“Thank—”
My voice caught, a lump forming in my throat before I looked back up at him. Our eyes locked, and I shivered as I felt the piercing heat of those big blue eyes burn right into me.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
And then, without even thinking, without taking a single second to ask myself what the fuck I was thinking, I stepped forward, leaned up, and kissed him.
Fireworks exploded through me, and I felt my whole body shiver and my head spin as his lips seared to mine. I could feel him tense, but then growl lowly, and suddenly, I felt his hands sliding around my waist. My heart jumped into my throat, and my body trembled as he pulled me close and kissed me like I’d never been kissed before.
And then, just as suddenly as it’d happened, it was over. Nolan growled as he pulled back sharply, taking a step back and holding me at arm’s length. His eyes blazed with heat as he slowly shook his head, staring right at me.
“No,” he growled, his jaw clenched tight and his look fierce.
I winced. “I’m sorry, I don’t— I mean, I…”
“We can’t do that,” he hissed quietly, his eyes blazing right into mine. “We never fucking should have, and we sure as hell can’t now. You’re my student, Cora.”
“I’m— I’m sorry,” I whispered, my face falling as I looked at the floor. “I think I’m just…”
“It’s been a long night.”
My eyes stayed locked on the floor, my face red as I wished I could just melt through it.
“Get some sleep, sweetheart,” he growled. His hands tightened on my arm enough to draw my eyes up. His jaw twitched as his gaze burned right into me. He pulled back, exhaling slowly and never taking his eyes away from me.
“Good night, Cora.”
And then he was gone, leaving me alone in the big beautiful room, with my heart racing, my lips tingling, and a fire I’d never felt before burning like the sun inside of me.
4
Nolan
I’d known I was in trouble the minute she’d crashed into me. But the second her lips touched mine, I knew I was lost.
Soft, sweet, innocent and yet so full of fire that I felt it roar through my entire body. Taking her, and claiming her like that had been like falling into heaven — like I’d found the part of me I’d never known I was without. She tasted like the sweetest temptation, and as fucking wrong as it was, and as totally fucked as I could be because of it, I only had one thought in my head.
More.
I wanted more of her. Always, constantly. Hell, part of me had almost snapped right there in the doorway to the guest room. I’d almost shoved her against the wall and kissed her harder than she’d ever been kissed before. Part of me had wanted to tear that little fucking outfit off with my teeth, push her legs wide apart, and see if her tight college girl pussy tasted as sweet as it’d felt wrapped tight around my cock earlier. I wanted to feel her cunt slide down every inch of my cock again, taking me deep until I emptied my balls inside of her gorgeous little body for the second time.
But somehow, I’d clawed my way back from the edge of my sanity, pushing her away while every single cell in my body craved her closer. I could barely remember saying goodnight to her, and actually walking away, closing her door and feeling the lust turn to rage at myself for denying myself as I stumbled back to my room.
The door slammed shut behind me, I walked in a daze to the bed. I collapsed across it, staring up at my ceiling as the heat and the rush of that kiss blazed through me.
So wrong. So fucking wrong. Every single thing about her screamed off-limits. Hell, it was wrong for me to even think of her like that. She was too fucking young — I mean she was what, nineteen? Basically half my age? And of course, she was my student. Forget the social stigmas of a man my age with a girl like that — my fucking employer would have a thing or two to say about me putting my hands on Cora.
But I’d had a taste of that forbidden fruit, and I wanted more. I wanted her. Wrong or not, taboo or not, and completely fucked up or not, I wanted every single part of her, again. I wanted to possess her, and feel her tight little body press to mine. I wanted to taste those lips again and swallow her moans as she spread her legs around my waist and slid down every inch of my cock. Pulling her away from that piece of shit earlier had been one thing, but I wanted to keep protecting her. I wanted to save her from the world.
A girl like that — as whip smart as she was — screamed to be taken advantage of by assholes like that Matt kid. I mean, fuck, had I done the same thing? I knew her as my smart-as-hell, clearly good-girl student. She got A’s, she did all the bonus work. She always sat in the front row, and never looked stoned or hungover like most college kids at a morning class.
Seeing her that night, lost and at the mercy of the world, had lit something inside of me that I’d never felt before. One part protective, two parts possessive, and a whole fucking heap of raw need. Plus, that outfit — I groaned into the darkness of my room, my cock throbbing rock hard as my blood roared. There was something so fucking hot about knowing the good girl from class could dress so, well, slutty. The little skirt that barely covered her tight little ass, and that skimpy little blouse and knee-highs that made a man’s pulse do fucking cartwheels.
I imagined her back in the guest room, slipping out of the little skirt and letting it pool at her feet. I growled, my hand sliding to my belt and yanking my pants open as I imagined her standing there in those little white cotton panties — the ones I’d pulled aside while I slid my cock deep in her pussy. The ones that were probably sticky and wet from my cum. I pictured her biting her lip as she opened the door back up for me. I imagined dropping to my knees, grabbing her ass in my hands and using my teeth to pull those soaked panties away from her glistening little cunt.
