Archer Quinn wasn’t the type to give up easily. And I was very much afraid that I’d just made this situation infinitely more complicated than it had been before.
But, despite the obstinance in his eyes, he dressed and headed for the door. With another flick of his fingers it unlocked, the scent of magic filling the room momentarily.
“This is far from over, Valen,” he said, glancing back at me. “Neither of us have anything to lose and I know you won’t be able to resist me.”
“Yes, I will,” I replied, setting my jaw.
“Right,” he nodded. “You mean like you just did?” He let out a small scoff before pulling the door open. “See you in class,Professor.”
The door closed behind him with a soft click that somehow managed to sound like a gunshot in the sudden silence of my office. I stood there for a long moment, staring at the closed door and trying to process what just happened. What I’dallowedto happen.
I’d fucked my student. Again. And this time, there were no excuses about not knowing who he was or being caught up in the moment. This time, I’d made a conscious choice to throw every professional boundary out the window the moment he’d pushed me past my breaking point.
The worst part was how right he’d been. I hadn’t been able to resist him. All my talk about maintaining distance, about keeping things professional, had crumbled the instant he’d challenged me. The moment he’d looked at me with those blue eyes full of hurt and defiance and told me he wanted to be claimed, I’d been lost.
I sank into my desk chair, running my hands through my hair as the full implications of what we’d done started to sink in. The scent of sex still clung to the air, a constant reminder of how thoroughly I’d compromised both our positions. Anyone who walked into this office in the next hour would know exactly what had happened here.
My desk was a mess, papers scattered where we’d knocked them aside in our desperation to get at each other. There was a small tear in one of my academic journals where Archer’s fingernails had caught it when I’d made him cum so hard he’dnearly passed out. All of it was a physical reminder of my complete loss of control.
I should have been panicking. Should have been spiraling into the same kind of anxiety that had kept me holed up in my college for days after our first encounter. Instead, I felt...satisfiedand more centered than I’d been since the moment I’d first laid eyes on him in that fencing salle.
The feeding had been incredible. Better than anything I’d experienced in decades. Archer’s sexual energy was like fine wine compared to the cheap beer I usually sustained myself on. Rich, complex, intoxicating in a way that made every cell in my body hum with contentment.
But that was exactly the problem, wasn’t it? He was addictive. One taste and I already wanted more, wanted to explore every facet of his desire until I knew exactly what made him tick. The responsible thing would be to cut all contact, to remove myself from temptation before I did something even more stupid.
Except I couldn’t. Even if I wanted to avoid him completely, which I didn’t, he was still on my fencing team. Still auditing my class. Still going to be a constant presence in my life whether I liked it or not.
And the look in his eyes when he’d left... that wasn’t the expression of someone who was planning to quietly accept my rejection. Archer had made it clear that he considered this far from over, and knowing what I did about his personality, he was probably already planning his next move. A part of me felt bad for him, trying to cope with all the weight of family expectation on his shoulders. But another part of me was angry that he seemed so unbothered by putting my life on the line just to stick it to his parents.
I glanced at the clock on my wall and realized with a start that I had office hours starting in twenty minutes. Students wouldbe arriving soon, expecting their professor to be composed and professional, not sitting here reeking of sex and poor decision-making.
I forced myself to stand up and start cleaning the office, shoving papers back into neat piles and opening a window to air out the lingering scent. My hands were steadier now, the post-feeding energy making me feel stronger than I had in years.
As I straightened my tie and tried to make myself presentable, I caught sight of my reflection in the small mirror I kept on my bookshelf. My hair was mussed, my lips slightly swollen from kissing, and there was a satisfied gleam in my amber eyes that I couldn’t quite suppress. Even my skin seemed to glow with renewed vigor.
I looked like a man who’d just had the best sex of his very long life. Which, unfortunately, was exactly what I was.
A soft knock on my door made me freeze, my enhanced hearing immediately identifying the heartbeat on the other side. It wasn’t Archer. His rhythm was faster, more intense. This was one of my regular students, probably here for the office hours I was supposed to be holding.
“Come in,” I called out, settling behind my desk and trying to look like I’d been grading papers instead of fucking my team captain senseless.
The door opened to reveal Ms. Chen, one of my werewolf students. She stepped inside with the nervous energy of someone who wasn’t entirely comfortable being alone with a vampire professor, but was trying not to show it.
“Professor Crowe? I had some questions about the reading assignment on vampire-witch relations during the Industrial Revolution.”
“Of course,” I said, gesturing to the chair across from my desk. The irony of her question wasn’t lost on me. “What specifically were you struggling with?”
As Ms. Chen settled into the chair and pulled out her notes, I forced myself to focus on her questions about historical trade agreements, political alliances, and monster relationships with humans and witches alike. But part of my mind kept drifting back to the way Archer had looked spread out on this very desk, the sounds he’d made when I’d pushed inside him, the way his body had responded to every touch like he’d been made for me.
This was going to be a problem. A big fucking problem.
Because despite everything I’d said about ending this, about maintaining professional boundaries, I already knew I was lying to myself. The next time Archer pushed, the next time he challenged me or looked at me with those blue eyes full of want and defiance, I was going to fold like a house of cards.
And we were both going to end up in a world of trouble.
Chapter 15
Valen
