Devon's Discipline, page 10
“Yeah, it’s pretty awesome.” She grinned up at him. It felt wonderful to make him smile. I want to make him this happy every day!
“I’ve got some things to do, but I’ll come back to check on you.”
“I still have some questions.” Devon pouted slightly as he handed her a blanket, but then she snuggled down. What happened last night? Did Lucy purposefully get me drunk?
“I’ll help you get answers, but I have to do this first. I’ll be back in an hour or so.” Donovan leaned down to kiss her, then straightened. “Text me if you need anything.”
“Okay.” She watched him go with a twinge of sadness. He said she had all his attention, so why did she keep pushing so hard? She needed to know what plans he and Ben had for her.
* * *
Devon sat on the couch with her laptop perched on a small tray over her legs. She felt trapped inside his house, but she’d only been there about a week.
She gasped as Donovan’s face suddenly appeared next to hers.
“What are you working on?” He leaned over the back of the couch to see her laptop.
“What do you think I’m working on?” Devon snipped. Her mood had gone from bad to worse. She had missed a few days to recover from the incident with Lucy and she needed to finish up her project. She didn’t go to the clinic on campus, but mild alcohol poisoning and dehydration seemed to fit the bill.
The top of the laptop closed suddenly and caused the computer to power down.
“Oh my gods! My presentation! If I have to start all over because of…” she trailed off. Those dark eyes of his flashed and she took a breath. If she continued on her rant, she would wind up over his lap for sure.
“What are you working on?” He repeated the question with authority.
“An extremely important presentation I’m polishing the edges on,” she snipped through gritted teeth.
“Hmm. So, maybe next time answer with a bit less attitude?” He patted her head and moved back to the kitchen.
Maybe next time you’ll mind your own damn business. Devon closed her eyes. She had yet to master the art of hiding her thoughts from him.
“I’m not going to hold you accountable for your thoughts, but I promise if you ever speak to me in that tone, you will have a very hard time sitting down afterwards.”
“I want to go back to my own house.” Devon powered on the laptop. “It’s really inappropriate for me to be here anyway.” She bit the inside of her cheek as she thought about her response. What the hell is my problem now?
“What is the real issue?” He appeared back at her side, picked up the laptop, and set it down on the coffee table.
“Why don’t you just pick through my head until you find it?”
“I really don’t want to spank the answer out of you today, so tell me.”
Devon crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. She could not tell him all the thoughts barreling through her head. He had been on her mind for days, and all she wanted to do involved being in his arms and not letting go.
“Okay, fine. We’ll go with the hard way.” He joined her on the couch and reached for her hand.
“I could go to the dean.” Devon felt insane as his hand dropped to his side. She had made the conscious decision to allow him to help her. Hell, I begged him to help me.
“Your statement sounds a lot like a threat.”
“Well, more of an option. You know… like I could, but I don’t have to. I don’t really know why I said that…” Damn it! What the hell is going on?
“I’m sure Dean Hartman would be interested in the original police report the night you crashed your car. The one before they lost their potential proof. It’s enough to get you suspended. Your story will be hearsay compared to hard evidence.”
“I don’t know why I said that. I don’t want to be away from you.” Is he serious? She felt a sharp stab in her heart and pressed her hand over it. The thought of not being near him caused physical pain.
“After your remark, you’re afraid of being separated?” he snorted. “I shouldn’t have given you what you wanted in the first place.”
“I’m sorry.” Devon laid herself across his lap. “Please don’t be mad. I’ve got a lot going on!”
“We’ll talk later. For now, go to bed.” He moved her into an upright position but she threw herself over his knees. “What is wrong with you?”
“I don’t know! Just spank me!” Devon began to sob. Her emotions were all over the place and she just wanted to take her words back.
“Stop this.” Donovan flipped her up into his arms and carried her upstairs. “You’ve worked way too hard to blow your presentation.” He walked them into the bedroom and set her on the bed.
“Please—”
“Calm down,” he cupped her chin in his hand and caught her eyes, “right now.”
She nodded and took a shuddering breath as Donovan brought the covers up and over her.
“Good-night.”
Tears blurred her vision and she blindly wiped at her cheeks as he left the room and shut the door. How could she tell him how scared she was to be in his house? Most of the time she wanted to hang onto him like he was a loving stuffed bear, and yet when he locked onto her, she wanted to run away. But he didn’t act like the deadly creature the websites made him sound like.
Devon curled herself under the covers and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. He intrigued her intellectually with his knowledge and drive, but there had to be more to him. He had shared the awfulness of his parents’ death and the revenge he had enacted to honor their memory in the only way he knew how. She also could not deny the wicked attraction between them. The very first time he had looked down at her had turned her into mush.
The memory of the first time Donovan kissed her made her thighs still tingle. She wanted to let him take her in every way possible, even if she wound up as bruised as that night. As she trailed her fingers over the spots, Devon recalled the awful bruises peppered from her neck all the way down to her collarbone. The thought of him doing it again gave her mixed feelings. He raised her endorphins high enough to distract from the pain, but did she really want him to drink her in?
