CHAPTER SEVEN

MARCUS

It’s an odd sensation—my feelings shifting so quickly from professional to personal—but Nicole’s warm personality makes it damn near impossible to not fall for her. She’s beautiful, sweet, and adventurous with a sharp wit.

“Smile!” Nicole whips her phone in front of us for a selfie. Our bright grins fill the small screen. Cheeks reddened from the cold. Eyes sparkling with joy. It’s a marked contrast to how I felt a mere twenty-four hours ago alone in my office.

Dropping an impromptu kiss to her temple, I grab her chilled hand as we continue trekking around the dozens of pumpkins available for visitors to pick. We’re forgoing that particular tradition in favor of stocking up on the homemade items they have in the country store—caramel apples, bags of kettle corn, and a gallon of their special pumpkin spice cider blend.

“Are you having fun?” This is new for me—engaging in spontaneous dates—and while Nicole seems happy, my past with Cora casts a long shadow.

“Seriously?” She bumps her shoulder against mine before resting her head on my arm. “I'm living in a freaking Hallmark movie right now, hot hero included. Today has been perfect.”

Relief pours through me before her next words register.

“Although, there is one thing that would top all of this...” She waves her hand forward to encapsulate the entire farm of visitors.

“Name it.” If it's within my power, I'll get it for her.

Part of me worries that Nicole has me on a pedestal, so I've tried to dispel the notion that I can live up to the dream guy in her head, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try like hell to live up to her fantasies.

“It includes you and me…” Her lips quirk upward in a sly smile. “And a bed.”

Oh, fuck. Immediately, my dick perks to attention.

“Do you have a preference on beds?”

Nicole licks her lips then turns me in the direction of the gravel parking lot where I parked. “I wouldn't mind waking up in yours tomorrow morning. My hotel room feels too impersonal and a little one-night-standish.”

“For the record, that's not what it would be wherever we ended up,” I say. “While there's an obvious physical connection between us, this afternoon proved there's more to this than pure lust. I like you.”

It sounds silly. Something a twelve-year-old would say to their first crush versus a man in his forties speaking to the woman he craves. But it's the truth boiled down to its most vital parts.

No lies. No flowery language.

Just simple and honest.

“I like you, too,” she says shyly. “More than I did before when you were mostly a mix of impossible wishes in my mind. Now, you're real.”

Kissing the back of her hand, a tender smile slips across my face. “And determined to not disappoint you. Let's go home, baby.”

My home.

Why does it sound like it's where she belongs?

***

Thirty minutes later, I unlock the door to my apartment and gesture for Nicole to enter first.

“Cora kept the house in the divorce,” I explain. The sparse apartment lacks the modern decor my ex favored, but it also lacks her cheating presence, which is a win in my book. “I don’t need much space, so this works.”

I grab a few pieces of junk mail from where I haphazardly tossed them on the coffee table and throw them away.

“You don’t have to explain anything to me,” Nicole says, hugging my waist and laying her head on my chest. “House, apartment, trailer. It doesn’t matter to me. I only want you.”

“Damn, how are you so perfect?”

“My family would say otherwise.” She tilts her head back to look up at me with a mischievous smile. “But I have my moments.”

“Like I said… perfect .” My mouth lowers to hers like two magnets drawn together by an invisible force. The sugar and salt combination of the kettle corn she devoured on the drive back to my place bursts on my tongue, and I groan, desperate for more of her sweetness.

My hands grab the back of her thighs and lift her into my arms, her ankles anchoring behind my back as I carefully walk to the bedroom. Nicole peppers kisses down my jaw and neck, stealing my breath with each fervent press of her lips.

“Is this okay?” I ask, stopping at the foot of my bed.

“More than okay. I need you, Marcus.” She grinds her pussy against my dick, and even through our jeans, the heat burns to the very core of me.

Lowering her feet to the floor, we quickly shed our clothes until it’s just us—bare and eager to explore.

“You’re so beautiful.” Pale light paints her curves in a soft glow. Like an angel sent to save me from a miserable, lonely life.

“So are you,” she says, a blush traveling from her cheeks to her chest. Unable to resist, I trace the path with my tongue, circling a pink nipple before sucking the sweet bud between my lips.

“No one has ever called me beautiful before,” I tease.

“Same.”

“Wait, what?” I pull back to see her stricken expression, and Nicole squirms under my shocked gaze.

“It’s not a big deal. Compliments usually revolve around my sparkling personality rather than my looks, which is better anyway, you know? Looks fade and—”

“Nicole.” Her nervous rambling breaks my heart. What the fuck was wrong with the men in her past? She’s gorgeous and deserves to be showered with praise.

