It only seemed absolutely ridiculous before I said it. Once I asked and she recoils away from me like I reached across the table to slap her in the face with the words, it ceases being crazy to think about. It seemed possible. Plausible even. That would explain her absolute paranoia about the subject. Because she was doing it, she believed I must have too. She couldn't stand the thought that I wasn't so she ruined our marriage over it, Instead of admitting that she was wrong. "Sorry to disappoint you Zane, but you are the only one here with an appetite for Nineteen year olds." Daisy snaps, sharp as a whip. I am not taken aback, I know it is her top rebuttal and I have stopped allowing it get me worked up. She likes to rile me up, it is a sick game I would not be participating in anymore. "So, what was it about then? Don't think I wasn't aware of your shameless snooping around on my students then." It occurs to me that I need to find Shane and have a conversation with him. I can't t
Alex Pov::I did not hear from Zane over the weekend. Since that call when I told him about Shane and Daisy's connection. He promised to call back and tell me how the meeting went. His silence meant it didn't go well. So I let him be. He needed the time and I did too. I had to start taking extra care about my safety. I don't know what I expect Daisy would do to me but I imagine it might be something physical and damaging. Judging from how she reacted that first day, I have to constantly be on guard. It is exhausting. I told Penny to tell me immediately if she sees her hanging around the hostel. I also asked if I could get Tristan's number so I could reach him, I wanted to ask him about his brother, Shane knew Daisy more than maybe even Zane knew his wife. But Penny refused. I know Tristan didn't like me much. But Penny's reason for refusing was that Shane was kind of the Bryan's family secret and they rarely talked about him to outsiders. Tristan would be mad at her for even mentioni
Zane kisses me gently through my tears till the tears stop falling. His lips on mine is gentle, soft and almost painfully tender, he moves with ease, on the surface, innocent. It makes my heart beat fast regardless. It gives me butterflies. When he is sure I am calmed, he pulls back and gazes at me, with so much grace and tenderness shining through his dark eyes. I feel solid. Secured. "What are you going to do?" I ask. "I have started considering fighting for sole custody. She is obviously mentally unfit to raise a child. I spoke with my lawyer over the weekend. Right now, with no solid evidence of mental instability, chances are slim. It would just be a long fruitless battle, not to mention traumatic for Luna." Zane exhales. His eyes look so tired. "Hm." I don't want to risk speaking else I start crying again. I don't know what it is about this office, I feel emotionally vulnerable every time I step inside it. "The crazy thing is that to get some kind of evidence or whatever to
"I was. But I trust you." Saying it out loud makes me realise it is the absolute truth. I trust him. Wholeheartedly. I am vaguely aware how dangerous that is, but since I walked into his class and openly challenged him, I have been treading a dangerous line. And some reserved part of me likes it. Craves it. "Alex..." Zane says, his dark eyes dilates. I give him a small smile like my heart is not beating crazily hard at my admission. I basically just confessed my deep feelings for him. Wrapped up in a safe word. "You are welcome." I say lightly. "I don't even know what to tell you about the whole Shane business now. It is something I have kind of pushed to the back of my head. That was a lifetime ago. It threw me off for a bit when you mentioned him in connection with Daisy. But I insist, you should know. You should hear about it from me. And I guess I can say we have come too far for you to back out, but you should be able to make a decision nonetheless." Zane says. His tone is ser
"Uhh, I...I was...okay, yeah, I will ask Tristan about it tomorrow. And you can't stop me. Yeah, that is it. What I meant..." Ugh, fuck. I don't even make sense to my own ears. I am scrambling for words. I can't face the quiet intensity in his dark eyes. He remains infuriating quiet and watch me try to redeem myself. The first time I slipped like this, we didn't talk about it because I was drowsy with sleep. It didn't count. But now I have said it again. And under no influence at all.It is too soon. Oh God. It is too much. What is he going to think of me? How can I be in love with him so soon? If he only knew I have always been. I turn away from him. Heat crawls up my neck. My face is a tomato. And the office is too brightly lit for me to hide. I am exposed for him to see. "Alex..." He says. His voice is solid. Stable. Giving nothing away. But I know he heard me and I know what he must be thinking. I start hyperventilating. I bring my hands to massage my neck, it vibrates. "No, d
My vision swims. I am bent over, hands on my toes, Zane is behind me, hands grabbing onto my hips tightly as he strokes me to the edge. He is so full inside me, I bite my tongue, then I stop holding back, and I am moaning loudly, matching every rumbling grunt of his. "You like that, huh? Your cunt is so tight. So fucking wet. You drive me insane." Zane grunts, thrusting sharply into me. The sound our bodies make against eachother is intoxicating and sensual. I can't get enough.I lose my balance, but his strong hold on me steadies me, he smacks my ass cheek and I cry out, pleasure like a tidal wave rocks me closer still to the edge. The love making is primal. Desperate. Hungry. Vulnerable. Admitting my feelings for him has left me bare. I have nothing else to hide. Nothing else to keep away. And it is such a freeing state of mind. It makes sex with him all the more intense. "You are so huge, fuck. You are tearing me apart." I scream, my words finding me in the haze of the frantic f
