Fraternization Rule (Risqué Contracts Book 3) (5 page)

***

“I
’m driving you, sweetheart.”

“You can’t, Gabe.”

“Charlotte, get your sexy ass in the car.”

“Someone will see us!”

“I’ll be stealthy.”

Charlotte snorted, “Right, because a young professor rocking the hot geek look is so unnoticeable.”

I grinned and kissed her, flustering her enough that she didn’t fight me when I put her in the car and buckled her up. I hit the remote lock and ignored her glare as I jogged around to my side of the car. I used my key to unlock my door and get in, smirking at her as I pulled out of the parking garage.

My eyes were focused on the road, but I reached over and laced my fingers with hers. It was only a ten-minute drive to campus, even in New York traffic. I turned into a lesser used entrance that led right to the faculty lot. I had early meetings, and the lot was mostly empty. I pulled up and stopped near the entrance but under the cover of trees. “I’ll let you out here and go back to park.”

She released my fingers and reached for the door handle. My hand shot out and caught hold of her arm. “Sweetheart, get your ass back here and kiss me goodbye.”

Charlotte’s eyes dashed around the lot. “Gabe!” she whispered fiercely. “What if someone sees?”

I sighed, “I don’t give a fuck. When you have to be out of my presence, I expect you to leave me a piece of you to take with me.”

Her eyes went soft and she leaned across the seat to place a sweet kiss on my lips.

“I don’t think so, sweetheart.” I dove a hand into her hair and gripped it tight, slamming her mouth down over mine. My tongue thrust into her mouth and she moaned, her mouth opening to welcome me in. I kissed the shit out of her, only pulling back when I was close to the point of no return.

I grunted in satisfaction at the glazed look in her eyes and winked. “See, sweetheart? You need to relax. Now get to class and daydream of me.”

Charlotte smiled wide and practically bounced out of the car. I watched her until she was inside, then put the car back in gear. As I pulled away, my eye caught movement and I saw another student walking around the corner of the building, his head bent, absorbed in his phone. He glanced up as he reached the door, looking right to where I idled, and our eyes met. Then he opened the door and rushed inside.

Had he seen us? I rolled my eyes and shrugged it off. Charlotte’s paranoia had apparently rubbed off on me.

T
he exam for my Shakespeare class was easier than I expected, a lucky thing too, considering how little studying I’d gotten done in the last three days. My Special Themes in Literature exam was a breeze, as I’d expected. I was just reading through my answers when the professor called out my name, drawing my attention to the front of the room.

“Miss Young you’re wanted in the dean’s office.”

I glanced down at my test packet one last time. “Almost done,” I mumbled.

“I’m sure your answers will be sufficient considering you have a nearly perfect grade in my course and haven’t written anything new for the last five minutes.”

“Okay,” I agreed reluctantly, shoving all my stuff into my backpack.

Nerves fluttered in my stomach as I handed her my test. The only communication I’d had with the dean since I started school here three and a half years ago was the letter I received each semester letting me know I’d made President’s or Dean’s list for my grades.
What the hell could he want to speak with me about now that would make one of my professors act so strangely?

By the time I made it across campus to the administrative building, I was a nervous wreck. The dean’s administrative assistant was seated at her desk outside his office. “Hi, I’m Charlotte Young. My professor told me I needed to come in to see the dean.”

“Yes, Miss Young,” she responded, eyeing me up and down with a hint of disdain. “Mr. Whitehall will be ready to see you in a moment. Please take a seat over there while you’re waiting.”

She waved towards a row of chairs against the wall and turned her attention back to her computer. When I took a seat, I realized my hands were shaking and gripped them together in my lap. Then my foot started tapping, the sound echoing in the room. Mr. Whitehall’s assistant cleared her throat and glared at me.

I glanced at the clock, staring at it as the minutes passed. After ten minutes, my nerves turned to irritation. I didn’t understand why my professor rushed me out of the classroom only for Mr. Whitehall to make me wait for this long. Another five minutes passed, and irritation morphed into anger. I was stuck cooling my heels while waiting for the dean for who knew what reason, while his assistant sent nasty looks my way. And then his door opened, and I wished I was still waiting because I finally knew what the reason was for this meeting.

