He shifted in his seat to look me directly in the eyes. “I am not ending our relationship, and even if I wanted to, which I most certainly do not, I could not sever our bond. I am in no way suggesting a parting of ways, so please put that out of your mind.”
My eyebrows went up. “I didn’t know you read minds.”
“I do not, but I know you, and I know how strong the bond has grown.” His voice lost its stiff tone and gained a soothing note. “Sofia, cara mia, I should have chosen my words more carefully as to not cause panic, because terminating our partnership is not my intention. There is, however, something of great importance we need to discuss.”
The lengthy pause did nothing to calm my nerves, but I’d learned to be patient when it came to information Simon was convinced would upset me.
Finally, he spoke. “We are going to have to go before the university’s administration and tell them of our relationship.”
“What? Why?”
“I know precisely why Miss Kinley is behaving the way she has been today,” he said heavily. “Even though she does not sit with you, I can hear her conversations as well. As I told you before, vampires are capable of hearing every sound for a couple of miles, all of it, at once, and I could hear her conversation before your second class with another young lady. It seems that Mister Malver has been in contact with her these past few days, and last night, he let the nature of our relationship slip. Well, a human’s perspective of a slip anyway.”
“Oh, yeah. Of course, he slipped. Fottuto figlio di puttana!” That fucking son of a bitch.
“Indeed. However, Miss Kinley is not as witless as I am sure many imagine her. While she indeed believes what she has been told, she is smart enough to not go to the administration with her suspicions until she has concrete proof, lest she be penalized for bringing false accusations against an instructor.”
My stomach twisted into knots while I waited for him to put the car into gear, and I knew he could feel my worry as he revved the engine to life and guided the coupe to our usual lunch destination. “It is unquestionably implied that under no circumstances should any instructor become involved with any student, but as I have said, due to its poor wording, it can be inferred in a different manner.”
“Are you sure things will be okay?”
“Well, I cannot lie to you and say everything will be rainbows and kittens as it were,” he said seriously, “but I can say that in all of my centuries on this Earth, I have learned there is very little money cannot buy, and sadly, it will almost always apply to establishments such as those of educational and medical institutions. Equipment, supplies, labs, technology… It all comes with a growing cost, and as such, therefore does the value of men.
“I can assure you this will not be taken well by the administration, and it will inevitably leak its way down to the staff and the students. There will no doubt be looks and comments, but you need not fret over my status of employment or yours as a student.”
“You can only keep them from expelling me instantly,” I pointed out. “That doesn’t mean other instructors won’t try to fail me out. You can’t do anything to stop that.”
“No. No, I cannot.” His breath rushed out heavily, and his voice was thick with contrition when he continued to speak. “If you wish, I can submit my resignation and request this be kept private, on threat of a hefty lawsuit.”
“No.” My answer was immediate. “If I can deal with Mads for over a decade, I can deal with anything else anyone throws at me. Plus, if I let you do that, it would be like she and Cole won.” I shook my head resolutely. “No, I won’t allow that.”
“Cara—”
“Simon, one of my worries from the moment I met you was that you’re an instructor,” I admitted freely. “I made the choice to get involved with you anyway, and I’m not changing my mind.”
Less than two hours later, I ever-so-briefly wished I had, because as embarrassing as it was to be called out of class when you were in middle or high school, it did not compare to the stifling awkwardness of being pulled out of a college lecture.
I felt more than forty pairs of eyes boring into me from every angle, but there was one in particular I sensed more strongly than the others and, forgetting myself, I looked up. My eyes locked with hers, and I could tell in an instant she knew why I was being yanked out of the class and that she was both livid and mystified as to how this happened without her involvement. But all thoughts of Madison were shoved to the back of my mind when I silently began to follow the gopher who’d been sent to fetch me.
There was no alerting me to why I was being pulled out of class or who wanted to see me, not that it mattered, as I already knew. There was just deafening silence while I trudged through the painted cinderblock halls, the light and happy yellow mocking me the entire way.
