Chapter Five

Damon's POV

I watched as my students shuffled out of my class and I couldn't help but wonder what was going on in their heads. Did they find my interaction with Maya a little too weird? I noticed their surprised looks but I ignored them. Were they walking away with suspicions in their mind?

Yet, beneath my contemplation, I couldn't take my eyes off Maya, in her loose floral skirt and black top. She was sitting at the front desk, waiting for other students to leave.

Her legs were crossed, revealing the smooth skin of her thighs. Her top exposed her cleavage slightly, and her round boobs were almost threatening to explode out of her neckline. God! She did things to me, things I wasn't proud of.

I could eat her alive, and I wanted to. My body was yearning for her, pushing me to scoop her up and fuck her while she's gripping a desk, begging me to take it slow. But that was the problem. Seeing her in Emerald was the last thing I wanted.

The memories of everything we did in that hotel came rushing back to me; what we did on the bed, the things she said to me, the way I felt inside her. Damn! She shouldn't be here.

Everything I'd worked hard for, all my plans, she could ruin it. She needed to be far away from my professional life and my secret should remain buried forever.

Immediately the last student exited the class, I rammed the door close and turned the lock. Turning back to Maya, our eyes locked. I could tell she was excited to see me, that somehow she wanted to be here. But for what?

"Why are you here?" My voice cut through the stillness in the room. The happiness in her eyes faded immediately and she stared back at me with uncertainty. "Why are you here, Maya??!!!! What are you doing here, so far from home?!"

"What are you talking about?" My jaw tightened at her voice. She rose to her feet and drew closer to me.

"Don't play innocent with me. You can't fool me." I pinned her to the wall. "Coming to Emerald was your way to get back at me, right?"

"I—I don't..."

"Who told you?" I cupped her chin and forced her to look into my eyes. "Who fucking told you that I work at Emerald? Was it Julia?"

"No—no one.." she spluttered, her words all jumbled over. "No one told me anything." She chuckled. "Did you really think that Madam Julia would give out your personal information?"

"Then who did? You've got to tell me, Maya." My tone changed from defiance to plea. "I know you're trying to sabotage me for what I did that night. But trust me, I did that for your own good. You don't fall in-love with every guy who sticks his dick in you. But clearly, Julia didn't teach you that."

I saw the way my words dug deep into her mind and her eyes glimmered with anger. "Get away from me." She shoved me against the chest and I staggered back. Her pretty cute face twisted into a scowl, and damn it, I didn't think it would make my balls grow heavier than it already was.

"You're so selfish." She said with the certainty of someone who would never take back her words. "You think the whole world revolves around you, don't you? You believe that for some reason, a girl like me doesn't belong here or can't be here. Why? Because you only paid $3000 to get into my pants?" She scoffed. "Or do you think every girl you get to sleep with has no potential?"

Her words stung me like a sore bite and I felt like a jerk, a total one. I shouldn't have spoken to her that way but I needed to know if secrets from that night followed me back to Emerald. I had to make sure that nothing could sabotage my chances of becoming a member of the board.

"You don't understand how important this job is to me." She crossed her arms tightly across her chest. I took steps closer to her but she stepped back as well, her cheeks flamed with anger. "Tell me, who-told-you-about-me?"

A frown creased her forehead. "You can go to hell." Turning around to leave, her fingers fumbled with the locks. At that moment, pure instinct took over me and I rushed toward her.

"Let go of me!!"

"Stop struggling!" I warned as she tried to break away from my grasp. I pinned her to the door, her chest rising and falling against my face. "You won't leave till you give me answers!"

"And I won't!"

"Don't try to be stubborn, Maya."

"Oh." She giggled. "You think a little threat will make me get on my knees to beg you? Or does daddy want his cock to be sucked?"

I swallowed hard, and I felt my cock throbbing between her thighs. I couldn't help it—she was like a magnetic force pulling me in and I was fighting to stop myself from fully diving in.

