Chapter 8

What was wrong with her? How could he affect her so much?

She didn't have the answers to those questions, but truth be told she didn't mind not knowing.

Daniel was a bad boy par excellence, there was no denying that, but he had been brought up well. He was thus a gentleman. Or to be more precise, he knew how to be one when it suited him.

Therefore, after the hot make-out session he had shared with his little brother's girl, he offered to take her to her dorm, together with her friend.

She told him she could drive her friend's car just fine for she had not indulged in drinking too much.

But he was having none of that.

Amanda was incapable of walking, and so he decided to carry her.

As he drove through the city he had left so long ago, Natasha sitting silently next to him, he felt like it had been indeed too long since he had been home for he needed the GPS to find his way.

"Can I ask you a question?" She broke the silence, looking at him sideways.

He glanced her way briefly before telling her, "Shoot."

"Why did Carl suddenly decide to take a job, and one that is beneath him on top of that?"

"Isn't that a question you should be asking him?" The handsome brown-haired man sitting next to her retorted without looking her way.

"I did," she countered immediately. "I believe he lied though."

"What did he tell you?" He asked, sounding amused.

"That he didn't want to throw away your parents' money," she informed him on a sigh.

Daniel couldn't help but chuckle at that. How stupid could his brother be to lie to his girlfriend who was by far smarter than him?

"So?" She probed.

"He just needs the money," Daniel told her simply.

"I thought your parents were…" she trailed off, not sure what to say.

"Rich?" Daniel suggested.

"Yeah," she admitted sheepishly.

"Well, they were not poor, but not rich either," he told her, a small smile tugging at his lips, "They had to work to earn every little penny, and they had started from scratch. They didn't leave much cash, but they did leave the flat in LA and the villa in Cali."

He did not want to tell her about the bribe that had cost them two hundred thousand dollars and him fifty thousands.

"I see," she nodded understandingly. "So, he did lie."

"Well, he is a kind of a proud guy," Daniel told her while winking at her.

Natasha rolled her eyes at that. "That's not a valid reason, you do realize that?"

"I'm not defending him," he told her softly while parking outside her dorm.

Then, he reached out for her hand, brought it to his lips for a quick kiss, and Natasha all but melted at the gesture.

She smiled at him and he smiled back.

No words were needed.

Then, Natasha looked back at her friend who was snoring, and sighed.

"Don't worry," Daniel told her, "I'll carry her to your room."

"No!" Natasha exclaimed, "Are you crazy? What if someone saw you?"

"It's Friday night sweetheart," he replied, a smirk stretching his lips, "and besides, even if we were to be seen, I don't mind losing the job. It's not like it's my sole source of income."

"Yeah, right," she agreed after a moment of hesitation, "I completely forgot that you work at that international architecture firm. Still, I like having you as my lecturer."

"Hmm, interesting," he let out huskily as he stepped out of his car.

She blushed like the little teenager she had been not so long ago, and felt silly for it.

He must have felt her displeasure for he chuckled and told her, "I like it when you blush. It has this virgin maiden sense to it."

"Only I'm not a virgin anymore," she told him, her words dripping with sarcasm.

"Even if you were, I have every intent to make you mine," he told her huskily as they walked side by side, Amanda sleeping in his arms.

What about Carl? She wanted to ask but refrained from doing so, afraid it might make him reconsider his intentions.

Luckily, Natasha's roommate was not there. And that's when she remembered that she had told her something about spending the night at her boyfriend's.

And so, after Daniel gently dropped Amanda on one of the two mattresses, he turned to Natasha, eyes heavy with desire.

She felt moisture gather at her secret entrance, and considered making that "some time during this week" he had promised her earlier, like the same night the promise was made.

He brought his hand up to her face and softly stroked her with the back of his hand. Unable to resist, she leant into the touch.

He closed the small distance separating them and brushed her lips with his ever so softly.

"You are mine," he told her in a firm tone, "You will break it off with Carl, and I will take you hard and fast, just like you need it, in the conference room once your Monday lecture is over. Is that clear?"

She dampened her lips, gulped down her fear of the unknown, and then nodded.

"I asked you a question," he told her, his lips brushing hers as he spoke.

"It's crystal clear," she responded while getting on her tiptoes so that she could deepen the kiss.

He allowed her tongue in, before breaking the kiss a few seconds later.

"See you in class, Miss Daniels," he told her as he was leaving.

"See you," she responded in a murmur, feeling weak in the knees.