by Marian Tee
Pushing herself up, she started to ask about her new clothes when a thought intruded, and she sat up with a gasp. “Professor, the door!” She couldn’t believe they had made love without even locking the door. Anyone could have entered—
“Relax.” The professor’s voice was a lazy purr.
Kassia stared at the professor. “B-but—” She lifted her shoulders in a helpless shrug. “I’m worried for you, Professor. I don’t want you to get into trouble because of me.”
Alessandro inhaled deeply. So damn sweet, in the most dangerously selfless way possible. How had he been so goddamn blind he hadn’t seen that he was the luckiest bastard alive to have this girl love him? “You never have to worry about us, baby,” he told her quietly. “That’s my responsibility, not yours.”
Kassia opened her mouth to protest, but she wasn’t given any chance to speak, not with the professor suddenly picking her up in his arms, whisking them across the room so he could lock the door, and then they were seated behind his table, Kassia on his lap.
All of it had taken place in three seconds, tops.
“Whoagodthatwasfast.”
Shock had Kassia trembling and feeling a little faint. Living in a farm with her grandparents, there had always been too many things to do, and what free time she did have, she preferred to spend outdoors, swimming in the lake or cycling in nearby trails. It had been a simple life, and nothing about it had given her any reason to even consider there was the slightest possibility that werewolves – no, Lyccans – existed.
Feeling her tremble against him, Alessandro sought to calm her down by saying teasingly, “Just as fast as how you’re talking now, little chick.” At his words, the tension slowly eased out of her body, Kassia even managing a weak smile.
Returning her smile with one of his own, he traced her lips, murmuring, “I love your smile.”
Tears pricked her eyes. Had the professor really said that? Alessandro Moretti, a man that the whole world found so mysterious and elusive – had he really said that to someone like her?
“You’re too good for me, Professor,” she whispered.
The smile vanished from the professor’s face. “No, Kassia. It’s the other way around. I’m the one who doesn’t deserve you. You’re perfect, for still being here with me even after all the times I’ve hurt you.” When her eyes darkened at his words, Alessandro asked grimly, “What is it?” He would do anything to eliminate the pain in her gaze.
“How can I be perfect when—” Kassia swallowed as she remembered the look in the professor’s eyes the last time they had seen each other. Even if he had been in his wolf then, there was no mistaking that look.
“I hurt you, didn’t I, Professor?” she heard herself ask.
His gaze remained steady on her face as he answered levelly, “Yes.”
Her heart cracked at the unashamed admission. “I’m sorry.” Her voice caught.
“Don’t be.” The first tears started to fall, and Alessandro wiped them away with his thumb. “I hurt you first, remember?”
She shook her head stubbornly. “It doesn’t mean I should hurt you back.”
He could see that she meant every word, and the sweetness of it made his chest tighten. “You’re the sweetest girl I know, little chick. It’s probably why I fell in love with you in the first place.”
A stricken expression crossed her face. “Oh, Professor.”
“Say my name,” he said huskily.
Her teeth sank into her lower lip. Now that her mind was fully functional, she couldn’t make herself say it, feeling like she didn’t have a right to do so.
Alessandro’s control fractured at Kassia’s hesitation. “Baby, please.” His voice was hoarse.
Unable to resist the professor when he spoke to her like that, she took a deep breath and gave him what they both wanted. “Alessandro.”
Both of them stilled as his name slipped past her lips. It was almost too much, the intimacy and the power her saying his name contained. To call the professor by his name symbolized a connection. It spoke of love…and trust, and the realization hurt.
“Alessandro.” More tears fell, and when the professor pulled her into his arms, the tears fell faster. “I really want to trust you, Professor, but I j-just d-don’t know if I can.”
Her pain wrenched at his heart, and Alessandro struggled with self-loathing, knowing that he was the only reason for all the suffering he heard in her voice. Pulling her tighter into his embrace, he kissed the top of her head and said fiercely, “I’ll earn it back.”
She shook her head wildly, his words seeming to distress her more. “But that’s the thing,” she protested, raising her head. “You shouldn’t have to earn it—”
“Of course I have to,” Alessandro growled.
Still, she shook her head. “Even now, I know I’m the lucky one, to have someone like you love me—”
With a groan, he cupped her face and kissed Kassia deep and hard. “Don’t you ever say those words again,” he gritted against her lips. “Don’t you even fucking think it.” Lifting his head, he stared into her eyes, the command in his words mirrored by his gaze as he said, “I’m the one who’s lucky to have you love me. You saved me from a lifetime of hating my brother for all the wrong reasons. You helped make my family a little less broken, and you made me strong again. Knowing that, how can you still say I’m not lucky to have you?”
Kassia wanted to believe the professor, but old hurts held her back, preventing her from completely trusting him.
And the professor seemed to know it, exhibited by the quiet conviction in his tone when he said, “I will win your trust back, Kassia.”
“But what if you don’t?” This time, she didn’t bother trying to hide her greatest fear. She wanted a life with the professor, but she hated how she kept thinking of the worst things possible whenever she wasn’t talking to him, wasn’t able to see him. She was being a paranoid, jealous bitch, and she hated it.
