“But this…” He reaches up and pushes the mask onto the top of his head before looking straight at me. “This between us happened.”
He takes another step closer.
“And it will happen again.” His voice lowers.
I shake my head, ready to argue, but he speaks over me before I can.
“I’ve got nothing good to give you. My soul’s rotten to the fucking core. But I can’t let you go. It’s as simple as that.”
His jaw tightens.
“And the more you fight it, the more it fucks with my head. The more I fucking want you.”
He leans closer, his eyes never leaving mine.
“And I always get what I want.”
I look at him and shake my head. The man is unbelievably arrogant.
He must read it on my face because the next second, he plants a hand against the tree beside my head.
Then the other.
Trapping me between him and the rough bark at my back.
He bends down until his nose brushes mine.
“This isn’t me being a prick.” He doesn’t look away. “It’s simply the truth.”
One second he’s staring at me like I already belong to him, and the next his mouth is on mine.
A soft breath leaves me as my eyes close.
His hand slides to my waist, pulling me closer against him as he kisses me, my head spinning.
The kiss is tender but rough at the same time, full of need.
My mind goes completely blank. For those few seconds, everything else disappears.
But reality slams back into me just as quickly, and I shove him away with all the strength I have.
He really does look confused. Perhaps because I responded to his kiss so well. Because he felt how much I wanted it too.
“I’m curious,” he says. “This resistance… is it because of the professor-student situation?”
“Among other things.”
“Those being?”
“You’ll hate me when you find out,” I whisper.
Then I turn around and make my way out of the woods and back towards my dorm, leaving him behind.
Running again.
Which, if he is to be believed, is apparently something I excel at.
I feel his eyes on me the entire walk back to my dorm, even after I step inside the building.
