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Chapter 2

ผู้เขียน: Cindy Spencer Pape

Crap! Being alone with Galen Forsythe in his small, cozy office was something Lydia had hoped to avoid. Her defenses were so low she wasn't sure she could keep up the pretense of indifference she'd so carefully cultivated. She was humiliated enough that her brain had flat-lined during the exam. She didn't need him to know that the mere sight of him made her want him. He was so bloody handsome with his golden brown hair just starting to go silver at the temples and his piercing blue eyes. He was tall, with the build of someone who'd played football in high school or even college and who'd worked hard to stay in shape ever since.

And oh, gods, his scent! She walked beside him down the hallway and up the stairs to his office trying not to notice the aroma of male musk and sandalwood. She'd never figured out if it was soap or shampoo or cologne but the fragrance of sandalwood clung to the man more consistently than even his favorite camel-hair blazer. And that fit like it was custom-made.

It didn't surprise Lydia that he was courteous. The few times she'd met with him outside class he'd always been unfailingly polite. He stepped ahead to open doors and when they reached his office, a comfortable space jumbled with books and antiques and reproductions, he held a chair for her and offered her a bottle of water from a small fridge near his desk. Lydia accepted, just to give her hands something to do. He took one for himself, then sat down as well, the broad cluttered expanse of his desk providing a welcome barrier between the two of them. It was warmer in here and he shrugged out of his blazer. Lydia tried not to notice just how perfectly his pale blue broadcloth shirt hugged his well-muscled chest.

It was so embarrassing to have such a massive crush on her professor, especially one that had outlasted early hero worship and turned into a raging case of lust that three years had done nothing to dissipate. He didn't wear a wedding ring but that was the extent of her knowledge about his personal life. He was such an old-school gentleman that she knew he would never remotely consider a relationship with a student, even if he was unattached. So she gritted her teeth and squeezed her thighs together, hoping she wouldn't leave a damp spot on her chair.

"So what happened today, Ms. Curry? I know you have a firm grasp of the material that was on the exam." Back to last names, she noticed. Today in the classroom had been the first time he'd called her Lydia and it had sounded sinfully good spoken in his rich deep voice.

"I'm sorry, Professor," she repeated. "I know it's no excuse but the last twenty-four hours have been kind of - difficult."

"Ms. Curry - " He broke off, slammed his bottle of water down and stood. He rounded the desk and sat down on the edge right next to where Lydia was sitting. "Lydia." His voice had gentled this time. "Is there something I can help you with?"

His kindness was the final straw and the tears she'd been holding in finally burst free and started rolling down her cheeks. She spared a moment to be glad she wasn't wearing any makeup to smear. At this point she'd gladly take any small mercies she was granted.

"Please don't." His words were practically a groan. She buried her face in her hands and tried to stop. She held her breath, forcing the sobs to quiet down, until she couldn't hold it anymore and the sobs burst through with a noisy gasp. Her mortification only made things that much worse. She'd spent three years trying to convince this man she was intelligent and professional and here she went acting like the frivolous twit he'd so obviously thought her from the very beginning.

But then the strangest thing happened. He slid along his desk until his knee was right alongside the arm of her chair. Then he reached out and awkwardly patted her shoulder. "Tell me what's happened." His other hand rummaged in his pocket, emerging with a clean oversized handkerchief which he thrust into her lap.

"I'm so - so s-s-sorry," she managed to get out between sobs. "It's okay if you j-j-just give me the - the z-z-zero. R-really."

"I'm not going to fail you, Lydia. Not unless you don't tell me what has you so upset." His hand on her shoulder began to rub gently. "Is someone ill? Injured? You're not - sick - or anything? Are you?" He sounded so horrified by that last possibility that she had to laugh. Except it came out as a hiccup instead.

"N-no," she hastened to assure him. "N-n-nothing like that. J-just homeless and j-j-jobless at the m-moment. Th-that's all." Saying the words induced another round of sobs and somehow she found herself gathered close to his warm, broad chest.

"Don't cry, sweetheart. Jobs can be found and so can apartments. It'll be okay. You'll see."

She nodded. Her logical self knew that. She wasn't even truly worried about it. It was just that the shock of being evicted and fired in the same twenty-four hour period as her finals had all been a bit more than she could handle. She burrowed into his shoulder and slid her arms around his waist, grateful for the simple human comfort of touch. Since her parents had died when she was twelve and her grandmother when she was twenty, physical comfort had become a very rare luxury in her life.

He held her, stroking her back and murmuring words of comfort until her crying stopped and her breathing went back to normal. When she settled against his chest with a sigh, he gave her a brief squeeze then used one long finger to tip her chin up so she was looking at him. "Okay now. Tell me what happened."

She nodded, forcing herself to look away from his intense ice-blue gaze. A girl could drown in those eyes and smile while she was doing it.

"You know I finished my doctorate today. I did my dissertation defense last month. Your class and one in the English department were my last two hurdles before being completely done. I've applied for teaching positions all over the place but nothing has come through yet. Apparently brand new English PhDs are a dime a dozen at the moment."

