Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 234281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1171(@200wpm)___ 937(@250wpm)___ 781(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 234281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1171(@200wpm)___ 937(@250wpm)___ 781(@300wpm)
Definitely no way to kiss him now, she thought with a grin, but this new position did give her a rather nice view of his bum.
"Now..." The professor's voice was grim. "Can we start discussing things like adults?"
"Discussions are a two-way street, Professor, and you didn't seem inclined to listen to me."
"I only listen when someone's saying something worth liste—-what the fuck!" But he also had trouble fighting back a grin, unable to believe Diana had the audacity to pinch his butt.
"I wasn't sure you'd feel that," he heard her say cheerfully. "Too much muscle, too little fat, but..." And then she pinched him again.
"Goddammit, Diana." But his words were without heat, and when he finally put her down on her feet, she immediately smiled up at him, and it was a dazzling sight that pierced him like an arrow shooting straight to his heart.
"Do you get it now?"
"Fuck no."
But she only laughed. "Liar." Her voice was sweet and affectionate, its sound music to every cell of his body, and when she placed a hand over his heart, ah, fuck.
It felt good. It felt right. It felt...like home.
"I know you only kept pushing me away for my sake, but every time you did, it never did either of us any good. So don't you think we should try it the other way around? Can't we believe, even just this once, that God's on our side on this and give His plan a try?"
Her hand left his chest, moving up to cup his cheek, and a ragged sigh escaped him because it was like being touched by heaven.
She started to raise herself on her toes, and he bent his head.
Her lips touched his ears, and she whispered hope to his soul.
Jeremiah 29:11, Professor.
Her
Sunflower by ItsAMoney (Violin Cover)
DIANA HAD ALWAYS KNOWN that the professor, once his mind was made up, would be the type to move fast.
What she had not realized was just how fast he could be, and she found herself striving to keep up with his incredible pace as the professor made call after call and scheduled sessions and meetings for her, all of which he told Diana was non-negotiable. A meeting with his lawyer, personal doctor, therapist, and those were just the experts on his side.
When she had seen that he also wanted her to speak with families whose members had once suffered from HIV and eventually died of AIDS, she had initially balked, thinking it was too much, but then he had pulled her close, brushing his lips against her forehead as he displayed his hitherto unknown skills in cajolery.
Do this for me, please, he had whispered ever so beguilingly, and that was it.
She had meekly gone on to do his bidding, and by the time he had dropped her off at university, his tender kiss on her cheek was enough to have her floating away in a daze of happiness.
It was only when she was alone in her dorm room, like now, that she found herself torn between rapturous joy and strangling anxiety.
There were times when all she could do was remember the moments his lips touched her skin, and her toes would curl so hard because she remembered them so vividly. And oh sweet heavens, but so much had changed now, and these days, he seemed to be kissing her every chance he could get.
Before entering and leaving the car. Before entering and leaving his house. Before entering and leaving the room.
Those were the moments that her heart felt fit to burst with happiness, and oh God, if only her whole life could be made up of just those moments.
But it was not.
Because what made life more beautiful was the ugly moments, and there were times when those were all she could think of. Times when it was deep in the night and, with only the silent darkness to keep her company, she couldn't help remember the moments that turned love into the most agonizing form of pain.
She had once asked him why he had never tried kissing her before, and the professor had said simply, Because it didn't feel right.
Touching you...kissing you...
When you hadn't any fucking idea of what I have inside of me...
Those moments were ugly alright, but oh God, it was also those moments that proved how ludicrously good the professor was at breaking her heart and piecing them back together. Over and over, he would do it, and he always did so at the same damn time.
They would be working on her thesis, and he had this way of saying her name...
They would be in the middle of class, and he would have this way of looking at her...
Oh, Saint M.
If their first week together was of Diana falling for him, then this week was of her falling even harder.
I love him so much.