Time ceases to exist once I step inside this office. I can't wrap my head around how so much time has passed since I came here this morning. Maggie would be so mad. Since she knows about me and Zane and why I spend less and less time with her, she has been irritable. Quite rightly. I keep missing plans with her. "What's wrong?" Zane's brows creases as I jump off the couch. I look around for my clothes. I don't even know when or how my top got off in the frantic lovemaking earlier but I vaguely remember yanking off myself. "I am late for a study group meeting." I say pulling up my jean skirt. "Oh. Exams are in a week right? Fuck, I have been taking too much of your time. I am sorry." He gets up and helps me in my search for my top. He produces it from behind his desk where I chucked it. He flips a switch and the office is flooded with light. I squint at him, and then around, looking for my phone. I spot it sticking out from under the desk. "It is fine. I am not complaining." I say,
A moment passes between us where all pretences are dropped. She knows I can now see through her bullshit act after the last time. I know she doesn't need to bother with it anymore. And yet here she is. Dread fills me up at the thought that she could have been following me for longer than I noticed."What are you doing here?" I say, keeping my voice low and solid. I hate how weak I sound regardless. Clearly deferential like I am talking to a superior. She hears it and she smirks. I boil within myself. With fear, anger and indignation. The audacity of this woman to threaten me for something as harmless as falling in love. "You think you are in love?" She says, carrying on like she didn't hear my question. I bristle at the obvious condescending tone of her voice. She walks up to me, I have to clench my fists to tamp the instinctive urge to take a step back in fear. Daisy up close is truly intimidating. She is a gorgeous woman with milky white blemish free skin. Her chocolate brown eyes
He gives his charming smile and nods, "Hello to you too, Madeleine." He says good-naturedly. The audience is still cheering and clapping. Someone uses the teleprompter to ask for silence, and it still takes a few seconds for the studio to go quiet so Madeleine can continue. They love him. My heart fills with pride. And love, too. I am so grateful that we are past that dark phase in his life two years ago where it felt like he was losing everything, and it was my fault. "Let's get right into this book!" Madeleine says, and the audience erupts with cheering and applause again. But it is quickly controlled. "First off, I want to talk about the process. It is very rare to see projects like this. I know of authors coming together to write biographies or translating books. But actually writing together? That is new and different. Alex, I want to know what the writing process was like for you. Orion is already quite established and experienced, but this was your debut!" Madeleine asks me.
"I have no idea." I say, truthfully. I really don't. I have still not come to terms with the thought that I am not going to return to the college for the new session. Since Zane is not going back, it makes no sense for me to. That is how it works now. That is how it will be from now on. "Okay. We can put a pin on that for now, then. Back to my offer, what do you think, Alex?" Zane squeezes my knee with one hand, his eyes stay on the traffic ahead, as he navigates the car. I recognise this highway and where it leads. He is driving us to the cabin. His cabin. Our cabin. My heart is so full, I can barely breath. "You want me to co-write a book with you?" I ask him again, just to be sure I am not in a dream. Just to be sure that this is real. The sound of his laughter reassures me. It is real. I am going to be an author! "Yes, Alex. I want to work with you on a book that is going to be more successful than all the books I have ever released." He says as he pulls into the countryside, i
Alex POV::"Oh my God! What do you mean?" My voice comes out as a really loud scream that is very uncharacteristic of me, Zane just smiles, he takes my hand and leads the way out of the hallway, I follow him still confused but feeling a swirl of excitement ramp up in the pit of my stomach at the mere thought. I can't even begin to fathom it! "Come, let's go before you summon the whole department." He says and I laugh but the laughter bleeds off my face as soon as we step out of the department and there are a lot of people around and they all stop to stare at us as if we were stars in a movie and the director yelled for everyone to stare at us. I blush under the scrutiny. I didn't expect this much people to be out and about but I guess most people are already resuming. I think it is only my class that is resuming a week later, the rest of the department are resuming this week. I try to pull my hand from Zane's grip, he doesn't let go, he looks down at me with a questioning look in hi
