Page 24 of A Discovery: Love and Other Things
I couldn’t shake his gaze. The comfort I had seen in his eyes just seconds ago had shifted into something darker. Hungrier.
All logic exited stage left as I lifted onto my toes and pressed my lips to his. At first, he remained still, as if still uncertain of my intentions. It was wrong and I should have pulled away, but I pled temporary insanity and parted my mouth slightly, catching a sliver of his bottom lip in a gentle nip between my teeth.
Like a time bomb just waiting to go off, he let me take advantage of his mouth. Seconds ticked by. Then he exploded into a fury of passion, fisting my hair at the base of my scalp as he devoured me. We moved against each other recklessly—me and my professor. This was fucking ludicrous but there was no way in hell I was stopping.
His tongue plunged into my mouth, hot and skillful, tasting every part of me. My nails dug into his chest like he was my lifeline.
Suddenly, he spun me around, slamming my back against the window. His solid body pressed into me so that I could feel every hard inch of him. I slid my hands underneath his shirt, feeling the ridges of his abs. The man was cut beneath his clothes, and I was dying to see it firsthand.
Our mouths moved together frantically, like we couldn’t get enough of each other. Our lust enveloped us like a thick cloud against the cool glass, with all of Egypt below us to witness.
He broke our kiss, and I almost whimpered at the loss before his lips began to graze a trail down my neck. His teeth sank into the tender flesh there—just a little more pressure and he’d leave his mark on me for everyone to see. Marks that I wanted so badly to wear.
His stubble grazed my sensitive skin in the most delicious way.
Skillful hands palmed my tits over the fabric of my top. Clothes needed to go. His skin on mine was the only thing that could satisfy me.
I lifted my leg and wrapped my ankle around his lower back. My pussy ached with the need for friction, and I attempted to quell it by rubbing against his hardness. My eyes rolled back into my head from the thrilling sensation.
He dipped his head and bit my nipple. The sensation, even through my shirt and bra, caused me to cry out. The moan that echoed around me—my moan—sounded more feral than human to my ears.
“James,” I breathed out, completely lost in him.
His body froze at the sound of my voice.
Awareness slammed back into me. Maybe I had been too presumptuous. I had never used his first name before, but it had rolled off my tongue as naturally as it felt to kiss him.
I tried again. “Dr. Campbell?”
But his name wasn’t what bothered him.
He pulled away from me quickly. All sensuality had left his eyes, and instead, they were cold and hard, like stones.
“I-Is everything okay?” I stammered, my heart still racing from our tryst.
“You should go.”
I searched his face for any hint of a joke or teasing but found none. “I d-don’t understand.”
“I’m your mentor, Sanura.” His voice was stern. “I shouldn’t have let this happen.” He ran his fingers through his hair, my dusty pink lip gloss still slicked onto his lips.
“It’s okay. You didn’t take advantage of me. I wanted it, too.” I tried to put my hand on his chest, but he pulled away before I could make contact.
He didn’t even respect me enough to look me in the eye. “Please, leave. Let’s just pretend this never happened.”
And with those words, all the air was punched out of me. My cheeks heated in embarrassment. I had just had the best make-out session of my life, and the guy thought it was the biggest mistake of his.
Two options came to mind as I stared at him in disbelief: I could cry from humiliation, or I could slap his perfectly chiseled cheek.
I chose invisible option number three. “Fuck you,” I spat.
I left the jerk standing there as I rushed away, grabbing my bag on the way out.
Chapter 12
“Let’s just pretend this never happened.”
“I poured my fucking heart out to him!” I whisper-yelled to myself as I dumped shards of pottery into a fabric basket. None of the rubble seemed to be of value since it had probably collected over time by way of voyagers flocking to the location, but I still had to be careful not to damage any of it. At most, the pottery would give us a better timeline of when the temple had been constructed and used. Anything found in the dirt would still need to be catalogued and recorded, but it first needed to be cleared out so that the team could dig through the sand that had contained it to find something bigger and better.
