VERENA

"You sure you will be alright?" I asked for the hundredth time.

Zahria glared at me as she sat in her bed comfortably, a heating pad resting on her abdomen and a cup of chamomile tea which I made her on her nightstand.

"Verena, get the hell out of here or you will miss your class."

"You are also missing your class."

"Because I don't have the energy to get out and go study and I will be completely fine. Just go."

"What will you do without me the whole day?" I pouted.

Her lips pursed and I knew I was going to get a very sarcastic reply. "I am going to play with my vibrator and then record a video of it and post it online, I am in need of some money. That's my plan for today, so please leave."

It took everything in me to not burst into laughter. "Send me that video first, I'll approve of it and maybe give you some tips--"

She grabbed the extra pillow and threw it at my face. "Sure, now go."

"You don't love me anymore," I complained, getting up and grabbing my bag.

"Yeah, I don't." She rolled her eyes. "Now, shoo!"

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After the last class of the day, I went over to the library to finish an assignment because back at the dorm, I would get distracted and just watch some movie with Zahria.

I sat near the window, glancing out at the sky every few minutes and frowned when I noticed how cloudy and dark it was getting.

Is it going to rain?

Shit. I don't even have an umbrella.

I quickly packed my laptop and books and decided to make a run back to the dorm when a big, fat droplet fell on the window followed by a lightning strike.

And then it was raining hard.

Fuck. I made my way out of the library and looked around the corridor finding it completely empty.

I walked towards the entrance of the corridor and gazed out, watching the rain pour heavily.

It would take me five to seven minutes to reach my dorm on foot and by then I would be completely drenched and so would my books and laptop.

It was as if everyone already knew about the rain except me cause the whole campus looked eerily empty.

I decided to call Zahria but she didn't pick up and it went straight to the voicemail. She must be sleeping.

Just when I was about to go back to the library, I noticed Asael walking out of the building opposite this one with a huge black umbrella in his hand.

His attention was on his phone as he scrolled through it with a frown on his face.

I waited for him to come closer. I am going to make a run towards him as fast as I can, get under his umbrella and then force him to walk me back to my dorm.

Yup, that's exactly what I will do.

When only a few meters were left between us, I shoved my phone inside my bag and then made a run for him.

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ASAEL

I frowned as I read a news article concerning Arien and me about how everyone's curious about when I will come back. Why the fuck is everyone so interested in our lives?

Not wanting to read all that nonsense further, I placed my phone inside my pocket and walked carefully towards my office since it was raining so heavily.

Then I heard a familiar voice. Why am I always hearing her? Am I hallucinating? She is supposed to be back at her dorm, her classes ended an hour back.

I turned my head to my left as I heard her call again, "Wait!"

There she was, clutching her backpack to her chest as she ran towards me.

She is insane. Fucking insane. Who the fuck runs in the rain? It's dangerous.

I changed my direction and walked towards her, about to scold her and tell her not to run when I watched in horror as she slipped, her right foot twisting and she fell down face first on the ground.

Fuck. Now, I was the one running.

I crouched down next to her not caring about how my pants were getting ruined. "Verena?"

As I reached a hand to touch her shoulder, she slowly lifted her head, pain etched all over, tears gathering in her eyes.

The front of her shirt was soiled with mud, she pressed her palms to the ground, slowly lifted herself up and shoved her bag in my hand. "Hold this."

She sat back on her ass and inspected her foot which looked swollen and sprained.

"Why the fuck were you running?" I couldn't stop myself from scolding her because I hated seeing her like this.

Her lower lip trembled and she looked on the verge of crying. "I just wanted to get under your umbrella and go home." A sob escaped her making my heart clench.

Sighing, I looked around and thankfully no one was there to witness all this.

"Grab this." I held out the umbrella to her and confused she held it over herself.

I gave her bag back to her and then placed one hand around her shoulders and the other around her thighs and lifted her up in my arms.

She let out a surprised yelp and stared at me in shock. "What are you doing?"

"Keep the umbrella over us," I ordered instead.

With one hand she held the umbrella, the other clutched her bag to her chest and she stared at me curiously.

My office was nearby as compared to her dorm so I decided on the former and started to walk towards it with her in my arms.

She rested her head on my shoulder, still watching me and I decided to ignore how small she felt in my arms, my fingers clenching around her thighs.

"I am sorry", she whispered against my shoulder. "I didn't mean to trouble you like this."

"Shut up." That was the problem, she wasn't troubling me, not in the least. I would have been more troubled had I simply left her there.

"You are angry with me. Your pants got ruined too."

I paused and turned my head down to her, my nose brushing over her forehead in the process. Her face was way too close, it didn't make me uncomfortable instead I was afraid I would end up doing something I would regret.

"Verena. Shut. Up."

She pouted but thank fuck there weren't any more tears in her eyes even though she looked to be in pain.

"Yes, sir." She mumbled.

"And quit calling me sir," I grumbled.

"Then what should I call you? Daddy perhaps?"

My hold around her tightened further as I glared at her. "Call me that once again and I will be messaging your real Daddy about your behaviour."

"No. Don't fucking do that."

Her father was a smart man and someone who liked to be elegant and sophisticated and wanted his wife and daughter to do the same.

I smirked. "Afraid you will be grounded?"

"If my hands were not occupied, I would have punched you already."

"Oh? And maybe I could free my hands by releasing you." I loosened my hold slightly around her.

"Hey!" She shrieked. "Don't you dare drop me."

"Like this?" I mimicked dropping her making her shriek even more.

"Asael! Stop!"

A rough chuckle escaped my mouth and I held her tightly and continued walking. "That's better."

But she was watching me with a stunned look on her face. "Did you just laugh?"

