Page 79 of Hurt Me Not
“I’m done already,Mom,” I said with a pout and slipped into her office.
“Brat.”
Her eyes ran up and down my body, no doubt knowing exactly what I wanted. I mean, I was wearing my flimsiest tank top and my shortest shorts.
I couldn't stop thinking about Emerson's hands on my body. Asking for a book was just an excuse to come see her, but now that I noticed the walls of books behind her desk, I wanted to explore a bit.
And hopefully entice her into exploringme.
“You can grab anything you want from here.”
She was back typing on her computer in seconds.Ignored just like that, huh?With a frown, I walked across the room, lingering at her desk for a moment, but she paid me no mind.
Most of the books were business-related—boring—but I expected nothing else from Emerson. I’d picked up a thing or two about her journey to the top, and I was sure she hadn’t taken shortcuts or handouts. Emerson worked for everything she had.
I ran my fingers down the spines as I went, trying to look for anything interesting, and paused when I got to a section on the bottom right corner.
Everything in there were titles I distinctly remembered reading back in high school when I was in my romance era.
These can’t be hers… right? Does she read for fun? Does she have the time?
My hand covered my mouth when I saw a specific one, and I reached for it, not fully believing what I was seeing.
It was one of my favorites. One I remembered I’d lost or misplaced after gym class.
She had it.
She kept it…this entire time.
It had my heart breaking and warming, all at the same time. She kept it. A part of me, all these years, while I left town to live my life, only remembering her in my fantasies.
Because you didn’t know you could have her… You didn’t know she didn’t hate you.
Still, I felt guilty. My love for her had never changed, but it would seem that she’d kept me closer than I had.
“I can't believe you stole this from me. It was from the library.” My fingers touched the cover. The edges were torn, and the spine was broken in one too many places after I’d reread it over and over again. “I found it in a hidden section, and I had to sneak it out because it wasn’t supposed to be for us innocent high school girls.”
“You wouldn’t ever return it. We both know that,” she said from behind me, her voice suddenly too close. “And I was curious to know what could grab your attention for so long.”
I let out a gasp as her hand came to hold my hip.
“When I read it, it was the first time I started to truly understand you.” Her other hand trailed my stomach, her touch scalding, sending butterflies exploding in my belly.
I had come in here wanting to get fucked, but I’d been caught so off guard by this that every caress had my mind short-circuiting.
“You read it?” I asked, not daring to turn around.
The hand on her hip trailed up to tweak my nipple while the other went straight to the front of my shorts.
“Read it? I studied it.” Her breath was hot on my ear. “That's how I know you like this…” Her fingers gently rubbed my clit through my underwear. “But also this…” She pinched my nipples so hard I let out a yelp.
She wasn't wrong. It was one of the first books that introduced me to the rougher side of sex.
“Page twenty-six,” she ordered. “Read aloud.”
With shaking hands, I opened the book as her tongue teased my neck. It wasn’t hard to find. The page was dog-eared, which would be sacrilegious if not for one realization.
She truly studied me. She wanted to know who I was. What I liked.
