As I placed my tools in an overhead cabinet and locked it, I wondered if Rachel liked art. She’d known my name, so I assumed she was familiar with my work. Was she impressed? For the first time in…I didn’t know how long; I felt a thread of nervousness when I thought about her opinion of my art.
* * *
“Doris, my lovely,” I greeted the elderly woman behind the desk in the records office. I put on my most charming smile and was gratified to see her brown eyes light up and a blush underneath her heavily rouged cheeks. She patted her gray hair (though it looked more like purple), then clasped her hands in front of her on the desk and returned my smile.
“What can I do for you, handsome?” she cooed. Doris Knickerbocker was at least seventy, but she acted like she was twenty and flirted with every man who crossed her path. It was harmless and absolutely hilarious at times, especially since she loved a good romance and was always trying to play matchmaker. I grinned and leaned forward, bracing my arms on the high counter.
“I need a favor.” I grinned and lowered my voice. “It’s about a girl.” Doris straightened and clapped her hands excitedly. I knew that would get her.
“Tell me more,” she encouraged with a wink, her long, fake lashes practically fanning me.
“Well, I knew the moment I met her that she was the one for me. It was like magic when our eyes met, and I just know she must have felt it too. But, before I could get through the crowd, she was gone, and I wasn’t able to tell her what was in my heart.” I may have embellished and twisted the story a little. It had the intended effect—Doris sighed, and I swear there were actual hearts in her eyes. “I have to find her.” I didn’t have to fake the desperation in my voice, nor did I hide my strong determination.
“Yes!” Clasping her hands over her heart, she bobbed her head in agreement. “You have to!” I followed her lead, bending closer until our faces were inches apart. “How can I help?” she whispered.
“I need her class schedule and…” I trailed off dramatically. Doris waited eagerly—I wasn't sure she was even breathing. “It would be easier to find my love if I had her address.” The word love was like a key to her kingdom. The woman read far too many romance novels, but in this instance, I was tempted to buy her a whole bookshelf of stories because it meant getting what I wanted.
She winked at me again and nodded conspiratorially. “What’s her name?” I gave her everything I knew about Rachel, and she typed speedily into her computer. Eventually, she punched a button on her keyboard and then told me to wait right where I was before disappearing into a back room. After a few minutes, she returned with a few papers and slid them slyly across the laminate counter. “Between us,” she tittered. “Now go get her!” She made a shooing motion, and I grinned before hurrying to my next destination.
Dr. Leonard was an odd duck. While she was supportive of her professors and worked hard to make sure we had everything we needed, you’d never really know on any given day what else she would choose to care about. Crossing my fingers that she was in the right mood today, I rapped my knuckles on her door and waited until she called out for me to enter.
“Dr. Bennet,” she acknowledged distractedly, not even bothering to look up from her computer. “What can I do for you?” She didn’t offer for me to sit and I didn’t make a motion to do so. I was hoping this wouldn’t take long.
“You recently hired a new model for the full figure units. Rachel Hill?”
“I believe you are correct. Was there a problem with her performance?” Dr. Leonard looked at me now; her head tilted back so she could observe me through the glasses perched on the end of her nose. “I assume she showed up?”
“Yes, she was there, and there was nothing wrong with her.” I clasped my hands behind my back and rested on the balls of my feet, trying not to fidget. “I would like to offer her the permanent position as my TA and ask that she not be hired as a nude model from now on.”
The department chair eyed me speculatively, and it made me squirm just a little bit. I couldn’t remember a time when she’d ever paid me this much attention. Even when she’d asked me to teach a few advanced classes as an adjunct professor, she’s barely glanced my way.
The silence was making my skin crawl. At last, she merely said, “Ok.” Then dismissed me by turning back to her computer. I wasn’t about to linger in case she decided to take any further interest in my request, so I hot-footed it out of there, Rachel’s information clutched tightly in my fist.
