Devour

by E. K. Blair

  “Yeah, well, I had an interview, then I had to do this thing for Amy. Anyway, it’s not important. What’s up?”

  “Not much, dude. Just wanted a familiar face to chat to.”

  “Aww, poor Dalton’s not homesick, is he?” Cam tsked as I laughed.

  “Fuck off. I’ve had a hard week. This just keeps getting worse.”

  “That bad?” He winced, scratching his ear.

  “Let’s just say I’m making this much more complicated than it needs to be,” I sighed. Did I tell him about Wrenn, or not? I wanted to, but something was stopping me. The less people knew about this, the better. “Anyway, things will get better. They have to, right?”

  “Yeah, sure,” Cam said, raising his eyebrows and not looking convinced. “So when are you back home next? We’ll catch up.”

  “Definitely. It probably won’t be until the end of my contract though.”

  “Sweet. Well, stay out of trouble, and you watch yourself around those young hussies,” he warned, clicking his tongue.

  If only he knew.

  ***

  After an hour of grading homework assignments, I could barely keep my eyes open. Fuck, I was tired. They could wait, because right then all I wanted to do was sleep.

  I shoved everything back in my briefcase and stumbled down to the bedroom. I hung my jacket over the bedpost and peeled off my shirt, discarding it on the ground. Unbuttoning my jeans, I took them and my boxers off and climbed into bed.

  It took my body a few minutes to adjust to the temperature of the freezing sheets. I lay there, almost asleep, but unable to switch my mind off. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her. I felt myself get hard, aroused at the thought of her smile, those lips. God I could only imagine the feel of them on my...

  Fuck! I rolled over, disgusted with myself. I was not going to jerk off while thinking about her. She was my fucking student! There was nothing I wanted more than to see where this...whatever this was, took us. But I had to be realistic.

  It was never going to happen.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Wrenn

  There were no words strong enough to explain how I was feeling as I approached the theater. He stood against the wall, staring at me, his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, his knee bent, foot propped up against the wall.

  I’d thought long and hard about what to wear tonight, and seeing his eyes widen and his body tense, I knew the low-cut black dress and cream heels had been a great choice, even if I was freezing my ass off. I wanted to make him squirm inside. We both knew what he was going to say, and I was planning on testing his resolve tonight. That kiss had felt so incredible that I wasn’t ready to give up on him yet.

  “Wow, you look stunning,” he murmured, his eyes roaming over me.

  I smiled and tilted my head. I had scrubbed up pretty well. “We should go in,” I replied.

  He held up two tickets, and I grinned.

  “I was hoping you had gotten them.” I’d noticed the same young guy in the ticket booth, and the last thing I wanted was to deal with him again after the embarrassment of last night.

  We walked inside. The theater was filling up. Without thinking, I grabbed his hand and led him toward the far corner of the back of the room. He jumped at my touch, but didn’t resist. We sat down, his hand not letting mine go.

  “Just in case someone we know is here, I thought the back corner made sense,” I explained, my face flushing.

  He nodded, his fingers entwining in mine, his skin so soft. “Makes sense.”

  I barely heard him; I was too busy focused on the way his finger was gently stroking mine. God, how was it possible that the tiniest touch was arousing me right now?

  As the movie went on, I did my best to watch it, but really, all my attention was on him. It took me fifteen minutes to work up the courage to reposition my hand so mine was on top, our fingers laced. He glanced at me with a small smile.

  This made me feel more confused. Was he going to end this? And if he was going to stop us before we had even really begun, why hold my hand?

  I wish I had the balls to kiss him right now.

  This was the perfect arrangement: a dark theater, sitting alone in the corner, holding hands—but I couldn’t do it. No matter how much I ached to feel those lips against mine, I was too scared of being rejected.

  Too quickly, the movie was over. We were the first people up and out of our seats, nervous about being spotted. We walked quickly to his car. He unlocked the passenger door and waited until I was safely inside before closing it.

