by J. J. McAvoy
“Thea,” he said, as his back straightened, and his jaw tightened in an effort to control himself.
“Yes?” I asked, taking a bite of the rice he had ordered for me.
Meanwhile, under the table, my foot rubbed against him slowly.
“You’re pushing me,” he said.
“You’re enjoying it,” I leaned forward. “As a matter of fact, I can feel how much you’re enjoying it, Mr. Black.”
Covering his mouth with his hand, he sat there, trying not to give into what I knew he was feeling. Pressing harder into him, he tightened his grip on my hand.
“This isn’t fair,” he glared at me. “You’re too far away.”
“Sounds like your problem.”
“Eat,” was all he said as he picked up his fork.
Taking it as a personal challenge, and curious about how far I could take things, I increased the pressure a little as I continued sliding my foot against his hard-on. And just like that, his fork fell out of his hand.
“God damn it, Thea.” He was smoldering now.
“You should really try this, it’s good,” I told him, as I pointed down to my food.
Finally, he reached down and restrained my renegade leg.
“You’re gonna have to hold it for as long as we’re sitting here,” I told him, “and people might start to wonder what your hand is doing down there.”
“You’re evil.”
“And yet still, you like me.”
He let go of my foot, and sat there, not saying single word as I started again. The look on his face was priceless. It was a pleasure to watch him battle with himself to maintain control, and to remain cool and collected. And from the feel of things, I knew he wanted to get up and leave right now. But the moment he did, he knew that it would have meant that he was admitting his defeat, and he’d have to acknowledge the fact that he really had no self-control.
I knew him better than that. He’d always let me win the smaller battles. But this, this was something that I knew he would pay me back tenfold for, and each second I drew this out, would be a second more that he would seek out in revenge later on. And truthfully, I looked forward to every moment of it.
Even watching him eat slowly bothered me. I didn’t want him to be able to eat. I wanted him to get us out of here. I want him to concede his defeat… he just needed a little push.
Lifting my other foot, I brought it up against him. That was it. He bowed his head, and clenched his fist, until finally, he got up, dropped a hundred on the table, and pulled me up.
“I wasn’t done,” I said to him, smiling to myself as I slipped my flats back on.
“I’ll make us dinner,” he said, dragging me out of the restaurant.
He looked down the length of the street, back to my house, and instead of going in that direction, he took my hand and led me to the nearby park.
“Levi…”
“You reap what you sow,” he stated.
We bypassed everyone, all but running headlong into the woods. It was only when we couldn’t hear anything but birds chirping, that he pushed me up against a tree, lifted my skirt up and grabbed on to one of my thighs.
“This right here, is to get me off, until I can thoroughly pay you back for your little stunt back there,” he whispered.
“Levi, someone can come through here at any second.”
“Then I’ll just have to keep you quiet,” he said kissing me as he thrust forward.
“Ah—”
I gripped on to his shoulders and hair. He held me up, slamming inside me with no reservations whatsoever. He left kisses up and down my neck, my face, my lips. He was everywhere, his grasp on my thighs tightened, as my back pressed hard into the tree. With each thrust, the leaves rained down around us, and my breathing became short gasps.
When his kisses stopped, and he looked at me, and all I could do was grin… maybe I was delirious, or just plain giddy, but I couldn’t take my eyes off him. I wanted him more. I wanted to feel more of him, over and over again.
“Oh no you don’t,” he said as he sped up, and my head bent back in joy, “I’m getting off, not you.”
All too soon he came, leaving me only half way there.
“Damn you,” I hissed.
“Oh, I’m just getting started.”
DAY 7
LEVI
“I might have gone a little overboard,” I said, looking around at the broken objects in her room.
“You think?” she asked, as she picked up the broken lamp.
“In my defense, the distance from your front door, to your bed, is far too long.”
“In the week you’ve been here, the distance hasn’t changed!”
“And how many times did we actually make it to your bed?” I asked, and she just rolled her eyes.
Exactly.
I grabbed the broom and helped her clean up the mess we—I— had made. The damage, equaling both her bedside lamps, a picture frame, an alarm clock, the wall paper over her bed which was torn, and one of her bed legs, now wobbly.
“You aren’t going to let me pay for any of this, are you?”
“You’re going to try and find a way to pay for it, aren’t you?” she countered already knowing where my mind was going.
I was already thinking of ordering the things and having it shipped to her. “As long as we’re on the same page.”
“You order it, and I’ll return it.”
“You return it, and I’ll order it again.”
“Why are you so damn stubborn?”
“Said the queen of stubbornness,” he grinned.
She sighed, “Fine. I will pick out the things, and you can order them for me.”
“You can’t pick out the cheapest things,” I told her, knowing full well she would probably go to the thrift store.
“Levi, you aren’t you supposed to meet me halfway here? This is a compromise. I’m letting you replace the things, and I get to choose what they will be.”
“It’s a great compromise, with the exception of what you’re choosing. For it to be a true compromise, you have to let me buy you something of equal or better value, than what I broke.”