My cock sprung free of my pants, hot, hard, and throbbing as I wrapped my hand around the shaft. I stroked, groaning as I felt my thick pre-cum bead at the tip and trickle down, making my hand slick as I started to pump. I was still slick from her, and I could still smell the sweetness of her little cunt as I stroked my hand up and down my length. I imagined picking her small body up in my arms, my mouth still buried between her thighs, and carrying her over to her bed. In the fantasy, I threw her down and spread those legs wide before I crawled between them. I imagined her begging me to fuck her again, clawing at my back as I eased my big cock into her tight little slit and drove it home.
The memory of her soft, angelic lips pressed to mine roared through me, my blood burned like fire, and my balls tightened.
Untouchable, inappropriate, and tempting as original sin, lying all alone in a bed just twenty feet down the hall.
With a groan, I felt myself let go. My cock pulsed in my fist, my balls jumping as my cum jetted through my shaft to come spurting from the swollen head. I growled into the darkness, my thick, sticky cum landing in hot white ropes across my abs and my hand, dripping down my balls as my muscles flexed and my breath caught.
…And the memory of those soft, off-limits lips on mine, her sweet little moan, and those big blue eyes were the only thing in my head through the whole thing.
Oh, this was going to be a problem. This was already a big problem. I’d let temptation into my house. I’d broken every moral code and fucked my student. And now she was sleeping down the hall.
But I knew one thing: in the morning, morals be damned and rules be fucked, I was going to have to figure out how to keep her, because the thought of her not being under my roof made my blood boil.
That, and I was going to have to explain to my two best friends how and why a nineteen year-old student had spent the night in my house, wearing my clothes.
5
Garret
“What the fuck were you thinking?”
I glared at my friend, shaking my head, which was a bad idea because the hangover came back with a fucking vengeance. I grimaced gripping the coffee mug tighter.
“Nolan,” I growled into the mug, narrowing my eyes
at him.
“The fuck was I supposed to do?”
“Literally anything but bring her here.”
His jaw tightened. “She needed help, man.”
“So you call her some help.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I snorted a bitter laugh, looking away from my friend. I’d been awake for a whole thirty minutes, and the guy had decided now was the time to mention that he’d brought one of his damn students to the house the night before, “because she needed help.”
Christ, at least he hadn’t fucked her, not that I thought Nolan was the kind of guy to do that.
“Well I know she’s your student,” I growled at him. “I know she’s fucking beautiful, and would have been just your fucking type eighteen years ago.”
He raised a sharp brow at me. “Beautiful, huh? So I guess I’m not the only one looking at students, or noticing her, for that matter.”
I shot him a look. “Fuck you.”
I could see that humor in his eyes, but I knew it was only because it was me. I knew how my friend got. If it’d been anyone else saying “yeah I scoped out that chick too,” he’d have laid me out already. Even if it meant confirming that I thought this whole thing was more than him just “wanting to help her.” But it wasn’t like that between us. Not between any of us. He and Max and I were all too close for petty jealousy shit like that.
“Yeah, I know who she is,” I muttered. “Fuck off Nolan, I’m not going to pretend to be a monk. She took a survey class of mine last year.”
He smirked.
“I looked, I didn’t fucking take her home.”
“I didn’t ‘take her home,’ Jesus, man. She needed a place to stay, and that fucking little prick…” he growled, shaking his head. He’d told me about what he’d seen, with that Matt kid slapping her around, and thinking about it got my blood running hot.
“I could’ve fucking killed the kid, but I took her away from there instead.”
“To here, your house.”
“Let it go, asshole,” he hissed. “She’s here.”
I looked away.
This was how Nolan and I always sparred. It was how all three of us did, really. It was probably one of the reasons we were all still best friend and hadn’t killed each other years ago. We were always honest with each other — we spoke our minds. It was still funny that somehow we were all back together again, and even more hilariously, that the three of us were all under one damn roof. Melanie, my train-wreck of an ex-fiancée was trying to pull all sorts of legal gymnastics to try and keep the house she and I had bought a few months back. I mean, I knew damn well I could have stayed there — it was my house. But then, there was also a pretty real chance of me going to jail when she inevitably brought her new boy toy home and I inevitably threw him through a window.
But fuck all that anyways. I didn’t need that sort of shit where I slept and lived. And here Nolan was with a huge damn house right off campus, so the move had been easy.
Max was the wildcard, as ever. He’d been out of the NFL for six months after that knee thing at the playoffs, and it was clear he wasn’t going back. The man had more money than he knew what to do with, and even if retiring at thirty-two maybe wasn’t his plan, it’s not like the guy was ever going to be hurting for money. But still, I think after the team had moved on without him, he’d just gotten fuckin’ bored out there on the west coast. Naturally, Nolan and I had invited him out, and a weekend visit had turned into a month.
But like I said, Nolan had a huge damn house, and the three of us were all basically brothers anyways.
But fuck.