I told myself to wait a couple of days, to give her time for what happened between us to sink in. I made it until the next afternoon. I debated about whether to wait for her at her dorm room or outside one of her classes. Not being able to slam a door in my face won out, so I decided on ambushing her after class. It was a light day for me, with only one lecture and after checking her schedule, I arrived outside the building ten minutes before her class let out.
When she strolled out of the building, I was sitting on a retaining wall to her right, waiting. Her attention was centered on her cell phone, her fingers tapping away, and she didn’t notice me at first. I stood up and stepped into her path, chuckling when she crashed right into me. My hands went to her waist to keep her from falling backward, but I didn’t let go once she was steady on her feet. Her head tilted back, and she stared at me with her mouth open in silent surprise. “Hey, baby,” I murmured before placing a quick kiss on her lips then pulling her to the side, so she wasn’t standing in the middle of the exit, blocking people’s path.
“Liam? What are you—how did you—?” she sputtered, making me grin because she was just so damn cute.
“We have some unfinished business”—I winked—“so I came to walk you back to your dorm.”
Rachel looked confused, and she tucked some of her long dark hair behind one ear, and she glanced around. “Um…okay?” Then her brows grew down, and she scrutinized my face as she asked, “Wait, how did you know I’d be here?”
I grinned and slipped her arm through mine to get us walking. “Would you believe I’m so connected to you that I sensed where you’d be?” Rachel stared at me, her expression deadpan, and I laughed. “I didn’t think so, but it was worth a shot. Let’s just say…I have my ways.”
She came to a sudden stop and faced me, her hands planted on her full hips. “You charmed Mrs. Knickerbocker into giving you my class schedule, didn’t you?” An unabashed grin spread across my face, and she rolled her eyes but didn’t stop me from taking her arm and walking again.
I was about to approach the subject of working for me when her phone rang. She was still holding it in her other hand and when she flipped the screen up, her whole body tensed. “I need to take this,” she muttered and tried to step away from me. I didn’t keep her from moving, but I laced our fingers together so she couldn’t go too far. She threw me an irritated glance, and I responded with an innocent expression. Lifting the phone, she hit the accept button with her thumb then put it to her ear.
“Hey, yeah. Thanks for calling me back.”
She was speaking softly, but I didn’t think she realized how far up the volume was because I could hear the other person’s part of the conversation. I attempted not to eavesdrop, but maybe not as hard as I should have.
“I’d like to take you up on your offer,” she said quietly.
“Are you sure, Darlin’?” The other person asked. His voice sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place it. “Don’t get me wrong; the spot is yours if you want it. Just make sure you aren’t doing something you’ll regret.”
Doing what? Eavesdropping was now a thing of the distant past. What the hell were they talking about?
“Thanks, Mike. But, I don’t have any other options right now and at least at your place, I know I’ll be safe.”
What. The. Fuck?
If she thought this Mike guy—Mike. The voice and the name sparked a memory, but I didn’t have a grasp on it yet.
“Alright, you can come by tonight to fill out paperwo
rk and pick up your outfit. Fuck, I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this. First Liz, now you…”
Thats when it hit me. Asher’s brother Trevor had told me the story of how he and his wife got together one day when we were helping Nick out on his house renovation. At one point, Liz had taken a job at Big Mike’s strip club, Teasers.
NO. No way in fucking hell. I grabbed the phone from her hand and snapped, “Hey Mike, it’s Liam. Rachel just changed her mind. She won’t be coming to work for you”—I threw her a dark look—“ or setting foot in any strip club. She just got a new job.” Rachel gasped in outrage, but I ignored her.
Mike sighed. “Thank fuck. I’m pretty sure if Rosa’s dad found out, he’d kick my ass.”
I wasn’t sure who Rosa was or why her dad would care about Rachel stripping, but it didn’t matter at the moment.
Rachel was jumping up and making a grab for her phone. I kept it away from her long enough to say goodbye to Mike and hang up. “Liam!” she sibilated. “You—you—donkey butt!” I couldn’t help it, I burst out laughing, which did not go over well. I was bent over, trying to catch my breath when she whacked me upside the head. I barely felt it and almost succumbed to another round of choking laughter but managed to control myself and stood up, though I couldn’t hide my grin.
