Claimed: The Complete Short Romance Series

by Nichole Rose

  "They handled it well."

  "You didn't exactly give them a choice," she points out, her tone dry.

  "No, I didn't," I agree softly. Whether they like it or not, I'm marrying Rowan. They can fire me over it if they feel so inclined. That's their prerogative. But Rowan is mine. She'll be mine until the day I die. No one but me and her gets a say in that.

  Fortunately, I don't think it's going to come to that. I expected more pushback, but they were…receptive to the news. Perhaps because Leslie has been quietly smoothing the way for me all week. Or perhaps because I didn't try to hide my relationship with Rowan tonight. I don't think the board is necessarily thrilled to know I'm dating a teacher who is technically under my command. But in the grand scheme of things, my relationship with Rowan is a hell of a lot less problematic for them than Johnson is proving to be.

  Rowan and I are consenting adults who haven't broken any laws or rules, and we're being discreet. If anyone wants to judge me for falling for her, that's their right. It won't change a damn thing. There are other jobs, other school districts, other options. There is no one else like Rowan though. She's mine. I'll always choose her above anything else. If I never worked in education again, I'd miss it. But I'd survive. I wouldn't survive without Rowan. Losing her would destroy me.

  I can almost understand why Johnson turned into such a dick after his wife died. If he felt for her anything like I already feel for Rowan, he's probably been in hell. But the thing is…you don't drag everyone else into hell with you. You don't try to destroy their happiness because yours is gone. Especially not the people who depend on you to protect them. If I learned anything in the Marines, it was that. You don't fail the people who depend on you.

  "They like you," Leslie says. "You've done a good job, and I think you made it clear tonight that you're not here to cause a scandal, but to save us that embarrassment." She smiles at me, affection and pride shining in her eyes. "It probably doesn't hurt that you made it abundantly clear that you're head over heels in love with her. It's hard to be scandalized by a man who has hearts in his eyes."

  I chuckle at her assessment of me. It's not wrong. I've had hearts in my eyes since I met my little owl. Though I guess it's a good thing the board doesn't know how close I've come to fucking her dirty up against the door in the Assistant Principal's office. They might not be so forgiving if they knew that little tidbit.

  I have no control when it comes to her. I'm constantly hurting for her, desperate to be inside her, claiming her. That voice that whispered mine when I saw her the first day hasn't stopped since. It's a song now, a second heartbeat, constant and unchanging.

  Maybe it'll ease off once I put a ring on her finger and get my kid in her belly, but I doubt it. I have a feeling I'm always going to be a little crazy when it comes to her.

  My phone rings. I pull it out of my pocket, frowning when I see the unfamiliar number on the display. If there's another problem tonight, I may be doing a little more judicious bulldozing. I'm ready to go home and get lost in my woman.

  "Dr. Thorne," I say, bringing the phone to my ear.

  "Hi, Dr. Thorne, this is Cadence Grayson. I teach at Commodore. We met the other day."

  "I know who you are, Miss Grayson. How can I help you?"

  "Tell him," a man says in the background, his voice full of impatience. Colton Walker, unless I miss my guess. I've only met him once, but his deep voice is distinctive.

  "Don't boss me," Cadence huffs at him.

  Colton grumbles wordlessly, making me chuckle.

  "What can I do for you, Miss Grayson?"

  "I stopped by the school a little while ago to pick up some stuff my substitute left in my box for me," she explains in a rush. "When I stopped by the office, I heard Principal Johnson in his office with a woman. He was…well, not to be disrespectful, but he was being a jerk, sir."

  "What happened?" I ask, narrowing my eyes.

  She huffs out a breath and then I hear Colton mutter something in the background. Half a second later, he comes on the line. Cadence calls him a bully, but she doesn't sound mad at him about it. There's a softness in her tone. It's the same one Rowan uses with me when I boss her around. She secretly loves it.

  "Thorne?" Colton growls

  "Yeah. What's going on?"

  "That dick you have working at Commodore had your girl in his office, giving her hell about sleeping with you," he says, not beating around the bush. "He was trying to bully her into breaking up with you. He made her feel like shit for being with you, told her being with her would ruin your career. Cadence said it got real ugly. Apparently, he has some compromising pictures of the two of you."