The professor didn’t answer.
“Professor?” Her voice shook.
He said simply, “Then I’ll die.”
A cry was torn out from her. “Don’t make jokes like that!” Kassia made the Sign of the Cross several times, and when it didn’t feel enough, she took his own hand and made him do it for himself, too. “I’m serious, Professor! Don’t make jokes like that.”
“I’m sorry,” Alessandro soothed. Pressing a swift, tender kiss on her forehead, he murmured, “Let’s talk about something else, yes?” The change of subject was deliberate, Alessandro not wanting to lie to his beloved.
Kassia allowed the professor to pull her back into his arms, her head against his chest. “Were you punishing me,” she whispered, “by not talking to me the past three days?”
Kassia felt the professor smile against her hair as he answered, “Yes.”
Gasping at his audacious honesty, she hit his chest with her fist. “Jerk.”
“But as you can see now, I’m back with you, and letting you wrap me around your finger.” His voice was dry. “I realized that staying away from you was hurting me, too, so what was the point?”
She raised her head, asking hopefully, “It did?”
He rolled his eyes. “Bloodthirsty chick.”
Taking the words as a yes, she said with undisguised pleasure, “Good.” Kassia scowled at the professor. “If you do it again—”
He cut her off, drawling, “Do I look like the masochist type to you?”
She grinned. “If you want me to be completely honest, I’d say you’re more of a sybarite—”
“I’m impressed,” he said sarcastically, but the tender gleam in his eyes belied his tone. “You seem to have picked up big words just to insult me.”
Her grin widened even as she answered with shy honesty, “Only for the man I love.”
Alessandro froze and a second later, Kassia did, too. Panic flared in her gaze, and he knew right away she hadn’t meant to say the words at all. When she started to speak, he shook his head. “You c
an’t take it back, little chick.” Before she could protest, he continued quietly,
“I love you.”
Kassia paled even more.
The sight wasn’t exactly encouraging, but he repeated firmly, “I love you, Kassia. More than you’ll probably ever believe me, but it’s the truth. I love you more than life itself, and…” His smile was crooked. “The thing about the world I live in, we usually face such dangers every day that we have all the chances to prove it.”
It took more than a few seconds for Kassia to understand what he was saying, and when she did, she cried out. “Don’t joke like that, Professor,” she wailed.
He stole a kiss from her lips, murmuring, “I promise to live long if you tell me you trust me.”
“Unfair,” she protested, but her voice was weak and she could feel her cheeks flushing with heat at the way the professor was looking at her so…lovingly.
“I can wait,” he said magnanimously.
Kassia fought back a smile at the words. “How generous of you—oh!” The professor had lifted her up and she found herself plopped down on the table, legs dangling over the edge.
His hands still on her small waist, Alessandro swung his seat to face her. Catching the bemused look on her face, he said soberly, “We have to talk.”
Her smile faded at his serious tone, and she asked nervously, “A-about what?”
The scent of her anxiety reached him, and shaking his head, he tugged at a lock of strawberry blonde hair, using it to have her bend forward. Surprising her with a quick, gentle kiss, he pulled away, murmuring, “Stop thinking the impossible.”
“W-what’s impossible?”
“Impossible things like I’d ever consider leaving you.” His eyes bored through her.
Kassia’s cheeks flushed anew. She couldn’t believe the professor had seen through her so easily.
He tipped her chin up. “Every time you have these thoughts, you just need to call me, and I’ll say it as many times as you want. I will never let you go.”
Her heart slammed against her chest at the words. God. Wow. God. Wow. Wanting to be as honest as the professor was even though she knew she couldn’t be as eloquent, she said haltingly, “T-thank you. I n-needed to hear that.”
His answering smile left her blinking dazedly. God. Wow. God. Wow.
“I want to talk to you about a few things now.” The professor’s tone had turned sober. “We need to set some ground rules. You understand why, right, baby?”
“Yes,” she answered dreamily.
The professor bit back a groan at the way Kassia was looking at him. God, she made him want to make love to her again and the hell with playing grown-up. Forcing his mind back to important matters, he said, “If we’re to see each other without getting caught, we need to adhere to two simple rules.”
She nodded obediently.
“The first one is...” His voice turned wry. “You must remember to act like my student and not my girlfriend.”
Kassia couldn’t answer. The professor had called her his girlfriend! It terrified her. It excited her. It made her want to scream. It made her want to throw up in sheer panic.
The professor frowned. “Kassia?”
She started, realizing she had spaced out on the professor. “S-sorry,” she mumbled. Clearing her throat, she asked, “C-could you give me an example of how I act like—”
“My girlfriend?”
Oh my God, he had said it again!
“Umm, yes, like—” She paused.
The professor repeated obediently, “My girlfriend?”
Excitement won over panic. Oh my God, his girlfriend! “Professor, are you sure there’s ever a time I acted like—” She paused and looked expectantly.
Instead of giving her what she wanted, the professor bent forward and reached for something behind Kassia. By the time she realized what the professor had taken from the table, it was too late. He had a piece of paper rolled in his hand, and he was smacking her forehead with it.
“Ouch,” she cried, purely out of habit since getting swatted on the head with paper didn’t really hurt.
