Page 81 of Wings of Ashes
Before her stood a man who could shift into the same kind of rock-like material that Nix had always pet and stroked when she was nervous or feeling particularly lonely. She still kept a small piece of smoother hematite by her bedside at the academy after a young adulthood of using it as a safety blanket and anxiety minimizer.
“What are you going to do?” she taunted the handsome professor. “Punish me?”
Professor Thierry’s eyes darkened to a storm cloud gray color as he leaned forward. His forehead nearly touched hers as he hovered his face above her. The tall man had to slouch to accomplish such a close stance to her.
How did he manage to bend over a foot lower and still maintain perfect posture? It made no sense.
“Punish you?” he repeated. The words came out gravelly and rough, like his mouth had gone dry.
“Are you going to write me up and send me to the dean’s office?” Nix asked.
Professor Thierry’s jaw clenched as he replied, “Maybe I should bend you over one of the study tables and slap your impulsive, curved, luscious ass until you realize who you are speaking to.”
The threat hung in the air, seeming to echo in the space between the bookshelves even though it was spoken in a low, masculine whisper.
A warmth began twisting low in Nix’s abdomen, but she ignored it. “You’d hit a woman?” Nix shot back breathlessly.
“Only one who likes it.”
Nix sputtered as her cheeks heated. “You think I’d like being spanked?”
“I think you need an outlet for these pent-up emotions,” the professor told her. “I think you would like the feeling of being put in your place. The impact triggers the release of endorphins, which can cause feelings of euphoria.”
“I don’t think you slapping my butt would cause euphoria.” Her thighs clamped together as she said it.
A hot, annoying pulsing began between her legs at the dark intensity in the professor’s expression. Soon, he would scent her pesky arousal.
“Why not? It is an area of the body that contains numerous nerve endings,” he told her. “Physical stimulation has been proven to be sexually arousing for some.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yes.”
Surely, the professor was bluffing. “I thought you weren’t interested in being seduced by a student.”
“I’ve never known someone like you.”
“Would you let me borrow your glasses, so I can try to pick the lock with them?”
“Stop trying to break academy rules in front of me,” Thierry warned her.
“Damn it.” Nix glared at the locked gate and slammed her foot against the lock as if that would break it.
She ended up on the floor, clutching her foot in pain.
Thierry knelt and snapped at her, “Impulsive woman.”
“Impulsive?” Nix shook her head. If she were a male alpha shifter, would she be calledimpulsiveor justquick-thinking? “I need to learn what those restricted books can teach me. I don’t have time to waste.”
“No? What is a waste of time exactly?” he asked, always wanting to be in the know. Big-brained professor Thierry.
Nix gritted her teeth, dusted herself off, and limped back into a standing position. She wiggled her foot, trying to lessen the painful throbbing. “I’ll tell you what appears to be a big waste of my time: pointing out injustice to alpha shifters, apparently.”
“You cannot change the world in a day.”
“No,” Nix said. “But you can burn it down in one.”
Thierry blinked at her, appearing so dumbfounded yet intrigued that she smirked. “Where is all of this coming from?” he asked. “A cygnus shifter like you, the adopted daughter of Council President Oadess. What have you experienced to make you talk of this so freely and…”
