I only went back to Brandon’s place that night to give Amanda assurance that I still had a plan and that she was included. I couldn’t tell her a thing about what was coming and she clearly didn’t know. Which meant Brandon didn’t know either, thank God. That night was one of the tensest of my life. I watched television in trepidation of what could happen any moment. But when I saw Brandon he seemed to be in silent remorse mode. He peered at me as if he was going to say sorry. But I wouldn’t make eye contact and the apology never came.
There was nothing to say to Amanda, not with Luke or Brandon present. There was nobody in the world who knew what I was feeling or what I was going through. Nobody apart from one man, because he was going through the same. Professor Ridgley. But Tom was off limits. Totally Verboten. Late in the darkness, when I was finally sure Brandon wouldn’t try to hurt me, I succumbed to a fitful sleep.
Sixteen
Amanda walked me to college. I said nothing. It was so damn hard to make small talk when you have the world on your shoulders, but I did my best to laugh in most of the right places. But there was a curious look in Amanda’s eyes when she glanced at me, like she knew something was seriously up with me.
“Ash, are you okay?” she said, when we got to the front steps of the grand old college building.
“Um. No, not really. Look, I need to see Cantor about something. Okay? Can you let me do that? I promise I’ll update you later on.”
Amanda looked concerned. “Ash? Have you still got some kind of master plan, or has it all gone wrong?”
“No. I’ve still got a plan. Trust me, Amanda. And it’s getting closer.”
Amanda looked at me and said nothing. I wasn’t sure if she believed me, but it was true all the same.
“Trust me,” I said.
She nodded. “See you in a while?”
“Half hour, tops.”
I walked away knowing she’d be worried about Brandon’s spies seeing her without me at her side. But Brandon’s days of power were coming to an end. I just had to hold on because now we were in the most dangerous time, when he was still at college and was about to find out what was to happen to him.
It was just before 9.30 am and the red-eye seminars would start soon. Cantor was head of the department and wasn’t teaching as much as the other guys, so I knew there was a very good chance I could catch him. The little dark corridor was quiet but charged with the presence of students at work, like children sitting at the feet of their masters. Most of the rooms were occupied with quiet chatter and the occasional laugh. All except Cantor’s. I knocked and waited for his answer. It didn’t come. I knocked again to be sure, but nothing happened. I would have to try later. Then as I turned around, I saw Ridgley’s door open. He walked out with a folder under his arm and a satchel on his shoulder. We looked at each other and froze. His brown eyes looked awkward, but sparkled all the same time. He looked around. I looked around too.
“Wait a second,” he said. He opened his door and put the folder back in the room and emerged once more and locked the door behind him. Today he was in black, as if he was in mourning. And he looked good in it. I hadn’t dressed for any guys today. I’d dressed in my casuals, so I knew I wouldn’t impress. And besides, we were past all that, right?
“What are you doing here?” he said in a whisper.
“I wanted to see Cantor, about Amanda. She needs help too.”
“You need more help right now. How did you cope, last night?”
I shook my head. “I didn’t really. I was pretty scared. But a girl’s got to do, what a girl’s got to do, right?”
Ridgley looked angry.
“They left you exposed. Couldn’t you stay elsewhere?”
“I don’t know anybody who can help me, Tom. Besides, everyone thinks I’m some kind of man eating bitch. Who would want to help me?”
“Couldn’t Cody Barnes put you up?” he asked, his eyes searching mine.
“No. He had company last night. They’re not getting married, but they are together all the same.”
Ridgley shook his head. “You haven’t got anyone at all, have you? That’s why you came here, Ashley. You needed to talk, and you think Cantor is the only one left you have to talk to.”
His words left me speechless. It was so true and I didn’t even know it.
“Talk to me…” he said, with emotion in his voice.
“I can’t… what about your job…?”
“Everything is out in the open now. If you can’t talk to me you then you can go and see Bonnie Davis.”
“But I don’t know her. She’s not involved, and she’s too official.”
“Then talk to me, Ashley.”
“I thought you’d put up a brick wall, Tom.”
“I’ll admit I thought about it. Yes, I need my job, Ashley. But I’m human too. Look, we can’t talk here. Come on.”
I followed him. He led me away as before, to the end of the corridor, through the doors and we turned left and up the narrow staircase.
When we got to the top of the stairs I felt safe enough to speak.
“Tom, what are we doing here again?”
“Sssshhh. It’s not safe yet. Come on.”
He led me back to the same old dusty room. I walked in and looked at the two stacks of boxes where I had laid my hands for support when he had made love to me from behind. I looked at Tom as he closed the door. I felt safe, warm, and the memory brought a nice feeling to my body. I smiled at him, relaxing.
“What are we doing here?” I asked.
He read my mind. “No… no… you need to talk. And I need to talk with you too. I need to know you’re safe.”
“That’s nice to hear. I thought you were going to break those rules of yours already.”
Tom smiled and changed the subject. He sat down on the chair. It was the same chair I had sat in when he had kissed my body, and brought me to a sweet climax. Inwardly I smiled at the memory.
