by Tasha Black
“I guess I am.”
Although when he put it that way, it hit a little too close to home.
Just as she was about to turn purple and scurry away, Julian began to laugh softly.
“You’re quite the rabble-rouser, Miss Connor,” he said.
“Thank you.” She managed to meet his eye. He was smirking again.
“At least we can conclude that you did read the book.”
Now everyone laughed. Ainsley smiled down at her lap and smoothed her dress over her thighs. He might have won this round, but only because she hadn’t been paying attention.
The talk went on for another hour. Julian had a great perspective on the novel. Ainsley found herself hearing new notes in War and Peace that she had never heard before. Many of the attendees asked a question here or there, but more and more Ainsley saw that Julian was focusing his thoughts on her, looking to her as he made each point, waiting for her to ask a question or add a thought.
It was electrifying to share a room with a man who was smart, cultured, creative and passionate – and one who knew how to get a shirt to the drycleaner’s. Ainsley was overwhelmed at the possibilities.
And the way he looked at her was almost unbearable. Her inner wolf stopped pacing behind its bars, and lifted its nose to scent the pure excitement wafting off him.
They sparred a few times, and he argued eloquently, though once or twice he lost his patience and ran his fingers through his golden hair as she quoted passages to shoot him down. Ainsley knew her stuff and she wasn’t going to pretend she didn’t. If he couldn’t handle it, she’d rather know now.
Oh, but he could handle it. Sometimes he would come back at her with a brilliant point, leaving her with nothing to do but nod. Others he would shake his head and smile admiringly at her, in what she could swear was a pleased way, then raise his hands in concession.
At one point in the evening she heard Carol cough a tiny cough. They stopped their latest argument just as Carol rose and spoke.
“This was a real treat for all of us tonight. For anyone here who didn’t know it already, I’d like to explain that Miss Connor in the front row is the daughter of the late Professor Michael Connor.” A murmur rippled through the crowd. “I think you’ll all agree she is cut from his cloth. I don’t know when we’ve had a more spirited discussion at one of our campus talks!”
She stopped to smile at Ainsley and then at Julian, who bowed his head in acknowledgment and began to clap his hands. The rest of the crowd joined in. Ainsley blushed and shot him a look that said she would get even with him.
“At any rate, I know it’s getting late,” Carol said. “Thanks again to Dr. Magie, and please don’t forget to grab a flyer in the lobby about our upcoming series of campus talks.”
Chapter 18
The audience shuffled toward the exit.
Julian leaned forward and Ainsley’s heartbeat sped as she realized he wanted to continue their conversation privately. But before he could take the first step in her direction, Carol Lotus strode over.
“Oh, Ainsley,” she wavered, “it was just like listening to your father. The way you talk about Tolstoy…”
“Thank you, Carol,” Ainsley said, trying to hide her disappointment at losing her moment alone with Julian.
“We all miss him so much.”
“Tolstoy?” Ainsley asked.
Carol looked confused for a moment, then realized Ainsley was making a joke and managed a weak smile.
Ainsley felt a pang of regret for the older woman. She had been close with Ainsley’s dad, and was obviously still dealing with the loss. Ainsley was just so tired of going through the same song and dance every time she talked to someone in town.
They all knew she hadn’t spoken to her parents in years. She hadn’t been there near the end. And bringing it up sometimes felt like they were just rubbing salt in the wound.
Seeing Carol reminded Ainsley that her parents were important to a lot of people, and many of them had their own reasons to grieve. It wasn’t always all about her. Ainsley made a note to not be such an insufferable bitch to people who cared about her.
Carol looked around surreptitiously. Ainsley followed her gaze. Julian was thumbing through his notes slowly at the podium as though he was looking for something. Or maybe he was biding his time, waiting for Ainsley? Her pulse quickened.
Carol cleared her throat and continued.
“Well, it’s a pleasure to see you, Ainsley. You know, I remember when your dad let you nap under that very podium when you had the flu. I gave you my cough drops and you said they tasted like candy.”
“Oh yes, and that little box with the wax paper was so fancy.” Ainsley laughed.
“Ainsley, we haven’t yet had the time, or frankly the heart, to clear out your father’s office.” She put a hand on Ainsley’s arm. “Would you be interested in looking through his things? I know there are some personal items. And maybe you’d like his copies of the classics?”
There was a lump in Ainsley’s throat. Of course she was overwhelmed with stuff to go through as it was, but the idea of spending time in her dad’s beloved office and being allowed to look through his books and notes was comforting. She managed to nod her head.
“I’m so glad, dear.” Carol patted her firmly on the shoulder. “Let me give you a ride home. My car is right out back and we can work out getting you a key to your father’s office.”
“Excuse me, Carol,” Julian interrupted smoothly. “Miss Connor and I were planning to go for a stroll after the talk. She brought up some ideas for my new book and I was hoping to hear more.”
“Oh dear,” Carol exclaimed. “I didn’t realize you had plans. Well, of course, Ainsley. We’ll find another time to chat and get you a key, dear.”
