Page 68 of Fundamentals of Chemistry

Panting for breath, he rolled off of me onto his back, but he pulled me tight against his side as though he wasn’t ready to part from me.

I spooned against his firm body, my head nestled into the curve of his shoulder and my hand splayed across his chest. My fingers brushed through a thin patch of hair between his pecs that I hadn’t noticed before.

He wrapped his arms around me and held me close while we both caught our breath. His scent filled my nose as I sighed into him.

A comfortable silence filled the room. I was content to stay in his arms as long as he would let me, so I didn’t make any moves. We only agreed to one night.

Chapter 21

Eggs and Toast

Hours later, I woke up to sunlight just beginning to lighten the room, though it was likely still before sunup. It would seem not everyone shared my fondness for blackout curtains.

Jack hadn’t explicitly invited me to stay over, but he didn’t protest when I’d slipped under his blanket last night after we cleaned up.

He was laying behind me now—chest against my back, muscular arms wrapped around me like a vice, and his erection pressing against my ass. One broad hand was splayed across my stomach. And his lips were on my neck.

I smiled to myself and slid his hand up to my breast in silent permission—or perhaps a command—to touch me more. He obliged.

“What time is it?” I whispered, enjoying his gentle massage.

“Shhh,” he breathed against my skin. “It’s still night, Princess.”

“I’m not sure you can still call it night when—ah!”

Jack’s teeth sank into my neck at the same moment he pinched my nipple, and I gasped. “We said one night...” he murmured.

“Oh.” My sleepy brain finally caught on to what he was implying. “I think you’re right. Definitely still night.”

I rolled over in his arms so I could claim his mouth and throw my leg over his hip, more than happy to bend another of his silly rules.

Forty-five minutes and two more orgasms later, the sun was undeniably up, which meant so was our time together.

I excused myself to his ensuite bathroom to clean up, already feeling a sense of loss. My body tingled in all the places Jack had touched me—basically everywhere. A peek at my reflection found me flushed and glowing, and there was a light purple bruise where my neck curved into my shoulder. I leaned in, inspecting the place more closely, then chuckled to myself.

Jackson Cooper—Chemistry Teacher Extraordinaire and Champion of All Rules—had given me a hickey.

He was just full of surprises. I couldn’t get enough.

I had been physically attracted to him since I first saw him. If that had been all, then one night together should have scratched my itch for him. But it didn’t. At some point over the last several weeks, I had begun to care for Jack on a deeper level. He was silly and so smart and passionate about chemistry and so good with the students… All of that rolled up in one tidy package made him incredibly sexy in a way that transcended his good looks.

Plus, there was undeniable chemistry between the two of us. It wasn’t just that he was good in bed—though he undeniably was. There was something about him that made me feel cherished last night. Revered. He was so attentive and so generous. It was clear from the first minute that my pleasure was his first priority.

He seemed to revel in it.

My thighs clenched involuntarily, and I became aware of a dull ache at my core.

I splashed some water on my face and rinsed out my mouth with a bottle of mouthwash I found under the sink. Then, I slipped on a bathrobe I found hanging on the back of the bathroom door and returned to the bedroom.

Jack was sitting on the edge of the bed in a pair of gray sweatpants and a purple Newbury cross-country tee shirt. He looked up from his phone when he heard the door open. The expression on his face was a mixture of serious and sad that had me pausing in the doorway.

My chest tightened and I drew in a deep breath. I knew where this was going. This was the part of the date—or whatever this was—where he told me that we’d had a great time, but it had to end because of a laundry list of reasons.

In this case, I had all the same reasons that he did for sweeping this under the rug. But, I hadn’t felt this good—wanted, satisfied, happy—for such a long time.

I wasn’t ready to stop.

But I was too proud to beg.