AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Amy
Nothing spelled a crap week than starting it off with a run in with Professor stick up his ass Cole. Seriously, if the man wasn’t some kind of superstar genius, who looked good in promotional brochures and TED Talks, then he’d be out of here. As it was, the Dean practically bent over backwards to make sure their celebrity professor was happy.
I had no such inclination. There was something off about that man. I’d thought it from my very first glimpse of him. Something in his eyes that tingled my gut instinct to run and hide. This man wasn’t what everyone else thought.
This man was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It should be more off-putting than it was. The part of me that longed for love and affection was drawn to his dark stares. I knew it wasn’t healthy. I knew it was dangerous, in some way that I couldn’t even quite understand.
Tangling with Professor Cole was like playing with fire, and damn if I didn’t find myself doing it, time and again.
“Miss Mackintosh, a word.” The professor’s voice was quiet, but held a weight of authority like nothing I’d ever experienced before. I sighed, annoyed that it excited me and scared me at the same time to be alone with him.
I packed my bag and lingered beside my seat as the rest of the class filed out of the hall. Once they were all gone, Professor Cole sat behind his desk, and gestured me to approach with one long finger. I swallowed down the hot, tight feeling in my throat, and followed his command.
Once I was there, I waited for whatever reprimand he clearly wanted to give me. But he had bent his head to his work, and was scribbling notes on a piece of paper. I waited.
He kept writing. I took the chance to look at him. It was easy to see why he had become such a hot topic and was in such demand for speaking appearances. He looked like Hollywood had cast for a hot professor and I could bet that half the campus had a crush on him. His thick, muscled thighs pressed tightly against this dark chinos, and his button-down shirt was already rolled to the sleeve, revealing completely indecent forearm porn. There was a hint of ink disappearing into the rolled white cuff, making me curious as hell about what was under his formal façade. He was older, a good ten years, if not more, maybe twelve. It wasn’t off putting in any way. At twenty-three, I’d already lived enough to know what turned me on, and Professor Cole was it. He had that sexy, older aura of a real man, someone with knowledge, experience and confidence to boot. There wasn’t a jock on campus who could hold a candle to the appeal of Professor Cole. Instead of a date night at a frat party, he looked like he’d sit and read with you, in a cosy, book-lined room, before taking his glasses carefully off, putting you over his knee, and then taking you however the hell he wanted you.
His pen scratched over the paper in front of him, scrawling words I couldn’t make out, not that I was trying to read them. Who was I kidding? I was definitely trying. The slightest curve to one corner of Cole’s stubbled lips told me he knew that.
I waited longer. Time spun out, and I stayed put. A hot and strange feeling came over me, like I was tied to the spot, waiting for his attention like a good little puppy at his feet. It was an odd game of chicken that I had no intention of losing. I might thrive on the fucked up energy between us, and wonder what it would be like to let this man control my body and will, in my most dark fantasies, but I was also competitive as hell. I’d always been a basketball player, and I hated to lose, no matter how small the game was. Moving or even fidgeting now would only show him he was getting to me. With a supreme effort of will, I held my ground. Another minute ticked by, and then two more.
“Excuse me, Miss Mackintosh. I forgot you were waiting,” Professor Cole suddenly said, taking off his sexy, black-rimmed glasses and setting them down. Without them, he looked more like the wolf he was. The man was dangerously sexy. I shrugged.
“It’s fine. I figured you drifted off, or your mind wandered. I heard that happens with age,” I said, giving him a sweet, understanding smile. A muscle clenched in his jaw, the only sign that I had pissed him off, and then he pasted a crocodile’s smile across his handsome, full lips.
