Chapter 215

Asher, holding my hand, led me toward the bathroom. He released my hand to turn on the shower, but then swiveled, and pulled me into his arms. His mouth found mine and he licked his way inside.

Slowly, he removed my clothes from my body, then peeled his own clothes away too, until we were both naked, standing in front of the shower, waiting for the water to warm.

“We’ll only go as far as you want,” he whispered against my lips.

“I want to touch you,” I said.

He smiled. “Touch me then.”

I placed my hands, palms flat, against his bare chest, then pushed outwards, tracing over the strong muscles. I trailed a path down the sides of his torso. He shivered under my attention.

When the water warmed enough, Asher guided me into the shower.

Lathering his hands with soap, he said, “I want to touch you too.”

I nodded, eager for it.

His hands spread soap over the width of my shoulders, and down the length of my back. He kneaded into my backside. He knelt down to reach my legs. I swallowed hard, looking down at him.

His movements were precise and determined. He seemed more intent on getting me clean than chasing my arousal. Fortunately, the two were inter-woven, so as his hands traced up my front, coming to rest on my breasts, I moaned.

His hands stilled, paying more attention to me now. He traced his thumbs across my nipples, eliciting gasps from me until I was a trembling mess against him.

He stepped closer, pressing the hard lines of his naked body to the soft curves of my own. His dick throbbed against my hip. I couldn’t resist reaching down and taking it in my hand.

Instantly, his eyes hooded, and a soft huff of breath escaped him. “Cyn.”

One of his hands fell from my breasts down, down to touch between my thighs. I spread my legs as far as I could, giving him access.

He eased me back against the cool tiles. I leaned heavily into them for support as he teased my entrance, my legs going weak.

I stroked him as he touched me. God, he was so big. I couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to have him inside of me. He would stretch me so deliciously. I wanted to beg for him, but I held my tongue.

I was grateful for anything we did. I didn’t want to push too far and risk losing what I was enjoying now.

His mouth covered mine and I melted into the kiss. It was sloppy, broken near constantly by moans and gasps from both of us as our hands worked to bring each other pleasure.

When he fondled my clit, I whimpered. “A-Asher…”

“I’ve got you, Cyn,” he whispered into my mouth, punctuated with a moan of his own, as I brushed my thumb over his slit. “You can let go. I’ve got you.”

The hot water beat down onto our bodies, another layer of sensation. I was hot, inside and out.

He twitched fiercely in my hand. He was as close as me.

Closing my eyes, I surrendered myself to the feel of him, his closeness, his masterful hands.

As I finally succumbed to pleasure, I brought him over the edge right along with me.

“Cynthia,” he moaned in my ear.

The shower washed away the evidence of our pleasure, though we continued to hold each other for some time yet.

Asher kissed me, soft and sweet.

“Thank you,” he whispered, though I should have been the one thanking him.

As we excited the shower, clean, sated, and waterlogged, my mood had vastly improved. I felt sexy and confident.

Asher pressed soft, reverent kisses across my bare skin as he helped dry me with a fluffy towel. Then, once we both were clean and dried off, we went to bed and he held me through the night.

In the morning, my good mood had remained, and I was ready to face the rest of the world, knowing I had such an amazing, talented man at my side.

Asher walked me to class. “You can do this,” he told me, though it was needless.

I haven’t felt this sure of something in a long time. Today I would prove to the class and the professor that I was not a cheater. I knew exactly what I was doing when I aced those daily tests.

Still, I was appreciative of the pep talk. “Thank you, Asher. By the end of class, I know I’ll have good news to share.”

Smiling, he kissed my forehead. “Go get ‘em, Cyn.”

After saying goodbye, I walked into the classroom. The professor, anticipating today’s challenge, had already pulled one of the desks up to the front of the room, right beside his own.

The cheerleader and some of her friends were already in the room, hovering in the back. When she spotted me, she called out, “We’re ready to watch you fail today, Cynthia.”

“I won’t fail,” I said, lifting my chin.

She sneered at me. “Prove it.”

I intended to. I went to the desk at the front of the classroom and sat down.

When the rest of the class arrived, the professor handed out the daily quizzes and we began. I could feel him watch me as I went through the test, answering the questions quickly.

I recognized many of these questions from the practice tests I had taken with Aimee and Nicole the past few weeks. So I had no trouble filling in the answers.

I finished first in the room and handed my exam to the professor. He uncapped his red pen to grade it, but didn’t make one mark on the page – until the very end, when he wrote ‘100’ at the top of the page. He passed it back to me.

We waited for the rest of the quizzes to be turned in and graded. Only when everyone had their graded test returned to them, did the professor turn to me.

“Would you like to show them your score, Cynthia?”

I lifted my test and turned it to the class.

The cheerleader paled. “That’s not possible.”

“There’s no mistake,” the professor said. “Cynthia knows the material and has excelled in recent weeks. You could learn from her dedication to her studies.”

The cheerleader sunk into her chair. I couldn’t see the number on her exam, but I noticed when she lifted it, that there were a slew of red marks across the page.

As per the agreement, I was looking forward to her apology in front of the whole school. Though, honestly, this moment might have been enough. I didn’t truly need her to embarrass herself that publicly, she looked mortified as it was: face red, eyes downcast.

I wished she had known better than to doubt me.

The professor helped me move my desk back into the row with the rest of them, and class truly began.

My spirits stayed high for the rest of the class. When it ended, I eagerly went to greet Asher in the hallway.

Seeing him, I pulled him into a tight hug. “I did it!”

He squeezed me in return. “I knew you would.”

He held me closely for a moment, and then, strangely for a moment more. I didn’t dislike being close to him, but… something felt off about it.

Like something was wrong.

I pulled back from the hug, enough to look up into his face. He glanced away from me, unable to hold my gaze.

“Asher? Did something happen?”

“I don’t want to ruin your moment.”

“Ruin it,” I said. “If something happened, I want to know.” My stomach was already dropping.

Asher looked back at me. “The Academy is attempting to stop Chase’s article.”