Devon's Discipline Read online

  “I’ll have a tall mocha with an extra shot.” He patted the girl’s hand and she ran off to fill the order. Matthews brought his focus back to Devon. “You didn’t give her a chance.”

  “She got all mesmerized.” She clamped her hand over her mouth as her choice of words made her sound strangely jealous. What is my problem?

  “Oh? You think I’d have let her leave without taking your order? Or maybe I’d have just let her stare at me all day?” Matthews laughed as a wave of heat washed over her. “I’m sorry. It’s just something I’m used to.”

  “You’re used to gorgeous blonds falling into your lap?” Embarrassed and irritated, Devon shot to her feet. “I’ve got to go.”

  “Sit down. I’m not sure why you are on edge right now, but your drink will be out in a minute.” He pointed at the space across from him.

  “I don’t know why you want to talk to me anyway.” She jutted her chin out, intending to leave right way, when he reached up, tugged her toward him, and planted her on his knee.

  “You asked me if I had time today.” He leaned to whisper in her ear. “Now I want you to stand up, brush off your attitude, and go back to the other side of the table before you draw more attention.”

  “I don’t have to listen to you.” Devon stiffened as he shifted to allow her to stand. “I’m sure you have more important things to do anyway.”

  “No, you don’t have to. But if you really wanted to leave, you would already be out the door.” Matthews nodded to the chair she had vacated. “I moved up a meeting to be here, so this is my priority.”

  “I’m sorry,” she mumbled, then did as he requested, though her thoughts ran wild. Why did he pull me onto his lap? Why am I so turned on?

  “The other day you said supernatural creatures are important to you, but you seem less than enthusiastic about your religion.”

  “My best friend is a werewolf.” Devon ran her hands over the lip of the table to keep her hands busy.

  “Sounds like a low budget, made-for-television movie.” Matthews slid her drink over to her and took a sip of his as she looked up.

  “Thank you.” She inhaled the sweet scent, then sipped happily. She hadn’t seen the waitress come back and wondered why she had gotten so irritated with her earlier. “Lucy told me back when the two of us were in high school. I’ve done what I can to be supportive of her.”

  “Has she faced discrimination, or does she hide who she is?”

  “I’ve never thought about it. Lucy has always been open with me, but the only time I can remember involved another werewolf. When we were freshmen, this girl got all up in her face. This kid in our class went missing and this other girl said Lucy should try to track him, unless he had become her dinner.”

  “I remember reading about that in the local paper. He ran off to Vegas with his girlfriend to elope and scared his whole family. I guess the girl just wanted to rile your friend.”

  “It’s not a good idea to get Lucy worked up ‘cause she has a short fuse. I don’t think she means to get angry, but when she has to force herself to play human all the time, it drains her energy.” Devon took a long sip of coffee. “I found out later the girl was also a wolf, but I never knew why she picked on Lucy.”

  “It could be for any number of reasons. Werewolves are usually concerned with protecting their own, unless there is more to the story?”

  “Of course, since there are always three sides to every story. One side, the other side, and the truth in the middle.” She titled forward in her chair. “Why did you yank me onto your lap before?”

  “I really wanted to bend you over it to correct your behavior, but this is a public place.” Matthews gave a small shrug. “You threw a fit for no reason after I shuffled around my schedule, and I do not appreciate that.”

  Devon took another sip, then snorted her coffee as the mental image of herself prone across his thighs flitted through her mind. She set the mug down as she relearned how to breathe and recovered from the burning sensation in her nose. Tears welled over her eyes as well and she wiped at them furiously.

  “Are you all right?”

  “Mm-hmm.” She dabbed the napkin to her nose and mouth, then reached for another to clean up the mess. “Uh, you said what?”

  “I mentioned a change in your perspective.” Matthews handed her another napkin. “You seem to be headed down a bad path, and I would hate to watch you follow it.”

  “Then close your eyes and forget about me and my choices.” Devon threw down her napkin and crossed her arms over her chest. He had a point, but it only pissed her off. I don’t need his help!

  Matthews rose to his feet to pay the bill then returned. “I thought you wanted to talk about other things.”

  “I don’t know. Let’s pretend this didn’t happen. Just forget me and move on.” Devon gasped as he set his palms flat against the table on either side of her and caught her eyes in his.

  “This conversation isn’t over. Do not disrespect me again or I will handle the situation immediately.” He bent in closer. “Do you understand what I mean?”

  “No. You’ve made all these odd comments about my attitude and correction, but I’m completely confused. What are you saying?” Devon swallowed hard as the purple sheen in his eyes darkened.

  “I believe that physical consequences in response to bad choices help to alter future ones. If you continue this behavior around me, I will spank you.”

  “Whatever.” She ducked under his arm and stood up. “Thank you for the coffee. I apologize for interrupting your day. Good-bye.”

  She rushed out the door before he had a chance to reply. She figured he would be annoyed but had no intention of a follow through. Her panties gave away her real feelings as she felt wetness pool in between her thighs. Damn it! He had turned her on with his threat of punishment and she’d had no idea how to react. Could he really mean what he’d said?