“Well, you have a lot of experience with making people wait, so I leave it to your expertise,” he said smoothly. He then reached for a crumpled piece of paper beneath the essay he had been writing and laid it in front of me. “Your tardiness and lack of basic manners aside, I wanted to talk to you about this,” he said, and laid the paper down. I recognised it with a sinking feeling in my stomach. It was my last homework assignment. It had been a case study on some company, and I couldn’t deny I’d phoned it in. The deadline had fallen right at a terrible time and between a basketball game I couldn’t miss, and two extra shifts that I’d needed to cover my bills this month, I’d run out of time. “Do you really think this is the standard that I’m looking for at this level or point in the semester?” he pressed. Shame filled me, and embarrassment. He might rile me right up and annoy me to death, but I didn’t want him to think I was dumb.
“I ran out of time.”
“Unacceptable excuse,” he said flatly. “You make time for the things that are important, unless I’m to assume that your degree is not important to you?”
“No, it is. Of course it is. I’d hardly be working two jobs to be here if it wasn’t.”
“Two jobs. Why are you working two jobs when you are studying full time?”
“I have my reasons,” I sighed, wishing I could take the words back. He studied me, clearly annoyed that I wasn’t telling him everything he wanted to know. He looked like he’d like to pin me to the table and interrogate me, and in all honesty, the thought was kind of hot. Clearly, I needed my virgin head examined if I thought I could handle a man like Professor Cole.
“Where are these jobs?” he asked instead.
“Why?”
“I asked you a question, and why is not an answer,” he said.
“Fine. I work at Super Suds all night laundry place, on Elm, and at the Jolly Rancher bar on fifth,” I confessed. Super Suds was an easy gig, and I got to catch a few hours shut eye during the all night shifts, and the Jolly Rancher wasn’t bad either. Sure, it was messy and noisy, but it was a gay bar, and I never had to deal with unwanted attention, so it sure trumped any other bar tending job I’d ever had.
“So, you expect to work all night, and then come to class during the day? That sounds reasonable to you?”
“No, but I can’t afford to care if it’s reasonable. It’s necessary,” I told him bluntly. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand,” I tossed out carelessly, feeling lower than low. Not only did Professor Cole now think I was too dumb and careless to do a good job on my assignment, but he also thought I was poor and reckless. It really was a great start to the week.
The professor pushed his chair out and stood, straightening to his great height. He towered over me when we stood side by side, and it thrilled me every time.
“Your work situation isn’t my problem, but this kind of work is completely unacceptable.” His harsh words cut through me like knives. I knew it wasn’t his problem. I was no one’s problem but my own, which made sense, since I was utterly alone in the world. “You are one of the brightest students in my class, Miss Mackintosh, and it pains me to see you let a promising future slip through your fingers,” he continued. I froze at the shock of that unexpected praise, and then my cheeks flooded with warmth. I had always been cursed with an expressive face, and blushing was my downfall. A finger came up under my chin, and I looked incredulously up at my teacher. He was touching me. Professor Cole was touching me, and fuck, it felt good. I fought the urge to close my eyes and lean into his warm strength. What would it be like to have all the intellect, strength, and fierceness in your corner? I wished I could find out.
“Find a solution to these problems, or I will,” he breathed. “Tell me you understand,” he instructed. I felt myself nodding, spellbound by his eyes. “Good girl,” he muttered, and only made my blush ten times more furious. Fuck, I think my nipples just tightened and my entire body clenched at those softly muttered words. Outside, the bell rang in the hall, and disturbed the bubble of tension between the mysterious older man who plagued my thoughts and me. He let my face go and turned away.
“See you on Thursday,” he said to me dismissively, and I was free to go. It felt worse than I’d imagined it would, being sent away by him.
I turned and grabbed my bag, feeling cold reality press back in as I strode up the long aisle stairs toward the door at the top. That was mad, right? Professor Cole was dangerous, and this was exactly why. He made me forget myself, and that was a terrifying feeling. I shouldn’t forget it. I couldn’t afford to. I stopped at the top of the stairs, staring at the door for a long moment, fighting the urge to look back. I knew he was watching me. I could feel the weight of his eyes, like a touch on my neck.
Fear and curiosity battled in me, as I lingered there, and then fear won. I pushed through the door and out into the busy hallway. I didn’t look back.
