Lenora
The popular restaurant at Eldridge, FoodHub, buzzed with students from all corners of the campus, and even some of our lecturers came here to eat.
Loud laughter filled the air, and knives scraped against plates when I walked in. This place was always packed because the food was great compared to other restaurants.
My mind was still reeling from the unexpected encounter with CJ.
CJ of all people was my new professor. What a damn coincidence. The coincidence that I feared would destroy me totally because how in the world was I going to compose myself?
All my suppressed desires and longing feelings for him now clashed, and my skin prickled pleasurably, making my breathing harsh and uneven.
How the hell was I supposed to deal with this?
CJ had all the girls' attention, and to my utter disappointment, I was stupidly jealous. All my months of pep talks and mantras flew out the window.
He got over his surprise at seeing me almost immediately and became stiff and remote like a public monument, acting like I wasn't in the class.
Ron and his friends sat at a table near the large glass windows, and I approached them, hoping this didn't end in a disaster.
I joined them, and after Ron planted a quick kiss on my lips, he headed to the line at the counter for my food.
His friends kept chatting about stuff I wasn't interested in, giving me the chance for my mind to wander.
An image of CJ imprinted in my mind. He was ruggedly handsome and tall, commanding attention. And his hair that I'd wanted to run my fingers through, thick and dark, framed his handsome face and light hazel eyes.
I knew that so many girls my age would be disgusted with the fact that I was crushing on someone almost twenty years my senior, but I couldn't help it.
And to be fair, CJ was more attractive than many guys my age. Ron didn't even come close.
Mariselle had a lot of explaining to do because we spoke every day, yet she didn't have the decency to inform me that her dad was transferring to my university. I didn't blame her, though, because she had no idea of my feelings for her dad, and even if she told me, I'd have to come up with a cogent excuse to change my faculty.
"Hey babe, is everything okay? You're not eating," Ron asked, concerned.
"I am," I forced a smile. "Just not hungry."
"Are you sure? You seem a little off. Is something bothering you? Someone I need to punch?"
If only you knew, I said to myself, but shook my head in response. "Just a long day, that's all."
"Ron, why don't you invite Lenora to our frat party? She never attends," Tony said, biting into his burger and slurping his milkshake loudly.
I tucked my hair behind my ear. The frat house was my least favorite place to go, and I'd rather stay indoors, read the darkest erotic books and watch my favorite crime shows than attend their parties.
"You heard Tony," Ron said to me, smiling. "You should come; it'll be fun, I promise. Every other person is always with their girlfriends, except me. I just suck, like a rejected child."
"Ron, you know I have a project to work on, and I need to catch up on my readings. Plus, there's a test we have next week and..."
"Come on, Lenora, loosen up a little," Tony said playfully. "We're all in college, and some of us even have more serious courses than yours."
What the hell? Tony was so annoying and thought my course of study was as simple as ABC. I hated how they were so convinced that my major was 'just a joke' and was the exact opposite of what a serious student should be studying.
Trying not to let my annoyance show, I managed a fake smile. "As simple as you think my course of study is, everyone has priorities, right?"
Tony scoffed, treating me like my brain wasn't a functioning unit with all its faculties intact.
I glared at him, not willing to engage him in conversation, and continued to eat.
Ron drew me closer, kissing my cheek. "Just this once, baby. It won't hurt to take a break and have some fun."
"Fine," I gave in hesitantly, tired of the back and forth. "I'll come."
Ron looked ahead of us and sat still, his face morphing into a frown. "Isn't that your roommate coming our way? Did you invite her?"
"Hell no," I responded, wondering what Jovita was up to.
"Oh, there you are," she stood in front of me.
Jovita's face was like a bucket of mud but got compensated with a terrific body. I was the school queen in middle school while she came in second place. My face card wasn't perfect, but it was a hundred times better than Jovita's.
That fashion contest was the beginning of years of rivalry and envy between us, which lasted throughout our entire high school.
My heart rate spiked as she leaned close, glaring at me with so much hate.
"Super miss squeaky clean. Where the fuck did you keep my papers?"
I winced at the loudness of her voice. "Keep your voice down. What papers are you talking about?"
"And if I don't?" She roared like a tiger, her voice a few octaves higher, and she angled her body unto our table. "I kept some papers on the center table, and I'm sure in the bid to prove that you're neater than me, you trashed them."
Goodness gracious, this girl was getting on my last nerves. I wasn't a clean freak. I left my bed messy sometimes. But compared to Jovita, I was tidy.
