Page 53 of The Headmaster’s Rule

Then his lips are on mine. I don’t know who initiates it. All I know is that it’s right. There’s no hesitation this time, only pure hunger. His mouth devours mine in a blistering kiss, hands on my waist as he backs me up against the shelves. The feel of his hands through my dress sends a shock of heat through me, making me whimper against his mouth. That only spurs him on, and he slides one hand into my hair, tilting my head back to deepen the kiss. His mouth is greedy, demanding, insistent. So fucking hot.

“God, Eleanor,” he rasps, breaking the kiss to graze his teeth down my neck. The sensation makes me dizzy. Fuck, I wish he’d do that everywhere.

I fumble for his jacket button, freeing it so I can slip my hands inside, to his vest, his shirt, needing to touch his skin. I can feel his heat already, and I need more. He’s so damn buttoned-up that I can’t get close enough.

“I want to touch you,” I say desperately.

He lets out a low growl, hooking my leg over his hip. The feel of his large hand splayed across my thigh, the heat of his palm on my bare skin—it’s enough to make me crazy.

“Yes.” I rock my hips forward, needing to feel if he’s hard for me. A length of steel meets my center, and I moan. He’s so damn hard it makes me delirious.

“See what you do to me, sweetheart?”

Sweetheart.

My heart melts.

He grinds his hips against me, creating the most delicious friction, and molten heat rushes between my thighs. I’m so out of it that he could slide my panties to one side and enter me right here. I’d fucking let him. I need it.

But there’s a noise from my classroom, and we freeze. Reality presses in on us, suffocating and unwelcome, and he leans away from me with dark, wary eyes.

“Nora?” Juliana’s voice floats through the door, and I meet Theo’s gaze with alarm.

Shit.

Drinks.

I completely forgot.

Theo mutters something under his breath, reaching out to straighten my dress, smooth my hair. Buttoning his jacket, he glances at the door to the supply closet.

“You should go,” he says in his usual calm, level tone.

Disappointment drops like a stone into my stomach. How can he be so normal after that? I’m pretty sure I’ve forgotten my own name.

He steps aside for me to exit, but his dark gaze locks on mine as I inch past him to the door. His hand reaches out to brush my cheek, taking me by surprise. I glance at him questioningly, but Juliana calls out again, her voice closer now.

“You in here?”

Panic flares in my chest, and I wrench my gaze from Theo, slipping out into the classroom.

“There you are.” My friend smiles. “You ready?”

I nod, face hot. She tilts her head, examining me closely.

“What’s up? You look weird.”

Guilt bleeds through me. What would she think if she knew what I’d just been doing? What her father had just been doing?

“I’m fine.” I paint on a smile, grabbing my bag off my desk and slipping my arm through hers, steering her from the classroom before the situation can get any worse. “Let’s go have a drink.”

CHAPTER 19

Eleanor

“Okay, Nora. Spill.”

We’re in Tony’s Tiki Bar later that night, sipping cocktails. Those were Juliana’s idea.