting, the next moment it had deepened into something more and Keanne felt like she had been thrown in the deep end without a clue about where she was or how she would get out alive.
“You’re so intense.” It was the lamest thing to say, but it perfectly explained what she felt at the moment.
He only nodded, and the mysterious smile that played on his lips oddly made her feel nervous. “Yes,” he said instead, startling her. “I’ll go out with you.”
She suddenly wished she hadn’t asked him. She felt like she had bitten off more than she could chew.
“Regretting asking me out?”
“Of course not.” She was too proud to tell him the truth. But inside, she was already panicking. Silly old man. She cursed Jason fluidly in her mind. Look at what he had gotten her into.
When the bell rang, she was the first to get to her feet. Maybe she could tell him that she suddenly remembered she had a meeting. Maybe she could---
Long hard fingers curled around her wrist.
Oh, damn.
Keanne looked down.
He looked up at her. He was still seated, his long denim-encased legs stretched before him. His dark green eyes mocked her, and she flushed.
“My name is Gabriel, by the way.”
The color in her cheeks deepened. Merde. She had asked him out but had forgotten to get his name.
“I can take a rain check on the date, too.” He slowly released her. “I don’t think you are ready for me yet.”
“I’m---”
He raised a brow. “You’ve changed your mind?”
Had she?
“You’re confusing me,” she accused him.
“Good.” Satisfaction purred in his voice. “If I date a woman, I want her to be thinking only of me…and not Jason Christakos.”
And then he was walking away, leaving her gawking at him.
When she realized he was about to leave the room and go God knew where, she grabbed her bag and hurried after him as quickly as she could. “Wait!” It was hard running in heels, but she did her best.
He didn’t turn around, and any moment now he would be lost in the crowd of first-year students milling the hallway.
“Wait!”
He still didn’t turn.
Merde.
“Gabriel, wait!”
He stopped then slowly turned, a smirk on his lips once more. He did not make any move to meet her halfway, and as Keanne closed the distance between them, she felt like a slave running to her master.
Most of the students were looking at them now. She repressed a sigh. There went her plan to play it low key and exist under the radar. Now, everyone would know that Keanne Summers was enrolled in this university. It was only a matter of time before people would start talking about her again.
When she reached Gabriel, she suddenly realized how much taller he was – like Jason. Even in her high heels, she was still dwarfed by his powerful form, not even reaching his shoulders.
“What do you know about Jason Christakos?” she demanded.
“You and Christakos get photographed together all the time,” was all that he said. It was a plausible answer, but somehow she felt there was more to it.
“So you know who I am?”
“Yes. I know who you are.” The sober way he said it made her take a step back.
Oh.
He knew her that way.
“You know me,” she said dully. To think she actually thought---
“Keanne, stop.” He grasped her wrist and made her face him again just as she was about to turn away.
The fact that he knew her name made her flinch.
“You misunderstood. I know what happened. I can’t help it. We lived in the same town once. But I went to a different school.”
“It doesn’t matter. You probably think I’m a slut---”
“I never thought that. And now that I’ve officially met you, I know you won’t ever be that.”
“Stop lying,” she hissed.
“I’m not. Look at me, Keanne. Look at me.”
She slowly raised her gaze to his.
The truth in his eyes was undeniable.
Her lips parted in shock. He really didn’t think she was a slut. He had not judged her for what happened between her and…him.
“Do you still want to go out today?”
She didn’t know what to say.
His lips twisted. “I had a feeling there was something to it when you asked me out so suddenly. May I at least ask why you asked me out?”
“It’s h-hard to explain.”
A short pause and then he asked, “Then how about what you want to achieve by asking me out?”
“I…” Keanne looked away. “Nothing.”
“Please. Tell me.”
A plea and a command.
She heard herself saying, “I needed to find someone I was attracted to – someone who could rival Jason Christakos.”
“Ah.” Fingers cupped her chin and she looked up at him questioningly. Before she knew what he was planning, his head had already lowered to hers, his lips brushing against her lips.
She stumbl
ed back. “Wh---”
“I think you’ve found what you’re looking for.”
