Page 30 of The Prom

“No. She’s goddamn amazing. I mean, she has a quick wit, nerves of steel, and is a quick thinker. I mean, she’s fierce and boy can she kiss.”

“She sounds, um, incredible.”

Her voice softens and the tension increases in the car as I whisper, “She is beautiful. An angel, in fact.”

“Drake.” Her husky whisper almost makes me crash the car as she says softly, “What’s happening here?”

I spy a service area ahead and grin.

“We’re grabbing coffee.”

She nods but can’t hide her disappointment and as I pull into the drive through, I place our order, noting the appreciative gaze the server throws her way. He can’t stop staring at Imogen, and I share his fascination. She is like nothing I have ever seen before and I can’t be mad at someone for feeling the effects of her as much as I do.

We move to the next window and as I hand her the Styrofoam cup, she smiles her gratitude.

I place mine in the holder and decide to park at the end of the lot, away from the other cars.

As soon as I draw to a stop, I turn to her and take the coffee from her hand and place it in the holder next to mine.

“Drake–” She makes to speak, but I wrap my hand around the back of her head and whisper huskily, “This needs to be done.”

As I lower my lips to hers, I experience a spark so strong inside me, it causes my heart to race and my cock to jerk so much it’s almost painful.

I decided the moment I met her that one kiss would never be enough and now I must be content with two because as soon as she learns exactly why I wanted to get her away from the academy, she may never want to see me again.

I kiss her in the knowledge this is probably the last time and in one selfish act of self destruction, I go there anyway.

She tastes of forbidden lust and unrequited endings, and I never realized how devastating that would be for my heart. It’s a goodbye of sorts. An ending to something that never really started and I’m a selfish prick for taking something that was never mine to take.

She shifts closer and wraps those soft hands around my head, raking through my hair with her long pink nails. She tastes of innocence mixed with devil’s ruin because if I’m not mistaken, kissing is as far as this woman has ever got. Just imagining those guys pawing at her causes my blood to boil and my kiss is dangerous for both of us. I want to protect her, but I’m throwing her to the wolves and will watch while she is ripped apart as punishment for my sins.

My hand moves against my better judgment and I cup her breasts through her vest, her gasp of longing giving me the green light despite the fact they are fixed firmly on red. I ease my handunder her vest, colliding with her soft skin, edging her bra aside and allowing her soft flesh to ignite my passion further.

It’s almost painful as I explore her body with no business being there and as she returns the favor and eases her hands under my t-shirt, I love how her nails rake against my abs, drifting tantalizingly lower. It’s hard to come to terms with the fact my cock will never enjoy the pleasure of her innocence. That pleasure is firmly reserved for somebody else and I hate how desperate that makes me, knowing she will walk away and never look at me in the same way after today.After this.

I’m a greedy selfish bastard as I pull her closer, not prepared to stop anytime soon and it would be so easy to say fuck it and go there anyway, but I’m not about to end my life for a selfish moment of pleasure.

She is not mine to take.

That sentence is screaming at me as I kiss her so deeply I almost think I’ll come out the other side.

She groans into my mouth and as her hand drifts lower and eases inside my jeans, I pull back and say gruffly, “We should stop.”

Her eyes flicker with pain and rejection and I heave a deep breath and say huskily, “I’m not the man for you, Imogen. This ain’t right.”

“Because you’re my teacher.” She nods, accepting something that isn’t the real reason, but I’ll run with that because she would hate the truth even more.

She sighs and reaches for her coffee. “It’s okay, Drake. I don’t want to place you in a difficult position. Perhaps we should just head to the warehouse and park whatever this is between us.”

Her sad eyes steal my heart as she slumps in her seat, blinking away her tears and, as moments go, this is the worst fucking one of my life as I take a deep breath and prepare to ruin everything.

FIFTEEN

IMOGEN

One minute this is as natural as breathing and the next he reminds me how wrong it is. I’ve got whiplash as I attempt to dull my emotions. It’s impossible though, because that kiss alone sparked something inside me I never thought was there. Lust, desire and desperation mixed into a cocktail I would happily call my favorite from here on in.

It’s as if the kiss sparked more than lust though, because the tension in the car is stifling. It appears that Drake is choking on it because his breathing is hard and there’s an award atmosphere I can’t define. He initiated the kiss, demanded it even, and now he’s acting as if what happened is dirty somehow. I almost wish I had never come and sink lower in my seat as I sip the coffee in an attempt to regain some kind of calm.

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