Read Online Living in Shadow (Living In…) by Jackie Ashenden - Free Book Online Page A

twisted her mouth into what she hoped was a cool smile. “I’m sorry, gentlemen, but you’re still in my way.”
    “And I have a lecture to give in five minutes.” James grinned at Luc. “I’ll see you this afternoon.” His attention switched to her. “Lunch?”
    “Of course.”
    “Great.” He glanced at his watch before striding off down the corridor toward the lecture theatres.
    Luc adjusted his grip on his backpack, shifting on his feet, ready to leave too.
    Now. She needed to speak now. “Can I have a word, Mr. North?”
    “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He didn’t look at her, glancing off down the hallway. “Besides, I have a tutorial in ten minutes.”
    “It won’t take long. I just need to…tell you something.” She didn’t want to do it out here, where anyone might hear.
    Finally his gaze met hers, his expression unreadable. “I told you I’d back off. I meant it.”
    “Yes. I understand that but—”
    “But what?”
    Shit, he wasn’t going to make this easy for her, was he? “Can we do this in my office, please? I don’t want to apologize in the hall.”
    His gaze sharpened. “Apologize?”
    Down one end of the corridor a couple of staff members were chatting as they walked, followed by a small group of students.
    Eleanor dug her office key out of her bag and moved to the door before she could second-guess herself. “Come in here. It’s quieter.” And she pushed the door open for him.
    Again a brief pause and that level, assessing gaze watching her. Then he moved past her into the office without another word.
    A certain amount of relief filtered through her, along with a healthy dose of some other emotion she didn’t want to acknowledge. Something that felt horribly like excitement.
    Ignoring that, she came into the office after him, deliberately leaving the door open, rounding her desk and dumping her briefcase and handbag beside it. Then she placed her latte on the desktop.
    Luc stared at her, the force of his gaze pinning her to the spot. “You said you wanted to apologize. For what?”
    Voices drifted down the hallway, getting louder as the two staff members she’d seen earlier passed by the open doorway. That and the weight of his stare made her feel stupidly self-conscious.
    With an effort, she forced herself to calm the hell down, letting her fingertips rest on the cool wood of the desk. “For the way I spoke to you last week. When you…ah…told me how you felt and I said—”
    “That I should try English instead of law? That I was telling you what I thought you wanted to hear?” His voice was cold.
    He was still angry, then. Well, fair enough. “Yes,” she said. “I shouldn’t have said those things.”
    He remained silent a couple of seconds, staring fiercely at her. “Damn straight you shouldn’t have said them.”
    She swallowed. “I didn’t handle it very well, I acknowledge that. I…don’t get very many students coming to me with that level of honesty.”
    “What? You’ve never had a man tell you he wants to fuck you?”
    The words hit hard, like blows. The kind that used to give her pleasure before Piers changed everything. And the thin thread of fear, the fear she’d convinced herself for years wasn’t real until Luc appeared, pulled tight.
    “Don’t,” she said, trying to keep her voice level. “Don’t keep saying those things to me.”
    Anger was sharp and hot in his eyes. “Why not? You like it, I know you do.”
    “You think I won’t go to the dean?”
    “You think you don’t want me to come over there, bend you over that desk, pull up your skirt and fuck you so hard the whole law school will hear you scream when you come?”
    A wave of heat gripped her, so strong she couldn’t move. She could feel it, the need rising up inside her. The craving for those strong fingers on her, holding her down, ripping her clothes away, pushing inside her, taking her hard, so she couldn’t think of fear or betrayal. Or anguish. So there