Black Rainbow (11 page)

Watching her make breakfast for the last time, I felt the urge to ask for more time… but I didn’t want to be
that guy
.

We’d made a deal, and she didn’t look like she was backing out of it, and neither should I...

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Just thinking about how much that lamp cost,” I lied.

“You’re ridiculous,” she laughed, handing me a plate.

“Thank you. Do you have coffee?” I asked, as I scanned the countertop for the coffee machine.

“Sorry, I don’t drink coffee.”

“What?” I asked, as I searched for the coffee maker. Sure enough, there was none. “How’d I not notice this before?”

“You’re a coffee person?”

“I was a coffee addict, but now that I think of it, I don’t remember having a cup all week.”

What the hell? I had had a cup of coffee at least once a day since I was in high school.

“Surprise! This was really just a one-week rehab for you Levi Black. Your family was worried about your addiction, and called me in to help,” she joked, handing me a glass of orange juice.

“If my family’s turned me in, who’s going to help them? Because I know the addiction’s hereditary,” I chuckled, as I accepted the glass.

“The family package is extra,” she said, and I coughed up my drink trying not laugh.

“Ah… stop.”

She laughed along with me, and I was at peace with her once again. Grabbing our plates, we moved into the living room, taking our place on the couch, which usually consisted of her sitting in-between my legs.

I’m not sure why, but neither of us spoke after that. We kissed every so often, but it never got too heavy. She rested against me and read to me, I in turn, played the guitar for her, and then we ended up in each other’s arms again… without clothes on. We just held each other for hours, talking when we had to, and kissing when there just weren’t any words.

And just like that, the day was over. The spell was broken, and reality came creeping back into our lives. As if to prove it, my phone never stopped vibrating, as Betty’s preprogrammed messages started to invade my inbox.

“You're popular,” she said, standing up, and I wanted to pull her back down on top of me.

“I officially start work again today,” I told her looking up at the clock; it was one minute past midnight.

“Then I guess you should be going.”

“Yeah.” I stood, grabbing my bag.

We said nothing as we headed over to the door, and part of me hoped that she wouldn’t open it, but she did.

“It was great meeting you, Thea.”

Great didn’t even begin to cover it.

“Likewise. This week was amazing,” she nodded. “Bye.”

“Bye.”

I kissed her one last time before turning around.

Just keep walking Levi. Just keep walking.

But I didn’t listen to myself. Instead I turned back just as she closed the door…

It was over.

I would most likely never see her again. This week was nothing like I had thought it would be. I never meant to share anything about myself, or even get to know her. It was just supposed to be sex. So why didn’t it feel like that?

Just keep walking Levi.

When he left, I slid to the ground and drew my knees to my chest. I wanted to ask him to stay. I didn’t want to open the damn door. But if did, then I would be that girl who couldn’t let go, and I rather let him go than risk him thinking that I was
that girl
.

“I’m pitiful, aren’t I, Shadow?” I whispered to my cat, as she came to lay on my lap.

This must have been how Cinderella felt after the clock struck midnight and all the magic went away. This had been the best week of my life, and now, it was over.

Class began, and I walked in to find her seat empty. I could hear the remaining students whispering amongst themselves that they had successfully wiped her name off the board. It would take more than one missed class to derail her status, or was I just being nice because I’d fucked up so badly? I wasn’t really sure anymore.

The image that I had created in my mind of Margaret Cunning had shattered before my very eyes at Thea’s revelation. Just thinking of her made me sick. What kind of woman does something so despicable to her children?

“
To me, she is The Shark because she eats her young,”
Thea’s voice rang out in my mind again and again.

It was like that one horror movie that I couldn’t get out of my head, no matter how many comedies I watched afterward.

The class droned on without anything significant happening. Usually I would be pressing them harder, trying to get reactions out of them. However, today, I felt like I was the one off my game. They couldn’t tell, to them I was being an even bigger dick than ever, but I knew it wasn’t because of anything they had done. I was pissed off at myself.

Truthfully, I had no idea how I managed to make it without dismissing class early, but I didn’t linger any longer than I had to.

“Have a good evening, sir,” my driver said to me as I stepped out of the car. I only ever used him when going to see clients or heading to the city.

“Thank you, see you tomorrow evening.”

“Very well, Sir.”

Reaching into my pocket, I grabbed my keys, heading towards the stairway of my townhouse, when I stopped short. There she was, sitting on the third stair, waiting for me.

“Hi,” she stood up, “I know it’s late, but can I come in?”

Unsure of what to say, or how to react, and somewhat afraid that I would once again stick my foot into my mouth, I nodded and opened the door for the both of us. Once inside, she didn’t move from the doorway.

