30 Nights (12 page)

We found our theater and managed to get seats that weren’t too close to the front. Conversation was awkward at first as we started chatting off and on about work and the new semester. He asked me some questions about what I was working on for Mickelson, but my mind was too scattered to go much into detail.

The problem was the remote. Or the lack of remote sighting, as the case was. I knew I shouldn’t focus on it, but I couldn’t help but sneak glances at his hands to see if he was holding it or not.

He wasn’t.

Not yet at least.

Dammit, why had I agreed to this?

When the lights finally went down, there were several loud whoops from a group of students who’d conglomerated in the middle rows behind us. I normally didn’t bother seeing horror movies, not because they scared me, but just the opposite. I found them predictable and more annoying than anything. With a few notable exceptions, they just weren’t my thing.

Depending on how things went tonight, I might have to reevaluate my opinion.

The trailers started and I settled into my seat. Our arms brushed as we shared an armrest, bare skin on skin. There was no way I’d be able to pay attention to what was on the screen, so I focused on relaxing so that he wasn’t at least immediately aware that I’d used the vibrator. I let my mind wander and steadied my breathing.

The previews and commercials finished and the theater filled with ominous music. The opening sequence was typically my favorite part of all horror movies. They set the tone and told me if this was going to be one that I’d giggle through, or if I might have an opportunity to actually be scared. Within thirty seconds, I knew this was going to be the former. The acting wasn’t bad, but the trope wasn’t one that did it for me. Demonic possessions? Not so terrifying for an atheist.

Fifteen minutes into the movie with no sign of Eric going for the remote control, I started to wonder if
he
was the one who changed his mind. I was completely at his mercy and that was driving me a bit insane. I mean, I’m a puzzle solver who looks for logical connections. Point A to B ending at Q. There was nothing logical about the situation I currently found myself in. I couldn’t demand that he turn it on and get this show on the road. I couldn’t turn it on myself, at least not without drawing a whole shit-ton of attention.

All I could do was wait him out and see what was going to happen.

Well, shit.

That meant I had no choice but to watch this stupid movie.

Currently on the screen was a young man, maybe in his twenties, his eyes fully black and his face covered in black veins as he walked around a school. The dialogue was sparse to this point, so there wasn’t much to concentrate on, but eventually I got into the atmosphere. The young man turned a corner and walked into a large, empty cafeteria. There was a group of students huddled in the corner crying and whimpering.

“No, Justin!” A girl stood, tears flowing down her face. “Don’t do this!”

I snorted.

“Ashley, get away!” Another tearful girl called out as idiot-Ashley approached the poor, possessed Justin.

“I can reach him. I just know I can. Justin, please. I know you’re in there, baby. Talk to me.”

One minute Ashley was standing in front of Justin and in the next Justin’s mouth opened to epic proportions and he bit her face off. I opened my mouth to laugh—because it really was the most ridiculous thing ever—but instead a startled scream escaped me.

Eric—the asshole—had chosen that moment to turn on the vibrator. He let it run for a moment before turning it off.

The guys behind us laughed and I couldn’t help but overhear the snide,
scared the girl
and
girls are lame
remarks. If Jasmine were here, she would have thrown her popcorn at them and probably her drink.

Me? I was too preoccupied wondering when Eric would turn the vibrator on again. He reached over and wrapped an arm around me, pulling me a bit closer to his side. Then he shifted so his mouth was close to my ear.

“Scream as loud as you want.”

I wanted to laugh, especially now that I knew what the game was. He really did have a devious mind.

Every time something happened on screen, someone died or there was a lame-ass jump scare, Eric would flick the vibrator on. Not only did it have an on-off function, but also variable speeds that he’d cycle through and sometimes leave on for an entire scene. When I didn’t think I was going to be able to hold my orgasm at bay any longer, I pressed my face to the side of his chest.

Of course, that was the moment he turned the fucking thing off.

I looked up at him. “I’m going to kill you.”

His smirk was visible from the light of the movie screen.

I’d never paid much attention to the length of horror movies before then. They had always seemed to go relatively quickly when I’d watched them in the past.

So this one was either the longest fucking movie
in the entire history of the world ever,
or having a vibrator inside you in public did strange things to the space-time continuum. The movie was starting up its final crescendo to the inevitable battle between good and evil. My body was engaged in its own fight, one that I was hoping would be over soon.

I pressed my thighs together, which increased the pressure of the vibrator against my clit. I hoped that maybe I’d be able to get myself off without Eric’s evil finger on the controls. He leaned in and nipped at the shell of my ear. “No cheating.”

