It’s now or never.

Victoria James crept her way closer to the French doors. All around her, the dining room was buzzing with quiet conversations. The gathering was supposedly a celebration of somebody’s promotion.

She smiled at a few of the party-goers then quickly bowed her head. A fresh blush heated her cheeks, and her inner thighs tingled with expectation. Cameron wanted to play, and she’d accommodate him—in spades.

With a quick glance over her shoulder, she checked to make sure nobody was following her before she slipped outside. It was a gorgeous night for seduction. Walking across the patio, she stared at the stars twinkling against the inky backdrop. The faint smell of early budding lavender hung in the air, and a soft, whispering breeze blew across her skin.

She imagined it was Cameron McPherson’s hands on her. Stroking her. Drawing out her inner vixen. Cameron brought out the naughty side of her she’d discovered in college and then shrugged away because it wasn’t prim or proper for a teacher to indulge in sexual fantasies.

Back then she was the starry-eyed teacher who thought she could move mountains by educating young minds. Yeah. Right. That’s a crock of shit.

Overworked, underpaid, she dealt with kids whose greatest aspiration was to cause as much trouble as possible. Minute by minute, she rolled with the waves of rising gang violence infiltrating her classroom. She already had a short list of her students who would be in adult prison before graduation or dead.

It was at the beginning of the present school year when the school board brought in Cameron. She’d met all kinds of principals in her five years at Kermit P. Roscoe High School. Most were old, hard-nosed men who believed in cracking down on the violence by sitting in their office and letting the assistant principal dole out the punishments. Those crotchety old coots were also so close to retirement they could taste it.

Then Cameron entered the picture. The new principal took a hands-on approach. Cameron McPherson stalked the halls, caught skippers by the droves, broke up fights almost as easily, and had most of the student population planning his death while the others were trying not to get caught in the crossfire.

It was during an altercation between two rival gangs that she’d come face to face with the man. Instead of being trapped in her classroom when the lockdown was announced, she’d been in the main office. She couldn’t say that first meeting was anything other than harrowing. There wasn’t time for pleasantries. Nope. He told her to get behind his desk and stay put.

How he’d taken down the three handgun-toting gang members was still a matter of speculation. That he had brought a sense of safety to Roscoe, and especially to her, made all the difference in the world. The school seemed to find its footing and was even seeing the number of gang-related incidents drop.

“Boo.”

Startled, Victoria jumped. “Cameron, you scared ten years off my life.”

“Did I now?” He laid a hand on the small of her back and led her into the garden. “You look gorgeous tonight. But that’s nothing unusual. I’ve caught myself staring at you a few times in the past month.” She gulped against the knot of lust growing in her throat when he inspected her from the top of her head to the tips of her shoes. “Thanks for agreeing to be my date for the night.”

Like I’d turn you down. Her brain focused on the first part of his statement. Gorgeous? Me? “Really?” A shiver raced the length of her spine when he stared at her with his intense green eyes. It was the same gaze she dreamed of every night. “You know this isn’t a good idea. If the school board found out, they’d have both our jobs and your reputation would be in tatters.” Even as she said it, the mental picture of their last clandestine meeting popped into her head. His tongue had done amazing things to her body. Her core started to throb when she recalled him fucking her doggie style. His big cock had filled her completely. The orgasm she’d experienced left her shaking for more and had her wet every time she caught a glimpse of him or a whiff of his cologne. “You know reputation is everything in this profession.”

“Let me worry about my reputation.” He motioned for her to sit beside him on one of the stone benches surrounding an ornate fountain. “Tonight is all about you.”

“Cameron, we shouldn’t. What if somebody sees us?” She peeked over her shoulder to see the lights glaring in the dining room. Through the sheers, she watched shadows move back and forth. “What about Duncan?” Half in love with the hunky principal, Victoria licked her suddenly dry lips when she considered Duncan MacGreggor. He was Cameron’s best friend and the one guy who she’d love to fuck just once. There was something about the enigmatic philanthropist that turned her on and had her imagining him screwing her hard.

I’m out of my mind.

Duncan MacGreggor was a lot like Cameron in both size and demeanor. Athletic, they had faces to die for and similar green eyes. The exception was Duncan’s hair wasn’t pitch black but a softer shade of charcoal. He was also a few inches taller. Still, they could have been close cousins if she didn’t know better.

You and your stupid fantasies. Stop it. Stop it right now.

“What about him? He won’t mind if we step outside for a few minutes. Hell, if you’re a good girl, he might even join us.”

“Cameron!” Mortified, she wondered if she was that transparent. The throb in her core turned to a damnable pound. She slapped him on his shoulder. Noting the smile playing at the corner of his lips, she went to scoot away. He caught her wrist and held her to him. “You are incorrigible.” Her reprimand lacked all force. Calm down. He was teasing you.

“About time you noticed, Ms. James. What I want to know is what you’re hiding from me.”

She would have given him what for if he hadn’t wrapped his arm around her or his hand hadn’t traced a line down her cheek. Tipping her face up to his, she met him halfway. His lips moved slowly over hers, drawing the vixen to the surface. Tangling her fingers in his hair, she surrendered on a gasp. Their tongues met and dueled. Her nipples tightened to hard buds.

A low moan escaped her lips as he molded her body to his. Damn, it took every ounce of her personal discipline not to climb all over him. She ripped her mouth away. “Cameron, it’s just not safe for you.”

“I’m fine,” he vowed. “And so are you.” He brushed his thumb over her kiss-swollen lips. “Tell me your biggest fantasy. Let me fulfill it tonight.”