Vengeful Heart: Fighting Heart Erotic Bad Boy Romance Series Book 3 (11 page)

Amanda walked me to college. I said nothing. It was so damn hard to make small talk when you have the world on your shoulders, but I did my best to laugh in most of the right places. But there was a curious look in Amanda’s eyes when she glanced at me, like she knew something was seriously up with me.

“Ash, are you okay?” she said, when we got to the front steps of the grand old college building.

“Um. No, not really. Look, I need to see Cantor about something. Okay? Can you let me do that? I promise I’ll update you later on.”

Amanda looked concerned. “Ash? Have you still got some kind of master plan, or has it all gone wrong?”

“No. I’ve still got a plan. Trust me, Amanda. And it’s getting closer.”

Amanda looked at me and said nothing. I wasn’t sure if she believed me, but it was true all the same.

“Trust me,” I said.

She nodded.  “See you in a while?”

“Half hour, tops.”

I walked away knowing she’d be worried about Brandon’s spies seeing her without me at her side. But Brandon’s days of power were coming to an end. I just had to hold on because now we were in the most dangerous time, when he was still at college and was about to find out what was to happen to him.

It was just before 9.30 am and the red-eye seminars would start soon. Cantor was head of the department and wasn’t teaching as much as the other guys, so I knew there was a very good chance I could catch him. The little dark corridor was quiet but charged with the presence of students at work, like children sitting at the feet of their masters. Most of the rooms were occupied with quiet chatter and the occasional laugh. All except Cantor’s. I knocked and waited for his answer. It didn’t come. I knocked again to be sure, but nothing happened. I would have to try later. Then as I turned around, I saw Ridgley’s door open. He walked out with a folder under his arm and a satchel on his shoulder. We looked at each other and froze. His brown eyes looked awkward, but sparkled all the same time. He looked around. I looked around too.

“Wait a second,” he said. He opened his door and put the folder back in the room and emerged once more and locked the door behind him. Today he was in black, as if he was in mourning. And he looked good in it. I hadn’t dressed for any guys today. I’d dressed in my casuals, so I knew I wouldn’t impress. And besides, we were past all that, right?

“What are you doing here?” he said in a whisper.

“I wanted to see Cantor, about Amanda. She needs help too.”

“You need more help right now. How did you cope, last night?”

I shook my head. “I didn’t really. I was pretty scared. But a girl’s got to do, what a girl’s got to do, right?”

Ridgley looked angry.

“They left you exposed. Couldn’t you stay elsewhere?”

“I don’t know anybody who can help me, Tom. Besides, everyone thinks I’m some kind of man eating bitch. Who would want to help me?”

“Couldn’t Cody Barnes put you up?” he asked, his eyes searching mine.

“No. He had company last night. They’re not getting married, but they are together all the same.”

Ridgley shook his head. “You haven’t got anyone at all, have you? That’s why you came here, Ashley. You needed to talk, and you think Cantor is the only one left you have to talk to.”

His words left me speechless. It was so true and I didn’t even know it.

“Talk to
me
…” he said, with emotion in his voice.

“I can’t… what about your job…?”

“Everything is out in the open now. If you can’t talk to me you then you can go and see Bonnie Davis.”

“But I don’t know her. She’s not involved, and she’s too official.”

“Then talk to me, Ashley.”

“I thought you’d put up a brick wall, Tom.”

“I’ll admit I thought about it. Yes, I need my job, Ashley. But I’m human too. Look, we can’t talk here. Come on.”

I followed him. He led me away as before, to the end of the corridor, through the doors and we turned left and up the narrow staircase.

When we got to the top of the stairs I felt safe enough to speak.

“Tom, what are we doing here again?”

“Sssshhh. It’s not safe yet. Come on.”

He led me back to the same old dusty room. I walked in and looked at the two stacks of boxes where I had laid my hands for support when he had made love to me from behind. I looked at Tom as he closed the door. I felt safe, warm, and the memory brought a nice feeling to my body. I smiled at him, relaxing.

“What are we doing here?” I asked.

He read my mind. “No… no… you need to talk. And I need to talk with you too. I need to know you’re safe.”

