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Chapter 47
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Teach Me Chapter 48
Back at her apartment a little later Galen found Anissa in the bedroom while Jason carried a load of boxes out to the truck. She held up her Tarot deck, the Hierophant card on top. "Now do you believe the cards can tell us things?"He tipped his head and grinned. "I don't know. Didn't you say that one is the teacher and it's supposed to represent me?"She nodded. "Why, what's wrong with that?"He took the cards from her hands and set them carefully aside, then pulled her close for a kiss. "Because you're the one who taught me," he murmured. "You've taught me the most important lessons of all. How to laugh. How to love. How to live."She picked up her cards again, avoiding eye contact. "That works both ways. But my love, there's something I need to tell you. I wanted to wait until the scroll was gone. Plucking up my nerve, I guess.""Sweetheart, we cast a spell that vanquished an evil demon. We met a Djinni who is an interior designer. I think my belief threshold has been raised to
Teach Me Chapter 1
In the Tarot, the Hierophant is sometimes known as the High Priest or the Pope and generally appears in the form of a teacher or mentor. He's always knowledgeable and wise but he can run the risk of being too hidebound and dogmatic. He can be the beloved mentor who is always there with the perfect bit of advice or that nasty teacher who still tries to teach that the earth is flat. He is calm, rational and ethical but he can also lack balance and be stubborn to the point of disaster, especially if his beliefs are called into question."You may begin."Galen Forsythe looked out over the sea of bent heads as his latest crop of graduate students hunched over their desks, furiously reading through the questions on the exam he had just passed out. A few began scribbling furiously while others perused the questions more carefully. One particular walnut-colored head was missing and Galen couldn't help but worry. Lydia Curry had a perfect attendance record and a damn fine grade - almost a per
Teach Me Chapter 2
Crap! Being alone with Galen Forsythe in his small, cozy office was something Lydia had hoped to avoid. Her defenses were so low she wasn't sure she could keep up the pretense of indifference she'd so carefully cultivated. She was humiliated enough that her brain had flat-lined during the exam. She didn't need him to know that the mere sight of him made her want him. He was so bloody handsome with his golden brown hair just starting to go silver at the temples and his piercing blue eyes. He was tall, with the build of someone who'd played football in high school or even college and who'd worked hard to stay in shape ever since.And oh, gods, his scent! She walked beside him down the hallway and up the stairs to his office trying not to notice the aroma of male musk and sandalwood. She'd never figured out if it was soap or shampoo or cologne but the fragrance of sandalwood clung to the man more consistently than even his favorite camel-hair blazer. And that fit like it was custom-made.
Teach Me Chapter 3
"Go on." She could feel the puff of his breath by her ear and now that she wasn't crying any more, the nearness to all that gorgeous masculinity was making it hard to focus on talking."So my lease was up this weekend and I didn't want to commit to another full year. My landlord had agreed to extending my lease on a month-to-month basis but..." She heaved a shuddering sigh."But what?""But it turned out he expected certain - considerations in return.""You mean sex." It wasn't a question. She'd never heard Dr. Forsythe's voice quite so harsh and cold before.She nodded into his chest. "Yeah. And he's just a bit too creepy for that to even have been a possibility. So I loaded all my stuff in my car last night and slept on my friend Gina's couch. It will be fine for a couple of days but she's leaving town at the end of next month when her lease ends, so I'll have to find something pretty fast.""And the job situation?""Well, I guess you can tell I'd been waiting tables at Bubba'
Teach Me Chapter 4
Galen reluctantly pulled back and ran his hand through the silky strands of her hair, carefully disentangling the now useless rubber band that had bound it into a tail.A ponytail. Oh, gods, she was so young. Young enough to be his daughter! What the hell had he just done?"You're thinking too much." Her voice was still soft and sweet but the wry humor he'd been so drawn to in class was back, even though her eyes were still closed."Lydia - I - this..." He had no earthly idea what to say."Don't. Please don't ruin this." Her voice cracked.Not the tears again. He could handle anything but those. If she cried again, he'd end up taking her home and locking her up in his house where no one else would ever have the chance to hurt her again. And he couldn't, just couldn't do that. It wouldn't be fair to her.He pulled her to her feet, to stand in the vee between his legs, then he hugged her close to his chest."Nothing could ruin this. What just happened will always be one of the mos
Teach Me Chapter 5
She couldn't believe she'd kissed Galen Forsythe right there in his office. It hadn't been a polite peck, either. It had been hot and sweaty and full of desire. And she'd have done a lot more if he hadn't stopped.Even three weeks later Lydia couldn't help replaying every moment of that torrid encounter over and over in her mind.The details were etched into her brain. His hands were strong and masculine with a fine dusting of golden hair. His fingers were thick and long, slightly callused at the tips. And they'd known exactly where and how to touch her to rock her world. His lips had been softer than she'd ever imagined but not wet or sloppy, just gentle and in control. His mouth had tasted like cinnamon and coffee. It was her first night in her new apartment, the apartment Galen had helped her find, though he only contacted her via impersonal email, the coward. Her new landlord was one of Galen's fellow history professors, happy to rent the apartment over her garage to a recent g
Teach Me Chapter 6
The cards slid through her fingers easily as she shuffled - old familiar friends. Her grandmother had taught Lydia to use them from the time she could talk. Some of her earliest memories were of sitting around her grandmother's kitchen table, peering into teacups and learning from the tea leaves or watching while Granny did palm readings and Tarot spreads for the neighbors.Finally, Lydia stopped shuffling, cut the deck and eased her breath out through her nose. She focused on her life and her future. And she willed the cards to show her the best path for her to take.She had flipped only one card when she heard the knock on her door. Her hands stalled and she glanced down at the card, her heart rising into her throat. The Hierophant. Also known as the High Priest, or the Pope. It was often used to denote a mentor or teacher. A wise, tradition-bound older man. She could never look at the card without envisioning Galen's golden hair and blue eyes, even though that wasn't what the pict
Teach Me Chapter 7
"I know I look younger," she admitted. "But I'll be thirty in just a few weeks, so I'm not a child. You didn't do anything immoral or illegal, Galen. You don't need to worry about that.""You were still my student." She could hear the bitter, self-recrimination in his tone."For a matter of hours by then. And even if you'd failed me, I had enough credits to finish without that class." She wasn't ready to admit she'd only taken the class as an excuse to see Galen. "So you really had no influence over my future at that point. But I'm sorry. I know how important ethics are to you and I do wish the scene in your office had happened a week later.""Yeah." He rubbed his forehead. "I've been telling myself that we're both only human and that these things happen. But - Christ, Lydia, I haven't been able to get you out of my mind. For the past three years I've been forcing myself to look away and I don't know if I can anymore.""Thank you." It was nice to know she wasn't the only one feelin
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