“No.”
“It’s never going to work. You’ve lost your fucking mind. The very first time you put me on my hands and knees to scrub your damn floors—”
“I won’t. No more punishments. If you misbehave, I’ll put you in detention with another teacher.”
“Bullshit.” Her hand fisted on the bed between us.
“Try me, Tinsley. See what happens.”
Her jaw stiffened, and she looked away.
“I’ve been thinking about this long and hard. I’ve had some time to get used to the idea.” I caressed the delicate edges of her face, bringing her gaze back to mine. “It won’t be easy. It’s going to be five months of pure torture.”
After going without sex for nine years, a few months should be nothing. But it wasn’t nothing. I’d had a taste of her. More than a taste. Depriving myself was going to be endless, excruciating hell.
“It won’t be five months.” She leaned up on an elbow and smacked my hand away. “You and I end here. Tonight. You made a decision not to touch me at school. Fine. But you don’t get me after that. Have you forgotten my future has already been written, sold, and signed?” Anger impassioned her voice. “When you leave here tomorrow, you’re leaving me for good.”
I would never leave her. She belonged to me for always and in all ways. But she didn’t need to be convinced of that right now. Not yet. First, I needed to get us through the remainder of the school year without a disaster. Perhaps her anger would help us maintain that required distance.
Once she was graduated and I had a solution for the Kensington-Constantine merger, I would make her understand how committed, possessive, and very fucking serious I was when it came to her.
I’d inflicted a lot of cruelty and endured a lifetime of loneliness to get here. I wanted her too badly to risk losing her.
The next five months were temporary.
“Trust me.” I grabbed her curvy little hip and yanked her against me. “Do as I say, and I’ll take care of everything.”
“Are you going to fuck me goodbye? Is that what this is?” She bared her teeth and pushed away.
“No, Tinsley. I’m going to show you how much I’m going to burn for you until I have you again.” I hauled her back and captured her mouth.
She fought me, but I didn’t care. This was our last night, and if we didn’t spend it joined together in every humanly way, she would regret it. We both would.
So I kissed her and put my hand between her legs and convinced her body to accept me. If she truly objected, she would have made it abundantly clear, probably with her fists. But despite her anger and dread, she didn’t want to lose this precious time.
Within seconds, she fell upon me in a fury of claws and kisses. I devoured her desperation, longing, and dread as it exploded from her and into me. Without words, her lips confessed her fear about our impending separation. And in that kiss, I assured her I would be with her, watching over her, even when I couldn’t physically show her.
I’d never made love to a woman, but there was no other way to do this with Tinsley. I consumed her, idolized her, paid homage to all her perfections, and committed every heavenly sensation to memory.
With each stroke of my cock and sweep of my tongue, we spiraled from anger to devotion, from recklessness to delirium. We fucked until neither of us could move.
Hours later, I lay in a sheen of sweat, staring at the ceiling in the dark. She slept beside me, peaceful at the moment, but she’d fallen asleep angry.
Had the circumstances been different, I wouldn’t have allowed her to go to bed mad. But there was no resolution for her grief. I would not compromise on this. If her family discovered what I was doing with their daughter, they would try to kill me.
I didn’t want to deal with a henchman. I only wanted to focus on her. And my mind was already swimming with solutions for her future.
Carefully, I slipped out of bed without waking her, grabbed my phone, and shut the door on my way out.
In the kitchen, I poured a shot of whiskey and dialed my best friend.
“It’s late,” Crisanto said in greeting.
“Too late for a confession?”
“Hm.” Rustling sounded over the phone. “Sounds serious.”
“It’s the most serious confession I’ll ever give.”
“I’m listening.”
I confessed everything. But it wasn’t an Act of Contrition. I wasn’t sorry. I was deeply unrepentant and unashamed of every second I’d spent with Tinsley.
He already knew how I’d felt about her leading up to the holiday break. So when I told him she’d returned to the school and I’d taken her to the cabin, he gave no reaction. He’d probably been expecting this call for a while.