“Y-you---”
“Until tomorrow, Keanne.”
And again, he left her gaping behind him.
She touched her lips, a part of her wanting to rub it clean. It had not been an unpleasant kiss, and that was mostly the problem. She did not need this kind of complication in her life. Life was already more complicated than it should be, thank you very much.
Her phone buzzed.
Jason: Have you found him?
Keanne: No. He found me instead. And he kissed me.
Chapter Eight
Jason Christakos was waiting outside her next class when the bell rang and Keanne walked out of the room together with the other students. Seeing him so unexpectedly had her heart somersaulting.
Instead of his usual shirt and jeans, however, Jason wore a dark business suit with a crimson red necktie. He looked extremely sophisticated and elegant, but not even the suit could completely squash his air of sexuality. He was all male, raw strength and passion, and not even the most expensive business suit could make him anything less.
“Surprised?” he asked silkily, but there was an edge to his voice that had her blinking. Was he angry at her?
“I think you know the answer to that.”
He smiled, but it did not reach his eyes. “Then I hope you’ll be just as good at guessing why I’m here.” And if she did, then she was a lot smarter than he was because he did not fucking know why he was here. All he knew was that he had to fucking be here and see if Keanne had changed…towards him.
When he had said yes to Keanne that night at the opera, he had always known that one of the things he would ask of her was to seriously consider other men. Keanne was one of the most stubborn women he had ever met, and he knew that no amount of persuasion would have made her consider the possibility that she was not in love but merely infatuated with him.
No, to make Keanne change her mind, he had to find a way to make her come to the same conclusion for herself.
And that, of course, meant leaving her no choice but to date other men until she found someone perfect for her.
In his mind, the plan had been perfect. With Keanne falling in love with another man, he would not have to feel so guilty. He would no longer be hurting Keanne by continuing to love Lilac.
However, the plan was an epic fail.
Jason liked having all sorts of contingency plans, but one thing he had failed to count on was his own feelings. More specifically, he had not counted on what his feelings would be once his Keanne dated another man.
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see soon enough.”
As she tried to keep up with Jason’s long-legged pace, she could only take in her surroundings. The campus was vast, surprisingly so for a privately owned university. The school buildings had been quite lovely, too, designed to appear as if they had been edifices built centuries ago with their heavy stone structures.
Inside, the school was even lovelier, with no expense spared. Red carpets, chandeliers – it was like a palace, an institution meant for royalty.
There was so much to take in, but she could barely concentrate, not when her body was trembling in acute awareness at the fact that Jason Christakos was holding her hand.
Jason finally stopped and she almost bumped into his back. His gaze moved up to the name plate attached to the door, and following his gaze, Keanne’s eyebrows shot up. This was the private room of one of the board members.
“We’re not supposed to be here,” she hissed nervously.
“Relax. This is Derek’s office and I asked for his permission to use it.” He fished out a key from his pocket and unlocked the door.
At his look, Keanne quickly stepped inside.
The door closed behind him and she whirled around, her throat clogging up at the sight of the hardened expression on Jason’s handsome face.
“Now,” he said very softly, “tell me about the man you think I can entrust you to.”
She took a step back. “Jason, are you mad?”
“Possibly.”
She shook her head, a tremor of fear and excitement going through her at his words. Did he understand what he was saying? “Why would you be mad? Weren’t you the one who wanted me to---”
“Do you remember your promise, ma petite?”
She stilled.
“You will do everything I want.”
“But---”
“No buts, little doe. You say you love me.”
“I do!” she cried out.
“Then you must understand this is the real me.” He smiled grimly at her look of comprehension. “You had an inkling about it earlier, didn’t you? You thought to convince yourself you were imagining things then?”
Slowly, she nodded.
“You weren’t imagining it. This is who I am. I need total control in the bedroom and over whoever I fuck. It’s the only way I can let go. Do you understand me?”
“Y-yes.”
“Now, about the man you have asked out…”
“What d-do you want to know?”
Instead of answering her right away, he closed the distance between them and wordlessly swept her into his arms. He took her into an inner room, which turned out to be an elegantly furnished bachelor’s bedroom.
