Lessons in Corruption (The Fallen Men 1)

“Wow,” Benny breathed, his huge brown eyes locked in wonder on the new student.

“Ohmigawd, he is so hot,” Maya Person whispered loudly to her best friend, Talia.

I hated that I agreed with her.

“Watch your language in this class, Mr. Garro. And we raise our hands here, if you wish to be called on,” I reprimanded him.

“Satan didn’t believe in obeying The Man and you think he’s a babe. Didn’t think you’d mind,” he had the audacity to say.

I stared at him in muted anger. My tummy filled with static electricity that I feared would show in my eyes.

“You will respect me in my classroom,” I finally declared with a chin tilt that I felt underlined my point very well.

His eyes freaking twinkled in response. I watched him lift his hand in a two finger salute before he said, “Wouldn’t dream of disrespecting you in that way, Miss Irons.”

I couldn’t tell if I was imagining it or not but I could have sworn he put the emphasis on that way, as if he could think of other, much more pleasurable ways to disrespect me in my classroom.

A flush sluiced down my front from my cheeks to my chest where my nipples furled into hard points behind my flimsy bra.

“It’s Mrs. Irons,” Aimee corrected.

King frowned, his countenance changing so quickly from carefree, cockier than Satan before the fall, to something darker, broody and infinitely more Byronic. “Married?”

There was no reason for me to feel guilty. If anything, he should feel guilty! He was the one who had seduced a grown woman while he was underage.

“I don’t discuss my private life in class,” I said, turning back to the whiteboard to write some preliminary notes.

“She does,” Talia murmured. “She’s separated from her husband and she just bought this little cabin over on Back Bay road. She commuted from Vancouver last year but now she offers extra help every day after school. Trust me, you’ll need it. She’s cool but she’s a total hard ass.”

“Talia,” I scolded, but there wasn’t much bite to it.

I did talk to my students about my personal life to a certain extent because I wanted them to know that they could talk to me about anything going on in their lives. It was the same reason that I offered extra help every Monday through Thursday after school, because I wanted them to have a safe place to go.

Entrance was a rich community but the underbelly was poor and unfortunately, riddled with drug use and violence. Some of my kids hung out in my office after hours just to forestall going home.

“Mmm,” King hummed, and I didn’t have to look at him to know that he was pleased with Talia’s intel.

I’d never wanted to run out of my classroom before but the look in King’s eyes, the predatory hunger there, and the fact that apparently, I had hooked up with one of my freaking students, had me ready to hightail it out of there.

“Okay, I’d like you all to open read Canto IV, when Satan meets Adam and Eve. Take notes. There may or may not be a pop quiz about it tomorrow morning.”

Everyone groaned but I knew they didn’t mind too much. I’d successfully infected them with my enthusiasm for Paradise Lost and most of them, even the boys, were already quietly reading by the time I closed the door on them.

I kept my head down as I quickly made my way to the staff restroom at the end of the hall, somehow managing to keep my breakdown at bay until I shut the door and turned on the lights.

A student.

I’d broken the cardinal rule of teaching and hooked up with a student.

It wouldn’t matter to anyone that I hadn’t known at the time that he was my pupil. People didn’t look too hard at the details when they were presented with a scandal, and this was a scandal. The married (no matter that I was legally separated) teacher with The Fallen MC’s prodigal son?

Yeah, no. I was fucked.

I was groaning into my hands when the door opened into my back and sent me reeling forward.

“What the—”

King ignored my indignation, stepped into the room and locked the door with an audible snick that sounded to my ears like a bomb going off.

“Get out,” I ordered.

“No, you’re gonna listen to me.”

“I am not. Get out,” I said as I righted myself and spun to face him with my hands planted on my hips.

King had the audacity to cross his arms and lean, freaking lean like he had no worries, against the door. “No. You’re gonna calm down for two fuckin’ minutes and listen to me.”

“I am not. And, news flash, you are my student! I am the one who lays down the rules here, buddy. So, get out of my way or I’ll send you to the Headmaster’s office.”