Chapter 45 What are we?
|| Author POV ||
Rosa stood infront the study room with a book and notebook clutched tightly to her chest. She hesitated, nibbling her lower lip before finally knocking. Her heart was pounding in her throat.
The door soon creaked open slowly. Killian was standing there with his phone pressed to his ear and speaking in a language she didn’t understand. His cold blue eyes fell on Rosalie.
Rosa swallowed hard. Without breaking his conversation, Killian leaned down and in a swift movement, wrapped one strong arm around her waist lifting her effortlessly into his arms. Rosa gasped in surprise.
Still on the call, Killian carried her inside with ease. He set Rosa down gently on the cold surface of the study table, her legs dangling off the edge as she stared at him stunned.
Rosa frowned when he took the books from her clutch and placed them aside without a word. She couldn’t make sense of whatever he was saying over the phone but the way he spoke attracted her.
Her eyes briefly dropped to the grey t-shirt hugging his chest. Her heartbeat quickened.
Then his arm slipped behind her before pulling her flush against his chest.
“C’est fini. Personne ne doit savoir.” Killian’s french words were cold as ice while he spoke over the phone call.
\[Translation: It’s finished. No one should know.\]
He hung up the call. His eyes locked onto her innocent stare. Killian gripped her jaw desperately and crashed his lips onto hers.
Rosa’s breath stuck with wide-eyes.
The cold professor was suddenly a stranger she didn’t recognize.
Everything changed after that night. It all felt unreal, he had kissed her three times already.
A professor and his student kissing like this? What did that make him? What was he to her?
Rosa’s hand slammed down on the table, trying to steady herself under his pressure. His lips were gentle as they sucked on hers.
Heat bloomed in her cheeks, her shyness spreading. Slowly Rosa pushed him. Killian pulled away, breathing hard and his gaze fixed on her swollen lips.
“How was your exam today?” he asked with his eyes stuck on her flushed face.
Rosa kept her gaze lowered, her heart pounding wildly. Too much was happening, she could barely believe it.
She gave a slow nod. Killian tilted his head “What does that mean?”
Rosa met his eyes for a brief moment then quickly looked away.
He leaned down “You’re shaking.” he whispered close to her ear sending a shiver down her spine.
Rosa shook her head but he tugged her closer without hesitation. “Aah~” she moaned, her body trembling as his lips found the sensitive skin of her neck.
Killian inhaled deeply, his grip tightening around her fragile frame. His tongue traced slow tantalizing circles over her skin.
“Ah—” Rosa moaned, frustrated.
“Pr-professor-ah—” she tried to push him away at the weird sensation. Killian stopped and a dark chuckle escaped his lips.
Leaning in close, his voice dropped to a dangerous whisper in her ear, “Does a professor and his student do things like this?”
His words made her eyes widen in shock. Killian’s lips brushed her jaw softly, coaxing her eyes to flutter closed.
“Hm?” he hummed. Rosa couldn’t process anything. He had a point. Rosa swallowed at the thought.
What are they?
Her timid eyes stared at him. She wanted to ask. Wanted to confirm.
Killian’s lips curled into a slow smirk.
“Tu es ma petite amie, même si tu ne le sais pas encore.”
\[Translation: You’re my girlfriend, even if you don’t know it yet.\]
Rosa confusedly stared at him. What did he say? She wandered. Was he making a fool out of her? The unfamiliar words left her feeling dumb for not understanding. Her throat tightened.
“W-what—?” she muttered, eyes fixed on her lap as her fingers fidgeted with the hem of her frock.
“You tell me, little rabbit.” He tilted his head slightly, voice low and dangerous. “What are we?”
His breath ghosted over her lips making her shiver.
Rosa didn’t respond. Her lashes lowered. Her heart pounded too loudly for thoughts to form.
“Y-you... my profess—”
He didn’t let her finish. “And?” His eyebrow lifted, daring her.
Rosa’s timid eyes slowly met his with full of confusion. She didn’t know the answer.
Killian leaned in closer, so close she could feel his lips brush her skin and he whispered.
“Ma douce, fragile petite amie.”
The French rolled off his tongue like a fountain of darkness.
Rosa blinked. Her brows furrowed.
“I-i don’t understand.”
A cruel smirk curled Killian’s lips. He tucked her hair behind her ear, eyes drinking in her timid expression.
