Page 71

Oh fuck.

I didn’t use protection.

How could I be this fucking stupid?

ChapterTwenty-Eight

Ashleigh

Alow hum fills my brain as I force my eyes open. Dimness shrouds me, making my heart kick up for just a moment. It’s not until I see the dean’s broad, bare back as he sits on the edge of the bed that it quiets down. Even the darkness is okay as long as he’s here with me.

Sappy as that sounds.

Sentimental, as that may seem.

A nineteen-year-old waxing poetic. Who would have thought? When everyone said I was an old soul, I’m pretty sure they didn’t mean this. And yet, as I lie there naked on a set of silken sheets, staring at a man at least double my age, my soul feels weary.

How am I going to explain this? Who’s going to listen? Who’s going to even care to hear my side of it?

Father would be disappointed. That much is for sure. But then, just me being at this damned school is enough to make him disappointed in me, much less fucking a man who should be off limits. It would probably be yet one more thing filed into the category of ‘I just don’t understand you.’ Or, ‘why can’t you just be like the other little rich girls who dream of marrying and continuing the bloodlines?’

Mother had these very plans for me. No doubt she’s spread them far and wide, including such prominent members into the planning as the esteemed gardening club. Granted, those plans involved Caldwell, and the very thought of his tepid hands touching me makes my stomach churn as bile rises in my throat.

No. No matter what happens, the good dean has ruined me for all men.

No one else will make me burn like he did. No one else will bring my mind to the brink of madness, only to yank me back to safety. Am I really safe, though? All I know about the man is my infatuation with him.

Now that I’m lying here without any sort of stimulation, reality does its best to settle in. I can only push it away so far before my mind will demand answers.

“I can hear you thinking,” he grumbles as a dark chuckle dances in the air. “Seems as if your orgasm wasn’t as good as I thought it was. You should still be a pile of goo in the bed right now.”

As he turns to me, his eyes hold a slight glint, as if he finds the whole thing completely humorous. That’s good at least.

“I suppose you’ll just have to make a repeat performance then,” I tease. “The first one didn’t stick.”

“About that. There are some things that need to happen before I can actually fuck you again. Here. Take this.”

From off the side table, he pulls a glass of water and a small pill. Confused, I take them both and stare up at him. “I don’t understand.”

“I didn’t use protection. I can’t and won’t let you get pregnant.”

Relief floods my veins, making me nearly sag against the bed. “Is that all? God. I thought you were going to tell me you have, like, a month to live or something. Like, dude. Read the room. It’s all good. I’m on the pill. It’s okay. I don’t want babies either. At least not for a good long while. And that’s still a major if.”

Dean Anderson’s shoulders drop a good inch or so as his face goes slack. “That’s good to know. Either way, I need you to take this. Just to make sure nothing happens.”

“I don’t think it’s necessary, but if you insist.”

“I do.”

His gaze bores into mine as he watches me, studying every move as I take the pill and swallow it down. Even after it leaves my mouth, he continues to watch me. With a soft giggle, I open my mouth and stick out my tongue, showing him there’s nothing left.

“Satisfied? I’m not trying to trap you. I promise. I have goals and ambitions that don’t include a child. I may be young myself, but I know who I am and what I want.”

Finally, a soft smile eases the stern expression off of his face. “I can see that. It’s one of the many things I find so admirable about you.”

“Admirable,” I joke, running my hand down his forearm in an unpracticed attempt to flirt and seduce him. “Admirable? That’s the best word you can come up with?”

“What word would you use instead, my wicked fae? You who caress words with your lips as beautifully as they nestle my cock between them?”