“Thank you, Carol,” Ainsley said, after throwing a dirty look at Julian behind Carol’s back. He just gazed back at her calmly with that insolent half-smile.
Carol gave her arm one last squeeze and headed out to the hallway to clear up paper cups and turn out lights, as she always did after campus talks. Ainsley turned to Julian.
“What was that about?” she whispered angrily.
He gave her a lazy smile, then closed the distance between them in a long stride. She could feel his breath on her neck and couldn’t make herself pull away, even though she thought she should want to.
“I’m sorry, Miss Connor,” he said in her ear. “Were you hoping to reminisce about cough drops, and go moon over your father’s books?”
Ainsley was speechless.
“That’s not why you came here. And it’s not where you want to go after, is it?”
“I…”
“Go ahead, smooth that skirt down again, and tell me that you want a ride home in Carol Lotus’s Volvo.”
His warm breath on her neck was shattering her concentration. He slid his hand down to the small of her back and led her to the podium. He touched a finger to her chest, just above the cleavage. Her skin tingled in response.
“Stay.”
He gathered his papers and neatly arranged them in his leather briefcase. He turned to her and snapped it shut.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go for a walk.”
Wordlessly, she tucked her hair behind her ear and followed him.
Carol waved at them enthusiastically from under the card table where she was gathering dropped paper cups.
“Do you need some help, Carol?” Ainsley asked, almost hopefully.
“Not a bit. I’m just about packed up here. You two enjoy your discussion.”
They continued down the hall toward the gigantic wooden doors.
Chapter 19
Ainsley stepped through the door as Julain held it for her politely. A rush of fragrant, humid air met her.
They walked together in the moonlight. This was just what Ainsley had wanted. But she hadn’t pictured being the one off balance. Julian was clearly in control of the situation and it was exciting and a little scary at the same time.
Three street lamps winked in the velvety darkness, showing the path through the woods.
Little red riding hood went off through the woods to her grandmother’s house…
Only who was the wolf in this story?
Ainsley almost giggled. It would be very silly of her to be scared of being alone in the woods with a man.
Julian’s hand slid down between her shoulder blades to the small of her back again and she inadvertently shivered with pleasure.
“Are you cold?” he asked, letting his eyes trail slowly down her body.
Ainsley shook her head before she could think the better of it. She was never cold. That was one of the special things about being a wolf. She always ran hot. Of course now he knew her shiver was because of his stupid hand.
He smiled to himself and they continued to walk silently. They were nearing the thickest part of the trees.
She had a flash from her dream of Brian.
These very same trees.
One of them was the one he pinned her against in his passion. Somewhere nearby was where they found his body.
She shivered again, this time not from Julian’s touch, and pushed the thoughts out of her mind. She had spent a decade trying to forget that day. She was very good at it.
Julian began to trace tiny circles on her back with his thumb, drawing her attention back. Around, and around, until all she could think about was his touch and imagine it elsewhere. She stole a glance up at him.
His cold blue eyes locked with hers. She willed him to toss his briefcase to the ground, wrap his thin fingers around her shoulders, and pull her in for a kiss.
He didn’t.
Instead they walked on for a few more quiet minutes, his circling thumb creating an agony of anticipation. Ainsley was consoled when her wolf smelled Julian’s excitement rise and heard his heartbeat thunder.
At least she wasn’t the only one feeling this way.
They reached the fork between the path to town and the path to the house for visiting profs. She paused, knowing that they should part ways here.
Julian moved her firmly toward the path home.
“I’m coming home with you,” he said matter-of-factly.
Ainsley felt a tiny thrill of victory.
It was followed immediately by a stab of panic. The house was a mess of papers, and though it looked better after today’s work, she wasn’t about to entertain there. Plus there was something about taking a guy to her parents’ home at night. It felt all wrong.
She stopped walking.
“Julian, I’m sorry but we just met-”
“Please,” he whispered. “I’ve never met anyone like you. We’re so alike. I know you feel it too.”
His sudden sincerity was disarming. She looked up at him and he gazed back with a longing in his eyes that tugged at places inside her.
“Who else is staying at Thayer House?” she heard herself ask.
“Just me.”
“Let’s go there.”
An odd look flitted across his face for an instant. Before she could interpret it, he took her hand and marched her down the path to Thayer. She felt like an errant child being dragged out of a store. The idea of it made her want to giggle again. But Julian was so serious she knew it would only delay their progress. And Ainsley wasn’t sure she could handle a delay.
They flew up the mossy stone stairs of the old house. The overhang of the cedar shake roof made the stone cottage look like something out of a fairy tale.
My, grandma, what big eyes you have.
As she usually did in intense situations, Ainsley worried a little about holding her wolf. It wasn’t the wolf’s time, but this place seemed to be goading it, loosing it enough that it could poke out its snout and revel in the wealth of sounds and smells.
And Julian was luring it out – it was fascinated with him. More so than anyone else she’d been with.
What was so special about him?
Chapter 20
Julian rattled the key into the lock and flung open the door.
There was a large sitting room encircled by arched leaded glass windows. A low fire crackled in the fireplace. Soft oriental rugs carpeted the floor.
