by Rhian Cahill
“Yeah, there’s a storm coming though.” He pointed to the right. “Probably another couple of hours away but it’ll definitely hit tonight.”
They walked in silence for several minutes, the quiet and Toby’s hand wrapped around hers comforting. The cool sand shifted beneath her feet, wiggled between her toes, and she glanced back a couple of times to see the tracks they left behind.
“Ever thought about having kids before?”
Madison’s hand jerked in Toby’s, her gaze swinging to his face. He remained facing forward but his fingers tightened around hers in a gentle squeeze. “No.”
“But you’re thinking about it now.” He gave her another reassuring squeeze. “Me too.”
“Do you want kids?” She asked one of the questions weighing on her mind since leaving his sister.
“Definitely. And I want them to have what I had growing up.”
“A big family.” She understood why. Knew if she’d been able to choose, she would have chosen a family like Toby’s. “What you had, still have, is such an alien concept to what I know.”
“You didn’t grow up with friends from large families?”
“I didn’t grow up with friends. Unless you count librarians and library staff or my parents’ peers.”
“And that’s a completely alien concept to me. I can’t even begin to imagine what your life was like. It sounds lonely.”
“I guess it was in a way.” She shrugged. “But it was all I knew for years I didn’t really notice the loneliness so much as the differences between myself and others I’d come in contact with.”
“I don’t mean to sound rude or mean but your parents sound very cold.”
“They are, and you’re not. Being rude.” She took a deep breath. Let it out through her mouth slowly. “I wasn’t planned, and I’m pretty sure they never wanted a child. They certainly didn’t know what to do with one. To them, I was just another student, one they had to teach twenty-four-seven.”
“There’s more to life than textbook learning.” Toby stopped walking and spun her into his arms. “I want to teach you all the things you missed out on. I want to show you everything you’ve missed.”
“Why?” Did he feel sorry for her? He shouldn’t. While she’d missed a lot, she hadn’t gone without, and, even if she sometimes felt like she was on the outside of life looking in, she was content. Most of the time.
“Because watching your face light up with pleasure, watching the wonder in your eyes when something feels good or makes you happy, is the greatest thing I’ve ever witnessed, and I want to see it every day.”
“Oh.”
“So here’s the plan. Every day, I’ll have a new experience for you. It could be an activity or a food or a drink or…I don’t know. Whatever I can come up with.”
“Something new every day?” He wanted to give her what she tried to give her students, except on a grander scale.
“Yep. And if I can fit in more than one each day, I will.”
Madison smiled. “I’d like that.”
“Good. Ready for your next new experience?”
“Sure.”
“Considering you’ve never walked along the beach at sunset, I’m going to assume you haven’t been kissed senseless on the beach at sunset either.” He grinned as he lowered his head to hers.
The kiss started off sweet. Light brushes of his lips on hers. Then he pressed a little harder, swept his tongue along her bottom lip before urging her to open by probing at the seam between. As he took them deeper, he held her close, his arms a warm band around her waist.
Just as Madison’s need for more edged towards urgency, Toby took them deeper still. One hand moved to her hip, the other slid up her back to tangle in her hair at the back of her neck. With a sharp tug on her hair, he tilted her head the way he wanted and drove his tongue hard and faster into her mouth. Their tongues stroked in a wet slide of heat and she dug her fingers into his shoulders as desire rushed to her sex.
Gasping for breath, he pulled back, separated their mouths and placed his brow on hers. “Jesus. You drive me mad.”
“That’s a two-way street.”
“The plan was to walk on the beach, kiss for a bit before getting some dinner and then taking you home, with a kiss goodnight on your doorstep. That was the plan.”
“And that’s changed?”
“I can’t touch you without wanting to get inside you.”
“I don’t see the problem.” And she didn’t. After that kiss, he could strip her naked now and take her on the beach for anyone to see and she wouldn’t care. Okay, she’d care, but not until they were both lying in a sweaty heap of satisfied flesh. But if they couldn’t do that here… “Take me home now.”
His eyes searched hers.
“Toby, take me home and touch me.”
He made a strangled sound in the back of his throat, and in a move too quick to see, he let her go and dropped his shoulder to her middle, lifting her into the air.
“Next new experience. Being carried in a classic fireman’s hold by your boyfriend.”
Boyfriend? Madison laughed. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”
Toby slapped her ass.
“Hey!”
“Lies.” He rubbed his hand over the stinging area of her backside. “You most definitely do have a boyfriend.”
I have a boyfriend. Laughter bubbled up her throat as she sung those four words over and over in head. I have a boyfriend.
Tobias Moreland was her boyfriend.
Chapter Sixteen
Toby smiled as he spotted Mad walking towards him. “Hey.”
She startled, her stride jerking abruptly, before she moved past him with a frosty, “Mr. Moreland.”
What the fuck? He glanced over his shoulder at her. That was the fifth time this week she’d given him the freeze-you-to-the-floor brushoff. Turning back to Jim Landry, Toby said, “At training this afternoon, let me know if you need extra work.”
“Okay. Thanks, Sir.”