Yeah, I knew who Cora was. I knew exactly who she was. I’d been teaching a long time, and before that, there’d been the Navy and officer training, and then years as the attaché to the US Secretary of State. I’d seen the world, I’d lived it, and then I’d come back to what I wanted to do: teach. My dad had been a science teacher, and man, I’d always had respect for that.
But Cora? Shit, yeah, she stood out. She was beautiful and sexy as hell, but not like the other college girls who were all always trying too hard. C’mon I wasn’t an idiot. I knew I kept in great shape, had a nice smile, and a full head of hair. And college girls aren’t exactly known for their subtleness. I heard the whispers, and saw the knowing winks. I’d even gotten the flat-out offers before.
But fuck that noise. I’d wanted nothing to do with any of them. Well, until her.
Until Cora.
She was beautiful without trying — almost in that way where you weren’t quite sure she even knew how much of a knockout she was. Plus she was smart as hell, and eager for knowledge in a way not all college students were. I didn’t know her, but you could see she’d fought through some shit to get to where she was. And you knew Gilman college wasn’t just “some place” she decided to go. She’d worked hard to get here, and she’d probably pinched every fucking penny to do it.
So yeah, I’d seen her, and if we’re being honest, I’d lusted over her too, for all those reasons. But the Navy had taught me discipline — something Wall Street sure as fuck hadn’t taught my best friend. I wasn’t sure what I’d have done if I’d seen some little prick slapping Cora round though, I will say that. I wanted to say I’d have done it differently than taking her home, but fuck, would I have?
I sipped my coffee, my mind wandering. I pictured her lying upstairs in his guest room — her dark brown hair splayed out across the white sheets, her soft lips parted in sleep. I pictured the sheet slipping over her shoulder, showing her pure, supple, unblemished skin. I pictured her opening her eyes, looking right at me, and biting her lip as she crooked her finger for me to join her…
God help me, my cock throbbed. The blood roared in my ears, and I could feel my balls swelling with cum.
Fuck, here I was doing what I’d just given Nolan shit for — fantasizing about damn student like the cliched creep of a teacher.
“Morning, assholes.”
We both glanced up as Max came shuffling in, almost looking worse than I felt. His pretty-boy blond hair that Nolan and I always gave him shit for was all tousled up, and his eyes looked like they were dealing with the same hangover I was.
He grumbled, raking his nails over the stubble across his jaw. He sipped his coffee, and then frowned, turning to raise a brow at the two of us.
“Awfully fucking quiet in here, gents.”
Nolan glared at me and shook his head. Max just grinned.
“Soooo, what are we talking about?”
“We have a houseguest,” I grumbled.
Max snorted. “Dude we are the houseguests.”
“No, we have another one,” Nolan growled.
“And this one's barely legal.”
Max froze, his eyes darting to me. “What?”
I cleared my throat, smiling thinly. “Yeah, someone brought a student home.”
Max whirled to Nolan, who snarled at me. “I told you to stop fucking saying that. It's not like that,” he growled to Max.
“And it’s like…how exactly?”
“She needed help. Some asshole — her boyfriend or whoever, was slapping her around. She’s got nowhere else to go, so yeah,” he glared at me. “I brought her here.”
Max turned and gave me a look. “So what's the trouble then, asshole?”
I chuckled darkly, shaking my head. “The trouble is, you haven’t seen her yet.”
Max frowned. “I haven’t— oh.” He turned and raised a brow at Nolan. “Oh it’s like that is it?”
“Fuck you two,” he spat back. “No, it’s not.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” I grumbled. I eyed him, the wheels turning inside my head. I knew my friend, and he wasn’t telling the whole story here. He was hiding something and holding something back. Maybe it was something small — a little detail or whatever — but him not telling the whole truth had me trying to look inside his head.
Because this could be bad. The problem was,
this wasn’t just a problem for Nolan. It was going to be a problem for me too.
6
Cora
I woke up in a strange bed.
I blinked, sitting up quickly and darting my eyes around the big, sun-drenched room before I remembered where I was.
Oh, right, I’m here.
Nolan Jameson’s house, in his guest room. I was in the house of the gorgeous stranger who I screwed last night, who — surprise — is my college professor.
I groaned, sinking back into the pillows and pulling the blankets up over my burning face. What the hell had I been thinking? I’d never done anything remotely close to that, and especially not with a freaking stranger. What on earth had possessed me to decide to jump into the crazy pool last night?
I closed my eyes, hoping for a second that I could just wish this all way. But slowly, I stopped myself. Because actually, when I started to think about it. I didn’t want that. Even as mortifying as it’d been to come face to face with the man I’d lost myself with and realized who he was — for my professor who always saw me as the good girl book worm to see me like that.
I still didn’t wish it hadn’t happened.
I slept with my professor. My totally hot, totally amazing, totally mind-blowingly good at fucking me economics professor.
Slowly, I pulled the blankets back down and glanced around the room. It was so nice in there. I’d loved my Grams’s house, but it’d been nothing like this. And this was certainly leagues better than friend’s dorm room couches, or my car, or way better than Matt’s gross little apartment, pretending I was on my period so he wouldn’t try and fuck me.