“Of course I didn’t hurt him. I don’t even know who he is, Nora. You ran out and I had to come after you. Staying there and beating my chest with him didn’t matter anymore when you walked out of that door.”
I run my hand through my hair in absolute frustration, angry tears prickle my eyes, but I try so hard to fight them off.
“That got so out of hand so quickly. I won’t continue it out here.” I turn and set off down the sidewalk once again.
“I’m not going to let you run from me, Nora.”
Memories, nearly that very same phrase, singes my heart and I turn toward him again. “You don’t get to say that to me. Ever.”
He holds his hands up in surrender. “Just let me talk to you, love. Just a conversation. I’m not even sure what is going on here.”
“You don’t get to control me, Tristan. You don’t. I get to decide. You make me so frustrated and angry, yet so beautiful and free. I’m fucking confused and I need to breathe. Let me breathe.”
I back up a few more paces before my walk turns into a fast walk, which turns into a run. Running in heels is a skill I acquired not by choice.
I can hear him behind me. I know he’s there, but he’s not trying to talk to me. He’s just staying close. Keeping me safe.
I try to reconcile everything that has gone through my head in the last fifteen minutes. Had I just been able to keep my wits about me when he told me that he’d been with Katya the night we’d met, none of this would have happened. I’m angry at him, at Lucas for acting like an ass and not listening to me, and I’m angry at myself for running like a coward when all I want is to turn back to him.
My hands hold tighter around my arms as my shivering gets more pronounced. I know he can see it. I finally get to the security of my building. Tonight, for sure, I can’t wait to be surrounded by the walls I’ve counted on. The walls that are the only thing that can’t hurt me. Now the tears show up. Dammit. I’ve done so well until now keeping them locked away.
My eyes are so glossy that I can’t see into my tiny handbag to find the keys. Then when I do, I can’t make the fucking thing go in the lock so I can make this night go away. So I can make him go away.
His warmth behind me seeps into my skin and I squeeze my eyes closed when he slides his arm around me, taking hold of the key, and helping me guide it into the lock.
“You make me crazy, Petal. Crazier than I’ve ever felt over someone.”
I look down at his hand resting over mine. The ring from the first night is staring up at me. He’s always looking at me even when he’s not. “Have you ever considered that you are?”
He draws his nose up and down the nerves on the side of my neck. His voice vibrates inside me. “I have Petal, ad nauseum.”
I can’t stay this close to him. It’s not good for me. I can’t think clearly, borderline at all, when he’s near. This should have been over the minute I saw he was my professor. I should never have taken him home that night. I should have never become his teaching assistant. I should have never… “Please, Tristan, let me go.”
I can feel his lips moving near my ear. He’s trying to find words, any words. “I can't.”
“You can't or won't?”
Just when I think he’s going to give me an answer, he spins me in his arms so we’re nose to nose. The pull between us has never been higher.
One word. One word changes everything.
“Both.”
Caution, fear, and hesitation fly out the window along with my ability to say no to him any longer.
I search his beautiful face, and for a fleeting moment, his grin appears. With that my body explodes into action.
“Fuck it.”
I throw my arms around his neck and yank his mouth to mine.
Tristan
I was not going to let her get away from me tonight. Certainly not after the way we left things when she marched out of the bistro. I don’t know who the lad was or is to her. That is not my concern at the moment. It’s only her.
As we walked, I thought I’d be spending the evening arguing with her. Then, I thought I’d only have the opportunity to make sure she got home safely.
What I didn’t expect, however, is to be tumbling through her front door with her lips on mine.
I kick the front door shut with my foot then press her into the wall by the door, the same as I did the first time I was here with her.
She gasps at our contact. It’s like the rush of air was all she had in her lungs. I pull away from her just slightly. The gap between us can’t be measured. Our lips graze across each other’s, then our noses once more. Her petite hands slide up and cradle my face. There is a gentle pulse that emanates from them. They go from a grip that could bruise to one of soft and featherlight. It’s a strange sensation, one I’m not used to. I give her a bit more of the smile that led us here. She gives me a hint of one in return. Her words fuck it were not to gain her freedom from me. They were to gain her freedom with me.
She slips her hands into my jacket and pushes it back and off my shoulders, letting it fall to the floor at our feet.
I grip the thickest part of her arse and lift her from the ground, coaxing her legs around my waist.
“Where’s your bedroom, Petal?”
“Down the hall. Last door on the left.” Her voice is soft and breathy against my ear, making my already straining cock pulse at the sensation.
I don’t know what I thought her curling against my body in this way would feel like. Her head rests against my chest as her fingers dance across my skin. Her lips coat my jawline with imprints as we become one with the shadows in the hallway.
We get to the end and I push her door open. Her room is somehow exactly how I imagined, but somehow completely different than one would expect. It’s simple, clean, and perfectly decorated.
I drop her carefully, with a bounce, onto her bed then grip her ankles, giving her a yank until she’s at the very edge of the mattress. Her hair is fanned out behind her beautifully.
“No matter what. Leave your heels on.”
I rip open my shirt like I’m in a rage I can’t control. I guess in a way I am. She’s watching me transform into the man I wanted her to both know and the one I wanted to keep hidden. I lean forward with an urgent need to touch where I’ve only been able to envision inside my head or my shower.
The paleness of her skin is brushed with a hint of pink. I let my fingers and my lips inch my way up under the skirt she’s nearly no longer wearing.
I lift my eyes to see her and find that she’s tipped her head back and that just won’t do.
“Look down here, Petal. Watch.”
I curl my fingers into the fabric of her skirt and tug it down her body until it drops off her feet. She’s wearing a simple pair of pale pink, lace panties and the sight of those alone nearly does me in.