Page 45 of Hello Kitten

He likes the scorpion tangled with the rose on his hip, a reminder that beauty and sharpness can sometimes be the same thing. I’d kissed it to soften those thorns and the pinchers and the tail. I’d wanted to convince him he didn’t need to be sharp even though I told him not to be gentle.

Lightning splits the sky, making me jump and Beth gives me a look as half the glass turns to face me. I must have scooted my chair out too far. Even Dr. Hayes is looking at me with mild concern that he hides the second our eyes meet.

“Sorry,” I whisper.

Class is a mix of me trying not to picture Dr. Hayes helping me study and all the soft sides of what we could have against me thinking of him getting fired, our weekend everywhere in the news vilifying him.

I can’t focus on a single thing.

When class is over, I email my other professors, saying I’m sick. I haven’t used any sick days, so I’ll be fine. I won’t miss anything important. I walk outside and stand over the overhang as I watch the sheets of rain come down.

I chose a hell of a day to wear a white shirt and short pink skirt. Staring at the rain, I watch other students go around wherever they want. Even Beth hurries off. I try to calm my rolling stomach until Adrian walks by. He glances to the side, notices me, then steps closer, staring at the rain, not me.

“Do you have an umbrella?” he asks.

I shake my head.

“I have a coat I can give you. Just to keep ...” he trails off and clears his throat.

“That’s nice, but I’ll wait. It’s ... helping,” I murmur.

“Anything happen this weekend I should know about?” he asks in an intimate whisper.

I lick over my bottom lip. “Nothing that a professor needs to know about.”

“Emily,” he groans.

I take an unsteady breath. He starts walking after tossing me something—a coat. I pull it around my shoulders and head in the same direction. I leave some space between us. I shouldn’t do this. I shouldn’t.

But I’ve slipped twice.

I can’t stop thinking about him.

We just...we won’t get caught. I keep telling myself that as I glance around, then hurry into the parking lot. It’s raining, there’s next to no one around. Adrian glances back as he slides into his own car and I follow, getting in the passenger seat before I can think this over one more time.

I get there, throw the coat behind me and pant. I stare at the windshield as Adrian cranks the heat. He drives to another lot, an overflow lot that’s never used except at night when commuters need a place to fuck.

When we get there, he parks and rubs his forehead. “You’ve slipped twice, Emily.”

“I know.”

“And what were you thinking in class today?”

“You don’t need to know,” I say quickly.

I shiver, then look down at my shirt. My pink bra is obvious, my white shirt plastered to my skin and anyone with eyes can tell my nipples are hard. I swallow and look back up, nearly panting just being in the same care as Adrian again.

“I do need to know. We had an agreement. You’ve slipped twice. You followed me to my car. I’m trying, Emily,” he whispers. “I’m trying very hard not to be a dom right now and to be ...”

“A teacher?”

He doesn’t answer, but he grips the steering wheel so hard, I’m sure his knuckles are going to split open. I suck my bottom lip. “I was thinking about ... things.”

“No eye fucking in class.”

“I was thinking about what it would be like to study with you. To have you read to just me,” I whisper. “Then what would happen if people found out. How you’d be called a villain for seducing me. I can see you being fired and black listed. I’d be kicked out of university. And I still wanted you reading to me and feeding me fruit in front of a fireplace when it gets cold.”

“Emily,” he groans.

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