Lips

MOON – Chapter 4

This is fine. This is totally fine.

I'm not having a panic attack because the man I'm married to is right in front of me, teaching the most important class to me.

I try to focus and fail woefully, my eyes on him like they're stuck, unable to look away.

"Helloooo? Anyone home?"

My eyes abruptly snap up from my fiddling fingers and meet curious ones shining with mirth.

"Oh, she hears me!"

It was the girl seated next to me, she had ridiculously long black hair that was so dark it almost looked blue in the light, brown eyes that seemed eager to know and see everything and she looked to be of Asian descent.

"You look like you've just seen a ghost."

"Oh...uh..I..." I stumbled over my words like a bumbling fool. I couldn't explain to her just how right she was. Seeing a ghost was an understatement compared to the shit I was currently in.

I heard the low rasp of his voice again as his lecture about technique when it came to shades began and God help me, I wanted nothing more than to bolt out of the class and catch my breath.

"I mean, not that I blame you." She shrugged, "That specimen of a man definitely left me tongue tied when I first saw him outside the building...even more so now that I know he's replacing Mrs. June." She giggled, "You think he'd fuck a student if she asks nicely?"

My eyes widened at her question which also made a clause of the contract come to mind.

I had to have a child for this man. My professor.

That also meant I would have to...have sex with him?

My stomach rolled with every churning emotion that threatened to undo me and it was getting harder and harder to sit still. To just watch, to just listen.

"Damn, easy girl...it was just a joke."

"Oh...sorry," I wiped the increasing sweat from my brow. "It's not you. It's just..." My gaze drifted back to the podium. He'd rolled up his sleeves and his thick auburn brows were pulled together in a frown as he focused on something on the screen.

"If you like him then I won't go after him."

"What? No, that's not it! I don't even know him!" The words rushed out of me louder than I wanted them to and I noticed the sound of his voice had gone quiet. Warily, I looked and found those green eyes narrowed in a glare.

"Miss Alexander, is it?" The dangerous lilt in his tone had my back going ramrod straight.

"Interrupt my class again and I'll bring you out to finish the lecture, is that clear?"

All eyes were instantly on me and I felt their gazes digging into my skin like needles but his...his felt like a loaded gun with an unsteady finger hovering over the trigger.

Oh. So he was acting like he didn't know me too.

Relief flooded me as I nodded hurriedly and the girl beside me gave me an apologetic look.

We both didn't say another word until the class ended and with how shaky my knees were when I stood, I wondered how I managed to get to the end of the class. I couldn't focus on anything else but the taunting sound of my racing heart, pounding so loud I feared he would really call me up front to finish the lecture.

"I'm Yuki, by the way." The girl who almost got me in trouble grinned wide the second we left the class, she was practically bouncing with excitement, her outstretched fingers shaking from it.

"Aphrodite." I introduced myself as my cousin with ease.

She took my hand in hers and giggled, "Fitting, you look like a literal goddess!"

I returned her smile, my cheeks heating up slightly at the compliment. Then I felt the air behind me shift.

Yuki's smile faltered slightly before she cleared her throat and laughed nervously, "I uh...I guess I'll see you around!"

Then she walked away like her ass was on fire, and I didn't have to turn around to know what was behind me, or rather, who.

"Miss Alexander," he called out. "A word?"

Forty seconds later, we were both in the empty classroom and the door slammed shut behind me.

The scent of tobacco and roses permeated the air, seeping into every pore as he closed the distance between us. Menacing was an understatement when it came to describing his stance, he towered over me like the building itself, dwarfing me in my 5'9 height.

"Listen...Cillian—"

"—Professor O'Brien," he corrected coldly, "In these walls, you are simply a student and I am your professor, do not think for a second that telling people about our relationship will get you preferential treatment."

I was pretty sure my mouth was embarrassingly wide open from shock. What...the hell did he take me for?

"I have no intention of explaining to the school board why I'm in a contract marriage with a student, so, until Mrs. June returns, you don't know me, you don't speak to me, you do not look or breathe in my direction and you do not interrupt my class."

The damn audacity of this man...he spoke as though I was some spoiled child in need of a reminder of the realities of the world or something.

I'm a grown ass woman, damn it! Just because I stutter when I'm shocked doesn't make me a pushover!

"I..." A strangled, shocked sound escaped me, "Jesus..." I managed through gritted teeth.

"I don't want anything to do with you either, okay?" I raised my hands in an exasperated wave, "The last thing I want is for rumors to go around that I'm fucking my professor or that I'm married to him, it'll ruin my reputation and my chances at having a normal school life."

His eyes narrowed into slits, "Excuse me?"

"Listen man." I scratched my chin, "This coincidence is clearly a big inconvenience to you as it is to me, so you don't have to worry about me coming on to you, as long as you don't make things weird by...I don't know, dragging me into an empty class in front of the other students." I gestured at the closed door with more force than necessary.

"So maybe just..." My words trailed off as he took a step forward, and then another, and then another. In a matter of seconds, the tips of his leather shoes were touching my sneakers and the green in his eyes had gone darker, angrier. He leaned in, and that flowery scent washed over me again. I inhaled and it felt like torture, because I couldn't breathe yet strangely, I couldn't get enough of it.

His...scent.

"Do you think this is a joke, Miss Alexander?" He had to lean lower so we were on eye-level, and I regretted every passing second in which I let him maintain eye contact.

My skin prickled from unease at the drop in his tone, I fought the urge to take a step back, refusing to be intimidated.

I've faced colder men and survived. I'm a freaking Alexander!

"Quite the contrary."

His face was so close now that I could see even the hidden freckles against his pale skin, the unfairly long lashes that framed his eyes. The slight part between his lips.

"I will not repeat myself again." His hot breath fanned the fine hairs on my face and the scent of tobacco and mint engulfed my senses like it was alive with the full intention of muddling my thoughts.

"Do. Not. Get. In. My. Way."

I watched his eyes like a sicko, which was why I noticed the split second in which they shifted lower, to my lips, and then darkened further.

Christ on wheels.

I was not breathing.

Was he going to...no, that would be ridiculous!

He pulled away just as my lungs began to protest, then he turned around and walked out of the class without another word.

The sound of the door closing snapped against my skin like a whip, and I shuddered an exhale that left me lightheaded.

My knees were trembling, heart pounding like it held a grudge against my poor ribcage.

"He wasn't looking at my lips." I tried to convince no one in particular.

"I'm not afraid of him." I lied to myself.