Fae Fiefdom - M. Sinclair Page 0,28

civilized front but boiling intensity like fire against Merrick’s cool reassuring magic, my body began to feel as though it was being tugged in ten directions…but no one was touching me. Unfortunately.

I turned from Merrick to find Kirin’s chest right in front of me. How had he gotten so close without me noticing? Images from our night at the club rolled like a porno in my head and I could literally feel my pulse go haywire. Something that neither man missed.

Kirin’s hand pet my throat gently, strumming the pulse, as Merrick’s large fingers gripped my hip. Fuck.

When Kirin spoke, chills rolled over my skin. “Aren’t you about 4 years too old to be here? I told you to stay the fuck away from her yesterday, this is the last warning I’m giving you.”

Merrick offered a dark chuckle that wasn’t amused at all. “What is going to happen if I don’t listen? Is your Uncle’s claw going to be angry with me? Or are you going to run to Rain to bitch and moan about how I was trying to encroach on your territory.” He practically hissed the last word and my brain began to fire rapidly.

I hadn’t imagined what they’d just said right? Claw? Was I crazy or was that the term for a group of panthers? And who the hell was Rain? I wanted to ignore it but something about that name had my chest squeezing.

My brow dipped and Kirin’s head shot down in realization. His jaw clenched and indecision flashed in his eyes before he once again, turned and left, nearly shattering the glass hallway door in the process. Well shit.

“What was that about a claw?” I turned into the large tattooed man and I realized for the first time that he was wearing a dress shirt, cuffs rolled showing off his sleeves, and dark dress pants. Fuck add in the glasses, which may have been fake, and you had like the perfect package.

“After class.” He motioned towards the door with a languid relaxed smile and I went towards my lab bench, empty of course because no one would partner with me.

Did you see what I mean? About how dazed he made me? I didn’t even push my line of questioning, I just listened to the man! This was a huge problem. Also, no one seemed to be commenting on our closeness in the hallway which was real fucking surprising since the teacher wasn’t there…and Merrick was now standing up front.

“Hello,” Merrick gained attention as the last student walked in and the bell rang, “My name is Mr. Hirsch. I am your substitute for the rest of the year, mostly a stand-in to help answer questions as you prepare for finals. Ms. Withers had a family emergency to attend to out of state.”

I frowned, watching Merrick carefully because I felt like there was something here I was missing. Besides, oh wait! He’s my flippin’ teacher. Honestly, I had never had the school-girl/teacher fantasy but his tattooed, bad-boy glasses look was creating lots of fantasies in my head I hadn’t considered.

I sat down and began to open my notes to the extensive lab work and notes I’d detailed this semester on the basics of Newtonian Physics. I knew I needed to focus on basic Electrodynamics for the end of the year, but it was hard to concentrate with Mr. Tattooed and Nerdy up front. Now that I knew he was smart? I was totally screwed. I could hear him talking to other students and my jaw clenched as I watched the girls bat their lashes at him. Hussies.

Why do I care? No really. Why?

I didn’t know this man. At all. I just needed to concentrate on my work. Something I was able to do for nearly three hours, my final exam packets laid out around me as I worked on section after section.

I could feel Merrick’s eyes on me from the front of the room but I refused to look up. To give him the satisfaction of knowing I’d been looking at him. An urge that grew stronger by the second. My fingers trailed across the window sill where the shadows were, the cool minty texture making me sigh comfortably, something I’d been doing for the better part of this time.

The last hour began though, and I knew I was screwed when the scent of lime invaded my space and a tattooed hand came down on my one side, caging me from the view of the classroom. I flicked