  We sat in his car in silence as I waited for him to talk. He was preparing a big speech in his head, I just knew it. I needed to say something now, or I’d lose my chance.

  I couldn’t make a bigger fool of myself, so why not go all out?

  “I want to say something.” I blurted it out before he could begin.

  He glanced at me in surprise, but nodded.

  “I like you. A lot. I understand your reservations about getting into a relationship with me, but I’m eighteen. I’m an adult, and we both have less than six weeks of school left. You’re not that much older than me, and I think you like me, too. I don’t expect—or even want—you to risk your job for me, so I’m willing to wait until school is over for the both of us before we start anything.”

  I took a breath, waiting for him to respond. He was staring at me with those gorgeous blue eyes, and I was melting into him.

  “You’re right,” he finally said. “I do like you, Wrenn. But regardless of the fact that you’re eighteen, this will always have started with you being my student. There is a balance of power thing to consider, and the ethical issues of me dating a student, or even suggesting I’d be interested in doing so when they’ve finished school.”

  I snorted. “You’re worried that I’m feeling pressured by your being my teacher?” I unbuckled my seatbelt and turned to face him. Leaning over, I snaked my arm around the curve of his neck, pulling him closer to me. “Does this look like I’m feeling pressured, Dalton?”

  He didn’t resist, not even as my lips met his. He kissed me back, his tongue slipping inside my mouth, wrestling against my own. I jumped as I felt his hand on my hip, running down my thigh and stopping on my exposed skin.

  Kissing him felt so right, like we were a perfect fit. His lips were so soft, much softer than I’d expected them to be. I ran my fingers over the soft stubble on his jaw, the feeling making my skin tingle.

  “I have no idea how this can work, Wrenn. It’s hard enough that I’m your teacher, but we both live on campus. That makes things nearly impossible.”

  “I like a challenge,” I said with a smile as I caressed his face. “But if you want to wait until I graduate, I’m fine with that. I don’t want you getting into trouble, nor do I want you to feel like I’m pressuring you into anything,” I added, relaying his own words back to him with a hint of sarcasm.

  “You act all innocent, but you’re a little devil, Wrenn,” he chuckled.

  Grinning, I leaned over and kissed him again.

  Finally, I felt like something was starting to go right in my life again.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Wrenn

  “If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?”

  We were lying on a blanket down at the bank of the river, staring up at the sky. It was a clear night, clear enough to make out all the twinkling stars above us. I shivered and he wrapped his arms around me, pulling the thick woolen blanket that covered us up to my chin. I giggled as he kissed me.

  “Change about myself or my life?” I asked.

  “Yourself. I know what you’d change about your life, Wrenn.” He said it so softly I could barely hear him, but I knew he meant my family.

  I sighed, and thought about his question. “I don’t know. I think everything we do, we learn from, so saying I’d change one aspect of myself could potentially have changed who I am today.” I shrugged, gazing up at him. “I know I’m not perfect
, but I’m happy with the person I am. I think I offer a lot as a person, and I know I still have so much to learn, but everything that happens to me, everything I am, I live and learn from.”

  His arms tightened around me as he kissed my forehead. “Your strength amazes me, Wrenn. Every second we spend together, you find a new way to surprise me.” He kissed me, his lips in sync with mine as his fingers ran underneath my sweater. I sighed as they grazed over my breasts, my nipples instantly hardening. I wanted him so badly. These past few weeks had been nothing short of perfection. I found myself wanting to be with him more and more, and finding it harder to control my emotions went we weren’t alone.

  I glanced down at my phone, my heart dropping. Almost curfew. I hated leaving him.

  “I have to go,” I said glumly, kissing his lips one more time before I struggled to my feet.

  He stood up too, his arms curling around my waist as he kissed my neck. “I wish you didn’t have to go,” he mumbled.

