5. Painful Revelations

"Miss Andersen, could we talk?"

She let out her breath, then turned to face Dr. Pappas. The man had some balls to be coming for her after nearly a week of being edged until her brain cells floated in a soup of frustrated arousal.

Not that Pappas knew any of that.

It had crossed her mind more than once to cheat and let herself come, but she never did. Her Daddies had asked for that one thing, and she didn't want to disappoint them. Besides, one measly orgasm from her own fingers wouldn't assuage the aching need deep in her core, and she doubted her trusty vibrator was up to the task either.

By Wednesday, she'd given up on the auction messaging system and used the phone number they'd given her to text them when she touched herself. They might have asked for once a day, but they got more.

A lot more. And she wouldn't get relief for another whole day. She hadn't even seen the Daddies, and had no idea what they looked like, but that didn't seem to matter to her body. Heck, she'd ducked into the ladies' restroom between classes more than once.

They seemed delighted to hear about her desperation, which drove her desire for them even higher. Having her pubic hair removed hadn't helped, and the group texts with both of them made it even worse. Everything was too slick… too sensitive, and she couldn't help imagining one or both of them licking her silky pussy.

Not wanting to spoil the surprise, she hadn't yet told them of her trip to the day spa. She even had a sexy dress and a mask that would cover the top half of her face and had already gotten her health screening. Luckily, the timing had been perfect for her birth control shot to be immediately effective.

"Is this regarding my coursework?" she finally asked.

Dr. Pappas reached for her hand, then apparently thought better of the idea, and didn't touch her. Maybe her complaints to Dr. Ng hadn't been ignored.

"You seem distracted, dear. Is my class finally getting the better of you?"

Christ. If Dr. Pappas had taken his eyes off her tits long enough to notice, she wasn't hiding her need for her Daddies as well as she'd thought.

"I'm fine." She turned to leave, but he caught her hand. After pulling away, she added, "Thank you for your concern."

"That's good to hear. I'd like to discuss our future relationship."

"Interesting."

After licking his lower lip, Dr. Pappas smirked at her. "What is, my dear?"

"Are you offering to pay my tuition, sir?"

"Excuse me?" His smile faded and he frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well, since you apparently weren't listening to me when I told you I couldn't afford grad school, you must be offering to pay my tuition."

"I… Well…" A bead of sweat trickled down his temple.

"As I told you last week, we don't have a future or a relationship. I still can't afford to attend grad school, and I don't have time for dating. Even if I did, it wouldn't be with one of my instructors." She picked up her backpack and slung the strap over her shoulder. "And I'm still not interested."

"Don't forget you need my class to graduate."

Slowly, Tania turned to face him, wondering if he was saying what she suspected. Did he honestly think it would work?

Who was she kidding? Of course he did. He didn't even seem to care that there were still students in the classroom.

"I'm aware. I also have a ninety-eight percent without benefit of a curve."

His eyes glittered spitefully as a faint smile ghosted across his thin lips. "You still have a midterm and final to go, and they'll be quite difficult. I'll also be one of the judges for your senior project."

Tears burned her sinuses, threatening to spill from her eyes, but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction. Instead of screaming her rage, she walked out, pushing past Jason in her haste to get away before she did something that might get her arrested, or worse, thrown out of school.

She hated herself for running too. After over three years of standing up for herself, she was reduced to scurrying away like a mouse running from a cat. She especially hated that she'd done it in front of an audience.

"Tania! Wait up!"

She broke into a jog, ignoring Jason as she crossed the quad toward the parking garage. He wouldn't have anything productive to say. In fact, she could almost picture his delighted sneers. The old boys' club was alive and well in academia, and she wanted no part of it.

It was also still prominent in some industries, and definitely hers, but she wouldn't have to stay in a toxic work environment. Transferring to a different university wasn't a viable option—not when she was almost halfway through her senior year—and with her luck, one of her new instructors would be equally heinous.

Tania considered going to Dr. Ng again, but it was clear he wouldn't do anything, and she wasn't stupid enough to expect Jason to corroborate her story. What was the point of even trying?

God, she wished she could talk to her Daddies. Except they weren't. Although she looked forward to their texts and was beginning to like them, they were paying for her virginity and nothing more. After their date, she'd never see them again.

It was a transaction—not a date. Calling it that implied friendship, or at least a common interest in something. There wouldn't be conversations in coffee shops or over a meal, no movies, football games, or concerts.

No… nothing.

A cold tear trickled down her cheek as she tossed her backpack in the trunk before getting into her car. She hauled in a breath and tried to pull herself together before she backed out of her parking spot.

To her surprise, she saw Jason as she drove to the garage exit. He shouted her name and waved frantically for her to stop, but she pretended not to notice him and went home. He was the second to last person she wanted to see.

The minute the door to her apartment was closed and locked behind her, she fell into bed and pulled the covers over her head, letting her tears soak her pillow. She'd taken off her shoes, at least, but didn't undress or bother with whatever leftovers were in her refrigerator. Her stomach would probably revolt if she tried to eat.

Her phone buzzed with an incoming message, and without looking at it, she silenced the notification. There was no one she wanted to talk to, and she didn't want to read a text from the Daddies when she had no desire to play their stupid little edging game anymore.

All she had to do was meet them at Club BDE, get her cherry popped, sign off on completion of the agreement, and walk away. She didn't have to like the Daddies, and although it would be a bonus if she enjoyed herself, it wasn't required. She had her vibrator for that.

Maybe once she got rid of the hormones flooding her brain, she could figure a way out of the situation with Dr. Pappas.

Everything would go back to normal. It just had to.

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