by Cate Corvin
So I was going to eat the metaphorical cake and enjoy every bite.
Chapter Three
Rhett kissed along my thigh, still holding my legs apart with a grip like iron. My brain felt like it was a million miles away, but my fingers ached where I gripped the edge of the chair with white knuckles.
For every kiss, there was the lave of his tongue against my skin, soothing where he bit me. His thumb stroked over the lace covering my clit until I was trembling, trying to keep my hips planted firmly where they were. It was a lesson in futility.
Rhett slid his other hand under and wrapped it around my leg so he could slide me forward to the edge of the chair. A steady pulsing throb started deep in my pussy, my clit aching for his touch again.
His warm, wet tongue slid along the rim of the lace barrier. My heart was going a thousand miles a minute, every nerve in my body hyper-focused on all the areas where his fingers and mouth moved.
It was impossible to believe this was really happening, with the guy whose name I’d paired with mine inside bubbly little hearts, all written in sparkly pink and purple gel pens… and not once, in those adolescent imaginings of Rhett dropping his pen to hold my hand or give me a chaste kiss, had I imagined this.
I released the edge of the chair to tentatively brush my fingers through his chestnut hair. It was just as soft as I’d always imagined, the thick strands tickling my palms. Rhett exhaled a sigh that tickled the seam between my thigh and pussy.
I tossed caution to the winds and wove my hand into his hair, gripping it with fingers made bold by the darkness and wine and the shield of knowing this would never happen again.
His breath became a groan. A finger hooked in the thin lace between us and pulled it aside. I stiffened, immediately filled with the fear that he’d somehow find me displeasing.
It wasn’t that I was a virgin. I’d had a boyfriend for several years while I attended Northeast. But he’d only done this a few times, and never in a way that was satisfying.
Rhett’s mouth hadn’t even touched my pussy yet, and I was already taut with anticipation. If he ate a woman with the same skill that he did everything else…
His tongue traced my lower lips, starting from the bottom of the wet seam and moving up, carefully circumventing my aching clit like he knew that was what I desperately wanted. Instead, his tongue moved back down, then drew against my wetness in a long stroke.
I tilted my hips forward, aching to feel him against that sensitive nub of flesh, but Rhett knew exactly what I was doing. He kept the lace hooked out of the way when he slowly retraced that entire trail like he was taunting me.
Instead of giving in, I tightened my fist and my grip on his hair. His response was to sink his fingers into my hips and his tongue into my pussy.
The sensation of slick wetness plunging into me sent my eyes rolling back in my head. My muscles quivered. Rhett’s tongue curled against the sensitive entrance before he drew back out.
This time he had mercy on me. The tip of his tongue ran around my clit in a gentle circle, the pressure growing harder until he wrapped his lips around me and sucked.
My ass rose off the seat. I bit my lip hard enough to hurt, holding back a strangled cry. Rhett devoured me, his arms keeping me firmly seated against him. There was no escaping even if I wanted to- and god knew I didn’t want to.
The pressure building in my core mounted until I was quivering, every muscle rock-hard and taut with the desire that Rhett teased out of me. He flicked his tongue against my clit, and the sound of his groan of need absolutely destroyed me. There was no sound on this earth that was sexier than the sound of a man who was just barely holding back.
I came apart at the edges, shivering in the chair as his arms held me down like iron bars. There was no choice but to ride it out. I was dimly aware that I was making sounds regardless of who heard us- he was too good for me to keep quiet. Rhett moaned again when I trembled against him, my climax exploding through my core.
When he finally released me, I’d been reduced to a panting, quivering mess of a human being. Rhett looked up at me from between my thighs and gave me a grin that could only be accurately described as devilish.
“On your feet, Jane.”
I whimpered. The muscles in my legs felt like they’d gone from iron to jelly in the span of only a minute, but I pushed myself up.
Rhett caught my chin and forced me to look at him. I knew my face was flushed from the wine and coming all over his tongue, and when I tried to look away and hide it, he jerked my chin back into place. “Look at me, Jane.”
