Been so busy that it has been a while. Let me know what you think. Stay safe everyone. Everyone in the story is over 18.
Miss Anderson waited with bated breath. Why was he taking so long? And yet he had phoned and told her he had been successful. So why was she so anxious? She knew that only too well. Even if only for the next few weeks, he was still her student, and this favor she had asked of him was totally inappropriate. It could ruin his life, and yet not asking him would ruin hers, and so in the end, there had been no choice.
Miss Anderson was riddled with guilt and even self-loathing but at the same time a sense of relief that she and her loved ones were safe.
When finally Joe arrived, it was his turn to wait patiently. It felt like Miss Anderson was taking forever to open the envelope and digest the contents, but then finally, she put the papers down and smiled at him.
"Thank you, Joe," she said, the emotion showing in her voice. "You are so brave and kind to have risked everything to do this for me." She sensed in him left-over pent-up excitement and energy from what must have been a big adrenalin rush. Understandable with what he had just done.
"Well, Miss," he chuckled, "let's get rid of the evidence straight away. We don't want to take any chances, right?" Miss Anderson shook her head as if to say, "no, we don't. Then we can forget all about it." Joe retrieved a set of matches from his bag, and reaching down, he lay the document in a bit of crevis in the ground. Joe shielded the match from the non-existent breeze and used it to set fire to the papers. They burnt quickly. Concentrating hard, he burnt every scrap, stamping and scattering the remains for good measure.
He looked up about to say something cheerful like, "that's done," but he was stopped in his tracks. His beautiful English teacher was troubled. Now all trace of her guilty secret was gone. The emotion and strain of the last few weeks finally overwhelmed her. She wrapped her arms around her upper chest as she stood shaking from head to foot. Then her head raised, and she looked at Joe, raising her right hand as she did; she bit her nails in a bid to control her emotions.
Joe took a step towards her, but she shook her head slightly and turned away, embarrassed by what was happening to her. A student should not see a teacher like this, but now he was more than that. A line had been crossed, and there was no going back. Miss Anderson realized that having Joe in her class would be difficult from now on. He was her star pupil, but things would be awkward.
Joe watched her shoulders shaking, and then he slowly walked around her.
"I am sorry," she said, "you have been wonderful, but I just need a moment. Perhaps you should go, and we can talk later," She added.
"It's okay," he replied softly. "I understand." Miss Anderson could tell he was not about to go anywhere. Joe thought he had never seen his teacher look so lovely.
"You took such a risk, Joe," she said quietly. "You saved my life and the others. We would have all been ruined. I, they would have gone to jail." She added.
"It's okay," he repeated. "You are safe now." She nodded her head and smiled, regaining a little of her self composure, but then she froze. Joe had raised a hand slowly, pausing when she had flinched but proceeding again when she made no further reaction. Her eyes fixed on his hand as he hesitantly stroked the side of her face before, with his tongue protruding between his lips, he lightly stroked her face on the other side too. She had seen him do that with his tongue in class when he was concentrating hard. She smiled, and his hands traveled to her raised one. She had continued biting her nails but allowed her arm to be lowered and her fingers to be unfurled.
He made a sandwich of her hand, placing both of his on either side, gently rubbing the top side of her soft cool hands before using the fingers of his bottom hand to intertwine with her fingers. It felt so comforting, precisely the support she needed at that moment. Inside though, she was screaming with horror. Miss Anderson stood frozen to the spot as she watched her hand go up to Joe's mouth, and he kissed the back of it.
"Joe don't," she whispered, panicking now, "it's not right." He placed her hand onto his shoulder and then pulled her to him, and they hugged. For a moment, she let herself be held by Joe. Miss Anderson closed her eyes and lost herself in his embrace. She was telling herself as she did that there was nothing wrong with a hug. Of course, that was not true, but the favor had crossed the student/teacher line, and in every sense, this was nothing in comparison. But of course, she knew a deeper, darker place lay beyond, and she felt it move a step closer, tempting her.
Being held by him made her feel safe, and yet the enormous danger was all she thought about. His strength seemed to flow into her, and her composure returned. Then she froze again, and her eyes went wide. He had begun to nuzzle her neck. Yet, she could not bring herself to reproach him as she should. He was her hero. At the same time, she needed to stop things from going too far.
She moved her head slightly, succeeding in breaking off the nuzzling but only achieving something far worse. They came face to face, noses lightly touching with their mouths millimeters apart. Miss Anderson could feel Joe's hot breath on her face. For a moment, their eyes looked into the others, and Miss Anderson suddenly found she longed for more.
The next few moments, she only really spectated what she did; Miss Anderson did not feel she was participating. To her own surprise, her two arms came around the back of Joe's neck. For what felt like ages, they paused there. Joe went to speak, but Miss Anderson's face made a hesitant, very slight movement forward as if testing what would happen. Instead of saying something, he moved an equal fraction back. When her mouth also pushed back, he made a similar hesitant move forward. This strange game repeated itself once more, before suddenly, without anyone being clear who initiated it, they kissed. They broke off quickly and looked at each other in shock.
Miss Anderson reached forward again and kissed Joe for a second time. It was as if they had thrown a switch. A release of passion superseded the first tentative touch. This time her mouth explored his, and her hand behind his head pulled him towards her. They broke off, and she noted the look of shock on his face was even more significant now and smiled. What the hell are you doing? She thought to herself.
Stop this now! A commanding voice in her head told her. She went to speak, to defuse the situation before everything turned into a complete mess. What was that saying? "Out of the frying pan into the fire." She would make him see the kiss as a sign of her deep gratitude to him and appreciate they were going no further. However, while she dallied, Joe was not idle.
One of his fingers had brushed down her mouth, tweaking her lips and his hand then went down and firmly touched her breast. For a moment, it stayed there, rubbing her chest through her thin blouse. She could only stare at him.
"Joe?" She said, confused at how fast things were moving and her own conflicted feelings. Miss Anderson found she had no more words. Surprise at his assertiveness morphed into an intense thrill that swirled through her body. All those logical thoughts that were in her head went instantly to one side. Miss Anderson went to move forward again, to kiss him for the third time.
She needed to touch him, but at the same time, she kidded herself that acting this way would regain some control of the situation. His hand took hold of hers. He gripped it tightly and stoked the back of her palm with his fingers, and he began to move. He pulled her arm to make her come with him.
"Not here," he said curtly. Miss Anderson realized what he meant. In the tension of the situation, they had forgotten they were in full view of the school. They would only be tiny dots in the far distance from any of the classroom windows, but still, it was a worry. Miss Anderson froze. None the less this was a decision point. Did she go with him? That would be another step towards disaster. Perhaps though, it was safer to go with him. Be out of sight. Then talk herself out of this without wounding him. Should she go or resist his tug and have the discussion here?
She stayed completely still, trying to think fast, but a firm decision eluded her. Slowly her arm stretched out as Joe moved further away, and she did not move. Finally, when she was at full stretch, the decision seemed taken for her. She stiffly turned and walked with him.
They walked silently into the thick copse that lay behind them, and when they reached the center, Joe pushed her gently against a large tree. She went to speak, but he began to kiss her, and she kissed him back. She knew she was fanning the flames, but she could not help herself. His hands stroked the top of her thighs and her ass.