The Protege (16 page)

My
vixen,

I’m
sure you already know just how happy I am with our living arrangement.  These
past nights have far exceeded my expectations.  They’ve also made me a little
forgetful when it comes to my other obligations.

I
was rudely reminded of that this morning when I awoke to a call reprimanding me
for not be where I had said I’d be; a meeting in Seattle.

Two,
three days at the most and I should be back home, in your bed, in your arms.

Please
forgive my hasty departure… Keep our bed warm until I return.

Yours,

Sebastian

Smiling,
she brought the handwritten note to her chest. As rough and tough as he could
get during lovemaking, which she loved as much as he did, he proved to be sweet
and tender outside the bedroom.

With
him gone, his place felt empty and cold and she suddenly longed to get out.
Munching on a chunk of pineapple she went in search of her phone and called
Laura.

“Well,
hallelujah. I thought I’d never hear from you again,” Laura exclaimed.

“Sorry.
I’m drowning under works, compositions and more work.”  Serena gulped down a
sip of coffee. “But I’m free today and I think I’m getting cabin fever.  What
are you up to?”

“I
had a few things to pick up at the store, grab lunch, maybe a little idle
shopping.”

“Sounds
perfect.”

Four
hours later they arrived at Laura’s apartment, their arms weighed down with a
dozen bags.  Shoes, skirts, lingerie, dresses, panties and more.

“You
never shop like this.  What’s up?”  They set the bags down by the door and
Laura made a beeline for the mini wine cellar under the kitchen counter.

“What
do you mean?  I like to shop when I get a chance.”

“Serena,
I’ve known you long enough to know you can be a rather pragmatic shopper.  You
never buy what you don’t need.  Today you practically bought out that
boutique.”  She popped open a bottle of Chardonnay and poured them each of
glass.

“I’ve
been bogged down with music, music and more music.”  Serena took her glass of
wine and took a delicate sip.  “I just needed to get out and surround myself
with new stuff. I needed to think about something else.”

“Why
do I get the feeling you're not telling me the whole story?”  Laura led the way
to the big cushy sofa in the living room and sat down.

“Okay,
maybe… but it’s too soon to talk about it.  I don’t want to jinx it.”  She sat
down and took a big gulp of wine.  Though she longed to talk about her
relationship to Sebastian, she wasn’t quite ready to put it out there.  She’d
been shoving back deep inside her the growing emotions that’d built up in the
short week she’d spent with him.  As far as he was concerned, this was a purely
physical relationship, and she knew it was important she maintain the same
attitude… or at least the illusion of that same attitude.

“Fine,
I get that.  I know I’ve been known to announce my love and devotion to a guy
only to have him dump me the next week.”

“Look,
all I’ll say is that it’s been really exciting these past days; exhausting, but
a thrill a minute.  The sex is amazing and everything in between is great. We
spend much of every day together and there hasn’t been one moment I wasn’t
happy to be with him.  He’s a great cook and he spoils me like you wouldn’t
believe.  It’s almost embarrassing.”

“I’m
happy for you sweetie. You deserve someone who’ll spoil you.  You’ve worked so
hard this past year.” Laura looked thoughtful as she sipped her wine.  “Is he
cute?”

“Huh?”

“This
new guy… is he cute?”

“Yeah,
really.  I mean, no. He’s beyond cute.  He’s gorgeous.” She emptied her glass
of wine and set it on the coffee table.

“When
do you think you’ll introduce me?” Not missing a step, Laura refilled Serena’s
glass.

“It’s
only been a couple of weeks, Laura.  Give me a month or so.”  Eager to change
the subject, Serena stood.  “I’m going to go to the bathroom.”

Laura
leaned back and grinned. “You can’t escape me now, Serena.”

With
a chuckle, Serena made her way to the bathroom.  She knew Laura meant well. 
Maybe she should just come out and tell her about Sebastian; perhaps not the
entire truth about their living arrangement, but at least that he was the one
she was involved with these days.

