LeilaI hung the picture I had picked up at the store the day before and took a step back to make sure it was even. I felt like I was constantly changing the house. It was never quite good enough. I’d get it all put together and then I was ready for a change. Truthfully, I felt a little unsettled, like I was still looking for the right fit.I hadn’t found it yet.I heard a knock on the door and assumed it would be Kami. I didn’t have a lot of company just dropping by for a visit on a Sunday afternoon.She took one look at the hammer in my hand and shook her head. “I’m afraid to ask.”“Just a new picture,” I assured her.“Mom’s cooking a big dinner tonight and asked me to invite you,” she said, flopping into one of my chairs.“Hell yeah. I could use some good home cooking.”“She’s always cooking, and her door is always open, you know that,” she said.I sighed. “I know, but I don’t want to appear like a stray dog, scratching on the door for some scraps.”She laughed. “My mom would happi
LeilaKami walked into the kitchen, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. “Mama, I swear, you need to get laid.”“Kami Gaston! Don’t you dare speak like that in my house!”“You’re the one talking about having a man kiss all your bits and pieces,” she argued.“But I speak like a lady, you talk like a trollop.”I couldn’t help but laugh. “She has a point,” I interjected.“Shut up. Kiss ass.”“Kami!” Nancy scolded. “I swear I didn’t raise you to talk like a trucker.”“Oh, Mom, please,” Kami groaned. “I’ve heard you and the ladies from your so-called book club. You guys are dirtier than a boys’ locker room.”She frowned at her daughter. “First of all, young lady, you shouldn’t be eavesdropping. Second of all, we’re all old married women.”“Mom, you don’t think I’m a virgin, do you?” Kami asked with feigned horror.Nancy scowled. “I swear I don’t know where I went wrong with you. I blame your father, bless his soul. He ruined you. His background was troubled. I should have known better, b
ChristopherI parked my truck, checked my watch and cringed. I was thirty minutes early. My reprieve with Olin had been extremely brief. Saturday had been great. When the kid emerged downstairs Sunday morning, it was like something out of the exorcist. He’d been possessed by a demon. While the attitude had sucked and the day had been generally unpleasant, it had been more of a typical teen unpleasantness. That I expected.Didn’t make it any easier, but I expected to deal with some rotten days now and again. I had sent him to school, damn near begging him not to start any shit, and headed for my own school. The traffic had been light and now I was sitting in my truck trying to decide what to do.Coffee sounded like a good option. There was a small café on campus that served about a million different kinds of caffeine. That’s where I could kill some time before I went to class. I didn’t want the teacher to think I was trying to suck up by showing up so damn early. I was already feeling
Christopher“I think my wife would be happy to see me trying, but she would not be happy to see me failing.”He studied me. “I don’t think you’re failing. You don’t strike me as the kind of man who fails at anything. You might not be doing it perfect, but none of us do. It helps to have a good woman to guide you and slap you upside the head when you’re really screwing up.”I chuckled. “I know she’s probably looking for something to smack me with.”“I bet things will settle down soon. All you can do is be there. Pull them back when they get close to the edge and try to steer them down the right path. It’s a fine line to be right beside and just behind them. They have to spread their wings in order to learn who they are, but it can get tricky.”I sighed, thinking about Olin’s need to find out who he was. “I wish there was a way to know for sure. I keep thinking back to my childhood and those little moments that seemed insignificant to myself and my parents, but ultimately helped shape w
LeilaI flipped the page on my notes and saw I had covered all I needed to for the day. I was on a roll. Class was going to be over right on time. That was always the sign of a good day. I tended to get a little long-winded at times and ended up speed talking through the final minutes of my lecture.“All right, that’s all I have today, but I do have one more tidbit of information to share,” I teased. “Wednesday will be your first test.”There were groans. As expected. “You’ll all do fine. This is an easy one—assuming you’ve been paying attention.”I watched as the smiles slipped away and the students filed out. Did they actually think they were going to sail through the entire class without a test? It was a class with credits. I looked up and saw Christopher waiting.“Hey,” I greeted him. “What’s up?”“I wanted to personally apologize for not being able to take you up on your offer to help me out, especially after I had asked for it.”“It’s no problem, really.”“I hope you didn’t clea
LeilaMy stomach turned. He was going to fire me. I could see it on his face. “I’m sorry to hear that,” I managed to get out the words despite my tongue trying to embed itself on the roof of my mouth.“It’s part of the job.”“What’s going on Dean Johnson?” I asked, not interested in beating around the bush. If he was going to fire me, I wanted it over with. I was already writing my resume in my head.“We’ve got a situation. I was informed last week that one of our esteemed professors has been involved in a sexual relationship with a student.”My mouth fell open. “What?”He nodded, rubbing a hand over his forehead. “Yes. It’s not something I ever want to deal with. Our school has some very clear policies about this. It is never okay to sleep with a student.”“I understand,” I said, still not sure why he was telling me.“I have been running an investigation and the things I have uncovered are not only disturbing, but disappointing. I just don’t understand what is happening these days. S
