CC Clark, RED 1
RED
CC Clark
Dr. Rachel Redfield, my creative writing teacher, leaned against the wall in the corner of the faculty lounge, hands behind her waist, a bored expression on her face. She looked so different, I almost didn't recognize her. In class, she always wore a business suit, pulled her red hair into a bun, and wore glasses.
Tonight, she stared at me with eyes half-closed and beckoned to me with her finger. "Do you have any white wine on that tray, Cody?" Even her voice sounded different...deeper, throatier. She saw me and remembered my name.
I moved closer to her and inhaled her natural scent. She smelled earthy, like a bouquet of fresh-cut flowers, fleshy yet delicate, arousing yet maternal. I'd had a crush on her from day one, but I wasn't about to show it now or ever.
"Sure, Dr. Redfield. I have white wine." I stared at the tray, trying to decide which one she might like.
All the guys wanted to take her course. If a class filled up, they put their names on a waiting list to have her teach them. She'd published ten books of romantic suspense, the kind with covers portraying sexy men and women in exotic places.
Dr. Redfield was one unique woman, and the way she said my name was unique. She spoke in a very deliberate and confident way. I'd been intrigued by her voice and the intense way she looked at me since the first day of class. It was as if she'd known me a long time and knew everything about me, things maybe even I didn't know about myself.
"Here's a nice Riesling." My hands started to sweat, and I passed the glass to her. I didn't mind working to get through school. I met interesting people at these social functions put on for the faculty, but I'd never seen her at one of them.
While grasping the glass, she touched my finger. Shock waves tore through me and I felt a strong bond growing between us. I wasn't sure what kind of bond, but I knew it was powerful.
When she leaned over to retrieve a canapé from a tray another waiter held, the short skirt she wore pulled tight across her long legs and made it impossible not to notice her fine body.
Get a grip, I told myself and forced my eyes away from her legs.
When she turned back to me, her breasts nearly fell out of the silky confines of her low-cut red blouse. Her lips were full and pouty, just begging to be kissed. Not that I planned on doing it. I was there to wait on her and the rest of the faculty, and I'd better not forget it. I could get in a hell of a lot of trouble at school if I overstepped my boundaries, and I couldn't afford to let that happen.
Waves of thick red hair flowed down her gorgeous shoulders. What I wouldn't give to touch it, to lose myself in ...
She tapped her foot on the tile floor, and I jerked back to attention. She'd finished her drink and held out her glass to me for a refill.
Her tiny feet rested in red strapped shoes with the highest heels I'd ever seen. I doubted she could walk very far in them. They had to be for show or perhaps she planned to use them to step on the toes of a young college man like me.
The only things not red about her were her eyes. Without glasses on, their lavender beauty stunned me. Oval-shaped and huge, they scrutinized me from foot to crotch and lingered on my zipper before moving to my face..
Unable to stop my body reactions, I couldn't help but notice the burning need starting up inside me. Face no doubt red, hands shaking, I proceeded to replace her glass with a full one.
When I looked at her again, the overhead lights in the room picked out each fingernail on her hands, all of them flawlessly covered with chrome red polish, something she never wore to class. She pushed her hair back behind her ear.
"Call me Rachel. No reason to get excited. This isn't a date. It's not even a seduction ... yet."
"Yes, ma'am. No ma'am." She really had me going. I could barely remember what I was doing there. Did she say seduction or was I dreaming that?
Her eyes pierced mine and sent my pulse racing. "I know you have questions. Ask them. What do you want to know?"
That's right, I wanted to know what she meant about drama in class today. But I totally forgot my question. What kind of power did this woman have over me? I fumbled in my pants pocket and with fingers trembling, pulled out a bunch of notes I'd scribbled down. I stared into her eyes. They glittered back at me, full of challenges.
"Ah...I'd like to ask you... that is ... if you couldtell me ... "
"Tell you what, Cody? Don't be shy." Her voice by then, reminded me of a purring cat.
"I understand ... that is ... if I understood you correctly in class ..."
She gave me a pouty smile. "That's somebody else's idea, isn't it?"
I nodded because she was right. I didn't really care about class. I wanted to know about her. I wanted to ask how much experience she'd had with men, if somebody like me stood a chance with her, and about a million other questions, but I didn't dare to ask any of them. From the look in her eyes to the way she held her body, she looked very experienced. Fearless.
Then, before I could stop myself, something happened.
It took me over completely.
In my fantasy, I was in my bathing suit and at the beach. The sun shone down on my shoulders. It felt warm and comforting. I pictured three of her, all in red bathing suits, rubbing sun tan lotion on each other.