  “Me too. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I blew him a kiss as I walked to my car, my heart heavy with sadness at leaving him. I was falling for him, there was no doubt in my mind.

  I was falling hard.

  ***

  Kass was talking in my ear about something, but I couldn’t focus. All I could see was Dalton, over on the other side of the classroom, helping out another student. He laughed at something Emma had said, and my stomach churned.

  Why was this getting to me so much? He was a teacher in an all-girl school, of course he had to interact with members of the opposite sex. I just didn’t like having to see it.

  “Wrenn? What the hell is wrong with you today?”

  I jumped and turned back to Kass, who was staring at me. “Nothing,” I mumbled. “What were you saying?”

  “I was saying I don’t know what I’m going to do for the rest of the year without you here. I’m going to miss you when you graduate.”

  “I’m going to miss you too. You’ll be finished before know it, and we’ll still see each other like all the time,” I said, smiling.

  She nodded and sniffed. I reached over and squeezed her hand. Kass was such a good friend, and I was so lucky to have her in my life.

  ***

  After the final bell rang, Kass and I walked out of class, past Dalton’s desk. I could feel him staring at me. Sure enough, when I turned, his eyes were on me—all over me. I smiled, and winked at him, which made him chuckle. He turned back to his desk, a smile still on his lips, and I knew he was thinking about me.

  The longer this went on, the harder it was getting for both of us. When you feel so strongly for someone, you don’t want to keep it a secret. You want to shout it from the rooftops. You want everyone to know what you’re feeling. Hiding it feels so wrong. How can falling in love ever be a bad thing?

  But it was. At least, that’s what society wanted us to think. We could have the most exceptional circumstances in the world and it wouldn’t make a damn difference.

  He would always be my teacher, and me, his student. I just prayed he could get past that.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Dalton

  The more time I spent with Wrenn, the more I liked her the more I liked her. Every moment I spent with her, she cemented herself a little bit more in my life. Slowly, she was beginning to unravel the walls I’d built around myself.

  And that made me nervous.

  I laughed to myself. The funny thing was that she could sense my anxiety about our relationship, and she thought it was all to do with the fact that I was her teacher. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Honestly? The risk of losing my job—I’d risk it all in a second for her. How bad was that?

  No, this ran much deeper. It killed me that it was always in the back of my mind. One test, and I’d know. One way or the other I’d know for sure. But I didn’t want to know. Hell, I was angry at my own mother. Why couldn’t she have lied to me? I wouldn’t have known the difference. I could have lived my life not caring.

  Sometimes it was best not knowing.

  ***

  The realization hit me late one afternoon after Mom texted me, reminding me it was coming up to the anniversary of Dad’s death. I couldn’t do this. It had to stop. I had to think of Wrenn before this went any further. I could end it now. I wasn’t sure I’d have the strength if I left it much longer.

  Picking up my phone, I texted her, asking her to meet me down by the river. A deserted space, the river was a favorite place for us to meet, because it was so far out of the way there was no chance of us getting caught.

  Sure. Give me twenty minutes xx

  I grabbed my jacket and headed to my car. I couldn’t think straight. All I wanted was to take her in my arms, and feel her skin against mine, and taste those sweet little lips. Fuck, she was intoxicating. Even the thought of her being close to me got me hard. Hell, thinking about her in class last week had gotten me aroused.

  That’s a good look.

  How the hell was I going to end this and still be around her for the next few weeks? And then what? She’d made it clear she would wait for me. What excuse would I have when she was no longer my student?

  I thought about telling her everything, but I didn’t want pity. I didn’t want her to confuse her feelings of sympathy with desire for me. Yet I hated the thought of her not wanting me at all.

  The thought of her kissing some teenage boy who knew nothing about pleasing her made me want to punch the shit out of someone. The kinds of emotions I was feeling were completely new to me, and honestly, they scared me.