But to my surprise, it seemed Simon was right. The meeting had gone nothing like I had expected it to, and when all was said and done, money took precedence over their badly constructed guidelines of student-teacher relationships. No one wanted to fire the man, or expel the lover of said man, who had funded what was practically an entire new lab, with state-of-the-art equipment, for the nursing students only seven months before. That, Simon told me as we walked out of the meeting room, did not mean they would renew his contract for the semester after next.
So that was it. Simon’s position was secure for the remainder of the year, and the next semester, at least, and I narrowly escaped expulsion. Simon himself, however, wasn’t okay.
I had felt the rising tension from him during our lunch, and after his reassurances that he had no intentions of leaving me, I had dismissed it as nerves about the coming meeting. During the meeting itself, I had found myself rather shocked at the implacable calm that he kept over his features when I could feel that he was just a stone’s throw from releasing a great turmoil of rage.
As soon as we left the President’s office, however, I could see his control visibly slip. “Come with me,” he growled.
I didn’t question him.
He was fierce as he stalked the corridors, his fingers laced through my own. I suspected that if he could have picked me up and run with me, he would have. Instead, I hurried to keep pace with his long stride, but it was no time at all before we were at his car and he was hurrying me into the leather embrace of the seat.
His eyes flickered over to me as he turned the key in the ignition, but he didn’t say a word. His face was a mask of granite and steel, but I didn’t need the reassuring hand he lay briefly on my leg to convince me that his rage was not directed at me.
Indeed, once he pulled the car onto the road and began to leave the speed limit behind, I much preferred it when he returned his hand to its place on the wheel. I was puzzled. The meeting had gone well, but I could still feel his fury rolling off of him like tidal waves crashing onto a delicate beach. The raging emotions within him had us at his home in a matter of minutes. We were halfway up the stairs when I heard the door slam so hard that I was almost completely certain that it had been jarred off of its hinges, and when he dropped me unceremoniously on the bed, I swallowed thickly and shut my eyes.
Although we had been intimate, we had still not had penetrative sex. If Simon tried to mate with me now in his extreme rage, despite the lack of a barrier, our first time mating would be difficult, if not painful. And of course, my mate would feel guilty and shameful afterwards, which would inevitably put us back at square one.
I expected him to pounce on me on the bed, but to my confusion and surprise, I could only hear him snarling a few feet away. I opened my eyes to see him pacing back and forth like a caged lion, his eyes wild and his fingers curved into claws, and I speculated that he just might be considering storming back to the school and ripping apart everyone in his path with his bare hands.
"Simon," I called out softly, sighing when it seemed that he did not hear me. I had just climbed off the bed when he whirled around and growled loudly me. I jumped back in surprise at the sound and
crawled back onto the covers as he advanced on me, but as soon as I was sitting back on the bed, he backed away and resumed his pacing.
I huffed mentally. There was no way in hell that I was going to stay on this bed all day and all night. Not unless he was planning on joining me, which, at the present, was obviously not going to happen. Whether he liked it or not right now, I still had basic needs; I would have to eat and go to the bathroom, and I did not care how pissed off he was or how badly he wanted to keep me perfectly safe and sound from everything.
"Simon?" He did not respond. "Simon, can you understand me?" He gave me an angry glare, and I felt myself smirking. Obviously, he could hear me and he did not like what I was insinuating. "Hey, you're the one that chose to ignore me," I said glibly, "so don't you dare get pissed with me for questioning you." When he looked chagrined for a moment and then continued his glaring and snarling over the situation, I sighed. "Simon, I cannot stay on this bed all night. I have to eat, take care of my human… needs. Actually, I am rather hungry. I really only picked at lunch." I ignored his roar of rage at reminding him of why I’d been upset at lunchtime. "Simon, I'm going to get off the bed now—" He spun and glared at me, snarling in protest, and I rolled my eyes. "I have to pee, and I sure as hell am not going to let you stop me from emptying my damn bladder!"