She
closed the bathroom door behind her, but before she could even unzip her jeans,
she spotted Laura’s latest bathroom reading material and her heart sank.
Grabbing the magazine, she ran back to the living room.  “What is this?”

Stunned,
Laura turned to look at her. “It’s a magazine, Serena.  My God, have you been
cooped up that long?”

“No! 
This!”  She slapped the page that’d been left open for all to see.  “What’s
this?”

“Oh,
that.  Yeah, it’s your professor.  I wanted to show you that.  Your professor
is quite the catch.”

Serena
sank back into her seat and stared at the photo of Sebastian. Handsome in a
dark blue stylish suit, he stood beside Willow. With his arm loosely wrapped
around her waist, he looked directly into the camera, a wistful smile on his
lips. Willow, for her part, was beaming.

“Did
you know he was planning on getting married?” Laura said with utter innocence.

“No,”
Serena growled as she tossed the magazine on the sofa.

“Gee,
Serena.  What’s with you?  I know he’s your professor, but what’s the big
deal?”  Laura picked up the magazine. “I think it’s a pretty nice picture. 
This Willow girl is really pretty.  She seems nice.”

“Nice?
Are you crazy, Laura? She’s a gold-digger.”

“I
don’t get it. You're usually so…”  She stopped and stared at Serena.  “Oh, my
God.  He’s… Is he…? Serena… your professor?  Are you banging…?”

Closing
her eyes, Serena leaned back and let out an exhausted sigh.

Chapter 15

A
s he walked back to his rental car, Sebastian
envisioned his next encounter with Serena. It’d been a week since he’d seen her
and he missed her; her body, her touch, her kisses. He craved her in a way that
was completely foreign to him. Accustomed to being in control of his senses, of
having the upper hand when it came to relationships, he now felt strangely
under her control, though he felt certain she was unaware of the control she
had over him.

The
sound of the moans and groans that accompanied her orgasms rang in his ear.
Serena didn’t have the habitual, typical, porn movie sighs and cries that so
many women tried to fake. Her moans came from deep within.  The sound was
rooted in something so feral, so ancient, it never failed to arouse him. It was
the part of her she kept hidden to the world, yet with him, she was alive, passionate,
a woman with deep needs he aimed to fulfill.

With
a quiet groan of his own, he adjusted the uncomfortable tightness that now
filled his pants and tried to think of something else.

He
didn’t have to think too hard. On turning the corner he saw the car he’d rented
for his stay in Seattle.  Even from a distance he noticed the odd angle of the
car and knew he had a flat tire.  Cursing his bad luck, approached the car and
realized the tire wasn’t flat; it’d been slashed.

Adding
to the fear and fury of knowing someone could deliberately slash not one, but
two tires, was the photo pinned under the windshield wiper.  It was the same
picture that had appeared in the society pages; the photo of him with his arm
around Serena, only Serena’s face was scratched out; violently scratched out.

He
felt sick to his stomach and leaned against the car as he tried to make sense
of it all. His suspicions immediately went to Willow, but he quickly dismissed
that notion. Though she was eager to marry him, he couldn’t imagine she’d go to
such lengths.

Quickly
running through former lovers, he tried to determine who could do such a
thing.  None of them had been particularly jealous or possessive. They’d known
he was in it for the fun and play, and that a serious relationship was out of
the question.

He
turned to look at the car again. Whoever had done this wasn’t happy about his
relationship with Serena, and if they’d done this to him here, now, what could
they have done back home to Serena?

Chapter 16

T
he first flight back to Irvine had Sebastian
in his apartment by nine o’clock the next morning.  Eager to see her and hold
her in his arms, to assess for himself that she was okay, he ran through the
apartment, calling her name.

After
a few minutes of yelling like a madman, he finally had to accept the obvious. 
Serena wasn’t home. Despite his warnings she not leave the security of his
building, she’d gone out.  When he called her cell phone, she didn’t answer,
adding to the growing sense of dread that’d been building up.

Perhaps
she’d just gone down for the mail.  Perhaps she’d decided to go to the
cleaners.

