“Sorry, sir,” Saint said, somehow making sorry sound a lot like fuck you. “I left something here earlier, I was just looking for it.”
“What?” I demanded as if I hadn’t heard him calling Tatum’s name.
“Just my shiny new toy,” he said with a shrug, but his eyes lit like he was high on something and I didn’t think for a moment he’d been taking narcotics.
“And why were you calling out for Rivers?”
A small, cruel smile pulled at his lips and I was suddenly glad I’d hidden her from him. I had no reason to feel protective over the girl but Saint and his friends were vultures and if they decided to circle someone, you could bet your ass they’d keep on pecking at the carcass until there wasn’t a single scrap of flesh left.
“I caught her trying to wash your football jersey in the store cupboard,” I said in a flat tone. “I informed her that we had a perfectly serviceable laundry service and told her to get the fuck out. A message I’m happy to extend to you too.”
“Is that so?” he asked, his gaze narrowing like there was some issue with my story.
Tatum shifted beneath the desk, her shoulder brushing against my knee and my heart leapt at the idea of him catching her under there. Which was a joke really. I was the teacher and he was the student, but there was something about this whole situation that had my blood humming. It felt good to be doing something I shouldn’t. Even something as minor as this. I was so caught up in rules and regulations all the damn time, that I hardly ever got to just have fun.
“Problem?” I asked him, arching a brow.
“It’s just…we were waiting outside for her, so she can’t have left,” Saint said, his gaze narrowing suspiciously.
“What do you want me to say, Memphis?” I asked with a sigh. “I caught your little friend here making a nuisance of herself and I told her to fuck off. About as clearly as I’m telling you to fuck off right now. So unless you’re looking to come back here for detention tomorrow, I’m gonna suggest you hightail it out of here.”
“Fine. I guess I’ll just call her then.” Saint reached into his pocket for his phone and I damn near leapt out of my skin as Tatum’s hand landed on my thigh and she squeezed in warning.
“Why are you standing there to make this call?” I snarled at Saint as his eyes narrowed. It took me a moment to realise what he was looking at and he hit call on his cellphone half a second before the bright pink monstrosity Tatum had left on my desk started ringing with the name King of the Fuckwits flashing up on the screen.
I contained my amusement at that as I picked the phone up and tossed it in my top drawer.
“Looks like she was in here after all,” Saint said, assessing me carefully as he cut the call again.
“I found that out by the pitch,” I said in a bored voice. “Unless you think I’ve got her on her knees beneath my desk?”
I arched a brow at him as I dared him to keep pushing me.
“No offence, sir, but my girl wouldn’t suck your cock for all the money in the world.”
“Watch your tone with me, Saint,” I growled. “Don’t forget I’m your teacher.”
“I didn’t mean any offence,” he said, raising his hands innocently. “Only that she knows exactly who she belongs to and she isn’t stupid enough to go near anyone else.”
“What do you mean who she belongs to?”
Saint offered me a taunting smile and moved closer to the desk with his hand held out. “I can take her phone back for her,” he said, ignoring my question.
“If Miss Rivers would like her cellphone back she can come and claim it herself. I won’t tell you to fuck off one more time.”
He glared at me and I glared right back, ignoring the fact that he was using his position above me to try and intimidate me. The day I was intimidated by the King of the Fuckwits would be a pathetic day indeed.
Eventually, Saint nodded and backed off. “Okay, well if she shows up around here then send her my way, would you?”
“I’m not your message boy, why don’t you get Bowman or one of your little followers to track her down if you’re so desperate to see her?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll have the whole school hunting before long. We’ll find her.” He smirked at me before heading out of the door and closing it behind him.
Tatum sighed in relief and moved to climb out from beneath the desk but I rolled my chair forward, shushing her as I glanced at the CCTV and spotted Memphis lurking in the corridor right outside the door.
My new position closer to her meant that I could feel her shoulders brushing the inside of my thighs and her breath fluttered over my hand which lay in my lap. Why the fuck did Memphis have to mention the idea of her sucking my cock? I wasn’t blind, Tatum Rivers was an exceptionally attractive girl, but I was her teacher and I absolutely refused to look at her that way. But with her down there between my thighs, the mental image kept creeping in and the adrenaline rush I was riding from hiding her from him was making me feel reckless. Couple that with the fact that I’d been feeling the ache in my blue balls tonight anyway and I was finding myself in a damn compromising position.
Memphis finally gave up and strolled away, heading out of the building and I rolled my chair back, casting a frown at Tatum as she crawled out from beneath the desk.
“Thank you,” she breathed and I caught the glimmer of fear in her eyes before she locked it down. “I just don’t want to deal with that asshole right now.”
“That asshole is rarely alone in his tormenting games. You wanna tell me what he meant when he said you belong to him?”
“I…” Those big blue eyes widened and for a moment all of the bullshit she liked to give off was gone and she was looking at me like maybe there was a chance I might actually be more than just another asshole. It made me wonder how many people she’d had in her life who she could even rely on. And with everything that had come out in the news about her father, I was willing to bet she didn’t have a whole lot of people to ask now.
“Sit down,” I urged in a tone much softer than I usually used, offering her my chair again.
Tatum glanced at it then shook her head, making a move to dart past me.
I reached out and caught her waist, my fingers slipping across the soft material of her dress as I pushed her back and made her perch on the desk before me.
Her breath caught as she looked up at me, her hands landing on my forearms like she was going to push me off. But she didn’t. And for a beat too long, I didn’t release her either, the feeling of her body beneath my hands drawing me in.
I swallowed against the inclination to stay there and released her, placing my hands on the wooden desk either side of her instead, boxing her in and holding her captive as we remained like that, eye to eye.
“Tell me,” I growled, no room for negotiation.
“They…the Night Keepers are angry at me for the things the newspapers are saying about my dad,” she breathed eventually.
“You don’t believe he did it?” I asked.
She shook her head, tears brimming in her eyes along with a hint of doubt. “I know him, I love him, I can’t believe he’d do something so awful, so…” A sob escaped her as a tear fell and my thumb swiped over her cheek to catch it before it could drop between us.