She shook her hands at me like she was trying to reach for my neck. “This is why people hate lawyers!” she screamed in frustration.
“I know, right?”
“I need to get myself some breakfast, before you drive me insane,” she muttered, taking my hand as she led me out of the room.
Today was the last day, and instead of heading over to my place, we decided late last night—or rather early this morning— to finish off the day here.
Watching her make breakfast for the last time, I felt the urge to ask for more time… but I didn’t want to be that guy.
We’d made a deal, and she didn’t look like she was backing out of it, and neither should I...
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Just thinking about how much that lamp cost,” I lied.
“You’re ridiculous,” she laughed, handing me a plate.
“Thank you. Do you have coffee?” I asked, as I scanned the countertop for the coffee machine.
“Sorry, I don’t drink coffee.”
“What?” I asked, as I searched for the coffee maker. Sure enough, there was none. “How’d I not notice this before?”
“You’re a coffee person?”
“I was a coffee addict, but now that I think of it, I don’t remember having a cup all week.”
What the hell? I had had a cup of coffee at least once a day since I was in high school.
“Surprise! This was really just a one-week rehab for you Levi Black. Your family was worried about your addiction, and called me in to help,” she joked, handing me a glass of orange juice.
“If my family’s turned me in, who’s going to help them? Because I know the addiction’s hereditary,” I chuckled, as I accepted the glass.
“The family package is extra,” she said, and I coughed up my drink trying not laugh.
> “Ah… stop.”
She laughed along with me, and I was at peace with her once again. Grabbing our plates, we moved into the living room, taking our place on the couch, which usually consisted of her sitting in-between my legs.
I’m not sure why, but neither of us spoke after that. We kissed every so often, but it never got too heavy. She rested against me and read to me, I in turn, played the guitar for her, and then we ended up in each other’s arms again… without clothes on. We just held each other for hours, talking when we had to, and kissing when there just weren’t any words.
And just like that, the day was over. The spell was broken, and reality came creeping back into our lives. As if to prove it, my phone never stopped vibrating, as Betty’s preprogrammed messages started to invade my inbox.
“You're popular,” she said, standing up, and I wanted to pull her back down on top of me.
“I officially start work again today,” I told her looking up at the clock; it was one minute past midnight.
“Then I guess you should be going.”
“Yeah.” I stood, grabbing my bag.
We said nothing as we headed over to the door, and part of me hoped that she wouldn’t open it, but she did.
“It was great meeting you, Thea.”
Great didn’t even begin to cover it.
“Likewise. This week was amazing,” she nodded. “Bye.”
“Bye.”
I kissed her one last time before turning around.
Just keep walking Levi. Just keep walking.
But I didn’t listen to myself. Instead I turned back just as she closed the door…
It was over.
I would most likely never see her again. This week was nothing like I had thought it would be. I never meant to share anything about myself, or even get to know her. It was just supposed to be sex. So why didn’t it feel like that?
Just keep walking Levi.
THEA
When he left, I slid to the ground and drew my knees to my chest. I wanted to ask him to stay. I didn’t want to open the damn door. But if did, then I would be that girl who couldn’t let go, and I rather let him go than risk him thinking that I was that girl.
“I’m pitiful, aren’t I, Shadow?” I whispered to my cat, as she came to lay on my lap.
This must have been how Cinderella felt after the clock struck midnight and all the magic went away. This had been the best week of my life, and now, it was over.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
LEVI
Class began, and I walked in to find her seat empty. I could hear the remaining students whispering amongst themselves that they had successfully wiped her name off the board. It would take more than one missed class to derail her status, or was I just being nice because I’d fucked up so badly? I wasn’t really sure anymore.
The image that I had created in my mind of Margaret Cunning had shattered before my very eyes at Thea’s revelation. Just thinking of her made me sick. What kind of woman does something so despicable to her children?
“To me, she is The Shark because she eats her young,” Thea’s voice rang out in my mind again and again.
It was like that one horror movie that I couldn’t get out of my head, no matter how many comedies I watched afterward.
The class droned on without anything significant happening. Usually I would be pressing them harder, trying to get reactions out of them. However, today, I felt like I was the one off my game. They couldn’t tell, to them I was being an even bigger dick than ever, but I knew it wasn’t because of anything they had done. I was pissed off at myself.
Truthfully, I had no idea how I managed to make it without dismissing class early, but I didn’t linger any longer than I had to.
“Have a good evening, sir,” my driver said to me as I stepped out of the car. I only ever used him when going to see clients or heading to the city.
“Thank you, see you tomorrow evening.”
“Very well, Sir.”
Reaching into my pocket, I grabbed my keys, heading towards the stairway of my townhouse, when I stopped short. There she was, sitting on the third stair, waiting for me.
“Hi,” she stood up, “I know it’s late, but can I come in?”
Unsure of what to say, or how to react, and somewhat afraid that I would once again stick my foot into my mouth, I nodded and opened the door for the both of us. Once inside, she didn’t move from the doorway.
