Page 56 of Broken by my Bully
Her eyes are glassy again. I wonder where she goes when she tucks herself away like that. The past or the future?
“I have to be back by two, Professor,” she says woodenly.
Warmth flushes through me. I’d be disappointed at how quickly she folded, but then I wouldn’t be giving myself enough credit. Manipulation is easy to learn. Mastering it, however, takes time, patience, and godlike levels of sadism.
I began studying it in early childhood. I’d mastered it before I could legally order a scotch.
“Of course.” I lift my hands in mock surrender. “Barring an act of God.”
She hesitates one more time, and then hurries around the back of my car and slides into the passenger seat.
God has nothing to do with this.
This is pure psychological warfare. The fact that she climbs into my car, trusting and vulnerable, proves I’ve already won the first battle.
The faint scent of chapstick and drugstore deodorant fills my nose. She slips the fingers of her slim hand through her hair, trying to comb out the mess. Her nervousness is as satisfying as the way she peeks around at the luxurious interior.
I watch her from the corner of my eye as I tap on the Tesla’s touchscreen, suppressing a smile when she strokes her hands down the soft leather.
“Somewhat different from yours, isn’t it?” I say, not unkindly. She snatches her hands away, her lips tightening, causing me to chuckle. “There’s no shame in wanting more, Miss Lee.”
Her eyes flicker to me, like she’s picking up subtext in my words, but she’s not sure what to make of it.
She’ll learn.
Her eyes drift back to the window, one finger idly tracing the stitching on the car seat.
“Bastian,” I say.
Haven jerks like she’s coming out of a daydream. “Sorry?”
I point behind us at the sprawling campus, steering out of the parking space with the heel of my hand on the wheel. “In there, it’s Professor. Out here, it’s Bastian.”
Her eyes flicker like a Northern Blue butterfly caught in a mason jar. She can’t see the confines of her trap, can’t understand why she isn’t as free as she was only a moment ago.
Then she looks out her window again, her head bobbing as Iswitch the Tesla into drive and head out of the lot. As my eyes go back to the road, her lips move like she’s repeating my name quietly to herself.
Lies are cheap. Lies are easy.
I grew bored with them early in life.
I much prefer toying with the truth. Twisting it, bending it, pulling it until it snaps.
Logically, I would never risk my reputation with an unwilling student. But the urge to toy with Haven is forcing me to change the narrative. And it wouldn’t be the first time.
It’s called a compulsion for a reason.
Now that she finally thinks she’s safe with me, it’s time to blur the line between safety and danger, hope and fear.
And fuck, I can’t wait to see her pretty blue eyes darken when she realizes her savior is a wolf that’s merely wrapped itself in lamb’s wool…still bloody from its last kill.
Haven
Why did I get in Professor Rooke’s car?
I heard the alarm bells clanging in my head like the building was on fire, but I ignored them and climbed in. Yes, I’ve just done something wildly idiotic. And as much as I’d love to wallow in my stupidity, I’d have to stop crushing on my professor first.
Bastian drives like an expert. Every move he makes is graceful and immaculate and scarily precise. Eyes lock on the road until we stop at an intersection.