“That’s nice to hear. I thought you were going to break those rules of yours already.”

Tom smiled and changed the subject. He sat down on the chair. It was the same chair I had sat in when he had kissed my body, and brought me to a sweet climax. Inwardly I smiled at the memory.

“You needn’t worry about Amanda. When Brandon learns of his fate today…”

“Today?”

“Yes, today. He’ll blame you not her. Bonnie Davis is to contact Amanda today or tomorrow. Tell Amanda to accept her help, no matter what Brandon says, okay?”

“I will.”

I gazed upon his fine face. He was so easy to look at. So warm.

“And what of you, Ashley? How are you? I’m sure they’ll offer you alternative accommodation now. But they must give you some emergency accommodation in the meantime.”

“But what about tonight? If he hears about it before tonight, I can’t stay there, can I?”

“Of course not. Bonnie will arrange something I’m sure.”

“Are you? I’m not so sure.”

He was silent. His face clouded and his eyes glazed.

“If not, you can stay with me.”

“Your job, Tom! Think of your job.”

“I am. But I’m thinking of you as well. I want you to be safe. You’ll be safe with me.”

I thought about Cody. He saw my face.

“What?”

It was time to be honest.

“It’s Cody Barnes, Tom. I still think I have feelings for him… I’m sorry.”

The Prof’s eyes hardened for a moment, then softened again.

“It’s okay, Ashley. There’s no real way for us to be… partners… not with the Smiths college rulebook hanging over us.”

“I know.”

“But you still need to move on, Ashley. I know that Mr Barnes has moved on and so should you.”

I nodded. “I’m not sure I can.”

“Ashley…?”

“What?”

“I need you to move on…”

The Prof walked across to me. I saw warmth in his eyes. Before I had seen warmth, but overcome with lust and desire and it had been intoxicating. The man was still intoxicating, but now I saw a softness as he gazed at me too. He took a lock of my hair between his fingers. He played with it. He whispered. “Ashley…”

“What?” I whispered back. I felt his intimacy. I felt his affection. I felt his care for me, and it was like a magnet to my body. If only we could hug. In another world it could have worked out.

“It can’t happen between us. I know that and you know that…” he said.

I nodded. But already his hands were drawing me into a warm embrace.  Our words and good intentions said one thing… but our bodies said another.

“It can’t happen. But maybe it has to. I need to look after you, Ashley. I have to know you are safe.”

I pressed myself against him, my cheek against his firm chest. It was so good to hear someone say those things – say them and mean them. I thought about the chair. I remembered the feeling of the man inside me. I gently broke away and moved towards the door. I kicked two boxes against the foot of the door and turned to face him, no doubt a devilish look upon my smiling face.

“You’re right, Tom. This has to happen. And I need it to happen now…”

He smiled as I took off my top and he began to undo his trousers.

Where love is concerned, when you risk becoming gossiped about, or you risk losing a job, or losing a good name, or risk breaking the rules… sometimes you just have to do it. Right then, I knew I needed Tom’s kind words. I needed his affection, and I needed his touch. It would have to be a secret, but it had to happen. From the look of Professor Ridgley’s body, he must have felt exactly the same. We melted together on that dusty floor, and under a rain of gentle kisses my naked body succumbed to him. His manhood gently pushed into me, massaging me within. The waves of pleasure were slow and gentle, until I was utterly absorbed by them. And then I exploded with pleasure, and I felt his cock shoot his joy within me once again. Spent, reassured, and treasured, I could have lain with him in that dust all day long. But there was no time for that. Now we were in a clandestine affair, my life had become exciting all over again. There was still a Cody shaped void in my heart but now I closed the door of that old archive room over that void for as long as I could.

After a night of passion Cody was tired and his body ached. He was empty and spent. It wasn’t a bad feeling particularly, but as he opened his bleary eyes he wondered if Joanna would really need another go? Surely her appetite wasn’t that demanding. He blinked and let the daylight in while his brain tried to recall just how many times she had pawed at him and teased him in the night, pulling him from his slumber, arousing him with her kisses, until the fire rose so high he just had to give in. Soft, sweet, relentless. The relationship hadn’t reached the emotional intensity he’d felt with Ashley. But how could it? Ashley was young, and he saw her beauty being abused and her potential being obliterated by that son of a bitch, Brandon. Maybe it was her vulnerability, her backstory and Cody’s ability to empathise which created such heightened feelings. Give it a little while, and he would have those feelings for Joanna, of course he would. Besides the desire and the urge to have her, there would soon be caring and emotion… He was the romantic type, he knew it. Aside from Brandon Lynes, Cody thought it was a common weakness in writers. They simply felt too much and thought too much.

