I guess this room's darkness and the realization that it's my one and only night with this man have made me a lot more uninhibited.
"One question." He gives up under my touch, but I laugh in response.
"Ten," I bargain, gripping harder.
"Three," he breathes into my neck, and I feel his body tense when I start moving my hand up and down his dick.
"Five, and I'll let you ask me the same amount," I say, barely breathing, unable to tell why I started this in the first place. Do I want him to answer, or am I so turned on now that I don't care anymore?
"Deal," he says, and I feel his hand moving lower to my center.
No, I can't let that happen; I won't be able to ask any questions if we start having sex again.
I grab his hand before it reaches my pussy.
"I know he's not your biological parent," I say, and the moment these words escape my mouth, I feel Daniel tense even more.
I already regret I asked.
"I'm sure you, with your hacker skills, already know everything about me, so why do we need this game?" he asks in irritation. His voice is cold again, and he’s stopped stroking me.
It's not the first time he’s acted rudely when he's offended. He did the same thing to me when he found out that I was a virgin. I thought he was cold and arrogant at first, but now I know that he simply acts aggressively each time he gets hurt. It's his defense mechanism.
"It's not a game, Daniel." I turn to him and see that he’s looking straight into my face. His eyes have lost their joyful glitter, and his lips are pressed into a thin line. "I want to know the person I spend my first time with."
I place my hands on his chest. Our eyes lock together, and for a couple of long, torturous seconds, we simply stare at each other without saying a word, without even blinking.
"We were close." He finally gives up, exhaling loudly. "I loved him more than anyone in this world."
His eyes don't leave mine as he speaks. His voice gets softer again, and he finally presses his warm palms to my body, stroking my back.
I've missed this touch. It's only been a few minutes since he touched me for the last time, but I feel like I've already forgotten it.
As if his hands are simply meant to be on me.
"I'm so sorry about your loss," I say. My voice is trembling, and I feel how my eyes are getting wet. "I had no idea he was sick. What exactly happened?"
I really liked Mr. Vanderbilt. He was a great teacher, but even more, he was a wonderful person. He really loved what he did. I can't believe he died that young; he was barely sixty.
"He had skin cancer for the last twelve years," Daniel continues, and I feel his voice trembling slightly, too, despite how hard he tries to hide it. "He felt awful for the last couple of months. No matter how hard he tried to hide it, I knew he didn't have much time to live."
Daniel lowers his gaze, looking in the distance, stroking my back with his fingers. His eyes sparkle in the light from the street, and I can see that they're wet, too. I know he'd never let me see him like this if we weren't lying in the darkness. I know he would never be this frank if it wasn't our last night together.
We're talking; we're actually having a real, honest conversation with each other. And it doesn't seem weird. It feels like we’ve known each other for years. I feel this strange connection between us, one I've never felt with anyone else before.
I try to remind myself that I shouldn't think of Daniel this way. He's not my boyfriend. But I can't help this warm feeling inside of me that’s getting bigger each second that we're together.
"Have you ever seen your real parents?" I ask, afraid that this question may trigger another wave of anger inside of him.
"Of course. I grew up with them until I turned eight," he says calmly, as if talking about them isn't as painful as talking about Mr. Vanderbilt.
Oh, my God, what if they died, too?
I hold a breath, unable to believe I could ask him something so intimate, something that reminds him of the deepest, darkest moments of his life.
"They didn't die," Daniel says right away because he could probably smell my fear. "I mean, they're dead now, but that's not the reason why I left them. I ran away."
And then there are another couple of moments in total silence. I hear his heavy breathing on my skin.
I try not to move, not to blink, not to even breathe.
Because I'm afraid. About what he might tell me.
"You can ask," he whispers after a couple of minutes in complete silence.
"I'm afraid," I confess, barely audible. "Why are you telling me everything?"
"Because I said I would," he says right away and presses his forehead to mine. "And I like to think of myself as a man of my word."
He is a man of his word, I know that. I figured that out from the moment I saw him. No matter how rude he seemed to me from the first impression, I somehow knew that from the very beginning.
"What happened?" I ask after a long pause, swallowing the massive lump in my throat.
"Do you really want to spend the last question on this?" he asks right away in response.
"It's not the..." I try to remember how many questions I already asked him. "It's the fourth."
"No," he shakes his head slightly. "You also asked Why are you telling me this?"
I chuckle. "You tricked me."
"Be careful about what you're asking for." He smiles slightly.
I love it when he smiles.
Maybe I don't want to know what happened with his parents.
But deep down inside me, I feel like it's the only thing that'll help me understand him. I mean the real him, not the man who hides behind the mask, not an arrogant sex club owner, not a demanding professor, but the real Daniel.
"I do," I whispered finally, unable to believe I dared to say it.
He inhales deeply before answering. "They were addicts. They wanted nothing but another hit. They fought and beat each other every single time they had a withdrawal. They beat me so hard that I passed out. The only thing they taught me is to go on the streets and beg for money so they could buy another dose."
