Lessons in Sin

His hard-edged stare imprisoned mine. He hooked a finger under the crotch of the panties, flicking the flimsy barrier out of the way. His gaze stayed with me, the arm around my back holding me up as he notched his cock against my entrance.

My breath hiked, and his echoed.

I wriggled, and he hesitated, his hands trembling against my overheated skin.

Goddammit, don’t get a conscience now. Fuck me, Magnus. Please.

“Tinsley?” Father Isaac’s voice sounded from the other side of the door. “Are you still in there?”

My heart stopped, restarted, and spun into my throat. I pushed at Magnus, but he didn’t move. His face showed no emotion. No reaction whatsoever. Was he in shock?

I took several rigorous swallows, hoping to strengthen my voice. “I’m here. Almost done.”

“Are you with Father Magnus?” His footsteps moved away, treading toward the other booth. “Oh. I see. It doesn’t appear he’s here.”

“He had to step out.” I shoved harder against Magnus’s chest, forcing his arms to release me. “I think he needed to use the restroom.”

“You can finish your confession another time, then. I need to return to the campus.”

The door handle twisted.

Shit, shit, shit.

“Yep.” I gripped the knob, holding it closed. “I’m just going to finish my prayers. Be right out.”

I almost had sex.

In a confessional.

With a priest.

Now would be a good time to start praying.

As the old priest shuffled away, I shifted back to Magnus.

That wasn’t shock on his face. His features twisted with disgust. Regret. Shame.

My chest constricted, and my mind spiraled. But rather than focusing on the could’ves, I needed to deal with the now.

Father Isaac’s pacing footsteps. Magnus’s expression. The weight of his stare. His hand lifting to my face. I knocked it away. My skirt. Fixed that. Underwear. Shirt. Hair. Good enough.

By the time I reached for the door, my chest ached from stress, and my pulse slogged in exhaustion.

But I couldn’t leave without looking back.

Turning, I soaked up his rock-hard jaw, the flat line of sensual lips, the arrogance of perfect features, and his eyes. I nearly crumbled at the display of penitence there.

Well, he was in the right place for his guilt. He could just sit his ass down and pray an Act of Contrition to his heart’s content.

I had to go.

Leaning up on my toes, I left a kiss on those brooding, unresponsive lips.

Then I slipped out the door and strode toward Father Isaac like a good girl.

CHAPTER 29

TINSLEY

Two hours later, a discreetly armed Constantine driver arrived to take me to Bishop’s Landing.

I hadn’t seen Magnus since our confessional blow job, and everything between us felt so strained and unresolved. Not only had he left me absolutely ravenous, but I also couldn’t unsee that grim look on his face—his loathing and guilt, not with me but with himself.

Stepping out of the main building with my bag, I scanned the campus grounds for him. Luxury cars with personal drivers lined the road to the gate. A sea of black steel, waiting to take the students back to their mansions.

I didn’t want to go.

How fucking ironic. I’d put so much time and effort into getting expelled so that I could go home. But nothing would change my future at this point. I only wanted to spend what little time I had left with Magnus.

Except he was nowhere in sight. That was odd. He would normally be standing at the front entrance, seeing everyone off.

He was avoiding me.

I pulled out my phone and sent him a text.

Me: Where are you?

It showed Read within seconds.

“Good evening, Miss Constantine.” My armed bodyguard-slash-driver approached and took my bag. “I’ll pull the car closer.”

“I can walk.”

“It’s beyond the gate, ma’am. If you don’t mind waiting—”

“I can walk.” I breezed past him, staring at my phone.

Magnus never replied. Not unusual. We rarely communicated this way. Too incriminating.

I sent another text.

Me: I want to say goodbye.

His reply was immediate.

Magnus: Go home, Tinsley.

My chest squeezed painfully.

I turned toward the main building and probed the third-floor windows until I came to his. I would recognize his stern silhouette anywhere, and there he was, standing behind the glass, wrapped in unsettling shadows. Watching. Avoiding.

“Oh, it’s going to be like that?” I thrust my hand up and shot him a universal gesture.

A gasp sounded beside me, someone’s wide-eyed, pearl-clutching mother. I flipped her off, too.

Without checking his reaction, I pivoted and made a show of shaking my ass in my sexy tight pants, giving him a taunting view all the way through the gate and to the waiting car beyond.

The moment I was inside the sedan and motoring away from Sion Academy, all cheekiness and self-confidence evaporated, leaving sadness in its wake. And loneliness.

I’d begged Daisy to spend the Christmas break with me in Bishop’s Landing. But she’d already made plans to stay at the convent in Vermont where she grew up. I wished I could’ve changed her mind. I didn’t want to spend this six-hour drive alone with my thoughts.