Otherworldly Bad Boys: Three Complete Novels (53 page)

Her nipple glistened, wet and hard, and just a little swollen from my mouth. I bit down on my lower lip.

Then I got up and shut the bathroom door, leaving her inside. Alone. Away from me.

* * *

Teagan

I woke up lying on cold tile, topless.

Panic rose in my throat.

What had happened to me? Where was I? I remembered the party. I remembered drinking. I remembered feeling sick. Running to throw up, and then...

Professor Alexander.

I must be in his house. I hadn’t seen this bathroom when I’d been inside before, but it looked like it belonged in a house like his. The sink and its faucet were stylized and antique. The mirror was oval and framed with a burnished metal.

Right by the door, as if it had been thrown inside, was a clean t-shirt.

I picked it up and shrugged into it.

So Professor Alexander had taken me to his house, stripped me out of my shirt, and then hadn’t bothered to dress me?

I got up and opened the door. Yep. Professor Alexander’s house. I could see his kitchen down the hallway.

“Miss Moss?” He appeared at the other end of the hallway. He was barefoot, rubbing his forehead. “I’m very sorry. Are you okay?”

“Sorry for what?” I said.

“You were, um...” He dragged his toe against the floor. “Well, there was vomit all over your clothes, and so I thought you’d rather be out of them, but then I...”

“You what?”

“Would you like some water?”

Now that he mentioned it, I was thirsty. “Sure.”

He had to walk past me in the hallway to get to the kitchen. Our arms brushed against each other. It was electric. He stopped, going rigid. He looked at me.

“You undressed me?” I whispered.

“I did.” His voice was barely there as well. “But I didn’t... I stopped myself before...”

“It’s okay.”

“No, it isn’t.”

I reached out and ran my fingertips over his chest. “I want—”

He seized my wrist, stopping me. “No.”

“Professor...”

His thumb caressed the inside of my palm. “We agreed not to be alone, Miss Moss, didn’t we? I think it’s best if you get away from me as soon as possible.”

He was right. It was best. Being close to him made me feel too unbalanced and strange. Even now, it didn’t seem easy to stay upright. I leaned against the wall behind me.

He pressed his body against mine. He put his lips against my temple. His voice was harsh. “If you don’t go, Miss Moss, I’m really not sure what it is that I’ll do to you.”

“I’m not afraid.”

“You should be. I’m not a good person. I don’t think you realize that about me.”

“I...”

He let go of me, and he backed away. “I’ll go get that water. But I think it would be wise if you weren’t here when I got back. Get away from me.
Stay
away from me.” His eyes flashed.

I thought about pointing out that I wasn’t the person who’d carried me back to his house. He needed to stay away from me, didn’t he? But I didn’t say anything. I did what he said. I left.

CHAPTER SEVEN

“There’s always the possibility of a pop quiz,” said Dr. Holland, my history professor, “which is why you’ll want to be caught up on both chapters thirteen and fourteen before our class meets again.”

Inwardly, I groaned. I kept up with my syllabus, so of course I knew that I needed to get reading done for history class, but it had slipped my mind.

“That’ll be all, then,” said Dr. Holland, dismissing us.

I gathered up my books and got to my feet with the rest of my classmates. I was now fully into the swing of things here at school, and it was hard to balance everything. Rehearsals for the play took up a big chunk of time, especially if I did extra work with Harper in his room. Trying to make sure I got all my school work done could be challenging. But I needed to make sure that I kept my grades high or I’d lose my scholarship. Honestly, though, it was annoying. I was here to study acting, not to learn history. I didn’t need these general studies classes. But everyone had to take them, and I really hoped that they actually did make me well rounded.

When I told Harper that Reba had given me a pot brownie instead of a regular one, he said she must have made a mistake. He wouldn’t believe me when I said I thought she was out to get me. But he did admit that she was “a little high strung.” I told him she was still into him. He said that was crazy. They were just friends. And then he teased me mercilessly because he said I was jealous.

Truthfully, nothing could be further from the truth. Even though I hadn’t been alone with Professor Alexander in weeks, I was still obsessing over him. I dreamed about him—but not the dream that I usually had. These dreams were the more regular kind, where I’d also open a room and end up inside a giant cupcake or where I’d look down and realize I was wearing a bathrobe in rehearsal.

And then Professor Alexander would stride across the stage, open my robe, baring my skin, and slide his hands over my—

Anyway, I was thinking about him a lot.

He showed up at rehearsal once or twice, but he hid in the shadows of the back of the theater, and he didn’t say anything. A couple of times I looked up at him and found him looking back at me. There was something that seemed to pass between us in those moments, a current of desire. I didn’t get it.

I’d never felt like this about anyone. And I couldn’t deny that dreaming about the man must mean something. But I wasn’t sure what it meant. And I was a little bothered. He’d said he wasn’t a nice person. My aunts had told me that the man in my dreams was a danger to me. He wanted to steal my light.

Of course, I’d always thought that light stealing business was a euphemism for my virginity. My aunts didn’t know I’d had sex.

Maybe it was. Maybe that was the danger they saw. After all, in the dream, I was having sex with him. Maybe I was
supposed
to have sex with him. Maybe if he and I just gave into our crazy desire for each other, it would make things easier.

I hoped that was the case. Once or twice, I almost went to his house in the middle of the night. I thought about barging in on him, ripping off all my clothes, and begging him to take me.

I didn’t do it, though. Something about the possible danger made me just a little wary. But my lust was building every day. And it wouldn’t be long until it drowned the worry out entirely.

“Teagan Moss?”

I looked up. There was a woman standing outside the history building. She was tall and severe, with a solid figure. She wore a burgundy suit and black pumps.