“You needn’t worry about Amanda. When Brandon learns of his fate today…”
“Today?”
“Yes, today. He’ll blame you not her. Bonnie Davis is to contact Amanda today or tomorrow. Tell Amanda to accept her help, no matter what Brandon says, okay?”
“I will.”
I gazed upon his fine face. He was so easy to look at. So warm.
“And what of you, Ashley? How are you? I’m sure they’ll offer you alternative accommodation now. But they must give you some emergency accommodation in the meantime.”
“But what about tonight? If he hears about it before tonight, I can’t stay there, can I?”
“Of course not. Bonnie will arrange something I’m sure.”
“Are you? I’m not so sure.”
He was silent. His face clouded and his eyes glazed.
“If not, you can stay with me.”
“Your job, Tom! Think of your job.”
“I am. But I’m thinking of you as well. I want you to be safe. You’ll be safe with me.”
I thought about Cody. He saw my face.
“What?”
It was time to be honest.
“It’s Cody Barnes, Tom. I still think I have feelings for him… I’m sorry.”
The Prof’s eyes hardened for a moment, then softened again.
“It’s okay, Ashley. There’s no real way for us to be… partners… not with the Smiths college rulebook hanging over us.”
“I know.”
“But you still need to move on, Ashley. I know that Mr Barnes has moved on and so should you.”
I nodded. “I’m not sure I can.”
“Ashley…?”
“What?”
“I need you to move on…”
The Prof walked across to me. I saw warmth in his eyes. Before I had seen warmth, but overcome with lust and desire and it had been intoxicating. The man was still intoxicating, but now I saw a softness as he gazed at me too. He took a lock of my hair between his fingers. He played with it. He whispered. “Ashley…”
“It can’t happen between us. I know that and you know that…” he said.
I nodded. But already his hands were drawing me into a warm embrace. Our words and good intentions said one thing… but our bodies said another.
“It can’t happen. But maybe it has to. I need to look after you, Ashley. I have to know you are safe.”
I pressed myself against him, my cheek against his firm chest. It was so good to hear someone say those things – say them and mean them. I thought about the chair. I remembered the feeling of the man inside me. I gently broke away and moved towards the door. I kicked two boxes against the foot of the door and turned to face him, no doubt a devilish look upon my smiling face.
“You’re right, Tom. This has to happen. And I need it to happen now…”
He smiled as I took off my top and he began to undo his trousers.
Where love is concerned, when you risk becoming gossiped about, or you risk losing a job, or losing a good name, or risk breaking the rules… sometimes you just have to do it. Right then, I knew I needed Tom’s kind words. I needed his affection, and I needed his touch. It would have to be a secret, but it had to happen. From the look of Professor Ridgley’s body, he must have felt exactly the same. We melted together on that dusty floor, and under a rain of gentle kisses my naked body succumbed to him. His manhood gently pushed into me, massaging me within. The waves of pleasure were slow and gentle, until I was utterly absorbed by them. And then I exploded with pleasure, and I felt his cock shoot his joy within me once again. Spent, reassured, and treasured, I could have lain with him in that dust all day long. But there was no time for that. Now we were in a clandestine affair, my life had become exciting all over again. There was still a Cody shaped void in my heart but now I closed the door of that old archive room over that void for as long as I could.
Seventeen
After a night of passion Cody was tired and his body ached. He was empty and spent. It wasn’t a bad feeling particularly, but as he opened his bleary eyes he wondered if Joanna would really need another go? Surely her appetite wasn’t that demanding. He blinked and let the daylight in while his brain tried to recall just how many times she had pawed at him and teased him in the night, pulling him from his slumber, arousing him with her kisses, until the fire rose so high he just had to give in. Soft, sweet, relentless. The relationship hadn’t reached the emotional intensity he’d felt with Ashley. But how could it? Ashley was young, and he saw her beauty being abused and her potential being obliterated by that son of a bitch, Brandon. Maybe it was her vulnerability, her backstory and Cody’s ability to empathise which created such heightened feelings. Give it a little while, and he would have those feelings for Joanna, of course he would. Besides the desire and the urge to have her, there would soon be caring and emotion… He was the romantic type, he knew it. Aside from Brandon Lynes, Cody thought it was a common weakness in writers. They simply felt too much and thought too much.
He smiled as he recalled Joanna’s body over his, and he reached out for her, to pull her to him for a morning hug. His hand swept over the empty sheets. He rolled his head up. The bed was empty. She walked into his bedroom with a towel wrapped around her head and another wrapped around her body.
“Morning sleepyhead,” she said. She didn’t look tired in the least. In fact, she looked more awake than ever. “I’ve made coffee, and I’ve been out and bought some juice, some pastries and a newspaper. It’s all in the kitchen. And if you get up you might even have some before I eat it all.”
Cody’s face creased up. “What? What time is it?”
“Seven-fifteen. You should really get up now.”
“Don’t you want to lie down and have a hug for a minute? You know, spend some morning time together.”
“You, my boy, have got eyes bigger than your belly. You haven’t got enough energy left for rubbing noses let alone anything else.”
