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And his throat burned, for there were words he wished he could say but didn't deserve to.
"Diana—-" Her gaze turned wary the moment he spoke, and he couldn't help feeling amused. "I haven't said anything yet," he pointed out.
"You don't have to," she muttered. "And the answer isyes, yes, yes.I know what I'm getting into. I know it's not going to be a bed of roses. I know it's going to be hard, harder even than the worst that I can think of.I know,Professor, but it doesn't change a thing."
"You deserve someone whole," he said flatly. "Someone—-"
"I love," she finished for him fiercely. "Don't you think I deserve that, too?" And when this only made the professor's strikingly handsome face turn stoic, almost as if he was still trying to find a way to kick her out of his life, she knew just what to do.
If it had worked earlier, then it should work once more.
"I love you, Professor."
An expletive slipped past his cruelly beautiful lips, and she could barely suppress her smile, thinking it was just like the professor to swear at a declaration of love.
"I've been in love with you for some time now, and I think, deep inside, you knew I felt that way." She felt his body turn rigid under her and knew that she was getting through to him. But because he was still silent, she also knew she had to do something bigger, something to completely knock him off—-
And before she knew it, she was already cupping his face, and her lips were moving to cover his.
"NO!"
Matthijs had a hard time believing the ridiculous situation he had just found himself in, with him doing his best to evade Diana's lips.
"But you seem to need proof of how committed I am to this." She couldn't help grinning as she spoke, with the professor contorting in every way possible just to avoid her mouth. "So just let me kiss you—-"
"Diana, dammit—-"
"It's just a kiss—-"
"You haven't had a fucking medical clearance yet," he growled.
"I'll leave it to God," she said with feigned carelessness.
Exasperated and frustrated at her stubbornness, Matthijs decided to take matters in his own hands and rose to his feet as he swept her off the couch.
Diana let out a shriek when the professor suddenly swung her up in the air, but then she burst into laughter when the professor slung her over his shoulder the next moment.
Definitely no way to kiss him now, she thought with a grin,but this new position did give her a rather nice view of his bum.
"Now..." The professor's voice was grim. "Can we start discussing things like adults?"
"Discussions are a two-way street, Professor, and you didn't seem inclined to listen to me."
"I only listen when someone's saying something worth liste—-what the fuck!" But he also had trouble fighting back a grin, unable to believe Diana had the audacity to pinch his butt.
"I wasn't sure you'd feel that," he heard her say cheerfully. "Too much muscle, too little fat, but..." And then she pinched him again.
"Goddammit, Diana." But his words were without heat, and when he finally put her down on her feet, she immediately smiled up at him, and it was a dazzling sight that pierced him like an arrow shooting straight to his heart.
"Do you get it now?"
"Fuck no."
But she only laughed. "Liar." Her voice was sweet and affectionate, its sound music to every cell of his body, and when she placed a hand over his heart, ah,fuck.
It felt good. It felt right. It felt...like home.
"I know you only kept pushing me away for my sake, but every time you did, it never did either of us any good. So don't you think we should try it the other way around? Can't we believe, even just this once, that God's on our side on this and give His plan a try?"