“I hate you.”

“Want me to stop?”

“I’ll kill you.”

“Watch the movie.”

The movie’s heroine was now running through the school’s basement in search of a hammer, or a book, or something. I didn’t have a clue really what was going on because
vibrator in my pussy
. Still, the music rose and the actress flew around a corner only to come face-to-face with the now mutant Justin. She screamed as she attacked him with a—where the hell did she get that?—chainsaw.

The vibrator kicked in and on what must have been the highest level. I bit down hard on my bottom lip to keep from crying out, but there was no way I could stop. As mutant-Justin bit down on the heroine’s shoulder, I screwed my eyes shut and screamed.

Loudly.

Oh
so very loudly.

My orgasm was the hardest I’d ever come in my life. Even harder than at the hotel. I couldn’t hear anything beyond the blood pounding in my ears. I couldn’t feel anything beyond Eric’s arm around my shoulders and the waves of pleasure as they ripped through me. Even after he finally turned the vibrator off, my body still buzzed and aftershocks rolled through me. My breath came out in huge gasps that could be mistaken for sobs if you weren’t really listening.

The screaming died down on the screen shortly thereafter and was quickly followed by the lights coming up and the credits starting. Not that I was completely aware of what was passing before my eyes. Shit, I could barely see, let alone process.

Eric placed a kiss to my temple. “How are you doing?”

“Sorry, Glenna’s unavailable at the moment. Please find her a proverbial cigarette and she’ll get back to you once her brain restarts.”

I felt him smile against my temple.

It took a minute, but I was finally able to get to my feet. I turned and only then realized that the group of college guys was still sitting there, all ten of them. They weren’t looking at the credits either, they were looking—no, gawking—at Eric and me.

I was too stunned to say anything. All of them looked from me to Eric and back, as though they were trying to figure out if what they thought happened, actually had. Eric hadn’t noticed the extra attention we’d drawn until he’d finished picking up the garbage around our seats. It was only then that he realized that I was looking at the group.

“Gentlemen.” He nodded toward them. “Are you ready to go, sweetheart?”

“Sure.”

“I’m so glad you enjoyed the movie.” He started to walk away. “We’ll have to make sure that you come again for the sequel.”

Somehow, there wasn’t a sinkhole waiting for us when we reached the parking lot.

13

I
’d had the most sexually adventurous weekend of my life. It was now Monday morning and I was lying in bed awake well ahead of my alarm. Every minute of the last two days with Eric played on a loop in my brain as I dissected every expression, word, and smile that he’d shared with me. It had been crazy sex and awesome, but there’d been something about Eric that I hadn’t been able to put my finger on.

Even when he’d said good-bye last night, I couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d been making amends for something. Eric had walked me up to my apartment after the movie and had placed a kiss on my cheek.

“Thank you for tonight.” He gave my hand a squeeze. “Perhaps we can continue our project again Friday night?”

Jesus, I wasn’t going to last a week seeing him every day and not want to do nasty sex things to him. “That would be great.” Then we went our separate ways.

The minute I shut the door something niggled at me in the back of my head. I couldn’t be certain, but I couldn’t help feeling as though despite everything we’d done, he was still not okay with it.

Throwing the sheets back, I marched into the office and looked at my corkboard again.

I’d learned a lot about him this weekend. He was shitty at poker, but he had a clever mind and wasn’t ashamed to use it. The whole thing at the movie theater had been about me, about making sure that I was getting as much pleasure as I could. I had no doubt he’d gone home and gotten himself off. When he’d kissed my cheek, I’d felt his erection against my hip. He’d gone before I’d even asked him if he wanted to come inside.

“So Professor Morris, what’s up with you?”

I took another note card and wrote
Bad Breakup?
on it. He’d said he was trying to prove something to himself, which implied that something had happened in the past that made him question himself.

It seemed odd that someone who’d accomplished as much as he had in his life had any self-doubt.

I also took a moment to add Day Twenty-six to the sex side of the board. That had been unexpectedly awesome. Jasmine had only assumed that I’d last ten minutes; I wished I could have told her that I’d far surpassed her estimate. This was the first card that he’d selected, and I’d given him my blessing to pick the next one as well. I was hoping that a pattern would emerge.

Well, that didn’t give me much, but it was something.

My weather app told me that today was going to suck. It was raining and would be colder than normal. Typical that the temperature would start to go crazy on us, but totally unfair given how warm it had been only last week. I hauled on my jeans and a shirt, grabbing my sweater before I made my lunch and headed out.

