He straightens up abruptly, his turn to feign shock. “Excuse me?” he asks me with a firm yet shaky tone.
I shake my head in shock and laugh to myself. “Everyone here is a part of it, aren’t they? Let me guess, last night was my final chance? Are you going to bring me directly to the priest himself?” I grit out.
I turn, pacing the front of his desk. “I knew I recognized you. I couldn’t place my finger on it until you spoke to me in that tone.”
I turn to face him when I hear him step toward the door. He shuts it quickly with a loud bang. He faces me and crosses his arms in front of the door. “Grace, stop.”
I shake my head. “No, don’t stop me. I’m so tired of this unknown shit. Does everyone on this campus know what is happening? Because it feels likeevery single personhere does and is somehow okay with it?”
He steps toward me with his hands up. “I hear you, Grace. But I am warning you because I don’t want you to end up like the others. It’s notanif… it is awhensituation. I have spent months trying to prevent what will happen. I don’t want to see you become a part of the hidden statistic.”
I feel tears start to fill my eyes as I shake my head. “I won’t become a part of the statistic, Professor Blackthorne,” I say with a bite. “I sure don’t need you to tell me to run away again either.”
I brush past him and open the door as he calls out my name. I won’t waste another minute letting another person tell me what Ishouldbe doing.
Chapter 15
Mildred
September 13th
Iobserve Grace as she paces the room, back and forth in quiet agitation. She is to meet with Jocelyn later, and I find myself seized by anxiety over that exchange, especially after the interaction I witnessed with Archer.
Grace draws the photograph of me from her back pocket, smiling as she does so. She trails her forefinger over my face and sighs. I feel myself flush as I watch her smile at that old image of me.
She glances over her shoulder at the door. I come to a halt, taken aback and wondering if she has caught sight of me. But she walks directly through me as she turns the lock.
Grace sets her record player in motion and turns the volume up exceedingly loud. I knit my brows at her, feeling her emotions rise. Her breath comes heavier now, and I raise my hand to touch her shoulder. She passes straight through me once more, sinking onto the bed, and setting the photograph of me against the windowpane.
Her fingers wander lightly over her abdomen, and my legs press together as understanding dawns upon me. This was no tension of rage or worry—it was the unmistakable tension oflust.
Grace undoes the ties of her sweatpants with noticeable haste, drawing them off her plump ass. She lets one hand slip beneath her undergarments, moving it in smooth but persistent motions.
My mouth parts in awe, enthralled by the gentle expression of her pleasure, watching her recognize her body’s wishes and claiming them boldly. Desire and envy grip me. My hands ball into fists, aching to be the one to bring her euphoria. I covet the very touch of her fingers.
Grace’s other hand rises beneath the fabric of her shirt, drawing it upward over her breasts. She slips the cup to the right side of her bosom, exposing her pink nipple. I feel an insistent yearning building. She twirls its peak and moans a hearty sound.
My eyes flick toward the door, taken aback by how loud she was. I hurry through, intent on finding Jocelyn. The sounds shall not reach her ears. I step through her bedroom door and find her dozing upon a textbook, a bead of drool escaping the corner of her mouth. I grin, content in the knowledge that such sounds are mine and mine alone. I swiftly return to Grace’s chambers.
She has now drawn her undergarment below her knees. She tosses the fabric from her legs, seeking a more favorable position as she rubs herself. As she draws apart her legs, laying bare her cunt, I roll my eyes as the compelling desire to touch her vibrates through my very being. Ineedher.
A groan escapes her lips as frustration takes hold once more. I place my hand over hers as it rubs fervently on her apex.
“I long to lay my hand upon your perfect pussy once more,” I utter, knowing she cannot hear me. I amundone.I find myself unable to look away, my pupils dilating with rapt interest at her glistening. It feels improper to watch, yet the fire courses through me.
“Fuck!” Grace shouts, casting her gaze about with a frenzied gleam within her eyes. She leans over the edge of her bed and draws open a drawer, producing a long pink object. With quickened motions, she presses a button, placing the bulbous tip against her clit. Her waist bucks as she moans, “Fuuuuuuck, Milly.”
I stiffen.
“Oh, fucccck,” she moans, more intimately, as she tilts her head to the side to gaze upon the picture ofme.She pants with her jaw slacked. A subtle flutter takes place in my heart knowing that, though absent, my presence still grants her pleasure.
“That’s it, Shadow. Find your release dreaming about me.”
Grace’s eyes fall shut swiftly as unintelligible murmurs of ecstasy pass her lips. After a few moments leaning into the tool, she halts the vibrations with a small click. She places it onto the comforter. Panting softly as she opens her eyes gradually. She inclines her head once more to the portrait of me.
A curve takes to my lips. “Oh the fun we will have, my shadow.”
Chapter 16
