Chapter 116: Trespassing and Peeping? Jail!

Blair paced the length of the office; her thumbnail between her teeth.

This was bad. This was really, really bad.

Her mind raced through a dozen different excuses, but she immediately discarded every single one. It didn’t matter what she said; the professor would never believe Clarice had set her up. He would just assume she was snooping. The terrifying conclusions he would jump to made her stomach twist into anxious knots. She was so unbelievably screwed!

She stopped her frantic pacing and looked around the room. It was surprisingly small for such a grand house, dominated almost entirely by towering bookshelves and a desk.

There was only a single, wide window on the far wall.

Blair rushed over to it. Strangely, the window opened inward rather than sliding up. She pushed the glass open and leaned out, quickly calculating the drop. It wasn’t actually that high up—a second-story fall she could probably survive with only a few bruises.

But as she looked directly below the ledge, her heart sank. Waiting at the bottom was a sprawling hedge of red roses, bristling with thick, vicious-looking thorns.

Blair gulped. She quickly stepped back and pulled the window shut. A few bruises she could handle, but she refused to be shredded like cheese.

There was only one option left. She had to hide and wait until the professor eventually returned and opened the door. She could make a run for it after he leaves.

Blair looked around the immaculate office. She was careful not to touch a thing. Given Professor Feron’s terrifyingly observant nature, she wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if he noticed a paperclip rotated two degrees off its original axis.

The only viable hiding spot was underneath his desk.

Taking a deep breath, Blair crawled underneath the desk. She tucked herself into the farthest, darkest corner, pulling her knees tightly to her chest. She carefully adjusted her position, ensuring not a single ray of sunlight filtering through the window would catch her.

She settled in to wait. It was very cramped, but from her angle, she had a decent view of the office through a small, circular hole drilled into the back of the desk for computer cords.

Time crawled by at an agonizingly slow pace.

Blair was so focused on listening for the rattle of the door that the sudden sound behind her made her jump.

The window clicked open.

Blair held her breath, her eyes widening as the flutter of wings filled the quiet office. Through the small cord hole, she caught a brief glimpse of a black crow with red eyes landing gracefully on the rug.

In the blink of an eye, the bird vanished. Black feathers danced and swirled in the sunlit air, fluttering softly to the ground around the naked form of Professor Feron.

Blair slapped both hands over her mouth to stifle a gasp.

Her eyes were impossibly wide. The bright morning sunlight poured over his dark skin, highlighting an intricate tapestry of dark tattoos mapping across his muscular upper body. His usually slicked-back black hair was messy and windblown.

Jack casually strolled over to the bookshelf. He plucked a cigarette from a small, ornate wooden box and lit it.

Blair had smelled the distinct scent of cigarette smoke on him before, but this was her very first time actually seeing him smoke.

A sudden wave of intense guilt washed over her. She felt like a pervert spying on him like this. But then... maybe she was a pervert?

No, what?! Blair thought frantically her face burning red. That is not where that thought was supposed to go!

She squeezed her eyes shut, determined to be respectful.

But almost immediately, her eyes popped right back open.

Jack had turned around. His back was now facing the desk. Blair got a perfect view of his toned ass.

Blair knew this was wrong, but a tiny, rebellious part of her reasoned that literally no one else in the world was ever going to know about this. This could just be her own, inappropriate little secret.

Throwing her morals out the window, Blair shamelessly watched him get dressed.

He still had the cigarette dangling effortlessly from his lips. Blair was practically drooling. He was undeniably handsome, and the casual, careless way he moved was unfairly sexy. How could someone make simply putting on clothes look so attractive?

Jack pulled on his dark trousers, fastening the belt, but left his black shirt unbuttoned, leaving his tattooed pecs and abs on full display.

Suddenly, Jack paused. He took a slow drag from his cigarette, turning his head to look toward the desk.

Blair’s breath hitched quietly in her throat.

He was staring dead at her. His red eyes seemed to pierce right through the small cord hole and pin her to the wall.

No way, Blair thought wildly, her heart hammering a frantic rhythm against her ribs. She pressed herself harder into the corner. There’s no way he sees me.

Jack took a step toward the desk.

Blair’s eyes immediately began pooling with hot, terrified tears. This was it. Her life was officially over. Not only was she going to be caught trespassing in his office, but she was also going to be outed as a peeping Tom. She didn’t even know which offense was worse!

She had absolutely no defense. What was she going to say? I didn’t see anything? As if a man as smart as Jack Feron would ever believe a lie that stupid.

Blair squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for him to duck his head under the desk and drag her out.

She heard the chair move.

Blair opened her eyes. He hadn’t seen her. He was just sitting down to work.

The rapid, rhythmic click-clack of his fingers flying across the computer keyboard filled the quiet office.

A long time passed. The initial adrenaline spike slowly faded, leaving Blair’s muscles stiff and aching from holding such a cramped position.

Finally, Blair allowed herself to release a tiny, silent breath of relief. She was safe. He really hadn’t noticed her.

That relief hardly lasted a second.

Without warning, a large hand shot under the desk, violently yanking the collar of her shirt.

The chair skidded away across the floor as Blair was hauled out from her hiding spot. She was slammed back against the edge of the desk. Her startled scream was instantly silenced as Jack’s hand clamped firmly over her mouth.

Jack leaned in close, trapping her against the wood. His expression was calm, at odds with the frantic, thundering beat of her heart. He stared down into her wide, pink eyes, which were now glistening with unshed tears of sheer terror.

"I anticipated I would find you in my office one day, Ms. Willows," Jack’s voice low. "But I certainly didn’t expect it to be the very day after I explicitly told you it was off-limits."

Blair let out a series of desperate, muffled excuses against his palm, violently shaking her head to try and explain she was set up.

"Save your excuses," Jack instructed coldly, ignoring her muffled protests.

He leaned in just a fraction closer, the scent of smoke and rain enveloping her completely.

"Though we are not on the campus grounds," Jack told her, his red eyes burning into hers, "I am still your professor, and you are still my student. There is still a punishment for breaking the rules."

"And as the head of our temporary little academy at this house," Jack whispered, "I decide what your punishment will be."