The Professor

Chapter 2

DALIA

Noah took my hand, still smiling at me as his warm fingers closed around mine, before he began to walk, and I instantly followed him.

We skirted around the gyrating bodies on the dance floor and Noah positioned me in front of himself, keeping his hands on me at all times. He got back in front of me after guiding me into a hallway that quite a number of people were loitering in and as we made our way through them, I asked, “Are you sure the game room isn’t crowded?” There were most likely other people who had also wanted to be somewhere less noisy and less crowded, and had gone to the game room.

“The VIP one on the second floor isn’t,” he replied and I muttered an ‘oh’. “The club only has a couple of VIP members, so we’ll probably be alone there,” he added, glancing at me over his shoulder as a smile played on his lips, and a small shiver ran up my spine at the thought of being alone with him.

Before my thoughts could wander, I cleared my throat and tipped my head to the side. “Is that so?”

His smile widened and he faced forward again just as we got to the double doors at the end of the hallway. The security guards standing there gave him a nod before opening the doors, and we walked through them into another hallway that was filled with mirrors and lights. It was also empty and as our surroundings became quiet after the doors were shut behind us, I became hyper aware of everything around me. Like the fact that Noah hadn’t let go of my hand.

I internally screamed at my palm to not start sweating as he resumed pulling me to the game room. “So what fun activities would you be doing if you weren’t here right now?”

“I’d be hanging out with my sister.”

“Aww.”

“It’s not really a fun activity. She’d just pester me to no end,” he added while his lips twitched into a smile and I couldn’t help but smile too because that sounded just like Chloe. “What about you? What would you be doing right now?”

“Well, I’d be on a date with my oven. My friend decided to grill meat by herself for the first time and she didn’t use a baking sheet. She put it directly onto the grills,” I said and he snorted with laughter.

“Reminds me of the time my friend started a fire in the kitchen when we lived together. He was boiling oil.”

“What?” I laughed. “Why?”

“For fish. Almost took out the f*****g complex for cod,” he replied, shaking his head with a smile on his face, and I laughed even harder.

Thankfully, my palms had listened to me and remained sweat free till we got to our destination, but sadly, Noah let go of my hand when we walked into the room. Like he had said, it was less noisy and there were only four other people in it – two people were talking at the bar and the other two were playing foosball.

I placed my drink on the edge of the pool table next to us and when I touched the cue, Noah asked, “Do you know how to play?”

“Does 8 ball pool on iMessage count?” I replied as I picked up the cue and he let out a soft laugh that made me smile.

“I’ll guide you.” He set his drink down next to mine as he moved behind me and I couldn’t stop the dirty thoughts that ran through my mind when I felt his body press up against mine. His hands came to rest on my waist and he made me take a step back with him before bending me over the table.

My thoughts ran even wilder, not allowing my racing pulse a moment to slow down, while he moved my hands so that I was holding the cue properly, and I noticed that his fingers were long. Long and tan and really, really attractive.

“Spread your legs,” he muttered right next to my ear and I sucked in a breath despite knowing he didn’t mean it that way.

“Mr Anderson. We’re in public,” I teased and a throaty laugh – one that reverberated through my body – escaped him.

“You know what I mean.”

The corner of my mouth tugged up before I did what he told me to and he proceeded to show me how to make a shot. After hitting away at the cue ball, he lightly trailed his fingers over mine and backed away from me.“Got that?”

This won’t do. I needed him to put his hands all over me.

“I think. How’s this on a scale of one to ten?” I lined the pool tip up with a ball, but when I hit away, I ended up missing the ball by several inches.

“A solid negative four,” Noah stated while I tried to stop myself from laughing at how ridiculous that shot was, and I turned to face him.

“Sweet. How soon can I go pro?”

“I’ll contact the IPA as soon as possible.”

We grinned at each other and as the music playing from the speakers changed, I placed the cue back on the table.

“How often do you do this?”

His forehead creased. “Do what? Play pool?”

