by Ivy Smoak
I wrapped my towel around myself and opened up the bathroom door. Professor Hunter was no longer in bed. There was a pile of clothes by the bathroom door. I picked them up and quickly dressed. A pair of yoga pants and a tank top. No underwear. I didn't dwell on it. I walked into the main room and over toward Professor Hunter. He was in the kitchen. He was wearing a pair of sweatpants and no shirt. Stop being so sexy. I took a deep breath and walked toward him. When I reached the counter he turned toward me.
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine," I lied. My head pounded, either from the concussion, or too much to drink, or a combination of the two. And I felt guilty for being here. "I'm going to get going."
He pushed a plate of waffles in front of me. Instead of responding to me, he just arched his eyebrow.
"I thought you didn't cook."
"I don't. They were frozen."
I looked down at my plate. It felt like I was going to throw up again. "I'm not hungry."
"You've lost weight. You need to eat."
"So now you suddenly care about me again?"
"I never stopped caring about you." His eyebrows lowered slightly. "I see that you have your memory back."
I pushed the plate away.
Professor Hunter walked over and placed two pills down on the counter. "You need to eat with these." He pushed the plate back toward me.
"I'm not taking those."
"Dr. Ridge left them for you. They're for the pain."
"I'm okay. Actually, I'm used to dealing with pain now." I took a deep breath. "Where is my phone?"
"Penny, take the pills. Eat the waffles. I'll give you your phone when you're done."
"I need to tell Melissa where I am."
"Your friends know where you are." He emphasized the word friends. Is he referring to Tyler too?
He had no right to boss me around. But if this was the only way he'd let me leave, then so be it. I took the two pills and downed them with water. "How do you know Dr. Ridge?" I cut up the waffles and poured syrup over them.
"He's an old friend."
"A friend of Isabella's too?" I took a bite and swallowed. Why was he doing this to me?
"No." He put his elbows on the counter and ran his hands through his hair.
I took another bite of the waffles and then pushed them away. "I can't eat anymore."
Professor Hunter walked over and sat down on the stool beside mine.
"Look, thank you for taking care of me last night. You didn't need to do that..."
"I did need to." He put his hand on my thigh. I swiveled my chair to remove it. I didn't need his tantalizing touch clouding my judgment. I was still so mad at him. Taking care of me for one night didn't erase how he had made me feel for weeks.
"You didn't. But I do appreciate it. I'm fine now, though. And I need to go. Please give me my phone."
"I can't let you leave. You have a concussion."
"I can take care of myself."
"You certainly didn't take care of yourself last night."
"I was fine before you showed up," I snapped. I was starting to lose my temper.
"You haven't been taking care of yourself these past few weeks either."
I stood up from my stool. "How dare you throw that in my face?" I took a deep breath. "I tried. How can you sit there and judge me for feeling? I loved you. I loved you so much. And it meant nothing to you. I meant nothing to you. You're completely fine. It's so hard to see you that way when I'm falling apart."
"Penny..." he reached out for me.
"Don't touch me. Don't you dare touch me." I felt so weak. "I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep. Because of you! Because you left me!"
The words seem to echo in his apartment. "That's not fair, Penny. You can't put all the blame on me."
"Yes I can. You're the one that left. You're the one that refused to talk to me. You shut me out. You didn't even give me a chance. I made one mistake and you left. You left me."
"Only because you lied to me!"
"Yes. Because I wanted to be with you. I didn't think you'd want me if you knew how young I was. And I hate that I lied to you."
"I know."
"No. Not because it made you leave me. But because it made us get together in the first place."
"You wish we had never started fucking?"
His words were chilling. I had told him I loved him. "And that's it, isn't it? Just fucking? See, that's the problem. I thought it was more than that. I want someone to love me. Unconditionally."
"And that's what Tyler does? Because last time I checked, taking advantage of someone when they're drunk isn't love."
"And what do you know about love? You're fucking married to a woman that you don't love. You didn't even love her when you got married. And instead of facing it and getting divorced, you just go around screwing students like it means nothing."
"I don't go around screwing students. You're the exception. You know that."
"Do I? Because I don't think I know you at all."
"You know me." He stood up. His fingers were gripping the side of the counter. "You'll never forget what it feels like to have my rock hard cock deep inside of you. You'll never be able to stop screaming my name."
I swallowed hard. Why was I suddenly aroused? Fuck him. "I was already forgetting you. Tyler didn't take advantage of me. I told him that I wanted him. I asked him to fuck me."
"Because you were drunk."
"No! It was because you left me! Because I was numb! You ruined me." My voice cracked. I turned around. I didn't want to look at him. "You ruined me."
He grabbed my arm and pulled me toward him. "So it's my fault that you're loose?"
"I'm not loose." I shoved his chest so he'd let go of me. "You broke up with me. I was trying to get over you."
"I never broke up with you. I said I needed time."
"I gave you time. Weeks! In order to work things out, normal people usually talk. What was I supposed to think?"
"That's not how I work through things."
