42. King

FORTY-TWO

king

I SHUT THE door behind East as he stepped inside my office, doing my best to get a handle on my emotions before I spoke.

It wasn't often that I lost my temper, especially here on Astor's grounds. But when I'd seen Niles Easton towering over East in a way meant to intimidate, something inside me had snapped. Something I'd been unable to rein in.

I hadn't thought twice about stepping in to defend East, and while I wanted to believe I'd do the same for any of my students, I knew there was more to it than that. Where I might stand up for them or help them out of a difficult situation, this drive to protect East was accompanied by a much more primal urge—the need to claim and possess.

I'd wanted Niles to know East was mine, and that if he came sniffing around him again, it would be me he had to deal with.

The motherfucking king.

"You didn't have to do that out there," East said, trailing his fingers over my desk as he walked around to stand behind my chair. "I was handling it."

"I know you were." I leaned back against the door, holding the handle in a death grip. It was either that or punch the wall. "But you shouldn't have had to. He shouldn't have come to you here. Nor should he have been able to get to you. I made it clear no one was to get through the gates unless they had identification."

And whoever had failed to uphold that particular rule was going to get an ear lashing from me, and possibly their walking papers.

"You were pretty worked up out there…" East looked at me from across the room, his eyes hooded. "You know, for one of your students."

I knew he was testing me, pushing to see if I'd admit to our relationship now that we were back at school.

"You and I both know you're a hell of a lot more than one of my students." I turned the lock on the door. "Did Zac catch up with you?"

"He did. Right before I ran into my father."

The weariness from the last couple of days was now only a faint blemish on East's otherwise perfect features, and when I took his face between my hands and leaned in to capture his lips with mine, he slid his hands under the lapels of my jacket to rest against my chest.

I knew I shouldn't be doing this here and now, but just as it had been with Zac, the temptation of having East near was too much to resist, and I realized that somewhere along the way I'd started to think of them as mine .

I swept my tongue around the sweet interior of East's mouth, swallowing the delicious moan that bubbled up out of him as I laid claim in the only way available to me here. I wanted to comfort him, reassure and soothe him, and when I lifted my head, the expression in his eyes told me he felt all those things.

Something I was sure he'd be horrified to realize.

I brushed my thumb across his kiss-swollen lips, then reached for my chair and took a seat. East moved between me and the desk, leaning back against it.

"Zac said you wanted to see me."

"That's right. I wanted to check in with you and see how your morning was."

East shrugged. "I would've said good until I ran into my felon father in the hallway, but hey, wouldn't be a Wednesday without a little drama."

"Is there any day you don't have drama?"

"What can I say?" He brushed an imaginary piece of lint from his lapel. "I am the drama."

I chuckled despite myself, knowing that somewhere along the way I'd become tangled up in his drama—but also knowing I wouldn't change it for a second, no matter what the rational part of my brain was telling me. I was in too deep now. I'd known it the second I'd decided to bring him and Zac back to my place.

"That you might be. But the way you handled your father just now shows that you have the ability to?—"

"Not be a bratty asshole?"

"I was thinking more rise above those who want to bring you down. Those who might want you to do something you don't want to."

"I'm more than capable of saying no, professor."

"I know. But it was more than that. I imagine it had to be difficult to defy your father."

East opened his mouth to no doubt shoot that down. But then he quickly shut it and nodded. Progress. He wasn't deflecting anymore.

"It was one of the hardest things I've ever done." He brushed his hand against his pant leg as though trying to wipe it clean. "I still can't believe he did what they're saying. I can't wrap my head around the idea that my father isn't the smart, cutthroat real estate tycoon I always thought he was. That I always wanted to be. But instead is this…desperate, pathetic criminal who just tried to blackmail me into taking and hiding some documents for him."

"Fucking prick. I should've strangled him for putting you in that position." I got to my feet, and East shifted back on the desk, hand up.

"I know—that's why I didn't take them."

"I wouldn't have cared if you did. I care that he asked you to."

"I'm not. I think I needed to see with my own two eyes what he was capable of, otherwise I wouldn't have believed it. But the fact he would be willing to ruin my life, my future to save his own…"

I reached for his chin, raising his face to mine. "Not on my fucking watch."

"You know, you're seriously hot when you get all growly and possessive."

That shouldn't have made my chest tighten the way it did, but I couldn't deny that's what I was being. Let alone the way I wanted to scoop him up into my arms and tell him everything would be all right. "Is that what I'm doing?"

"You and Zac. Both making public declarations for little old me."

It didn't surprise me that Zac had laid some kind of claim too with how he'd been acting when he left our office earlier. What was surprising was that East wasn't breaking out in hives over it.

"Listen, I don't want you to be worrying about your future, okay? You need to concentrate on graduating."

"Okay, but then what? It's not like people will be lining up to hire someone whose father is known for embezzlement and tax evasion. No one is going to want to touch me with a ten-foot pole. I'll be a fucking pariah."

"I won't let that happen. What your father's done will not define you. Not unless you let it."

"Fuck that."

I nodded and retook my seat. "Exactly. There are so many paths open to you right now. I know Zac mentioned his family. You're surrounded by a smart—if not delinquent—group of friends going places. And if it's something else you're interested in, I have several businesses that you could get involved with if you choose to come and work for me."

East's eyes welled up as he looked at me, and the slow swallow he took revealed his emotions were just under the surface, threatening to spill over.

I reached a hand out to him, wondering if he would take it. He'd once told me he didn't cuddle because it was far too intimate. But when he laced his fingers with mine and slid down to straddle my thighs, he proved just how far he'd come.

"You'd want me to work for you?" he said as he wound his arms around my neck.

"I would. I'm invested in your future, James. As a professor and?—"

"As Batman?"

My body shook with laughter as I smoothed my hands up his back. "Yes, and as Batman."

"Aha, so you admit it." He grinned, and I couldn't help pressing a kiss to those curved lips.

"I admit nothing, except wanting you to succeed. You're so smart and curious, tenacious and resourceful in a way that will only develop with age. There's no end to your potential. Just like there's no expiration on this offer."

"So even with my all my father's issues, you'd still want to work with me?"

"Yes."

"And what about that other... secret thing. Is that still...?"

His words trailed off, but we both knew what he was asking. Would his father's crimes preclude him from being recruited?

"Yes. We still want you."

"We?" I could see he wanted to ask more, but I was proud of the fact he was trying to be discreet with his questions. A week ago he would've just blurted them out, to hell with the consequences.

"Yes. Any decisions made are done so as a collective. Not through a dictatorship."

"And you've already discussed this?"

"Yes. So even if this—whatever this is between the three of us—ends, you'll still have a bright future ahead of you."

" If it ends?" East ran a hand down from my neck to rest it on my chest. "I thought you said that was the smart thing to do?"

"And I thought you said you didn't cuddle?" I wrapped my arms around his waist and tugged him forward, nuzzling his neck. "In case you haven't noticed, I don't really care about being smart anymore. You?"

East leaned back and looked into my eyes. "I never claimed to be smart. That's Zac…"

He let go of me and moved off my lap, walking to the door, and just when I thought he might fully shut me down, he stopped and turned back to look at me.

"But I sure as fuck love the way you two cuddle. See you tonight, professor."