Page 114 of Give In

Eden froze midstride, her eyes wide—a graceful doe caught in the headlights. “I’m sorry.”

I didn’t speak as I kicked off my shoes.

“I shouldn’t have said that stuff earlier,” she continued.

I shuffled through the mail I’d already sorted, pretending to read pieces.

“That was immature of me.”

Tossing the mail on the table, I set my stuff down.

“I meant that I’d see Brooks because we were in the same class and friends,” she explained.

I turned away from her.

She added, “It was childish of me to play games.”

Clenching my jaw, I worked to calm the jealousy that hit my gut.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Eden snapped. “I’m sorry, okay? Just punish me already.”

I turned in time to see her shock and regret.

And want.

It was the want that fueled me.

Her droplets of darkness calling out to my ocean.

I tilted my head. “You want me to punish you?”

She flipped her hand out. “You’re gonna do it anyway. I might as well deal with it.”

Her words were mostly a lie. I was going to do it anyway, but she wouldn’t deal with it.

She wanted it.

No, sheneededit.

But there was something else in her expression and body language I needed to ask her about.

Later.

“Upstairs, Eden. Naked and bent over the front of the bed, arms stretched in front of you. I want to see your pussy as soon as I walk in the door. Understand?”

“Yes, Professor Caine.”

“Go.”

I barely finished the single syllable when she took off up the stairs, her bare feet thumping softly on the hardwood.

She’s barefoot.

Glancing down, I saw her boots pressed against the wall, lined up with my shoes. I took a few steps into the living room.

Her backpack was on my couch. There was a small stack of notebooks and folders on the coffee table, and her laptop was opened to a Word doc. A glass of water was on a folded paper she’d used as a makeshift coaster.

Mentally planning, I turned and took the stairs two at a time. I slowed my steps as I entered my room.