“I just wanted to say I’m sorry,” she said, rubbing her hands together. It was an action I knew she did when she was nervous. “It was completely wrong of me to explode at you like that, not to mention inappropriate. My mother— she was superstar lawyer, it would make sense that you would talk about her in class. My feelings should not—”
“Stop,” I said. I couldn’t take her apologizing to me. I cupped the side of her cheek, and took pleasure in the fact that she still leaned into it. “I’m sorry. I should have warned you.”
“How could you have? Why should you have? You did what you—”
“I did what I wanted to do, without caring how it would have hurt or affected you. I didn’t have to bring up Margaret this early in the year, I only did it because of how you reacted to the mere mention of her, and the fact that Tristan told me how much you hated her.
“I did it because I wanted to know more about you, and so I pushed you when I shouldn’t have. I’m the one who should be apologizing to you, I’m the one who’s sorry,” I said before she could interrupt me.
Her head dropped, along with my heart. “You’re an ass.”
“I know.”
“You didn’t have to follow me.”
“I know.”
“Don’t look at me like I’m damaged,” she whispered, not meeting my gaze.
Lifting her chin her up, I forced her to look at me. “I’m not.”
“You’re thinking it.”
“I definitely am not,” I said softly, as I ran my thumb over her bottom lip.
She’s so close to me…
“I should go.”
“Okay.”
Neither of us moved.
If she kissed me now, she would become a student who knowingly seduced her professor, and if I kissed her now, I would become a professor who preyed on my student. Either way, we were both screwed, so fuck it.
Leaning down, I closed the gap between us. In that moment, everything I had been suppressing for the last month came rushing back to me. Dropping my bag, I picked her up, and her legs snaked themselves around me. She molded herself to my body, and her hands gripped on to my hair, as our tongues collided with each other.
I had no idea how we even managed to make it to the bedroom. When we got to the bed, she broke away only long enough for me to pull off her sweater and throw it into the corner. She swept my jacket of my shoulders, and pulled my tie from my neck in one fluid motion. She ripped my shirt off just as I had done to her on our second night.
“So sexy,” I muttered, kissing her stomach, as I pulled off her jeans.
I eagerly trailed my kisses downward, pausing only long enough to pull her underwear down with my teeth. My hand was already moving in to tease her. Her back arched up, as I rubbed my fingers against her already wet folds. My tongue followed suit as I licked her, once, slowly.
“Stop… stop playing with me,” she protested, as she rocked against my tongue and fingers.
She was right. I didn’t want to play, I just wanted to have her. She rubbed herself against me and I couldn’t help but grin.
“Eager?” I asked, taking it from her.
“Aren’t you? Or has someone else been getting you off now?”
Grabbing her wrist, I pinned her down underneath me. “Don’t even joke like that.”
“Who says—?”
I kissed her, silencing her before she said anything else crazy. She moaned into my mouth as soon as I entered her.
Goddamn.
I couldn’t think straight. I had missed this. I had missed being
in her so badly, I didn't have enough self-control to make love. So instead, I fucked her hard, keeping her pinned down beneath me. Her breasts bounced uncontrollably, as my bed shook to the rhythm of our bodies. This wasn’t slow or passionate; that’s not what either of us wanted or needed.
“Levi!”
I loved how she always, no matter what, called my name when she came.
Seeing the look on her face, I couldn’t stop myself. I grunted out as I came. Exhausted, I fell onto her chest, and she wrapped her arms around me. I stayed like that for as long as I could, savoring the moment, and the feel of her, as I listened to her heartbeat slowly return to normal.
This moment was just like the last day of our week together, only now, we both knew that this was something different. This was something more than just lust.
That week we had no idea if we would ever see each other again, let alone become so entwined in each other’s lives. We were a mystery to each other then, but now, now we should have known better. Or at the very least, I should have known better, but I just couldn’t care enough.
When she tried to get up, I rolled over, trying to give her the space that she needed. But watching her reach for her bra was too much.
“Don’t go,” I finally said. “Stay the night.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
She turned back and glared at me, “You know why.”
“I do, but stay anyway.”
“Levi, please don’t make this harder for me…”
“For you? This isn’t just hard for—”
She turned, moving on top of me, and kissed me quickly. “I’ve told you most of my story, I’m just going to finish it now so that you can understand.”
All I could do was nod.
“My father is at Northern Correctional.”
I cringed. It was one of the worst maximum-security state prisons in the state of Connecticut.
“You know the Savannah Van Allen case?” she continued.
I sat up suddenly, my eyes widening in understanding. “You father is Ben Walton?”
She nodded. “Yes. My father is Ben Walton, and he’s currently on death row for the rape and murder of the Boston socialite, Savannah Van Allen. My mother was supposed to represent him. I was just a child at a time, and my sister wasn’t even a year old. But I remember it all. The day Savannah Van Allen was murdered, my father took my sister and I to the Woodstock Fair. There were photos to prove it. My mother knew, she could have had the case thrown out. But then she found out that he was planning to leave her for Savannah. So, in a fit of rage, she handed off his case to a friend, burned all the photos we took that day, and took my sister and I out of town.”