Worshiped.

With that thought in mind, I drop to my knees and bury my face between her thighs to lick through her slick folds.

“Marcus!” she cries out, her hands tunneling through my hair to hold tight.

“You are beautiful. Gorgeous. Mine. ” The possessive word slips out, but I don't regret it. And if Nicole doesn't like it, her body certainly says otherwise, based on the immediate gush of cream in my mouth.

“The fact that you don't know how fucking amazing you are is a travesty.” I lick and suck her clit between words. “Your pretty eyes and mouth, so expressive. Your breasts tipped with these succulent berry nipples.” I reach up to tweak the puffy pink buds. “Your soft, round belly and juicy ass that bounces with each step you take. Fuck, baby, you drive me wild, and you don't need to touch me to do it. One glance and I'm a fucking slave for you.”

“You don't have to…” Her denial trails off with a sharp yip after I spank her ass.

“Don't you dare say anything that isn't in complete agreement or else I'll redden these sweet cheeks and make you wait to come.”

“No, please… You're right. I believe you.” Nicole shivers at the hard thrust of my fingers into her cunt, a reward for obeying. The tell-tale signs of her orgasm tremble to the surface of her curvy body, and her nails scramble on my shoulders.

“I need you inside me now.”

“What’s the magic word?” I smirk, rising from my place between her legs.

Nicole groans in frustration. “I need you inside me now, Sir .”

“Good girl.” I bite the inside of her thigh before grabbing a condom from my nightstand drawer. I haven't brought anyone back to this apartment, but a few of my buddies thought it'd be funny to give me condoms now that I’m single again. As if I'd be out partying like the students I teach.

Lowering Nicole to the bed, I warn, “Last chance to back out.”

“Don't you dare.”

Chuckling at her adorable pout, I plunge deep and grunt at the hot clasp of her cunt on my cock.

Our first time should probably be slow and sensual, but Nicole is too needy, and frankly, so am I. We can do the long and leisurely thing in the second round.

So, I burrow through her soaking wet channel— in, out, in, out —claiming Nicole's tight pussy as my own. It's what I wanted to do yesterday when she appeared in my office, then again later last night in that empty classroom.

There are a million reasons why this shouldn't work—our prior relationship, our age gap—but none of it matters when we're tangled together as close as two people can be.

“Yes… Don't stop, please…”

I reach down and circle her throbbing clit. “Come for me, baby. Come on your professor's dick.” Like the dirty girl she is, Nicole’s back bows as an orgasm wracks her luscious body, and I quickly follow suit, jerking with the strongest release I've ever had.

“Fuck,” I growl, trying to catch my breath and falling to her side so as not to crush her. I swipe a gentle hand over her brow where a few strands of hair stick to her sweaty skin. “Are you alright?”

“Peachy.” She giggles. “And eager to do that again.” Her bright smile draws out my own.

“Me, too.”

We lay quietly for a moment, replete in our mutual satisfaction, until Nicole rolls to her elbows. She bites her lip in a gesture that I'm beginning to recognize means she wants to say something but is nervous about how I'll react.

Using my thumb to pull the soft flesh free of her teeth, I raise a questioning brow. “Spit it out.”

“Do you mean you want to go again tonight, then I'll be out of your system? Or do you think this could be something more? Obviously, our sexual chemistry is off the charts,” Nicole jokes, “But I like talking to you, too, and today was fun at the pumpkin patch.”

“It was. I haven't felt that free in a long time.” Privately, I remember all the times Cora shot down my ideas to go out for an adventure. I loved my wife for years, but maybe we weren't as good of a fit as I thought. Maybe a lot of my love came from loyalty.

Because how I feel with Nicole is different, and it's not just because she's fifteen years my junior.

“There's something here, Nicole. It's only fair if we see it through to wherever it leads.”

“Oh, thank god…” She releases a pent-up breath.

“Were you afraid I would turn you down? The girl who snuck into my office in that sexy little miniskirt and then seduced me at my desk? That girl was afraid?”

“Well, when you put it like that…” She grins, and then a serious glow enters her eyes. “It's going to take time for me to get used to this—my crush on you becoming a real relationship. Plus, I'm not used to guys admitting their feelings aloud. Being loyal, being good . Except for my brother.”

“So, we'll both learn together,” I say, hugging her close. Problems are bound to crop up in the future, but if we remain committed to making things work, I'm confident we can find long-lasting happiness with each other.

“ Together . I like the sound of that.”

“Good.” And then I kiss her to seal our pledge.