The hallway between the staircase and my office was clogged with students. I groaned, drawing the attention of several people before I headed forward through the throng. Today was the first day students could drop classes and switch to something else. That meant a lot of back and forth between offices and waiting for professors to finish classes and show up for office hours.

Any hope of having a private word with Eric today was officially out the window. I pushed my way past his office, but his door was completely blocked with some of the tallest freshmen I’d ever seen in my life. That dude must have been fed weed and feed as a child. Crazy. The second I made it into my office I shut the door and let out a sigh.

I really did hate the beginning of term.

Jasmine made it in fifteen minutes later, looking much the same way I must have. “They’ve fucking multiplied overnight, I swear.”

“I saw at least three of them crying.”

Jasmine snorted. “Poor things. How was your weekend?”

Oh, I had sex with Eric then got off in a movie theater.
“Pretty quiet.”

“I thought you were getting together with that guy of yours to have some fun?”

I had a screaming orgasm in front of a bunch of students!
“I did. But it was . . . um, uneventful.”

“That’s too bad.”

“How’s Nell?”

Jasmine actually let out a purr. “She’s wonderful. I took her out to supper and then I spent hours licking dessert off her body.”

I know it was childish, but I pressed my hands to my ears. “Lalalalalalalalala.”

“Baby.” She looked too smug to actually care.

I chose that moment to open my e-mail. Now, I loved my job more than anything, loved the school and being able to have an office with my best friend. I even loved the work that Professor Mickelson gave me. The man himself though, he sometimes drove me insane.

“What’s wrong?” Jasmine was up and around my desk before I could respond. “Boss man?”

“He’s coming back a week early to attend a lecture in Vancouver. He wants me to compile the last six months of his research into a fact sheet to hand out. I need to have it done in two days.”

“You’re kidding. Why can’t he do this shit himself? He’s the one with the PhD.”

Professor Mickelson was many things, but when he had an opportunity to have me do the work for him, I ended up with the project. “It’s fine. I can’t bitch too much, it is my job.”

“It’s not your job to do weeks’ worth of work that quickly. It’s still not cool.”

“It’s fine.”

“No it’s not. You let him take advantage of you. Just because you work for him doesn’t mean you have to let this happen.”

“Jaz—”

“Don’t Jaz me. You’ve done this since first year. You put your needs second and the job first. You won’t do anything to rock the boat and he knows that. Never mind the fact you’re fucking brilliant and could run academic circles around him. You need to start putting yourself first.”

In all the years I’d known her, Jasmine had never talked to me quite that strongly. I’d never considered myself a pushover, not even a little. I knew what I wanted from life and I went out and got it. I didn’t let myself get taken advantage of, did I?

“I better get working on this.” I stood up quickly, forcing Jasmine to take a step back.

“Glenna—”

“No, you’re right. But I still have a job to do. Better to get it out of the way before he comes back.”

“Glenna, I’m sorry.”

“For what?” I pulled my planner close to my chest. “For telling me the truth? That’s nothing to be sorry for. But you said it yourself, I’m a chickenshit.” I left before she could say anything else.

The hallway was still full with students, some looking more frantic than I currently felt. The group in front of Eric’s office was even thicker than before. A quick look at the forms told me that these were people looking to sign up, not drop his class. He’d been popular with students last year, so it wasn’t a surprise that his name had circulated as a good professor to take.

There weren’t any living human-tree people in front of his door this time, so I was able to see him sitting at his desk when I got to his door. Our gazes met briefly before I ducked my head and kept going.

“Ms. O’Donald!”

I stopped and the students around us cleared a path for Eric to emerge. More than a few of the females in the crowd looked at him with adoration, while a few others looked between the two of us. Yeah, being the center of a scene was so not going to happen.

I smiled as brightly as I could. “Yes, Professor Morris?”

He didn’t acknowledge the group around us, but he was obviously aware of all the eyes on us. “Are you heading to the library?”

“I am.”

“I know this is a bit of an imposition, but would you mind returning something for me?”

“Of course.” Jasmine’s voice groaned in my head. Eric was yet another man taking advantage of me. At least he’d been up front about the whole thing.

He disappeared into his office for a moment, then returned with a thick volume. “I might have left a bookmark or two in it. Feel free to pull them out before you deposit this.”

“No problem at all.”

I took the book from him, shivering at the feel of his finger against mine. I looked into his eyes and the most astonishing thing happened.

He winked at me.