I met his eyes squarely, shaking in my seat. “Remember our lessons? When you try to dodge the problem, I will drag you right back. When I tell you to do something, you will do it, no questions asked.”
I hesitated for a brief moment. As a tutor, Rhett hadn’t messed around. It was his way or the highway.
And his way had gotten me here.
I nodded, struggling against the pressure of his hand on my chin.
“On your feet.”
He stood up in one smooth motion and offered me a hand, which I took. My legs wobbled under me and steadied.
Rhett pushed me back against the table and slid the wine bottle aside. I obediently sat on the table, understanding what he was instructing me to do just from the touch of his hand on my hip.
He parted my legs and stepped between them, looking down at me. The blue shade of his eyes had always been absolutely crushing. Now, when he was doing things to me I’d only ever done in the dark, under the covers, I felt like he could look right through me and see everything I thought.
Instead of issuing another command, he leaned down and kissed me. It started off soft, careful… and then he nipped my lip and gripped my jaw in his hand, tilting my head up. I exhaled when Rhett forced my mouth open, his tongue gliding over my lips and between my teeth.
I couldn’t help myself. I kissed him back enthusiastically, completely willing to shed Plain Jane, the quiet mouse who only took off her clothes in the dark, as long as it Rhett undressing me.
His hands moved down the front of my shirt. The buttons seemed to just fall open under his fingers, but I knew that just because I was drunk on Rhett.
Rough skin glided over the softer skin of my stomach, moving upwards until he’d popped the clasp of my bra. Rhett’s hips pushed forward, and he peeled my shirt and bra back to expose most of me to him. I couldn’t bother to be embarrassed about what I looked like; my nipples were already hard, aching just from his gaze scorching me.
It made me inordinately happy that Rhett seemed to like what he saw- no, not just liked. His nostrils flared and his pupils dilated. He leaned back down, but instead of kissing my mouth, he found the delicate spot under my throat and worked his way down, teeth grazing dangerously close to biting.
When his lips closed around one of my nipples, he yanked my ass to the edge of the table. I tried to reach for his trousers, but he pushed my hand firmly back to the table and held it there for a moment, making his instructions clear.
I kept my palms flat against the warm wood, pleasure zinging through my nerves, straight from my breasts to my clit.
The clink of a buckle cut through the sounds of our breath, both rapid and heavy, the barely-hidden moans.
Silky, rigid heat slid across my wet center. My body reacted without meaning to; my back arched, pussy aching to feel him inside me, nipples throbbing from the gentle suction of his mouth.
He cupped one of my breasts, then slid his hand up to the center of my chest and pushed me back so I was lying on the table. Rhett’s gaze ran over me, and one of my favorite words came to mind: dishabille. He’d put me in this state.
I’d spent more than my fair share of time imagining what Rhett’s cock would be like. The thick length that ran over me again sent a delicious shiver down my spine. “Please be gentle.”
It’d been months since I’d last had sex. As much as I wanted this, I also wanted to be able to walk straight for my fi
rst day of classes tomorrow.
Rhett smiled, but there was nothing kind or humorous about it now. “I’ll be as gentle as you need, Jane.”
He rocked forward, sliding the entire length of his cock over my wetness, his thumb teasing my clit. I arched forward, wanting to feel him inside me no matter what I’d asked for.
Rhett drew back far enough to slide the head of his cock against me… then he pushed in, a slow, steady thrust, inch by inch, that took my breath away.
I felt myself stretching around him. The sensation rode the line between pain and pleasure, but I was already soaking wet, and Rhett bottomed out with another sexy groan.
My muscles contracted around him, my body already growing used to the feeling again, and damn did it feel amazing. But of course it did, because of who was inside me.
He lifted my ankles onto his shoulders so his hips and stomach were pressed against my ass and thighs… then pulled out and slammed back in, sending a shockwave through me. The kind that sizzled nerves and wiped out all conscious thought.
