“All right, baby.” She rolled back to her original position, and he pulled her against his chest as he said, “Love you.”
“I know,” she whispered. And she did know. She just couldn’t shake the feeling that Luke was still hiding something. Why else would he not want her around his family?
31
“Okay, enough,” Luke said, startling Embry as she poured her coffee into a travel mug.
She had avoided him all morning, only speaking when he spoke first. She thought that if she slept on it, she’d wake up and have the answer to the mystery that was Luke. Instead, she was up half the night. The little sleep she got was marred by nightmares about Luke and finals and Jack and anything else her mind could come up with to freak her out.
“What?” Embry said harshly as she faced him.
“Enough with the silent treatment. Talk to me.”
“Fine.” Embry slammed the mug on the counter. “Why did you tell your niece that I would be busy when you take her to see the tree?”
“Seriously?” he asked, his eyes wide with disbelief.
His response pissed her off even further. “Yes, seriously. Did you even think to tell me your family was coming to visit? Being that I don’t know what my plans are for the holidays, I’d love to know how you know that I’ll be busy.”
“Embry,” Luke said in a warning tone.
“No, Luke, I don’t understand. Are you ashamed of me? Because I feel like I’m your dirty little secret.”
Luke’s eyes went wide. “Dirty little secret? You wanted this. We both wanted this. We knew full well what it meant when we decided to be together. No one knows about us except for Morgan, and that couldn’t be helped.”
“That’s bullshit, and you know it.” She was fuming and felt tears prickle at her eyes. “You spent the holiday with my family, Luke. What’s the difference?”
“The difference is that my family knows I’m a professor,” he bit out.
“But it’s your family. We don’t have to tell them I’m a student. And even if they found out, would they report us to the school?”
“No,” he replied.
“Right, then why are you keeping me a secret?”
He had no answer. He stood with his arms crossed, that muscle working in his jaw.
Embry grabbed her mug and her bag and brushed by him. “Your dirty little secret has to get to her review session.”
That snapped him out of it. He followed her to the door. “Bree, stop—”
“No, Luke, you stop.” Her mouth fell into a frown. “I’ll see you in class, Professor,” she spat, before walking out the door.
Embry was feeling particularly spiteful. As Luke went over review questions in class, she sat and stewed over what he’d said. She couldn’t let it go. She knew that they had to be careful or they could both get hurt, but she couldn’t see what that had to do with his family. The more she thought about it, the more upset she got. Emotions clouding her judgment, Embry did the one thing she knew would upset Luke. Resting her chin on her palm, she turned her attention to Jeremy.
“Hey, handsome,” she said.
Jeremy looked over his shoulder then swung his eyes back to her, confusion sweeping across his face. “Me?”
“Yes, you. You look really nice today.” She had to work on her flirting. That was pathetic.
Jeremy pushed the back of his hand against her forehead. “Feeling all right, Bree?”
Embry saw Luke from the corner of her eye, tension in his every move. She knew he hated Jeremy’s hand on her, and she smiled brightly at her friend. “I’m great. Why?”
Jeremy dropped his hand. “Just checking. You’re being a little weird.”
His discomfort made it even more fun. Two birds. One stone. She could torture Luke a bit and give Jeremy a taste of his own flirty medicine. “What?” she asked, her voice filled with sweet innocence. “I’m just being friendly.” She drew her finger up his forearm.
The sound of a textbook slamming onto the podium made them jump. Got him.
“Miss Jacobs, Mr. Price,” Luke said, his voice extra gravelly. “Since both of you seem to understand the concept of punitive damages so well that you don’t have to pay attention to the review, why don’t you tell us about it?”
Jeremy let out a long sigh and shook his head.
Embry stepped up, determined to keep Luke’s wrath from landing on her friend. “Punitive damages are only available for breach of contract if there is fraud, malice, gross negligence, or oppression.”
“Good answer, Embry. How about you, Jeremy?” Her correct answer seemed to have only provoked Luke further. “Want to tell us about stipulated damages?”
Luke proceeded to torture Jeremy, making him look completely inept, and Embry could do nothing but sit by and watch. Her anger at Luke grew until she was sure the entire class felt the fury rolling off of her. Her stupid, stubborn man was taking out his anger on her friend, when it should have been directed at her.
Luke slipped out at the end of the review session while Embry was still packing up. Jeremy pushed past her without even saying good-bye. She shoved the rest of her things in her bag and ran after him.
“Jer,” she called.
He turned, glaring at her. “Just leave me alone, Bree.” He looked around before continuing in a harsh whisper. “I don’t know what that was, but whatever it is, I want no part of it.”
“What?” she asked, dumbfounded. Shit, he knows.
“Just … Nothing.” He shook his head. “I’ll talk to you later.” He walked away without giving her a chance to respond.
Reeling from Jeremy’s words and seething with anger at Luke, Embry couldn’t move fast enough through the back hallway and into the faculty wing. She schooled her face into a mask of impassivity as she passed several students and other faculty members.
She reached Luke’s office door, knocked once, and stormed in without waiting for an answer. “I can’t believe you just—”
Luke shot up from behind his desk and forced her against the closed door before she could finish her sentence. “Believe it,” he growled. He reached behind her, flipped the lock, and slammed his mouth down on hers.
Her head swam as she desperately tried to hold onto her anger. She wanted to pound on Luke’s chest, yell at him for being so stupid and jealous that he tipped off Jeremy. But she couldn’t be angry with him when he claimed her like that—his warm, wet mouth on hers, every inch of his solid body pressing into her.
“Hold on, beautiful,” he said, as he grabbed her ass and lifted her up against the door.
She did as she was told, wrapping her arms around his neck and locking her legs around his waist. She mentally high-fived herself for her wardrobe choice that morning; her flowy dress gave him easy access. She felt his hardness through his pants, putting delicious pressure against her core. She whimpered, but his finger found her lips, signaling the need for her to be quiet. She couldn’t help herself. Her tongue darted out to tease his finger, licking and sucking. He dragged it down her lips and between her breasts before reaching under her dress and ripping her panties aside. He slid his finger through her wetness, and she shuddered, wanting more but knowing she couldn’t make a noise to ask for it.
He got the message though. He slipped two fingers inside her, curling them into that delicious spot that shot her through the roof. She rode his hand until she spiraled into an intense orgasm, clenching around his fingers. Then his hand was gone, and she heard the clink of his belt buckle. The thick head of his cock rubbed against her sensitive flesh, and he muffled a low groan in the crook of her neck as he pushed into her inch-by-inch.
It was slow torture of the best kind. Her head fell back against the door with a thud, and she bit her lip, doing her best to stifle her cries as he moved inside of her. He gave her a warning look before pulling her from the door. Gripping her thighs, he held her against him as he walked them to his desk. He pushed his paperwork aside, and she watched it fall to the floor as he laid her on her back and pushed back inside of her.