Rachel's voice interrupted my fantasy. "Cody, I'm waiting. Are you going to ask your questions.
I jerked back and nearly dropped the tray of drinks. "Sorry, I was just..."
She raised an eyebrow. "You were just what?"
"Thinking about..."
Thinking about sex?"
"No... Yes... I don't know." Did anyone hear that? A couple of faculty stood not a foot away, talking and joking. They must have heard her. Oh, God, what had I done now? This was going to get me in big trouble.
The smile in her eyes contained a sensuous flame. "What don't you know?"
I cleared my throat, not sure I should tell her. I argued with myself until I decided. I wanted to see what she would say. "I know that you're a very beautiful woman."
She smiled and nodded like she'd heard that before. "What else?"
I cleared my throat again, which had gone so dry, I started to cough."You have beautiful eyes."
She took one of the glasses of water off my tray and put it up to my lips until I gulped down a mouthful. "Okay, you like my eyes. What else?"
What did she want me to say? "You are..."
She leaned closer. "Um hmm...what about my legs? I felt you staring at them."
The closer she got, the more nervous I felt. "They're, well they're...I don't know what to say."
"Tell me what you're thinking, Cody. It's not that difficult."
But it was difficult. I'd never had such a frank discussion with a woman before and I wasn't sure what to say. "I'm afraid to. I've never..."
"Are you a virgin, Cody?"
Oh, God, what was I supposed to say to that? "Ah, ah..."
"You are, aren't you?"
"Well, I ah..."
She laughed a deep, throaty chuckle. "That's okay, you don't have to answer. I already know."
"You do?" I looked down at my body, wondering how she could tell. I doubted she could, but women had always been a mystery to me. I told myself she was just fooling with me, probably didn't want to answer my questions and so, she was trying to throw me. I had to be careful what I said and did. I needed to get a good grade in her course to get a scholarship next semester.
I leaned back and told myself to calm down. "The truth is, I've been wondering about that statement about drama you made in class today."
She chuckled as if I'd just told a joke. "We wouldn't want you to wonder, now would we? Tell you what. I'll make a deal with you."
My heart raced, wondering what she was going to propose. Was she going to call me a fool and kick me out or...I leaned forward, waiting to hear what she was going to say.
She leaned in even closer and whispered into my ear. Her breath felt warm and provocative on my neck. "I have to leave soon. I'm going to my beach house on Long Island for the weekend. Why don't you come with me and you can ask me all the questions you have on the way?"
I looked away and tried not to react to the closeness of her body and the softness of her breast against my arm. Looking across the room at a poster of Don Quixote, I muttered, "I'd love to, but I can't do that. I have a paper due on..."
As if we were doing some kind of complicated dance step, she grabbed my arm and pulled me closer. "I'm only asking for an hour or two of your time."
By then, I was almost panting for air. "But ... but, I have to do research for my paper..."
"Of course, you do. You have your tablet with you, don't you? I've seen you take it out of your bag in class. You can go on the internet and work on the paper on the way back."
Her voice felt soothing and reassuring. It was only an hour or two ..."Okay, but how will I get back? I can't afford the train ticket."
"Of course not, you're a student. Don't worry, my driver will take you back into the city. He'll take you wherever you want to go. Will that work for you?"
"I don't know. It just doesn't seem right. You're my teacher..."
"That's right, and I'm going to answer your questions about class, only instead of talking in the privacy of my office, you'll be chaperoned by my driver."
I shrugged. I wanted to do it so bad, but this had to be breaking school rules. "I just ..."
"What's not right about it? My housekeeper is there and so is my gardener. Don't worry, I won't eat you alive."
"I guess ... Maybe it's okay ... " I kept waiting for myself to say "no," but I didn't.
She patted me on the shoulder. "Good. When can you leave?"
I glanced at the clock on the wall behind her. "I'm off duty in five minutes."
She set down her glass on my tray. "Okay, meet me outside by the curb and we'll be set to go."
Chapter 2
I watched her saunter out—me, and all the other men in the dining room. She stopped to greet about ten other faculty members, all men. I felt a sense of pride that I was the one who was going to spend time with her.
In the kitchen, I took off my waiter's jacket, grabbed my coat, slung my book bag over my shoulder, and followed her outside. I tried not to stare at the way her hips swayed as she walked, but I wasn't successful. She definitely knew how to use her body, but what did she want with me? I'd seen how every other male faculty member watched her at the party. She could have any of them, married or not.
