Licked (Devoured #1) (3 page)

Kirk arrived a few minutes early and filled up two coffees from
the free machine. He filled his pocket with packets of crème and sugar and then
found a quiet looking spot in the corner of the crowded student lounge.

He sat facing the doors so he would be able to see anyone who came
in looking for him, poured two crèmes and two sugars into his small cup, and lined
up the extra packets in a row in the center of the table. Then he pulled his
phone out of his jacket pocket and checked his calendar note.

“2 pm: Julianna Foster. Brown hair. Goes by Julie?”

Now he remembered. She had been sitting in the front row in
class, one of the newer students. He remembered that she was pretty, almost
distractingly so, and wore her shiny brown hair pulled back in a headband.

He recalled thinking that she had been quite conservatively
dressed compared to the other students in class, but he questioned his memory
when he saw her coming towards him.

He stood up when he saw her.

“Hi,” Julianna said, batting her thick eyelashes. “I hope you
haven’t been waiting long.”

“Just long enough to grab two coffees.”

They sat down at the same time.

“Thanks. I owe you one,” Julianna said.

Kirk gestured to the neat row. “There’s crème and sugar, too, if
you take it.”

“I take it sometimes,” she said, smiling. “But not today.”

Kirk swallowed as he noticed the delicate gold cross that
dangled in the top of her cleavage.

“So how is your first semester going?” Julianna said, crossing
her arms.

Kirk watched the cross disappear between her breasts. “How do
you know it’s my first semester here?”

Julianna cocked her head. “Cause you said you wanted to get to
know your students and offered to meet us for coffee.”

“Is that so unusual?”

“First time I’ve ever heard of a teacher doing that.”

“Well, when I was in college, lots of professors did it.”

“Where was that?”

“SMU.”

“Oh,” Julianna said. “So you came here from there?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because of the excellent psychology program.”

“Right. Of course.”

“Is this your first semester?”

Julianna laughed. “No. It’s my last, actually.”

“Well it’s nice to meet you before you graduate.”

“People always think I look older.” Julianna flicked her hair
over her shoulders. “Why did you guess I was a freshman?”

“I thought with women it was always best to guess on the young
side.”

“Your wife tell you that?”

“No.”

“Are you married?”

Kirk laughed. “Engaged.” He leaned back in his chair. “You’re
not exactly shy about asking questions are you.”

“Congratulations.”

“Thanks.”

Julianna leaned forward until her breasts were resting on the
table. “And I’m not exactly shy about anything.”

“Good to know.”  

“Am I being too nosy?” she asked. “I thought the whole point of
this thing was so we could get to know each other.”

“I suppose it is,” he said. “I’m just surprised because you seem
a bit more interested in me than some of the other students I’ve met with.”

“What do you mean?”

Kirk took his glasses off and rubbed the lenses with the bottom
of his shirt to give his eyes a break from trying to ignore Julianna’s swollen
breasts. “Most of them have just been asking a lot of questions about what the
course will entail, how assignments will be graded, and whether there will be
extra credit.” He slipped his glasses back on. “That sort of thing.”

“Oh.” Julianna scratched the back of her head. “Well to be
honest, I’ve always been more interested in people than in rules.”

“Well then you’ll really enjoy the class, and you’ll probably do
well in it, too.”

“I intend to.”

“So is psychology your major then?”

“Yeah.” Julianna took a sip of her coffee. “But I don’t think I
want to be a shrink. I think I’d rather be a professor actually.”

Kirk smiled. “Really?”

“Yeah. I really like teaching people,” she said. “Especially about
things that can make their life easier or help them understand other people
better.”

“It must be wonderful to have that kind of focus already.”

“Oh, I’ve always been really focused,” Julianna said. “As far as
I’m concerned, it doesn’t matter how hard I have to work for something as long
as I get what I want in the end.”

“I see,” Kirk said. “Well I’m sure you can do anything you set
your mind to.”

Julianna smiled. “I hope so.”

“By the way, you’re officially in the class. I just accepted
your transfer request this morning.”

“That’s great news, thanks. I’m really excited about the
course.”

“Good.” Kirk stood up. “Me too. Can I get you another coffee?”

“No, thanks,” Julianna said. “But you go ahead. I’ll watch your
stuff.”

Kirk walked to the back of a short line of people waiting for
the coffee machine. He looked over his shoulder. Julianna gave him a little
wave, and he turned back around.

She seemed nice enough, but there was something unpredictable
about her, like if she were at a party, he would keep his eye on her. And not
just because she was beautiful- because she was. In fact, he was a little
embarrassed to be seen with her, especially with how she was dressed. He didn’t
want people getting the wrong idea.

But it wasn’t her beauty that worried him. It was something
else. Something about her made him nervous. He didn’t know if it was her dark
eyes or her fat, glossy lips or the fact that her chest stuck out so far he was
afraid he might accidently touch it.

She seemed almost dangerously self-aware like she was the kind
of girl that could easily break a boy without a spine.

