I couldn’t help but laugh at her concerns. “We’re going to be fine. I’ll protect you.”
She tried to straighten down the bit of clothing she had left on her as it hit her the state I’d left her in. Disheveled didn’t even begin to cover it—she was a mess. It wasn’t just her hair all over the place; her bra barely covered her and her shirt was utterly torn.
Mmm, I loved seeing her that way, knowing she was mine.
I gathered her up in my arms and kissed her some more, wishing I could taste myself on her lips. I should have been a bit more careful; she could have that pretty little mouth of hers wrapped around me now if I had been. I could be fucking her throat, living out one of the best goddamn fantasies anyone in my position could ever have.
Never mind, there would be plenty of time. Now that we were going to be seeing a lot more of one another, we had all the time in the world. After all, our paths were going to cross in the classroom all the time. I would be able to get her on her hands and knees whenever I wanted.
And I would.
She wasn’t going to put an end to this, however much she tried, because she didn’t want to. Not really.
2
CHRISTINE
What have I done?
I barely even recognized the person looking back at me in the mirror, and I honestly didn’t want to. I couldn’t believe that I had just crossed the campus at NYU on my first freaking day looking like this. My hair sticking out at every goddamn angle possible, the back of my trousers all sticky from him, and my shirt torn.
I looked nothing like the girl who went to class this morning.
“You can’t do this,” I told my very anxious reflection. Not that I was giving her any new information. She was already very aware of this. “This isn’t just some random hookup with a guy you met at a bar. This is your professor. You have to stop this.”
As soon as I saw him standing in the middle of my brand new classroom, I made the snap decision that he and I couldn’t go near one another again. It was the right thing to do. I assumed he was going to be just as horrified as well; that was why I kept ignoring all the pointed looks he sent my way. I tried not to think anything of it.
That was why I stayed at the end of class, so we could clear the air.
I didn’t mean to get all dirty with him. It just felt so fucking good.
I needed to shower, to clean him off me completely so I could get on with my evening. Not that I had plans or anything. I’d turned down the chance to go to a party with my roommate, Maggie, because I was all messed up inside. Luckily she understood because she was there with me at the bar that night. She was even trying to encourage me to keep hooking up with Brandon because he was hot as all hell, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t.
It had taken me so much to leave my hometown, to get here. I didn’t want to throw it all away.
Perhaps instead of staring at myself in the mirror, judging my behavior and making myself feel worse about something I couldn’t change, instead it would be better for me to get some work done. I’d come to New York to reinvent myself and to make something of myself also. Working hard had gotten me this far…
I was stunned by the sound of keys jiggling in the bedroom lock. I thought Maggie was going to be out for most of the night. She’d actually told me it was some all-night rave, so I was expecting to be by myself for a while.
Something must have gone wrong, the rave must have been cancelled…
“Brandon!” I gasped in shock at the sight of him jingling keys my way. What the hell was going on? “What are you doing here?”
“Well, I don’t know about you, but today has left me wanting more.” He closed the door behind himself and sauntered into the room as if he belonged here. “I miss you.”
He held out his hand to me, but I was too gob smacked to take it. “But how did you get in?” I didn’t need the jingle of the keys again. “No, I mean, how did you get the keys?”
Our dorm rooms were supposed to be safe. Off limits to everyone else unless we gave people permission to come in. Especially members of the opposite sex, never mind staff…
I wasn’t sure whether to feel violated or happy that he clearly cared so much.
“I couldn’t resist sneaking the keys.” He shot me a playful wink. “You were easy to find on the dorm list, and it only took a bit of charm to swipe the keys without being seen.”
He grabbed my hand. He wasn’t waiting for me anymore.
“But…” The air whipped out my lungs for a moment as he yanked me upward. “Maggie…”
“Well, I was planning to give her some money to go out for the night, but it seems like I don’t need to do that.” I breathed him in deep as he pressed me against him. My knees were like jelly. “She’s done me a favor by leaving you here alone…”