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  • Teach Me   Chapter 48

    Back at her apartment a little later Galen found Anissa in the bedroom while Jason carried a load of boxes out to the truck. She held up her Tarot deck, the Hierophant card on top. "Now do you believe the cards can tell us things?"He tipped his head and grinned. "I don't know. Didn't you say that one is the teacher and it's supposed to represent me?"She nodded. "Why, what's wrong with that?"He took the cards from her hands and set them carefully aside, then pulled her close for a kiss. "Because you're the one who taught me," he murmured. "You've taught me the most important lessons of all. How to laugh. How to love. How to live."She picked up her cards again, avoiding eye contact. "That works both ways. But my love, there's something I need to tell you. I wanted to wait until the scroll was gone. Plucking up my nerve, I guess.""Sweetheart, we cast a spell that vanquished an evil demon. We met a Djinni who is an interior designer. I think my belief threshold has been raised to

  • Teach Me   Chapter 47

    Two days later, a small group of individuals gathered in Galen's back yard. Lydia had spent most of the previous day in bed, recovering from the soreness and fatigue but today she felt fine and everyone wanted to get this last chore over with.Jason used a hand trowel to stir the mixture of water and cement in the plastic bucket one last time."We're sure we shouldn't just destroy the ring?" Galen asked Ben Montoya, who had returned in time to help."We went over all that on the phone yesterday," Ben reminded them. "Breaking the ring could set the demon free. And nobody wants that.""Right." Galen and Lydia spoke as one. Jason laughed and shook his head at Ben. "They do that all the time.""So we're ready?" Galen asked the others.Jason nodded. "We've added the additional instructions inside the scroll case. And I jammed the mechanism where the ring is to make it that much more difficult for anyone to ever find it.""And we sealed the whole thing in a thick layer of wax," Lydi

  • Teach Me   Chapter 46

    "Anything you want." Galen stripped out of his shirt, trousers, and boxers in record time, then kicked his shoes and socks into the hallway. Then he grabbed a condom from a drawer and rolled it on before he finally stepped into the tub and settled across from Lydia, his long muscular legs resting against her own. She wasn't ready yet to tell him it was too late for precautions."You're still too far away." She shifted onto her knees then crawled over him to straddle his lap. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his lips, long and hard. "Mmm. Much better, don't you think?""Infinitely better." He gripped her waist between his hands and pulled her against his chest. His lips came down and claimed hers for another deep, drugging kiss.She opened for him, eagerly sucking his tongue into the hot recesses of her mouth. His erection prodded her ass and she wiggled against it, teasing them both. Then she moaned into his mouth when he gathered a few shampoo bubbles his hands

  • Teach Me   Chapter 45

    For a long time after Jason and Ben's friends left, Galen and Lydia simply lay on the bed and held each other while they cried. Both of them, to Lydia's amazement. Galen engulfed her in his arms and buried his face in her hair. When her sobs finally abated, she looked up at him to see a river of tears pouring down his face."I thought I'd lost you," he murmured, kissing the tear tracks on her cheeks. "I've never been so scared in my life.""Me either." She tried to chuckle but it came out as a sniffle instead. "You are my hero, you know. You suspended your disbelief. You never gave up. I love you so much, Galen.""I love you too, Lydia." Then his lips came down on hers and there was no more time for words. There was just a frantic need to reassure one another that they were both alive and still together. His hands slid under her open blouse to glide along the skin of her waist and up to cup the sides of her breasts as their mouths fused and tongues dueled."Ouch!"She broke the se

  • Teach Me   Chapter 44

    Anissa arranged them all in a circle with Lydia at the twelve o'clock position. Galen was on Lydia's right, Jason on her left. Next to him was Lori, a short, bubbly woman with medium brown hair, and then her husband Eric, who could have been Galen's younger brother. They were about the same height and blond, but the younger man was slimmer and wore glasses. Then Wesley took David's hand, while the shorter, frizzy haired man, held hands with Wes and his Djinni wife. Galen and Jason sat on the mattress on either side of Lydia and each grasped one of her hands, which were still chained to the bed above her head."Ready?" Jason asked."You good, sweeting?" Galen asked Lydia."Hurry." She nodded and tightened her grip on Galen's hand."One last thing." The kiss was long slow and sweet. He tried to infuse it with all the love he had in his heart. "Fight for us.""I will."Jason coughed and kept his eyes focused on the photocopy he held."If this doesn't work, we're not giving up," Gal

  • Teach Me   Chapter 43

    "The drawing around the first letter of the scroll..." Lori began."Illumination," both Galen and Lydia chimed in."Will you two stop that?" Jason shook his head. "Go ahead, Ms. Gordon."Call me Lori. And yes, the rest of us are just humans. Now listen. The drawing shows a woman sort of superimposed on a snake, or maybe the other way around. She has one red jewel on her forehead - sort of Asian for a medieval European art, don't you think? She has another on her chest - like over her heart - and another on her stomach. What do you want to bet that's an instruction manual?""Sort of like chakras," David said. "The three bonds. Mind, heart and body. The magic has to go in through those points.""Of course!" Galen punched a fist in the air, while Lydia cried, "Yes!" Then they kissed again"Would you two get a room?" Jason rolled his eyes.Galen actually managed a chuckle as he pulled away from Lydia's lips. "So we lay these on the appropriate spots. Then what?""Then we read the s

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