The October sun had started to set and a cool breeze came up. Somewhere on the way, she'd picked up a fur jacket and a small leather handbag. She pulled on gloves and buttoned the jacket around her before she stepped to the curb at 120th Street. A black limo pulled up. Rumor was her father was one of those billionaires who made his fortune on the stock market. She certainly couldn't make enough money to afford that car on a salary at Columbia.
I wondered what she carried in her handbag. Not much—it was too small. It probably contained lipstick and a compact. She didn't need any makeup other than that. I guessed she was what people called a natural beauty.
Dressed in a uniform and cap, the driver stepped out and opened the back door. I watched her get in, memorizing exactly how her legs and back looked, and then I crawled inside behind her.
The limo drove away from the curb and Dr. Redfield leaned across me. I felt her body soft and insistent next to me, also something mysterious and forbidden about it that scared me. She pulled down the window shades on my side of the limo. They snapped into place, letting no light in from outside. Then she did her window and the back window. She wanted to be in a private world and signaled to the driver. The curtain closed over the window between the front and back seat.
She slipped off her gloves. "Let me take your bag. It's in the way."
I handed it to her and she shoved it onto the floor out of my reach. "Pour me a drink. Champagne, I think." She pointed to a small bar in front of us. "You take one, too."
My hands shook at the thought of what I was doing, what we were doing, but I focused my mind on how to open a champagne bottle. I'd been trained by the bartender at my job. I poured a glass of champagne and handed it to her.
She took out a small box of chocolates from a cabinet under the bar and bit into one. "These are divine. Straight from Paris. Here, have one."
I took the gold foil candy and unwrapped the chocolate. She was right. They were terrific.
She handed me a glass of champagne.
"No, thanks, I'd rather keep my mind clear."
She gave me a disgusted glance. "Don't spoil the party. Have the wine."
The way she said it made me take the glass. It wasn't that I thought she might hit me or anything like that. It just felt like whatever she said was the right thing to do, but I didn't know why
Once I'd taken a few sips of champagne, I took out my notes again and read through them, trying to decide what to ask her first.
She sipped her champagne and chuckled. "It's a strange feeling."
"What is?" I muttered, staring down at my notes, but wanting so bad to look and see what she was doing.
"The contact of my silk skirt on my naked legs and the feel of the leather seats under me. Don't you think it's strange?"
"Ah, I guess so..." My face had to be blood red. "About class..."
I sipped champagne and promised myself I'd only drink one glass.
"Did you know that Shakespeare may have written a rather racy edition of Romeo and Juliet?"
"A what?" The champagne took over my brain and I wasn't sure I heard her right. "Shakespeare? Are you talking about Shakespeare?"
She put her hand on mine and squeezed. Her fingers feel warm, firm, in charge. "Yes, you know, Shakespeare. The Bard?"
"Yes, yes, of course. He's who we're studying in English."
"I know. Ted Jackson is a friend of mine."
She said Professor Jackson's name like he was more than a friend. For some reason, that made my heart pound and something evil started up inside me. Who was Professor Jackson to be such a good friend to her—to this goddess sitting beside me?
She put her hand on the sleeve of my jacket. "Cody, aren't you warm? Why don't you take this off. Relax. Enjoy."
I glanced down at my jacket and realized I was warm. She was right. How did she know so much about me? I felt both scared and attracted.
"Cody, take off that jacket, please." She said it in a more demanding tone this time, like I should do as she said.
I shrugged and grabbed the bottom of one sleeve.
"Relax, Cody, I'm not going to hurt you." She unzipped my jacket the rest of the way down, real slow, teasing me. She grabbed the bottom of the sleeve and I bent my elbow as I slid my arm out. Why did I feel undressed when I only had one arm out of my sleeve?
"Just one more," she said softly into my ear.
Her breath felt warm and sultry on my skin.
She took hold of my other arm and walked her fingers down until grabbed the bottom of the other sleeve and pulled my jacket off. She slid the jacket away and set it on the seat on the other side of her. "There, now, isn't better?"
I grinned "Yes," but something had changed between us. I'm not sure what , or even if I liked the change. I just knew I'd never had anyone treat me that way before.
She poured more champagne in my glass.
"How do you like your drink? Is it too dry? Too fruity?"
"It's...it's very nice." Her eyes burrowed into my skin and I felt obligated to sip from my glass.
When I did, she shifted her glance to my feet. She kicked off her shoes and then bent down and untied my sneakers. "These are very warm, aren't they?"
"I'm not sure." I'm really wasn't. I had no idea what she had in mind, and that made me nervous.
