LOGINIsabella’s pov
I stayed straddling him, hands flat on his chest, feeling his heart still slamming under my palms.He was hard again already, the thick length of him pressed right against my wet folds. Neither of us moved for a long minute.The only sound in the apartment was our breathing and the faint tick of the clock in the kitchen.“You’re not leaving,” I said.“I should.”“But you’re not.”His hands slid up my thighs and gripped my hips. “No. I’m not.”IElisa’s pov“All right,” I said, sliding into the chair across from him and resting my forearms on the edge of the table. “Deal me in properly then. I’m not sitting here to lose money I don’t even have.”Marcus looked up from the green felt and gave me that half-smile he used when he already knew the answer to whatever I was about to say. The cards made soft sounds under his fingers as he finished the second round. Two cards face-down in front of me, two in front of him. The rest of the deck sat neatly to his left. Noon light came through the tall windows and cut across the dining room, catching the faint silver at his temples. Forty-one. I had turned twenty last month and still felt the number like a new coat that didn’t quite fit yet.“You’re not a child at this table,” he said again, quieter this time. “Play like it.”I picked up my cards. Ace of hearts and a ten. My pulse jumped once, hard, and I kept my face still the way he had taught me years ago when the lessons were still j
Ella’s POV“Lock it.” My voice comes out rough as I watch him cross the room and turn the bolt. The click is loud in the quiet office and it settles something deep in my chest. The rain has softened to a steady soft fall outside but neither of us is leaving. He turns back and the look on his face is the same one from the almost-kiss only now there is no more holding back.I stay on the couch and feel the wet heat between my legs throb harder just from the sound of that lock. “Come here. We already decided.”He walks over slowly and deliberately like every step costs him something. When he reaches me he does not sit right away. He stands between my knees and looks down at the way my skirt has ridden up. “The years between us are still real. The fact that I grade your work and sign off on your future is still real. Anyone could have walked in before I locked that door.”“I know.” I reach for his belt and tug him closer until the front of his trousers presses against my chest. “I fe
Ella’s POV“Lock it.” My voice comes out rough as I watch him cross the room and turn the bolt. The click is loud in the quiet office and it settles something deep in my chest. The rain has softened to a steady soft fall outside but neither of us is leaving. He turns back and the look on his face is the same one from the almost-kiss only now there is no more holding back.I stay on the couch and feel the wet heat between my legs throb harder just from the sound of that lock. “Come here. We already decided.”He walks over slowly and deliberately like every step costs him something. When he reaches me he does not sit right away. He stands between my knees and looks down at the way my skirt has ridden up. “The years between us are still real. The fact that I grade your work and sign off on your future is still real. Anyone could have walked in before I locked that door.”“I know.” I reach for his belt and tug him closer until the front of his trousers presses against my chest. “I fe
Ella’s POV“Listen to that.” I keep my eyes on him even as the first hard crack of thunder rolls over the building and rain starts hammering the windows in thick sheets. The desk lamp flickers once then steadies. The air in the office turns heavy and warm almost immediately and the unlocked door suddenly feels like the only thing standing between us and whatever is about to break.He does not move away. “You should go before the roads flood.” His voice is lower than it was a minute ago and I can see the way his chest rises under the shirt.“I am not going anywhere and you know it.” I stay right where I am with the desk still pressed against the backs of my thighs. Another flash of lightning fills the room and the power dips again so the lamp buzzes and dims. “We both stayed past every reasonable hour. The department is empty. The storm just made the decision for us.”He runs a hand over his face and the muscle in his jaw works. “Ella, this is already past the line. The years betwe
Ella’s POV“You marked the same paragraph three different ways and none of them tell me what you actually want.” I drop the pages on his desk harder than I need to and stay standing even though the chair is right there. The office smells like old paper and the faint soap he always uses. Books line every wall and the only light comes from the desk lamp because the rest of the department emptied out hours ago for the conference. The door sits unlocked behind me and every sound from the hallway makes my skin tighten.He leans back in his chair and looks at the pages instead of me. “The argument is solid until the third section. You start reaching.” His voice stays even the way it always does when he is trying to keep everything clean. I watch his hand rest on the marked sheet and my cunt gives a slow heavy pulse just from the sight of those fingers.“Reaching for what?” I ask. I step closer until the edge of the desk presses against my thighs. The black skirt I wore this morning sti
Ella’s POV“Fucking hell, not this early.” I shove the buzzing phone off the nightstand and sit up in the narrow bed that still holds the heat from my restless night. The sheets are twisted tight around my thighs and my thin tank is shoved high under my breasts so the cool air from the cracked window hits my nipples and makes them tighten hard. Dissertation pages stare at me from the desk across the room like they know I have not touched a single one since yesterday afternoon. My head aches and my cunt gives a slow heavy throb the second my mind lands on the meeting that is already waiting for me across campus.I swing my legs out and the floor is cold under my bare feet.The apartment is small enough that three steps take me into the kitchen. I pour the last of the cheap coffee into a chipped mug and the smell hits me first, burnt and bitter, exactly the way everything has tasted for the last three years while I perfected the art of being the serious one. I lean against the coun







