Page 20 of Teaching Ms. Tingle

Fear shoots through me like ice water in my veins. I shake my head again, pulling my hand back as I start to shake. I hate talking about being sick. I am better now but my heart is battered in the truest sense of the word.

“I-I, I don’t want to talk about this. I am not your obligation, Kane.”

Darkness passes over his handsome face. His hand lifts, shoving his silky hair out of his face. His eyes fly away from me for a moment, and I hate it. I upset him. I hate even thinking about upsetting him or hurting him. And maybe part of me wants to be the one to strike first.

“Stop it. Stop doing that shit. Tell me kitten, what did I say the last time I was inside you?”

A wave of heat rushes to my cheeks, painting them a shade of crimson I can’t hide. My heart begins to race as if trying to outpace the filthy memories. Kane on top of me, my body prone beneath his. His tongue skating up my spine before his mouth pauses at my ear. His cock grinding into me, my clit on fire as his fingers rub at it.

“Mine.Mine, all fucking mine,” he growled, pumping harder, hand gripping my neck to pin me down. “You belong to me, kitten You know I’m yours, don’t you? Fucking own me, kitten.”

“That I am yours,” I murmur softly, glancing around to see if anyone can hear us. We’re both obtuse to everything when we’re together.

“And I am yours. Does that not equal obligation? Does that not tell you that Iwilltake care of you? That I fucking want to take care of you,” he hisses as he closes his books, pushing back from the table.

His hands drop to my shoulders, the warmth of his touch soothing me. I lean back against him, his closeness calming me. He bends, pressing his lips to the top of my head. Pulling out the chair beside me, he folds his big frame into it. Beneath the table, his hand finds my thigh as he presses close.

“Iwantto take care of you, Kinsley. I want to give you everything.”

Closing my eyes, I turn into him, my emotions making me shake like a leaf. Iwantto have everything with him. I just don’t know how we get to have it all together. If anyone finds out about us, it could cost us everything.

“Playing takes me away from you. Unless it means I can take care of you, I don’t need it. Idoneed to see you tonight. I can’t go another night without you, baby. I miss you. Please, let me come to your place.”

Just as I start to cave, to tell him that I don’t care about our earlier arrangement, my body goes still. We sit too close together, heads bent, his hand on my thigh beneath the table. If anyone looked hard enough, they would see a couple sitting here. Not a teacher and her student. And as I look into the stacks, I see that someone is looking hard enough.

“Stop touching me,” I hiss softly, making a show of focusing on the work we’re supposed to be doing. “One of my students is watching us.”

“Who? Where?” His hand does not fall away as he asks this, but he sits back in his seat, casually glancing around. His entire body goes rigid when he sees him. It is Alec, the boy who left his things in my office the first night we kissed. He interrupted us and I always feared he suspected.

“Alec. Watching us for a while, I am afraid.”

Kane turns, glaring at the other man from across the distance. Not that his furious look will do anything to stop Alec from thinking the worst. I do not know what to expect. Will he come over here and accuse us of something? Or will he keep his suspicions, if he has them, in his pocket to use for later?

“Fucking prick. Stay here.”

“Kane, no. What do you think you’re doing?”

“Letting that fuck know he needs to leave you alone.”

“If you go over there, he will know something is going on. I think he suspected something that night at my office.”

“And what if he does, Kinsley? If anyone sees us together, theyshouldsuspect something is going on. It’s obvious the way we are together. The way I look at you gives it away. I am going to let him know if he talks about it, he will regret it.”

Pushing to his feet, he saunters over to the other man. His posture is full of confidence. As if he is not about to admit he is sleeping with a professor. I guess there is no shaking the sort of cocksureness a man like Kane has ingrained in him.

Biting my lip as I hastily put our things away, I am a wreck. I cannot lose this job. What’s more, if I lose it because of this sort of scandal, I won’t be able to find another teaching job. Who will hire a professor who fucks students? Well, one student, not plural, but the stigma is the same.

I am trembling, down to my bones. My teeth rattle as I watch the two men talk. Tears sting my eyes, but I swipe them away, afraid of looking guilty. I am guilty. I am doing the one thing a teacher should never do.

“Not a threat, my guy. A warning. Just one. That is all you need.”

Gasping as I hear Kane’s words, I shoot to my feet. No, God no. Whatever he has said to Alec has confirmed our affair. I rush to the stacks where they stand talking. The air is so thick with tension it feels as if I have walked into a brick wall.

“Ms. Tingle,” Alec’s stuns me with its coldness, its bitterness. “Yourboyfriendseems very protective of you. I think having him threaten would be bad for both of you, don’t you?”

“Clearly this motherfucker needs a lesson in what I do on the field. I hurt people without breaking a sweat bud. You talk to her again and you will get a demonstration.”

“This is not appropriate,” I mutter, trying to move Kane’s huge body. He towers over him, fists bunched at his sides, entire body coiled and ready for an attack. “Alec please just go. Kane doesn’t mean that.”

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