"Alex! Stop." I don't stop. I don't even know where I am headed. I just need to get away. I don't want him to see me like this. I am embarrassed and angry and hurt and slightly dizzy and sad and everything in between. I can't believe the foolishness I underwent in there with Aaron. God, I don't think I will be able to face him ever again. The embarrassment has my cheeks permanently red as I hurry away, blinding walking on the dark road. "Alex!" Zane calls to me again. He is close behind me and I can't walk fast enough to get away. I find myself in the parking lot, weaving through the jumble of cars, having no fucking clue why I am here. I don't own a car."Alex!" He grabs my wrist and whirls me around, stopping me in my tracks. The bright overhead light behind him casts him as one huge shadow that when I look up into his face, I only see his dark brown deep set eyes. They hold the undercurrent of anger in their stormy dark depths. It is really déjà vu. I don't know if he is thinkin
Zane doesn't waste any second responding to the kiss. He takes my mouth like a storm, taking absolute control, swift and hard, I lose my breath when his swift expert tongue seeks entrance into my mouth, I open up for him and he takes the chance like he had been starving, dancing fervently with my tongue, lapping, searching, taking, claiming. I make all sorts of embarrassing sounds that can't be classified as moans. I don't notice him walking backwards, moving deeper into the darkest area of the parking space where the overhead lights don't reach. We are as utterly alone as we are exposed. Common sense is flung out the window with his mouth on mine, his tongue in my mouth, dancing against mine, stroking me to furnace levels heat, reminding me of the fire we are capable of igniting when we gave in to our bodies. Zane whirls me around, settling me on the hood of a car in the dark. My legs remain tightly wound around his waist, holding fast, hot and desperate and needy and hardly satisf
All I can do is hold on. Digging my nails into the bunching muscles of his shoulders and back and neck as Zane thrusts into me with desperate hard pumps that has me feeling like I am on the brink of something larger than me. Inching closer and dreading it, knowing that when it comes for me, it will not leave me the same. It is deja vu. We are back to the beginning and we are choosing each other again. We are choosing the same thing again. We are letting our bodies rule again. Trusting that it knows what it needs. And going for it. Dangerous and desperate and hungry. Zane fucks me like the world was coming to an end and we were racing against time. I have long stopped worrying about how loud I am being. It has become inconsequential. I don't care if someone walks in here to check out the source of the noise. I scream at the top of my lungs, feeling myself come undone around him. My eyes roll to the back of my head. My breath leaves my lungs and my muscles become one tight string with
Zane Orion POV::The two hours drive goes by quietly and uneventfully and I am soon pulling into the countryside, it is past midnight and the very air is different here. Quiet and rid of that thick unsettled city air. The moon hangs low amidst clear clouds, twinkling stars and an horizon that stretches everywhere the eyes can see. Acres and acres of farmland belonging to families who have been here for centuries. A blend of modern machinery, structures and old ones. Livestock pens. Cows, pigs, goats and even chicken. When I got my cabin out here, it felt like stepping into a different world, away from the bustling soulless vibe of the city. I never brought Daisy here, she hated it before I even got it. I kill the engine and get out so I can carry my girl. Alex has slept off at the beginning of the ride. Her little gaspy breathes serenading me for the duration of the quiet ride. She stirs in my arms as I walk to the front porch of my perfect getaway space. The cabin is sacred in the s
Alex POV::The kiss is so gentle, I could cry because of the genuine emotions behind it. I couldn't have painted a better version of this moment even if I tried. Us, together on a perfectly quaint cabin in the middle of nowhere, alone with eachother, no chances of any intrusions. The kiss carries that much weight, he takes my lips with such soft grace that my knees give out and I crumble against him, quite literally weak in the knees. His hard unclad body offers me both the strength I need and heat. I run my hands over his hard torso, across his smooth chest and his back, strong cording muscles under his smooth skin, I can't believe this man is all mine. Or that I am all his. It is all such an unbelievable concept that I cling to him, savouring the moment, it is just a kiss but it is never that with us. It has never been. "I love you so much, it makes me feel like I am losing my mind." Zane's harsh voice is music to my ears as I try to catch my breath. Our forehead resting against e
Just one flick of his tongue in between my folds, one deep lick and I am coming undone, moaning out loud, writhing on the bed, gripping the sheets in a vice like grip, jerking my hips, desperate for respite. For release of some sort. "Zane. Fuck. Oh. Zane." I moan, my head feels light and weightless, like my brain has moved elsewhere. It is a weird thing to feel but it is there along with the tightening feeling spreading throughout my body. "Stay still for me, love. I promised you this. I am not even halfway through with what I intend to make you feel and experience on your time here. So, stay put for me." He grunts into my folds and I feel a volcano start in the pit of my stomach.I want to obey him but I can't stay still with this much eruption going on inside me. It has been too long since we were like this. How does he expect me to stay still? How is that possible when he looks this stunning in between my legs, the morning sun on his golden tan skin, highlighting the fine outlin
When I open my eyes again, it is midday. I can just tell by the intensity of the sunlight streaming into the room. Zane has me cuddled close in a tight hug, I smile, thinking about how good it feels to have this. To wake up in his arms without any rude intrusion. It is still hard to believe we are out here alone, free to be together and do whatever we want. No fear of being interrupted for any reason. It is a great feeling. My chest swells with outpouring of pure unbelievable joy. I bury my face in his chest, his steady heartbeat a balm for my soul. I recall his promise and my smile stretches even more. We are so back together. I don't know how we are going to navigate our relationship in the face of the obstacles, but we are going to find a way. It is something I am willing to fight for. He is worthy of a fight. I don't want to think about what our lives will be like when we return to the city. Back to our lives. Me, in my sophomore year. Him, fighting for sole custody of his daugh
Zane makes me eggs and bacon and toast and coffee and I devour everything within minutes, contrary to what I thought, I am actually really hungry. I can't remember the last time I ate. I didn't start drinking at the party last night because I hadn't eaten all day and that was yesterday. And then Zane arrived and I got rather too distracted to think about food. I chug my glass of water, when I set it down, Zane is watching me from across the small dinner table for one, a look of light surprise on his face. "Want seconds?" He asks, looking at my empty plate."No, I think I am okay." I say, not really sure I am fine. He pushes his plate to me, there is a toast on it and half an egg. I give him an appreciative smile as I take it. I pour myself another full glass of water and now I am really okay. Full and happy. I give him a bright smile and he smiles back. "I didn't know you had a huge appetite. Somehow, you don't seem like a person who eats much." He says with an innocent genuine smil
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