We don't talk about Claire till we get home. Or anything else. He didn't even turn on the music for the rest of the ride. We just sat in silence. I spiralled and drained myself worrying, and I guess he got some thinking done or whatever. As he pulls down the road with the farmlands and the cute little houses and finally his cabin, I feel my spirits lift up a little. At least we still have this place as our little sanctuary. Claire can't show up here to ruin it. Or at least I pray so. "I will make dinner. What would you like?" Zane says as he offloads the groceries we got from the car. "I don't know. Anything." I say, feeling exactly that. I don't have an appetite. Not after the scare of running into Claire of all people at that store of all places. The smile on her face still sends a chill down my spine. I can't wrap my head around it. Zane says I shouldn't let my mind wander too far but there is nothing else I can do but let my thoughts wander. "Okay. I will surprise you then." He
"Oh my God! Where? Don't tell me she showed up to his door?" Maggie's surprised yelling is no match for me but I don't pull the phone away from my ear this time around because I find her reaction very validating. She is reacting exactly how I would have liked to react if Zane didn't undermine the implications of meeting Claire at that store of all places. It wasn't just a coincidence. I am not crazy to let my mind wander far about her motive. "No, I would have gone numb with the horror." I chuckled. Imagine that! "Girl, where?!" Maggie's urgent tone prods the answer out of me. "A chain store about thirty minutes from Zane's neighbourhood. She claimed that she came out there to buy jewelries." I relay Claire's bizarre though easily believable excuse. "Wow. That crazy bitch. Do you think she is stalking him? How come professor Orion hasn't noticed her antics yet?" Maggie asks, obviously upset. "I think he is coming around to it." I tell her, knowing Zane is more likely to just unde
Zane Orion POV::"Wow. What a feast. I didn't know you enjoyed cooking like that. You really did surprise me, wow, my belly is so full and my heart is so happy, this is probably the best meal I have ever eaten. I am not exaggerating." Alex says animatedly, she is leaning back on her seat, rubbing her lower belly as she sips water, beaming at me. She drinks water or the red wine I opened for us and I just drink her in. She is stunning. It is unbelievable that we have eachother right now right here. There is a permanent blush in addition to the makeup high on her cheeks from the wine and I imagine I look the same if not for my damn beards that I have yet gotten around to shaving. "I am a dad, Alex. Of course I enjoy cooking." I say with a small smile. That statement is not right. How many fathers take out time to cook? I just happen to develop an interest because it was one of the ways I could bond with Luna. We used to turn my kitchen into a mess on the weekends when I have her over,
Alex POV::"What are you saying, Zane?" I manage to keep the trembling out of my voice. He can't be saying what I think he is saying. He can't. I look into his eyes and the resolve I see there tells me all I need to know. He definitely is saying what I think he is saying. My pulse quickens. "I am saying the best way to get Claire off my back, and in extension, yours too, is to firmly discourage her interest in me because I already have you. It sounds wild, crazy even but I have dealt with girls like her before, it is probably the best way. Also, I don't like the idea that we have to hide what we have. It makes me feel like I am doing something wrong. It makes Daisy's madness towards you validated. Lying to Claire today when she asked you if we were together made things clearer to me. I felt awful, Alex. I don't want to have to lie like that again. It made what we have seem dirty. Wrong. And we both know it is none of those things, my love. It is none of those things." He reaches out
"Stop distracting me!" I yelp when Zane slides his hands down my waist and squeezes my ass fondly. I have the razor on his skin and I escaped cutting him by a small margin. "I am not doing anything." He says, smiling mischievously. Eyes twinkling up at me as I hover over him, he is sitting on the toilet seat and I am standing on either side of him, close enough that we share air when I lean down in concentration as I pull the sharp razor across his skin. He takes my breath away but I have to be focused so I don't cut him. Zane doesn't share my worry, he keeps grabbing me or trying to grab me and caress my ass. Smiling mischievously at me. "You know what you are doing." I grab his chin tightly and he laughs, he doesn't drop his hands and I have to resign to doing my tasks with that very potent distraction he dangles in front of me. "I am not scared of a little blood." He bites his lip and smack my ass, keeping his eyes on mine. My heart skips a beat and I pull the razor away from hi
Zane inside me feels like home. How he moves. His well aimed strokes. The sounds we make with our mouths and bodies. The slickness of our skin causing friction against eachother. The beauty of it all, with the moon bearing witness as it pours enchanting moonlight through the opened windows. The ethereal quiet of our surrounding. The empty acres of farmlands all around us with its night sounds. The pitch dark of the midnight. Everything comes together to make the experience feel like something out of a fantasy. I couldn't have dreamed up this for myself even if I tried.Overwhelmed and flushed, tears roll down my eyes, I hug him tighter, wrapping my legs around his waist, taking him deeper inside me. It is heavenly. Zane doesn't switch his gentle pace no matter how much I wriggle my hips, trying to get comfortable in his thrusts. I dig my fingernails into his back, scratching deep and feeling his bunching muscles move as he thrusts slowly and steady, slow and steady. He hits all the sp
I stir awake to the persistent sound of my phone ringing. I didn't even know I left it on loudspeaker, my phone is usually on silent mode. My face is smudged across Zane's solid chest, his body is warm under the covers and I snuggle closer, he pulls me in too, obviously waking up due to the sound of the phone ringing. I wonder who could be calling me at this time. I am sure it is almost noon. It is Saturday, I have been here for five days and we have never gone to bed earlier than midnight or woken up before noon. It is a great routine, nothing feels better than sleeping in with your favourite person.Then Zane's phone starts ringing too. He reaches back for it, fumbling it in his half sleep as he drops it. It stops ringing at the same time that mine does, I am too interested in continuing my sleep to find it odd that anyone is calling me at this time. Or that Zane's phone too is being called at this time. It might not mean anything but in the five days we have spent together, it has
Zane calls the local sheriff's office for help with dispersing the maddening crowd of reporters pounding at his front door, disturbing the otherwise tranquil environment with their unexpected loud intrusion. I go to the bedroom, stunned and feeling like I am in a dream. A simulation where everything that could go wrong has gone wrong and I wasn't even aware. I wasn't prepared. I have a rough idea of what is supposed to be going on, but then it is all so disjointed in my head that I don't trust it. I need to find out what all the ruckus is about. As I walk to the bedroom, I hear Zane's agitated angry voice demanding the cops arrive immediately. I have never heard him sound so angry, so violently bothered. It is like being in a house with a stranger. My hands shake as I grab my phone. Maggie was the one calling. I decide to call her back, it would be better to get the full picture of what is supposed to be going on from my best friend, than strangers online or classmates who don't give
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