by Janae Keyes
“See you around,” I whispered.
“Yes, see you ... Sweet One.”
My breath left me as I quickly fluttered my eyes away from his. I was afraid to look back at him as I walked away, yet I felt his gaze on me, keeping me in his possession. That’s what I wanted to be, his, and under his dominion, being coaxed into his web of sensuality.
Chapter Five
Ramsey
What the fuck is wrong with you? My inner voice yelled at me. Sweet One? Have you lost all your brains? You idiot! I knew Jiminy was right. What the hell had I been thinking calling her that? A slip of the tongue it might have been, but I had wanted her to know how I felt about her and she was under my skin.
Thank the gods the auditorium was empty. Someone surely would have read into what I just said and gotten it right. Keeping her at arm’s length was going to be tricky as hell for me. At least until the end of term, and I knew if she was taking the second half of my class it was going to be hell for me. I didn’t know if I could last that long, though.
Glad that I didn’t have a class for another few hours I went back into my office, to hide from the world. And reset my body after having to be so close to Dora for the last three hours. Extended class days were normally hell, and torturous when I was a T.A., but now that I had Dora in class … I was beginning to think that it might be time to invest in a cold pack to keep in my pants.
Spending all term behind the podium, or facing the chalkboards was not my idea of a productive class. Making sure everything was organized for my next course, I walked out of my office and almost ran smack into Dora.
“Shouldn’t you be headed to your next class?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at her. I knew my voice was gruffer than necessary. Startled, she jumped back and lost her balance. I reached out, grabbing her arm to help her steady herself, and in the process, pulling her to me.
First mistake.
Next mistake? Taking a deep breath as my hands slid down her arms, while I stared into her eyes. I felt my blood boil, my heart began to race, and an inability to pull myself from her gaze as I looked from her eyes to her parted lips and back, overtook me. She closed her eyes and leaned into me. God, how I wanted to kiss her, but I couldn’t. Shouldn’t. Not out here.
Fuck it. I need to feel her lips. I reached behind me and opened the door, pulling her into my office with me, I shut the door before I slammed her against it, capturing her mouth with mine.
Her lips were soft, and she tasted like cherries. I needed more. Swiping my tongue across her slightly parted lips, I pushed, demanding entrance. She melted under me, but when she attempted to bring her hands up my back, I grabbed them, capturing her wrists in one hand between us. I wrapped my free hand in her curls. Pulling her head back, I deepened the kiss, pushing us closer together.
When I finally broke for air, taking her bottom lip in my teeth, my senses crashing down on me, I realized where we were. I released Dora as she stood there, staring at me almost dumbfounded, touching her lips.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Monroe. I don’t know what came over me. That won’t happen again.” I breathed, my forehead against hers.
“But … I want it to,” she mumbled, out of breath, lust heavy in her words.
I took another step back, my cock straining painfully in my pants, and reached for the desk, I leaned back, falling … out of my chair?
I’d fallen asleep at my desk, something I’d never done before.
It must have been the fitful sleep from last night. I had tossed and turned all night, dreaming of Dora and the things I wanted to do to her. Every time I rolled, the sheets would drag across my hardened cock waking me.
Pulling myself to my feet, I huffed in frustration as I stood, looking at the papers on my desk. Irritated, I shoved them in my briefcase, and stormed from the auditorium, hanging my ‘Class Canceled’ sign on the door. I needed to clear my head.
Jogging to my car, I was cursing at myself. I was better than this, and I knew it. I slammed the door to the BMW, started to pull out of the drive, and damn near ran over Dora, as she crossed in front of my car. I slammed on the brakes, as her eyes met mine, fearful, deer in the headlights.
Rolling my window down I stuck my head out, “Dora! Bloody hell! Are you okay?” I had to keep from leaping from the car and wrapping her in my arms.
She nodded at me, clearly trying to regain her voice, her breathing slightly erratic. “Come on, let me give you a ride back to your building.” I reached across the car and popped the door open.
“It’s the least I can do after almost running you over.”
