Page 27 of Masters of Play

No, I didn't believe that of him. Just like he knew my character, I knew his.

"You didn't do this," I said with complete certainty.

"Yes. I did. I admitted it."

The wash of cold that ran through my body made my knees buckle. The floor was coming up fast, but I didn't slam down into it. Sinead was there with a hand on my waist to keep me steady. When I still wobbled, he pulled me to him.

"I was inappropriate with one student," he clarified. "I've hungered for her since the moment she sat down in my class. I've imagined doing the filthiest things to her for two years, and I'm not an imaginative man. But fuck, the things I've dreamed of doing to you…"

His gaze was on my lips. Eyes darting from one side of my mouth to the other, then coming to rest on my gaze. I felt like a specimen he was studying. I felt certain I was wearing too many clothes for him to get an adequate picture of me. I had the sudden urge to strip down to my birthday suit.

"I shouldn't have let you walk out the door without…"

"Without what?" I prompted.

"Without me at your side," he said. "I don't give a half a fuck what Santos thinks. And he would've thought some things if I'd gotten you back to my apartment. The walls are pretty thin."

"Oh, fuck," I sighed.

Sinead raised a brow in question. A slow, wicked grin spread across his face. "Would you like a demonstration of the lessons I planned for you, Dr. Prince? I'll walk out of here with you now like I should've the other day."

"You can't. You have a 2 p.m. class."

Sinead shook his head. "Not anymore. I'm on leave while they investigate my inappropriate behavior with you. Might as well make the most of it."

"They can't fire you."

"They probably will."

"But we didn't fuck. We just kissed. It was consensual, and I didn't file any report."

"It doesn't matter. An accusation like this will ruin my career," Sinead said, pulling me a little closer. I got the sense I was now the anchor he was holding on to.

Sinead dipped his head and kissed me on one side of my mouth. A light kiss that promised wickedness. Then he moved to the other side of my mouth and did the same.

"I can't tell if you kissing me is you giving up. Or you giving in."

"Both," he said before he claimed my entire mouth.

The pop quiz was done. This wasn't a lecture. It wasn't the test. It was the final exam, and damn if I wasn't prepared for what my teacher could do with his tongue. I'd been on the scene for years, but no one had ever tied me in knots with the simple swipe of his tongue.

My knees were buckling again. As they knocked against Sinead's, I felt that his were too. We were trading off being each other’s anchor. Which was funny because I, for one, felt like I was sinking. I nearly crashed when I heard a throat being cleared from the open doorway.

Chapter Seventeen

"I've seen all I need to see."

That came from Dr. Santos. He stood in the open doorway with the dean of the School of Psychology, Dr. Hernandez. Behind the two dark-haired men, I could just make out the silver-gray hair of Dr. Wroth. While the two men looked on in contempt, Dr. Wroth wore a different expression.

The crow's feet tugged at the older woman's eyes as she stared at us. Her parted lips looked like they were parched. My first instinct was to offer the woman a drink. Her skin looked so pale that I worried she would faint.

"In light of this display," Dr. Santos was saying, "I don't think we need a board review. I move Chase Sinead be terminated from his position here effective immediately."

"He didn't break the rules," I said, stepping in front of Sinead. "I did. I kissed him when I was a student. He's the one that pushed me away. He's the one that said it was inappropriate because of our teacher-student relationship."

"It didn't look like he was pushing you away now," said Dr. Santos.

"I'm not a student anymore," I said. "So, once again, no rules broken."