Page 68 of An Arcane Education
I nod, and he smirks before removing his tight grip on my thigh to move his hand between my legs. His gaze burns into me as he maintains eye contact while pushing a finger inside me, but my head falls back and eyes close when he adds another. When his lips latch onto my clit and he curls his fingers inside me, I cry out, removing my hand from his hair to steady myself on the desk. The tension inside me is already building from how worked up he’d gotten me just from our kiss. It’s almost embarrassinghow quickly I know I’ll come, but I can’t bring myself to care.
“Shhh,” Alaric warns. “You need to stay quiet.”
I nod my head even though I’m already aware that it may be an impossible task.
My thighs tremble when he moves again, and I rock my hips against his fingers in a desperate attempt to chase my orgasm. It only spurs him on, and he sucks my clit hard enough to make me gasp.
I moan again, louder than I should, and he pulls away, leaving me empty and on the edge of desperation. My mouth falls open slightly as I watch him stand from his kneeling position, and I’m overcome by worry. Is he mad that I couldn’t manage to stay quiet? Is he just going to leave me like this?
Shame is already welling up inside me when he sits on his desk chair and pats his lap. His lips are still glistening and his hair disheveled. “Come here.”
Oh, thank god. I stand on shaky legs and awkwardly sink down onto his lap.
He brushes my hair over one shoulder to move it out of his way so he can murmur in my ear, “Since you can’t be quiet on your own, I figured I’d help you.”
Confused, I’m about to ask him what he means, but in one swift movement, he pulls me back fully onto his lap, reaches down with one hand to fill my pussy with his fingers, and clamps the other over my mouth.
Holy fuck.
He doesn’t go slow this time, curling his fingers inside me while angling his hand so his palm rubs against my clit. His cock strains against his slacks, grinding against myass, and I rock my hips on top of him as he fucks me with his fingers.
My breathing becomes more erratic with every passing second, and I whimper against his hand as the tension inside me builds and builds. My cries are muffled by his palm when my orgasm crashes over me, every nerve ending burning with the pleasure of release.
“That’s right. That’s my girl. Come for me.” His low voice reverberates through me as I ride out the waves of pleasure radiating through my core. He doesn’t stop, continuing to work me through it until I’ve practically collapsed against him, shaking and spent.
The office is quiet aside from our breathing, and Alaric gently rubs his hands up and down my thigh in a soothing gesture. Tentatively, I reach down and graze my hand over his erection, but he stops me with a hand around my wrist.
“Not tonight.”
After a number of minutes, I stand and slip my underwear and leggings back on before putting on my boots. Alaric simply watches me, his arms crossed as he reclines in his office chair. I’m not sure what to say to him, and he seems to be in the same position. Glancing at the clock, I realize there are only ten minutes left of what’s supposed to be an hour-long tutoring session.
I attempt to lighten the heavy atmosphere when I can’t stand the awkward silence any longer.
“Well,professor, thank you for that enlightening tutoring session tonight. I feel like I’ve learned quite a bit today.”
He chuckles, and the sound alongside the fondness inhis expression calms my nerves. “I’m happy to help.” Alaric joins me in standing, crossing the room to kiss me gently before he unlocks the door and opens it.
“Can’t wait for the next one,” I tease, feeling significantly better than when I’d entered this office only an hour ago.
“Same time next week, Miss Harver. See you then.”
CHAPTER 28
After a rainy Saturday spent indoors with Max, Sunday arrives with the pale October sun washing campus in watery light, so I take the opportunity to get some exercise. The logical part of me knows I should stay in the populated areas of campus, but something’s been nagging at me since the last time I was out in the forest. I know it’s easy to get turned around in nature, but my search felt off, like the forest was alive and didn’t want me to find that area again with Alaric in tow.
After I snag a glass jar and a pair of latex gloves from the kitchen of the dorm—even though there aren’t side effects from skin contact with any known mushrooms, I can’t be too careful—I make my way across campus, past the greenhouse where I can only hope Alaric isn’t working. If he sees me going into the woods alone again, he won’t be happy.
I encounter a handful of people on the main trail, including Clarissa and Mitchell walking hand-in-hand. She giggles at something he says before her gaze snags onme and her expression turns sour. I ignore her and veer off the main trail as soon as they’ve left my sight.
The temperature has dropped even more this week, and my breath forms small clouds in the frigid air. Dead leaves crunch beneath my boots as I venture further off the main path. I pay extra attention to landmarks as I wander through the trees, easily making my way to the large clearing I’ve started using as a reference point.
I half-expect to get lost again like last time with Alaric, to wander until frustration overwhelms me and I give up, but today, my instincts guide me, and the familiarity of the path gives me the confidence that I’m going in the right direction, even as the usual sense of unease settles over me.
It doesn’t affect me as strongly as before, but only because I’ve become accustomed to what I should expect.
When I finally reach the area, I stop short. The circle of lifeless ground has expanded, and the only things within the circle are the mushrooms and the peculiar, sick-looking trees. The mushrooms have grown significantly since my last visit, from tiny pins pushing through the soil to fully-formed specimens. Their rounded black caps glisten with moisture.
My discomfort intensifies to dread the moment I step into the circle. I move quickly, pulling on the latex gloves and slipping the small glass jar out of my coat pocket. I kneel beside the cluster of mushrooms closest to me, examining the deep black caps held up by thin, delicate stems. In the dim light of the forest, they seem to pulse with a barely perceptible greenish glow that may just be atrick of the light. Even if it’s not, bioluminescence, while uncommon, is a possibility… That could be it.
