His Prize Pupil

It’s not until a few minutes later, when I hear her soft exclamation drift from within the room do I remember what I’ve left sitting on my desk.

Fuck.

Alana

Okay, I shouldn’t have been snooping through the paperwork on Gavin’s desk, but thank God I did. Why would he keep something like this from me?

I stare down at the embossed letter from the university in my hand, reading the words back to make sure I didn’t misunderstand the first time.

Professor Dennison,

It is our profound regret that you have decided to decline your spot on the university’s board of directors. We were so looking forward to many years of your valuable input, however, we respect your decision to focus on the changes happening in your personal life. Please accept this as our formal acknowledgment that you won’t be joining us on the board.

We wish you the best.

I can’t believe what I’m reading.

Is it possible Gavin passed on the prestigious position…because of me?

“Alana,” Gavin says from the doorway, his gaze dragging from the letter in my hand up to my face. “You weren’t supposed to see that.”

I take a deep breath in an attempt to slow the racing of my heart, but it only seems to beat faster. “Did you decline because of me?”

Passion flares in his eyes, flaying me where I stand. “Of course I did.”

Hope curls in my chest. It’s more than that, though. It’s love for this man. There’s so much of it, I fear it will swallow me whole. But if I love him, how can I let him pass up an opportunity he’s always wanted? Doesn’t that make me selfish? “If you did this for me, then why wouldn’t you want me to see the letter? Why wouldn’t you want me to know?”

He curses under his breath, several beats passing while he gathers his thoughts. “Two reasons. One, I worried you might feel guilty—”

“I do.”

His complexion pales a shade. “And two, I didn’t want to win your trust back the easy way. By simply telling you I declined. I wanted to earn your confidence back. After what I did to you, after I destroyed your faith in me, you deserved to have me work to get it back.” He prowls into the room, his intense presence filling every corner. “Before you spend a single second feeling guilty, understand that I made the easiest decision of my life. I’ll know more happiness spending one day by your side than a lifetime on the board. Alana, I love you.”

I’m robbed of breath. “You do?”

“Obsessively.”

My chest floods with lightness. So much of it, I could float. “I love you, too.”

Gavin goes very still, his gaze racing over my face. “There it is,” he says gruffly. “The way you’re looking at me. I wasn’t sure you ever would again. You trust me, Alana?”

I take three steps and throw myself into his arms. “Obsessively.”

“You’re coming here to live with me.” His teeth rake up and down my neck, followed by heated passes of his tongue and lips. “You’re mine forever and you’ll share my bed. Forever. You’ll let me take care of you, goddammit.”

“Yes, I want that, too, but—”

“I’m going to take you raw. I have to.” He yanks up my dress, leaving it bunched around my hips, his gaze turning predatory. “Give me that tight, little cunt before I go crazy.”

“But…” His mouth stamps over mine, hard and possessive, his body backing me toward his desk, lifting me up onto the edge and stripping my black dress off completely, leaving me naked. His hands close over my breasts, arching my back on a moan, but I hold on to my final concern, motivated by my worry for his career. “Gavin, what about our relationships being frowned upon by your colleagues—”

“Alana,” he interrupts, unzipping his jeans with shaking hands. “I’ll walk the campus holding your hand proudly. If anyone has a fucking word to say about it, they can take it up with me.” He brings out his shaft in a tight fist, nudging the smooth tip against the entrance of my sex, then driving home with a guttural sound. He swallows my decadent scream with his mouth, pelting my lips with hot breaths. “And they’ll all shut their mouths when I make you my wife. When I get that belly good and round.”

I don’t have a chance to respond before Gavin reaches behind me and sweeps every single item off the desk, sending stacks of paperwork and books crashing to the ground. I’m pushed onto my back and mounted by Gavin atop the desk, his hips already pumping feverishly between my open thighs. “W-w-wife?” I whimper, the promise of an orgasm already looming, urged on by his declarations. The proof of his devotion. “A baby?”

“You could already be pregnant, Alana. Part of me knew exactly what I was doing in that brothel. Claiming your pussy and your womb that first night. They were already mine. You were already mine.” My inner walls contract and he clenches his teeth. “Say yes, princess,” he grits, thrusting deep. “Say yes and the next time you sit in the front row on my lecture hall, there will be a ring on your finger.”