“That’s for not being serious.”
“I was being serious,” she lied, glaring. “I just wanted to be clear that you really believe I was doing something as…” Unable to help it, she paused, holding her breath as she waited for the words.
The professor swatted her head again.
“Professor, you’re so unromantic!”
Another swat. “And you need to be serious. Consider what you just did earlier.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Earlier?”
“You need to remember to always knock and ask for permission before entering my office in school.”
“Oh.” Her shoulders slumped at the realization she had acted unthinkingly, and not at all like a student. “Sorry, Professor, I didn’t—”
He cut her off with a kiss, one so swift it was over before she could even think of responding. “I didn’t tell you that to make you apologize.” This time, his voice was gentle, and Kassia wanted to cry foul. How could she be serious when everything he did just made her want to daydream about how beautiful he was?
“This rule isn’t because I’m worried about my job. It’s all because I have a selfish desire to spend as much time with you. And if you’re a student, then that means I still need to be a teacher. That’s the best way for us to spend our days together, baby. You understand, right?”
She nodded, but still she couldn’t help saying, “I get it now, Professor, but I’m really sorry—” She earned herself another kiss, but this time it was longer, almost surreal, and toe-curling sweet.
“No apologies, little chick.” His voice was tender but gruff. “We’re both new to this. We’re bound to make mistakes.” He straightened away before the softness of her body made him forget what else he had to say.
When the professor’s gaze narrowed at her, she said immediately out of habit, “I didn’t do anything.”
“Actually, you did.” The professor’s voice turned hard. “I won’t mince words this time, little chick. I make an extremely jealous and possessive lover, and I do not share what’s mine.”
The way he looked at Kassia made it clear he considered her his property, and she swallowed, more overwhelmed than terrified at the idea that someone like the professor could feel so strongly towards her.
“Don’t let me see you too close to another man again, Kassia. It’s too…dangerous.”
Her heart slammed even harder against her chest as Kassia heard the words the professor hadn’t spoken. “I promise, Professor, but not because you might hurt me.” Her voice turned fierce. “I’m promising it because I don’t want to hurt you again.”
Silence.
And then the professor was gracefully coming to his feet, his mouth on hers while his arms wrapped around her.
When he raised his head, he gave her a promise that had her toes curling and her stomach tightening in fear.
“I will make you trust me again, Kassia.”
****
“You lied to me,” Kassia accused the professor the next night.
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did!” The two of them were walking inside a magnificently vast hallway, and with every second that passed, the urge to turn back and run away became stronger. “You said this was going to be an ordinary party!”
“It is.” Beside her, the professor was a picture of urbane sophistication in his expensive tux, and even now the sight of him made Kassia gulp. Even though she was wearing a gown that the professor had bought for her, she wasn’t sure it was enough to give her the right to stand next to him.
Sensing Kassia’s troubled gaze on him, Alessandro looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “What is—” To his surprise, Kassia quickly squeezed her eyes shut. “What are you doing?” Did she plan on walking with her eyes closed?
Only opening her eyes when she had turned her head away from the professor, she said, “Self-defense.”
Only Kassia could leave him even more bemused with an answer. “Excuse me?”
“You think I don’t know what you’re doing, but I do.” She resolutely kept her gaze straight ahead as she spoke. “I’m on to you, Professor. You’re using your sexy look on me again, and next thing I know, you’re going to give me that devastating smile—”
The professor was suddenly standing in front of her, his Lyccan speed leaving her defenseless, and oh God there it was!
That smoldering look!
That devastating smile!
Her knees knocked against each other. “You’re too beautiful for your own good, Professor.”
His laugh was dark and sexy. “And you are too fucking cute for my senses.”
The words destroyed what was left of her defenses against him, and she sighed. “You win. I forgive you for lying.” She paused then added militantly, “But you did lie.”
“I did not lie.” He pressed a kiss on her forehead. “You just failed to consider that we might have different perspectives about what an ordinary party is. This is ordinary for me.”
And that, Kassia thought, perfectly summed up how different they were from each other. The professor’s idea of an ordinary party was one that took place in a palatial hall, attended by thousands of Lyccans, most of whom Kassia was shocked to recognize as numbering among the world’s rich and famous. How could all these people lead such public lives without humans like her catching on to the fact that they weren’t, well, humans?
Upon entering the ballroom, the first thing Kassia noticed was the odd way most of the guests reacted to them. She was well used to Alessandro being fawned over, but tonight it was the opposite. Most of the other Lyccans gazed at him with either contempt or disgust, and she couldn’t understand it at all. How could someone like Alessandro be contemptuous or disgusting?
The professor suddenly looked down at her, saying quietly, “Later.”
His gaze told her he knew exactly what she was feeling, and Kassia nodded. If the professor wanted her to wait for answers, she would.
He guided her all the way to the opposite side of the hall, where she saw the rest of his family was waiting. Kassia frowned when she realized that the Moretti family appeared isolated from the other Lyccans, and she bit her lip hard. She was angry on their behalf, but she knew she couldn’t exactly bite anyone’s head off for it. This wasn’t her battle, even if she wanted it to be.