Page 9 of Releasing Reenie

I cocked a brow, and in a flash, just as a submissive’s would, her eyes dipped low. Only they didn’t stay that way. Before ten seconds had ticked by, her eyes were back on mine, and the storm in them had turned to a hurricane.

Curious. So incredibly curious.

CHAPTER 6

Trent

I moved across the hall into an empty classroom. I didn’t want Mira to know I’d witnessed her discipline, but I also didn’t dare move too far from the slippery Professor Stahlbaum. I wanted to speak with her before she could gather her bearings or talk with Derek about resigning. It sounded a bit like overkill, but I was talking about a woman who snuck out of a restaurant bathroom in the middle of a date.

Mira’s Mary Janes sounded down the hall, telling me Maureen wouldn’t be long, so I popped out of the doorway to wait. Onlywaitisn’t quite what I did. I paced, way too eager for our reunion. Only, even after thirty minutes, Maureen still hadn’t come out.

Narrowing my eyes at the classroom door, I wondered if her office, which was connected to her classroom, had a window. Mine didn’t, but hers, on an outer wall, might’ve.

“Master Holland,” Master Derek’s cheerful voice called down the hallway. “How are you settling in?”

Sliding my eyes from Maureen’s door to the leader of the resort, I realized what had happened. She’d seen me watching and called in reinforcements.

Afraid to be alone with me, are you, Maureen?

Where was the confident woman I knew from before our date?

That woman wouldn’t go to such lengths to avoid an awkward interaction with a colleague. But it seemed Maureen had, and now I had to play nice with the director of the Ranch, the big man himself, instead of having the conversation I so desperately wanted to have with her.

“Very well, thank you,” I said, shaking the man’s hand in a firm grip.

“I’m sorry I still haven’t had a minute to take you through to the Dungeon. I’m sure you’re eager to play.”

I wave him off. “It’s not a big deal. I’m sure one of my colleagues could take me.”

“Oh, yes, good idea. Have you had a chance to get acquainted with some of our other professors?”

My eyes cut to Maureen’s doorway at his question. “I was just about to introduce myself to?—”

As if she’d heard our conversation, Maureen’s crisp footfalls echoed. “Master Derek. Thank you for coming. I just had a few questions about—” She paused speaking and looked at me. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize someone else was here.” Her hand went out and I stared at it, gazing back and forth between it and her eyes.

I gritted my teeth.

“Oh? Don’t you know each other?” Derek asked, looking between us. “If I recall correctly, you two both worked together at?—”

“Columbia,” we both replied in unison.

Again, my eyes narrowed on the beautiful woman. Her lies aggravated me even more, but for the sake of our fearless leader, I pasted on a smile. “It’s good to see you again. What’s it been, now? Two years?”

“Three,” she answered, giving me a look that said “not long enough”.

Though she smiled, it was tight and forced and I could tell she’d rather be anywhere other than standing in the hallway making small talk with me.

“Three,” I parroted, with a nod even though I’d already known the answer. I knew it down to the exact date. If I had a calendar, I could have told her exactly how many years, months and days it had been. But I wouldn’t do that, not in front of the boss. She wanted to keep it professional and act like we’d never been anything other than colleagues, I would play along. For now anyway.

“How long have you been here at Rawhide, Maureen?”

Though I would have said it wasn’t possible, Maureen’s smile got tighter, her teeth gritting together behind her full, red lips. “Three years,” she said evenly, her eyes meeting mine in a challenge of sorts.

“Three already, hm,” Master Derek chimed in with a shake of his head. “She has a stellar reputation as a professor, and as a Domme. A highly sought-after favorite in the Dungeon.”

“Is that so?” My mouth hitched up on one side. Three years meant she’d been here at Rawhide University pretty much since its inception, and since she’d left our date through the window. “Well, then, I know who I’ll come to if I have questions.”

Her gaze shuttered, she hated that idea, clearly, but she couldn’t say so in front of the boss.

---