Devon's Discipline (3 page)

Everyone in class had dropped their booklets and were staring at her as she continued, “I apologize you didn’t receive the messages I left for you on your office line and via email. I’ll be sure to take my seat once I figure out how to hop there.”

“I’m aware of your graceful disposition and will make up for my lack of courtesy by carrying you to the only empty seat in the room.”

Devon said nothing as he approached and placed her crutches against one of the seats in the last row. He then lifted her firmly into his arms and walked back down the steps. A flush came over her as he set her gently into the seat. Her classmates meanwhile settled back into their tests while she opened her booklet. “Thanks,” she mumbled and picked up a pencil.

The minutes ticked by as she studied the clock on the wall.
Shit! I barely made it through the first portion of the test!
The material covered exactly what she’d studied, but the pain in her leg kept distracting her. She had decided not to take the second dose of pain medication so that she could focus on the exam.

Her pencil now had bite marks up and down the length and she dropped it in disgust.
How am I going to pass this when I am so freaking distracted?
She rubbed the bridge of her nose and looked around. The rest of her classmates had finished and had left.

“Give me the exam back.” Matthews got up from his desk and reached for it.

“No!” she snapped and held the booklet to her. “I’m almost finished.”

“We can re-schedule it for next week.” He slid the papers out of her hand, ripped them into pieces, and deposited them into the trash.

“I would’ve completed your test had you allowed me just a few more minutes. I have a doctor’s note to excuse me for the rest of the week, but I managed to get here.” Devon slammed her pencil onto the desk and crossed her arms.
Why the hell did I just lie to him? I barely got through the first two questions!

“I can see you are in pain. What would you say if I told you I’ve got something to help your foot?”

“Like drugs or something? I don’t think so. I have a bottle of pills at home.” She collected her things and put them in her bag, then stood and flung the bag over her shoulder. “Please excuse me while I crawl up the stairs.” Devon twisted around and hopped up two steps.

“I’m not going to watch you break your other leg.” Matthews suddenly stood there in front of her as if he had been there the whole time.

“How did you move so fast?” She tilted her head to the side in confusion.
Holy shit!

“Follow me into my office. I’ll give you something to heal your leg completely.” He gestured back down the stairs.

“You mean like an herb?” She shook her head and rattled the words ‘heal your leg’ around in her brain. “I mean, not FDA approved?”

“No, but it will treat the break.”

“Um, I don’t need hair growing on my tongue or some crazy side effect like leaking fluid out of my ears.” Devon glanced up toward the door. “Anyway, my crutches are up there, so unless you are going to grab them, I’m stuck standing here.”

“Would you talk to any of your other professors in such a flippant tone?”

“None of them get me this…” she swallowed hard to avoid the word ‘aroused’, “…get me like this.”

“Like what?” Matthews looked genuinely perplexed as she fumbled for the right word.

“Flustered,” Devon substituted. His proximity was making her sweat. Even with the ache in her leg and the embarrassment from the failed attempt at the test, she could not ignore her attraction to him.

“Flustered?” Matthews nodded and she thought she saw a shadow of a smile. “Well then, I’ll try not to do that.”

“You seem quite amused at my choice of words.”

“I’d rather hear how you really feel.”

“I feel irritated, somewhat annoyed, and right now, pissed off. So choose one.”

“You can either follow me into my office or you can hop your butt up the stairs, but I’m done listening to your mouth.” Matthews rushed up the stairs, grabbed her crutches, and returned them to her.

“If you’re angry I missed the exam, fine, but I can’t handle whatever game this is.” Devon dug her nails into the soft cushioned bars of the crutches.

She wanted to tell him how she’d gotten to this spot in her life but didn’t know how to open up.

“You will eventually realize I don’t play games.” He brushed past her and headed down the stairs.

“I’m not going anywhere!” She swiveled her body toward the front of the room and watched as he descended the stairs without a glance back to her.

“Good-bye, Ms. Dawson.” He waved over his shoulder and continued toward his desk.