  Devon stormed down the road turned the corner. “How dare he say I’m making bad choices when he doesn’t even know me?” she grumbled to herself. “I don’t even want to pretend I know what he meant by saying he will spank me!” She cursed under her breath, irritated at her choice to take the long way home when she saw a figure propped up against a lamppost. Devon got closer and realized Professor Matthews stood there with something in his hand.

  “Did you know I went home this way?”

  “Sort of. You forgot your bag so I took a short cut to get it back to you.” He held the cross-body pack out to her along with a small card.

  “Um… thanks.” Gods, I am mortified! Devon accepted them and slipped the bag over her head.

  “If you find yourself stuck somewhere, give me a call. I’ll see you in class.” He moved past her and headed up the road.

  “I’ll think about it. See you.” Devon looked down at the card and saw he’d written down his office and cell phone numbers. She tucked the card in her back pocket, then hurried home.

  How could I have been so rude?

  * * *

  As days passed by, Devon continued to escape into her own little world. Her friends tried to help, but she isolated herself from them.

  Last night she’d been bar hopping, had gotten behind the wheel instead of calling a cab, and she’d been in an accident. It left her car totaled and her leg had been broken in several places.

  Devon had contemplated calling Professor Matthews but had decided against it. He had his own life and after her horrible behavior, she didn’t want to ask for anything from him.

  The rest of the night blurred in her memory—probably because they had doped her up with pain killers. She recalled the nurses being overly kind to her which seemed odd since she could have caused someone else to get hurt in her bad judgment. I must have ‘orphan’ tattooed on my file.

  But one thing bothered her more than the injury. She had called up Lucy and had begged her to come to the hospital, but her friend had refused. Her heart hurt as much as the bruises did, but she continued to hope an explana
tion existed for Lucy’s decision. Then for some crazy reason a cab had brought her home for free. Not standard by any means.

  Devon struggled to maneuver the crutches up the hallway towards the classroom, her foot yelling in pain with each movement. I’m so stupid; I should have taken that other pain pill! She cursed mentally as she entered the room as quietly as possible. She was late to her Supernatural exam and had been unable to reach Matthews to explain the situation. The steps appeared too steep to descend with crutches. How the hell am I going to manage this?

  “Ms. Dawson, it’s so nice of you to join us for this exam. I saved a seat for you, right here.” Matthews smacked the top of the desk in front of him.

  “I wrapped my car around a tree last night and broke my leg. Then I waited in the emergency room for four hours, got doped up with a ton of medication, and didn’t get home until after five a.m.” The icky sweetness of her tone could give all her classmates cavities.

  Everyone in class had dropped their booklets and were staring at her as she continued, “I apologize you didn’t receive the messages I left for you on your office line and via email. I’ll be sure to take my seat once I figure out how to hop there.”

  “I’m aware of your graceful disposition and will make up for my lack of courtesy by carrying you to the only empty seat in the room.”

  Devon said nothing as he approached and placed her crutches against one of the seats in the last row. He then lifted her firmly into his arms and walked back down the steps. A flush came over her as he set her gently into the seat. Her classmates meanwhile settled back into their tests while she opened her booklet. “Thanks,” she mumbled and picked up a pencil.

  The minutes ticked by as she studied the clock on the wall. Shit! I barely made it through the first portion of the test! The material covered exactly what she’d studied, but the pain in her leg kept distracting her. She had decided not to take the second dose of pain medication so that she could focus on the exam.

  Her pencil now had bite marks up and down the length and she dropped it in disgust. How am I going to pass this when I am so freaking distracted? She rubbed the bridge of her nose and looked around. The rest of her classmates had finished and had left.

  “Give me the exam back.” Matthews got up from his desk and reached for it.

  “No!” she snapped and held the booklet to her. “I’m almost finished.”

  “We can re-schedule it for next week.” He slid the papers out of her hand, ripped them into pieces, and deposited them into the trash.

  “I would’ve completed your test had you allowed me just a few more minutes. I have a doctor’s note to excuse me for the rest of the week, but I managed to get here.” Devon slammed her pencil onto the desk and crossed her arms. Why the hell did I just lie to him? I barely got through the first two questions!

  “I can see you are in pain. What would you say if I told you I’ve got something to help your foot?”

  “Like drugs or something? I don’t think so. I have a bottle of pills at home.” She collected her things and put them in her bag, then stood and flung the bag over her shoulder. “Please excuse me while I crawl up the stairs.” Devon twisted around and hopped up two steps.

  “I’m not going to watch you break your other leg.” Matthews suddenly stood there in front of her as if he had been there the whole time.

  “How did you move so fast?” She tilted her head to the side in confusion. Holy shit!

  “Follow me into my office. I’ll give you something to heal your leg completely.” He gestured back down the stairs.

  “You mean like an herb?” She shook her head and rattled the words ‘heal your leg’ around in her brain. “I mean, not FDA approved?”

  “No, but it will treat the break.”

  “Um, I don’t need hair growing on my tongue or some crazy side effect like leaking fluid out of my ears.” Devon glanced up toward the door. “Anyway, my crutches are up there, so unless you are going to grab them, I’m stuck standing here.”

  “Would you talk to any of your other professors in such a flippant tone?”

