Page 99 of Forbidden Lessons

I push away from the sofa, but he catches my wrist and pulls me back. I almost topple into him, finding my balance just in time.

“Haven,” he whispers.

He brings his hand up beside my neck, using it to hold back my hair so more light falls on the red ligature marks around my throat. I flinch when his thumb brushes my skin.

Brown eyes gleaming with orange firelight stroke my neck in rhythm with his thumb.

“Tell me his name.”

I jerk away, but my professor is faster than me. He grabs the back of my neck and hauls me back again. This time, both my hands go to the back of the couch to stop myself falling on top of him.

“This isn’t his fault.”

He barks out a rough laugh as his eyes latch onto mine, blazing with an angry heat. “You’vegotto be kidding me.”

“I mean it, Professor.” My arms shake as I try to keep some distance between us. “I antagonized him.”

His response is a feral growl. “Youantagonizedhim?”

I wish I could look away, but I’m trapped by my own morbid curiosity, desperate to see how this plays out. I’m not just taking a gamble here, I’m putting everything on the line and yelling, ‘all in!’ like they do in movies.

“Let me go,” I say, pushing harder against his grip.

“I’m not letting you go until your ass is in a chair at the sheriff’s office.”

His words put a nauseating lump in my stomach. “What?”

He releases my neck, grabs a handful of my hoodie near the shoulder instead. Pushing me back, he stands, putting our bodies flush against each other before I can take a hurried step back.

“You must report this.”

I knock his hand away. “I don’t have to do anything.”

He stares at me like I’ve lost my fucking mind. Joke’s on him, because I’m pretty sure I have. “Haven, you’ve been assaulted?—“

“And I told you, I had it coming!” I dust myself off, taking another step back in case he tries to grab me again. “Anyway. I’ll be back at classes next week, once the bruises have gone away. I heal quickly.”

We stand just like that, two feet away, both our hands clenched into fists like we’re contemplating going a round to see who wins this argument.

Then he slumps, eyes dropping to the floor between us. He pinches the bridge of his nose, sighing. “Christ, I should have stuck to private practice.”

There’s a crease of defeat between his brows when he looks at me again. “Fine, Miss Lee. You think you deserve this? Who am I to call bullshit on your warped reality?”

That puts a lump in my throat, but I swallow it down with force. “Good. I’m glad we have an understanding.”

He scans me with dead eyes, like I didn’t just take the fight out of him, but the life too. “People should be able to strangle anyone they want, right? With enoughprovocation?”

“Okay,” I say, pursing my lips, nodding. “Yeah, I figured you wouldn’t understand.”

I back up so I can veer around the sofa on my way to the front door. Professor Rooke turns his body, but he stays in the same spot. Simply raising his voice to reach me.

“Is that all he did, Haven?”

My feet root to the spot. I stare at Bastian over my shoulder. “What?”

He strokes the air beside his neck. “That all? Because if you change your mind, you only have a couple of days to do a rape kit.” He glances away. “Already showered, though. Most of the evidence would be gone.”

“He didn’t—“ I cut off, swallowing hard when I realize he’s baiting me.

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