Spinning around, Toby headed along the hall after Mad, accelerating his pace to catch up with her before she disappeared on him. They were going to have a little chat. He understood she wasn’t the best at adult interactions and certain social situations, but he’d promised to give her a new experience every day—and today he was adding acceptable behavior towards your secret boyfriend in the school hallways.
He caught up just as she shut her staffroom door. Palming the door, he pushed it open before the lock clicked into place.
“What—?” Mad turned around. “Oh. It’s you.”
Stepping into the room, Toby closed the door behind him and leaned against it. With a quick scan, he saw they were the only ones in the English/History staffroom. Bringing his gaze back to Mad, he took her in. From the fugly black grandma shoes on her feet, the shapeless calf-length dark gray skirt and the equally formless cream blouse buttoned to her chin, to the scraped-back blonde curls ruthlessly pulled flat to her skull and confined in a bun on the back of her head.
His cock stirred.
God, she got him hot no matter what she wore. It probably didn’t help that he knew what lay beneath that dowdy outfit. Or that he knew what she was willing to let him do to it. His cock was no longer stirred. It was well and truly shaken and standing at attention.
“You drive me absolutely mad, woman.”
He lunged for her. Grabbed her wrist and dragged her against him. Ducking his head, he slanted his mouth over hers and thrust his tongue inside. He swallowed her squeak of protest whole.
Sweetness burst in his mouth. Her breath smelled sweet too. He couldn’t place the flavor or scent and dove deeper for a better taste to try to figure it out. Slipping a hand to her nape, Toby tilted her head to the left, moved his to the right and fused their mouths completely.
Her fingers curled against his chest, her nails grazing one nipple and sending a shudder through him. Fuck. If he didn’t slow down he’d have her on the floor, out of her clothes, with his cock ra
mmed inside her in less than two minutes.
Easing back, he slowed the kiss and brought them down gently. Their lips clung as he withdrew completely and panted for breath. “Mad.”
“I…” Her eyelids fluttered up and her unfocused gaze searched his. “Toby.” She sighed his name.
He loved that he scrambled her brain enough to stop it. “Hey.”
She smiled, her lips wet and trembling. “Hi.”
“Now that’s the tone I want to hear when I say ‘hey’ in the hall. Not that cold ‘Mr. Moreland’ shit you’ve been giving me.”
“I…we can’t let anyone find out…” She licked her lips and lowered her eyes. “I’m sorry. I don’t know how to talk to you without it being obvious that we’re seeing each other. We’ve already established I’m out of my element here.”
“We have. And because I know you’re struggling a little with this, I’m going to give you a hand. Tonight, we’re going to practice you saying hi to me without sounding like you want to jump my bones.” He grinned.
“Practice?”
“Yeah, I’m going to do all sorts of naughty things to you and you’re going to practice talking in a normal voice while I do it.”
Mad’s mouth opened and closed. She shook her head. “That will never work.”
“You’re right. But it’ll be fun trying.” He waggled his eyebrows and scored a surprised laugh out of her. “We’ll save the naughty things for after you perfect a neutral-toned ‘Hi, Mr. Moreland’ then.”
The doorknob rattled at his back. Mad gasped and jumped back a good four feet. Toby simply turned around and opened the door as though he were on his way out.
“Oh.” Melanie Hobbs put a hand to her chest. “You scared me.”
“Hey. Sorry.” He smiled and turned to look at Mad over his shoulder. “Thanks for your help.”
Toby hustled out of there before Melanie could ask him any probing questions but he didn’t miss the speculative look she swung between him and Madison. He kind of felt sorry for leaving Mad to deal with their nosey colleague, but it would be easier for her to deny their involvement if they weren’t both in the same room.
He’d agreed to keep their relationship quiet but he wouldn’t lie about it if asked, and he didn’t think they’d be able to keep it a secret for long. Even if Mad mastered the art of a casual hello, the way Toby stripped her with his eyes whenever he laid them on her was a dead giveaway.
***
Madison aimed a strained smile at Melanie before darting to her desk and burying herself in grading papers. Since starting at Huntington College, she hadn’t had more than a handful of conversations with the other woman but she didn’t believe for one second that Melanie would let Toby’s presence in their staffroom go without comment.
“So…what did Toby want?”
“Hmm…” Madison pretended to be distracted by what was on her desk. In truth, she couldn’t focus on a single word. Glancing up, she tried to pull off a look of confusion and probably only succeed in looking constipated. “Sorry?”
“Toby Moreland. What did he want your help with?”
“Oh, a student.” Best to stick to simple answers, less likely to get caught in a lie that way. Not that she was an expert on subterfuge.
“Which student?” Melanie pressed.
“Ah, I forget the boy’s name, but it was about an English essay.” Sounded plausible.
“Who’s the boy’s teacher? Shouldn’t Toby have gone to the source for help?” Melanie continued to pepper her with question.
Madison bit her tongue to stop the truth from blurting out. Shaking her head, she looked down at the essay on her desk. It was one from a year-twelve student and it was intended to teach them how to apply for university. The perfect answer to Melanie’s question formed in her head.
“It’s not a class essay but one for a university application one of his player’s needs to complete,” Madison explained with a triumphant smile.
