Page 49 of Crown of Thorns
I arch a brow. "You don’t give orders in here."
His smirk widens. "That so?"
I hold his gaze. Then I turn, flick the lock into place. "This conversation stays between us. Not for your entertainment."
“That’s against regulations.”
“You know what else is? Sleeping with your student. Or visiting a secret gathering of the Alpha Fraternarii.”
I grind my teeth, then slowly head back to my door and turn the lock. The sound reverberates heavily in the room. Turning back to face him, I sigh. “Your threats are getting old. This is my office, and I called you in here because of your behaviour.”
“Behaviour. Right. You seem to have a few issues with that yourself as well, don’t you?”
“Excuse me?” I snap before I can think.
“Oh, absolutely, Professor. Perhaps I wasn’t clear. I text, you text. We wouldn’t want any sensitive information to leak out, would we?”
I press my lips into a fine line and give a jerk of my chin.
“Good. Then, our little secret. It was supposed to be fun. Still, you wanted out. So I got you a new deal?—”
“Because I don’t feel comfortable watching my students have sexual intercourse!”
“Sexual intercourse?” He scoffs, then leans in. “God, you’re such an old man. Fuck, Noah, you can say it. Fuck. That’s what we do. We fuck each other.”
“They are my students, Louis. I don’t care what you want to call it; I don’t want to see it.”
“You want to ignore what happened.”
“I didn’t say that.”
He shrugs. “But you meant it.”
Perhaps he’s right. That night has haunted me ever since. “I thought it was a prank,” I admit. “That you’d set me up just to screw with me.”
“Just to screw with you, hmm?” He gives me a coy smile.
“The invitation you gave me, is it the same one you spoke of in the church?”
“Yes. The one from our fathers. It’s tradition.”
“It’s those traditions that create an elite that poisons our society.”
Louis snorts. “Each society needs an elite. In ours, we are it.”
“You have no idea how privileged you sound when you say things like that.”
“Oh yeah?” He flies off the desk, and we’re right back to where we always begin. By going for each other’s throats. I have Louis by his elegant, curved neck before he can let out another exhale. My cock roars to life when his dark eyes widen, golden flecks sparkling behind the anger. Louis loves this. Thispush and pull, with me having him on his knees. I haven’t quite figured out why, but I will. I mean, if he ruins my career, he will be right there with me, burning into the ashes.
“By improving society, we all benefit.”
His glare is cold as ice. “They. Don’t. Care.”
“Is this all a game to you?” My voice rises before I can stop it. I hate how he reduces everything to taunts and teeth. “To you and your rich friends? A careless placement of your pawn onto the playfield, not giving the slightest care about what you’ll get when you reach the start?”
He just smirks, knowing how easy it is for him to turn me into a frenzy. My hand wants to smack his perfect skin, wants to bruise his flesh just like he is hurting me. Because he is. Everything about Louis could cost me my everything.
“You want to spank me, Professor? Want me to know my place?” He wiggles his ass, the everlasting tease, and I blink through the fog. I need to get a fucking grip on myself. This…this is not me.