“Fuck no,” Gabe muttered, standing in the doorway. He swiveled on his heel and marched back into the office, and I leapt from my chair, following behind him.

“Wait! You can’t just go in there,” the assistant protested.

I shut the door in her face and felt a moment of satisfaction at the action. The feeling was fleeting because when I turned to face Gabe and Mr. Whitehall, they were facing off across the desk

“I need to speak with Miss Young alone.”

“No, you don’t,” Gabe disagreed, coming to stand next to me.

His hand slid into mine, and I took comfort in the quick squeeze he gave me. “It’s okay. I’m willing to answer any questions Mr. Whitehall has for me.”

“If you and the girl have nothing to hide, then you shouldn’t mind if I talk to her while you wait outside.”

“Gabe,” I whispered. “It really is fine.”

“It isn’t about trying to hide something. It’s about me standing by my woman for what I’m sure will be a difficult conversation. What kind of man would I be if I left her alone to handle this?”

My heart melted at Gabe’s vehemence. Seriously, was there any question about why I’d fallen for this man?

“While I understand where you’re coming from, I have to say, calling the girl ‘your woman’ makes it hard for me to believe the relationship started a day ago.”

I jumped slightly, having forgotten that the dean was in the room with us while I swooned over Gabe’s protective streak. My cheeks heated, and I cursed my habit of blushing whenever I got embarrassed. I turned towards the dean and tugged Gabe along with me as I moved to sit down in one of the chairs across from the dean. Gabe and Mr. Whitehall followed my lead, sitting down also.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to think of the best way to explain what had happened between Gabe and me. I understood the dean’s skepticism because our story was hard to believe. “I’m not sure what Gabe has already told you or how you found out about the relationship that’s recently developed between us.”

“Why don’t you tell me your side of the story and then we’ll discuss what Professor Aldric has already told me and how I learned about this potential violation of our fraternization rule.”

I looked towards Gabe, who nodded his head in encouragement, before I began telling the dean about how I’d spent the semester hopelessly attracted to my professor. It was mortifying, but I braved through it because I had to if I wanted to be able to graduate without a black mark on my record. “Gabe never did anything untoward. Not once all semester. If you asked my fellow students, I’m sure they’d tell you there was virtually no interaction between the two of us all semester long. But that didn’t stop me from falling for him all the same. It wasn’t until after I finished my final exam for his class and was no longer his student that anything happened between us.”

“Yesterday?” Mr. Whitehall asked.

“Yes, sir,” I replied. “As hard as it is to believe, yesterday was the first time we even spoke more than a handful of words to each other.”

He stroked his chin as he considered what I’d told him, his gaze moving between Gabe and me. “And before this interaction”—he paused there and I fought hard not to laugh at the word he’d chosen to use because it didn’t come close to describing what had happened last night—“happened, you graded her exam and submitted her score to finalize her grade in your class?”

“No.”

I felt a sinking sensation in my stomach, having not thought about the fact that he couldn’t possibly have graded my exam before we had sex.

“As I explained earlier, the very first thing I did after my faculty meetings yesterday afternoon was ask my TA to grade Charlotte’s exam. The same way he’s graded all of her tests and papers this semester because I knew I was developing feelings for her and didn’t want there to be a conflict of interest.”

“You’re the only two people who know exactly what happened and when. The only proof included in the complaint which was made by a fellow student was a photo of the two of you which I can only assume was taken today since you’re both wearing the same clothes you currently have on.”
Someone had taken a photo of us?
“Considering that Miss Young has an exemplary record during her time here and you’re a valued member of the faculty, I’m prone to accepting your version of the facts.”

I heaved an enormous sigh of relief. “Thank you so much, Dr. Whitehall.”

“Don’t thank me yet.”

I reached out for Gabe’s hand, clenching my fingers tightly when they slid around his palm.