How dare he dismiss me so easily!
Devon thrust the crutches under her arms to spin around after him but the left crutch tip got stuck mid-swing. Her balance got thrown off and she had to let go of them to break the fall. A flash of movement caught her eye and suddenly she was no longer falling. Somehow he had managed to catch both her and the crutches at the same time.

A thousand thoughts flitted through her brain, but none of them made sense as he slowly brought her to a standing position and released her. It reminded her of a dip in a passionate dance, and for just a moment she wanted to stay in his arms. “How did you catch me?”

“Adrenaline rush. You would probably be on your way back to the hospital if I hadn’t.” He handed her the crutches. “Do you want to come to my office now?” He swept one arm toward the small side door at the front of the room.

“Yeah, fine,” Devon mumbled then swung her crutches and followed him.

They made their way through several hallways until they reached a door embossed with his name. He quickly twisted open the knob, bid her to enter, then shut and locked the door behind them.

“Will you please tell me how you caught me?” She set her crutches down carefully with one hand, then positioned herself onto the long black leather couch. His office contained two additional couches, and several bean bags lay out casually between them. The room felt very polished, set off by modern black furniture and wide book shelves.

“Maybe I’m a ninja.” Matthews gave a graceful shrug.

“I call bull shit.” She blinked and found him inches away from her face.

“If you curse at me again, I’ll teach you a lesson in respect you won’t easily forget.”

“Does it involve your lap?” Devon felt her nipples harden underneath her shirt.
Why am I so excited at the thought? Could it be the attention? Damn my body!

“It does, which leads me to believe you’re curious despite your hesitation. Sometimes I think you poke in hopes of a reaction.”

“You don’t know me well enough to make such a statement.”
Maybe I do want some fucking attention.
Devon dropped her arms slowly as he moved to his desk.

“You’re very easy to read but we can discuss that some other time.”

“So what is this stuff you have? Can it really fix my foot?” Her fingers fiddled with the charm on her necklace.
If he hadn’t caught me, I would probably be back in the hospital. How can I not trust him?

“You drink it, and the answer to the second question is yes.” He twirled the combination on a small safe and pulled out a locked box.

“Is it legal?”

“Technically it’s unknown, so it can’t be legal or illegal. But I warn you not to use it in public.” He took a small maroon colored vial out of the box and held it carefully in his hand while he re-locked the box and safe.

“Are there any side effects?” She weighed the risk and decided to follow her instinct to trust him. He had saved her from another fall, so he must have her good in mind.

“It will burn and then probably knock you out. But nothing else I can think of.” He took slow and deliberate steps until he was at her side. “Swear you will place it in your purse and not open it until you’re home in bed.”

Devon extended her hand. “I swear,” she mumbled as she stared at the small yet pretty container.

“Repeat what I say, ‘I will place it in my purse and not open it until I am home in bed.’” He dangled it above her palm.

“Repeat what I say.” Devon rolled her eyes at his insistence to keep the item under lock and key.
What the hell is in it?
“Blah-blah… I promise.”

“Do you speak this way to everyone?” Matthews dropped it carefully into her hand.

“No, only to someone who thinks he has authority over me when he has none.” Devon curled her fingers around the vial and tried to calm her frantic pulse. Whenever he focused on her, she forgot how to act.

“If you don’t believe I have any authority, then why did you follow me in here?”

“You prevented me from getting hurt twice.”
Damn!
The fact that he knew she listened to him despite the crap going on around her rubbed her the wrong way. He had led her to his office and she had blindly trailed behind. “Anyway, I appreciate it. When you pay attention to me, I want to listen.”

“I’m genuinely surprised at this response, since you were mouthy back in the classroom.” He raised his eyebrows. “Did you forget the back talk?”

“No. And I’m sorry about all of that.” Devon felt embarrassed that her inner brat kept poking at him and nearly demanding he address her.

“I accept your apology and expect to see you after class on Tuesday to talk about your make-up exam.” He held his hand out to help her up.