I gripped the edge of the table with white-knuckled fingers as Rhett pounded into me, arching his hips against me so he hit the perfect spot every time. Before this moment, making a really bad decision on school grounds in the library I worked in, I would’ve said it was impossible to come twice.
Rhett proved that wrong. He stroked my clit every time he pushed in, his head turned to kiss the inside of my ankle and calf. Nobody I’d ever slept with before had been like this. He went hard, shaking my body, but every move was calculated to feel good for me.
I was gasping for breath when his pounding thrusts became slick strokes that made my muscles tighten around him. He knew he had me when I shuddered, grinding myself against him, and pressed his thumb down on my clit firmly.
I exploded, disobeying his orders to clap my hand over my mouth, back arching right off the table. He drove into me, pinning me down while I screamed into my hand.
Rhett let out a shuddering breath, pushing into me while I was still clenched up. He fucked hard, without mercy for the quivers still running through me, until I felt his cock throb inside me. I clamped down tight, gasping when he groaned, luxuriating in the feel of him releasing himself in me.
He stood there for a long moment, his head resting against my leg. I slowly unclenched my fingers from the table, stretching as he gently unhooked my ankles from his shoulders and lowered them.
Rhett pulled me up and straight into a kiss. I didn’t have time to think before his hands were buried in my hair, pulling the shoulder-length locks out of the chignon I’d managed, thumbs stroking my cheekbones.
I smoothed my skirt down over my knees, feeling suddenly shy even with Rhett’s tongue in my mouth, and tentatively ran my hands over his chest.
“I can get you Plan B,” he said, pulling away long enough to look into my eyes. “Or are you on the pill?”
I nodded. If I didn’t have a measure of protection, I wouldn’t have let it go that far.
He relaxed a little. “Good.” I felt like a mouse hypnotized by a snake as he tilted his head to kiss me. “I’ll be seeing you again soon.”
“You will?” I’d thought this was Bourdillon, not Wonderland. Somehow, in the back of my sated lizard brain, I’d thought we would never mention this again if we ever ran into each other.
“Jane.” Rhett made me look up at him. He raised his eyebrows. “Why wouldn’t I?”
I needed to get home to Mom, make sure I had everything I needed for class, and most of all, I needed to come down from the absolute thrill of fucking Rhett. And having his phone number. And now he was telling me that he wanted to see me again.
I swallowed. “I suppose you will, working in the same place and all.”
He smiled. “Not just because of that. Let me walk you out.”
I got myself together and yanked the stained cardigan over my rumpled dress. I looked like I’d had a rough day. Not like I’d just had sex with a professor. Or so I wanted to think.
He walked me through the darkened halls, and I paused outside the massive doors leading to the parking lot and paved drives. Spruce Drive was only a mile and a half away, separated from Bourdillon by a thick stretch of forest. I’d already found a neat footpath that was possible to follow even in the dark.
“Where’s your car? I can drive you home.”
I looked up into Rhett’s handsome face, all earnestness. I didn’t have a car, not even a beater. I walked the mile, and even if I had a car, the last thing I needed was to drive it three glasses of wine in.
“I’m parked at the far end of the lot,” I lied, feeling hot shame touch my neck and cheeks. “I need to take a minute and call my mom anyways, but thank you.”
It felt like he was staring right through me. “Are you absolutely sure? It’s no problem to take you home.”
I shook my head, resisting the urge to look away. He’d know I was full of it if I did. “Really. I do need to talk to her alone. I’ll be fine.”
There was a fraught moment where I wondered what I should do. The parking lot was almost empty but for three visible cars, and we were in one of the quieter alcoves, a side door that no one could see unless they were standing out in the lot. I couldn’t go on my toes and kiss a prof in plain sight, and thanking him for screwing me on a table seemed… weird.
Rhett reached up and touched my face, pressing a finger against my lips. “You were always stubborn. I’ll let you go this time.”
