Page 23 of Promised in Blood

She stops in her tracks and glares at me defiantly. “I have somewhere to be, Professor,” she grits out.

Yes you do, little one.I growl the warning inside her head but keep my outward tone calm and neutral. “It will not take but a few moments of your time.”

She sighs, shrugging her backpack onto her shoulder. When another student stops to ask me about the midterm, Ophelia taps her foot impatiently. I curl my hands into fists, stopping myself from putting her over my knee and punishing her for her insolence.

I watch the rest of my students file out of the room, aware of Ophelia’s eyes on me and her growing anger. I am still actively tuning her out, counting down the seconds until that door closes and we are alone. Every cell in my body vibrates with the desire to scream at her meandering classmates to move faster and stop with their inane chatter, but I remain silent. However, as soon as the last one leaves and the door swings closed, I turn and face the object of my torment.

“Who do you—” she starts.

With a hand wrapped around her slender throat, I push her against the wall and cut off her question by sealing my lips over hers. She resists me, but I am undeterred, forcing my way into her defiant mouth until she submits. It takes no more than few seconds before she is whimpering softly and flicking her tongue against mine. She rakes her fingers through my hair, pulling me closer. I lift her and wrap her legs around my waist, pressing her flat to the wall. Grinding into the heat radiating from her damp panties, I try to find a semblance of relief for the throbbing ache in my shaft.

When I am certain of her compliance, I break our kiss and allow her to draw a breath.

“Why did you ignore me, and why can’t I speak to you through our bond?” she asks through a series of pants, but there is no fire in her tone now, only sadness.

I rub my nose over her cheek and inhale her uniquely addictive scent. “It was the only way to get through this class, Ophelia.”

“But it wasn’t just in class. I tried to speak to you earlier today about Cadence, and you didn’t answer me.”

That she thinks I would purposely ignore her stings more than I could have anticipated. I lower the guard I had in place and speak through our bond.I was in Thucydides Library. I did not answer you because our bond will not work there. Malachi sought me out to ask my counsel, but had I known you were calling for me, I would have left the library and answered you myself.

Relief floods her, and she gives me a sweet smile.But why couldn’t you get through class without ignoring me? I’ve been in your class all semester.

Yes, but I was not bonded to you before. I did not have such intimate knowledge of the sweetest of temptations only a few feet away from me. Had I so much as looked at you today, I might have remembered all too clearly what happened between us last night.

And why would that have been so bad?

I huff a laugh.Because then it would have been incredibly difficult and incredibly painful to restrain myself.Would you like all your classmates to watch me fuck you? Perhaps I could have sat you on my podium and made them watch me eat your pussy instead?

She gasps, but the scent of her arousal grows stronger. My fangs protract with the need to take her. To taste her. But she has given enough blood this day. “You wouldn’t do that though, would you?” Her words come out as a string of breathy moans that do nothing to sate the desire burning through my veins.

“I would rather not, little one. But make no mistake, it is what I want to do whenever you are near. So if I am ever coldtoward you, know that it is because I am fighting an internal battle to keep my hands off you.”

The skin on her neck and chest pinkens the way it does when she is aroused, and she wraps her arms around my neck. “I like having your hands on me.”

A feral growl rumbles from my chest. I am a mere breath away from taking her here in my classroom. “I know that I told you last night that it is unnecessary to keep us a secret, but I should have been clearer. We need not keep it a secret from our kind, but from the humans, we must. A professor dating his nineteen-year-old student is not good for the reputation of the college.”

She sighs. “Or for the reputation of Ophelia. I don’t really want everyone to know I’m…” She rolls her lips together, and the flush on her neck creeps over her cheeks.

I arch an eyebrow. “Screwing your professor?”

She feigns indignation, mischief sparkling in her eyes. “Well, yes. Although I could be doing that right now.” She glances down at our bodies pressed together. “But I’m not.”

“And you shall not until you can learn to control your power a little better. Dr. Ollenshaw has already been asking questions regarding my office. I had to tell him I met up with an old fire demon acquaintance of mine.”

Jealousy flares from her and almost makes me laugh, but it is quickly replaced by her frustration. “That doesn’t seem very fair.”

My mouth trails down the column of her throat, taunting us both with the promise of the sweet relief that would come from me biting her. “I agree. I can think of no greater punishment than me not fucking you.”

She curls her fingers in the hair at the nape of my neck and rubs herself against me. “But it’s a punishment for you too, if youreally think about it. You know, staying away from me, not to mention my vamp-nip blood, could be hazardous for you.”

I dust my lips over her ear and laugh softly. “I was talking about me, Ophelia. And I will not feed from you again today. Your vamp-nip blood is safe for now. But if you are so concerned about my welfare, perhaps I do need to fuck you.” I unfasten my belt and my slacks and free myself before she has a chance to protest. “I think we will be fine so long as you get nowhere close to orgasm.”

I tug her panties aside and line the crown of my shaft up with her wet heat. “That also doesn’t seem very fair,” she says, whimpering.

“Nothing in life is fair, Ophelia.” I drive inside her with one smooth stroke, and she cries out, throwing her head back. I cradle it with my palm just in time to stop her from smacking it against the wall. “You are not going to burn down the history building, are you, Ophelia?”

She shakes her head.

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