One Night With My Alpha Professor novel Chapter 102

Chapter 102
Audrey & Edwin
Audrey’s POV
Edwin and I crumpled back to the forest floor in a sweaty heap of tangled limbs and parted lips, panting heavily in the warm afternoon air.
Too long. It had been far too long since I had been with him, since I had felt him. I hadn’t realized how much I had missed it, how empty I felt without it.
“We’re going to regret this,” I murmured, even as I nestled down on his chest and tucked my arms around him.
Edwin let out a low growl in response, his fingers trailing across my exposed arm. “Perhaps,” was all he said. Perhaps, indeed. But right now, neither of us seemed to care about the consequences of our tryst; to hell with Grayspring, and expectations, and age differences.
As I laid there, listening to the sound of his rapid heartbeat slow back down to a steady rhythm, I hardly even wanted to move. The forest around us was quiet, save for the occasional chirp of a bird or rustle of leaves in the breeze. I breathed in deeply, savoring the scent of Edwin’s cologne mixed with the scent of earth and fresh water and fallen leaves.
I could have melted into him for all I cared, could have stayed right there on that forest floor and never move again.
And I would have been happy to do it.
But as much as I could have stayed there all day, I knew we couldn’t. We both did.
“We should probably head back,” Edwin murmured, his voice rumbling against my ear as he traced a lazy pattern on my shoulder with his fingertips.
I sighed and reluctantly pushed myself up to my knees, straddling him. “You’re right,” I murmured, although Edwin’s soft growl and the way his fingers dug into my hips, pulling me down just to feel me one last time, wasn’t lost on me.
“Claudia might be wondering where we went,” I said.
Edwin’s face flushed and his hands slackened at the mention of Claudia, no doubt because he knew just how dangerous it was for us to do what we had just done right under her nose. Still, he said nothing about it and helped me to my feet.
As we stood, I took in our disheveled appearance. My skirt was wrinkled and stained with dirt and grass. Edwin’s shirt was untucked, and his hair was a mess. We took a few moments to dust ourselves off, picking leaves and twigs from our clothes and hair.
“How do I look?” I asked, attempting to smooth down my rumpled skirt.
Edwin’s icy gray eyes softened as he gazed down at me. “Beautiful,” he said simply, making me blush.
We made our way back through the woods, our hands occasionally brushing as we walked. I had a newfound spring in my step from our encounter, although Edwin’s movements were lazy and content.
But as we emerged from the woods, that changed.
I noticed that Claudia was no longer alone at the garden table. There was another woman with her, and I felt Edwin stiffen beside me, his relaxed posture suddenly going rigid as a board.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, noticing his smile fade. A knot of anxiety began to form in my stomach.
Edwin’s jaw clenched, his eyes fixed on the newcomer. “Audrey, I’m so sorry,” was all he said, his voice tight.
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Chapter 102
His words sent a chill down my spine, but as we approached, I recognized the woman sitting with Claudia: Fiona.
So that was why Edwin had stiffened. The same woman who had tormented us at the restaurant, the woman who Edwin knew begrudgingly as Claudia’s daughter, was here after all. Just seeing her made my heart stutter, even more so as her eyes flashed upon turning to us, her gaze zeroing in on me with undisguised hostility.
“You again?” Fiona blurted out, her tone dripping with disdain. She stood up abruptly, her chair scraping against the patio
stones.
Edwin cleared his throat and strode up to her, effectively placing himself between us. I couldn’t tell if he was trying to shield me from her ire or hide me completely. Maybe both.
“Fiona,” he said with a stiff smile. “So you came. I didn’t think I’d see you today.”
Claudia, seemingly oblivious to the tension, smiled brightly. “Fiona decided to join us after all.” She gestured to me. “Fiona, this is Audrey-the student I’m mentoring. I’m glad you two could meet.”
Before I could respond, Fiona was up and practically glued to Edwin’s side. She wrapped her arms around him possessively and planted a kiss on his check.
“Edwin, darling, I’ve missed you,” she purred, although her eyes never left my face.
I felt my blood run cold, my palms itching with the urge to…. to do something, anything. The realization hit me like a ton of bricks-Edwin and Fiona had some kind of relationship.
And had just… We had just…
“Fiona,” Claudia said, still oblivious, “is my daughter. And she is Edwin’s fiancee. Isn’t that lovely?”
Lovely? I felt sick. Used. Like a human plaything.
Here I was, a fool for thinking that Edwin and I had something special. The way he had looked at me in the woods, the
of me… tenderness in his touch, the growls that had rumbled in his chest as he moved on top
A fiancee. He was engaged.
How could I have been so **d?
Fiona’s eyes flickered down to my rumpled, dirt-stained skirt. With a smirk, she reached out and plucked a twig from my hair, one that I had missed during my haste to look presentable.
“Did you take a tumble?” she asked, her voice sickeningly sweet as she flicked the twig away.
I swallowed hard, fighting to keep my voice steady. “I… I fell in the woods,” I managed to say, the lie tasting bitter on my
tongue.
Fiona’s smirk seemed to stretch across her slender face, those cold eyes roaming me from head to toe. They paused on my dirt-covered knees, almost as though she could see the tiny flecks of soil in the lines of my skin.
“Hmm,” she murmured, tossing a strand of golden hair over her shoulder. “I hope you didn’t get hurt.”
Meanwhile, Edwin just stood there-frozen, stiff, cold, like a corpse. He didn’t look at me, or at anyone. His gaze was wide, fixed on his feet.
Ba***d, I thought. Look at me! Look at me! But of course he didn’t.
I couldn’t take this anymore. The looks, the tension, the sickening realization of what had just happened. It was all too much.
“Thank you for brunch, Claudia,” I said, suddenly, whirling away from Fiona and Edwin. “But I really need to go home now.”
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Chapter 102
Without waiting for a response, I turned and walked away, ignoring the sensation of Edwin’s gaze on my back. I couldn’t bear to look at him, to see the guilt I knew would be written all over his face.
A human plaything.
That was all I was, all I had ever been. All I would ever
bc.
+5
Edwin’s POV
It broke my heart to watch Audrey walk away, to see the pain in her shoulders and those rapid footsteps. The sight of her retreating form felt like a punch to the gut.
I felt like the lowest form of life on the planet. A coward. Less than dirt. Despicable.
My wolf growled inside of me, but I shoved his presence away. I knew what he was going to say: that I should have told her about Fiona, warned her of the truth in case she showed up.
And how monumentally s***d it was of me to give in to my urges and sleep with Audrey today, right under Claudia’s nose. The memory of our time in the woods, which had been so perfect just moments ago, now felt tainted. Dirty.
I had come for one reason today, and one reason only: to end this **able engagement with Fiona. If only I had just waited, I could have explained everything to Audrey, made her see my side…
But I had been hasty, and I had let my urges take over. Back there in the woods, something had taken over me, something -primal and irresistible.
And now Audrey hated me.
“Audrey, wait!” Claudia called out, hurrying after her. “Let me call you a car,
at least!”
As they disappeared around the corner of the house, I felt like I might be sick. The guilt felt like a brick in my stomach, or maybe like a lead weight. I could still smell Audrey’s scent on me, a cruel reminder of what I had done.
Then, suddenly, the unthinkable happened: Fiona leaned closer and sniffed me-sniffed me, deep and hard, like a lioness sniffing fresh meat.
She knew. Goddess, she knew.
“I know what you
did in the woods,” she purred, her breath flicking across my neck as she leaned in. “I can smell that human girl all over you.”
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