She was like an untamable toddler, running around everywhere, leaving chaos wherever she went.
"Jovita, calm down. You sound like a wild animal. There's no need to shout," I tried to keep my voice level. "I'm not deaf, and we can talk about this calmly. The trash bin is still there, you can search for any papers you're looking for. And if it was that important, why didn't you keep it safe?"
Jovita loved to argue like a sparring fish in a tank. She spoke flawlessly and fiercely, using my weakness of stuttering while angry against me.
"How is that your business? You're so exasperating, Lenora."
I turned to Ron, looking expectantly and hoping that this time he'll put Jovita in her place and speak for me. But my baby boy remained silent, and I imagined his response to be, "It's not my place to interfere."
"Jovita, can you leave? I'll talk to you later."
"No, I won't. Your father didn't build this place. You think you're so perfect, don't you? But you're not. All you do is eat like a hippo."
Tony and Adam covered their mouths, stifling their laughter, and once again, Ron didn't correct them. Some people were silently watching this confrontation unfold, and I hated it so much.
Jovita smirked triumphantly, hurling curse words at me but stopped when someone stopped in front of our table.
I raised my head and my mouth gagged open like a stove lid. My heart raced, almost threatening to explode at the sight of CJ.
CJ was here...
CJ was here...
A vague sensual energy passed between us. No matter how I tried to play it cool, I couldn't deny that he was disturbing me in any way.
He turned in a whiplike motion to face Jovita, his gaze slamming into hers.
"Young woman, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. There's no need to air your differences and dirty linen in public. It's not a good look for anyone, especially you."
Jovita's mouth opened like a well, taken aback by CJ's intervention.
Oh my gosh! I felt like hugging CJ. The authority he exuded was something that was only in two percent of humans. And this was the perfect time for him to step in.
"Who is this man? He looks like some god or something," Tony whispered to Adam.
I was so happy, but I kept my composure, not wanting to show too much emotion while CJ's gaze met mine. The way he stared at my face and hung on my boobs stoked a gently growing fire in my body.
I was in trouble.
Lenora The pit of my stomach churned and my gaze stayed fixed on CJ, unable to tear my eyes away from him. I still couldn't believe that he was here defending me.Jovita got over her shock and became defensive, trying to justify her actions."Sir, you don't understand. This girl is my roommate. She has all the time in the world because she's studying some stupid course, but I am studying robotics, and I'm always tinkering with screws, nails, and other tiny objects. As much as I try to keep myself, and my things organized, there's no way in hell that they won't become a mess."I pressed my lips hard, wondering how CJ was going to react, considering that he was a professor of environmental management, the same course that Jovita was trashing."That's not an excuse," he said coldly. "I know people who are professors in robotics, and they manage to keep their workplace tidy. Why not create separate compartments to organize your tools? You should be respectful of shared spaces and be resp
CJMy mouth fell open in shock at the sight of Lenora. She was the last person I expected to see all alone in the middle of the night. Wasted. Glad I decided to come out for my night run. She stumbled into me, her hands fisted in my vest, trying to steady herself and her head lolled to the side. My breath hitched when my nose caught our mating scent, sweet like roses on a summer's day, with faint traces of vodka on her lips.“Are you okay? What are you doing out here, all by yourself?” Her cornflower-blue eyes looked glassy and unfocused, staring off into nothingness. "Whoa! Hold on to me." Her gaze exploded my body, making my cock bulge with arousal and my heartbeat pounded erratically almost painfully, in my chest. “I'm not sure what you're up to, but it isn't safe outside at this hour. And why did you drink so much?""None of your business," she sneered, pulling away from me and almost falling flat. Such a disrespectful girl. I pulled her up and curled my hands into fists
Lenora One of my eyes popped open before the other, and my heartbeat raced with surprise.This wasn't my room or Ron's frat house. Sitting up, my eyes gaped around. It was still dark and I couldn't see properly, but it was morning, judging from the little creeks of sunlight behind the dark curtains.My head throbbed painfully as if a drummer had taken residence inside my skull. What happened to me? I shook my head, trying to recall memories of what happened last night. The last thing I remembered was running away from Ron, who'd been trying to have his way with me.I clutched my temple, trying to massage away the pounding headache, and greedily sipped a half-full glass of water beside the bed.I froze when I sighted Mariselle's unmistakable portrait and my eyes widened in realization.CJ's room.What the fuck am I doing in CJ's room?My heart began pounding and I rushed to the mirror to check my appearance. My hair looked like a mad woman's, and my eyes were bloodshot.Did CJ see