Killian’s gaze dropped to her lips before drifting back up to her confused eyes.
“I said... You’re my sweet, fragile girlfriend.”
Rosa’s chest fluttered. The world seemed to tilt beneath her. Her heart pounded. Was this real? Or was he just playing with her?
Girlfriend?
The word echoed in her mind like a forbidden melody. Did he mean it? Did this cold and distant man just call her that? Her lips parted in disbelief.
Does that mean... he likes her?
Killian bit back a smirk at her dazed expression. His thumb brushed over her lips slowly.
Rosa stared at him, lips parted, her expression blank and numb from the weight of his words.
Her heart bloomed quietly. A fragile flower growing in the aftermath of a storm.
The world around her shifted, colors she hadn’t noticed before, bloomed to life.
Rosa lifted her arms slowly. Her hands reached around his neck, pulling him into her delicate embrace. Shock still flashed in her eyes, flickering and she glanced around the room. The tips of her fingers brushed through the back of his silky hair, trembling touches like she was afraid he might vanish.
Her wide eyes wandered the room, still caught in the haze of his confession.
Killian closed his eyes. So this is what it feels like... to be held by the one you crave?
Rosa didn’t move. She just clung to him, holding the moment like it might disappear.
“Does that answer your confusion?” Killian murmured, fingers gently tapping along her back.
Rosa only hummed, a dazed sound, her eyes still wide with disbelief.
“So...” his voice dropped, brushing the shell of her ear, “what am I to you?”
Her heartbeat stuttered violently. She knew the answer.
She just couldn’t believe she was allowed to say it.
“M-My... B-Boy-friend...”
Her body was shaking as if the words were too big for her mouth.
Then as if some fragile flame sparked within her,
She hugged him tighter and said a little louder, “You’re my boyfriend!”
Rosa heard him chuckle and It was deep and sinful.
Her world blurred. Everything felt unfamiliar and too strange to be real.
She pulled back from the hug. Her eyes searched his face with desperation just in time for his lips to crash against hers again.
Rosa didn’t resist. Her fists clenched his t-shirt, pulling him closer as his mouth devoured hers like a starving man.
His grip tightened, his body caging her in while her back arched slightly with the force.
She let him take and consume.
When his tongue brushed her bottom lip, it felt less like a kiss and more like a silent warning-\-‘You’re mine.’
Rosalie held onto his collar, shaking under his dominance. His lips owned hers.
A helpless whimper slipped from her and he swallowed it whole, deepening the kiss like he was hungry for her.
Then—ring.
The shrill sound of his phone sliced through the moment.
Rosa’s palm slammed against the table out of instinct, startled but Killian didn’t even flinch. He kissed her harder.
Ring.
Killian groaned annoyed. Reluctantly pulling away, a soft pop sound echoed between them.
Rosa peeked up at him through her lashes, watching as he lowered his gaze to the phone beside her.
‘Girlfriend—Boyfriend?’
The thought floated around her mind like a dangerous secret.
Her gaze drifted to the metallic piercing above his eyebrow.
Everything about him screamed ‘run’ but her heart whispered stay.
Killian’s face hardened as he checked the caller ID. Chris. If he called at this hour, this must be important. Without a word, he gently unhooked her little arms from his neck.
“I’ve to take it.” he muttered before already walking away with the phone pressed to his ear.
Rosa silently sat there, her fingers toyed with the hem of her dress.
Her thoughts tangled into knots.
He wants me... as his girlfriend?
The word echoed in her head like a foreign song she couldn’t quite learn the lyrics to.
Her boyfriend?
It sounded so simple. Just two word. But to her, it felt too big, forbidden and too impossible.
Was she even capable of being that to him?
He was everything she wasn’t. Confident. Untouchable. Cold like winter and sharp like ice.
And yet...he looked like he craved her too.
Is that why he gave her shelter? Kept her with him when she had nowhere else to go?
Rosa lowered her head, her hands folded tightly on her lap, gripping the fabric and a soft breath left her lips.
Her thoughts tangled. She didn’t dare to hope but hope was exactly what bloomed in her chest.
Rosa bit her lip with her gaze fixed on the floor. Her heart whispered questions her lips couldn’t form.
Was it really okay for her to give in to a monster in disguise?