She smiled at me sheepishly, looking up through her eyelashes. “I was coming back to ask a few questions about the essay. I started reading the book last night, but I wasn’t sure if there was a maximum word and page count.”
“As long as you give me the bare minimum,” I said, “whatever you turn in will be graded as such. So, Dora, was that all you needed?” I pulled out onto the road, heading back toward her building.
“Could you take me to the library instead of my room?” she asked me as we passed a cluster of buildings. “I don’t know where the one nearest my residence is yet.”
“Sure.” I wondered if I should just say fuck it and take her with me. Her scent was starting to flow over me, dragging me under. Strawberries and mint today. Pulling in a deep, calming breath, I pulled up to the library. I reached out and tucked some runaway strands of hair behind her ear, grazing her cheek gently as I brought my hand back to my lap.
“Your stop, Mademoiselle. May your studying be fruitful, as fruitful as you are beautiful.” I said as she stepped from my car. She stopped and stared at me before shutting the door. I didn’t know what she was going to say, but I knew what I was saying to myself. I watched as she walked away and banged my head on the steering wheel, jumping as the horn blared. Turning, Dora looked at me confused. I waved at her awkwardly as I sped off again. I really needed to stop speeding, but that woman made me so high, I felt like I could touch the sky.
Stop being so corny you bloody fuck! I reprimanded myself. I was getting sappy, and I hadn’t even found out if she was going to take my second term.
I went back to my house, determined to shake off this … whatever this was. I let Sue out and waited for him to complete his business. Whistling, I called him into the house and decided that I needed to eat something and make a list of the things I needed for the playroom.
I popped a burrito into the oven and went downstairs to think.
Playroom Toys and Gadgets
1.New whip … Maybe two
2.Flogger
3.Leather Cuffs
4.Handcuffs
5.Paddle
6.Riding crop
7.Flavoured and unflavoured lubricant
8.Massage oil
9.Candles
10.Blindfold
That would do for now. It was all I could think of until I got Dora in my room and found out her limits. And mine. I turned the oven off, threw on my jacket, and got back in my car. I was going to the store to get some prices at the very least.
The drive-in silence, wrapped in Dora’s scent was hard—in more ways than one—but it was nice. I found a close parking spot and was getting out of my car when I saw Dora on the sidewalk. With a rather tall, flamboyantly scruffy looking man. Was this her boyfriend? Was I kidding myself into thinking we would ever be together? Steeling myself, I squared my shoulders, prepared to scare off this inferior specimen, and stake my claim earlier than I planned.
I leaned against my BMW as I waited for them to get nearer, so I could find out more.
Chapter Six
Dora
Sitting in the library and attending a class with damp panties was the most uncomfortable thing I could think of, yet that was my reality. I’d spent my early afternoon ready for a freezing cold shower.
Ramsey had just crossed the very lines I ached for him to pounce over. His hands on my skin drove me insane, and he’d called me b
eautiful. My cheeks had gone so hot at that instance as he dropped me off at the library. I knew he wanted me as much as I wanted him, it was impossible that he didn’t crave me the way I craved him.
I’d considered it, taking the class with another professor for the second term, only to be able to be with him. Though I thoroughly enjoyed his class, and I would love to continue under his instruction. ... I needed him to instruct me in other ways. Goodness, what was I thinking? I wasn’t thinking, that was it, I wasn’t allowing my brain to function at its full capacity.
Finishing my last class of the day, I rushed back to my room, that shower was going to be my saving grace, and a fresh pair of panties would snap me out of my ridiculous daydreams. I’d have to start keeping reserves of panties in my bag with the rate I was running into that man. I swear Oxford couldn’t be that small, but with the number of times we’d run across one another, I was beginning to think it was smaller than I thought.
As the freezing drizzle ran down my skin, I prayed it would relieve the pure elation I was holding inside, shocking me back into my reality. It worked just enough to satisfy me at the moment until I heard his voice in my head uttering that term of endearment to me, “Sweet One.”
