The Senior, Part Eighteen
Part Eighteen
What was I supposed to say to that?
I couldn’t tell if this was Jade being mature or immature, as she wasn’t just being stubborn. She was also being flirty and direct, which is what I appreciated about her early on.
When I ended up hesitating to such a question, she smiled and took a step forward. “Or how about just a kiss?” she offered. Looking up at me with those deep, hazel eyes, she gently placed her hands on my shoulders. Almost tentatively, as if she was ready for me to flinch away or shut her down. “One kiss, and I’ll drop your class.”
Did I want her to drop my class? That would probably be best. Even if Jade and I agreed that this was a bad idea, and had been a mistake due to the circumstances under which we met, it would be difficult seeing her as just my student. If she transferred to another teacher, neither of us would have to deal with the temptation; hopefully not seeing me every day would dull the excitement she clearly got from chasing an inappropriate partner. I couldn’t deny that some part of me was intrigued by the fantasy, but I had more to lose, which made it easier for me to suppress such thoughts and feelings.
Did I want to kiss her? Obviously. Especially in our current position, while she was giving me those eyes. As usual, the name of the game was restraint; it was my job to not give into her advances, tempting as they were. “Just a peck?” I reluctantly asked. She was right about how we had already broken plenty of rules together, albeit unknowingly. After everything we had done at my place, a half second kiss wasn’t the end of the world. And while the fact that Jade was a student changed a lot of things, I still clearly remembered the version of her at the bar that I hit it off with. She had been direct since the very beginning, so I had to assume she would be a girl of her word in terms of the offer she was currently making.
“A real kiss,” she insisted, “Come on. I’m still registered in your class, so I’m technically your student right now. Admit it; some part of you wants to break the rules while we still can. And you’re such a good kisser!”
Transparent as it was, the flattery didn’t hurt. It wasn’t lost on me that she was leaning into the student role by sucking up to me, but with a compliment no other girl at the school would be able to use. As for her offer, it was difficult to deny her, particularly after doing so a couple times already. Now that I had caved slightly and given her an inch, I had to be careful not to let her take a mile. “A real kiss,” I relented, ignoring the rest, “Then you drop my class, and this stays between us.” The latter part was more important than anything else.
Jade smiled. “I already promised I wouldn’t tell anyone. This is our dirty little secret, remember? So, if I do this . . . ” She leaned up and pressed her lips to mine, suspending us in an almost-kiss, as if waiting for me to close the last of the distance.
Before I knew it, my hands were resting on her hips. It was pure instinct. My arms had already been awkwardly down at my sides for a while now as she connected us with her own hands, and it would have felt even more unnatural if they stayed that way now that her chest was brushing against mine and her breath was tickling my lips.
Time seemed to stand still as we stayed poised to make out with each other at any given second. It was somehow both teasing and intimate, and a dramatic change of pace from how quickly things had escalated at my place the other day. Finally, Jade subverted my expectations by shifting forward until her lips were brushing my ear, taking away the lingering opportunity I had been given to kiss her. Finishing her thought, she murmured, “ . . . No one has to know. You can kiss me.” She flicked her tongue out, then gave the shell of my ear a soft nibble. “You can touch me.” One of her hands glided from my shoulder to my neck, all the way to the other shoulder until her arm was draped over me. Her other hand slipped underneath my arm so she could wrap it around me as she both pulled me in and fully pressed her chest against mine. Letting out a sultry sigh, she finally murmured, “You can fuck me.”
Fuck. Just like that, she took things from what was supposed to just be a kiss to something so much more. I definitely wasn’t prepared for her to swing so quickly to the other end of the spectrum after the drawn out build-up for the part that didn’t even end up happening. And after so much stalling and overthinking on my end, as I did my best to maintain my resolve and keep this from developing into something more than it already had been, I couldn’t help but reciprocate the deep embrace.
My arms were around her, both of which had moved as reflexively as when I lifted them to grip her hips. I was also starting to harden as well, a process which was hastened by a sway or two of her hips now that our bodies were flush.
“Jade . . . ” I muttered. The conversation from a minute ago felt pointless, leaving me completely put on the spot. Give into my desires, or somehow find a way to both resist them and to tap the brakes?
“Let’s start with kissing,” she whispered. Then, shifting back from my ear and brushing her lips against my cheekbone along the way, she landed right back where she had been before. Still waiting for me to make the first move that counted.