He slowly set Keanne on her feet. “I’m going to undress you.”
Her eyes flew to him in shock.
“Your body became mine the moment you showed your beautiful breasts to me, Keanne.”
A whimper escaped her at his words.
“As I take off your clothes, you will start telling me about him.” He did not wait for her to agree, his fingers reaching for the hem of her dress. “Talk.”
Feeling like she was burning inside with desire for Jason, she shuddered when his fingers brushed her thighs as he slowly pulled up the hem of her dress. “H-his name’s Gabriel…”
The dress was way up her thighs now and her legs trembled, aching for even the softest brush of his fingers.
“He…he’s in his first year, too…”
The dress was now bunched around her waist and she swallowed, feeling Jason’s dark blue gaze on her lacy panties, which barely covered her most tender flesh.
“He knows about what happened in the past because he lived in the same town I did…”
Her breath caught when Jason’s hands spanned her waist…and tightened.
Oh God, it was such a simple touch and yet she felt like she was about to burst into flames.
“He doesn’t…doesn’t blame me for what happened.” It was so hard to think, with Jason pulling her dress up over her head now and tossing it to the floor. She was down to her underwear and heels, and instead of feeling self-conscious, she felt deliciously decadent.
Jason’s gaze was hungry and possessive as his eyes took in the swell of flesh above the cups of her matching lace bra. Her nipples were poking against it and his balls ached with desire.
“Tell me everything,” Jason growled when she had fallen silent.
She almost jumped in surprise at his voice, and she had to bite her lip to stop herself from moaning when she felt his arms going around her body to unclasp her bra. Closing her eyes, she said, “I believe him. I could see it in his eyes that he meant what he said.”
She felt the clasp being released and gulped. “He…he also knew about us.”
Jason was gently drawing the bra away, the straps falling down her arms until she was completely free and her breasts had spilled out of its restraints, proudly thrusting up in the air now.
“What does he know?” he asked.
“Just that we’re…together often and---” She moaned, unable to help it with Jason completely taking her by surprise as his head bent down and drew one nipple into his mouth.
“Jason…”
“How did he kiss you?” He murmured the question against her breast when he released her nipple.
“He…to
ok me by surprise,” she admitted breathlessly, having a hard time thinking as Jason’s fingers began pinching her nipples. Pain and pleasure blended and she could have fainted at the intensity of it. After all these years, she had a hard time believing that Jason was finally touching her body the way she had long imagined him to do so.
“Will you go out with him again, ma petite?” Right after speaking, Jason bent down and suckled on her other nipple.
Her body stiffened at the sheer pleasure of it, and she could feel the wetness pooling between her thighs. Oh God, would she really survive this?
Jason lifted his head. “Answer me!”
“I don’t know!” Her hands went up, her nails settling down to dig into his shoulders as his mouth returned to her breast. “D-do you want me to?”
“Do you want to?”
She tried to think what her answer should be – what her answer really was, but it was so damn hard to even remember her name with the way Jason was driving her out of her mind. He kissed her breasts so beautifully she had a feeling she could easily come if he just kept kissing her like this.
“Keanne.” Another rough growl that had her toes curling. Somehow, the thought of a furious Jason taking her – perhaps even against her will – was beyond exciting.
“I don’t know,” she said finally. “I really don’t.”
He bit her nipple, as if punishing Keanne for her vague answer, and she cried out.
“Do you still love me?”
“Yes.”
Jason sank to his knees.
She looked down at him in a daze and their eyes met. “Do you want him? Can you imagine him making love to you like this?”
His eyes demanded an answer.
She whispered, “Yes.”
His face became savage. “Never.” He ripped her panties apart, and she gasped in shock even as desire coursed through her body at his possessiveness.
“No other man will ever touch you but me.” His fingers parted her flesh and without any warning, he drove his tongue inside her.
“Jaaaason!”
Her cry of pleasure spurred him to fuck her harder with his tongue. He wanted her out of her mind until all she would remember was him. He pulled her folds further apart, wanting her completely open to him as his tongue thrust in and out of her sweet honeyed warmth.