  "What the fuck?" I growl, jumping to my feet as pure rage fires through me. Johnson took pictures of us together? He tried to blackmail my little owl into leaving me? Fuck asking him to retire. I'm going to kill him. "Is she okay? Where is she?"

  "Cadence got her out of there," Colton says, sounding pissed himself. "By the time she told me exactly what happened, Rowan was already gone. I wouldn't have let her leave had I known. She didn't look good."

  "Son of a bitch," I growl, genuine worry shooting through me. Rowan's upset, hurting, and I'm not there. That motherfucker better hope like hell she's okay or I really will kill him.

  Why didn't she call me?

  I already know the answer to that though, don't I? I feel it twisting like a knife in my stomach. She's so softhearted, always worrying about everyone else. Of course she didn't call me. He made her think she was ruining me.

  No, baby. No.

  God, being with her could never ruin me. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me. I've never felt as peaceful as I do with her. I've never been as happy as I am with her. Loving her could never be a bad thing. But losing her might destroy me.

  I need to get to her. Now.

  "What's going on?" Leslie asks.

  "Johnson cornered Rowan and tried to coerce her into breaking up with me," I growl. "He has pictures of us. He's been spying on us."

  Leslie's eyes widen, shock written across her face.

  My temples throb as a new wave of rage hits me. That sorry son of a bitch. Was he the presence I felt in the parking lot today at lunch? What am I thinking? Of course it was him. How the fuck else did he know about us or get pictures of us? We've been careful, keeping our distance when he's around. He must have seen something though. Enough to make him follow us.

  "No disrespect, but if you don't deal with the situation, I will. He won't be speaking to my girl or Rowan again like he did today. He's lucky I didn't hear it," Colton says. "I don't give a shit how old he is. I'll rip his fucking throat out if I ever hear of him speaking to Cadence or Rowan like that again."

  "You'll have to beat me to it," I mutter. "I can promise you, this shit won't ever happen again. He won't get near Cadence or Rowan again."

  "Good," he grunts, mollified.

  "Thanks for letting me know."

  "Yep. Let me know if you need anything from Cadence."

  "Will do." I end the call and immediately dial Rowan's number, pacing like a caged lion. The phone doesn't even ring before her voicemail picks up. I disconnect and fire off a text, demanding that she call me back.

  She won't though. I already know. Jesus. I have to fix this. If I lose her because of him…

  The thought sends another knife stabbing into me. This one hits me right in the heart. The pain is savage, brutal. Enough to have me swaying on my feet, fighting the urge to fall to my knees.

  No. I'm not going to lose her.

  I refuse to let that happen.

  "She's not answering?" Leslie guesses.

  "No, she's not," I say, trying not to completely lose my goddamn mind with worry. "I don't give a shit if we're through here or not, I'm going to her."

  "Go," Leslie says, already on her feet. "I'll go fill in the board."

  "He's not getting until the end of the year," I warn her. "I don't give a fuck what the board says. He's done. I want him
out of my fucking school. He won't spend another goddamn minute terrorizing Rowan or anyone else."

  I'll burn the place to the fucking ground myself before I let that happen. Like I told Rowan the day I met her, I make the rules now. And rule number one is that you don't fuck with what's mine.

  "Thank God," I breathe when I hit the button for the garage and see Rowan's car inside. I've already been by her house and the school, looking for her. I also called Jon Dunham to see if she was there. When he reported that he hadn't seen her, I decided to check here, praying to God she came here despite everything.

  Seeing her car allows me to pull in my first full breath since Cadence and Colton told me what went down today. It also tells me that there's still hope I can fix this. She loves me. If ever I needed proof of that, this is it. She came here for me.

  I pull in beside her car and jump out, my heart pounding as another bout of anxiety churns through me. Jesus. I've never been this unsettled before. I need to see her, touch her. I'm not sure I'll be able to calm down until I do.

  The last hour has been pure hell. Not knowing if she was all right. If she was safe.

