Alphabet of Erotica Anthology

After Hours | 1

"It started with a failing grade... and ended on his desk."

Intro: Victoria Langford has always been the perfect student-disciplined, brilliant, and unshakable. But one failed grade could cost her the scholarship she's worked her whole life for. Her last hope? Professor Sebastian Callaghan, the man who holds here academic future in his hand. What starts as a desperate bargain in his office after hours spirals into something far more intoxicating, and far more dangerous than Victoria ever imagined.

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Victoria Langford

They say desperation makes you do stupid things. It makes you reckless and drives you to do things you wouldn't normally consider.

I think that's bullshit.

Desperation just strips you bare. Peels off the good-girl mask and forces you to show who you really are underneath.

And me?

I was nothing if not honest when I knocked on Professor Callaghan's door after class. Honest when I dabbed on red lipstick that was a little too bold for campus. Honest when I left the first two buttons of my blouse undone, just enough to be noticed.

I didn't plan to seduce Professor Callaghan. At least, not until I saw that ugly red mark bleeding across the top of my term paper that afternoon.

D+

My breath had caught in my throat when I saw it. Like someone had sucker punched me in the chest. A D-fucking-plus.

It was a death sentence for my GPA. A guillotine hovering over my scholarship. Over my future. Over the carefully stacked life I'd busted my ass to build.

And no-I'm not the type of girl who throws herself at a man to get ahead. I don't flirt my way through life or bat my lashes for favors. I study. I work hard. I earn what's mine.

But this time?

This time, life had chewed me up and spit me out.

My dad lost his job. I started working double shifts just to help out. And somewhere between tutoring and pulling all-nighters, I handed in a disaster of a paper.

I knew I earned it, but I couldn't afford the price of failure.

That D+ was a bullet hole in my GPA, and I wasn't going to just bleed out and accept it.

So, here I was, standing outside his office, well past sunset. The hallways were empty and the last traces of daylight were bleeding out behind the faculty windows.

I adjusted my blouse, smoothed down my skirt, and swallowed the lump in my throat before knocking on his door.

"Come in," came the deep baritone from inside.

God, his voice.

That low, worn rasp that always sounded like he'd just woken up. It made heat bloom low in my stomach.

I pushed the door open and stepped into the soft amber glow of his office. It smelled like paper and coffee, a hint of worn leather and something clean and masculine.

Books lined every wall. Stacks of paper littered his desk, along with a half-finished mug. And there he was-Professor Sebastian Callaghan. Sleeves rolled to his forearms, top button undone, tie loose. The glow from his desk lamp kissed the edges of his sharp jawline. It made him looked... unfairly good.

He didn't look up immediately. Just typed something on his laptop, then finally raised his gaze-those pale blue eyes catching the light like ice under moonlight.

"Miss Langford," he said, adjusting his thin-rimmed glasses slightly. "Office hours ended an hour ago."