ChristopherI was a little embarrassed to admit I had to ask directions to the library. Twice. I wasn’t the library type. Never had been. Even when I was in school, I hadn’t used the library. It was so quiet. It creeped me out a little. I kind of liked chaos.I walked into the library, finding it nearly empty. I reminded myself that most students were at home enjoying their winter break. I scanned the many empty tables and wondered if there was somewhere specific I was supposed to be meeting Leila. I was a few minutes early, I reminded myself.“Christopher,” I heard my name and spun around.“Hi,” I whispered.She laughed softly. “I don’t think you have to whisper.”There was a whispered shushing noise. I turned to see a couple of what could only be called geeks, sitting at a table with a stack of thick books. I was going to make the assumption they were some kind of science majors.“Sorry,” I whispered, earning more scowls.“Over here,” Leila said gesturing with her head.I followed h
Christopher“I think it’s interesting that the Greeks were really the forward-thinkers in history. While the Greeks themselves didn’t necessarily openly practice homosexuality or polygamy, the gods and goddesses they worshipped certainly did.”“Why do you think people are so fascinated with Greek mythology?” I asked her. “I mean I know the obvious reasons, but I have been doing a lot of reading and many believe the myths tend to be very erotic, the stuff of sexual fantasies.”She nodded. “I think humans like the idea of being free to do anything their hearts desire. Imagine being beautiful and seeing someone you were attracted to. Imagine there being no rules about what you could or couldn’t do with that person. No one would dare stop you or lecture you for the way you liked sex or how often you liked it.”I felt an odd stirring. She spoke very openly about sex. Not just sex, but eroticism. “I suppose that would certainly remove some inhibitions.”“There are countless stories of sex l
LeilaHe looked at me and smiled but didn’t answer me. He parked the truck in the empty parking lot of the bar not far from the house. It was the same bar we had met up at on New Year’s Eve. Since moving in, we had become regulars at the bar, getting to know the staff very well.“Come on,” he said jumping out of the truck.“I don’t understand,” I said climbing out. “Isn’t everyone going to be waiting for us? You were the one who said we were going to be late. I don’t think we have time for a drink.”“Will you just come on,” he said. He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the door. I noticed all the lights were off.“Christopher, they’re closed.”He pushed open the unlocked door, which seemed very odd to me. We walked into the bar. There was a flash of lights and a cacophony of surprises echoing around me. I clapped my free hand over my mouth, taking in the huge banner that said congratulations, and the hundreds of twinkle lights hanging from the ceiling.“Oh my God,” I gasped.“Surp
LeilaOne year laterI reviewed the admissions essay for another potential student. I loved reading the essays—most of the time. Some were absolute garbage, but the majority warmed my heart. I loved reading about the struggles and triumphs of the young people who wanted to attend our school for their educational needs. I always felt like we were the ones being interviewed.Students had thousands of options and when they applied to our school, I felt like we should be proud they had chosen us from the thousands. It had been a long year and the university was still recovering from the scandal that the dean’s extortion had brought on. I felt like we were making headway. It was being talked about less and less and I was hoping by this time next year, it would be a distant memory.My position as associate dean was implemented as a prevention method. Dean Johnson had been allowed to run unchecked, which made him feel invincible. Now, our new dean had me. It was a system of checks and balanc
Leila“You’re going to kill me if you keep doing that,” I told him with a shaky voice.“I love watching you come apart in my arms,” he said before angling his hips and pushing the head of his cock into my opening.I closed my eyes. Two orgasms and no penetration had left me slick and swollen. He pushed, gently probing my opening with his cock. “You’re tight and swollen,” he breathed out the words on a painful breath.“I’m ready,” I told him, looking directly into his eyes.He pushed himself a little deeper inside. Both of us sucked in a breath as powerful sensations rocked through our bodies. He held himself up on shaking arms before sliding inside a little bit at a time. I couldn’t breathe. I felt like our souls were joining. I could feel his essence merging with mine. We stared into each other’s eyes, the joining nearly complete.The last inch of his thick cock filled me. My eyes dropped closed, wanting to lock in all the sensations I was feeling right then. I felt a tear slide down
