Page 44 of Give In

Actually, there was no maybe about that.

I was a coward.

I lived in a perpetual state of fight or flight, and my self-preservation almost always chose the latter.

Except, apparently, right then.

My self-preservation must have been on a coffee break because I snickered at Professor Caine’s order. Keeping my back to him, I finished packing up as I muttered, “Funny, I thought I was supposed to get out of your office.”

A few students lagged behind, and he wasn’t near quiet enough when he practically growled, “I’ve warned you that attitude is going to get you in trouble. I’ll say it again. My office now.”

“Quiet,” I hissed. “And no.”

“I swear to Christ, Eden, I’ll make the biggest scene you’ve ever seen. And then I’ll follow you to work tonight and make a bigger fucking one. Do you understand me?”

My jaw dropped. “You wouldn’t.”

“Try me.” He looked at my mouth as I pressed my lips together. “That’s what I thought. If you’re not in my office in the next five minutes, I’ll find you. Understand?”

“I got it. Sheesh.”

“That attitude,” he murmured, adding something else I couldn’t catch as he walked away.

He’d given me five minutes, and I used every damn second of it.

I stopped at the bathroom.

I got a coffee from a vending machine that whirled and shook like it was possessed.

I took a sip of said coffee…

And then I found the nearest trash can since sending it to the fiery pits of hell wasn’t an option, even though that’s where the vile sludge belonged.

I paced around an alcove, keeping a careful eye on the clock because I had no doubt he’d follow through with his threat.

When my time was up, I headed to his office. I raised my fist to knock, but before I could, the door swung open. My startled squeak turned into a full-blown yelp when Professor Caine’s long fingers wrapped around my wrist. Yanking me inside, he slammed the door and pressed me against it before it’d even stopped rattling.

His jaw was clenched, his words coming out rough. “What did I tell you?”

Hiding my nerves behind a cheeky smile, I hoped he couldn’t see how much he affected me. “You’ve gotta be a little more specific than that, you’ve told me a lot of things.”

“I’ve warned you about that attitude, Miss Wilder.” I didn’t trust the calmness in his tone and was already bracing when he continued. “If I hear it again, I’ll bend you over that desk and spank it out of you.”

I gasped. “You wouldn’t!”

That sounds horrible and demeaning…

And so hot I’m wet.

What’swrongwith me?

He quirked an eyebrow. “You seem to like to test me about everything else. Care to test me on this?” When I rolled my lips in, biting them to keep myself from mouthing off, he almost looked disappointed. “Good choice. What’d I say about trying to leave?”

Even though I totally knew because I’d relived the scene a million times, I lifted a shoulder in a half-ass shrug.

“Answer me.”

“To try it and see what happens,” I muttered, sounding like a petulant child getting a scolding.

---