He smiled as he recalled Joanna’s body over his, and he reached out for her, to pull her to him for a morning hug. His hand swept over the empty sheets. He rolled his head up. The bed was empty. She walked into his bedroom with a towel wrapped around her head and another wrapped around her body.

“Morning sleepyhead,” she said. She didn’t look tired in the least. In fact, she looked more awake than ever. “I’ve made coffee, and I’ve been out and bought some juice, some pastries and a newspaper. It’s all in the kitchen. And if you get up you might even have some before I eat it all.”

Cody’s face creased up. “What? What time is it?”

“Seven-fifteen. You should really get up now.”

“Don’t you want to lie down and have a hug for a minute? You know, spend some morning time together.”

“You, my boy, have got eyes bigger than your belly. You haven’t got enough energy left for rubbing noses let alone anything else.”

Joanna dropped her towel without any attempt at sexiness. She picked up her underwear from the chair at the end of his room and put on her panties. He watched her, fascinated, and as she put her bra on she caught him looking.

“Stop ogling, mister and make yourself useful.”

“What is this? You’ve turned militant on me!” said Cody with a smile.

“No. It’s morning and it’s a week day. I’ve got work to attend to and you’ve got essays to submit and new money-spinning books to write. So get busy.”

Cody sat up and shook his head. She was hot and great to look at, but this was still no way to wake up. Joanna caught him sulking.

“Cody, what’s up?”

“I just wanted a little pillow-talk time, that’s all.”

“Hey, you’ve got the best of me, sweetheart. And in two nights time I’ll be all yours again, but today I’ve got a new client to talk to and I need to start networking on your behalf. If you want a decent book deal and big advance, I’m the girl who is going to get it for you. It doesn’t get done by itself.”

Cody nodded. Business. Yes, she was a business woman. But the way she talked about him, it was like he was a diarised part of her life. He wondered if maybe her visits were about managing their business relationship as much as their sex life. He couldn’t say it, or they would have had an explosive row, but the thought remained all the same.

“Come on, honey. You know I’m a busy girl. I thought you understood that part of our arrangement.”

“Our
arrangement
?”

“Yes.” She pulled on her skirt and sat on the bed, and rolled over to him, seizing him, and pulling his head down to kiss her.

“Yes. I’m your agent and your lover. I work to make you as happy as I can on both fronts. So, how am I doing?” She said, kissing his cheeks.

“Fine, just fine. But I didn’t know this was an
arrangement
, Joanna…”

“It’s a word. You’re a wordsmith. Don’t get hung up on words, sweetie. Now, go and brush your teeth and get both of us a coffee. I have to dash in fifteen minutes. Okay? Now there’s a doll.”

Cody sat up and wearily pulled on his boxer shorts and went to the kitchen. Before he got there he caught a look at himself in the hallway mirror. “I’m in an arrangement,” he said to himself. Joanna turned on the noisy hair dryer.

No, whichever way he thought about it, Cody didn’t like how the morning was playing out. He didn’t ever want to be part of an arrangement, whatever the hell that was. Sex with Joanna was great – actually it was stupendous – but Ashley had visited and asked to give it another go. And he had said no! Not good. He made the coffee and handed one to Joanna. She was dressed, and looked almost ready to go.

“Ashley,” he said to her.

Joanna was busy putting in an earring. “What about her?”

“We
are
going to help her right?”

“I don’t see how I can, but…”

“We said we would.”

“Fine. I’ll see what I can do.”

Right.
She would see what she could do.
It was time for Cody to drink his coffee and shut up, or there were going to be problems. But whatever Joanna did or didn’t do, Cody was definitely going to help Ashley. She was his friend - his close friend- and he wasn’t going to let her down.