Furore (The Night Skulls MC #1)(11)

Something had feathered down my cheekbone and along my jawline, sending a shiver down my spine and a clench between my thighs. This couldn’t have been right. I never had good dreams, let alone wet ones…that had felt so real. My eyes had snapped open, and I’d seen it.

His heart melting smile that had had the girls in Raoul Sala High swooning met my startled gaze. I blinked at his tattooed hand that was withdrawing from my face, leaving me more confused. Had he really touched me?

“I didn’t mean to startle you, Miss Meneceo.” The dark green abysses had held me immobile, being that close—too close for my sanity—for the first time. That voice that didn’t belong to a boy but a man, a very masculine man, was even more distracting when it whispered. “I was just checking if you were all right. You looked so peaceful when you were sleeping.”

“Tirone.” I’d blinked hard, frowning, his smell mixed with that of his leather jacket, filling the very little air he’d allowed between us. He’d been squatting in front of me on the floor, his arms stretched by my side as he’d held the shelf behind me, caging me in that little space. “You’re not supposed to be here. What are you… What—”

“Hushh. We’re in the library,” he’d said playfully. “You don’t want someone to come here and think…”

“Think what?” I’d lowered my voice in shock.

“That we snuck here to do what people actually come to do in this aisle.”

I’d gaped at him. “Oh my God. Are you out of your mind? This is inappropriate even as a joke, so is your presence here…like that. You have to go. Now,” I’d said as firmly as possible.

His eyes had traveled from my face down to my neck, and then to my chest. “You should put on your jacket. I don’t want anyone to see you like that.”

Frowning, I’d looked down at my blouse. Instantly, my eyes had widened. A button must have come undone in my sleep because I’d seen my bra and half of my breasts from that view and he must have, too.

My mouth too dry to swallow, I’d grabbed my jacket and stood. He’d moved with me, his arms still forming that cage around me, his height towering over me. I’d pressed the jacket to my chest to cover up. “Tirone, move out of the way.”

“Not until I do this.”

Before I could have opened my mouth to ask, heat had scorched my lips. It’d taken me a moment to register Tirone Wisely’s lips, my student’s lips, were on mine, sending flutters in my heart, sucking all my power, swallowing me in flames.

Without knowing, giving me my first kiss. Or rather stealing it.

I’d been too dazed by the flooding sensations and searing inferno erupting through my body to stop him right away, and for one unholy moment, my brain had shut down and my ovaries took over, urging me to let him finish what he started without interruptions.

Just for one moment. Then my palm had found his cheek in a slap.

Stunned, we both had stared at each other. I was desperate for my sunglasses to hide behind them, but in foggy San Francisco, I couldn’t wear them all the time, especially in winter. I’d worn my contacts that day. Brown. But I’d felt he’d seen right through them, right through me. His face was so red, with shock, shame or anger, I hadn’t known, but I’d had no doubt mine was even redder with all of those. “What the hell have you done? Are you crazy?”

“Yes,” he’d hissed. “You have been driving me crazy for months. Months, Jo.”

“What?”

“All those essays and poems you’ve made us write, how could you not know mine were all about you? How could you be so oblivious?”

I’d shaken my head vigorously, equally disturbed and in awe. “I’m your teacher, and you’re a student. How could you—”

“I don’t give a shit.”

“I do,” I’d said through my teeth. “And so does the law. This is wrong and illegal.”

“Only if we get caught, but I won’t let that happen.”

“Tirone, move or I’ll report you.”

He’d smirked, letting his knuckles brush down my cheek. “No, you won’t. You care about me like I care about you.” He’d licked his bottom lip and let out a little groan that unexpectedly and sinfully vibrated through my core. “You loved that kiss as much as I did.”

I’d slapped his hand off me. “Yes, I will. What you’ve done is a crime. You touched me without consent. You forced your mouth—”

“If you play that way, it’s gonna be your word against mine.”

My jaw had dropped. “Excuse me?”

“I’d say you told me to meet you here.”

“You little piece of shit. You think you can come here, take whatever you want without asking, and then threaten me, and I’ll just do nothing?”

“Fuck. You’re so hot when you’re pissed.”

“You’re insane.”

“Yes, I’m insane. Because of you. I’ve never been like this, but since you set foot in our school… I’ve been fighting for an entire semester, Jo, but I couldn’t get you out of my mind. So I decided, this semester, I’d tell you. I’ve been trying to make you understand, but you won’t. This was the only way.”