I huffed and closed my eyes for a moment before I redressed and gathered my things. Sooner or later, I’d get him out of my head.
I had a mission for the rest of my afternoon, get myself a bike. My parents had set me up with a small fund to get anything I needed that wasn’t covered by my scholarship, plus I’d worked my ass off all summer working at the local movie theater to save up for the next nine months abroad.
Heading out of my room, I came face to face with my neighbor who’d woken me up in the morning with his singing. He gave me a huge smile as he approached me, holding his bag over his arm.
“Hello, there, Dorothy-Dear!” he called gleefully.
“Hey, Simon,” I cooed back to the guy who I knew would instantly be a good friend with his easeful and flamboyant nature that drew me to him as it was very much the opposite of me, shy and timidly reserved.
“Heading out?”
“Yeah, I’m done with classes, but I need to get myself a bike. I won’t survive this term without a better mode of transportation,” I admitted. “What are you up to?”
“I have a class in an hour, but I figured I’d head out early. It’s a nice day. Better savor the sunshine sweetie, it won’t be around much longer,” he warned. “There’s a bike shop on the high street. I can show you.”
“It won’t be out the way for you?”
“No, I have time. Plus, we need to get to know one another, neighbor.”
I grinned at the guy who was my first real friend here, besides Ramsey. Maybe we could be friends, Ramsey and me; we couldn’t possibly be more than that. The man had at least six years or so on me in age. I was kidding myself to think we could be more than that, friends.
Simon and I strolled together, chatting away. He’d grown up in London and was at Oxford studying Drama, his passion in life besides his newly blossoming career in drag as the fabulous Olivia Baxter, though he’d taken a break from drag to focus on his acting and school.
“You must come to karaoke with me,” he insisted as we walked together.
“I’m not really a karaoke girl,” I confessed. He gave me a frown and placed his hands on his hips.
“Everyone is a karaoke person. You just need a couple drinks, and you need to let go,” he asserted as we continued to walk. “I swear it will be fun. I go to the bar on Friday nights. There’s going to be a party this Friday as the term has just started. Please, please, please come, my Dorothy-Dear,” he begged.
It’s not like I was afraid to sing in front of people. I’d done it plenty of times. As a teenager, I started singing with my dad’s band. Every now and then, when I’d attend shows, I got to go up on stage and sing with them. I loved to belt out a few notes of Norah Jones on occasion.
I couldn’t answer as I looked to see a man leaning against an older model beamer that I now knew well. It was Ramsey, his eyes studying Simon and me, particularly Simon as if he was sizing him up.
“Professor, hello,” I said as we approached him.
“Oh, hello, Dora. I hadn’t seen you there.” That was a lie. He’d seen me, his eyes had been directly on me until the moment Simon and I approached him. “Out for a stroll I take it?”
“I need a bike,” I told him as I shifted uncomfortably, mostly because my new panties were going to end up in the laundry pile very soon. His voice alone sent my hormones into a frenzy.
“And this is?” Ramsey nodded toward Simon, almost demanding to know who the male specimen that escorted me was.
“Sorry, I’m so rude, Ramsey. I mean, Professor. This is my neighbor Simon. Simon, this is my English Lit professor, Ramsey Kendall,” I introduced the two of them, glancing away from Ramsey’s glare and down to the ground out of pure nerves.
“Hello, Simon,” Ramsey said kindly to Simon who greeted him back. “A bike, eh? There is a shop up the road. Old Mr. McCulligan’s Bike Shop, I know the owner actually. I worked there for a bit when I was in Uni. I can take you, maybe snatch you a discount.”
My eyes went wide with his offer, and I could only nod in response. A smile spread onto his face as he motioned for Simon and me to take the lead.
Simon linked his arm with mine as we began up to the road with Ramsey following. Simon was quick to nudge me in the side.
“What?” I hissed to my new friend.
“What’s going on with the professor?” he questioned in a low and mock lust filled voice putting particular emphasis on his last words.
