*****************
Chapter 259
~Author’s POV~
Isla almost whimpered aloud.
ISLA:You like teasing ?
NEIL:I like imagining how soaked you are right now. How badly you want my hands between your thighs instead of yours.
Her fingers curled around her phone tightly, her hips subtly rocking forward in her seat before she caught herself.
She wanted to press her palm between her legs so badly. Just a little pressure. Just enough to take the edge off. But she couldn’t—not here. Not while people were singing badly and dancing around her.
But damn if Neil wasn’t winning.
ISLA:I hate you.
NEIL:No, you don’t. You’re dripping for . Admit it.
She shut her eyes for a second, biting the inside of her cheek.
ISLA:Fine. I’m wet. Throbbing. And I wish you were here.
There was a pause—a dangerous one.
NEIL:Then let’s play a ga.
Her heart thudded.
ISLA:What kind of ga?
NEIL:I’ll send you a voice note. You have to keep a straight face when you hear it.
Isla stared at her screen as though it could produce a nude version of her professor to help relieve her.
ISLA:Neil...
NEIL:Check your inbox. Now.
Her fingers trembled as she tapped the ssage icon. And there it was—one unread voice ssage. With a deep breath, she pressed play.
Neil’s voice ca low, dark, velvet-smooth and ruinous.
"Isla... I’d bury my face between your thighs and taste how much you’ve missed . I wouldn’t stop until your hands were in my hair and you scread."
She swallowed a sharp gasp, her spine going rigid as her body flushed with heat.
She barely managed to hit pause before the second part played.
Students around her kept laughing, shouting, and singing off-key.
Isla sat perfectly still. Quiet. But inside, she was wrecked, and Neil knew it.
Neil: Now, go to the bathroom for , honey, and relieve yourself, imagining I am the one.
Isla: You’re wicked.
*****************
anwhile, from across the room, Erald excused herself from the booth, stepping out for so air.
The glass doors to the garden were open, the soft perfu of moon-kissed roses wafting in.
"Erald," a voice called gently behind her.
She turned to find Rain approaching, his hands tucked in his pockets, his posture easy. "Care for a walk?"
Her lips curved. "Sure."
He offered his hand, and after a beat, she took it.
The garden was illuminated by string lights strung along trellises. Blossoms glowed faintly under the spelllight woven into the soil. Crickets chirped in the quiet corners of the hedges, and the air was comfortably cool.
"It’s peaceful out here," Rain said, slowing near a bed of silver-glass lilies.
"It is," she agreed, brushing her fingers over a petal. "Better than the singing."
"I’ve never seen you nervous," he said after a quiet mont. "But you seem... thoughtful tonight."
Erald glanced at him. "I’m not nervous."
"No?"
She shook her head, her voice soft. "Just... tuned in."
Rain smiled. "Tuned in to what?"
"To you. To this. The air feels different out here. Like the world’s holding its breath."
He watched her, noting the way the moonlight played off her eyes, bright, otherworldly. "You talk like soone who knows how to listen."
"I do," Erald replied, brushing a fingertip across the top of a glowing petal. "Most people only speak to hear themselves. But you? You’ve been quiet this whole trip. Watching."
"Watching you," he said gently.
She looked up, startled for a mont.
"I notice the way you carry yourself," he went on. "Like you’re always braced for sothing... but also soft, like you know how to ease tension out of a room just by walking into it."
Erald’s throat bobbed as she swallowed. "That’s a very... specific observation."
He smiled, warmth spilling into his eyes. "I told you—I’ve been watching."
"Rain," Erald said quietly, "why are you really out here with ?"
He took a step closer, slowly and unsure. "Because I want to know what it feels like to be close to you."
Erald’s breath hitched. "Why?"
She searched his eyes for the answer as Rain reached up, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek.
"Because sothing about you pulls in. You don’t chase the spotlight. But you have a gravity to you. Like if I stood here long enough, I’d fall."
Erald’s pulse fluttered. "You’re not worried I’ll bite?"
"I’d take the risk."
She laughed softly. "You say that now..."
"I an it," Rain murmured. "I want to know how your lips taste when you’re smiling."
Instinctively, her eyes dropped to his mouth, then back up. "Then you’d better find out," Erald dared.
"I thought you’d never ask."
He leaned in slowly, giving her space to pull back but Erald didn’t.
Taking that as his cue, Rain closed his eyes as his lips touched hers carefully and tenderly.
Slowly, his hand slid to the curve of her waist, drawing her slightly closer. Her fingers found the edge of his jacket, holding it lightly.
The kiss deepened. Erald tasted warm and wild, and he kissed her like he’d been waiting the whole trip for this mont.
When they pulled apart, Erald’s lips were parted, breath uneven, chest rising and fallingly as she blinked slowly like teh man standing before her wasn’t who she saw.
"That was..." she began.
"Nice?" he finished for her.
"Better than nice."
He brushed a knuckle across her jaw. "Good. Because I plan to do that again."
***************
Back inside, Astraea had excused herself to the balcony and pulled Erik in tow.
After their dinner, everyone had dispersed and thankfully, their female Professor wasn’t one of the prudish types.
They leaned on the railing, watching the grand fountain below as water twisted through glowing spiral arcs.
"You see how the upper channel breaks into four? That’s pressure modulation," Erik explained, pointing. "They use magic to mimic hydraulic diffusers."
Astraea barely heard him.
"Fascinating," she said, but her eyes weren’t on the water. They were on him.
Before he could launch into another explanation, she dropped to her knees and unfastened his belt.
Erik’s eyes went wide as he snapped his head from side to side, glancing around and making sure no one was in the area.
"Astraea... wait, what are you..."
She glanced up at him, smirking. "Less talking."
Erik’s sentence caught mid-breath as her mouth wrapped around him. His hands gripped the railing tightly, knuckles turning white as Astraea took his full length in.
"Fuck."
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