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry,” she said, rubbing her hands together. It was an action I knew she did when she was nervous. “It was completely wrong of me to explode at you like that, not to mention inappropriate. My mother— she was superstar lawyer, it would make sense that you would talk about her in class. My feelings should not—”

“Stop,” I said. I couldn’t take her apologizing to me. I cupped the side of her cheek, and took pleasure in the fact that she still leaned into it. “I’m sorry. I should have warned you.”

“How could you have? Why should you have? You did what you—”

“I did what I wanted to do, without caring how it would have hurt or affected you. I didn’t have to bring up Margaret this early in the year, I only did it because of how you reacted to the mere mention of her, and the fact that Tristan told me how much you hated her.

“I did it because I wanted to know more about you, and so I pushed you when I shouldn’t have. I’m the one who should be apologizing to you, I’m the one who’s sorry,” I said before she could interrupt me.

Her head dropped, along with my heart. “You’re an ass.”

“I know.”

“You didn’t have to follow me.”

“I know.”

“Don’t look at me like I’m damaged,” she whispered, not meeting my gaze.

Lifting her chin her up, I forced her to look at me. “I’m not.”

“You’re thinking it.”

“I definitely am not,” I said softly, as I ran my thumb over her bottom lip.

She’s so close to me…

“I should go.”

“Okay.”

Neither of us moved.

If she kissed me now, she would become a student who knowingly seduced her professor, and if I kissed her now, I would become a professor who preyed on my student. Either way, we were both screwed, so fuck it.

Leaning down, I closed the gap between us. In that moment, everything I had been suppressing for the last month came rushing back to me. Dropping my bag, I picked her up, and her legs snaked themselves around me. She molded herself to my body, and her hands gripped on to my hair, as our tongues c
ollided with
each other.

I had no idea how we even managed to make it to the bedroom. When we got to the bed, she broke away only long enough for me to pull off her sweater and throw it into the corner. She swept my jacket of my shoulders, and pulled my tie from my neck in one fluid motion. She ripped my shirt off just as I had done to her on our second night.

“So sexy,” I muttered, kissing her stomach, as I pulled off her jeans.

I eagerly trailed my kisses downward, pausing only long enough to pull her underwear down with my teeth. My hand was already moving in to tease her. Her back arched up, as I rubbed my fingers against her already wet folds. My tongue followed suit as I licked her, once, slowly.

“Stop… stop playing with me,” she protested, as she rocked against my tongue and fingers.

She was right. I didn’t want to play, I just wanted to have her. She rubbed herself against me and I couldn’t help but grin.

“Eager?” I asked, taking it from her.

“Aren’t you? Or has someone else been getting you off now?”

Grabbing her wrist, I pinned her down underneath me
.
“Don’t even joke like that.”

“Who says—?”

I kissed her, silencing her before she said anything else crazy. She moaned into my mouth as soon as I entered her.

Goddamn
.

I couldn’t think straight. I had missed this. I had missed being in her so badly, I didn't have enough self-control to make love. So instead, I fucked her hard, keeping her pinned down beneath me. Her breasts bounced uncontrollably, as my bed shook to the rhythm of our bodies. This wasn’t slow or passionate; that’s not what either of us wanted or needed.

“Levi!”

I loved how she always, no matter what, called my name when she came.

Seeing the look on her face, I couldn’t stop myself. I grunted out as I came. Exhausted, I fell onto her chest, and she wrapped her arms around me. I stayed like that for as long as I could, savoring the moment, and the feel of her, as I listened to her heartbeat slowly return to normal.

This moment was just like the last day of our week together, only now, we both knew that this was something different. This was something more than just lust.

That week we had no idea if we would ever see each other again, let alone become so entwined in each other’s lives. We were a mystery to each other then, but now, now we should have known better. Or at the very least, I should have known better, but I just couldn’t care enough.

When she tried to get up, I rolled over, trying to give her the space that she needed. But watching her reach for her bra was too much.

“Don’t go,” I finally said. “Stay the night.”

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

She turned back and glared at me, “You know why.”

“I do, but stay anyway.”

“Levi, please don’t make this harder for me…”

“For you? This isn’t just hard for—”

She turned, moving on top of me, and kissed me quickly
.
“I’ve told you most of my story, I’m just going to finish it now so that you can understand.”

All I could do was nod.

“My father is at Northern Correctional.”

I cringed. It was one of the worst maximum-security state prisons in the state of Connecticut.

“You know the Savannah Van Allen case?” she continued.

I sat up suddenly, my eyes widening in understanding. “You father is Ben Walton?”