“Oh.”
Madison could hear the disappointment in Melanie’s voice. She had no idea what the other woman would be despondent about and honestly she didn’t care, as long as the inquisition stopped.
Keeping their relationship a secret was going to be harder than Madison originally thought. She’d spent the last five days avoiding any possible chance of running into Toby because she couldn’t guarantee she wouldn’t smile at him in a way that would broadcast to all that they were having blazing-hot sex.
She couldn’t stop the wanton thoughts from flashing through her brain whenever she brought Toby to mind; seeing him turned those imaginings down-right salacious. Add in her rapid pulse, shortened breath and dilated pupils, and anyone within fifty feet would know she was having sex with Toby in her head.
Madison wasn’t sure whether to be thrilled that she appeared to be a normal red-blooded woman with a healthy sexual appetite, or appalled. She’d heard the term late-bloomer when referring to teenagers but what about a twenty-six-year-old woman?
“Hey, are you going to the game this afternoon?”
Madison’s head snapped up. She’d totally forgotten Melanie was in the room with her. “The game?”
“Yeah, there’s a footy game on the back field beginning fifth period. Some interschool thing. I don’t know all the details but our guys are leading the comp, so Ted said if we wanted, we could take our classes out to watch and cheer our team on.”
“Oh, well, I’ve got year-seven history last period…” Madison scrambled to remember what she’d planned for today’s lesson. Research discussion. That could be put off until next week. “It probably wouldn’t hurt for them to miss a lesson in the curriculum. There’s plenty of time to make up the component.”
“I’ve got year-eight English, and believe me, we could all do with sitting outside for one lesson.” Melanie smiled as she gathered her things. “I’ll see you there.”
“Yes. See you then.”
Madison let her forced smile drop when the door closed behind Melanie. If she were going to take her class to the game, she’d be seeing Toby again. She wasn’t sure she could survive two sightings in one school day. And after that kiss…
Too late to back out now. If she didn’t show up, Melanie would ask more questions and Madison had barely made it through this round. She’d have to try to seat her class as far away from Toby as possible.
Three hours later, Madison came to the conclusion that her luck had run out. Not only was the only space available for her class right behind were Toby stood at the bench for the school’s team but Melanie and her class of year-eight students occupied the section next to her.
Madison had never watched a football game in her life. She had no clue what was going on and took her cues from her students and those around her, so she at least appeared to be encouraging and congratulating the team at the appropriate times.
At one point she even asked Mathew McKinney why the referee had blown the whistle, giving the other team the ball. After an extended, in-depth explanation, she was still none the wiser. And she considered herself a quick learner. Unfortunately, the rules of this game seemed beyond her.
The only thing she was sure of was the score. Huntington led 24-12.
When her eyes weren’t glued to the game, they were glued to Toby. She’s never seen him so serious. He called out to the players on the field and conferred with the ones on the bench, as well as the other teachers who appeared to hold positions within the team.
She recognized a few of the players too. They were all top students—and that thought brought her up short. She’d believed athletes were not the best students and therefore played sport. Madison had no idea how she’d drawn that conclusion when she couldn’t recall ever learning the fact.
Had she done Toby a bigger injustice than she’d first thought?
Had she held some misconceived prejudice against him? Against all sportsmen?
The very thought shocked her. She’d considered herself a nonjudgmental person, each to their own
and all that, but obviously she wasn’t.
A whistle blew and the crowd around her erupted in cheers and applause. Glancing at the scoreboard, she noted the score remained 24-12 and Huntington retained their top position on the division ladder. Two minutes later, the end-of-school bell rang and she dismissed her class from the field instead of taking them back to the classroom.
Slipping her handbag strap over her shoulder, she turned and came face-to-face with Toby.
“Hey.” He smiled down at her.
“H-hi.” Okay, not quite a normal greeting but it was better than throwing her arms around his neck and crushing her mouth to his like she wanted to.
“How’d you like the game?”
“Um…it was good. We won.”
Toby laughed. “And you have no clue what went on, do you?”
Smiling sheepishly, Madison said, “No. Even a detailed explanation from Mathew McKinney didn’t help me.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll teach you the rules sometime.”
“Thanks. I’d like that. It was fun to watch and cheer, even if I didn’t know what I was cheering for.”
“Good. I’m glad. I promised the boys pizza if they won so I’ll be here for a few more hours. Alright if I swing by your place later or do you want me to give you a key to mine?” Toby asked.
Madison was stunned by the offer of a key. She might not understand the full workings of a normal relationship but she was fairly certain that offering someone a key to your house was a significant step. “Ah…”
“And I see that I’ve thrown you completely with that question.”
“No. It’s just…a key? That’s a big thing, right?”
He smiled. “Yes, it is.”
“Right. Okay. Well, either option is suitable.”
“Here.” Toby grabbed her hand and pressed something into her palm before closing her fingers over it. “Do whatever you want with that. I’ll text you when I leave here and we can decide what to do then.”
“Okay.”
“I really want to kiss you, Mad, but I won’t. Just know that I want to.” With a wink, he turned and walked away.