“That’s me,” I said.

She offered her hand. “I’m Adelaide Surber, dean of students.”

I shook her hand. “Hi there.” Why was she here to see me? I held my books tight against my chest, almost in protection. But why I was trying to protect myself, I wasn’t sure.

She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “You are our Cross Scholarship student, aren’t you?”

“Yes.” But she must know that. She wouldn’t have come to find me to ask me that.

“And how are you enjoying Thornfield?”

“I love it.” Was this a survey? Was she asking everyone this question?

“You do? Marvelous.” She clasped her hands together. “Listen, I’d like to extend an invitation to you for dinner this weekend.”

“Dinner?” Like me and her?

“It’s a gathering of the administrators for the college, plus a select few faculty members and students,” she said. “We’ve chosen you because you’ve won a scholarship. The press will be there, so be sure to wear something nice and be prepared to be in a few candid pictures, possibly get asked a few questions.”

This was beginning to sound less like an invitation and more like an order.

She pressed her lips together. “It is an honor to be chosen.”

“Oh,” I said. “Well, I’m flattered.”

“Yes.” She smiled again, and her smile was still cold. “Then we’ll see you on Friday. Seven o’clock. In town at the Chillingworth Restaurant. Don’t be late.”

* * *

Carter

“I don’t think this is a good idea at all,” Teagan was saying, hands on her hips in the middle of the stage. “It’s crass. Ella would never do it.”

I’d come to visit the rehearsal, and when it was over, I would give a few notes to Harper. However, I thought it was best not to spend too much time actively engaging with Miss Moss. She was too tempting to me, and I needed to keep my distance. I was developing feelings for her. I couldn’t let that happen. I needed to stay aloof. How else would I fulfill the ritual?

“You think that Ella never gives Joe a blow job?” said Harper, leaning forward, a smile playing on his lips.

“Maybe she doesn’t,” said Teagan.

“Um, it
is
kind of awkward,” said Nick Pond, the kid who was playing Joe, Ella’s husband. “Plus, I don’t think the blocking’s going to work.”

“We haven’t even tried the blocking,” said Harper. “It’ll work. Your back will be to the audience—”

“They’ll be able to see on the sides,” said Nick. “The theater’s too small. They’ll know it’s fake.”

“Well, I would hope so,” said Harper. “I’d expect they wouldn’t think we’d be doing actual sex acts on stage. Anyway, it’ll work. Sue and I were already working it out.”

Sue was the stage manager.

“Back me up here, Sue,” said Teagan. “As the only other female in here. It’s totally exploitative.”

“I don’t think so,” said Sue. “I mean, you look at the scene, Ella really turns Joe around here. He starts out really upset, and by the end, she’s soothed him.”

“Exactly,” said Harper. “This makes it a much better scene because it’s an active choice.”

Sue nodded. “And I think it’s kind of a strong woman thing. Like, she’s able to manipulate him using his penis. Which is what feminism is all about.”

I choked in the background. Wow. Sue had clearly never taken any women’s studies courses.

“That’s not what feminism’s about,” said Teagan. “It’s about equality.”

“Am I going to like... whip it out?” said Nick.

“No,” said Harper, looking appalled.

“Well, I was only asking. I heard there was nudity in the senior seminar plays last year,” said Nick.

“Yeah, female nudity,” said Harper.

Teagan seethed. “See. That’s why this is completely unequal.”

“You want him to take out his dick?” said Harper.

“No!” Teagan’s eyes were wide. “I don’t want to pretend to give someone a blow job on stage. I just don’t.”

“But it makes the scene better,” said Harper.

“I’m not doing it,” she said. “End of story.” She stalked out of the theater.

Everyone was quiet.

“Whoa,” said Nick. “She was serious.”

“Congratulations, Mr. Cannon,” I said. “You’ve made an actress walk out for the first time.”

“Professor,” he said. “I didn’t know you were here.”

“I’ve been lurking,” I said. I walked further into the theater, onto the stage, under the lights. I sometimes forgot what it looked like from the actor’s perspective. Everything was a little different here.

“So,” he said. “What do you think? Am I being crass and exploitative?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I see your point about the scene. I think it is a strong choice.”

“But Teagan’s not going to do it,” he said.

“Doesn’t appear that way,” I said.

He sighed. “Should I try to convince her, or is that really smarmy?”

I considered.

“Never mind,” he said. “Look, let’s just end things early tonight, okay? I’ll rework the scene, and we’ll pick it up tomorrow.”

They all got their things together and left, but I stayed, telling Sue I’d be sure to shut everything down and lock up on my way out. Sometimes, it was nice to be alone in the theater.

I walked the stage for a bit, once everyone was gone, and I was alone. I stared out at the empty chairs. And I wondered how hard it was going to be to bring myself to destroy Teagan. I liked her so much. I’d especially liked watching her throw that fit for Harper, standing her ground.

She was probably making too big of a fuss about it. She’d never make it in the professional theater world refusing to fake blow jobs on stage. But she was young, and she wasn’t worldly enough to know that. Usually, I would have looked on that in contempt, but in Miss Moss, it was endearing. I thought of the way her eyes had flashed as she’d refused to do what Harper wanted her to. She was passionate and beautiful.

I kind of liked the fact that she was standing up to Harper at all.

And these were exactly the kinds of thoughts I shouldn’t be having about her. It was one thing when it was all about wanting her body. I’d thought that was tough, and I could hardly handle it. But now it was worse. I still wanted her body. I dreamed about having her luscious tits in my mouth again. I remembered how white and soft her skin was. I wanted to sink into her, bury myself into her. I wanted her so badly.