CHAPTER 1

Elena

I dropped onto my back and sighed, feeling the jolt that Liam always gave me when we were together. The sheets on the bed were messy and scattered haphazardly over the king-sized mattress as I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds in the condominium. Liam had gone to the kitchen to get us some water and the chocolate chip cookies for dessert that I knew he loved. I’d brought them over to go with the pasta that he made us for dinner, but we’d gotten distracted halfway through the meal and ended up in his bedroom.

That always seemed to happen to us.

I thought back to the class that I met him in during my Junior year at the University in Seattle. Liam walked in through the door near the front, striding confidently to the podium as I prepared myself for the Economics course. It wasn’t my favorite subject, but it seemed to be the lesser of two evils when it came to my choices, so here I was. I looked at the tall, handsome man that was looking us over with beautiful ocean blue eyes as he set some papers in front of him.

I knew why the subject of students and teachers hooking up was so popular as I looked back. He was stunning and probably several feet over what I considered petite at my own five foot six. His body was clearly muscled underneath the worn jeans and dark blue Henley that he wore with black Converse, making him look like a college student himself. I knew that he wasn’t though just by the way he stood before the large class, guessing him to be in his mid to late thirties. He sure didn’t look it but the way that he oozed authority told me that he wasn’t one of the fumbling boys that had asked me out since I moved here from Portland. He had dark chestnut hair that was long enough to be considered tousled, framing his face in soft curls and covered by a dark green beanie. His hands were big as they organized his things and the smile that he flashed at us when he was ready to start made me forget my own name.

I heard him speaking but got lost in the throaty sound of it more than whatever he was saying. He introduced himself as Doctor Liam Forsberg and told us a little about his degrees that ended with a doctorate in the subject of Economics. That helped me at guessing his age, knowing that he put in a few years to obtain all of that as I sat up in my seat halfway back and in the center of the room. He explained that he’d be passing around a seating chart to keep track of who attended class and that we should pick somewhere that we liked for the semester. That made sense with a class this size and I glanced around at the people that surrounded me, happy to see that they were anything but the jocks that were clustered more towards the front. The students that were sitting around me were just your average, run of the mill people getting an education like myself. I’d even call myself a little awkward and perhaps nerdy, more content with a book in my studio apartment than a night at a frat party.

My best friend at school was a lot different, often urging me to hang out with her at such things. Ginger was a bubbly, beautiful auburn haired girl that had friends in every clique, knowing a lot more of the students than I did since she wrote articles for the paper. She had the chance to meet people whereas I just went to class and went home to my apartment, where I worked as a freelance in order to earn some money and still have time to study. I had a partial scholarship, but since I chose to live alone over sharing a dorm with some randomly selected roommate, I had to work as well. I was all right with that since it was such an isolated job and gave me a lot of time to myself. Emails and chats were a perfect way of keeping in touch in my opinion.

I heard my name being called and I opened my eyes to see Liam looking questioningly at me. “Hmmm?” I asked as he sat down and set a plate of cookies down along with a big glass of ice water.

“I thought you might have fallen asleep,” his voice was soft and rough from what we’d just done together, a memory that made me shiver.

“Just comfortable,” I assured him as I propped my body up against his pile of pillows and reached for the glass. “Are you still hungry for the dinner that we abandoned?”

“I stuck it in the fridge for the time being. It’ll reheat fine. I just wanted to come back here and be with you and these amazing cookies.” Liam winked at me as I blushed, the pink covering my pale skin. I knew just how much that surface reflected our relationship as I shivered under the scrap of cloth that covered the various marks on my body.

I loved all of them equally and every act that gave them to me.

Liam turned on a movie on the large television as I snuggled against his side, tearing off small bites of the cookie on the top of the pile as I drifted between what was playing on the screen and his warmth and scent. There was a fire to the left of the television, keeping the spacious room warm as I smiled.

I didn’t plan to sleep with my college teacher. That was never a thought in my head and only happened in some of the books that seemed to be so popular. I was attracted to him, but so was every other female in the class as well as at the college. He was one of the hottest men I’d ever seen, but I didn’t expect the interest to be given back to me.

It all started when I had a little trouble in the class and went to talk to him. His office wasn’t huge on campus, and I sat down, prepared to ask him my questions until I looked into his eyes. Their blue depths and varying shades captivated me as I opened my mouth to speak, making me forget everything that I was saying. “Miss Carter?” He asked as I remained silent, blinking, and taking a deep breath. Once I explained the issues, he directed me to the class tutor and gave me the email to contact the girl before leaning back in his seat. “You’re a stunning girl, Miss Carter.”

His words caught me off guard. “Please call me Elena and…thank you.” No man had ever told me that before or anybody else for that matter. It thrilled me while a tremble went through me, knowing that this was my older teacher who was not supposed to think about me that way. I blushed as I wondered what it was about me that could be called stunning.

I was a bit taller than some girls, and I had a curvy figure, but I didn’t think I was overweight. I had no desire to be stick thin as some girls were, but I didn’t think that my dark, wavy hair and dark green eyes were that unusual. Some pretty girls were walking around this campus, and he had to notice them, too. Right? I looked up to see him gazing thoughtfully at me, just taking in my silence. “So, I guess I have the information I need. Thank you, Mr. Forsberg. Thank you so much.” I had a partial scholarship that I didn’t want to blow, making me work hard at all my grades.

“It’s Liam,” he spoke urgently as I widened my eyes. “Here, like this. It’s Liam.” He gestured around the room as I let myself wonder where else we might see one another, before pushing that thought out of my mind. I couldn’t and I wouldn’t. I stood as I forced myself to stop staring back at him, thanking him again before I stumbled out of the door and leaned against the wall. Holy hell, he was gorgeous and charming. I heard a noise behind the door and shuffled towards the exit that led me outside to the dreary, overcast sky.