Chapter 186/Burying My Face in His Pillows

Chapter 186: 186/Burying My Face in His Pillows

Chapter 187

Stephanie’s POV

I stood under the streaming hot water in his bathroom for a long time, letting the warm torrents beat hard against my body, as if they could wash away the lingering fear and humiliation from my pores after the hallway incident. The moment I finished, the sheer panic rushing through me made me dry off in a desperate hurry.

I wrapped a heavy black towel around my naked body, tucking it tightly over my chest, and stepped out barefoot into the living room, my heart hammering against my ribs. Shyness didn’t truly hold power over me in his presence anymore; he was the only man who had already seen and touched every inch of my body back in his office at school.

I found him sitting on the black leather couch, projecting his usual commanding, suffocating aura. He raised his sharp, ice-cold blue eyes, tracing the water droplets rolling from the ends of my wet red hair with a calm, evaluating gaze. Then, he spoke in his low, gravelly baritone. "Do you feel any better now?"

I nodded slightly, cautiously, and took a seat on the armchair opposite him, keeping the entire width of the glass coffee table between us. "I’m fine now... thank you," I murmured, my voice barely audible.

He gestured with his large hand to the space on the couch right beside him, issuing a soft, dominant command. "Come. Sit over here, close to me."

Shifting uncomfortably in my chair, I stayed right where I was, completely unnerved by his scrutiny and filled with apprehension. I looked down at my palms. "Professor Thorne... thank you, truly, for protecting me and helping me get away from Ken and his friends today."

He shrugged his broad shoulders with dry, strict indifference. "There’s no need to thank me, Stephanie. But tell me clearly—were those the same bastards who did that to you last time?"

My breath hitched in sheer panic at the memory, and I shook my head with exaggerated speed. "No! Absolutely not them. That was a completely different incident."

His blue eyes narrowed with strict, interrogating suspicion, and he pressed further, his rough voice dropping an octave. "Confess the whole truth, Stephanie. Do not lie to me."

"I swear to you it wasn’t them," I said, a desperate edge to my voice as I locked my gaze deep into his eyes so he would believe me without a doubt. "No guy from that school or anywhere else has ever seen me naked. Except for you... in the office."

A heavy, suffocating silence fell between us for a few agonizing seconds after my raw admission. The tension and anger slowly melted from his sharp features in an almost imperceptible shift.

He leaned back against the leather. "Fine. I asked one of the staff to buy you some proper new clothes. They’ll be here in a few minutes."

I rubbed my arms, flushed with anxiety, and said politely, "I don’t want to cause you any inconvenience or be an extra burden."

He didn’t bother to reply or comment on my words. Instead, he calmly pulled out his premium pack of cigarettes, struck a flame, and began to smoke in absolute silence. His sharp eyes watched the gray smoke drift toward the ceiling, never once casting a glance toward my towel-clad body. I looked down, staring at my bare toes in agonizing suspense. The minutes dragged between us, heavy and suffocatingly still.

Suddenly, the sharp ring of the front doorbell pierced the quiet apartment. Professor Thorne rose to his full, towering height and walked to the door with a steady stride. I sat frozen in my seat, listening to the muffled whispers of a man at the threshold. A few seconds later, he returned holding a large, high-end paper shopping bag. He stepped toward me, extending it with a firm, dry command. "First room on the left down the hall. Go in there and get dressed."

I nodded in silent gratitude, took the bag from his hand, and walked with slow, bare steps toward the side hallway. Pushing open the heavy wooden door of the first room, I was met by a warm, dominant atmosphere styled in navy blue and dark gray. I stepped inside, quietly closing the door behind me, and set the bag on the edge of the massive bed centered in the room. In that exact moment, a sharp pang squeezed my chest as it sank in this wasn’t a standard guest room. I was inside his private bedroom. Inside his world.

I took a deep, disoriented breath, unable to control the reckless curiosity waking up inside me. I walked with breathless steps toward his wooden dresser, my fingers trembling violently as I inspected the luxury bottles of cologne. Boldly, I picked one up, pressing down a few light sprays into the air and over my bare wrist. His sharp, masculine, and warm scent rushed into my senses, invading my lungs. I let out a shaky sigh, the room tilting slightly under the sheer intoxication of his scent and my own submission to him.

Turning toward his wide bed, I stared at the dark silk sheets, which radiated the exact same intoxicating fragrance that defined him at school. I couldn’t fight my manic desire. I moved forward blindly and lay down with my entire body wrapped in the black towel on the soft, plush mattress, burying my pale face in his pillows. They completely enveloped me in his breath and scent. I closed my eyes in a terrifying, daring rush of ecstasy, a hot, muffled whimper escaping my throat into the dark quiet of the room. "Ah... if only he would come in right now and fuck me hard on this exact bed... take my virginity and rid me of this torment and this fucking obsession with him."

I rolled my body over the dark silk, driven by a strange, betraying lust, my breathing growing hot as dark, illicit thoughts consumed my mind. His cologne wrapped around me like a suffocating cocoon, choking out any shred of rationality or caution. I buried my face deeper into his pillow, my entire body shivering from the sheer pleasure of the fantasy, sending a hot rush of blood pooling between my thighs.

Suddenly, and without warning, the faint sound of movement echoed from the hallway, followed by the quiet click and creak of the wooden doorknob turning.

I froze in pure, burning terror. Shock bolted through me as I scrambled into a sitting position on the bed, my fingers gripping the edges of the black towel over my chest in hysterical fear.