His hand moved slowly over her neck and shoulders, moving lower on her chest, until Mallory was holding her breath, waiting for him to do more. She half-expected him to cup her breasts. It wouldn’t have been hard. His hands weren’t that far. She arched a little, not to be known what she wanted, but just to see if she could help it along.
Several times his fingers came dangerously close to the top of her bra. Mallory held her breath half of the time, waiting for him to do something, but she was not satisfied with his actions. He didn’t touch her in any way other than what he was supposed to. That bothered her most.
“Do you want me to take my bra off, to see if there is anything underneath it?”
He paused and she bit her lower lip, knowing that she shouldn’t have said anything. Mallory couldn’t imagine what he was thinking, but she knew that it was out there now.
“You know, to make sure that it’s all covered, like you said?”
She was grasping at straws at that point. It was clear to see, but what else could she do? Mallory had said it, she couldn’t take it back.
“No, um, I will leave some for you and you can take care of that when I’m gone.”
Mallory looked up at him finally, able to meet his eyes.
“Thank you, sir. You didn’t have to do this. I am sure you have better things to do than check on one of your students.”
He stopped rubbing the poultice on her and set it down. They were so close, and Mallory’s heart was racing. Was he going to kiss her? Did she want it?
Then he stepped back and told her that she should put it all over when he left and that she needed to sleep in it. Mallory wanted to say something smart about why he had done any of it then, but she didn’t. Mallory was just reacting to the way he had made her feel. It was hard for her to handle it all. She knew that she should have just said thank you and let that be that, but there was something in the way that he touched her. It hadn’t all been in her head.
“Well, Mallory, as you know, you are one of my best students, so your welfare matters to the Academy. Many students look up to you and several have come to me with their concerns.”
“Who?”
He grunted and started putting more herbs in a pan of water. He put it on the stove, getting the water to boil, before he told her that he wasn’t going to name anyone.
“Let’s just say that people were worried about you and leave it like that.”
She pressed her lips together and tried not to say any more. He was her instructor, principal, and latest crush. It was best that Mallory didn’t say anything at all, especially when there was such a high probability that she was going to say the wrong thing.
“Well, thank you, Vincent. I appreciate the help.”
He handed her a cup with some warm liquid in it. “Drink it.”
His voice was so gruff, but she did as he asked. It hit her mouth and she immediately wanted to spit it out.
“Don’t. Just swallow it. Drink it fast and it’s not so bad.”
Mallory tried. She really did. It was horrible, bitter, and somehow thick in her mouth. The last thing she wanted to do was swallow it. She had to, though. He was staring at her, and she had a feeling that he would have just made up some more if she spit it out. Against her better judgment, she swallowed and tried her best to keep it down.
“Are you sure that’s going to help?”
“It will. I would get to bed soon. It is going to hit fast.”
“What? I still have things to do.”
“If you’re not going to school, you don’t have anything to do. You’re sick.”
“Yeah, but my grandma needs her medicine…”
Her voice trailed off and he growled at her. It was already starting to take effect and Mallory was feeling a bit wobbly.
“She really needs them.”
“What are they?”
Mallory told him what they were and where they were, before everything went dark. She remembered thinking to herself, what in the world had he just given her? It was some kind of tonic.
