"Are you following me?"
I laughed softly as I heard his voice.
"Maybe," I replied with a smile and turned around.
James Wyatt Cole stood before me in a blue and black curly sweater. Over it he wore his worn leather jacket. He drove through the tousled hair and looked at me friendly from his forest-green eyes.
"What are you doing here?" I asked and gave him a smile.
He took a step and I joined him.
"Sorry, didn't know you had booked the beach for yourself today," he teased while we walked next to each other.
"Hey!", I returned with a grin and slightly pushed my elbow into his side.
Seconds later I was startled by my gesture. It was so familiar.
"Excuse me," I murmured and let my eyes drift to the water.
"There's bound to be a bruise," remarked James in a deep yet velvety soft voice. "I'll get you up," he paused, and out of the corner of my eye I could see him looking at my face. "...let's say two hundred and fifty thousand dollars."
I laughed.
I knew James didn't care about money.
"I'm afraid you'd have to send me a picture to prove it," I said jauntily back and looked at him.
What was I doing? Why was I flirting with him?
James' eyes were buried in mine.
We stood there, our eyes fixed on each other's faces.
"I will," he said after an endless silence that was still far too short.
I gasped for breath and walked on.
I suddenly felt hot and cold. Both at the same time.
"And otherwise," I began hesitantly. "What are you up to?"
He shrugged his shoulders as we walked along the beach.
"The usual, you know... a few muggings here, a few car thefts there...
Again he combed through his hair, dimples were drawing his cheeks.
"A few arms deals. You can get away with it."
I rolled my eyes and laughed.
"I'm glad you're making ends meet," I said, looking out to sea again.
"Have you -" I paused.
Would I really ask that?
I took a deep breath and licked my lips. Then I started again: "Do you have a new girlfriend?"
I asked this as casually as possible.
James raised his eyebrows.
"You mean Mackenzie?"
I moaned inwardly. Of course, he knew I was alluding to her.
It had been silly to ask him.
Besides, it was none of my business.
I put my hands in my pockets.
"I stammered, I thought of no one in particular. I was just asking... "I mean, it could have been... we haven't talked in a while... at least not really."
Oh, God, Blaire. Just shut up!
I underestimated the speed of a rolling wave, which got my feet wet.
"We didn't," James replied with an undertone in his voice that I didn't know how to interpret.
I cleared my throat.
"Yes, then..." I croaked.
James suddenly stopped.
I turned around.
"Don't bother," he said with a smile on his lips, but it did not reach his eyes. "It's okay."
He nodded at me. "I'll see you around."
With these words, he turned and walked back the way we came.
My heart could not get out of the stumble, while my gaze lingered on his broad back.
I thought of how he had tried to contact me shortly after I had moved.
He had remained persistent despite the distance, had called, tried to find ways to see each other further.
At some point I hadn't answered the phone anymore, had let myself be denied when I knew it was him.
For me it had been easier that way.
But now that I saw James Wyatt Cole leave, I felt the weight of that wrong decision heavy as lead on my chest.
I wanted to shout out after him. But the words I didn't even know what they were got stuck in my throat.
Silently like a fish I watched him and suddenly I felt what I had lost.
***
When I arrived back at English Bay Beach, Benji was still in the middle of rowing training. I wrote him a text message and hid the car keys in the changing room, where only Thorn's students had access.
I left.
Thanks for your car.
Key's in the cab,
under the loose beam.
B.
Then I continued to scroll through my phone book. At the letter L I paused.
Logan.
Professor Edwards was on file with his first name.
Just Logan.
You got a minute?
I'm at English Bay.
Ella
For a moment I thought about whether I should actually use this name. After all, it was a concession.
However, the mere fact that I wrote to him was proof enough of my interest.
He had baited me. And right now, at that moment, I longed for nothing more than adventure.
A thrill that would make me forget the pain in my chest.
My cell phone vibrated in my hand before I could put it back in my pocket.
I had planned to walk a few blocks and then order a taxi back home.
But when I read the message from Professor Edwards, my plans changed.
Be there in ten minutes.
Are you dressed warm?
I was cutting.
I'm all right.
About eight minutes later, a silver SUV pulls up.
Professor Edwards got out, he had a blanket under his arm.
"Hello," I greeted him and wondered what was in the bag he had around his shoulders.
His piercing blue eyes locked on me like a target.
He was wearing a black down vest, perfectly fitting jeans and a smile that rivalled a Hollywood star.
"Fancy a row?" he asked.
"Uh," I squinted at the water. Benji was nowhere to be seen.
I thought for a moment.
"Why not?" I finally said.
"I'm glad you called," Edwards said, when we were already on the water.
He moved the boat amazingly fast. It was unmistakable that he was well trained.