  “None of them get me this…” she swallowed hard to avoid the word ‘aroused’, “…get me like this.”

  “Like what?” Matthews looked genuinely perplexed as she fumbled for the right word.

  “Flustered,” Devon substituted. His proximity was making her sweat. Even with the ache in her leg and the embarrassment from the failed attempt at the test, she could not ignore her attraction to him.

  “Flustered?” Matthews nodded and she thought she saw a shadow of a smile. “Well then, I’ll try not to do that.”

  “You seem quite amused at my choice of words.”

  “I’d rather hear how you really feel.”

  “I feel irritated, somewhat annoyed, and right now, pissed off. So choose one.”

  “You can either follow me into my office or you can hop your butt up the stairs, but I’m done listening to your mouth.” Matthews rushed up the stairs, grabbed her crutches, and returned them to her.

  “If you’re angry I missed the exam, fine, but I can’t handle whatever game this is.” Devon dug her nails into the soft cushioned bars of the crutches.

  She wanted to tell him how she’d gotten to this spot in her life but didn’t know how to open up.

  “You will eventually realize I don’t play games.” He brushed past her and headed down the stairs.

  “I’m not going anywhere!” She swiveled her body toward the front of the room and watched as he descended the stairs without a glance back to her.

  “Good-bye, Ms. Dawson.” He waved over his shoulder and continued toward his desk.

  How dare he dismiss me so easily! Devon thrust the crutches under her arms to spin around after him but the left crutch tip got stuck mid-swing. Her balance got thrown off and she had to let go of them to break the fall. A flash of movement caught her eye and suddenly she was no longer falling. Somehow he had managed to catch both her and the crutches at the same time.

  A thousand thoughts flitted through her brain, but none of them made sense as he slowly brought her to a standing position and released her. It reminded her of a dip in a passionate dance, and for just a moment she wanted to stay in his arms. “How did you catch me?”

  “Adrenaline rush. You would probably be on your way back to the hospital if I hadn’t.” He handed her the crutches. “Do you want to come to my office now?” He swept one arm toward the small side door at the front of the room.

  “Yeah, fine,” Devon mumbled then swung her crutches and followed him.

  They made their way through several hallways until they reached a door embossed with his name. He quickly twisted open the knob, bid her to enter, then shut and locked the door behind them.

  “Will you please tell me how you caught me?” She set her crutches down carefully with one hand, then positioned herself onto the long black leather couch. His office contained two additional couches, and several bean bags lay out casually between them. The room felt very polished, set off by modern black furniture and wide book shelves.

  “Maybe I’m a ninja.” Matthews gave a graceful shrug.

  “I call bull shit.” She blinked and found him inches away from her face.

  “If you curse at me again, I’ll teach you a lesson in respect you won’t easily forget.”

  “Does it involve your lap?” Devon felt her nipples harden underneath her shirt. Why am I so excited at the thought? Could it be the attention? Damn my body!

  “It does, which leads me to believe you’re curious despite your hesitation. Sometimes I think you poke in hopes of a reaction.”

  “You don’t know me well enough to make such a statement.” Maybe I do want some fucking attention. Devon dropped her arms slowly as he moved to his desk.

  “You’re very easy to read but we can discuss that some other time.”

  “So what is this stuff you have? Can it really fix my foot?” Her fingers fiddled with the charm on her necklace. If he h
adn’t caught me, I would probably be back in the hospital. How can I not trust him?

  “You drink it, and the answer to the second question is yes.” He twirled the combination on a small safe and pulled out a locked box.

  “Is it legal?”

  “Technically it’s unknown, so it can’t be legal or illegal. But I warn you not to use it in public.” He took a small maroon colored vial out of the box and held it carefully in his hand while he re-locked the box and safe.

  “Are there any side effects?” She weighed the risk and decided to follow her instinct to trust him. He had saved her from another fall, so he must have her good in mind.

  “It will burn and then probably knock you out. But nothing else I can think of.” He took slow and deliberate steps until he was at her side. “Swear you will place it in your purse and not open it until you’re home in bed.”

  Devon extended her hand. “I swear,” she mumbled as she stared at the small yet pretty container.

  “Repeat what I say, ‘I will place it in my purse and not open it until I am home in bed.’” He dangled it above her palm.

  “Repeat what I say.” Devon rolled her eyes at his insistence to keep the item under lock and key. What the hell is in it? “Blah-blah… I promise.”

  “Do you speak this way to everyone?” Matthews dropped it carefully into her hand.

  “No, only to someone who thinks he has authority over me when he has none.” Devon curled her fingers around the vial and tried to calm her frantic pulse. Whenever he focused on her, she forgot how to act.

  “If you don’t believe I have any authority, then why did you follow me in here?”

  “You prevented me from getting hurt twice.” Damn! The fact that he knew she listened to him despite the crap going on around her rubbed her the wrong way. He had led her to his office and she had blindly trailed behind. “Anyway, I appreciate it. When you pay attention to me, I want to listen.”

  “I’m genuinely surprised at this response, since you were mouthy back in the classroom.” He raised his eyebrows. “Did you forget the back talk?”