Joanna dropped her towel without any attempt at sexiness. She picked up her underwear from the chair at the end of his room and put on her panties. He watched her, fascinated, and as she put her bra on she caught him looking.
“Stop ogling, mister and make yourself useful.”
“What is this? You’ve turned militant on me!” said Cody with a smile.
“No. It’s morning and it’s a week day. I’ve got work to attend to and you’ve got essays to submit and new money-spinning books to write. So get busy.”
Cody sat up and shook his head. She was hot and great to look at, but this was still no way to wake up. Joanna caught him sulking.
“Cody, what’s up?”
“I just wanted a little pillow-talk time, that’s all.”
“Hey, you’ve got the best of me, sweetheart. And in two nights time I’ll be all yours again, but today I’ve got a new client to talk to and I need to start networking on your behalf. If you want a decent book deal and big advance, I’m the girl who is going to get it for you. It doesn’t get done by itself.”
Cody nodded. Business. Yes, she was a business woman. But the way she talked about him, it was like he was a diarised part of her life. He wondered if maybe her visits were about managing their business relationship as much as their sex life. He couldn’t say it, or they would have had an explosive row, but the thought remained all the same.
“Come on, honey. You know I’m a busy girl. I thought you understood that part of our arrangement.”
“Our arrangement?”
“Yes.” She pulled on her skirt and sat on the bed, and rolled over to him, seizing him, and pulling his head down to kiss her.
“Yes. I’m your agent and your lover. I work to make you as happy as I can on both fronts. So, how am I doing?” She said, kissing his cheeks.
“Fine, just fine. But I didn’t know this was an arrangement, Joanna…”
“It’s a word. You’re a wordsmith. Don’t get hung up on words, sweetie. Now, go and brush your teeth and get both of us a coffee. I have to dash in fifteen minutes. Okay? Now there’s a doll.”
Cody sat up and wearily pulled on his boxer shorts and went to the kitchen. Before he got there he caught a look at himself in the hallway mirror. “I’m in an arrangement,” he said to himself. Joanna turned on the noisy hair dryer.
No, whichever way he thought about it, Cody didn’t like how the morning was playing out. He didn’t ever want to be part of an arrangement, whatever the hell that was. Sex with Joanna was great – actually it was stupendous – but Ashley had visited and asked to give it another go. And he had said no! Not good. He made the coffee and handed one to Joanna. She was dressed, and looked almost ready to go.
“Ashley,” he said to her.
Joanna was busy putting in an earring. “What about her?”
“We are going to help her right?”
“I don’t see how I can, but…”
“We said we would.”
“Fine. I’ll see what I can do.”
Right. She would see what she could do. It was time for Cody to drink his coffee and shut up, or there were going to be problems. But whatever Joanna did or didn’t do, Cody was definitely going to help Ashley. She was his friend - his close friend- and he wasn’t going to let her down.
Eighteen
Brandon Lynes sat at home on Friday afternoon. He’d skipped classes again, so when the phone call came, he guessed it was the Elizabethan Studies bitch, Professor Nurding, wanting to spook him about his grades. As soon as Brandon wanted to produce an A grade essay, he would. He could do it at any time. But he wasn’t going to do it just because some frigid-arse woman who liked frilly collars and codpieces too much was giving him a hard time. He’d get there. It was just that Brandon had been busy visiting some of his fans lately. His adoring fans. Luke liked making some of these trips too, because the lucky guy got to eat th
e crumbs that fell from the table. Brandon always had the lion’s share and the first choice of the girls because he was the star and Luke, like it or not, was his lackey. He wouldn’t use such a word in front of his flat mate’s face, no. That wasn’t polite, was it? But Brandon liked to be a realist and saw the world as it was. He was the one the female readers wanted to see. Luke was there to keep the unlucky ones amused.
Last weekend had been fantastic, for instance. Brandon had hooked up with one of his fans from the Facebook page, a great stomping ground for potential dalliances. This one was called Rita, for fuck’s sake. He thought she was going to look like his grandmother, but when he clicked on her profile picture he saw she was a stunning brunette with wavy brown hair and she lived in Kent. Not far, not far at all. He told her he was thinking of doing some book promotions nearby that weekend, and did she want to meet up to discuss his writing? Maybe he could sign one of her books. Rita loved that idea. Could Rita bring a friend? Why, certainly. The more the merrier. Rita suggested a coffee shop, and Brandon suggested a bar. Then with the power of his burgeoning wallet, and the magic word, champagne, he was able to get three women merrily excited and in awe of his good looks. The rest, they say, was history. Brandon had fun with Rita that night and then dragged her best friend into the mix. Luke got the other girl. At least he got one, thought Brandon. It turned out that Rita was married, but married girls were still girls after all, and what did a couple of hours in bed with a star mean for her marriage? Nothing. It meant she had a sexy memory to treasure. Who needed to commit any further adultery after that? Brandon decided he’d probably done the husband a favour, long term.
Vengeful Heart: Fighting Heart Erotic Bad Boy Romance Series Book 3 Page 11