"Shouldn't we save you the trouble?" I replied. "Your finger was in my mouth."
He smiled.
"Did you like it?"
We looked at each other as he rowed, giving even deep breaths.
"It was -" I paused, my eyes still fixed on him. "Interesting."
The corners of his mouth twitched.
But he didn't respond to it, he just kept on rowing in silence.
Each of his powerful movements brought him a little closer to me.
I felt him circulate the water, reminding me of how his thumb had brushed across my lower lip and put pressure on it.
A warm tingling sensation spread through my abdomen.
His loud exhalation, together with the play of his arm muscles and the intense look of his blue eyes, excited me.
At some point he stopped rowing. We were floating on the water. The waves around us had become surprisingly quiet.
"Ella," Logan said.
On closer inspection, it was more like a growl.
His eyes urged me to come to him. And I did.
"Sit down," he instructed me, pointing to his lap.
As soon as I sat on him with my legs apart, he spread the blanket over my shoulders.
I had refused it before because I was not cold.
But just now I liked it that he wrapped me up in it as if I was a precious good that he had to take care of.
He pushed me closer to himself by putting his hands under my bottom.
I gasped as I felt his erection at my center.
"What do you want, little Ella?" he buzzed in my ear.
I began to move my hips up and down in short movements. I rubbed myself against him; my thighs wrapped tightly around his torso.
Our mouths were only a few millimetres apart. I wanted to look away.
Why I di
d not know exactly.
Out of shame, because I was making out with my literature professor?
Or maybe it was because he was a real man and I had no idea what he wanted.
Or what he needed.
Logan put his finger under my chin.
"Look at me, pretty mermaid."
I flinched inside of me when he said that name.
Only my father had ever called me that before.
And James.
How did he know? Was it a coincidence?
"What do you want?" he asked again in a rough voice, while he stopped my hip movements with a firm grip.
I lost myself in his piercing gaze and swallowed.
"Kiss me," I whispered.
Logan did not hesitate for a second to press his well-formed mouth against mine.
His tongue gained access to mine; it caressed me demandingly, passionately and with such desire that I almost melted.
At some point I could no longer suppress a moan.
I rode him ever more wildly, ever more impetuously over our trousers.
"That's it," he growled at my mouth. "Moan for me, sweet Ella."
His tail twitched erratically when I reached him.
I had never had such an intense orgasm.
Breathlessly, I lowered my head to his shoulder, hands around his neck.
"That was..." I looked for the right words.
"Interesting?" Logan asked. I heard the laughter in his voice.
"Indeed," I admitted.
"Come to my house next weekend.
"And then what?
I leaned back and looked at him.
I expected him to smile, but the look on his face was serious.
"I'll make sure you never forget me."
He kissed me again.
A gush of new moisture spread between my legs, while he pressed his hardness, which had still not subsided, against me again.
"Okay," I gasped as he left me for a split second.
"Where do I go?"
"To my bed," he muttered, biting my lip.
"Will I type like this on Google Maps," I replied with a giggle.
"I'll write you a note."
He squeezed me tight once more.
At that moment my mobile rang.
Shit!
"Sorry," I said quietly and reached for my handbag, which I had left behind him.
The jerky movement caused the boat to shake.
Professor Edwards grabbed the blanket just in time or it would have fallen into the sea.
"Yes?" I said to myself, the mobile on my ear.
I turned away from Logan because the look in his eyes was driving me crazy.
"Benji was just here. He thought you were at home,' I heard Lu say on the other end of the line. "He said he had something important to tell you."
"O," he took it away from me. "Yes, I... Something else has come up Thanks for letting me know.
I spotted two gulls in the sky, circling under the low hanging clouds.
"No worries," my little sister assured me.
"See you later."
I hung up and turned back to Edwards.
"Got to go?" he asked and handed me my bag.
"Wouldn't be wrong."
I had to digest this for a while. I also needed a shower and some fresh panties.
"All right," replied the professor.
Carefully I climbed back onto the bench opposite him.
As he rowed, I hardly dared look him in the eye.
His trousers were still suspiciously bulging. The size left no doubt that he was extremely well endowed.
"Nice to meet you, Blaire Ella Spencer," he said when we got back to the beach. "Shall I take you somewhere else?"
"I'd rather not," I repulsed him. "It's enough if someone here has seen me with you... with you."
I smiled tentatively.
"I don't know what there was to see," Edwards replied, straightening his trousers.
I laughed.
"Yeah... me neither," I returned with a giggle.
We said goodbye with a raised hand.
I walked about two kilometres. Then I called a taxi.
I was already thinking how far I would go if I visited him.
