“Oh yes. Once he experiences the pleasure I’ll teach you to share with him, he’ll be addicted to you.” We both glanced over to Caleb, who brooded at us with his arms crossed. “If he isn’t already. Either way, you’re about to blow his mind with pleasure. Enjoy!”

A thrill raced through me. Of course the logical part of me knew that her words weren’t literally true, but they thrilled me, nonetheless. I loved pleasing my partners. I was a giver, and I considered myself rather skilled in bed. Heck, I’d studied sex like I’d studied coding, and immensely enjoyed the results of my sexual research more than the tech.

But I was always up to learning new things, and I had a feeling Mistress Susan was going to give me one heck of an experience.

“Okay, back we go into classroom mode. I am once again Mistress Susan, and you are a student in my class, Ivy. You are aware that if you refuse my orders during an instructional demonstration you’ll be kicked out of my class and failed. So you must do whatever I say. Feel free to improvise as long as you stay in character. Most of all, have fun, because I certainly will.”

I shivered, suddenly glad I’d taken the time to put on some killer lingerie and taken a quick shower. The reality of what I was about to do settled into me, adding to the throb of my body responding to her authority. And to the feeling of Caleb devouring me with his gaze.

I turned to look at him, only to find Caleb glowering at me as Mistress Susan returned to the front of the class. Caleb narrowed his lovely eyes at me, but I gave him a bright and merry smile. Some adrenaline-seeking part of me enjoyed annoying him. I knew I might pay a price for poking at him, but I couldn’t help myself. I mean, he was going to edge me under Mistress Susan’s guidance anyways, I might as well have some fun with him.

“Ms. Ivy,” Mistress Susan said in a loud voice, startling me out of my staring contest with Caleb. “Come to the front of the class, please. The rest of you read chapter twenty-one and do the outline, quietly.”

From somewhere overhead came what sounded like the hum of a classroom, louder than the actual class before us. Interesting. It blocked out any comments from the class that might disrupt us—there was always at least one mouthy asshole in every group—yet it didn’t take away from the atmosphere.

Mistress Susan’s desk looked like most of the teachers’ desks that I’d stood next to over the years.

Though none of those sturdy wood desks had ever had a red leather flogger draped across one corner.

I shifted on my heels before her, assuming what I thought of as the neutral submissive position. My hands at my sides, back straight, feet slightly parted and knees bent just a little bit. I held this position for all of a few seconds before my hands nervously smoothed down the silky synthetic fabric of my vintage dress. She sat on the edge of the desk and regarded me with a kind expression.

Mistress Susan’s expression turned icy as she said, “Ivy, Caleb confessed about what he did.”

I gave her a blank look, then glanced over to where Tyler and Caleb were speaking on the other side of the large platform, past the chair.

“He did?”

“Yes. He told me that he was the one who copied off of your test. I am so sorry you had to endure a day of being suspended, but we had to make sure who the real culprit was. To his credit, Mr. Caleb came to us and confessed.”

“He did?” I repeated, sounding to myself like an idiot. “I mean. Wow, I’m so glad he did.”

“Yes, but now I’m afraid we’ve come to the unpleasant matter of his punishment. Cheating is taken very seriously here at Rawhide. He could be put on academic suspension and he could have damaged your reputation forever. If you wanted to, you could push for him to be suspended.”

“No,” I said quickly, getting into the role and loosening up a bit. “That’s okay. He’s a good guy, he really is. He just… I don’t know. I guess he’s just stupid sometimes.”

“Hey now,” Caleb called out from behind me. “I was tired because I had to pick you up from a frat party and save you from your drunk date.”

“I was fine,” I yelled back and heard some laughter even through the murmuring and white noise soundtrack. “I didn’t need you there.”

“Yeah, well while you were passed out sleeping, I was driving your friends back to their houses. I got two hours sleep, and no studying thanks to you.”

I actually felt slightly guilty as I sniped back, “I didn’t ask for your help.”

“No, you little idiot, you didn’t. Thankfully your friends aren’t as irresponsible as you. They called me once your boyfriend got so drunk he smashed a chair through a window. Great guy, Ivy. Nice choice. I was totally wrong when I said he was a psycho dickhead.”

His sarcasm prickled my temper, but before I could respond Mistress Susan said, “Enough. Ivy, you have a decision to make. Since it seems as if you both erred, I will give you a choice. You can either take a punishment together or face the principal.”

“I…” actual butterflies filled my belly as I thought about all the ways Caleb could edge me. “I choose the punishment.”

Tyler began preparing the straps of the chair and my arousal went up a notch.

“And you, Caleb,” Mistress Susan said in a sugary sweet voice that set my teeth on edge. “What do you choose?”

“Punishment,” he said as he met her gaze with a glare that practically screamed how he was going to fuck me into the nearest wall.

“Very well. Caleb, please remove your hoodie and shirt.”

I waited for instructions to remove some item of clothing, but she said nothing as I stood there, watching Caleb pull his shirt off. When his flat abs were revealed, whistles cut through the noise again and I couldn’t help but agree. If I’d seen Caleb without his shirt the first time we’d met I would have dragged him back to my room with me. The man was built, and the bulge going on in his jeans begged to be explored.