Ji-Yoon and Audrey spoke for several minutes before the girl slung her backpack over her shoulder and headed for the door. She was looking at something on her phone, and as she passed Michelle, she glimpsed a quilt square displayed on the screen. Moments like these, students like Ji-Yoon, and professors like Audrey reassured Michelle that there was still hope for humanity.
More than hope, there waspromise.
“What did you think?” Audrey stood beside the lectern, wearing a long-sleeved dress embroidered with brightly colored flowers that, now that Michelle was paying attention, she could see was vaguely reminiscent of some of the quilts they’d seen in class today.
“I think you’re the most impressive thing I’ve ever seen.” Michelle gathered her briefcase from where she’d placed it beneath her seat and stood.
“That’s a bold statement. I’m a brand-new professor, Michelle. Have you ever seen yourself? Because you’re a hell of a lot more impressive than I am.”
Michelle shook her head as she made her way to the front of the room. Standing beside the lectern, Audrey was a step up from Michelle, putting her at eye level with Audrey’s breasts, a devastatingly distracting view. Michelle stepped up beside her. “You breathe life into the art that you teach. You make us sit up and pay attention to things we might not have noticed otherwise, and yes, that’s impressive.Youare impressive.”
Michelle was standing too close now, so close she could see Audrey’s inhale and the way she moved subtly forward. Michelle just stared at her, unable to move or speak.
“Michelle ...” Audrey’s voice was low and raspy.
Michelle braced a hand against the lectern to keep from reaching for her. She’d lost track of the point she was trying to make. All she knew was that Audrey shone brightness into Michelle’s otherwise dull world and that she wanted to kiss her more than she wanted anything else from her life.
Without warning, Audrey’s hand gripped Michelle’s hip, hauling her in. Before Michelle could react, before she could even draw a breath, Audrey’s lips had crashed into hers.Oh.
Audrey’s teeth sank into Michelle’s lower lip, flooding her with sensation, pleasure, and arousal and ... joy. Her body tingled from head to foot, as if she’d been asleep since the last time they kissed, and now she’d finally opened her eyes.
She was wide awake. Breathtakingly awake.
And this time, Michelle wasn’t going back to sleep.
Chapter Seventeen
Audrey was in a haze of bliss with Michelle’s hands cupping her face, her lips doing the most wonderful things, and her tongue ... good god, hertongue... Michelle’s tongue was its own art form. As it danced against Audrey’s, she felt an answering clench of need in her core. Everything about the way Michelle kissed was exquisite.
But they were standing at the head of Audrey’s classroom with the door wide open, in full view of anyone who happened to walk past. Reluctantly, Audrey dragged her mouth from Michelle’s, and for several long seconds, they just stared at each other in a lust-drunk stupor.
“Are you finished for the day?” Michelle finally asked. Her lipstick was smudged, her eyes glassy with desire. She wore gray slacks and a tweed jacket similar to the one that had been the subject of so many of Audrey’s undergrad fantasies. Dressed like that, standing in this classroom, she looked like the Dr. Thompson from those fantasies, and it was enough to make Audrey’s knees tremble.
Not trusting herself to speak, she nodded in answer to Michelle’s question.
“Come to my place?” Michelle licked her lips, then smoothed her hands over her still-immaculate outfit. “We can ... talk.”
“I want to do more than talk.” Audrey hardly recognized her own voice. It was soft and raspy, as if she’d just screamed for two hours at a concert ... or had her entire mind blown by a thirty-second kiss from Michelle Thompson.
Michelle’s cheeks turned the sexiest shade of pink at Audrey’s words. “I ... do too.”
“This is an extremely surreal conversation to be having at the lectern of my classroom.” Impulsively, Audrey gripped the lapels of Michelle’s blazer and pulled her in for another kiss. Their bodies bumped, and Michelle let out the sexiest little whimper.
Whatever happened next, this moment—Michelle pressed against her in front of an empty classroom with the lectern digging into her back—was seared into Audrey’s brain forever. It might be the hottest thing she’d ever experienced.
Michelle was the one to pull back this time, her breathing noticeably ragged. “So, my place?”
“Yes. Your place. To talk ... or whatever.” Audrey couldn’t help her grin.
Michelle mirrored it, and there was something in her eyes ... a light, an energy, apassionthat Audrey hadn’t seen before. Whatever it was, Audrey wanted to see it again. And again. She never wanted that light to go out.
She reached out and touched the soft skin below Michelle’s bottom lip, removing errant lipstick. “Lead the way, then.”
“Do you need to stop at your office first?” Michelle asked.
“I should, but ... no. Let’s just go.”
Michelle gave a brisk nod, then turned and strode out of the classroom with all the poise that had first captured Audrey’s attention. Audrey could only follow in her wake, trying so damn hard not to swoon because she had to stay on her feet to follow Michelle to her car.
