Professor

I kissed her again, both of my hands cupping the sides of her neck now, holding her still for me, for what I was doing to her.

“Lucian,” she whispered against my mouth, and I felt my entire body tighten in response.

Using gentle pressure, I made her stand and immediately pulled her against me. She was so small compared to me, her little hands still clenching my biceps, bringing me closer, holding on to me. I felt something change in her demeanor, this desperation that matched my own.

She rose on her toes, wound her arms around my neck, and fucking kissed me back like she was desperate. I groaned, loving that she opened her mouth wide for me, that she allowed me to plunge my tongue into the warm, sweet recess of her mouth.

I pulled back and looked down at her, seeing the drugged expression on her face, the clear fact she was aroused as she stared up at me with her eyes wide, her pupils dilated.

“This is crazy, right?” she whispered almost as if she were trying to convince herself of the fact this wasn’t really happening.

My cock jerked at the sight of her needy for me, at the smell of lemons and spun sugar that surrounded her … at the taste of her on my lips and tongue. I cupped her cheek, holding on to her, feeling like she’d leave, escape like a frightened little animal. This dam had been opened inside of me, and my arousal, my need and all the emotions I had for Grace were out in the open. It was like an open wound, one that would never heal. I’d never heal because of her, and it was that pain, that raw vulnerability, that told me she was the one for me.

My other half.

The person who could break me with a few softly spoken words, with the threat of not being mine.

“Should we stop?” she asked, the tone in her voice telling me she was almost afraid of what my answer might be.

“Do you want to?” I said just as softly, my focus on her mouth. I wanted to kiss her again.

She didn’t answer verbally, but she did shake her head.

“Do I frighten you?” I asked and leaned down so our mouths were only inches apart.

For a second she didn’t respond. Maybe she was thinking about lying, about telling me she wasn’t. I could see she was apprehensive about all of this.

She nodded once but arched her chest, pressing her breasts against me. “Yes and no,” was all she said. “How I feel frightens me. The power you hold over me frightens me.”

I closed my eyes and grappled with control. She held all the power.

The need that had built up inside of me, my emotions, feelings, and having Grace here with me now, was my undoing. There was no going back. There never was once I’d had it in my mind that I’d make her mine.

I lifted my hand and smoothed my fingers down her neck, reveling in the smoothness of her skin. I felt like the world was crashing down around me. I’d move heaven and earth to please Grace. My feelings for her made me vulnerable, and I hadn’t felt that way since I was a child, since before my uncle passed. But this was a different kind of vulnerability. This was the kind that I wanted to embrace, because it felt like it was that one piece of myself I’d buried, too afraid to accept.

“All you have to do is tell me what you want, Grace, and it’s yours.”

She stared into my eyes, and I felt my heart beat a little faster at the vulnerability I saw. Damn, she was so innocent, so untouched and sheltered to the way the world was, to the way things could be. It made me want to protect her, keep her close and never let anything touch her.

“I just want you.”

God, did this woman know the power she held over me? Fuck, did I realize the power she held over me?

You know exactly what she does to you, exactly how much strength she exerts over you with just one look.

“I love you, Lucian. I think I’ve loved you from the moment I walked into your class.”

I closed my eyes, and this rough sound left me, one that was more animal than man. She brought out the primal side of me, the beast that I kept buried deep within. Letting it out would only cause destruction, would let my weaknesses free. I needed to always be in control, especially with Grace. But hearing her say she loved me had everything breaking around me, inside me. It had pleasure and pain, hope and fear consuming me.

I couldn’t let her go. I wouldn’t. She was bound to me irrevocably, mine for the taking. No one else would ever have her, and because of that she should be afraid. She should be terrified of the lengths I’d go to keep her close, to keep other men who desired her away.