Despite his loud growl of displeasure, he did not make a move when I slowly slid off the bed, but he eyed me as though waiting to scoop me up and protect me—from what I was not quite sure, though.
I moved more cautiously than I normally would toward the bathroom door and was surprised, and rather horrified, when my mate attempted to follow. I turned in the doorway and placed a hand on his chest. "Simon," I said firmly, but gently, "I know that right now you are acting solely on your nature. You know that I've been disturbed and potentially hurt by what's happened and your only instinct is to keep me safe from everyone and everything." I wrapped my arms around him tightly and nuzzled my head under his chin, smiling when the snarling changed to purring. "I cannot imagine what you are going through right now. I know that these feelings are confusing and upsetting to you. Knowing you the way that I do, when all of this is over, you are probably going to feel ashamed, but you shouldn't—you've done nothing wrong." I tilted my head back and kissed his cheek. "You are protecting your mate. That is what you should be doing. You’re doing exactly the right thing, Simon." I smirked. "But you're not following me into the bathroom."
When I closed the door in his face, he growled, though it was far less intense than when I mentioned lunch. When I was finished and opened the door, he was standing right where I left him, watching me like a hawk. I offered him my hand, only to yelp in surprise when he scooped me up and blurred into the kitchen before setting me on a stool and moving through the room, never saying a word the entire time that he sped between the stove and refrigerator. And despite the seemingly domestic behavior, his eyes were still completely feral and there was a constant low and angry rumble in his throat. Watching him, I realized that it was only because of his deep love for me that I was allowed off the bed. He was still absolutely raging with fury, but because I was near him, he was wholly incapable of acting on his anger. I was still confused, but thought I’d pieced it together by then.
He’d had to rein in his natural instincts earlier—he wasn’t able to stop Madison from gossiping about me, or planning to wreck my future, and despite the grudging acceptance from the administration, he had had to be cool, calm, and collected. The threat was over, but he’d bottled up his natural responses, and now they needed to come out.
Suddenly, the rumble from Simon grew louder and louder, and I heard the front door slam open and Kendal's voice, questioning. “Simon? Sofia?” I blinked when my mate practically vanished from my vision, and when I heard a scream from Maymuna, I realized what happened and rushed into the living room in time to see my mate advancing on Kendal again.
Kendal lay in the remains of what was once a large, black leather sofa. To my surprise, his eyes were not black with rage, but filled with embarrassment and fear. "Shit," he mumbled under his breath as he attempted to crawl from the debris toward Maymuna, who was now kneeling by the door, her head bowed to her chest.
"May!" I hissed, causing Simon to shoot toward me and stand protectively in front of my person, snarling at the other two immortals.
Craning my neck to try and see over Simon’s shoulder, I watched Kendal move to Maymuna's side, bowing in the same position, and I realized that it was a submissive gesture. They were trying to show Simon that they were not a threat, but now that they were so defenseless, he saw this as the perfect opportunity to move.
He was going to kill them.
He stalked slowly toward them, and I attempted to stop his moves, calling his name and moving before him, pressing my hands against his shoulders in the feeble attempt to recapture his attention, only to feel myself being spun behind him far too quickly. The sudden displacement left me dizzy and, for the first time in my life, I was beyond thankful that I couldn’t keep my footing. His attention was immediately diverted back to me and just as he scooped me into his arms, he faltered, his eyes glazing over for a moment before going wide with mild recognition as the door opened ever-so-slowly to reveal Grace, who stood with her own head bowed and slightly tilted to the side. The pain in Simon's voice as he whispered "What have I done?" was heart-wrenching.
Once again, I was upstairs, but this time, he cradled me in his arms and buried his face in my hair. "I attacked Kendal," he murmured, his voice thick with emotion. He was obviously trying not to cry. "All he did was enter the house, and I attacked him."
