The bell chimes in the distance, warning me it’s time for me to take my senior anatomy class. I clench my jaw, grinding my teeth. There’s one girl in that class who has been impossible to ignore ever since that fated night at the bar before winter break.
A night where I let my guard down and got sucked into the moment. I said things I never should have said to a pupil. And now, it’s as if she’s taunting me to take things further with the dirty looks she gives me in class.
Camilla Morrone.
The beautiful, curvy Italian girl who can’t stop making eyes at me. I was too forward with her at the bar when we stumbled upon those rule breakers and now I fear I’ve only opened a can of worms. She wants me, that I’m sure of. The question is, does she have any idea what that means?
Most of the students here aren’t strangers to my sadistic ways.
If she knew what was good for her, she’d never fucking look at me again. And yet, since the news dropped about Oak’s rather non-traditional wedding to a student, Camilla has been looking at me more than ever. Perhaps she believes there’s some kind of possibility for us to have a similar relationship, but what she doesn’t realize is I’m nothing like Oak.
I don’t do relationships. I’m not like other people.
Clenching my fist, I turn away from my wall of implements and force myself to leave the basement below my classroom. The door to the classroom is left ajar, no doubt by the kid who I just punished.
I allow myself to peer through the crack toward her seat, groaning when I see she’s already there, eagerly awaiting my arrival.
The one and only time Camilla wound up at the wrong end of my whip opened her eyes to questionable things about herself. To my disappointment, she never made her way to my office again, even after those fuckers broke the rules and went to the bar where we caught them.
Oak gave them collective detention, clearing the old ruins of weeds and debris. Despite my instance that they needed a harsher punishment. I clench my fists by my side, knowing the main reason it disappointed me was because I didn’t get to punish Miss Morrone.
I clear my throat and then walk into the classroom, letting my gaze move freely across the room. Even though there’s a clawing need to zero in on Camilla, ever since our conversation took a more sexual turn the night at the bar.
I’ve never been interested in students, unlike Archer. He can’t keep his fucking cock in his pants around the hot eighteen-year-old girls, but they’ve always been too immature for me and my dark tastes.
However, Camilla is an exception, and I know why. I know what makes her tick. Those masochistic tendencies she tries desperately to bury ever since I uncovered them in my office three years ago.
I allow myself to glance at her and find she’s staring right back at me with those honey brown eyes of hers. Heat coils through my body as I break eye contact and open my briefcase, getting out the senior year anatomy text book.
“All of you, turn to chapter thirteen.” I flip open the book to the correct page. “Today we’re going to be studying the best poisons to use and what organs they affect.” I glance up, finding Camilla staring at me, rather than her book, which is still closed.
“Miss Morrone, are you deaf?” I snap.
Her eyes widen, and she shakes her head. “Sorry, sir. What was the page?”
I clench my jaw, wanting nothing more than to drag her into the basement and show her what she needs to know about me. The memory of her when she was fifteen years old rubbing her thighs together while I inflicted pain slams into me and I shake my head, knowing that the next time I get Morrone into that kind of position, I’m not sure I’d be able to resist taking it too far.
“Chapter thirteen,” I bark.
She nods and finds her place in the book, biting on her bottom lip. It’s not done to be arousing, but everything this girl does lately drives me fucking insane. I run a hand through my hair and tear my eyes off of her, gazing across the room at the solemn and focused faces.
Every student fears me and my punishments at this school, even the cocky ones like Elias Morales. He would swear blind he doesn’t, but I’ve seen his fear when he has been sent to me.
“Can anyone tell me a name of a famous poison used in the past? One that is easily accessible.”
There’s a few moments of silence, before Natalya Gurin thrusts her hand in the air. Drawing my attention back to that front row, where Natalya is sitting beside Camilla.
“Yes, Gurin.”
“Atropa belladonna.”
I nod. “Indeed, a classic that has been used for centuries. What makes it so effective?”
“The berries can be added to a sweet drink, for example, and therefore it can be very difficult to detect the poison as they are sweet and pleasant to taste.”
I nod. “And what effects does it have on the body once consumed?”
“It can block the normal functions of the nervous system, causing paralysis, even in the heart. And therefore can be fatal at the right dosage level,” Natalya answers.