No,
he finally decided.  He wasn’t going to wait around to see.  Certain something
had happened to her, he rushed out and headed to her apartment.

Once
there he banged on her door and was confronted by a beautiful, but clearly
angry woman.

“Well,
well.  If it isn’t Professor love ‘em and leave ‘em hanging.”

“What?”
he said with exasperation.  “Who are you?  Where’s Serena?”

Leaving
the door open behind her, Laura returned to the boxes and suitcases she’d been
packing.  “I’m Laura, Serena’s best friend.”

“What
are you doing?”

Laura
looked at him, her gaze scrutinizing, assessing and accusatory all at the same
time.  “I can see why Serena is so taken with you. You are a looker… but that
wasn’t enough to keep her pining over you.”

“What
the hell are you talking about?  I was out of town for a week.  I left her a
note.  I even called her at the beginning of the week.  She knew where I was. 
She knew I was coming back.”

“Yeah,
right.” Unimpressed, Laura opened Serena’s top dresser drawer and threw a few
personals into a suitcase.

“Look,
you don’t know the whole story.  Serena knew she could be in danger if she left
my apartment.  I took great care to ensure her safety, but I could only do that
as long as she stayed put.”

“I
know more about this story than you think.”

Sebastian
looked at her and gestured with his hand for her to go on.

“Serena
has been getting some warning signals these past few days.”

Cocking
his head to the side, he kept his eyes steadily on her, though he felt his gut
fill with dread.

“At
first it was phone calls; someone asking strange questions about her; who she
was, where she was from, what she was doing.”  Laura sat on the bed, her hands
filled with socks. “When she stopped answering her phone, they left messages.
They quickly became more and more obscene, asking what size cup she wore, how
often she had sex, how naughty she was… things like that.”

“Like
a stalker?”

“Exactly. 
After a few days she simply turned off her phone.”

“That’s
why I couldn’t reach her after that first phone call,” Sebastian muttered.

“Anyway,
that’s her business.”  Laura stood, tossed the socks in the suitcase, and began
throwing books and magazines into a box.  “She’s not your concern anymore.”

“Why
wouldn’t I be concerned with her?”  Stunned, Sebastian tried to make sense of
what this stranger was telling him.

“I
would think Willow Brookes was enough to keep you busy these days, what with
picking out china patterns and all that crap.”

Sebastian
snorted.  “What does Willow have to do with this?”

Laura
shot him a menacing glare.  “Look here, Mr. Professor. Just because you're a
hottie doesn’t mean you can string Serena along, have sex with her on the side,
while planning your grand wedding to that socialite bitch.”

“Wedding? 
Are you nuts?”

“No,
sir.  The one who’s nuts is you.  I’m only thankful Serena learned about the
true nature of her relationship with you now rather than later. I mean, just
how long were you planning on stringing her along, anyway?”

“Look,
first off, I wasn’t stringing her along.  I’m not stringing her along. I don’t
know where the hell you got this idea about a wedding, but Serena knows damn
well how I feel about Willow. What insane ideas have you been putting in her head?”

Laura
straightened up and looked him in the eye. “I didn’t have to put anything in
her head. She saw it for herself, in black and white. You and Willow make an
adorable couple, at least that’s how it seemed in the romantic picture they had
of you guys in the society pages.”

Sebastian
sat on the bed and stared dumbfounded at the box Laura had been packing.

“As
if that wasn’t bad enough, when Serena went back to your place to get her
things, there was a message on your voicemail. She thought it might be you, so
she checked. It was your mother. She was thrilled with the news of your
impending marriage and was looking forward to helping Willow with the
arrangements. She congratulated you for finally coming to your senses.” Laura
leaned back against the wall. Her voice dropped to a soft mutter as she
continued, “She was happy you’d finally grown up and you’d put an end to dating
such inconsequential girls.”

“My
God,” Sebastian whispered. “Serena heard all that?”

“You
bet.”

“But
she knows how my mother can be. She knows how my mother feels about Willow.”

“All
I can say is I was there to pick up the pieces, and it wasn’t pretty.”