Kirk sat back down with his coffee and grabbed some crème and
sugar from the middle of the table.

“Now where were we?” he said, smiling at Julianna.

She watched him dump the sugars into the tiny cup. “Sweet
tooth?”

“Yes,” he said. “It’s terrible I know, but-”

“I’m the same way.”

He furrowed his brow. “But you didn’t even put sugar in your
coffee?”

“That’s just because I still feel guilty about having whipped
crème for breakfast.”

Kirk looked back and forth between her eyes but couldn’t tell if
she was joking. Then he saw the marks running down her neck onto her chest.
“Are you okay?”

“Oh no.” Julianna covered the marks with her hand. “I just
scratched myself a little too hard. It’s nothing, really.”

“It’s pretty red.”

“It’s fine,” Julianna said. “When I get an itch, I just have to
scratch it, ya know? Surely you’ve done that?”

“I’m sure I have, yes,” Kirk said, trying to put the image of
the scratch marks out of his mind.

“Soooo.” Julianna dragged a finger around the rim of her paper
cup.

“So did you come here for the psych program or are you from the
area?”

“Both,” Julianna said before dipping her finger in her cup and
sucking the coffee drip off of it. “And my dad’s the dean.”

“Your dad’s the dean?”

“Yeah. I’m surprised you didn’t know that.”

“How would I know that?”

“I figured there was a special asterisk next to my name in the
system or something.”

“Not that I saw.”

Julianna shrugged.

“He’s supposed to be a lovely guy,” Kirk said. “I haven’t had a
chance to meet him yet but-”

“You will soon enough,” Julianna said. “He’s busy, but he’s
never too busy to make time for his staff.”

“Good to know.”

“Do you know your way around town yet?”

“Just the triangle between my house, my office, and the library,
unfortunately. I’m sure I’ll have more time to explore once I’m more settled.”

“Well, if you need any suggestions, I’m an expert.”

“That’s very kind of you to offer.”

“Unfortunately, I have class in thirty on the other side of
campus, but it was nice getting to know you.”

“You, too. Maybe we can do it again sometime.”

She smiled. “Sounds good.”

“Oh, and I meant to ask if you prefer to go by Julie or
anything?”

“No. Julianna’s fine.” She stood up and slipped her bag off the
back of the chair.

“Okay. Any questions about your first assignment before you go?”

“The paper?”

“Yeah.”

“Actually, I do have a question, but it’s not about the paper.”

“What is it?” He noticed the red marks against her porcelain
skin again and swallowed.

“Do you think people can be good even if they do bad things?”

Kirk pursed his lips. “I think I have to agree with Aristotle on
this one.”

Julianna raised her eyebrows and shifted her weight.

“He believed
we are what we repeatedly do
.”

Julianna twirled a piece of hair around a red fingernail. “So
doing just one- or even two bad things- doesn’t make someone a bad person?”

Kirk laughed. “I hope not. If it does then I’m sure I don’t know
any good people.”

Julianna’s eyes formed little crescents as she smiled.

Kirk tilted his head to the side and leaned back. “Is everything
okay?”

“Yeah. It’s just something I’ve been wondering about… for a philosophy
class.”

“Well I hope that helps,” he said, making a point to look in her
eyes.

“It does, thanks. And thanks again for meeting with me,
Professor Jenkins.”

“Call me Kirk,” he said, surprising himself.

Julianna smiled. “Professor Kirk it is, then.” She bowed ever so
slightly. “Enjoy the rest of your afternoon.”

Julianna turned and walked away.

Kirk noticed that her hair bounced with every step and that her
bare legs from behind looked just like Madeline’s.

He took a deep breath and crossed his arms and wished he hadn’t
said “Call me Kirk.” The last thing he needed was to be on familiar terms with the
dean’s daughter.

Heather passed the burning joint to the left.

Julianna pinched it between her fingers. “This doesn’t mean I
agree with you hooking up with Rocko.”

“Whatever,” Heather said, scooting back on the couch.

Julianna took a long drag and held it in, watching the thick
white smoke dance in circles towards the ceiling.

Tara got up from the worn leather recliner on the other side of
the coffee table and reached for the joint. “Has anyone talked to Sam?”

Julianna rolled her eyes. Obviously she had. Sam was her
roommate. Honestly, sometimes she didn’t know how Tara got dressed, much less
how she got into college. “Yeah.”

“Is she coming?” Tara asked, sinking back into her chair.

Julianna shrugged. “She’s with Kevin. She said maybe she’d try
and meet up with us later.”

“Yeah, right,” Heather said. “She never comes out anymore.”

“Tell me about it. I’m her roommate and I never see her. She
stays at his place almost every night these days.”

“She seems happy though,” Tara said.

Julianna shook her head. “She won’t be happy if he gets sick of
her because she doesn’t give him any space.”

“Maybe he’s just as crazy about her,” Tara said. “I wish I had a
boyfriend who wanted to be around me that much.”

“You’d have to quit your job,” Julianna said. “No guy wants to
date a girl who gets hit on for a living.”

