“If you decide to stay, I’ll do my best to get the other students to stop harassing you. I’d recommend not coming to class early, though.”
“Okay,” I said again.
“Well, you better get to your next class. Good luck, Penny.”
“Thanks.” I allowed myself to exhale as I walked toward the door. Class was horrible. But Tyler had stood up for me. And Professor Nolan was nice and understanding. I didn’t even have to redo my speeches.
As I walked through the hallway I could hear the whispers. I could feel the stares. I kept my eyes on the ground.
Someone grabbed my arm. I looked up at Professor Hunter. He pulled me into a custodial closet. When the door closed the whole room was pitch-black.
“Are you okay?” Professor Hunter’s soothing voice made me burst out in tears.
“Penny?” his voice was laced in concern. He pulled my face against his chest and ran his fingers through my hair. “I don’t like seeing you cry. Tell me what you need.”
I didn’t respond to him. I just continued to cry.
“Penny, please talk to me,” he said gently.
“I told you I’d give up everything for you,” I sobbed. “I said I didn’t care about finishing school here. I said we could run away together. I’ll do whatever you want. Please don’t do this.”
He put his hands on my shoulders. “Do what? What are you talking about?”
“Please. I can’t lose you. I know what living is like when we aren’t together. I don’t want to feel that way again. I can’t feel that way again.” I took a deep breath of his heavenly scent.
“You’re not losing me. Hey.” He grabbed my chin and tilted my head up so that he could see my eyes. “I love you. Where is this coming from?”
“You’re not breaking up with me?”
“No.” He laughed. It felt like ages since I had heard him laugh. “Penny, no.”
“Well don’t say things like we need to talk then,” I said through my tears. “When people say that, it means they want to break up.”
“You really do watch too much T. V.” He wiped my tears away with his thumbs. “Please stop crying.”
I felt relieved. But I was still mad at him. “We’re supposed to be a team.”
“We are a team.”
“No, we’re not.” I leaned back to look at him. “You made the decision to quit without even discussing it with me first.”
“I listened to what Joe had to say. There wasn’t even a decision that needed to be made. There was only one option.”
“But you had already decided. You had a resignation letter with you.”
“I like to be prepared…”
“You knew what you were going to do. You knew and you didn’t tell me. I felt blindsided in there.”
“I told you to let me go alone. I asked you to let me handle it. And it was my choice to make. Not yours.”
“What? It was a decision that effects both of us. Why do you want to do everything alone? I gave up everything to be with you. Stop pushing me away.” I swallowed hard. Isabella’s words came back to me. He wanted what he couldn’t have. And he definitely had me now. The small closet was making me feel claustrophobic. I tried to shake the thought away but it just made me cry even more.
“Please stop crying. I don’t know what you want me to do. I want to give you what you need. Please just tell me what you want. Let me reassure you about how I feel.” He wiped away my tears with his thumbs.
I grabbed the back of his neck and kissed him hard. He instinctively grabbed my waist and pulled me against him. His hands slid to my ass.
“Let’s go back to the apartment,” he said and kissed the side of my neck.
“No.” I unbuttoned and unzipped his pants. This was what I needed. This was something that always worked between us. The only reassurance I needed was his dick deep inside of me. “This is what I need.” I wrapped my hand around his erection.
He grabbed my thighs and lifted my legs up around him. He moved toward the wall, but tripped over a bucket. I slid down his torso and my feet hit the ground again. “Shit. Sorry, Penny.”
I silenced him with another kiss. I needed him. I unbuttoned and unzipped my jeans and pushed them down my hips. He pushed his body against mine, pressing my back against the cool wall. He slid my pants the rest of the way down. I stepped out of them and my flats.
“I think this will reassure you,” he said and knelt in front of me. I expected him to kiss the inside of my thigh, or lightly brush his fingers against my clit to tease me. But he thrust his tongue deep inside my wetness.
“Fuck,” I groaned and leaned my head back against the wall.
He had done this to me before, but never like this. He was acting like he was starving and I was the only thing sustaining him. He thrust his tongue even deeper inside of me as he rubbed his nose against my clit.
“James,” I panted.
He lifted my thighs over his shoulders so that he was supporting all my weight. He slid one of his hands underneath my tank top and pressed it against my breast to keep me in place. It felt like I was floating. All the tension, stress, and anxiety seemed to disappear. All I could think about was his tongue between my thighs. He rubbed his nose against my clit again.
The sensation was too much. I moaned as my orgasm washed over me.
“Do you feel better now?” He placed another long stroke against my wetness as he moved my thighs off his shoulders. I felt my back slide down the wall. “Because your cunt is delicious. I could do that forever.” He pushed my tank top up and kissed my stomach. “I told you everything would be okay and it will be. I need you to trust me. I need you to trust my judgment.”
“I do trust you.” He was still kneeling in front of me.
“Then we should be celebrating today, not fighting.” He sunk one of his fingers inside of me.
Oh God.
“I’m divorced.” He thrust his finger deeper.
Fuck.
“I’m not your professor anymore.” He slid another finger inside of me.
“James,” I groaned.
He responded by slowly moving his fingers in and out of me. “We can finally be together, just like you wanted. So tell me, how else can I reassure you?” His fingers were driving me crazy.
I moaned.