It would certainly not be the stupidest decision to let a man who was experienced and knew what he was doing deflower me.
But: how and when should I bring it up with the notes?
Lost in thought, I rummaged in my pocket for the key to the front door.
It had to be here somewhere!
I was sure that I had put it in my pocket.
But even after I dumped the entire contents of my Birkin Bag, I couldn't find it anywhere.
Reluctantly I pressed the bell.
The buzzer sounded and I pushed the door open.
Thank God it was Lu and not Mom who had opened the door for me.
"Where have you been?" she asked curiously.
She had a glass of orange juice in her hand and was wearing her oversized stopper socks as usual in the house.
"I'll tell you later," I said. "I have to take a shower first!"
"Like this?
Her question sounded as if she knew exactly why.
***
"You were with me?" I asked Benji after I had showered and put on fresh clothes.
I held the smartphone to my ear with one hand and combed my hair with the other.
"What is Edwards doing?"
A warm shiver went through me as he spoke his name.
"You can forget the slave number," I said, placing the brush on my dressing table.
"I had thought of something so beautiful for you," Benji replied in a sinister voice.
"Well, that'll have to wait. Maybe I'll challenge you next semester." I buttoned my blouse. "Or I might whisper something particularly mean to one of the others for you."
"Oh, come on," Benji returned confidently. "Like you wouldn't enjoy turning the horny professor's head. I know you, little B. Don't get any illusions."
I rolled my eyes, sighing.
"You too," I returned and with one hand I folded a top that was in my chair.
"When will you get the tape?" I asked as I went to my closet.
"What do I get in return?"
"Your revenge - for whatever - on your archenemy?"
"Ours," he corrected me.
"Correct."
I put the top on the matching pile and closed the sliding door.
"Very well," I said. "How about an invitation to the Filou?"
The picaroon was part of the Vice Country Club. It was one of the best restaurants in the country.
A 12-course dinner cost about as much as a two-week vacation for other people.
"Is this a date?"
Oddly enough, I couldn't detect any irony in his voice.
"No," I said, guns blazing. "Of course not."
"Hmm," he muttered.
I frowned.
What were you doing?
Was he serious?
"What if I wanted one?"
I took a deep breath. Then I said, "Then I'd tell you hell would freeze over before I'd go on a date with Benjamin King."
"Well, that settles that," he replied succinctly. "I'll see you tomorrow."
He hung up before I could say anything back.
I dropped down on my bed and stared at the display still lit up.
What had just happened there?
Had Benji actually asked me out on a date?
I shook my head.
Tomorrow ... no ... maybe this weekend, if we were at a party, I'd ask him about it again.
But then I remembered that I already had a date this weekend.
But it wouldn't take more than a couple of hours with Edwards - Logan. Afterwards I could go to a party.
Or before that ... depending.
College days offered the privilege of being able to party till the cows come home every weekend.
If you were one of us, the parties might have been a little more
upscale, but not a bit more decent. On the contrary!
There was alcohol and drugs like everywhere else - only a bit more of everything and more exclusive.
We P-Fiends stayed away from the hard stuff. We were smart enough not to fill our brains with chemicals that nobody could say what exactly they contained.
All except Madox.
He would stop at nothing.
"Lu?," I shouted into the hall.
"What is it?" echoed her lovely voice up from downstairs.
"Have you seen my key to the front door?"
Silence.
"No... it's not down here."
"Hmm... okay.
That was weird.
"Have you forgotten it somewhere?" cried my sister.
I thought about it.
Could he have fallen into the boat?
Had I lost him on the beach?
"I'm not sure," I said. "I'll have another look."
After searching all the places where the key might have been, without success, I surrendered.
I decided to wait a little longer before telling Bill and Mom.
They would change all the locks, just to be sure. I didn't want to be responsible for this effort until I was really sure I had lost it.
I hadn't checked the boat yet.
***
On Monday at school, Professor Edwards deliberately ignored me.
I had expected nothing less.
Still, I couldn't keep myself from giving him furtive looks.
There were moments when I thought he noticed them.
But maybe I was just imagining it.
Sky had told Rash, Madox and me about the latest state of the fire investigation on the way from the parking lot to college.
Benji was late today for some reason - or skipping class. But he never played hooky.
The police and fire department were now certain that the fire at the Bells' house was not an accident.
Someone had deliberately set the house on fire. But so far, there's been no trace of the perpetrator.
"Next week, Thursday, I expect at least fifteen pages from you," Edwards concluded his seminar.
Just a few seconds later, the doorbell rang.
The students flocked out of the lecture hall.
"What is - are you coming?"
Sky looked at me questioningly as I stayed behind.
Vicious Bet: Don't fall in love! (Sinners and Saints Book 1) Page 11