I had the feeling he was letting me go for another reason, but I had no idea what it was, and I was too frazzled to consider what it might be. “Good night, Rhett.”
“Good night, Jane.”
I hurried into the parking lot, and when I was sure I was hidden by shadows, I ducked off towards Spruce Drive on foot. Only once, before I left the warm lights of Bourdillon behind, did I look back.
I couldn’t be sure, but it looked like a tall, dark shadow lingered near the door.
Chapter Four
The cottage we rented out on Spruce Drive was lit up with warm light like it was Christmas. I stopped outside the door to wring out my bedraggled hair and make myself as presentable as possible. Rain had started falling halfway through the last half-mile home.
Mom was at the stove, stirring a giant pot of soup. I immediately tried to take over, but she must’ve been feeling like herself today because she refused to budge.
“You should’ve told me you’d be late, honeybun,” she said, but there was no heat in the chiding. She knew better than to worry, and besides, there was a pile of romance novels and a half-drunk mug of tea by the easy chair. She’d probably had her nose in a book all evening. “How was work?”
“It was great,” I said, trying not to sound how I felt, which was a strange mix of terrified and exhilarated.
I, Jane Fawkes, consummate bookworm, complete mouse, and definitive Plain Jane, had screwed Rhett Harlow on a library table. My sexual fantasies had all come true.
But he was a professor, and it was inevitable I’d have to actually see him at some point again. I had his number in my phone.
Oh my god, what had I done?
Mom gave me a weird look. “Are you okay?”
I hung up my dripping coat and messenger bag, already packed with what I needed for class tomorrow, and kicked my shoes into the closet. “Yeah, just tired. I didn’t check the weather and I wasn’t expecting a downpour on the way home.”
I wasn’t sorry in the slightest for turning down Rhett’s offer of a ride. I had no idea what Mom would say if I showed up late with the guy who’d tutored me.
“Luckily for you, I’m making minestrone.” She tasted the soup and I set the tiny table, just big enough for two. “Mmm. Just like Grandma Fawkes used to make.”
“I’m glad you’re feeling better today.” I hugged her, pressing my cheek to her frail back. Those days seemed to come fewer and more far between lately.
This had been our little ritual since Mom had gotten better. She liked to c
ook and feed me, telling me that no matter how old I was, I was still her baby; and besides, I’d dropped out of school to take care of her, so a few meals were in order. I think she just liked to feed people.
We ate our soup together in companionable quietude, each reading a book while eating. Like Mom’s insistence on cooking, it was another little tradition of ours. She used to swear I read books in the womb.
I washed up dishes, kissed Mom, and sorted out her nightly medications before heading to my room. It was a cute cottage room, with whitewashed walls and a picture window looking out on the woods, along with an attached bathroom.
I showered and dried my hair, trying not to think about the potential of seeing Rhett tomorrow after he’d seen… well, all of me. Trying not to think about the warmth of Professor Spears’s branded against my back. Besides, Rhett wasn’t really Rhett anymore. He was Professor Harlow, a world above me.
I definitely wasn’t thinking about them as I tousled my hair and laid out my clothes, another skirt with a blue blouse. Not at all.
The next morning, the parking lot was already full of cars by the time I hoofed it back to school. Very expensive cars. The first one I passed, a classic Cadillac, could only be considered midrange against the rest of them.
I self-consciously adjusted the buttons on my blouse. There was no reason to be nervous. I’d memorized my classes, the layout of the school, every book I’d need. I had covered every base as thoroughly as a commander in wartime, prepped for the battle of making this scholarship count.
The click of my heels on the marble floor was lost amid the rush of other students. One thing was for sure: I’d been right to put some money away for a wardrobe. Students in Bourdillon meant business. Virtually no one wore street clothes, or maybe business casual was their version of street clothes.
Several eyes flicked my way, and away again just as quickly. I knew I stood out like a sore thumb in department store clothes, but I wasn’t the only scholarship student who’d ever passed through these halls.