“What’s that you’ve got there?” I ask.
“A mace.” He twists the bottom, making it vibrate. “It’s a symbol of a university’s authority to award degrees. Since it’s your graduation day, I thought you deserved a little reward.”
Pleasant shivers run down my spine. “And here I was thinking you’d buy me a car.”
Marius smirks. “It’s parked outside.”
“Which color?” I rise off my stool, my breath quickening.
“Red.”
Without another word, I rush across the room, my feet sinking into the silver rug by the four-poster bed.
The master suite is on the top floor of our house, so it would be impossible to get a proper look at my new car. I don’t want to waste time going downstairs when Marius is in such a playful mood.
I stop at the huge sash windows. They’re nearly as tall as I am and made of smaller panes of glass, each set within a frame. We live in Belgravia Square Garden, in one of the few Georgian houses that haven’t been converted into embassies.
Marius chose this location because of its security. We live among important foreign dignitaries and are half a mile away from Buckingham Palace. The streets are crawling with bodyguards and all manner of police.
Nobody ever comes here looking for trouble.
My gaze drops down to the cars parked across from the leafy garden square. There’s a red convertible in front of Marius’s silver Maserati with a bow wrapped around its soft top.
The flutter in my heart turns into a full-scale riot of butterflies. I whirl around, finding Marius standing behind me, his eyes dark.
“Thank you.” I launch myself at him and wrap my arms around his neck, not caring if I’m creasing his robes.
Marius is already rock hard, his thick erection pressing into my belly. I reach between our bodies and give him a gentle squeeze.
“You know better than to grope your professor,” he says in a chiding voice that makes my pussy pulse.
“Sorry sir?” I reply with a giggle.
“I don’t think you’re sorry at all.” He draws back, his features stern. “In fact, I think you did that on purpose to earn a better degree.”
My heart flips like a pancake. Now’s probably not the time to remind him that the university already awarded me my first. As I run my tongue along my bottom lip, Marius gazes down to track the movement.
“Naughty girl, fraternizing with a member of faculty on the morning of your graduation.”
“I can’t help it, sir,” I say, trying to hide my smile.
His arm darts out, and he grabs my neck, making my breath catch. The grip is firm but not tight, but I still rock forward on my tiptoes.
I can’t wait to see where this is going.
“This will be the last day I fuck you as your professor.”
I nod.
“Then we’d better make it one to remember.”
Marius stalks forward, putting enough pressure on my throat for me to walk backward. I can’t see where I’m going because I’m locked in his vibrant blue eyes. His pupils widen, making the golden flecks in his irises darken to a forest green.
There isn’t a single part of this man that doesn’t make me weak.
The backs of my thighs hit the mattress, and he eases me down on the bed. It’s the same way he pinned me to his desk all those months ago when he thought I was connected to Odin.
We have no secrets now. I know all about his childhood with Crius and how Marius had to buy his freedom by assassinating a bunch of his father’s rivals.