His eyes went down even more, focusing on the skin of my exposed thighs, that I pressed them together out of habit. “When are you available, Bea?”
“Thursday afternoons,” I answered almost immediately.Calm the fuck down, Bea!It was only magic tutoring. Nothing else.
His arms flexed again, crossed over his chest, as if he had stopped himself from latching on to something. With a sigh, he mumbled, “I’ll be seeing you Thursdays after lunch. My office.”
A solo class with Professor Strom could only mean good things for my progression as a mage. That was theonlypoint of it. I didn’t like how my schedule got more stuffed with things that cut away from my research time, but it was all to maintain the image of a good, obedient, noble daughter.
“Before I forget,” I beamed, fishing in my magic bag for his coat. I pulled it up neatly folded. “Your coat, professor. I’d like to say I washed it personally, but I’d be lying.” And I didn’t want to add any more than I had to. “Thank you again for helping me. And for the tutoring.”
“Uriel,” he stated. “When it’s just the two of us, I want you to call me by my name.”
I nodded. “Uriel. Thank you.”
What was it with these men and insisting on being called by their first names? It was adorable, to an extent. Winston was definitelynot.
As I handed the coat to him, there was a quick moment where our fingers touched, and I swore I felt a jolt of electricity travel down my arm that I shuddered. I looked up in time to see him swallow thickly, and I was convinced it wasn’t only me who felt it.
I bit back a whimper. This was bordering too close to very inappropriate. But I wouldn’t lie to myself and say I didn’t have the hots for him because he was, in fact, seductive.
“Go eat your lunch,” he whispered, and that dismissal broke the spell forming between us. I almost ran out before dragging Dahlia with me, who was snooping behind the door.
“That look of pining from Professor Strom was so delicious,” Dahlia snickered as we headed briskly for the dining hall.
I frowned. “What ‘look of pining’?”
“As you were escaping his clutches,” she continued giggling. “He looked really regretful, Bea. Regret that he let you go so easily.”
“You and your fantasies,” I scoffed, and she laughed even more. It was a silly fantasy, but I wouldn’t decline it if it became true.
When she calmed down, she asked, “Kidding aside, your conversation looked really serious. What was it about?”
“I need a magic tutor because something weird is going on with my spellcasting.”
She grinned mischievously. “And I suppose he volunteered for it. Of course he would. That’s extra personal time with you, you minx!”
“Unbelievable.”
“I’m living vicariously through you!”
Chapter Twenty
The dining hall was really the best — if not the only —way to gauge the student body’s consensus of the day. Thanks to the Royal Announcement earlier, the area was abuzz with gossip about who the “princess” was.
“It’s Lady Cecilia Valonde, isn’t it?” I heard one girl theorize to her friend. It was a fair assumption; her engagement and consequent quick dismissal was well known throughout the Kingdom, according to Mia.
“I don’t think so,” the friend replied. “The Crown Prince already broke up with her, and he has a reputation to mess around. Once he’s done with you, you’re out. No repeats.”
Interesting.Winston was a slut like me. The fundamental difference was that I was very much okay with repeating. Multiple times. All the time. Consensually, of course.
“Did he even get another woman after their engagement fell through?” the first girl asked as they started walking away out of earshot.
“Now that you mention it, he hasn’t, has he?” was the last thing I heard before they were too far away from where I sat with Mia, my knights, and Dahlia.
“They’re in for a shock when they realize the truth,” Dahlia laughed into her food.
“Well, Miss Bea is fit to be a princess,” Mia smiled at Dahlia, and was it any surprise that Mia figured it out quickly, too?
“I sincerely doubt that, and I’m not just saying that to be contrarian,” I mumbled after swallowing my food. “I don’t have the charm and the economic knowledge to lead a kingdom. Count me out.”