  The drive to the river was ten minutes. She was there already. Waiting for me. Her face lit up when she saw me, her lips parting into a smile that reached those stunning green eyes. I breathed in hard as she stepped out of her car. She looked so fucking sexy. Her boots came up to her mid-calf over her tight jeans, which showed all her curves. She wore a fitted blue sweater under her jacket.

  My heart raced as I stepped out of my car. She leaned in to kiss me, and I let her. I was here to break up with her, yet all I wanted to do was explore every inch of that body with my hands, my mouth, and my tongue. I laughed. Oh, the irony.

  God, all I could smell was the sweet floral scent of her perfume. And the freshness of her skin. She waited for me to say something, her brow furrowing as she studied my face. She knew something was wrong.

  “Wrenn. I can’t do this to you. We need to stop this before it goes any further.” There, I said it. Did I feel any better?

  No. I felt like shit.

  She stepped back, crossing her arms over her chest, her eyes widening. She hadn’t been expecting me to say that.

  “What do you mean, we can’t?” she said evenly. “You didn’t seem to have any problem with it the last few weeks.” She was hurt. I could see it in her eyes. And I didn’t blame her. It had come out of nowhere.

  “I’m sorry. This . . . I can’t do this.” I so badly wanted to elaborate, but I couldn’t.

  What could I tell her? That I was so close to falling in love with her? That the last thing on my mind was the fact she was my student? I was hiding something, something so potentially life-changing—for both of us. Something she deserved to know.

  But how could I tell her? How could I be responsible for breaking her heart like that? I’d rather end this now and have her think I was a weak piece of shit.

  “I don’t care that you’re my teacher, Dalton. I don’t give a damn about that.” She was angry now. Her green eyes flashed as she stared me down. So much fire and passion for such a quiet girl. She knew what she wanted, and she wasn’t going to give up without a fight.

  “But I do,” I fibbed. “My career, Wrenn. I’ve worked too hard to get where I am to ruin it all on . . . ” My voice trailed off. The only way to do this was to convince her my career meant more to me than she did.

  “On me?” she supplied. Her face hardened. “I get it. You don’t want to throw your career away on some fling, right? I was just some cheap entertainment to ge
t you through the year?” She glared at me, demanding an answer that I wouldn’t give her. She nodded. “I’m surprised you didn’t fuck me while you had the chance,” she taunted.

  I looked away. I hated seeing her this angry. “Wrenn—”

  “Don’t bother,” she interrupted. “Obviously we’re not on the same page. We never were.”

  She ran to her car and jumped in, roaring out of the parking lot. I threw my arms back behind my head, angry with myself. Angry with my father. Angry at the whole fucking useless world.

  Wrenn was unlike any woman I’d ever met—so feisty and sure of herself. But she wasn’t a woman, she was still a girl. Her being eighteen didn’t make this right. She’d been through more heartache than most people go through in their whole lives, and she’d dealt with it with such maturity and dignity. But none of that changed the fact that I couldn’t be with her—if anything, it magnified that fact.

  It just wasn’t right, and it wasn’t fair to her.

  She was angry now, but I knew that would melt away. And once it did, she wouldn’t give in without a fight. Today I had won. But if she pushed me, I’d break; and when that happened, nothing would keep me from her.

  God, I hope she respects my decision.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Wrenn

  I was pissed.

  Who was he to call all the shots? So he was scared. Big fucking deal. Grow a pair and deal with it. I’d coped with more in the last year than he ever would. I didn’t need him protecting me.

  The way I felt about him had gone beyond some schoolgirl crush. We connected on so many levels. But he just couldn’t get past the fact that he was my teacher.

  I’ve lost too much to let him slip away. I won’t let that happen. I refuse to.

  I spent the rest of Sunday watching DVDs and glancing at my phone, hoping he would call or text—anything—to tell me he had changed his mind. Layna had commented on my foul mood, which I had chalked up to my period. That stopped any further questions. Possibly the only time my period had ever come in handy.