“Nothing,” I was quick to respond in a hushed voice.
“Honey, you can’t tell me nothing.”
I bit down hard on my lip and peered back at Ramsey. His blue eyes met mine as he gave me a nod sending my insides into a frenzy, the butterflies in my stomach going into knots. That man was going to be the pure death of me, yet I couldn’t get enough.
Luckily, we reached the bike shop, and Ramsey was quick to jog in front of Simon and me, opening the door and allowing us to walk into the small shop. I glanced around at all the choices right away. I knew I didn’t need something advanced or for climbing mountains, just getting from point A to point B.
“Mr. McCulligan!” Ramsey called out as he zigzagged around bikes and wandered into the back office.
As soon as Ramsey was out of earshot, Simon turned to me with a knowing look in his eyes and hands on his hips. I knew he was anxiously pleading for me to spill the beans, though there was nothing to tell besides the fact that I wanted Ramsey more than I’d wanted anything in my life.
“Dorothy-Dear, you cannot say there is nothing, the sexual tension between the two of you nearly knocked me off my feet out there,” he acknowledged.
Was it really that strong? Our tension, did it really fill the air so strongly? I knew I felt it from the moment I saw him, my heart stopped, but my feet kept my gliding toward him, aching to be enveloped in his powerful pull.
“There really is nothing going on,” I insisted, keeping my voice low in the small shop. “He’s my professor, and I’m his student, there is nothing, there can’t be anything.”
“But you want to fuck him as bad as he wants to fuck you.” Simon was reading our minds.
“That’s not going to happen, though, no use in dwelling on it.” I stood firm. I knew crossing that line could not just ruin Ramsey’s promising future as a professor, but ruin any chance I had at a clean reputation. Though the little voice inside was begging for that line to be hopped, skipped, and jumped.
“Here he comes,” Simon whispered as Ramsey appeared from the back room, an older gentleman behind him.
“Mr. McCulligan this is the remarkable student of mine I just told you about, Dora Monroe, who is in need of a bike to get her around while here at school. I trust you can take care of her?” Ramsey spoke to the old man who peered at me, a grin on his thin lips.
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“I will take care of any remarkable students that you bring my way, Ramsey,” Mr. McCulligan cooed as he slapped Ramsey on the back. “I was once a Professor, though my dream was always to own this shop. I taught and ran the store simultaneously for fifteen years before I decided I’d rather care for bikes than students.” He chuckled, Ramsey joined in and gave me a smile. I looked away, biting down on my lip, while Simon nudged me in my side.
“Good, well I have some shopping of my own to attend to. Dora, I will see you in class, and it was nice to make your acquaintance Simon.” With that and a wave, he was gone, and the disappointment that flooded my system was intense.
Getting my bike was quite fun with Simon around for as long as he could be there before he had to leave me to get to his class. Mr. McCulligan was more than helpful, and when my sights were set on a bike out of my budget, he made me a deal I couldn’t pass up.
I got more than fifty percent off the price. Plus, after a nice chat with the older gentleman, I’d snagged myself a once a week job. On Tuesday afternoons after class, I’d help him out at the shop as Tuesdays were days he sat with his wife at her chemo treatments and closing the shop for one afternoon a week had caused a dip in his sales.
I loved hearing the old man gush over his wife and their nearly fifty-five years of marriage. She’d inspired him to open the shop over thirty years prior. I wanted a love like that, to be with someone who inspired me in every aspect of my life and that I could do the same for.
Leaving the shop, walking with my new bike, I couldn’t help but feel warm and fuzzy inside. I’d popped my earbuds in and hummed along to Mariah Carey’s Fantasy.
Completely lost in my own world, I hadn’t realized I nearly ran into a man leaving a shop. I stopped at once and tore my buds from my ears as I began to apologize profusely for my blunder. Though I paused at once when I heard his voice.
“Dora, it’s fine. I suppose it was due as I nearly ran you over with my car earlier,” Ramsey chuckled as he stood in front of me with two black shopping bags in his hands.
