My Werewolf Professor (15 page)

The sound of her mother’s voice interrupted her thoughts. Kassia turned towards it unthinkingly. She saw the exact moment Kimberley saw her, the older woman stiffening almost imperceptibly. And then her lips tightened, as if the sight of her own daughter was displeasing – no, Kimberley’s upper lip had curled ever so slightly now. There was no better way to make her disgust evident, and even knowing the kind of woman her mother was, Kassia was still rocked with pain.

Only now did she realize that even after all this time, despite knowing Kimberley’s true character, a small part of Kassia had still held out, hoping that by some miracle her mother would change.

“Ms. Summers, I don’t have all the time in the world.” The professor’s abrupt voice slashed through the painful void her mother created inside Kassia, and the sight of the professor striding away propelled her into moving.

The distance between them grew, and Kassia found herself hurrying, increasing her pace. Still, she was only able to catch up with the professor upon reaching his office. He stepped aside to let her pass.

She spun back to face him at the sound of the door closing. The professor asked without preamble, “What’s wrong?”

Kassia glared at him, but his gaze remained patient.
They could stare at each other for as long as she wanted
, the implacable look on his handsome face said, and still he wouldn’t budge until she told him what was wrong.

She lifted her chin. “It’s none of your business.”
You made it so when you had sex with another woman,
she thought, and the void inside her swelled.

Alessandro’s fists clenched at the sudden flash of pain in Kassia’s brown eyes. He knew exactly what she was thinking, and he realized then they would never go anywhere until he brought the truth out in the open.

“I saw you.” He kept his gaze on her face so he could punish himself with the inevitable look of betrayal in her eyes once she heard what he had to say. She started to speak, and he shook his head. “That day you had your exams, I came here as soon as I could.” His lips twisted in a humorless smile. “I wanted to give you support, but then I saw you in Jacob’s arms—” His voice became harsh. “And so I
reacted
.”

Kassia’s world spun at the professor’s admission. For a long time, she could only stare at him, unsure about what to say.
 

He reacted.

“I don’t know if I want to laugh or cry,” she revealed shakily. Surely he knew what an understatement that was, how pathetic the words were at describing the ruthlessness of his actions. He had seen her in another man’s arms, and he hadn’t even thought to ask her first? She tried to place herself in his shoes. If she had seen him with
that woman
in the same circumstances, how would she have felt?

Betrayed.
 

She wouldn’t have been furious, wouldn’t have wanted vengeance the way he had.

Above all things, she would have been betrayed, but in spite of it, Kassia was sure she would have waited for an explanation, would have given him the benefit of the doubt.

He raised his hand then lowered it just as swiftly, as if he was uncertain of his right to reach out to her. Finally, he said, “
I’m sorry.
” A wealth of raw remorse underlined his voice, and she flinched, realizing that the professor had more than an inkling of how much pain his actions had caused her. As soon as the thought occurred, a bitter laugh tried to bubble out of her.
 

His actions.
 

Clearly, she also had the same gift for understatement, the two words just as pathetic at describing his decision to fuck another woman even when he had promised—

A sob threatened to come out of her throat, catching her by surprise, and she spun away with a choking sound.

She didn’t want to cry.

She had already cried too many tears for the professor.

“Kassia—”

She sensed him reaching for her from behind, knew this time he would really touch her. “No!” she cried out, moving away from him as fast as she could.

Alessandro whitened at the sound of distress in Kassia’s voice, and he immediately halted, not wanting to cause her even more pain. He watched her retreat until she stood behind the couch, seemingly finding relief in having something between them.

“I know you’re going to think I’m overreacting, but I really…” Her voice caught again. “I
really
loved you, Professor. It sounds crazy, doesn’t it? But I really did. Since t-the first day I saw you, it was like…every day was special. I was t-the happiest girl on earth when I realized I had a chance. I could have c-cried with joy when we first kissed. Stupid, right?”

The shame in her voice ripped through him.
 
“Kassia—”

“But nothing,” Kassia said with self-disgust, “was as stupid as forcing myself to believe that you loved me, too. You just didn’t know it.” She lifted her eyes to him, her gaze haunted with so much torment that Alessandro could no longer stop himself.

“
Kassia
.” He didn’t give her any time to react, unfairly using his Lyccan speed to take her by surprise. He had her in his arms before she could draw her next breath, and when she tried to struggle, he used one arm to clasp her to him while he freed the other to cup her chin and force Kassia to look at him.

The moment she did, he let her see for one moment how much he needed her. Let her see how the strength of his own desire made him feel out of control while giving
her
power over him—

Her lips parted in a silent, shocked gasp.

Alessandro seized the chance to kiss her, an open-mouthed fusion that left no doubt about the carnality and urgency of his feelings for her. His tongue drove inside her mouth, a deep, forceful stroke that staked his claim on her. And after – when he made sure she understood just how much he wanted her and that he considered her as his – Alessandro’s lips gentled. Again and again, he brushed his lips over hers, the movement feather-soft and tender, conveying the last of his intentions, a promise that he knew Kassia deserved to hear.