“Assuming you pass all your courses this semester, I’ll allow you to graduate as planned, Charlotte. However, you’ll need to think long and hard about your next step from here because the fall semester is only eight months away and if you want to be a graduate student here, you’ll have a hard decision to make. You can’t be in a relationship with Professor Aldric while you’re a student in his department.”

T
he ride back to our apartment building was quiet, the silence between us heavy. I’d hoped to have more time to come up with a strategy, one that would convince her to stay. The only option for her to do that, other than going to a school without a decent program in her field, meant forfeiting her goals for higher education.

There was one solution that seemed obvious. I was going to do it sooner rather than later. Why wait if it will do the job now?

Once parked, I helped Charlotte from the car, grabbing our bags and heading inside, my hand at the small of her back. Her shoulders were slumped and she had a dejected look on her face. We walked to the elevator and stepped inside. I pressed the button for the penthouse, but to my surprise, Charlotte pressed the button for her floor.

She kept her head down and shuffled her feet as an awkward silence descended. “Sweetheart?”

“I just need some time, Gabe,” she whispered.

I sighed, “Charlotte, please look at me when you’re talking to me.” My voice was firm. “I don’t want to tell you again,” I reprimanded.

She lifted her head and I saw a small spark of defiance in her eyes. It was so much better than the overwhelming anxiety and sadness I’d seen when we left campus.

“Good girl. Now, why don’t you come home and we’ll talk about it.”

“I need time to process this, Gabe,” she objected. “I have big decisions to make and I can’t think clearly when you’re near.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but it occurred to me that she was giving me the perfect opportunity to set up my plan. I wasn’t happy about giving her time to mull things over, possibly deciding that leaving was best. It would be harder to persuade her to my way of thinking, but not impossible. I’d make sure of it.

I pulled her close and kissed the top of her head as she snuggled up to me, “Ok, sweetheart. I’ll give you some time, but I want you up at our place at eight.”

My hand ventured down to palm one round globe of her spectacular ass. I squeezed it and brought our bodies flush, front to front. Her eyes heated, reflecting the burn I was feeling, the desire to have her naked and writhing underneath me. I feathered a kiss across her rosebud lips, then moved to her ear. “Don’t be late or there will be handcuffs waiting in the bedroom with your name on them.”

She giggled and I shook my head, she’d find out soon enough. The elevator dinged on her floor and I stepped off to carry her bag for her. She unlocked the door and I set it down just inside her apartment before pressing a key to my place into her hand. Before I left, I drew her into my arms and kissed the fuck out of her until I was satisfied that I’d be clouding her “thinking” time without even being there.

***

I
’d cooked for Charlotte the night before and it had seemed to delight her. So, I went out and picked up groceries to do so again. I made an extra stop before returning home to get started on dinner.

When the food was mostly done, I went into the bedroom and set things up for the night. Charlotte would be making a very big decision about her future and I knew that meant it was time to be clear about my preferences in the bedroom. If, for some reason, she couldn’t take it or simply didn’t like it, I would put it all behind me. I would do anything for her and there was no way I was willing to let her go.

I expected her to be wary, but I was almost certain that Charlotte would end up loving my methods of pleasure. There was something in her, particularly in her eyes, when I got overly alpha on her that told me she was a submissive in the bedroom.

Just before eight, I looked around one last time to make sure everything was ready to go. I poured us each a glass of wine and was just placing food on the table when I heard the key in the lock.

I met her in the hall pulling her in for a giant bear hug, sensing she needed simple comfort at the moment. “Hi, sweetheart.” I kissed her forehead, each closed eyelid, her nose, and finally a sweet meeting of our lips.

When she looked up at me, I could see her gratitude in not jumping right into things and demanding an answer. We walked side by side into the dining room and she molded into my side as we entered.

“This looks amazing, Gabe.”

I didn’t think I’d done all that much, adding candlelight and a pink rose over her plate, but I loved that it made her so happy.

“Dinner is ready,” I said, pulling her chair out for her. Once she was seated, I swept her hair to the side of her neck and kissed the sensitive flesh I’d bared. She shivered and I was suddenly more than anxious to get dinner and our discussion over with.