woman’s legs.” She panted, trying to catch her breath. “I know it’s been a while since you paddled one, but surely you remember what it is.”
“I do remember. Quite fondly.”
“Yeah?” She grinned, raising her eyebrows.
“Which is why I’m confounded to hear you use that part of the female body as a derogatory term. Given your infernal feminist tongue-lashings, I would expect you to use the word vagina as a compliment rather than associate it with weakness.”
Her mouth hung open, and she made a strangling noise.
“You’re so right.” She smacked a hand against her forehead and groaned. “I’m an idiot. I wasn’t thinking and… Gah! There’s no excuse for it. What I said was offensive and ignorant, and I’m sorry.” She straightened her spine and met my eyes, looking so irresistibly, gorgeously shamefaced. “I’ll kiss the Jesus or scrub the floors or whatever you decide. No resistance. I’m a total shithead.”
One of the things I’d come to adore about Tinsley Constantine was the ease in which she could be so genuinely humble and wryly deflating of herself. Rarely did she care about other people’s perceptions of her, but for whatever reason, she didn’t want me to believe she was superficial or weak-minded.
She had no idea how far removed she was from those traits, and that only made her more beautiful, more desirable, harder to go unnoticed. She was unlike any eighteen-year-old I’d ever met.
None of that changed the fact that she was my student, half my age, and completely, irrevocably outside my preferences.
Yet she had enough sex appeal to hold my attention for eternity.
Shut it down, Magnus.
“You’ve been gone for forty-five minutes.” I prowled a circuit around her. “Breakfast ended five minutes ago.”
I knew where she sneaked off to every day. I wanted her to admit it.
She touched her chin to her shoulder, regarding me innocently. “I had to pee.”
I laughed. “That’s the direction you want to go with this?”
“No. I mean, I did have to pee, and I took care of that.”
“Good to know you’ve learned one lesson in four weeks.” I paused before her. “But that’s not why you’re late.”
Her blue eyes lifted to mine, sparking with fire and worry. She didn’t trust me with her secret, and why would she? I had no compassion.
For a spoiled rich girl, she was selflessly devout about protecting vulnerable, unlikable animals. I didn’t understand it and didn’t give her an inch. No assurance whatsoever as I glared at her, making her squirm.
Ruthless, down to the marrow of my despicable soul.
“Magnus…” Her voice pleaded. She used my first name. Her hand reached for my chest.
My brain didn’t know which deviation to rebuke first.
As bold as she was with her tongue, she’d never been brave enough to touch me. Even now, as her fingers made a slow, jerky climb toward my shirt, she trembled with uncertainty.
I caught her wrist before she made contact, my hand closing mercilessly around delicate bones. She whimpered but didn’t try to pull away. Instead, she drifted closer with her whole body, her gaze never wavering from my face. Hypnotic. Stirring. Intoxicating.
My fingers tightened around her arm, preventing her from reaching. But she might as well have put her hand on me anyway. I felt her everywhere, digging in with her nails and sharp kitten teeth while cutting me at the knees with only a look and a plea.
“Please, don’t make me regret telling you this.” She wrapped her free hand around mine on her wrist and leaned in. “I’m feeding baby opossums. This isn’t like the bat. I know they’re joeys. Or they were. They’re nearly ready to survive on their own. They just need a couple more days to bulk up for the winter. Please, Father Magnus.” She bent over our hands, lowering her brow to my chest. “Please, don’t hurt them.”
My muscles ached, contracting and stalling, excruciatingly rigid with the effort to hold her back. Except it wasn’t her. It was me I was holding back.
I pulled away and gripped the doorframe behind me until the edge jabbed into my palm. “I’m not going to hurt them.”
I can’t promise the same for you.
“Really?” She narrowed her eyes, but hope glowed through the slits.
“There are no rules in the student handbook about feeding wild animals.”
“No, but I thought—”
“Let’s go pay them a visit.”
“Now?” Her arms dropped, hanging dormant at her sides.
I needed out of this suffocating room. Turning on my heel, I strode into the hallway and didn’t stop until I arrived in the grove behind the main