She nodded. “Yes. My father is Ben Walton, and he’s currently on death row for the rape and murder of the Boston socialite, Savannah Van Allen. My mother was supposed to represent him. I was just a child at a time, and my sister wasn’t even a year old. But I remember it all. The day Savannah Van Allen was murdered, my father took my sister and I to the Woodstock Fair. There were photos to prove it. My mother knew, she could have had the case thrown out. But then she found out that he was planning to leave her for Savannah. So, in a fit of rage, she handed off his case to a friend, burned all the photos we took that day, and took my sister and I out of town.”

Margaret Cunning was the devil.

“He’s been in prison now for almost two decades, and
my mother
only confessed to this three months ago. I’m in law school right now because every damn lawyer I went to didn’t believe me, didn’t have time or they didn’t want to touch his case. My grandmother has been paying some scumbag lawyer for appeals, and he’s just barely doing anything. At this point, I’m not even sure if he went to law school. So, I’m all my dad has left, and I have to be the best damn lawyer I can, so that I can get him out before it’s too late. So now you understand why I can’t stay here with you. I need you to teach me, and you can’t do that while you’re screwing me at the same time.”

She got off of me, and gathered the rest of her clothes, while I sat there and trying to restart my brain.

“Thea.”

She didn’t turn back, instead she kept getting dress.

“Thea.”

Grabbing my jeans, I followed her down the stairs.

“I’m sorry I missed class today professor Black, it won’t happen again,” she called over her shoulder as she tried to open the door.

I slammed it shut.

“You have a horrible habit of running away from me.”

“It’s called self-preservation.”

“It’s called bullshit. Look at me.”

“No.”

“Thea, look at me!”

She still didn’t move.

Damn her stubbornness!

“Hear me out, and then I’ll let you leave.”

“Fine.”

She turned back and I kissed her. She kissed me back for a split second before pushing me away. “That’s what you wanted to say?”

“Yes and no. I understand that this is complicated, and messy, and just all around fucked up. But I also know that you feel the same way about me, as I feel about you, no matter how much you try to deny it.”

“Really? So tell me Professor, how do I feel?” she snapped, crossing her arms.

“Confused. Frustrated. Happy. Pissed off and turned on, all at the same time.”

“That could be anyone—”

“Not done yet.” I pressed my finger on her lips. “You feel all of that, but most of all, you feel like there is no one else on the planet that will make you feel as alive as you are with me. You know it.”

“That’s a bold statement.”

“I’m a bold person, can’t you tell?”

“Maybe it’s okay for you, but it isn’t for me. Anything you give in class, I will feel like I haven’t really earned it. Anything you take away, I’ll feel like it’s out of spite. No matter what, I’ll still feel that way if we do this.”

“Then let’s not label this. Let’s just—”

“Keep fucking each other?” she finished.

I held back my anger
.
“I hate when you say it like that! You make it sound so dirty.”

“But isn’t that what we’re doing? Isn’t that what you want?” she snapped back.

“No. No it isn’t actually. I want to go on a date—dates
— with you
. I want us to get to know each other.”

She still wouldn’t give in.

“If anyone found out, I would be finished. You're
the
Levi Black, you’d be fine, but me
—
”

“Then no one will find out, and even if someone did see us, I’m lawyer, I will lie through my teeth. I’ve taken former top students out before anyway, we’ll just need to bring case files with us as an alibi.”

She dropped her head, allowing her hair to fall forward, masking her face
.
“Let me think about it.”

There was nothing more that I could say or do. I’d stated my case, and it was time to let the juror deliberate. Stepping back, I allowed her enough room to open the door.

This could be my first loss,
I thought bitterly to myself, as I watched her walk away.

I wasn’t sure what was racing faster; my mind, or my heart. He was the smoothest talking man I had ever met.

Do not consider his offer,
I told myself as I entered my house
. You only said that you would to get out of the there…

“What in the hell?” I yelled, as I walked in on Selene, who sat on the couch smoking a joint, whilst some shirtless stranger was preoccupied with kissing her neck.

They jumped apart quickly as I entered.

“Get out!” I sneered at him, and he grabbed his belt, shirt and hat.

“Selene—” he said, turning to her.

“Now!” I screamed, before he could get another word out.

“Really, Thea? Aren’t you being a little hypocritical?” she glared up at me, putting her shirt back on.

My hand twitched.

“First of all Selene, I’ve never ever brought a man home while you were living with me. Secondly, I’m twenty-three, I graduated both high school
and
college. You, on the other hand, are a sixteen-year-old, trying to get a C in trigonometry. We are nowhere near the same level.”