  My hands actually shake as I slam the door of my truck and race toward the door leading into the kitchen. I fling it open so hard it crashes into the wall and bounces back toward me. I'm through it before it can slam closed.

  The house is completely silent. The lights are all off.

  She's here though, drawing me toward her like a magnet.

  "Rowan!" I shout, tearing through the rooms on the first floor at a jog.

  A shuffling sound comes from upstairs. I reverse course in mid-step and head toward the stairs. I take them three at a time, praying to God I'm not too late to convince her to stay. To convince her that being with her isn't going to ruin me.

  "Paradise," I whisper, my heart cracking right down the center when I catch sight of her. She's in our bedroom, sitting up in the middle of the bed. Her eyes are puffy, and her face is red. Used tissues make a pile beside her.

  "Sebastian!" she cries. She jumps to her feet and practically dives off the bed, crashing into me exactly like she did that first day. And just like then, she knocks my world off its axis, completely changes everything.

  I lock my arms around her, pulling her up against my body. As soon as she's in my arms, my breath comes a little easier. My heartrate settles. Energy crackles to life between us like it always does.

  Her bottom lip wobbles and more tears pour down her face.

  When she's happy, the emotion pours out of her. It's infectious, part of the reason everyone loves her so much. Being around her is exactly like being in paradise. It's peaceful, soothing, all that's right in the world.

  When she's sad, like she is right now, that emotion seeps out into the air around her too. Tendrils spread throughout the entire room, painting everything in little scenes of heartbreak. Her sorrow dims my whole fucking world, plunging me into darkness.

  "The troll knows about us," she says, her expression crumpling into abject misery. "H-he has pictures. It's all my fault."

  "Baby, no," I whisper, tucking her face against my shoulder. "Don't cry."

  "I can't help it!" she cries, wrapping her arms and legs around me as tight as she can. Her entire body trembles with the force of her emotions, until she's shaking like a leaf.

  I suck a deep breath into my lungs and hold it, letting her sweet scent soothe the vestiges of fury still channeling through me. It's taking everything I have not to give in to the urge to go find Johnson and strangle him for upsetting her like this. She's too goddamn sweet to be so sad, too perfect to be at fault for any of this. My job is to protect her and that light of hers, to always keep her smiling.

  It kills me that I wasn't there to protect her from this shit today…that I didn't see it coming. I don't know what I did to make him suspicious enough to follow us today. But it had to be me. Rowan avoids the son of a bitch like he's the devil. All the teachers do.

  She's blameless, innocent of any wrongdoing.

  He hurt her because I didn't take good enough care of her.

  That shit won't ever happen again. No one will ever corner or bully her like Johnson did today, making her doubt herself and how much light she brings into my life. She's magic and he can't fucking stand it.

  "Y-you have to b-b-break up w-with me," she says, her voice muffled.

  "No."

  "Y-you have to."

  "Why?"

  "Because I c-c-can't do it!" she wails, her tears soaking into my jacket. "It's t-too sad. You have to be t-the one to d-do it."

  "Baby. Paradise." Part of me wants to spank her for even suggesting it. The other part wants to kiss her for being so fucking cute. There's nothing funny about this situation, but my heart fills with lightness anyway. Because, despite what that motherfucker pulled today, she still wants me. "I'm not breaking up with you."

  "P-please?" She lifts her head, sniffling. Tears tremble on her lashes and darken her beautiful doe eyes. Her glasses are smudged all to hell, so she's blinking, trying to see me through them and her tears. "Y-you have to, Sebastian. I'm g-going to r-ruin you."

  "You already ruined me, little owl," I murmur, carrying her over to the bed.

  She whimpers her distress and tries to wiggle out of my arms.

  "Settle down," I growl, grabbing her ass to keep her still. I swipe her tissues off the bed with my other hand, and then lay her down. Before she can sit up or move away, I follow her, settling between her thighs with my body caging her in.

  She wraps her legs around my hips on instinct. And even though she's miserable which makes me miserable, as soon as I feel the heat of her up against my dick, he rages to life like a champion, ready to sink into her heat. I ignore him, focusing on Rowan.

