Thief of Hearts (17 page)

A small moment of awkward silence fell before Stu spoke. “Ah, right. Didn’t pick up on that.”

“Not your fault,” Jamie went on. “People can rarely tell. I’m more Rock Hudson gay than Liberace gay.”

Alfie scoffed, his paintbrush held in mid-air as he shot Jamie a look. “That’s a laugh. You’re Oscar Wilde gay and we all know it.

Jamie gave him a playful glance. “Well, at least I’m not Alan Turing gay.”

“Hey now, be nice,” Alfie frowned. “Our intelligence might be matched, but don’t curse me to poor Turing’s fate.”

“You’re right, that was mean,” Jamie allowed.

“So you’re both . . .” Stu cut in, his words falling short.

“Raving homosexuals?” Jamie provided. “Why yes, dear.”

I stifled a laugh at him calling Stu ‘dear’ and stepped over the threshold into the room. As suspected, all conversation hushed when I entered. I still wondered who Stu had been referring to as ‘sexy’ but it wasn’t like I had the nerve to ask. After handing out the refreshments I took a seat on Alfie’s bed, while Jamie and Stu returned their focus to the board game.

I looked around, realising that I never really spent much time in Alfie’s room if I wasn’t there to provide a critical eye for his art. It was a lot bigger than mine, but I let him have it because he worked from home. All I really needed was a bed and somewhere to store my clothes and I was happy. My attention fell on the stack of paintings in the corner, more specifically the one at the top. Alfie had painted me numerous times in the past, but this one I’d never seen before.

I sat with my legs crossed at the water’s edge at my parents’ holiday home in Lake Windermere. The painting was based on a picture they’d taken when I visited with them almost two years ago. My hair hung long down my back as I stared out at the water, my face in profile.

“Stuart was just admiring that one,” said Jamie, his voice breaking me from my thoughts.

“Oh,” I breathed, eyes going to Stu, “you were?”

He shrugged, actually looking embarrassed, but that couldn’t be right. “Yeah, it’s . . . nice.”

“Oh, come now,” Jamie tsked. “You said it was a little more than nice just a minute ago.”

I blushed as realisation hit me. Had Stu been calling
me
sexy? I’d been so twisted up over the idea of him faking his attraction just to get to Alfie, but what happened in my room earlier wasn’t fake. It had been too raw, too messy and spontaneous to not be real.

I sipped on my orange juice, trying not to blush. Every once in a while, I felt Stu’s eyes on me, but I didn’t look at him. I was too edgy, too needful. If I looked at him now I’d be liable to jump him in front of both my cousin and one of my closest friends. After a couple of minutes, I excused myself to go and finish correcting my papers. The men were far too ensconced in their activities to notice me leaving, and I breathed a sigh of relief to have some distance from Stu.

I felt so conflicted around him.

On the one hand, I was incredibly attracted to him, both physically and cerebrally. He was gorgeous to look at and, more often than not I liked how his mind worked. But on the other hand, his past was so incredibly different to mine, the circles he moved in unnerved me, and the fact that he entered my life with dishonest intentions was cause for concern. In fact, no, it was a whole lot more than just that, but my feelings of lust seemed to be mingling with my anger, making it incredibly difficult to figure out how I felt at all, really.

Over an hour passed and none of them had yet to emerge from Alfie’s bedroom. I knew how absorbing the board game could be, and imagined Jamie was relishing the challenge Stu presented. His natural talent for the game showed his tactical aptitude, which was yet more proof of my theory about different kinds of intelligence. Stu might struggle reading books and completing written assignments, but he was leaps and bounds ahead of the pack in other areas.

When I returned to Alfie’s room my cousin was lying on the bed, his arm thrown over his face and his breathing deep and even. I would’ve thought he was asleep if it weren’t for the way he was mumbling to himself, something about finding the right shade of blue-black. The painting wasn’t anywhere near finished, but I could definitely see it taking shape.

“Did you know that Go dates back over five thousand years?” asked Jamie while Stu stared at the board, his dark brows drawn together as he contemplated the pebbles. “The first written record of it is contained in an annal dating from the fourth century. Think of the sheer historical significance, the simplicity of a game that is at the same time incredibly complex. It’s quite fascinating.”

“You talk a lot,” said Stu, casting him an irritated look. “And I know what you’re doing. I’ve got the edge and you’re bricking it. You’re trying to make me lose my concentration.”

Jamie shot him a look like butter wouldn’t melt. “Why, I’d never dream of doing such a thing.”

Stu smirked and shook his head, finally reaching for a pebble and making his move. Jamie swore loudly and Alfie chuckled, sitting up from his reclining position.

