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
Zane Orion POV::She sets me out of control, I am like a wild animal going insane on her scent. I hope I don't bruise her with my reckless hard passion. Her soft skin yields under my roaming hands, claiming every inch of her body I can reach as I thrust into her deeper and deeper from behind. She fits snuggly around me and the feel of her tight warmth sucking me in is something that could drive the strongest man to his knees. I hold on by sheer will. Her breathy moans and gasps are like music to my ears, my heart beats like a bass instrument gone haywire in my chest. "Zane. Zane. Zane." She pants and moans. I can only grunt in response. Deep animalistic grunts that come from somewhere deep inside me where all the masculinity emanates from. She makes me feel like so much of a man, I don't think that even makes any sense but it is what I feel. I reach forward and grab her full breast, squeezing hard, her entire body responds to me, quivering and jerking into my thrusts. "You are stre
Alex POV::"Fuck." Zane growls as I stroke him from behind. The sound of his pleasure is music to my ears, it buoys me to do more. To never stop till he explodes.I lean up on my tiptoes so I can reach his neck, I nestle my face in the nook of his neck, bringing my mouth to his ear."How does that feel?" I whisper into his ears, lingering with my tongue out to taste him, he shivers in my hand, getting harder and stiffer, pulsing hard as I stroke him, from shaft to tip, taking my time to make sure I stimulate him fully. I want to taste him too but the shower is a bit tricky, there is water or steam everywhere, soap suds and shampoo on the tiled floor, stroking him like this should do. It is quite intimate, with the way I press my full bosom into him from behind like this. I can't see his face but I know the look of pleasure I would find there if I can. "You are going to be the end of me, Alex." He grunts, the sound proceeds to become a deeply felt prolonged moan that makes me incredib
"Fancy seeing you here, Alex!" She says to me, that creepy plastic smile still on her face, a cold hand climbs up my spine. The expression on my face is stuck between reciprocating her smile and freezing in genuine terror. Claire, of all people to run into is the absolute worst option. My brain is in a frenzy, just trying to put together the possibility of what I am seeing. How does she just show up every time I am with Zane? Is she stalking me? What does she know and what has she seen? My mouth goes dry."Hi." I manage a feeble response that is barely audible. "Miss McBride?" Zane says, taking her attention away from me as I blush hard under the bright lights of the store. Guilty and nervous as fuck. A bead of sweat pops out on my forehead. "Yes sir! Do you stay around here?" Claire asks, all chirpy and bright, bouncy, girly and all the ways she acts with him that repulses me. Except this time around, I am just mortified. Why does she keep finding me? What is she up to? Am I being
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,
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