“Thank you, Ms. O’Donald.” He turned and faced the students. “Introduction to Sociology 100 on Tuesdays and Thursdays is now full.”

The collective groans chased me down the hallway as I went.

I didn’t look at the book until I reached the library. I shouldn’t have let Jasmine upset me the way she had, but a part of me knew that she was right. I did let Professor Mickelson push me around more than he should. I loved what I did, so I never really thought much about his requests. If it didn’t bother me, then it wasn’t really a bad thing, right?

When I finally got to the lobby, I walked immediately over to the return cart and set the book on top. I’d only gotten a few steps away when someone called out. “Excuse me.”

I turned. “Yes?”

There was a young woman standing there, holding the volume I’d just set down. “This isn’t a library book.”

“What?” I came back and took it from her. There was nothing on the spine. “Sorry, he must have given me the wrong one to take back. Thanks.”

It didn’t seem like Eric to make that kind of mistake—

Oh wait. I was being an idiot here, wasn’t I?

I headed over to one of the booths reserved for staff and graduate students to conduct research. There was one in the corner that I loved to take. It had a wall behind it, so I knew no one would be reading over my shoulder. It was thankfully available, and I quickly dumped the book in the middle of the table.

Bookmarks?
Apparently I really was thick in the head.

The book fell open easily to the page with the paper sticking out of the end. Unlike the class notes I’d been expecting, my name was scrawled across the top of the paper.

My hands suddenly grew damp as I took the paper and unfolded it.

Shit. I couldn’t actually remember what that was. I folded the sheet back up and quickly scrolled through the days in my head. Cheap hotel room? No. Sixty-nine with your partner? No, but that would be awesome. Heat my mouth with hot liquid and give him a blow job? No, but I really wanted to work that one in somehow. Have sex blindfolded? Boring. Role-play? Oh wait! Day Sixteen was shower sex.

That was actually a bit normal. Wasn’t it? All sorts of people had shower sex. I’d even done that one with one of my former boyfriends. It had been awkward and there’d been a near slip that could have ended with me getting my head bashed in. Not to mention that I’d nearly drowned when I’d gotten on my knees to give him a blow job.

This might actually be a problem.

I realized that there was another page bookmarked. When I shuffled the pages over and opened it up, I was surprised when I saw a brochure for what looked to be a high-end spa here in the city. I wasn’t a spa type of person, and Eric didn’t strike me as one either. Upon closer inspection though, I realized that Haven was a bit different from the norm.

That sounded like a whole lot of naked-sexy-fun times, accompanied by food. Really, he couldn’t have gone wrong suggesting this place. I set the brochure down and flipped to the final bookmark. It was a printout of an online registration. It was a booking for two for this Friday night.

I mentally squealed as I did a seated happy dance.

A simple piece of paper shouldn’t make me horny. It really shouldn’t, but this was a confirmation of shower sex in a swanky spa for couples. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect outing.

Damn, Eric was good at this.

Which got me wondering yet again what the hell he thought he had to prove to himself. It was so bizarre that I couldn’t wrap my head around it. He was smart, attentive, cared about my needs and my comfort level. Not to mention he was proving to be an amazing lover. Sure, not all relationships work out, but that shouldn’t mean he needed to blame himself.

Unless he did something horrible.

No, not Eric. He didn’t seem the doing-something-horrible type.

So far he’d been kind, thoughtful, put my concerns and my pleasure before his own. I couldn’t even imagine what he thought he’d done to warrant needing to prove things to himself.

I removed all of the bookmarks and tucked them into my day planner. These were obviously meant for me and I wasn’t about to return them, lest he think I wasn’t interested. Because I totally was and wouldn’t be able to think of anything else for the rest of the week.

The jerk.

I managed to find several original sources to support Professor Mickelson’s latest idea before my brain officially disengaged. A glance at the clock told me that most of the students should be gone from our building now and taking up residence at the registrar’s office to finalize their course changes. Someday our school would move into this century and do all this shit online.

Dear God, please.

I packed up my things and headed back. Eric’s book was on top and I couldn’t help my excitement. When I reached his office, I was relieved to see that his door was open and there didn’t appear to be any students in sight. Before I had a chance to knock, he looked up from his desk and gave me a small smile. “Hello.”

“I wanted to return your book. It didn’t belong to the library after all.”

“My mistake.” Oh that smirk was far too cocky. I would have loved to have wiped it from his face. “Thank you for your efforts.”

“I did take out your bookmarks though.” I gave him a smirk of my own when I realized he was waiting for an answer. “I assume you don’t want those back?”