“You lost. I can’t believe it.”

“Oh hush,” said Jamie. “I’m well aware of Stu’s victory. No need to rub it in.”

“Yes, but this is definitely a first. We should take a picture.”

“No thank you, Alfred. There’s absolutely no need for photographic evidence of me losing to a novice.”

“I’m kinda regretting not putting some money down,” said Stu smugly. I smiled to myself, because it was nice to see him happily interacting with two of the most important people in my life.

“I was thinking of ordering in some pizza. Anybody want some?” I asked and was met with three resounding yeses. Even Jamie appeared soothed by the prospect of bread and melted cheese. I went to place the order while the others congregated in the living room. As I was setting out plates and cups Stu came up behind me, lowering his mouth to my ear.

“I can’t stop thinking about you.”

“You could’ve fooled me. I thought you might’ve forgotten my existence you were so absorbed in your board game,” I teased.

“It wasn’t like that. I needed a distraction,” he answered quietly, his hand going to my stomach and gently caressing. “Didn’t like leaving you like that though.”

I turned my head a little. “Like what?”

“All horny and gorgeous. Such a fucking waste.”

His husky whisper made me tremble as I recalled that my arousal didn’t exactly go to waste. But no way was I telling him about that.

“What are you thinking about?”

I shrugged. “Nothing.”

“Don’t lie. Your head went someplace just now. Where was it?”

I was blushing bright red. “Honestly, you’re imagining things.” I twisted out of his hold and walked to the other side of the kitchen to grab some knives and forks. Not that we needed them. Nobody ate pizza with utensils. What I needed was distance.

Stu caught me by the wrist just as I set them on the counter, twirling me back around to face him. His eyes traced my features as he took hold of my chin so I couldn’t turn away again. After a moment I knew he saw the truth because he swore under his breath.

“Fucking
hell
.”

His head dropped to my shoulder, where he seemed to take a few calming breaths. The next time he looked at me his eyes were dark and full of sin. “Do you have any idea what I would’ve given to see that, Andrea?” he whispered huskily. “God, I can just imagine you with that gorgeous hair spread across the pillow, your hand between your legs, making yourself come just for me.”

Every pore on my body drew tight, his words plunging me into a moment of desire and unleashed need. I opened my mouth to say something, another denial most likely, when the front door buzzed. The pizza was here and I was literally saved by the bell.

Stu left shortly after we finished the pizza. I was touched when he insisted on paying the delivery man, especially considering he was probably just as broke as I was. Throughout the meal he barely took his eyes off me, causing my skin to prickle with awareness. Alfie and Jamie chattered away about the Go tournament Jamie planned to host at his shop in a few weeks’ time.

The following day at work was a nightmare, not because any of my students were acting out, but because of Stu. I could feel his eyes caressing, stroking, worshipping every inch of my skin without a single touch.

It was exhilarating and nerve wracking all at once.

As soon as it was time for the mid-morning break, I left to use the bathroom and my students went in search of tea and coffee as per usual. The college had a small coffee stand in the lobby, alongside several vending machines. Most people preferred to get it fresh from the stand, but often the queue took forever.

On my way back from the staff bathroom I glanced up. Stu was walking towards me, determination in his gait. I barely had time to react when he took my hands and pulled me into the nearest open doorway. As luck would have it, the door led to a small filing room that one of the caretakers must’ve left open.

“How long until break is over?” he asked breathlessly, his mouth at my neck as he began kissing his way up to my earlobe.

I lifted my hand, glanced at my watch and replied, “About seven and a half minutes.”

I felt his smile rather than saw it. “I can work with that.”

“What—”

“Hush. Let me do this. I’ve been thinking about you all morning.”

There weren’t any windows and the lights were off. A small sliver of daylight trickled through the gap between the door and wall, but it didn’t illuminate much. Still, I understood Stu’s intention when he knelt before me, his hands going to the waist of my jeans. I caught his deft fingers in mine, preventing their movement.

“Stop. We can’t,” I whispered, my heart hammering at the idea of being caught. I was well aware of how wrong this was, of how being with Stu broke the rules of my employment. But being with him in the moment felt so good and the pleasure made me weak. He made me forget myself and that was scary.
I’d never felt this way before.

Stu stared up at me, his features still so handsome even in the dark. “If you really want me to stop, I will,” he said, leaning in and pressing his face to my crotch. I stifled a moan at the foreign yet blissful sensation. His eyes met mine again as he continued to nuzzle me, “Tell. Me. To. Stop.”

