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Chapter Nine

Rocco

W hen her gaze finally lands on mine, my body heats with need. Fuck, she’s beautiful. The way her startled hazel eyes widen, her face flames, and her lips part has a rumble of laughter erupting from me.

Fuck me, she’s adorable when she’s in shock, and I want nothing more than to shove my tongue between those plush lips of hers while holding her face in the palms of my hands, giving her no choice but to accept me.

Whispers ripple through the classroom, and I want to banish them in order to protect her, so I become what she needs me to be—the perfect student.

“Here,” I grunt out, and delight in the shiver that takes over her, then I dart my eyes away, as much as it pains me to.

I can still feel her eyes on me as she clears her throat, then begins outlining the course for this year. Quite simply, I don’t care. The only reason I chose this class was to be near her, to be in her proximity. To invade every part of her life until she’s no choice but to crave me like I do her.

Trying to infiltrate a school was much harder than I first anticipated, and the only feasible way to do it was to become a student, so here I am.

My father’s right. I need none of this, but what I do need is her.

And if she works here without me in her presence, she will always have the opportunity to live a life outside of me, and I refuse to let that continue any longer. Sure, I don’t want to become the same as her ex, but the man had a point; he just went about it the wrong way.

Not me, though. As soon as my girl agrees to my terms, then I will be much more lenient to agree to hers, and it’s not lost on me how much she enjoys this career. She exudes confidence and, in my research, I discovered just how much she helps her students succeed.

She’s phenomenal, and I’d never take this away from her, but that doesn’t mean I can’t use it to get what I want too.