16

Professor Adrien Moreau's POV

I'm fucked in the head. One night with a girl I never should have touched has ruined me in every way. My student…my temptation…my Dahlia.

I saw her as I rolled up the tinted window of my car. I pushed the button a beat too late just so I can indulge myself by looking at her. She's so fucking perfect that it's wrong. She's drenched, wearing a deep scowl, and holding back tears, yet she's perfect to me. The greedy monster inside me has woken up, it's craving her…I'm craving her.

My Dahlia…no, Jennie, is still standing there with a bag in her hand and her hair sopping wet.

Drive. Keep on going, Adrien. Do not take your feet off the gas, if you do, you'd free fall into the girl you swore you wouldn't look at twice.

The devil and an angel are having a fucking divine meeting on my shoulders and I'm at war with myself. Her taste is still fresh on my tongue. The way her face contorted in pleasure is still at the forefront of my mind like a tattoo. And her moans…her sweet moans are like a fucking broken record in my brain.

“Fuck” I curse and bang my palm against the steering wheel.

When I walked into that restaurant earlier, she was the first thing I saw. Like she's fucking magnetic, my eyes found her without my permission, and I had to force myself to look away. Jennie was talking with her boyfriend, that boy who doesn't seem to notice the way her eyes are dull.

Isn't it ironic? The ones who deserve a gift are rarely ever the ones to get it. My life and age has taught me to reach out and take what I want, but I can't do that with Jennie. I want her, but she's a flower, and she's the one who gets to decide where she blooms.

I look into the rearview mirror and curse again. I can't do it. I can't drive away from her. Without warning or thinking twice, I change gears, reverse the car, and stop right in front of her. I'll worry about self-control and discipline later. I hop out of my car and run to the other side where she's standing frozen.

The dark-haired beauty looks up at me with surprise and I clench my jaw to give myself some sort of control. Her pink lips, the ones I licked and kissed a few nights ago, are parted as she continues to gaze up at me. With the patience of a saint, I throw my jacket over her body. “Get in the car,” I order when my jacket is secured around her body.

“I…”

“Get in the fucking car, Jennie. I don't like the rain,” I say in a harsher tone to show her that I mean no harm. Yes, I mean no harm, but I want all harm. I want to pull this ruined dress up and fuck her against my car till she screams in pleasure, but I won't do anything like that to her. My desire for thing doesn't give me the right to take it.

“Now.“ I snap.

She eyes before me getting into the car, and I slam the door shut with more force than needed. I get into the other side of the car and get the heater going for her. She's shaking.

Her teeth chatters as she tries to control the force of her shaking.

“You were here with your boyfriend, what happened?“ I ask and she presses her lips together stubbornly before giving me an answer. “Jennie.“ I say in a warning and she drops her head.

“He had to go attend to something important” she says and I grit my teeth. Oliver didn't look stupid when he visited my office. He seemed like the kind of boy who should know what to do with someone as valuable and as beautiful as Jennie.

“Does he leave you everywhere like you're a fucking doll to be picked and dropped?“

“Oliver really isn't like that," she says in a small voice and it takes everything in me not to snap. I'm fucking pissed. What sort of guy leaves his girlfriend, fuck that—what sort of guy leaves any woman all alone by this time of the night?

“Give me your address, I'll drop you home,” I say and she stares at me like a lost pup. What I was afraid of is finally happening. My mind, my soul, my body and every single thing in me is gravitating towards her like she's the center of the universe. It's like going back to the night I had her, but it's different; it's not just the need to fuck her, it's the need to own her completely.

I let out a harsh breath and look away from her.

“Address, Dahlia,” I say. The fake name rolls off my tongue like it's right. It's the name she made for me alone. My flower.

“I can't give you my address.”

“Because I'm a stranger?“

“Because I'd be locked out,” she says and I tilt my head.

“I had a friend over and she's here for the night, so she asked me to lock her in, and then I dropped the key on the table…Oliver took it last minute.”

“Fuck. Your boyfriend is really thoughtless, isn't he?“ 

“it's just an accident—”

“An accident that could get you in trouble. Is this how younger men treat their women now?“ I finally snap and then press my lips together with realization of what I'm doing. I wish I was the one who gets to be her man, but I'm not. I'd never forget anything that has to do with her.

I drag my hand down my face and from the corner of my eyes, I catch her following the movement, soaking up the sight me. 

We stop talking but the tension in the car is suddenly palpable. The jacket slips off her shoulder, and just before she'd pull it up, I get an eyeful of her nipples through the flimsy excuse of a dress she has on.

“Jesus Christ,” I mutter and look away.

How could he have walked out of her when she looks like this?

“I'll take you to my place for the night.”

“Why do you look like you hate the idea?“ she asks.

“Because I do.“ I hiss and slam down on the accelerator.