turn into Maximus’s chest and peer up at him. “I can’t wait for your lecture this afternoon. I have a feeling the sixth circle will be one of my favorites.”
He doesn’t open his eyes but answers with a smirk. “You expect me to lecture intelligently now that you’ve completely wasted me? I’ve hardly slept.”
I hoist myself higher and press sweet kisses across his chest. “I suspect I have not wasted you completely yet.”
He laughs. “I hope you’re joking. Seriously, Kara.”
“You seemed pretty intent to test the limits of what I could do earlier, so it seems only fair to test you.”
“You’ve tested me. Trust me.”
I smile broadly. “A plus,” I murmur against the warm skin of his neck, breathing him as I do. He smells like a summer storm. Heat and lightning. He feels like home.
He trails his fingertips along my arm with a satisfied sigh. “I guess you weren’t wrong about the all-nighter. Thank God we’re bailing on tonight’s plans.”
He finally opens his eyes and studies me when I don’t respond.
“We are bailing on them, right?”
I nod tightly. “I’ll work it out with my mother.”
He furrows his brow slightly, then turns his body so we’re lying facing each other. “Good,” he answers quietly. “Because after we get home from class, I want you again.”
I giggle and let my head fall against the rumpled sheets. “I thought I wasted you.”
“I heal quickly,” he shoots back. “And don’t you know it.”
“Sorry.” My cheeks heat with a flush of embarrassment. “I hope I didn’t hurt you.”
He kisses my forehead. “I like it. Every second of it. I like feeling how this affects you.”
“I never… I never knew anything could be this intense.”
He feathers his fingers across my cheek before tunneling them into my hair. “Me neither.”
He looks like he might kiss me again, which brings all sorts of other possibilities to mind. But if we keep this up, we’ll be more than exhausted. We’ll be late.
I lean in and kiss him before rising swiftly from the bed. I grab my dress from the floor and peek over my shoulder at him. His jaw is slack, and his eyes have a familiar lusty glaze.
“Get up, Professor, or we’ll be late for class.”
The whispers are worse than they’ve ever been when I walk into class hours later. Maximus appears oddly immune, maybe because now he knows there’s merit to them. I’m not just the famous girl with rumors swirling like wildfire around her. He is the rumor, and we’ve spent a lot of time spreading the news. Having a hand in our own narrative, despite Mom’s heavy sway on the pen, has given us back a little control. Not a lot, but enough.
The palpable new energy skittering over the class is almost enough to distract me from the way Maximus runs his tongue over his bottom lip as he flips through his worn copy of the Comedy. Or the way his forearms look like they’re going to split his rolled-up sleeves. Or his fingers, long and commanding, finding his way to the page with knowing strokes. Every inch of my visual journey is a heart-halting flashback to the many hours we spent in his bed last night.
I’m the only one in the room who’s seen him stripped bare. I’ve seen him overwhelmed. Past reason. Vulnerable. And in this strange moment, it feels like the greatest gift to know him in ways no one else has. To have shown him pieces of me too that only he’s been able to uncover.
He clears his throat and peers out across the crowded room, his expression stern. I can’t help but smirk. Thankfully he spares me his direct scrutiny, and I wonder if he’ll manage to avoid it all class. At least this time I won’t blame him for it.
“Apologies for the last-minute cancellation of our Monday and Wednesday classes. In the interest of staying on pace, I’ll cover both cantos today. I trust you’ve all done the scheduled reading. To ensure you have, I’ll expect full summaries on both for Friday.”
Gasps and a few groans. I bite my lip at my classmates’ bemoaning the extra work he’s just tacked on to the weekly assignment. He’s such a hard-ass, but I completely love it. Yes, even as I struggle to figure out when I’ll actually meet the demand as one of his students, my schedule being what it’s been.
Maybe I can give him my summary orally. Later.
Maybe if I do it naked, he’ll give me some extra insights