Read Online Mr Blackwell: Teacher Student Romance by S K Quinn - Free Book Online

another.
    What is that? A water bird?
    I creep closer.
    God .
    My heart pounds.
    It’s Sophia.
     

You’re halfway through!
    Hope you’re liking the story so far, but hold on tight because there are about to be some explosions …
    I’d love to give you a little window into my writer’s world and show you the Pinterest board I used whilst writing this book.
    It’s here:
    uk.pinterest.com/suzykquinn/ivy-lessons/
    No more interruptions I promise.
    See you at the end, lovely lady.
     
    Suzy K Quinn xx
     
     

34
    Sophia is in the lake. Actually walking in the lake at gone midnight.
    She’s singing, smiling at the silvery water.
    I stop dead.
    What the hell is she doing, out here at night on her own? It’s dark. It’s dangerous.
    My heart actually aches. Aches for her.
    I want to protect her, love her and … and have her … all at once. The conflict is too much.
    I feel like my body will be ripped in two.
    How can I love someone like this? Knowing what I want to do to her? The two things can’t exist together. It’s impossible.
    I’m about to call out her name, when the unthinkable happens.
    Sophia slips and falls, tumbling into the water.
    I don’t think I’ve ever moved so quickly.
    In seconds, I’m waist deep in water, jabbing my hands into the icy cold.
    I find Sophia’s wrist and pull her free.
    She coughs and splutters, barely able to breathe at first.
    Then she opens her eyes. Her breathing calms when she sees me.
    At first I’m too angry to speak. Then I snap, ‘What on earth were you playing at?’
    I’ve never known protectiveness like this. It’s primal. To have her in my arms … I never want to let her go.
    ‘I … nothing,’ she replies, her voice shaking with cold. ‘I didn’t mean to fall.’
    I frown.
    No – of course you didn’t mean to fall. You’d never mean to do anything so stupid. Because you’re perfect. Absolutely fucking perfect.
    The way her skin gleams in the moonlight, how her frail body feels in my arms … it’s almost too much to bear. And to think of what could have happened to her. If I hadn’t been here …
    My jaw goes hard.
    ‘What the hell were you doing out here at night?’ I say. ‘You could have drowned.’
    She begins to tremble, and my jaw softens. Her pyjamas and dressing gown are soaking wet. Literally dripping a path on the forest floor. She must be freezing. I need to get her somewhere warm.
    ‘How did you know I was out there?’ she asks, her voice so light and young.
    Why is this happening? It’s bad enough I fall for a student – why does it have to be this perfect, perfect girl?
    ‘I was in the theatre building,’ I tell her. And it’s true. I was. I don’t tell her why. I don’t tell her I was thinking of her. And that I came to the lake because I was thinking of her and needed to be close to her memory.
    ‘I heard someone prowling around out here,’ I say. Still the truth.
    ‘I didn’t mean to fall in.’
    No. Of course she didn’t. Lovely, good Sophia. She just wanted to be in the woods. Somewhere natural. It didn’t occur to her that it could be dangerous. I doubt she even sees dark woodlands as dangerous.
    I carry her to the car park and open the door of my Ford Mustang.
    ‘In here,’ I say, lowering her to the car seat. ‘You’ll warm up much quicker in the car.’
    It’s true that I can warm the car faster than the old, draughty rooms at Ivy College. But a primal part of me wants her here. In my space. My territory. Alone with me.
    I realise I am terrified that this beautiful, fragile young girl will become sick with cold. And I can’t stand the thought of her enduring one moment of pain.
    That’s when I know for certain. There is no doubt now.
    My stomach clenches tight.
    I love her.
     

35
    ‘But I’m drenched,’ says Sophia, as I put her in the car. ‘I’ll ruin your seats.’
    I almost want to laugh. She has no idea how I feel. How can she? To think I care about the car seats. I’d take a hammer to this