"That's not an excuse. Keep my phone. I'm leaving. I don't want to hear anything else you have to say." I stormed off toward the elevator doors.
"What is wrong with you?" He sounded so angry.
I turned back around. "What is wrong with me? What is wrong with you?!" He had no right to be angry with me. He was the one that had left me. Why did he even care that I was leaving? We were done.
"Stop acting like a child." He walked toward me.
"I'm not acting like a child. Get over yourself."
"I'm trying to talk to you now. Which is exactly what you wanted. You're being immature."
"And you're being an asshole!"
We both stood still, staring at each other. He lowered his eyebrows. He was looking at me in that hungry way. I gulped.
"You're infuriating, Penny."
Everything below my waistline clenched. He had said the same thing to me in his office the first time we had ever had sex. I was so mad at him. But somehow that made me want him even more. "Then punish me, Professor Hunter." I repeated the words that had started our tryst in the first place.
He took a step toward me, pressing my back against the wall. He pushed my tank top up my sides. It had been so long since he had looked at me like that. It was like a drug. And I needed more. I lifted my arms in the air and let him pull my shirt the rest of the way off. He grabbed my jaw and turned my face toward him. His fingers dug into my skin. "I will never share you again. Do you understand me?"
"Yes." My voice was shaky. How could I want him so badly right now? I had never been angrier with anyone in my life.
He shoved my yoga pants off my hips and down my thighs. I stepped out of them. He put his hands on the wall on either side of my face. "I want to fuck you. Hard. Is that what you want?"
"Yes," I gasped. He wasn't touching me, but I had never felt so aroused.
He pushed his sweatpants down, grabbed my ass, and lifted me up. I wrapped my legs around him as he sunk his cock de
ep inside of me.
Oh God. I closed my eyes and let the sensation fill me. He moved his hips fast, knocking my ass against the wall. I buried my hands in his hair, pulling his head down to my neck. He placed a kiss against my collarbone. He squeezed my ass as his length went in and out of me. I could feel his hot, ragged breath against my neck. I groaned.
"You think I ruined you?" he whispered into my ear. He thrust his cock even deeper.
I gasped.
He bit my earlobe. "I'll show you what it's like to be ruined."
I whimpered at his naughty words.
He kept his hands on my ass but pulled out of me. I felt empty without him. He set me on my feet and turned me around. My whole body felt alive, like only he could do to me. He leaned forward so that his erection was on the small of my back. He grabbed my hands and put them on the wall.
I was breathing fast, waiting to see what he did.
"You asked me to punish you." He grabbed my hips and pulled them back so that I was arching my back with my hands still pressed against the wall. "And I intend to." His voice sounded tight. "Don't move out of this position." He slapped my ass hard with his palm.
I gasped in surprise.
"When I tell you it's time to go, you will not make me ask twice. Do you understand?"
"Yes," I said breathlessly.
He spanked me again.
Fuck. Why is this turning me on?
"You will not jeopardize your safety on purpose."
"I didn't..."
He slapped my ass harder. "Do you understand?"
"Yes."
He cradled my ass in his hand, caressing it gently. His other hand slipped between my thighs. My body trembled with anticipation. One of his fingers slid inside my wetness.
"Professor Hunter," I panted.
And then he spanked me harder still. "And you will not lie to me." Another one of his fingers joined in.
"Never." My cheek stung. But his fingers were driving me crazy. All I could feel was the sensation of him inside of me, teasing me.
He slapped my ass again. "Tell me that you need me as much as I need you."
"I need you. I need you, Professor Hunter." And it was true. I needed him. I had never stopped needing him.
He grabbed my hips and thrust himself back inside of me. Fuck yes. He was angry with me. I loved when he was angry with me. His fingernails dug into my skin. There was nothing better than the feeling of him inside of me. He grabbed my hair and pulled my head back. His dick was so deep inside of me that it hurt. He was fucking me harder than he ever had before. He gyrated his hips.
"Professor Hunter," I moaned.
"Come for me, Penny." He pulled my hair again.
I was close. Every time he thrust, it felt like he was slapping my raw cheek again. The combination of pain and pleasure was too much to bear. "Professor Hunter," I groaned. As soon as I said his name I felt his hot liquid shoot through me. There was no feeling better than him coming inside of me. He knelt down behind me and placed a kiss where he had slapped me.
"The thought of you screaming his name haunts me. Never again. You're mine." He kissed my cheek again.
I turned to face him. He was still on his knees. It looked like he was in actual pain. He leaned forward and kissed the bruise on my stomach.
I knelt down in front of him. "I didn't scream his name. Actually, I screamed yours." I shrugged my shoulders.
For the first time this morning there was a glint of humor in his eyes. "I'm not as easy to forget as you implied?"
"No. I've tried."
"I wanted you to."
I looked into his eyes. He looked so vulnerable. I could tell we were about to have the conversation that I had so badly wanted these past few weeks. And now that it was here, I was scared to have it. "What? What do you mean?"
"I wanted you to forget about me. That's why I haven't been talking to you."
"Why? I told you that I loved you."