“You are fucking adorable,” I told her. She swatted my hand away when I went to touch her face, but I didn’t take offense. I honestly deserved her anger, but I didn’t feel remorse because it was all in the pursuit of her happiness.
“Liam”—I immediately sobered when I saw the tears welling in her eyes—“you just took away my last opportunity for income.” A tear slipped down, and she wiped it away angrily. “If I can’t pay for school, I’m just going to end up stripping anyway. I need my degree to get away from this life!”
There were so many things to address from her statement, but I could only focus on one at a time. Even though I wanted to put my foot down and tell her in no uncertain terms that she wasn’t going anywhere, I started at the beginning.
“Baby, you don’t need that job. It’s one of the things I came to talk to you about.”
Rachel folded her arms across her chest and glared at me, her dark eyes churning with violence. I hurried to explain before she erupted and wouldn’t let me finish. “I have an opening for a TA, and I talked with Dr. Leonard about it. We think you are the perfect fit.”
She cocked her head to the side, her lips turning down in a confused frown. “Don’t you already have an assistant?” Her eyes grew wide, and she exclaimed, “Please tell me you haven’t fired her for me!”
I shook my head and stepped closer, rubbing my hands up and down her arms. “Baby, Hillary is only filling in. The spot is open—or rather, it was open. It’s yours now.”
Rachel rubbed the back of her neck, confusion still clouding her eyes, but now there was also hope. “Why would you offer it to me? There have to be many more qualified candidates.”
“Look, I won’t deny that I very much want you to have this job,” I started, wanting to be honest with her. “But, I would never give you the spot without considering others. You are right, there were some more qualified students, but I’d crossed them out before I’d even met you.” Rachel uncrossed her arms and tucked her hair behind her ear again as she watched me pensively. “You’ve got the requisite knowledge from your major, and I trust you.”
“You don’t even know me.” Her tone was skeptical as she latched onto the straps of her backpack, adjusting it so it was more comfortable.
I reached out and turned her around. “I know enough,” I answered as I took off her pack, playing tug of war with her until she gave up. “Trust is often about how you feel as much as what you know.” Hefting her bag on my shoulder, I walked around to face her. “It seems to me, you’re not really in a position to say no,” I added.
Her expression turned rebellious for a half-second then she sighed and wilted a little. “You’re right. I guess I’ll take the job.”
“You could sound at least a little happy about it,” I replied drolly.
She shrugged then narrowed her eyes in warning. “We’ll see how it goes. Don’t think you are going to be grabbing me and kissing me all the time.”
I wrapped my hands around her arms and pulled her up against me, then lowered my head and gave her a searing kiss. When I pulled away, she stumbled a little, but I held onto her arms and kept her from falling. “You can pretend, baby. But, we both know you like it when I steal kisses as much as I do.”
We had almost reached her dorm when we’d stopped, and Rachel stomped toward the door with a huff. Since she wasn’t looking at me, I felt free to smile. She hadn’t disagreed with me.
7
Rachel
I was acutely aware that Liam was right behind me as I marched into the dorm building and down the hall to my first-floor room. Irritation buzzed inside me because he’d been right. I couldn’t keep from melting when he got all bossy and kissed me silly. His spectacle with the Teasers situation should have made me loathe him. Instead, it made me feel all fluttery in my stomach. Ugh!
It felt like it took forever to reach my room and since he was still right on my heels, I spun around, intending to brush him off. However, I opened my mouth and heard myself invite him in.
I’d been possessed. That was the only explanation. I think I might need an exorcism. Do they still do exorcisms? Will they do one on me if I'm not actually Catholic? Maybe I should convert—
“Babe?” Liam’s voice interrupted my internal rambling. “You have to go in first, then I follow.” My eyes flew to his, and I blushed at the amusement in his eyes and the smile playing around his perfect mouth. Not trusting the stranger who had taken over my body, I kept my mouth shut as I entered my room. Liam sauntered in after me, then closed my door and turned the lock. I briefly wondered what Rosa would think if she came back from class early to find our door locked when she knew I was always home studying at this time. Awkward. I opened my mouth to protest but didn’t get the chance because he was on me in a flash. He backed me up until my legs hit the edge of my desk, then he grasped my hips and lifted me so I ended up sitting atop it, with Liam standing between my thighs.