Julian dropped his briefcase and shut the door behind them. It was the first time he had broken physical contact with her since they’d left Scott Hall.
She stood in front of the fire, suddenly less sure she was making the right decision. When he turned back to her she felt nervous.
He smiled.
“Would you like a glass of wine?”
She shook her head shyly.
He stepped out of his shoes and slipped off his jacket, hanging it neatly on the hook by the door.
“A cup of tea?”
She shook her head again.
He unbuttoned the top button of his shirt and slowly pulled off his tie, hanging it on the hook over his jacket. Ainsley licked her lips and smoothed her dress over her hips.
“Then let’s get those shoes off,” he suggested, gesturing to the inglenook benches on each side of the fireplace.
Ainsley perched on one of the benches. Julian knelt at her feet and slipped off one sandal and then the other. His lips turned up in admiration and she wasn’t sure if it was because he recognized the expensive shoes or he liked being on his knees between her legs. She hoped it might be both. He placed the sandals carefully under the opposite bench.
Most guys would have thought it was cool to hurl her shoes across the room in passion. Or they might have carelessly put them on the threshold of the fireplace where she could either ruin the moment by moving them or spend the whole night with a nagging worry that they might end up on fire.
Before her nervous brain could find something else to think about, he turned back to her.
“Is that better?” he asked.
Ainsley nodded. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so quiet.
“Good girl.” He reached up and smoothed the fabric down over her thighs with a playful smile.
She stared wordlessly at his hands as they gently but firmly caressed her through the thin dress.
“So soft,” he mused. “No wonder you’re constantly smoothing your skirt down. I could do this all night.”
Waves of longing coursed through Ainsley. She wanted to tangle her fingers in his hair and pull him to her. She wanted to unbutton his shirt and lick his chest.
His hands never stopped their slow stroking, but her wolf could hear his pulse hammering and it pawed at the bars, claws scraping.
Ainsley closed her eyes and took a careful breath. Slow down, be careful. It shouldn’t be this hard so soon. The wolf drew back a little. Ainsley opened her eyes.
Julian had stopped stroking her thighs and was looking up at her.
“What’s wrong?”
Wasn’t that a terrific question?
Gee, Julian, I’m sorry. You’re making me so hot I can’t think straight but I can’t really let go because I might turn into a giant wolf and maul you.
“Nothing.”
“Ainsley, you’re a very sexy young woman.” His hands went back to her thighs. “And you’ll have to forgive me for trying to seduce you. Of course we don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”
But as he spoke, he slipped his hands under her dress and firmly pushed it up instead of down.
“It’s just that you seem to have cast a spell on me, and I’m helpless before you.”
His hands were on her bare skin now and he gently pressed her thighs apart. He knelt up and moved between her legs to look right into her eyes.
“Now, Ainsley, tell me. Do you want to go home?”
She licked her lips and he leaned forward slowly and brushed his own lips against them.
The effect was immediate. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she could feel his pulse reverberating through his kiss. She arched her back involuntarily and he wrapped his arms around her, cradling her as she moaned against his mouth.
In one smoo
th movement he stood with her in his arms. Then he carried her to the bedroom. He sat her gently on the coverlet at the edge of the bed.
He knelt again and turned her slightly, then slowly tugged down the zipper on the back of her dress. She could hear each tooth release. She heard the leaves whisper in the trees in the college woods and felt the warmth of each star in the window from their remote distances.
He turned her back to face him, then rolled the straps of her dress down. Dipping his hand into the bodice, he allowed his fingers to caress her cleavage as he eased the dress down just enough to reveal her lacy white push-up bra.
His intake of breath and the increase in his heartbeat told her that he liked what he saw.
“So lovely,” he murmured, brushing his lips across the tops of her breasts. Her nipples hardened instantly and she thrust herself forward.
“Greedy little girl,” he breathed. “Slow down.”
But he was already peeling down the cups to nuzzle her nipples. She gasped at the sudden pleasure as he circled one and then the other with his inquisitive tongue. With one hand between her shoulder blades he pressed her back toward him so that she arched into his mouth. With the other he held down her leg, his thumb circling maddeningly on her inner thigh.
She felt the white pain and pleasure of his teeth against one nipple and stifled a moan. He rewarded her by sucking her deep into his mouth. The taste of her seemed to overwhelm him, his hips jerked against the edge of the bed as he groaned into her breast, then turned to the other.
Her hands found their way into his hair at last and she clutched him to her and felt the delicious suction on her other nipple. Her hips began to buck in spite of her attempts at control, but he pressed her down insistently and she surrendered with a moan.
He pulled back to look at her and she could see his pupils dilate with desire. She could only imagine what she must look like, all wild hair, swollen lips, and stiff pink nipples pushed up over the bodice of her dress. She didn’t care. As long as he would just touch her again.
He stood them up, pulled her dress over her head, and folded and placed it on the bedside table. He turned to her and his eyes hungrily took in her curves. The bra pushed up her exposed breasts. Her white lace panties were the last bit of covering she had. And he was eyeing them.