I sighed and slouched back into the wall, helpless to resist. Stu’s deep chuckle hit me right in the pit of my stomach. His hands returned to my waistband, undoing the fly and pulling my jeans down to mid-thigh. I really should’ve worn a skirt today. All thought fled my mind when Stu pressed his mouth to my underwear, moving his lips and creating a pleasurable wet heat.

He slid my knickers to the side, moving a finger teasingly down my centre.

“Seven minutes,” I reminded him breathily and he chuckled some more.

“So bossy, Miss Anderson,” he chided, clicking his tongue before diving in and doing something . . . else . . . with . . . it. He sucked my clit into his mouth and my hand went to his shoulder to steady myself. For the first time in my life my knees felt too weak to hold my body up.

“How fast do you think I can make you come?” he asked, his voice laced with arousal. Pressing his mouth to me, he sucked again and I wanted to scream. What he did to me felt so good, but at the same I was aware of how close we were to the classroom. My students would be making their way back any minute and if anyone discovered us I’d be fired on the spot.

Fear was a heady thing, it seemed.

I hardly recognised myself from the rule-following person I usually was. It was concerning
and
liberating.

Stu circled my clit with his tongue, applying the perfect amount of pressure. He pulled one leg from my jeans and lifted my thigh, my ballet flat falling off in the process. Then he slid my thigh over his shoulder so he could go deeper. He sank two fingers inside me and I cried out, unable to hold it in. My heart pounded, wondering if somebody passing by had heard.

“You’ve no idea how sexy you look right now,” Stu growled. “Come for me, Andrea.”

I gasped when the movement of his fingers sped up, his tongue matching the pace as he built to a mind-numbingly pleasurable crescendo. I gripped his shoulder, fisting his T-shirt and biting my lip to prevent any more noises from escaping.

Stu made a humming sound in the back of his throat, his eyes alight with desire, like he was enjoying the act far more than I was. I came with a harsh intake of breath, pleasure gripping me as Stu wrung out every last tremor. He kissed my sex, then nuzzled my inner thigh, humming his appreciation yet again.

“So fucking sexy,” he said, his grin wicked as he teased me. “That was quick, too. Think we might have broken a record.”

I was shivering all over, still on a high. Stu lifted the hem of his T-shirt, revealing a set a toned abs that I couldn’t take my eyes off. When I met his gaze he was still grinning as he used the fabric to wipe his mouth. The action combined with the eye contact was oddly arousing. I lowered my leg from his shoulder, my limbs pure jelly, and quickly pulled my underwear and jeans back up. Glancing at my watch I noted we were a minute or two late. Not the end of the world, but it was going to look suspicious if we both arrived back at the same time.

“You go,” said Stu. “I’ll follow in a few minutes. Just try not to punish me too hard for being late.”

I swatted his arm and laughed softly. He caught my chin and pulled my lips in for a kiss. I tasted myself on his tongue, something I never thought I’d find sexy but I did. When he let me up for air he gave me playful slap on the arse as I stepped into the hallway.

All of a sudden I was nervous again, glancing left and right to make sure nobody saw me exiting the file room. I had just enough time to pay a quick visit to the bathroom to clean myself up and then hurried back to class. My students sat around chatting, barely noticing my lateness. I approached my desk and sat down, calling for them to settle as I brought up the history lesson I planned last night. We were studying the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon.

I’d started a discussion in the class’s Facebook group, so I had the page up on my laptop. When the door opened and Stu entered, Susan immediately piped up, “Well, would you look who it is, Johnny-come-lately. I think you should give him detention for tardiness, Miss Anderson.”

I shot her a smile. “If I give Stu detention for being late, then I’ll also have to give you detention for being a smart-arse.”

Susan smirked and made a show of zipping her lips while Stu took his usual seat. When our eyes met I flushed. I could smell him on me, could still taste myself on my lips from his kiss. It felt a little obscene, yet my skin tingled all over.

I focused on the lesson, trying not to look Stu’s way as much as possible. The man had just made me come with his mouth and fingers. How was I going to avoid looking at him when all I wanted was more?

Things quietened down when I handed out some assignment questions for everybody to work on. When I returned to my seat I saw a conversation window had popped up with a message from Stu. My heart skipped a beat.

Stu Cross: Ur beautiful.

My eyes instinctively lifted and I found him staring at me, his gaze intense. Flushing even redder now, I tried to think of a response but nothing came to me. He sent another message.

Stu Cross: U taste beautiful 2.

I swallowed thickly, not glancing up this time as I typed a reply.

Andrea Anderson: Stop messaging me.

Stu Cross: Can’t help it.

Andrea Anderson: Try.

Stu Cross: Ur blushing.

Andrea Anderson: I’m not.

Stu Cross: 4got how much I loved eating pussy.