He pauses, taking a deep breath. I can't believe I'm forcing him to tell me this. I wasn't ready. I feel the first tear sliding down my cheek, and I do my best not to wipe it off, hoping he didn't notice.
"I ran away when I was eight. I lived on the streets for some time, then got into the system, but then ran away again," he continues. His voice is stable and calm, as if he's not talking about his life but describing a movie or something. "I met my father when I tried to steal his wallet to buy some food. He noticed and grabbed my hand. I thought he would call the police, but he fed me, asking nothing in response. And then he gave me a place to stay in one of the shelters he owned. I didn't believe him at first; I thought he was a perv or a pedophile. It was hard for me to believe that someone might do something for me simply to help."
The tears are running down my cheeks, and I sniff.
"But my father was a very patient man, unlike me." Daniel reaches out his hand and wipes away my tears gently. "He tried very hard to earn my trust, taught me a lot, gave me a job, a home, and a sense of family. He was everything to me."
Daniel moves closer and presses his lips to mine in a gentle, barely perceptible kiss. I feel the salt of my tears on my mouth, but Daniel swallows them, licking my upper lips and then the lower. He cups my face in his palms, "Don't cry, Savi. I hate to see you like this."
And then he presses his lips to mine again.
Savi... That's the first time he’s called me that, not baby, or Savannah, or little lamb.
Just like that, I became Savi for him.
Chapter Thirteen
Savannah
It's been a week since that night at Daniel's hotel. We haven't spoken to each other since then. I saw him a couple of times in the school corridors, but he didn't even nod in my direction.
I knew it would be like that when I agreed to have a one-night stand with a
man who hates commitments. I knew we couldn't see each other again, not even just to talk. I prepared myself for this but I’m still not really ready.
I miss him. That night...it awakened something deep in my soul, something I've never seen before, something I never knew I needed.
I never experienced that with Liam, no matter how much I tried to convince myself that I loved him. With Daniel...it's all different. It was as if someone poured gasoline on a fire. I wanted him so much I didn't care about the rules, opinions, people.
And after our conversation in bed, I not only want him physically but also emotionally. I want to talk to him, to know him, to feel again what I felt that night when he hugged me.
He let me stay for the night. I didn't ask him to. I was ready to leave, but even after we had sex again, he didn't let me go. He pressed his body to mine and hugged me so tightly as if he was afraid I might disappear.
And then the morning happened. He was hard when I woke up, but he simply kissed my forehead and pulled away, without even trying to have sex with me once again. He told me nothing. He simply called his driver, and I went back home.
I told my parents that I'd spent the night with Sky, and I felt shitty that I had to lie to them. I simply couldn't let them know how incredibly happy, fulfilled, and at the same time devastated I was.
Today is the first time I’ll have his class after we spent the night together.
"Here you are. I thought something happened to you," says Liam when I enter the classroom. "I called like three thousand times. Why haven't you picked up the phone?"
The bell rings, and Daniel enters the room, seeing me talking to Liam. The lecture begins, and Liam is forced to take a seat without waiting for my answer.
Daniel speaks, but I can't force myself to look at him, pretending that I’m taking notes on my laptop.
In a couple of minutes, I receive a note from Liam.
Why are you not talking to me? I missed you.
I quickly write 'Because we're not together anymore, stop calling me' and pass the note back to the sender.
It takes him a couple of minutes before I receive another note.
Will you ever forgive me?
To be honest, I already forgave him. I was so mad at him that I thought I would never get over it, but the moment I met Daniel, everything changed. I am not mad at Liam anymore because I don't care about him. I don't even think about him any longer. All I think about is how unfair life is. Why the hell did I have to fall in love with a man who doesn't love me back?
I write Maybe in response simply to stop this conversation, but the second I start to pass the note back, a big hand grabs mine, taking the message away from me.
When I raise my eyes up, I see Daniel is standing in front of my desk.
"Liam, you've got detention for distracting my students during lecture," he says with a low, cold voice.
I shudder.
"Are you serious? It was just a note, I..." Liam begins but is unable to finish the thought.
"Two hours," Daniel interrupts. "One more word, and I'll suspend you from school, and you'll have to retake your classes during summer holidays."
Liam gets quiet while Daniel continues his lecture as if nothing happened, placing my note into his pocket without even looking at me.
I pretend I do not exist and try to hide under the laptop until the lecture is over.
When the bell rings again, and all the students are rushing to the door, Daniel says, "Ms. Jones, I need to talk to you."
Someone behind me starts gossiping, saying that Mr. Vanderbilt asked me to stay after class for the second time, and I am in trouble.
Luckily, it doesn’t occur to them that he might be asking me to stay for any other reasons. They have no idea that a geek like me could sleep with the hottest professor in the school.
I know many girls have already tried to seduce him; I’ve heard the rumors. I also know he was adamant about their flirting because Ashley, the main cheerleader, started telling everyone he must be gay if he ignores her.
She has no idea how wrong she is.