I released her abruptly and turned my back to her. Running my fingers through my hair, I thought of a way to end what she was attempting to start. I had to stop it before it grew like a cancer, spreading out and killing me in the process.

"I really thought we could talk like two mature adults." I started, circling around in one spot. "But it seems I'll have to fix this in my own way. You know, I just realized that I don't need to know who told you about me. All I have to do is make you disappear from here just as fast as you came. It's that simple."

"You really are a pathetic, selfish, bastard!" She spat.

"I will do anything to save my reputation. And one night of fun, pure fun, won't stop me from ruining you in the process of....."

"I needed the money for tuition!" She blurted out and I froze, my muscles locked and words caught up at the back of my throat. Her eyes were brimming with tears and she looked away from me. "I, uh, I was in th-that motel because I couldn't afford the tuition fee and it sucks that Emerald has always been my dream school. So yeah, I guess you can say I don't belong here."

I felt cold inside me and I didn't know what to say or do. I tried to form a response, but my thoughts were trapped inside my head, and all I could do was stare. Stare at the girl I had crushed with my words, the girl who didn't deserve any of what I had done or said to her. Jesus!

She wasn't in that motel because she was some cheap whore who needed money for drugs or alcohol or designer clothes. She actually gave up her innocence for her dreams, she traded herself for her tuition fees. I felt sick to my stomach, knowing that I had judged her for that and ditched her after taking her virginity.

It must have been heartbreaking for her. When I abandoned her in that room, she should have hated me but she didn't.

"I-I didn't..." I heaved a heavy sigh, lowering my head to avoid her piercing gaze. "I didn't know that." I finally admitted, feeling ashamed for being a complete asshole to her. "I shouldn't have said those things to you."

"Yeah, you shouldn't have." She was visibly hurting. "But I guess you didn't take me to be smart or even talented. I'm just a..." She gulped and shook her head . "I'm a whore you fucked and dumped at a motel. And to think that I pleaded with Madam Julia, begged her for days to get, maybe, even your number because I thought that you were reasonable. I convinced myself that even though you blew me off that night, I could still get to know you and...."

"Maya, I'm really...."

"What? Sorry?" She shrugged casually. "Are you sorry for ditching me that night? Or sorry for threatening to get rid of me? I worked so hard to get accepted here and you were threatening to ruin everything for me because you can't handle the consequences of your own actions!! You know, you're so sick. You're so so sick and just looking at you makes me feel sick too."

I tried to step closer. "Maya, let's talk about..."

"Stay back!" I could see the fury in her eyes. "Don't come any closer."

"You have every right to be upset." I said, inching closer to her slowly. "I apologize for what I said earlier. But I'm not the kind of man that you would want for yourself. I don't do commitment because I took your virginity. I don't do hearts and flowers and sappy little poems for the broken heart of a tender little virgin." I ground out. "I want you to get that straight, Maya. I'm not good for you."

As much as those words hurt me to admit, I had to tell them to her. She was hoping for a rosy relationship, one that would lead to smiles and laughter. But we were two people on a different path and world. Her world and mine could never collide or everything would crumble away.

Standing a few inches away from her, her breath nuzzling my face, I reached out to embrace her. But as I tried to pull her into my arms, I felt her hand meet my cheeks with an unexpected slap. Blinking in shock, I instinctively put my hand to my reddened cheek as I stared down at her.

"I dreamed of my first sex since I was fourteen," she cried. "And you took it from me and turned a memory that should have been important into a mockery." She whispered, tears spilling over her lashes as she looked away. "I don't need your pity." She choked out. "You don't do flowers but guess what? I don't do insufferable dicks! I hate you and I wish I sold my virginity to an old slobbering sack."

Before I could respond, she whirled around and unlocked the door. Then paused and turned slightly to me. "Don't you ever touch me! Don't try to interfere or interrupt my activities here or I will tell the management everything. I'll let them know that their perfect professor fucks teenagers as his side hobby. That is my promise to you."

And without another word, she yanked the door open and strolled out, leaving me in the hushed lecture room. "Fuck!"