“I’m a shot girl,” Tara said. “Lots of shot girls have
boyfriends. It’s just a matter of finding someone who’s more secure than they
are jealous.”

“Oh.” Julianna smacked her forehead. “Well I didn’t know it was
as easy as taming a unicorn. Good luck with that.”

Tara rolled her eyes. “I just don’t get you sometimes.”

Julianna leaned forward and put her elbows on her knees. “What
don’t you get?”

“I don’t know.” Tara looked up as if the words she was looking
for might be written on the ceiling. “I guess I don’t get how you can know so
much about sex and so little about romance?”

Heather flinched and looked at Julianna.

“I know plenty about romance,” Julianna said. “Enough to know
that it’s overrated anyway.”

“Why is it overrated?” Tara asked. “Cause you got your heart
broken once by some loser? Get over yourself.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Julianna said, “so
why don’t you shut up about it.”

“All I’m saying is that I think we’re all a bit young to think
we know everything there is to know about relationships,” Tara said. “I mean,
look at Sam! She couldn’t even talk to guys freshman year. Who would’ve thought
that she’d be the one in a meaningful relationship by graduation?”

“
Meaningful
?” Julianna said. “Don’t you think
‘meaningfulness’ is a bit subjective?”

Heather looked back and forth between the girls and shifted in her
seat.

“Maybe to you it is,” Tara said. “I think for the rest of us,
it’s pretty straightforward. I’m sure Heather agrees with me.”

Heather coughed violently and her eyes filled with tears as she ejected
clouds of smoke.

“Easy there champ,” Julianna said, taking the joint and patting
her on the back. 

“Well?” Tara looked at Heather. “Don’t you think a meaningful
relationship is a meaningful relationship is a-”

“No,” Heather said. “I have to side with Julianna on this one. I
mean, I think what Rocko and I have is ‘meaningful’ because it’s convenient and
fun and gives me something to smile about, but that doesn’t mean I’d introduce
him to my mom.”

Tara rolled her eyes. “We’ll have to agree to disagree then
because I think a meaningful relationship is one that implies mutual trust and
respect.”

“I think ‘monogamous’ is the word you’re looking for,” Julianna
said. “Not ‘meaningful’.”

“Whatever,” Tara said.

With her coughing fit over, Heather turned to Julianna. “Speaking
of meaningful relationships, what’s going on with you and the nutty professor?
Or have you not seen his nuts yet?”

“I’m working on him,” Julianna said. “He likes me.”

“It’s been weeks,” Heather said. “Don’t you think it’s time to
make things a little more interesting?”

“Am I missing something?” Tara asked.

Heather pulled a knee in front of her chest. “Julianna’s going
to seduce her professor for an A.”

Tara looked at Julianna. “You are?”

She nodded.

“She’s going to do whatever it takes,” Heather said. “Because
she wanted a challenge.”

Tara’s red eyes were wide. “What have you done so far?”

“Nothing,” Julianna said. “So far I’ve just been my charming, friendly
self and let my tits do all the talking.”

“Are you going to sleep with him?” Tara asked.

“The challenge is for me to seduce him,” Julianna said. “I only
plan to go as far as I believe necessary in order to get an A in the class.”
Julianna looked at Heather. “Right now I’m holding a steady B-.”

“Where was I when this happened?” Tara asked.

“Working,” Heather said. “Sorry I thought I told you.”

“I was thinking of sending him a sexy text or maybe even a
picture to get the ball rolling,” Julianna said. “Even though he wouldn’t
necessarily know it was from me because I’ve been on my best behavior.”

“He gave you his number?” Heather asked.

“No. I took it.”

Tara pulled her legs up under her. “How?”

“We met for coffee and I slipped his phone out of his pocket
when he wasn’t looking,” Julianna said. “What do you think I should send him?”

“A picture of your mouth around Todd’s dick,” Heather said.

“Christ, Heather,” Julianna said. “Have a bit more class, will
you?”

“I was just joking.”

“Thank God,” Julianna said. “Anyway, I was thinking it’s
probably between a cleavage selfie or a headless-in-my-undies-selfie. What do
you think?”

“Why headless?” Tara asked.

“Cause it’s a game,” Julianna said. “And I’m not trying to get in
any trouble myself. I’m just trying to get him to worry about how much trouble
he might be getting in. Does that make sense?”

“In that case I vote headless undies,” Tara said.

Heather bit her lip. “Or you could send him a text that says
something like
you left a blowjob at my place, when do you want to come pick
it up
?”

Julianna groaned. “That’s right up there with
I wanna mouth
hug your penis
.”

Tara laughed. “Eww! Seriously, where do guys even pick this
stuff up?”

They both shrugged.

“The goal isn’t to make him laugh though,” Julianna said. “It’s
to make him sweat.”

Both girls nodded.

Julianna looked into their hopeful faces and knew it was time to
kick things into high gear. “The thing is, girls, I don’t want him to see
anything coming, and I want everything I do to make him think of nothing but.”