I lifted a hand to my neck, self-consciously rubbing my skin as if that was going to help matters. When I looked at Stu this time his head was bent over his laptop as he typed. A moment later I got another message.

Stu Cross: Gonna make u blush everywhere.

Worrying my lip, I felt like everyone in the room was going to know what he was saying to me, somehow figure out what we’d done. I needed to logout so he couldn’t message me anymore. Kian was sitting right behind him, and if he saw the conversation I didn’t know what I’d do. At the same time, I was struck with the urge to send one final message. I agonised over it for a couple of minutes before finally biting the bullet.

Andrea Anderson: I have feelings for you.

Andrea Anderson: Do you have feelings for me?

The moment I hit
send
I regretted it. I felt like a teenage girl, worrying over whether or not her crush liked her back. The change in me was disconcerting. Just weeks ago I knew who I was. I was a teacher. I was a widow. I’d loved one man with all my heart, and I’d lost him. I’d thought that love was enough for one lifetime, as if
that
part of me was done. But now, everything was changing. I felt new and sad, happy and regretful, excited and guilty. So many overlapping emotions.

Glancing back at my laptop screen, I saw Stu hadn’t replied yet and I couldn’t bring myself to look his way.

God, this was awful.

Unable to take any more I slammed the device shut and tried to focus on the lesson again. I walked around the room, providing help with the assignment to those who needed it. Not once did I approach Stu, too scared of what I might see.

Pity. Rejection.

This could all just be sexual for him. Basic attraction. On an emotional level he might not feel anything for me at all. At lunch I left the classroom before most of the students, hurrying to my car and hiding there for the rest of the hour. My phone practically taunted me, urging me to check my messages and see if he’d responded. I was too much of a coward though, and instead ate my sandwich and read yesterday’s newspaper that I’d left on the back seat.

There was no way I’d emerge from my car until certain there’d be students in my classroom. Sure enough, most of them had returned from lunch, Stu among them. He was chatting with Kian, his back turned to me as I entered. The other students were the buffer I needed. He couldn’t say anything in front of them. At least, I hoped he wouldn’t.

When the day drew to a close I started to concoct an exit strategy. How could I get out of the classroom without colliding with Stu?

In the end I latched on to Mary and Susan, chatting with them about how they planned to spend their evenings as a method of avoidance. I could practically feel Stu’s irritation like a tangible thing, but I continued to ignore him. On the drive home I decided I’d pay my parents a visit and eat dinner at their place. After a quick pit stop at the flat to take a shower and change my clothes, I set out for their place. Alfie was holed up in his room, oblivious to my comings and goings.

“Andrea! What a lovely surprise,” said Mum, answering the door to me. She wore a light floral dress and I could tell she’d recently gotten her hair done.

“I hope you don’t mind me stopping by.”

“Not at all! But you should’ve brought Alfie with you. I haven’t seen him in months.”

I gave her an apologetic look. “You know how he is. It’s difficult to get him to leave the flat at the best of times, never mind visit family.”

Mum frowned, leading me into the kitchen. “Those parents of his really did a number on him.”

“Mum!”

“You know I’m right! Madeline was always a very cold woman. And Raymond was even worse, always working, never home, cheating on Madeline with every new floozy that came along,” said Mum, lifting the glass of wine she was clearly in the middle of enjoying when I knocked.

I had to admit, I sort of loved it when she went all gossipy. I enjoyed hearing scandalous stories about all my aunts and uncles who had always seemed like such boring, staid grown-ups to me as a kid.

Mum smacked her hand to her head like she just remembered something. “Oh, by the way, your student is here, the one your father’s tutoring. They’re just inside the study having a lesson now. I invited him to stay for dinner again. He’s very handsome, don’t you think?” Her eyes sparkled, and I sensed some form of matchmaking in the air.

Little did she know, her efforts weren’t needed. Still, the news that Stu was here at the house had my nerves spiralling. Why couldn’t I just spend a quiet evening at my parents’ house without any emotional entanglements? It was my own fault though. I should’ve remembered it was this day last week that I first brought Stu over to meet Dad.

“He’s my student, Mum,” I said as she pulled a glass from the cupboard and poured me some wine.

“Oh sure, but only for another few months. Besides, your dad and I have been worried about you. You’re still so young, Andrea,” she said, her eyes turning sad as she glanced momentarily at my ring. Most days I forgot it was even there, an unseen comfort blanket. I slid my hand onto my lap, hiding it from her view.

“We all miss Mark very much,” Mum went on. I wished she’d stop with the sad eyes, because she was making me sad and I didn’t need misery lobbed on top of my already frazzled emotions.