  Even ravaged by tears, with mascara stains under her eyes and her nose rubbed almost raw, she's stunning. If magic had a physical form, it would be her. She's ethereal, luminous. So much honesty rests in her big doe eyes. Even with the smudges on her cat-eye glasses, the emotion brimming in those pretty eyes is unmistakable. Love, regret, sorrow, pain.

  "You ruined me the minute I met you, little owl," I murmur, using my thumbs to brush away her tears. I have to remove her glasses and set them on the nightstand when they get in the way. "I started falling before you even crashed into me and I haven't stopped yet. I'm constantly thinking about you, dreaming about you, obsessing over you."

  "Sebastian," she says as more tears spill down her cheeks. I catch those too, wiping them away, touching her because anything else is impossible. She's mine, a part of me.

  "It's true, pretty Paradise," I murmur, dipping my head to kiss away the tears still shimmering in her lashes. "You could never ruin my life when you're the reason I finally know what it means to be whole. All my life, I've waited for you. I love you, Rowan. Nothing Richard Johnson could ever say or do would change that."

  "You l-love me?" She blinks at me, her expression changing rapidly from sorrow to confusion and then to hope. It blooms in the depths of her eyes, seeds sprouting in rich, earthy brown.

  "How could I not love you, Paradise?" I ask, shaking my head at her, a gentle smile playing on my lips. That she doesn't know how infinitely lovable she is baffles me. "Carl Sagan said we're made of star stuff, but not you, little owl. You're made of the oldest magic there is. You are love, shining so fucking brightly you make everything around you shine too. Of course I love you. So damn much that just the thought of losing you rips my fucking heart out."

  "I love you too," she whispers, sniffling. "You're my favorite everything. T-that's why you have to break up w-with me. I t-tried to be brave enough to d-do it, but i-it hurts s-so much. I c-can't b-be the r-reason they f-fire you. Everyone will say bad t-things about you b-because of me. They'll fire you."

  "Is that what he told you?"

  She bobs her head in a miserable nod, her bottom lip quivering again.

  "Some people may think badly of me," I murmur, not lying to her. She's too sma
rt to believe a lie, and I respect her too much to tell her one. "They may even say bad things about me. I don't give a fuck. I like what I do. If I quit tomorrow, I'd miss it."

  "T-that's why we c-can't be together. I w-won't let them t-take that from you."

  "If I quit tomorrow, I'd miss it," I repeat. "But if I lost you, it'd kill me. I've spent my whole fucking life waiting for you, Paradise. I'd give up everything to keep you." I place my finger over her lips when she opens her mouth to respond. "But that isn't going to happen. I didn't agree to be discreet to keep people from finding out about us. I've been honest with the board from the beginning. I agreed to keep it discreet because I worried Johnson might try something like this."

  "You did?"

  I nod. "He's a troll, exactly like you said. He takes pleasure in making others miserable because he's a miserable son of a bitch. Commodore is all he has. He's so hyper-focused on making it the best school in the state, he sees any little ripple as a threat to his goal. But he forgot something important."

  She blinks watery eyes at me, waiting for me to tell her what he forgot. I take a second to readjust my position, laying beside her with my head propped on one arm. The other I throw over her abdomen, rolling her onto her side to face me. I tangle our legs together, wanting us touching in as many places as possible. I'm addicted to the feel of her soft body against me.

  "He forgot that numbers and data aren't what make a school great. The people who work there and the students who go there make the school great," I murmur, tucking her hair behind her ear. "You and your dedication are what make Commodore the school it is. Richard Johnson isn't responsible for that, Paradise. You are. Cadence Grayson is. Lana Winters is. You guys pour your heart and soul into that place and it shows."

  "I love Commodore."

  I smile at her. "I know you do. It's your home. I would never do anything to jeopardize that. Everyone there knows you, little owl. They love you. They aren't going to grab pitchforks and torches to hunt me down when doing so would hurt you. Johnson's just too blind by his mission to see that."

  "He didn't know everyone h-hates him," she whispers, her voice still thick with tears even though they're no longer falling freely down her round cheeks. "Cadence told him."