It brought her to the question of their blood bond. She had done extensive research online for her project but could not find even one reputable source to document such a bond. Numerous television shows and novels teased about the main character following the vampire around like a puppy dog, with stars in their eyes after encounters of the fanged kind, but Devon had to insist on truth.
“Damn it! Why am I acting this way?” Devon swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. She padded to the door, listened for sound, and then opened it.
“Turn around and go back to bed.”
Whether he had anticipated her actions or had been about to walk downstairs didn’t matter. He stood there with his arms crossed in front of his chest. “I need to attend to more important matters than your attitude. I need to go, and you need to listen.” He nodded back toward the bedroom.
“Will you please let me explain what I meant?”
“You have thirty seconds.”
“You can’t even possibly understand what it’s like to be in my shoes and not talk to anyone about where I am, or what is going on with me, and have Lucy acting all weird, and have you just flip me over and spank me whenever I piss you—”
“Stop. I don’t flip you over and spank you because I’m pissed off. You agreed that whenever you disrespect yourself, or me, you would allow physical consequences to remind you not to do the action again.” Donovan took her hands in his. “I’ve never disciplined you while angry.”
Devon dropped her eyes as they stood there in the doorway. She knew his statement held truth, but she needed him to understand the crazy going on in her head. She felt obsessed and it irritated the hell out of her.
“Have I ever punished you without good reason?”
“No, you have always been fair.” She hated the fact she had been spanked so many times for her own errors.
“Why do you believe I would spank you for no other reason than me being pissed off?”
“I don’t!” Devon snipped and looked up. His eyes probed hers and she squirmed. “I didn’t believe you would follow through. I’ve never had anyone watch everything I do.”
“I don’t watch your every action, but you’ve been making a lot of poor choices lately.”
“I’ve watched movies and I can finally relate to all those stupid girls who have to keep this secret, and they can’t explain why their wardrobe now contains a scarf for every outfit!”
“Can we stay on topic here?” Donovan let go of her.
“You asked me what the real issue is, so I’m explaining it.”
“I will give you a chance to explain what’s going on inside your head, but right now you need to get back into bed and go to sleep.” Donovan motioned again to the room.
Devon glared up at him but finally turned and walked back into the room. She closed the door softly but felt like slamming it in his face. She flopped down into the pillows on the bed. Why do I get like this around him? A long, deep sigh came from her lips and she turned onto her stomach and settled under the covers. Of course he would stay true to his word, but there were so many questions bouncing around in her head.
* * *
Devon woke up to grating hip hop music. She cracked open one eye and smacked her alarm. “Crap!” She had tossed and turned last night, and it had caused her to oversleep. She showered quickly, threw on a cute pair of jeans and a top, and fixed her makeup. The entire process took her fifteen minutes. “Not bad.”
Devon took one step into the hall and literally bumped into Donovan, who should have dodged her.
“Your presentation is in thirty minutes. I suggest you eat something and hurry up.” He motioned down the stairs.
“I apologize for what I said before. There really is a lot I need to speak to you about.”
“You will show me later just how sorry you are, but for now get going so you’re not late.”
“Yeah, my professor is a real hard ass about that.” Devon rolled her eyes. “I’d hate to irritate him.”
“I hope you have time to do your make up again.”
“You hope I what?”
In seconds Matthews pulled her back into the bedroom and pressed her shoulders down into the bed. He laid sharp smacks to the sensitive spot where her thigh met her butt and after a few more, Devon cried, “I apologized!”
“I said that after we talk I’ll believe you.” Donovan undid her jeans and yanked them over her hips.
“You can’t spank me now!”
“Oh yes, I can.”
Devon cringed as he slapped her bare bottom over and over again, bringing her to tears as promised.
“You have twenty minutes left to be there on time.”
“Ouch!” A harder round landed and she kicked out her feet though she was trying to stay still. Why did I start already?
“Get yourself together and hurry up.” Donovan snapped his hand on the top of each thigh, then stopped. “Don’t forget your laptop.” He kissed the side of her head, then left the room.
Devon tugged her panties up and re-fastened her jeans. She felt awful since he left without cuddling her, but the kiss proved he cared. It took her another ten minutes to re-do her make-up, grab a protein bar, and get out of the house. If she ran she would have just enough time to get a good seat and get her notes in order.
* * *
Devon made it with enough time to spare. Donovan nodded when she entered and it took all her control not to either flip him off or grin like an idiot. Her emotions were all over the place.
The first group gave their presentation and then her group made their way to the floor. She hid toward the back of the group. They were all so eager to give their speech and she wanted to melt into the floor. No one would understand the stake she had in this. No one in her class could even comprehend the issues their professor faced. The rest of her group believed her shyness and allowed her to stay back. She had held her own and put 75% of the project together herself.
“Out of all the groups, don’t you think vampires kill the most humans? I mean, all we are is a food source,” some kid from several rows up called down to the group.