Raising his head, he looked down into her dazed eyes, saying quietly, “I am sorry for hurting you, Kassia. There are no words to express how deeply I regret hurting you. I know that the right thing to do is to leave you alone, but it is too late. This between us has become inevitable the moment you walked into my classroom and told me you wanted me.” He sensed her about to protest and halted it simply by pressing his finger on her lips. “I will make it up to you, little chick. I will woo you the way I should have done from the start. I will show you how much I treasure you, how much I desire you, and I promise that I shall wait until you are ready to surrender yourself to me.”

With those words, the professor released her and stepped back. She felt conspicuously empty the moment their bodies lost contact with each other, and she would have hated herself for it if she weren’t so terrified. Oh Lord, how she still loved this man. He had made a fool of her, and here she was, still so easily swayed by his words.
 

“I don’t want you to woo me,” she said desperately.

A beautiful smile curved on his lips. “Of course you do,” he said ever so softly.

His smile invited her to be dazzled, and Kassia quickly averted her gaze. “No.” She lifted her chin. “I’m going out with Jacob now.”
A lie,
but one she could easily resolve as soon as she left the professor’s office. Around her, the atmosphere became fraught with danger, and Kassia gulped.

“You do not mean that.” Still soft, but lethally so.
 

“Yes, I do—” She wasn’t able to say anything else, the professor whirling her back into his arms.

“You. Belong. To. Me.” Such an icy voice, but there was nothing cold at all about the way his mouth suddenly latched to the side of her neck. He sucked hard, and she cried out. She tried to struggle out of his hold, but it didn’t stop the professor at all. By the time he released her, she knew she had to have the biggest hickey on her neck.

“You’re a jerk!” She instinctively covered the spot with her hand, all the while trying to deny how much her body still tingled in the aftermath of the professor’s branding kiss.

Again, his lips curved in a beautiful smile that sought to mesmerize her. “Without a doubt, Ms. Summers. But at least I freely admit to being
your jerk
.”

Kassia absolutely refused to let the professor see how much pleasure it gave her to hear him say such a thing.
He’s playing with you,
she chanted desperately to herself.
Always and forever, he’s playing with you!

“You’re not mine, and I’m not yours.” She stalked to the door. A part of her wished that he would stop her from leaving, but he didn’t. Her heart sank as she held the knob.
See, Kassia? He really was just playing with you
. She twisted the knob open. “Goodbye, Professor.”

Just as she stepped out of his office, he was suddenly behind her, his breath caressing her ear as he said, “Remember, Kassia. Tomorrow, I will woo you.”

She turned around to tell the professor he would do no such thing, but instead she found the door being slammed in her face.

****

I hate him
, Kassia thought the next day, her teeth gnashing as all eyes swung towards her at the professor’s words.
Hate him, hate him, hate him!
And if this was what he meant by wooing, well, he had better take a refresher’s course in English because right now, what he was doing was the exact opposite.

In front of the class, the professor politely called her name. “Ms. Summers, shall I repeat it for you?” He didn’t wait for an answer, speaking in Italian right after, his delicious accent making her toes curl even as she continued to hate him. “Could you please translate it?”

She said unthinkingly, “Zihwik jerfniv acknix.”

Everyone’s jaws dropped.

Even the professor blinked at her.

“I, umm, translated it to Russian.”

The professor spoke to her, in what seemed like Russian. The real one, and not her own made-up version. The class laughed, and her cheeks turned a dull shade of red.

“You only have to say you need extra lessons, Ms. Summers,” the professor said ever so gently. “You may sit down.”

Dozens of hands shot up.

“I think I need extra lessons too, Professor,” one of the girls seated in front said hopefully.

As Kassia sat down, she heard the girl next to her say sulkily, “You’re such a sly one.”

With a start, she realized that the girl seemed to think she had deliberately played dumb just to score a private lesson with the professor. Looking around and seeing more glares her way, she realized that everyone else seemed to think so as well.

Politely ignoring the clamor for private lessons, the professor resumed his lecture. The other girls resignedly lowered their hands when it became clear he wasn’t going to make another offer. When the bell rang, the professor bid them goodbye. Walking back to his desk, he ruffled through his papers and said without looking up, “Ms. Summers, if you could stay behind?”

Kassia, who had just stood up, sat back down and was again treated to another round of furious glares.

Alessandro lifted his head only when all the other students had left. The sight of Kassia scowling at him made his lips curve. “You are mad?”

Her scowl deepened, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “Isn’t it obvious?”

Did she know how tempting she looked when she was mad? Ceasing with the pretense of going through his students’ assignments, he tossed the papers back on his desk. He watched them fall and found himself wondering if he would again earn the right to toss
Kassia
on to the desk and make wild love to her?

A lightning bolt of lust struck Alessandro at the thought, but he swiftly sought control over his body. He had promised he would woo her, and that was what he would do. It was a small thing to do, after what she had suffered in his hands, but he also knew it was what Kassia would want the most.
 

Probably.

Insecurity, unfamiliar and irritating, bit at him. He struggled to keep his voice even as he said, “I wanted to have an excuse to spend more time to be with you –
just
you.” His dark green eyes held hers. “Do you not want this, too?”

“Umm…” Her head was still reeling at the professor admitting to wanting to spend time with her –
just her,
he had said.
Just her!