Lenora Ronin's obsession made me flee from my dorm. My roommate was shitty as well, so I shelled out my dad's money and booked a hotel to spend the rest of my weekend. The hotel gave me some time to clear my head. It was a fifteen-minute drive from my school, and I spent the whole of Saturday and Sunday there, enjoying the fancy building with a breathtaking view of the city skyline, mouth-watering dishes, dipping myself in the swimming pool, and strolling around the hotel garden.Mariselle called me that evening, filling me in about her new boo. While she kept yapping excitedly, I relaxed on my bed, grinning, and let my thoughts drift. Several unholy thoughts of CJ eating me flashed through my mind, but I quickly pushed them away. "Are you even listening to me?" Mariselle accused me, bringing me out of my fantasy land."Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm sorry. I heard you, and I'm so happy for you, girl. Congratulations. Have you told your dad about him? And didn't you say he was a conspiracy th
CJIt took me a great deal of self-restraint not to unleash my fury on the idiots harassing Lenora. It was a crazy coincidence to step out at the same time she was getting harassed, thanks to my wolf. "What is going on here?" I snapped at the boys. "Are you trying to beat up a girl in public?"Lenora's boyfriend looked shaken by my presence, with his body shrinking in on itself. A brittle laugh escaped his lips, but his friend grew defensive."We're not harassing her, Sir, as you can see. Lenora and my friend Ron are lovers. They're only trying to iron out""Shut the hell up," I gave him an intense, fevered stare, with my breath sounding loud in my ears. The bumhole was lucky that this wasn't the werewolf pack where I'd have devoured him to shreds for daring to touch my girl.I glanced at Lenora. She was so embarrassed, with a flush creeping onto her cheeks while she sweated visibly from the circle of curious students huddling around and watching the unfolding drama. "Shows over,"
LenoraThe week dragged on, stressful as ever . and now we were expected to form study groups to improve our academic performance. I hated reading in groups, but this was compulsory, and I didn't have a choice."Everybody, listen up," the Class Rep announced on the stage. "We have to group ourselves in fours for the peer learning, where each person will take turns explaining topics, share your class notes and summaries."One of the girls asked at the back, "Must we all be involved in this?""Yes," the Class rep replied, "some of the lecturers will come with quizzes or grade us according to our peer learning group. You must stick to time, do not inflate the size or pair with your friend.""We are adults," another classmate shouted angrily, "and not in middle school or high school. We should be given the freedom to read with whomever we wish."Everyone started talking at once, and I bent my head, trying to block out the harsh voices that grated my nerves."Fine," the class rep yelled,
LenoraI was so angry that my breathing grew noisy, and I gritted my teeth to stop myself from exploding. I needed to start hating CJ so badly. How could someone always like to see me cry?A rational part of my brain reminded me that he was a lecturer and was just doing his job, scolding me that he probably didn't mean to hurt me with his words. It didn't help, and I couldn't shake off the fact that he'd hurt me badly. He was doing this intentionally because there were classmates who answered questions wrong and didn't get such belittlement."Come on, Lenora," Killian tried to make me smile. "You did very well. Our lecturers aren't our friends, and what they say doesn't matter. What matters is our grade, right? And we should be happy because we scored the highest.""Whatever," I murmured, my heartbeat pounding, and all I did that morning was to cuss out CJ in my mind. He was a foolish old man with a fat ego.Shame on me for lusting after someone so annoying, a jerk, an arsewipe.Befo
CJI never imagined I could feel such a level of rage in my life. I was fuming, with my heartbeat pounding frantically against my temples, and the sweat dripping down between my shoulder blades made the material of the shirt stick uncomfortably to me. Brooklyn had no idea what I was struggling with. She kept talking about her life, experiences, her deadbeat husband, and her struggles as a mother and the head of a department against several male competitors. She had an interesting story, but I responded with grunts or monosyllables while pretending to be listening to her.We sat across from each other at a corner table in the dimly lit bar. But on the other side of the club was Lenora, who was driving me crazy and making my breathing a hot mess. Her boobs rose and fell gently with the bastard's mouth on her neck. A deep growl ripped itself from my throat, echoing around me, rumbling like thunder. My eyes were glowing red with fury as I stared at his hands cupping her ass. My finger