He began to talk, eyes still trained on the television. “I poured you some wine, and I threw down the blanket for you. I know how you like to spread out when you—” He looked at her, looked back at the TV, and as if realizing what he’d just seen, his head whipped back around. His eyes widened and his lips parted, desire written all over his face.
She felt his eyes like a caress as they traveled the length of her body.
“Fucking Christ, Embry.” He shook his head.
Being bold was easy when he looked at her like that. She stalked toward him, the jersey shifting across her hips as she moved. She watched his eyes lock onto her legs as she straddled him. The jersey slid up her thighs, and his hands automatically slipped under the shirt to grip her hips.
“Back to no pants, huh?” His hands roamed her hips before reaching around to grip her ass.
She nodded.
“I like you better this way.”
“Well”—her hands traveled aimlessly over his chest— “I thought maybe we could have our own version of Florida/Georgia,” she whispered suggestively.
His fingers flexed on her ass, and she knew she had him.
“You’re mine at halftime,” she said, nipping his bottom lip before hopping off his lap and spreading out in front of the fireplace to study.
The game turned into a complete slaughter, and by the time they reached the half, all Embry wanted to do was run and hide. She attempted to study, but couldn’t concentrate with her team getting killed. Luke handled it with his typical southern charm and didn’t say a word to rub it in, which might have been worse. He just let her sit and stew. When halftime came and went and he didn’t say anything, she figured he was giving her a break. Her mood had taken a nose dive.
She was able to tune out the second half of the game and get some reading done. When the game ended, she was in the middle of writing her briefs for contracts. She lay on her side in front of the fireplace, jersey riding up her stomach and panties in full view.
“Whatcha working on, beautiful?” Luke asked from behind her.
“Huh?” She was vaguely aware of him saying something, but she was concentrating on her case. She nodded and chewed her bottom lip as she read the same sentence for the third time.
Luke kneeled beside her and ran his hand over the curve of her hip.
She darted up, surprised. “What are you doing?”
“I asked if you needed help. You nodded. So here I am.” He smiled a devilish smile. “What are you working on?” He reached for Embry’s notebook.
“Baby, no,” Embry said, snatching the notebook from his grasp. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention when I nodded. You know I don’t want you helping with anything law school related.” She moved away from him. His nearness was distracting.
“Can you at least tell me what you’re working on?” he asked.
“Nope.” She pushed off the blanket with her notebook, but Luke was quick.
He followed, wrapped his arms around her, and tugged her into his chest. His lips grazed the length of her neck, and she couldn’t think straight. She let her head fall to the side, giving him more access, until she realized that his lips had disappeared. He was leaning over her shoulder, trying to peek at her notebook.
She turned and pushed at his chest. “Stop trying to read my briefs! You’ll see it when I hand it in on Monday, Professor.”
“You’re working on contracts? Oh, now I really want to see,” he teased.
Luke made a grab for the notebook, but Embry darted away. He chased her and caught her around the waist. He dug his fingers into her hips, tickling her. She shrieked, twisted out of his grasp, and ran toward the dining room. Standing behind the table, elbows on the back of a chair, she caught her breath and waited for him to make his move. A predatory look took over his features as he came at her. She ran back into the living room, skidded over the carpet, and flew onto the couch. She hopped up and down, wagging her hips and holding the notebook above her head.
Luke laughed and jogged into the living room. He bent over, his hands on his knees, making a ridiculous show of being out of breath. She knew better. He didn’t get that body going for light jogs. She continued to hop up and down, shaking her hips and taunting him until she realized that he’d stopped smiling. His bright eyes were dark with desire. She forgot what she was doing as she watched Luke stalk toward her. Before she knew it, she was thrown over his shoulder.
“Luke! Put me down!” She kicked the air and smacked at his ass. At least it’s not a bad view.
Without warning, he tossed her onto the blankets in front of the fireplace, peeled off his shirt, and hovered above her. “You don’t know what you do to me,” he said, his mouth coming down on hers possessively.
“Turn you into a caveman, apparently,” she murmured against his lips. “You forgot to club me over the head, though.”
“I missed my halftime show.” His hands snaked under her jersey and traveled up her rib cage.
A smart answer was on the tip of her tongue, but all thoughts left her mind as Luke’s hands brushed the bottoms of her breasts. She sucked in a breath as he slid his hands behind her and unclasped her bra. Then the jersey was pulled up and over her head. His lust-filled eyes took her in before he hooked his thumbs into her panties and dragged them off of her. Before she could set her legs back down, he spread them wide and kissed a path up her inner thighs. His fingers slid inside of her, and Embry whimpered, pushing against his palm, needing so much more. He curved his fingers inside of her as his mouth came down, licking and sucking. Her back bowed as the unexpected release barreled through her. Holy shit.
Before she could get her bearings, he gripped her roughly and flipped her over. Pulling on her hips, he brought her to her knees, and she felt the heat of his body as he leaned over her, trailing kisses down her spine.
She heard his belt buckle as he undid his jeans, and then he was pushing inside her, stretching and filling her. She wasn’t sure if she could take him in that position. She was overwhelmed by him, consumed. Luke gripped her hips, slamming into her at a feverish pace. Each time they made love, she saw a different side of him, but she liked the rough, demanding side of him the most. His hand left her hip, and his palm came down on her ass, the sound echoing through the room. The sharp sting of his hand combined with his hard thrusts caused her to clench around him and threw her spiraling into another intense release. She let out a soft cry as he buried himself deep inside her and came with a shout.
Luke slowly eased out of her, wrapped the blanket around them and pulled her against his chest.
Embry snuggled closer. “If this is what I can look forward to, I might have to start rooting for a Bulldog win every Saturday,” she joked.
He smiled, brushing her sweat-dampened hair from her forehead. “I’ve never seen a Gator jersey look so good, baby.”
26
One week rolled into the next as Luke and Embry fell into a comfortable pattern. They rarely spent a night apart. Embry, having no other choice, got over her discomfort in class, and they continued as professor and student while at school. The only difference was that their research meetings took place at Luke’s home office so they could properly take advantage of Embry’s “study breaks.”
Outside of time with Luke, Embry spent all of her time with Jeremy and their new study buddy, Tessa. The three had finalized all of their outlines and were preparing for finals. Embry still felt uneasy around Tessa, but Jeremy seemed to like her. Embry was determined to give her a chance.