I sighed. "Is that a problem?"

"No. I thought you didn't know how to laugh. In the course of two years, I never saw you smile or laugh."

I remained silent and carried her, reaching my office building I carried her up the stairs to my office.

"You can drop the umbrella now", I told her as I stopped outside my office door.

She smiled sheepishly and let it drop down on the floor and I gestured for her to open the door after telling her the pincode.

"You can put me down now." She murmured as I told her to keep her bag down on my desk.

I took her inside the attached bathroom and gently placed her down on the floor.

She winced as her foot touched the floor and then leaned against the countertop.

I glanced at her soiled and drenched clothes. "You should shower."

"And what will I wear after?"

"Leave that to me. Just shower."

She nodded hesitantly and glanced at the shower stall.

"Do you need help?" I asked.

"Are you saying you want to shower with me?" She raised a brow, looking amused.

I scowled. "Don't be ridiculous."

"Worth a try." She shrugged, still smiling despite the pain.

I wrapped my arms around her waist and lifting her up, carried her inside the shower stall and placed her down.

"Call me when you are done," I muttered and almost rushed out, not wanting to think much about her offer to shower together.

I rubbed my temples and leaned against my desk, sighing heavily. What the fuck am I doing? I should leave her alone, stay the fuck away from her because with every meeting with her something inside me is fucking melting.

It's illegal. A teacher isn't supposed to get involved with his students. Not to mention my clusterfuck of a marriage.

What's so fucking special about her? Why the hell do my eyes keep straying to her in the class? And seeing her in pain was like being in pain myself.

That day at the club when she mentioned finding a guy to have fun with, fuck, I have never felt such a rage in my life. I didn't want to even think of any other man touching her let alone look at her.

And that has never happened before.

Arien is gonna laugh his arse off if he hears all this. And he hardly laughs.

"Asael?" She called out from the bathroom pulling me from my thoughts.

"Just a second."

I grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a white t-shirt from the built-in cupboard where I keep a few extra pairs of clothes and laid them out on the couch.

I moved to the bathroom door and paused. "Are you decent?"

"Depends. Does having just a towel around myself considered decent to you?"

No, it doesn't. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I willed myself to not imagine her in just a towel and failed causing heat to shoot down to my groin.

I suppressed a groan and thought of something else. Ten seconds later, I somehow managed to cool myself down.

I went inside the bathroom and to the shower stall where she stood in just a towel and I forced my eyes to not go below her face.

I stepped closer and cleared my throat. "Is it okay if I touch you? Or do you want to walk by yourself?"

"You already touched me, why are you asking now?"

I gritted my teeth. "You were not naked earlier."

"Oh, um...okay. I can argue by saying that I am not actually naked but my foot is paining a lot so just give me the clothes and get me out of here."

I nodded curtly and picked her up in my arms and carried her outside and as carefully as possible, I put her down on the couch.

"Change here, I'll be back." With that, I dashed inside the bathroom with fresh clothes.

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Coming out of the bathroom, I halted completely, my hands pausing in the middle of drying my hair with the towel.

Verena had leaned her back against the armrest of the couch, her legs stretched in front of her with the swollen one resting on top of a cushion.

Yes, I gave her my clothes but I never expected her to look like this. Practically, she looked funny cause the clothes were double her size but most importantly, seeing her in my t-shirt did something weird inside me, a flutter in my heart.

There was some heaviness in my heart that I had never experienced before and I did not like it.

She glanced at me over her shoulder, offering a small smile which didn't help me at all.

I clenched my jaw and glanced out of the window. It was still raining heavily.

Dropping the towel on the floor, I grabbed a painkiller from my drawer and handed it to her along with a glass of water.

She mumbled a thanks and swallowed the medicine with the water, handing the glass back to me.

I sat down at the edge of the couch, near her feet, careful not to hurt her and gently brushed my fingers over her swollen ankle, inspecting it.

I heard her inhale sharply as I continued running my fingers over it. And I knew that reaction was not because of pain. I affected her too which made this even more dangerous.

So, I removed my fingers from her foot and got up to make a cup of coffee instead.

"Do you want tea or coffee?" I asked, putting the ground coffee beans inside the coffee machine.

"Whatever you are having."

I returned back with two cups of coffee and handed one to her, grabbing my chair, I placed it next to the couch and sat down facing her.

"So..." She mumbled taking a sip of her coffee. "...how am I going back?"

Fuck if I know.

"Wait for the rain to stop, hopefully by then the campus will remain empty, then you can either call your friend or I can have my driver drop you back. Where's your friend by the way?"

"Her name's Zahria, first of all. Secondly, she is not well so she didn't attend the classes today."

I nodded and continued drinking my coffee as she watched me closely.

Warmth swirled in her eyes as they clashed with mine, I swear her eyes were twinkling, for what, I had no idea.

Yet I couldn't take my eyes off her. This will be the last time. I promised myself. After this, I am not going to even look at her.

So, I let my eyes get a fill of her. From her wavy hair, down to her pink, kissable lips, not that I was going to kiss her. That would be fucking scandalous.

"Here." She extended her cup to me, making me focus back.

I took the cup and placed it on my desk and finishing my own coffee, I got up.

I handed her bag to her, saying, "Don't disturb me."

And I sat down at my desk and began to work.

Half an hour later, the rain had stopped and I glanced at Verena only to find her sleeping, her phone lying on her stomach.

I walked over to her, a smile touching my lips when I heard her snoring softly and I brushed away the hair from her forehead. One touch wasn't enough so I ran my knuckles down her cheek.

Before I could touch her further, I forced my hand away and called my driver so he could take her back or else I was tempted to keep her here with me. Forever.