I moaned when his tongue brushed along the seam of my lips and my hands locked around his neck. This time, I couldn’t blame it on being possessed. I was honest with myself and admitted that I wanted Liam to kiss me. And I wanted so much more. Suddenly it seemed fortuitous that I’d chosen a comfortable but flirty, purple skirt this morning because nothing was stopping Liam from gliding his large palms up my thighs until his fingers were brushing the waistband of my panties.
“You get me so fucking hard with just a look, baby,” he panted when we separated to get some air in our lungs. “But, your silky skin is my undoing.” He nipped at my chin and whispered, “Did you wear this skirt hoping you’d be seeing me today?” He squeezed my butt cheeks and I whimpered. It was an arrogant assumption, and he didn’t need me to inflate his ego. Honesty was a thing with me though, so I nodded, conceding it was true, even though I hadn’t realized it until just now.
Liam growled low in his throat before his lips were on mine, his tongue demanding entry, which I gave him without a fight. His hands drifted over my hips and farther down until he was palming the cheeks of my ass. Suddenly, he jerked me forward so our centers were pressed tightly together and my legs instinctively clamped around his hips. His erection felt hard as steel and—holy moly—huge as it pushed instantly into my center. Moisture flooded my panties, and I fervently hoped I wouldn’t leave a wet spot on the crotch of his jeans.
“I can feel how hot your little pussy is even through two layers of clothing,” he murmured against my mouth. “Tell me something, baby.” He dragged his lips down to the hollow between my neck and collar bone. His tongue darted out and licked my heated skin.
“What?” I moaned as my back arched and my head fell, giving him more access to my throat.
One of hi
s hands skated around the front and dipped beneath the gusset of my underwear. I stiffened for a moment, embarrassed by how wet I was, but he groaned in a way that told me he liked it. Then he pushed that finger inside me and swallowed audibly. “Just as tight and wet as I thought you’d be,” he groaned. “Did you save this cherry for me?” I didn’t answer right away, so he bit my bottom lip, making me yelp even though it hadn’t hurt more than a pinch. “Rachel, you answer when I ask you a question.” His tone was commanding, and it caused a shiver to race down my spine and my inner muscles to clench. Liam sucked in air, and his hips bucked, pressing his manhood harder against me, forcing his finger even deeper.
“Yes,” I hissed.
I felt him smile against my lips and he rewarded me by crooking his finger and scraping it against a spot inside me that made me light up like fireworks. I cried out and undulated as he worked his finger in and out. “I can’t wait to sink into this virgin pussy,” he growled, adding a second finger. “Knowing I’m the only one who has and ever will have you is hot as fuck, baby.”
I was a little embarrassed that after taking such a stand about cussing, his filthy mouth only added to the pressure building inside me. The thought was fleeting and as he sped up his pumping rhythm; nibbling on my skin, I didn’t care about anything but the intense need consuming me as my body continued to reach for release.
“You’re almost there,” Liam purred into my ear before nipping at the lobe. “Let yourself go, baby. Give me your pleasure. I want to see you come for me.”
“Liam! I’m—oh yes, right there—yes, yes, yes—” I started chanting, and my hands held Liam’s arms in a death grip while my head fell back because I didn’t have the strength to hold it up.
“The next time you come, I’ll be popping that sweet cherry and burying my cock deep inside you.” His whispered words pushed me right over the edge, and I screamed as I splintered apart. Liam quickly covered my mouth with his, swallowing the rest of my cries as he gathered me close with his free arm, cuddling me into his chest. When my body finally stopped shuddering and spasming around his fingers, I collapsed against him in a boneless heap. My legs were practically numb as they fell from around his waist; I was too weak to hold them up any longer.
Until the Lightning Strikes: Happily Ever Alpha World Page 4