“Humans kill hundreds of thousands of our own kind in wars and crime! Have you ever even looked at the statistics of vampire crime against humans? It’s minimal.” What an ignorant stupid punk! Devon fumed. His group had been for werewolves, apparently the only supernatural creature he’d studied.
“You say you looked at those statistics? I ask how many crimes are actually vampires?” The kid stood up in front of his seat.
“Do you actually think a vampire would be stupid enough to get caught and go to jail? All of our prison systems are filled with angry humans. They go to prison and rot there.” Devon stepped out to the front of the podium and saw that the kid was Tommy Ryan, one of Lucy’s friends.
“So, I’m supposed to believe all of the unsolved crimes are strictly human related? You can’t quote me stats because you don’t have any!” The kid jumped down and stepped out into the aisle.
“I did hours of research on criminal stats. Do you want my printouts?” She set one foot on the landing.
“Keep this to a friendly discussion,” Donovan called out from his spot in the back row.
“Yeah, I would, because unlike you, I will actually back up my data and not make crazy assumptions.” Tommy jumped down a few steps.
“Vampires face a huge amount of prejudice because of people like you.” Devon looked up to see a scowl etched in Donovan’s face. She was toeing the line and knew it.
“I thought we were having a friendly discussion.” Amber flashed through Tommy’s eyes as he met the distance between them.
“I think friendly went out the window the moment you walked in here.” Devon surmised he must be part of the pack and brought her feet back together on the floor.
“You’re in the middle of a presentation. Keep opinions to yourself.” Donovan stood but didn’t approach.
“I think your opinions about vampires are biased,” the wolf punk grumbled.
“I think your opinions about vampires are stupid,” Devon shot back.
“Did either of you read the guidelines?” Donovan took the stairs faster than normal but paused just above the two.
“I spent weeks working on this. I won’t stand here while some jerk launches a personal attack on the group I’m defending.” She seethed up at Tommy, who smirked back down at her.
“Ms. Dawson, go back to the podium and finish your debate. Mr. Ryan,” Donovan pointed directly at him, “go sit back down.”
“Go ahead, you vamp lover, do what you’re told.” Tommy made a come-at-me motion.
“At least I believe in something you stupid—” she caught herself from saying “dog”, which always left a bitter taste on her lips “—coward.”
The upstairs doors suddenly flew open and Ben Brinkham stormed in. “Tommy, get up here. There’s an emergency.”
“Ben, you have incredible timing.” Donovan crossed his arms over his chest.
“I apologize for the interruption.” Ben nodded to the class.
“Have you ever even met a vampire?” Tommy stopped on the same step as Donovan, a bold move in Devon’s opinion, then continued, “They are blood suckers who want to drain every last one of us.” Tommy appeared to speak to the class but his eyes were on their professor.
“Tommy. Now.” Ben motioned for him to hurry up.
“Have you ever met a werewolf? I think they are rage filled dogs who want to eat every last one of us.” Devon felt bile rise up in her throat.
“I would rather have a wolf at my back than a blood sucker at my neck.” Tommy took the steps slowly until he reached his alpha.
Devon’s hands had clenched into fists of pure rage as she glanced around the room. Her classmates all had eyes as round as saucers. She could think of nothing smart to say back to the wolf who was so full of bravado.
“This won’t happen again.” Ben grabbed Tommy’s arm, pushed him through the double doors and left.
“That was like the best debate I have ever seen!” one small red-haired girl called from the back. The rest of the class murmured in agreement.
“What is wrong with you people?” Did they really think I planned that?
“Did you plan all those extra points?” another girl piped up.
“This is what makes me different from all of you. I won’t grow up to be some spoon fed clone who thinks that humans are the only beings that matter!” Devon threw her printouts in the air and stomped out of the classroom with flair.
* * *
Once Devon went through the door, she realized the doorway led to the hallways in the back of the school. She thought one led back around so she could grab her books, but they didn’t connect. “Fantastic,” she muttered and headed to her favorite office to wait.
She walked inside and flopped down on the couch. What the hell was wrong with the freshmen? Devon mentally cursed them all in her head.
About twenty minutes went by before the door opened. Donovan stepped inside the office and shut it behind him. “With the amount of passion and anger flowing off of you, I bet Tommy could not help himself.”
All of her hard work amounted to nothing. Stupid dog ruining my grade! She continued to seethe as he stood there.
“The rest of your group received their grades. Would you like to know yours?” He joined her on the couch.
“It’s not fair that I got interrupted by some fucking dog!” She bit her lip hard. “I’m so angry, I could scream.”
“You can get it out without cursing.” He paused to touch her lip. “Do you want to know your grade now, or would you rather throw another temper tantrum?”
“I didn’t throw a temper tantrum!” She let out a breath, then leaned forward.
“If you kiss me right now—”
Devon moved to his lap and kissed him. I don’t care about repercussions! She had missed him far too much to back off now. She had hurt him when she pushed him away. Hell, it had hurt her to do so as well. Her emotions had been in such a tizzy, she had no longer known up from down.
