Taking her in his arms, he hugged her tight before releasing her and going to shower.
Bridget squeezed the bridge of her nose, trying to will away the headache that threatened with no success. Her head felt as if it was in a vice. Her temples ached and her eyes burned. It had been a constant thing since her argument with Connor that morning.
Tears welled but she fought them. Crying in front of her class would never do. She glanced around to ensure that none of her students was paying any attention to her. Fortunately, they were all busy with their final exam. Pencils were flying and calculator keys were tapping.
Surreptitiously, she wiped her eyes. Her emotions had been on a tilt-a-whirl all day. It was bad enough they were arguing more and more over small things, but that had been gut-wrenching.
She’d never seen him so furious, especially with her.
Each word had been like a tiny knife in her heart. She’d thought the subject was dropped. He hadn’t said a word since their talk, and she’d been happy to let it go.
He apparently had not. This morning had proven that they were far from beyond it, though. She could only hope that dinner would go better. Her stomach clenched at the thought of having to talk about it again.
Maybe, she was wrong. Maybe she should trust him –
‘Problem, Ross?’ Dean Whittier’s voice crawled across her skin, jarring her from her thoughts. She hadn’t seen him come in.
‘No.’ Taking a deep breath, she began to straighten up the papers on her desk.
Things had been different with him as well. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but it was almost as if she could feel the malevolence he had toward her. Her skin prickled every time he was near her.
He’d finally stopped all his suggestive comments, but he was popping up in her classroom more often. Something she couldn’t do anything about since it was his prerogative to audit her classes, especially with her tenure review coming up.
She’d find him looking at her with a look so hateful, she felt physically attacked.
Today was no different; he appeared to be assessing her the way a lion might a gazelle in the Serengeti. She was definitely the prey here.
‘I wanted to inform you that your tenure review has been arranged for two weeks from tomorrow. The panel has been selected and you’ll receive a formal notification of all the procedures. Charlene’s putting together a packet for you.’
‘Thank you.’ She refused to be cowed, but looking into those dead, blue eyes make her stomach twist viciously.
His eyes narrowed, his lips twitched mirthlessly, but all he said was, ‘I’d think carefully about what it will take to get that tenure, Ross.’
Her heart sank, but she just stared into his eyes despite the desperate urge to look away.
After several moments, he gave a soft chuckle and turned to leave, murmuring, ‘Yes, indeed. Think on that, Ross.’
Dale closed the door to Bridget’s classroom behind him and made his way to the men’s room. His dick was rock hard and he didn’t want to walk down the hall advertising his hard-on.
He couldn’t wait to remove that defiant look from her face. She thought he couldn’t see her fear, but it was written all over her.
Whore.
He was going to enjoy putting her in her place.
He leaned one hand against the stall as he took his cock in hand. All he could think about these days was her. It didn’t even matter who he was with, in his mind they all had red hair and green eyes.
He stroked his rigid flesh as the image of Bridget formed in his mind. Those ruby lips would wrap nicely around his shaft. She’d suck hard, pulling on him as if to suck the come right out of him.
Lately, he hadn’t even been satisfied with his usual conquests. He’d continued to fuck the waitress from Luna Bella. She was up for anything and it suited him to use her. Especially now Skyler had disappeared.
She didn’t answer his calls and she wasn’t even in class. A check of her records had shown that all of her work was turned in and she’d even taken her finals early.
The little bitch had just disappeared off the face of the planet.
Whatever. She was inconsequential in the end. It hadn’t been the same since she’d let herself get knocked up, anyway.
No, the one he wanted was down the hall, but soon enough she’d be exactly where he wanted her.
That tight little ass would be his to plunder and those tits would bounce as he fucked hard into her. She’d whimper and moan and beg for him to stop and he wouldn’t. He keep fucking her harder and harder and –
His release caught him off guard, slamming into him. Every muscle went rigid as he pumped into his fist, only the barest edge of his fury draining out with his semen.
Chapter Twenty-six
Connor slammed the door on his locker and grabbed up his backpack. He hoped to catch Bridget in her office. The hurt on her face had haunted him all day long. He owed her an apology and he didn’t want to wait until they met for dinner.
She had office hours every day after her last class and they’d be finishing up in about an hour. He figured he’d pick up a coffee from Mona’s for her and make it just in time for hours to end. After that, he’d just have to work harder at accepting her position on kink.
When he’d finally managed to put his own desires aside, he’d come to the conclusion that, despite his beliefs, it was Bridget’s decision to make.
When he’d asked himself the question of whether he wanted her in his life without kink or not in his life at all, the answer had been simple. He wanted her in his life. Hell, more than that, he never wanted to lose her. She was it for him. He knew it down deep in his gut.
He was going to tell her too. As soon as he saw her.
A glance at his watch had him picking up the pace. He was going to miss her if he didn’t get a move on.
Bridget glanced at the clock on her wall and did her best to find patience with her student. Her hours were officially over and Clay was determined to press his point. He was a solid student, but he was a whiner and he wasn’t pleased with his lab assignment grades.
She’d already explained to him twice that unless he wanted to repeat the experiment and do an entirely new work-up the grade would stand, but he kept trying to cajole her into giving him a higher mark on the existing lab.
‘Morris.’ The dean’s voice had them both jumping. ‘Professor Ross has made herself clear. Either repeat the lab or take the grade. Your choice.’
Clay turned almost purple with embarrassment at being caught out by the dean. Mumbling an apology, he agreed to keep the grade and hustled out of Bridget’s office.
Grudgingly, she murmured, ‘Thank you, Dean.’
Whittier didn’t bother responding as he walked into her office and dropped an envelope on her desk.
‘What’s this?’ Bridget took up the envelope and unpinned the flap, sliding out a single sheet of paper.
‘Your tenure review information.’ The door lock snicked into place. Bridget’s heart raced as realisation dawned on her. He’d just locked them in together.
‘What are you doing?’ Her voice was shrill as fear flooded her.
She stood up and rounded her desk, going for the lock, only to be stopped by Whittier catching her around the waist with an iron-hard arm. He pulled her against him so that her back was pressed fully against his body. She could feel his erection.
Not that he was hiding it. He pushed her against her desk and rubbed his dick against her ass.