“Okay, I’ll be here.” She popped the vial into the zippered pocket of her bag, then closed it. “I’m in a lot of pain, and I really didn’t mean to be disrespectful to you.” Devon used his arm as leverage to get up, then grabbed the crutches.

“Get home safe.” Matthews unlocked the door and opened it for her. “Have a good night.”

“Thanks. You too.” She made it through the door, then quickly left for the bus stop.
Forget his orders to take the vial home!
If it contained something powerful enough to fix her foot, she wanted to down it now and go out. He had warned about the substance and its effect on her stomach, but alcohol did the same thing.

Devon hopped along the path towards the bus stop. The next bus would arrive in about twenty minutes according to her phone. It was the free campus bus, so on schedule would be closer to thirty minutes.

“He told me to go home and take it in my bed. Whatever.” She sat down on the bench and opened her purse. The elixir practically called to her and she glanced around to make sure no one else was nearby. She brought it out of the pouch and tried to twist off the top. After several failed attempts she was able to slide her nail under the rim to pop off the top.

An odd chill went down her spine and she started as two legs appeared next to the bench. When she looked up to see Matthews glaring daggers at her, she sprang up from the seat. “Why are you following me?” A white hot pain shot through her foot and caused her to crumple to the ground.

“I got the impression you wouldn’t listen and I’m right.”

“I’m sorry!” She took in great gasps of air. “Oh! My leg hurts!”

“I’m sure it does.” He pulled her up into his arms. “I’ll bring you to my house and you can take it there, but next time you listen to what I tell you to do.”

“I will!” Devon settled against his chest and wondered how she had wound up being carried by Matthews again in such a short amount of time. Other than Lucy occasionally showing off her super werewolf strength, no one had cradled her since kindergarten. She felt oddly cared for, though her leg still throbbed and pulled her back to reality. “It really hurts.”

“Just breathe. The pain will stop soon.”

A few minutes later they arrived at one of the older houses on campus. It was set back from the road and was in the woods up a winding driveway. She could see small lights in the windows but the other details blurred from her tears.

Matthews opened the door and brought her to the couch. He set her down carefully on the cushions and then handed her the vial. “Drink this.”

Devon took the vial and tipped it into her mouth. She laid her head back against the cushions as an awful burn hit her throat. “Aggh!”

“Keep it down.”

“Everything is blurry and it burns.” She gagged as the uncomfortable heat slid down her throat. “Gross!”

“Close your mouth and swallow it, or it won’t work.”

Devon clamped her mouth shut and gritted her teeth. The liquid felt thick and heady and had an awful bite to it. Once it reached her stomach, she doubled over as if someone had punched her. “Oh my gods!”

“Relax. Take a deep breath and go to sleep.” Matthews took her face in his hands and caught her gaze.

“I feel sick.” Devon blinked sweat out of her eyes and tried to calm down.
What did I just drink?

“You’re fine and the pain is gone.”

Her body did feel better and to her surprise the pain had faded. “It stopped.”

“Good.” Matthews released her head and helped her lie back against the cushions. “Now do what I said.”

Devon nodded as she snuggled deeper into the cushions. He patted her head and she heard him walk upstairs. She wondered about the repercussions of staying at his house, but her eyes fluttered shut and she fell asleep.

* * *

Devon awoke with a start. She stretched out her arms and looked around the room.

“Where am I?”

The room was done up in warm colors—various shades of pink with ornate white wood dressers and nightstands. A huge window seat grabbed her attention as it looked like the perfect place to curl up and read. Devon sighed happily as her fingers trailed over the soft blankets, but then she frowned as the events of last night pressed to the forefront of her memory.

“Where is my cast?” She raised her leg and wiggled her toes. “What the hell did he do?” Hesitantly she placed her feet on the ground and stood. The pain had faded dramatically and was now only an ache.

Devon headed to the hall and looked for a bathroom. She relieved herself and finger brushed her teeth, then stepped back into the hall. She spied a small spiral staircase and descended carefully. His house was gorgeous.
I should get the hell out of here after being so rude.