Beauty and the Professor (A Modern Fairy Tale Duet 1)

“I knew you wouldn’t leave because of that or because things were difficult. Unless you got scared about something. By someone.”

She groaned. “I never should have freaked out like that.”

“It’s okay. We all get freaked out sometimes. I think I hold the world’s record for longest time spent hiding in his house.”

“That was different. You were…” She couldn’t say the words. Almost killed. A prisoner of war.

“Wounded,” he said softly.

She swallowed hard. He’d never really talked about what had happened before, and she’d never pushed. He pulled her to the couch and sat down with her. She remembered, with a flash of heat, what they’d done on this couch with a glass of wine. His smile said he noticed her blush.

He grew serious. “I was upset you didn’t come talk to me when Melinda threatened you. Did you think I’d get pissed at you?”

“No,” she said quickly. “It’s not that. I wasn’t thinking straight and I wanted to handle it myself. I feel like I’m always coming to you with problems or trying to change you. I was the one who pushed you into accepting the job and then it got all twisted when we found out it was my class.”

“Erin, only I can take responsibility for the things I did. Or the things I didn’t do. That’s something I’ve had to relearn recently. I accepted the position because I thought it was the right thing to do. I’m not going to let Melinda jeopardize that any more than I’m going to let her come between us.”

She narrowed her eyes. “So how exactly did you take care of it?”

He shrugged. “Oh, the usual. Blackmail, extortion. Now that I think of it, I could have used bribery. But it didn’t come to that.”

“Blake Morris, you didn’t! The pillar of honor and integrity.”

“Don’t pin those words on me, sweetheart. I was raised to be a politician, remember? Besides, it got the job done. And this isn’t about you bringing me problems or trying to change me. This is taking care of what’s mine.”

She felt breathless, her body alight with excitement. “I’m yours?”

“You know the answer to that, Erin. You’re mine forever, whether I touch you in three minutes or three weeks or three years. Though let’s not wait as long as that last one, please.”

“Touch me now,” she whispered. She wanted to feel connected to him again, the deep and abiding intimacy that only came of bodies joining.

He raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. Please.”

“If I take you, we’re going upstairs to my bed, and I’m not letting you out until morning. You’re going to be very sore tomorrow.”

She moaned softly, imagining all the ways they would fill those hours. Her body twinged with the phantom imprint of him, eager for the thick length filling her up.

“Are you thirsty?” he asked solicitously. “Hungry? We should take care of you now. You’ll need to keep up your strength.”

Her groan was pure sexual frustration. “You’re teasing me.”

“A little payback, sweetheart. You really drove me crazy with that note.” He still spoke evenly, but she sensed the turmoil beneath his words, how deeply she’d affected him.

Chapter Seventeen

Erin

She took his hands in hers, marveling at how large they were, how strong and capable they felt. And yet he let her hold them, turn them over. Let her press her lips to the back of his hand. He was like that everywhere, big and wonderfully competent, yet he allowed her to lead. Was it because he knew she needed that? Or a natural respect he granted her as his lover? There was so much more she wanted to know about him.

It wasn’t seductive, but it was honest. “What happened over there? You don’t have to tell me everything. I wouldn’t expect that. Just…something I don’t know.”

He didn’t seem surprised by her question. He nodded, as if it were the most natural thing in the world for her to ask about his darkest hour, and maybe it was.

“We were on patrol. Me and three other guys. We were attacked by insurgents with missile launchers. Taken by surprised and outgunned. One of my men died on impact.”

Her breath caught. His voice was flat, but God, the pain wavered near the surface. She could feel it in the air around her. It shimmered there, like a hot summer’s day.