Zane Orion POV::"We were just trying to determine how this scandal started. If you get what I mean." Mrs. Tyrell tells me, she sounds like she would rather be anywhere else, but Mrs. Manson looks exactly the opposite, I understand she wants to be rid of me and sent that announcement of my job termination to the press. I understand that as vice president of the college, she can't afford the fallout from the scandal, so she must do what is in the best interests of the college, but this is going too far. They are still trying to pin everything on Alex. They want a different story. "I thought the panel was referencing the interview. You should already have your answers to that." I say, holding Mrs. Manson's narrowed gaze. Alex squeezes my hand under the desk, I interpret it as her being nervous. I have missed her so God damned much, it is unreal. Sitting beside her, I keep taking full lungful of her scent. She smells just as I remember, the nostalgia of us together at my cabin, naked
"These feelings, you didn't consider them inappropriate seeing as he was your Professor and a respected member of this faculty?" Mrs. Tyrell asks when the rest of the room remains silent. "No, I didn't." I say, deciding to be truthful and straight to the point."Did you act on these feelings first?" They are trying to determine if I should be the one to place most of the blame on. So it becomes a case of a student seducing her lecturer and they can get Zane back since he is obviously more valuable than I am in terms of who contributes more to the college. I didn't come here to be crucified so I wouldn't give them that satisfaction. It is becoming clearer to me that I definitely wouldn't be allowed to finish my degree here. I nursed a pipe dream, hoping that I could do anything about this case that has now spiralled into something more than me. "I can't answer that as I can't say. I don't know who acted first. It was mutual and consensual from the beginning." I tell them, the confid
Do I even want to continue schooling here? I don't know. I have not been able to really think about the impact of this situation and what it meant for my interests. I came to this school because of Zane, if he is not going to be here, do I want to stay? I mean, I have to think about myself and what would work best for me, but I can't help thinking about him too, I can't help it. He was summoned too and he promised me he would show up after they were done with me, I can't wait to see him. Though it would feel weird meeting again in this department after everything that has happened, but I look forward to it regardless. I missed him so much. "You said you chose this college solely because professor Orion taught here?" Mrs. Tyrell asks, she is obviously going to be the one doing all the questioning while the others sit in, I can feel their sharp gazes trained on me, I can't bring myself to look at any of them, I keep my eyes set on a spot above their heads. "Yes, I did. It was the tru
"I told you to be careful because you are young, Alex. He is almost twice your age. I told you that he had more life experiences you can only dream of. This relationship, it isn't fair on you. You probably can't see it now but you are getting the short end of the stick. I can't watch you spend your youth like this, Alex. This is the time of your life to be young and free and unburdened, you can't spend it dating a man with a kid and a mad ex wife." It is one thing we have come to agree on. That Daisy is insane. She didn't hesitate to believe me after I told her about how Daisy was stalking me and being weird. "Mom, I am young, but I am not naive. I matured almost ten years above my age after we lost dad. I am not a kid. I am not going to spend my 'youth' being free and unburdened as you put it because it would never happen for me. I am already burdened, Mom. I understand your worries and I am sorry that I have disappointed you or that I am not going to listen to you, but it is someth
"How did you know where she is? Did her family home location get leaked online?" My heart is racing so hard, I can barely breath. I can't follow all else that Madeleine said, I can't get past the part about her getting an interview with Alex. The last time we talked, we didn't agree on talking with the press. My dumb strategy was waiting out the outrage. I know that it would eventually fizzle out. I didn't mind being the worst hit. As long as Alex was safe and shielded."Is that the only thing you heard me say?" Madeleine leans forward, intense eyes narrowed in interest. "No, her location wasn't leaked, Orion. I found her because I was interested, it takes little to find someone these days." She says, leaning back, arms crossed over her chest. "Why were you interested?" I will get back to the interview bit but there was something about Madeleine's presence in this cabin that felt different. We are friends but we hardly get involved with eachother's lives. She has made it clear that
"You look like shit." Madeleine pushes past me and the half open door to make her way inside the dark living room. "What are you doing here?" I ask, reluctantly turning on the lights, knowing I look exactly like shit as she said. Madeleine is more than an acquaintance, I would say we have a friendship of sorts. We have kept in touch over the years since my debut, she invited me to her wedding three years ago. She is a wildly interesting woman with a diverse group of friends. Artists and writers and everyone in between. She is also three years older than me. There might be some kind of maternal undertone to our relationship, but it isn't weird. I like her. We work really well together, she is always the first person my books are sent to for a review. And it is a mutually beneficial relationship that has held grounds for years now. All this doesn't explain to me why she is here. She is not the kind of journalist to chase after scandalous stories like the one I am currently involved w