LeilaHis sweet kiss sparked a hot fire within. He loved me. I had probably repeated the phrase in my head a hundred times since he said it. He loved me. A sexy, beautiful, kind man loved me. I didn’t think it was possible. I was convinced I wasn’t worthy for so long. I never imagined I could ever experience true love with a man that checked all the boxes.“Maybe we should go upstairs?” I whispered against his lips.“I think that sounds like a very good idea. Go ahead and go up while I lock up down here.”I headed upstairs, running my hand along the banister and imagined us going up to bed together every night. We hadn’t talked about any of that, but I realized in that moment, I was ready for the real deal. I went into his room, turned on the fireplace and shut off the lights. I stripped out of the clothes I wore for our night out and crawled onto the bed naked as the day I was born. I did my best to pose in a seductive fashion, waiting for him to come in.I heard his footsteps on the
ChristopherLeila nodded, still sipping the wine. I knew the look on her face. She was in deep thought about something. I waited for her to say what it was.“And you?” she finally asked. “Will you be picking up where you left off with your classes?”I sighed. It was something I had been thinking about quite a bit. I had to do a lot of introspection into my life and what I wanted. “No.”She turned to look at me. “Really? You can’t let one bad dean ruin your idea of a good education. I promise, he does not represent the entire school. The rest of the professors are great—most of them.”I smiled. “It has nothing to do with the dean. It’s about me.”“You don’t want to go to college?”I shook my head. “Not anymore. I don’t need to. I was looking for something. I found it. There are other things I would prefer to do with my time.”“What were you looking for?” she asked.“I was looking for understanding. I needed assurance that things were okay for Carlie.”She looked confused. “I’m not sure
ChristopherI grabbed Leila’s hand and pulled her towards the mini Ferris wheel. She was giggling, resisting at first but eventually following along. We climbed in the seat and were quickly buckled in before the car started to move forward while the next couple boarded.“I don’t know if I like heights,” she told me.“I guess we’re about to find out,” I answered.She was smiling big. “This is nuts.”“This is fun. Look, there’s Olin!”“Olin!” she shouted his name, waving her arms.Olin looked up at us and grinned, waving back as the car went up a little higher. It wasn’t long before the ride began to move, taking us high above the fair. We had done dinner and happened to see the rides and tents set up. It was irresistible. Even Olin had been on board to come along.Once the ride was over, we made our way over to the bumper cars where we were supposed to meet Olin. “He looks like he is having a good time,” Leila commented.I watched Olin laughing as he rammed a young woman in another car
LeilaChristopher nodded. “Yes. He never wanted to get another degree. His wife made him go undercover. There is a camera in the dean’s office. He knew it was there, so all the video they’ve obtained will be legal to use against him.”“Why would he commit a felony on camera?”He grinned. “Because he thought it didn’t work. I have a feeling he purposely broke it. It was fixed and the police have been monitoring him. Today when I went in there, he asked me again for money.”I let out a breath. “Holy shit. I don’t even know what to say. This is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.”He laughed. “I know. I was in shock. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get arrested.”“I can’t believe Alan never told us!” I said a little irritated.“He couldn’t. He didn’t want to risk me acting different or saying the wrong thing. They had to let it play out.”I shook my head. “I almost quit. If they hadn’t busted him when they did, I would have quit for nothing. Wait, the police know it was me?”“Alan knows
LeilaI tossed another file folder into the box. I was taking everything that was my personal property. My lesson plans and my research were mine. I wasn’t about to leave them behind for someone else to poach. I had put in the time and energy into creating my lectures and tests. They were my personal property and if the dean tried to stop me, I’d give him hell.I threw in the answer sheet to the multiple-choice test as well. My replacement would have to grade the tests sitting on my desks without the answer sheet. It was my way of thumbing my nose at the institution. I found myself angry. I wasn’t even sad. I was pissed.I had come back to campus thinking I could just pick up where I had left off. I couldn’t. I realized I would never feel secure in my job. I would always be looking over my shoulder, waiting for the dean to surprise me with an accusation or an insinuation.I thought about how he had tried to blackmail Christopher and realized he was not the kind of man I wanted to work
ChristopherThe detective left, leaving me and Alan alone in the office. I stared at Alan, absolutely dumbfounded. “What the hell?”Alan laughed. “Sorry I had to keep you in the dark, but we needed this all to play out just right.”“We? Who is we?”“The cops. My wife. Me.”I studied him carefully. “Who are you?”“I am who I say I am, but I did not sign up for more classes because I’m interested in pursuing any more education. The last thing I want to do in my golden years is study and take tests while hanging out with a bunch of kids. My wife made me do it.”“Made you do what?” I asked feeling like I had skipped several chapters in a book and was missing the bulk of the story.“Go undercover,” he said with a grin.“As an old guy in college?”“I’ve been talking to students and trying to get information on the dean. Almost a year ago, a young man from an affluent family came to my wife and asked for help. As it turns out, the dean had been extorting him for months. He pulled the same sh