When the last person walks out of class, and the door closes behind him, I come closer to Daniel's desk to hear what he wants to say.
"Are you seriously going to date him again?" he asks sternly, taking a step toward me and looking down at me.
My jaw literally drops in surprise.
"Are you talking about my relationship with Liam?" I ask incredulously.
This man ignored me for the whole week—he didn't even look in my direction—and now he's trying to tell me who I can date?
"Do you have a relationship with him?" Daniel's gaze becomes darker, his teeth clench, and his lips press into a thin line out of anger.
He's jealous.
"I don't." I swallow, shuddering out of that gaze, hoping he didn't see it. I cross my hands on my chest to hide my fear.
"But are you considering forgiving him?" he insists, coming closer and standing feet away from me.
I swallow and then inhale deeply. "Why do you care?"
I try to raise one eyebrow, showing him my irritation, but I could never do that, so I just grimace.
"You know why." He takes one more step, and now his chest is pressed to my crossed arms.
"I have no idea," I lie, trying to sound at ease.
And then he kisses me, right in the middle of the classroom. Daniel Vanderbilt is kissing me, taking my face in his palms. And it's not another gentle kiss, as if to say goodbye. It's a rough, demanding kiss as if he has been starving for it for ages.
My knees are becoming weak, and my arms drop to my sides when his tongue penetrates mine.
Daniel places one of his hands on my back to make me stand still, while his other hand is cupping my neck, tilting my head for a better angle, deepening the kiss.
I moan and dig my fingers into his shirt.
And that's when I remember that someone might come in and see us at any minute. But Daniel does not pull away. He continues devouring me, pressing me harder to him.
"I wanted to do this each time I saw you," he whispers, breaking the kiss but not letting me go, "and even when I didn't see you, I was picturing you, this..."
He leans to kiss me again, but I stop him. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because we agreed it was going to be a one-time offer."
"And what's changed?"
It takes a couple of moments before he can answer. "I don't know."
He shrugs, letting my face go and slightly pulling away. I feel like I could faint without his hand on my back.
"What do you want, Daniel?" I ask, shaking my head. "You were the one who told me not to come to the club, not to talk to you, not to expect anything in return. So what do you want? I honestly don't..."
"You," he interrupts, without letting me finish, and I freeze in place, already forgetting what I wanted to say. "I want you, Savannah. For some stupid, unexplained reason, you're the only one I want."
The words I've dreamt of hearing after that night, I’ve finally heard them.
So why do I feel so devastated?
"And what should I do? Come to the club again?" I ask after a pause.
"We can meet at my suite."
I chuckle and take a step back. "Are you serious? You're going to a party every night, fucking other women, tying them to the bed, beating them, or what else you do in those secret rooms. And then you'll meet me for a regular fuck because you're bored with BDSM?"
I yell so loudly that someone might hear me if they were walking past the room.
But I don't care about that anymore. All I care about now is this man in front of me and what I feel for him.
I’ve already fallen in love with Daniel Vanderbilt. I know that. I feel it with my heart. But the man I love simply got tired of his sex games and wants to try something new.
But I'm not a booty call. I have feelings. And when he let me go and didn't call, it broke my heart. I survived, but who knows what could happen if he doe
s it again?
"I haven't slept with other women since that night," he says, quieter than I was. "I don't beat women. Never say that." He takes me by the shoulders. "I don't know why it's happening to me, but I can't stop thinking about you."
"And what will we do? Hide in your penthouse until I go to college? Or meet for regular fucks when I come home from MIT?" I push his hands away, taking another step back so he can't reach me.
He doesn't say anything. Because he didn't think this far. He only wants to fuck me once again, or maybe a couple of times, until he gets enough. He doesn't care about my feelings.
Because his heart is cold as ice, I remind myself.
"I don't want that, Daniel," I continue more quietly, shaking my head. "I don't want to dig any deeper. I don't want you to sleep with me and then throw me out like one of those girls at your club."
I take my bag in my hand and look at him once again. "I don't want to get hurt when you get tired of me," I whisper before turning away and silently walking out the door.
Chapter Fourteen
Savannah
Two months later
"I'm gonna miss you so much!" Mom says, hugging me for the thousandth time before she and my dad leave the room.
We're at MIT's student campus, trying to fit in all of the stuff I brought from home. This room is tiny, and I'm going to be sharing it with another girl, a roommate I haven't seen yet. Hope she's not too noisy. I'm an introvert. I love sitting alone on my bed with a book. I don't need music blaring at two in the morning.
Who am I trying to fool? If this girl is studying computer science, she’s probably just as quiet and unsocial as I am. Everything's going to be okay.
I’ve told myself that a thousand times, trying to believe it, but it still feels weird to move away from home.
I know most people dream about the day they move out of their parents’ house to start leading their new, adult lives. But I'm obviously not one of them. I'm gonna miss my family so much.
Take Me Gently: A High School Forbidden Love Steamy Standalone Romance (Dirty Elite Academy) Page 7