"I know. But I'm no good for you. You deserve someone without so much...without so many issues."
"What issues?"
"You were right. You don't know me as well as you should."
"I do."
"You don't."
His words haunted me. I thought I had found out all his secrets. What else is he hiding from me?
"So if you wanted me to forget about you, why did you come to the party last night?"
"When you sent me that text about having a nice life it made me realize that I couldn't. Not unless you were in it."
"That's a selfish reason." I repeated the words back to him that he had used when I told him my excuse for lying to him.
"It is. But I've seen you disappearing these past few weeks. Not eating. Drinking too much. Not focusing in class. I may be bad for you, but I'm better than the alternative."
"So I get to be with you by default?"
"I need you, Penny. I'm addicted to you. I want what's best for you. And I'm going to try hard to be that for you."
"You know that I'm addicted to you too. Or else our argument wouldn't have just turned into sex. But you left me. I've never felt so broken before. Tyler was there to help try and pick up the pieces. And if I'm being honest, I didn't just sleep with him because I was drunk."
"I know." Professor Hunter gritted his teeth.
"I have feelings for him too."
Professor Hunter sighed. "Here is where I should tell you to go to him. Where I should be unselfish. Please don't make me do that."
"I know you said you needed time, but you waited so long. You made it seem like you wanted nothing to do with me. You wouldn't even look at me in class. I thought...I thought..." I put my face in my hands. "I made a mess of everything."
"No, I did." Professor Hunter grabbed my face in his hands. "I never should have walked out on you that night. I understand why you lied. And I did exactly what you feared. But I need you to know that the age difference means nothing to me."
"When you were in high school, I was in elementary school."
Professor Hunter laughed. "It doesn't matter."
"You're my professor."
"It doesn't matter." He leaned forward and kissed me. I could feel the cut on his lip. But that didn't stop him. He grabbed the back of my head and leaned into me until my back was against the cool tile. "I'm sorry." He kissed the top of my bandage, then the side of my neck. He left a trail of kisses between my breasts and down my stomach.
"Mmm."
He kissed the inside of my thigh. "I missed you."
"I missed you too."
He kissed the inside of my other thigh. "I want you again," he whispered against my skin. He lightly brushed his fingers against my clit. I was still aroused. I had been without him for so long. And now that I was in his presence again, I couldn't get enough of him.
I grabbed the bottom of his chin and tilted his head toward me. "I want you too."
He leaned between my thighs again and kissed me gently. I wrapped my legs around him as he slowly entered me. He was being gentle and loving this time. I let my hands wander down his muscular back.
The contrast between him fucking me and him making love to me was unimaginable. Hard and raw versus gentle and intimate. He continued to kiss me as his thick cock stretched me wide. He reached down and touched my clit again, making me moan with pleasure.
He tilted his hips, thrusting his cock deeper.
"Professor Hunter," I gasped.
He ran his hand up the side of my torso. His touch made my whole body tingle with pleasure. He intertwined his fingers with mine and moved them to either side of my face. His hips moved faster. "Promise that you'll remember that you're mine."
"I promise," I moaned as my orgasm washed over me. He squeezed my hands as he found his release.
He rubbed the tip of his nose against mine. He placed one last kiss on my lips and pulled out of me. He stood up, grabbed his sweatpants off the floor, and pulled them on. I had never seen the look he was giving me now.
I
was about to ask him what was wrong, when he said, "I have a present for you."
I sat up. "So you did remember my birthday?" I wasn't fuming anymore. I wanted to talk. I wanted to hear him out.
"I told you I remembered." He gave me a small smile and walked through the kitchen. He disappeared into a room I hadn't been in yet. I grabbed my clothes and went into his bedroom. I flipped the switch on in his closet. All the clothes he had bought for me were still hanging there. I opened up a drawer and pulled out a lacy thong and matching bra. I put them on and then finished getting dressed in my pants and tank top. There were sneakers at the bottom of the closet. I grabbed a pair of socks and laced up the sneakers. Everything fit me so perfectly. I crossed my arms. It was chilly in his apartment. I grabbed a light jacket and pulled it on.
When I walked back into the living room, Professor Hunter was sitting on the couch. I sat down next to him. He was holding a sealed envelope in his hand. My name was written in his familiar scrawl.
"What is it?" I couldn't help the excitement coursing through me. I had waited my whole birthday for a present from him to arrive.
"I wanted you to get over me." He wasn't looking at me. He was looking down at the envelope.
"You already told me that."
"Before you open this I need to tell you something."
"Okay." My heart was racing.
"I did something I regret. But I can't take it back."
I didn't know what to say, so I stayed silent.
"I thought I needed to get over you. I thought it was best for you."
"And for you?"
"No." Professor Hunter shook his head. "I always knew it wasn't best for me." He looked over at me. "You said that it didn't look like I was in pain. But I was. I felt numb. My days dragged on. Without you there's nothing for me here. It sounds like I'm trying to make excuses but I'm not. I can own up to my mistakes. I just needed you to know that I was in pain too. I need you to understand the place I was in."