I stroked his back and cooed, "You didn't hurt him, Simon. He's indestructible, remember?"
"It does not matter!" he growled. "I attacked him."
"You were protecting your mate, just as you needed to," I explained quietly. "It doesn't matter that Kendal was not the one to hurt me. I was humiliated, in pain, and you acted on instincts. Right now, your instincts are telling you that everyone is a threat to me. He knows that. Your instincts are in full-force, and knowing the changes we’ve been through, Kendal should have realized that barging in on mates entering their mating season was a potentially fatal thing to do."
"I need you, cara mia," he whispered harshly.
I smiled. "I'm here, Simon. I'm not going anywhere."
"No," he heaved a pain-filled sigh. "I need you." His hands began to wander slowly over my body, which responded immediately. "I need to touch you—" he pulled off my shirt— "I need to kiss you—" his lips found my pulse— "I need to be inside you—" he swiftly lifted me and removed my jeans and a hand slipped beneath my moist underwear— "I need to taste your blood." Suddenly, I was on my back, and he was braced above me, gazing down at me with dark eyes. "I wanted this to be different," he sighed as he traced every line of my face with his fingers. "I wanted it to be perfect, m'amore."
"Maybe I don't want things to be perfect, Simon," I said softly, reaching up to run my fingers through his dark, silky hair. "Maybe I just want them to be right."
That seemed to break his restraint and all of the intense emotions that had been driving his instincts poured out of him as he stretched himself over me, claiming my lips firmly with his own and grinding his erection between my damp thighs. "Tell me to stop, bella mia. Make me to stop, because this is the only time that I will be able to."
"I can't do that," I said gently as I began to undo the buttons of his shirt. "I can't tell you to stop when I don't want you to." I shoved the shirt down his arms, smiling when he shook the material away from his body. "You are my mate, Simon, and I want you to claim me."
He closed his eyes and his whole body trembled with desire. "Mia Sofia," he purred, "If I claim your body, I will claim your blood." His gaze was hungry and adoring at the same time. "I can assure you, la mia, that once I have tasted your blood, I will crave it more strongly and need it desperately for years to come."
I rocked my hips against
him encouragingly and reached up to pull his mouth back to mine, barely brushing my lips against his as I held him tightly to my warm body. "Then taste me."
His hands moved over my body with reverence, the cool pads of his fingertips barely ghosting over the delicate skin of my throat, down the heaving valley of my breasts to the clasp of my bra, flicking it open and purring as my breasts spilled out beneath his heated gaze.
Had someone told me two years ago of the events and emotions that I would experience the past months, I would have laughed. The idea of meeting vampires seemed ludicrous, and even more so was the idea that I would be the mate of one, that I would allow one of them to claim me after only a few months as his own, forever. I would have scoffed that such a connection could possibly exist, that there was no way that a love could exist that was so strong that it would have affected me to my core in such a way.
But it had. I belonged to this exquisite creature and never had I experienced something so profoundly that I felt it in my soul. Yes, with Simon, I felt him in every fiber of my being. When he was near me, I felt cherished, loved, safe… and when he was apart from me, I felt like my spirit was incomplete and sick.
I sighed as he tenderly took the weight of my breasts in his hands, panting shallowly when he leaned down and latched onto one nipple, the sweet suction of his lips pebbling the sensitive flesh. "Simon…"
His free hand slipped over my hip, grasping the lacy fabric in his deft fingers before ripping it away from my flesh easily. He did not, as I expected, let his fingers delve inside my aching heat, but simply cupped my swollen flesh, then teased me mercilessly by letting one fingertip trace my slit so lightly that it was as if air were caressing my skin.
I shivered and tried to rub my hips against his hand, moaning in frustration when it glided away to stroke up my side. "Please… Simon, please," I begged, squirming beneath him, trying to get closer to him.
Feral: Book Two Page 5