“Buy a drink for women at bars, hit on them and teach them how to play pool.”

He raised his brows slightly, a smile playing on his lips. “Not often at all. Lucky for me that your friends managed to convince you to come here.” He didn’t mask the fact that he obviously wanted me or the hunger in his eyes as he ran his eyes over my body and I felt excitement unfurl in me. “Do you -”

Someone suddenly stumbled into me from behind and I instinctively placed my hand on Noah’s chest to brace myself when I stumbled forward, while his arms went around my waist to prevent me from falling.

“Sorry,” the person slurred behind me but I paid them no attention because the only thing I could focus on was how close Noah and I were to each other.

He was so close that I could feel his breath ghosting over my lips as we stared at each other and the way he gazed at me sucked the last air from my body and made every nerve ending tingle. It was intense, and as I realized that he was starting to lean in when he cupped the side of my face, I tilted my chin up to meet him before I could form a thought.

Our lips collided.

His gentle kiss roared loudly through my body, drumming back all other sounds, and I answered back. I opened my mouth to welcome his seeking tongue and he inhaled sharply as the kiss deepened. The hand on the side of my face moved to my back, urging me into him while his tongue slid against mine.

Holy s**t.

When we finally broke apart, we were both breathless and he stared down at me with hooded eyes, not removing his hands from my body.

“Wow,” I said after I slowly inhaled and a wide grin grew on his face.

“What do you think about spending more time together? Somewhere… private.”

“Oh, how presumptuous,” I replied, a smile playing on my lips as I kept my eyes fixed on his. “You think I’m going to end up in your bed?”

He lifted his hand to tuck my hair behind my ear before it slid down to caress my cheek and his thumb ran softly across my bottom lip, making my breath hitch. “I know you’re going to end up in my bed.”

I inhaled sharply and couldn’t stop myself from picturing him on top of me… holding me down… pinning me under that hard weight. f**k.

“My place is at least thirty minutes away though and I’m afraid I can’t wait that long. I want you now.” He leaned in, brushing his lips just beneath my ear and electricity zipped down my spine. “But… do you want me as much as I want you?” he asked and I responded by throwing my arms around his neck, dragging his face back to mine to give him a pretty enthusiastic kiss before he growled low in his throat.

“Yes.”

He leaned back, looking at me with a smirk while my heart rate quickened, and took my hand in his. “Come with me,” he said before pulling me out of the game room and down a hallway.

“Where are we going?”

“There are private rooms on this floor.”

“Private rooms?”

“They’re just for if the owner or his friends need to rest or spend the night here. No one else is allowed in.”

“Don’t I fall under ‘no one else’?”

“Well, you’re accompanying me. Aren’t you?” he replied with twinkling eyes just before he opened a door that led to a smaller hallway which had a door on either side. We walked into it and he pulled a key card out of his pocket before swiping it through the card reader of one of the doors, unlocking it

“Wow,” I muttered when Noah pushed the door open and I stepped into the dimly lit room.

It wasn’t cut off from the rest of the club at all. At the left side of the room, there was a small balcony with a railing where you had a bird’s view of the entire club. A huge leather sectional covered an entire wall and in front of it, there was a big leather ottoman. The chandelier that hung from the ceiling was the only source of light in the room and in the far right corner of the room, there was a small bar that was fully loaded.

“How old are you?” Noah asked and I turned around to see him locking the door with his gaze fixed on me. He looked dark… dangerous.

Excitement and anticipation rushed through my veins and my tongue darted out to wet my lips. “Don’t you know that you should never ask a woman her age?”

The dark expression on his face didn’t change as he stalked towards me and when he didn’t say anything else, I replied.

“Twenty one,” I whispered as he stopped in front of me and goosebumps exploded on my arms when he ran his fingers down them.

“I’m thirty one.” There was a ten year difference between us. “Does that bother you?”

“It doesn’t.”

He inhaled sharply and my skin prickled with awareness before he said, “Good.”