Literature, lust and love - Professor Romanoff

FOURTEEN

I slipped out of her hold on me and landed on my feet as I leant my forehead on hers. The birds were softly chirping and the sunlight was streaming through the fleeting clouds, illuminating Natasha and I on the track.

"Let's go, love," Natasha whispered to me. I nodded silently, not trusting my words to not betray me. She brushed away the wet hair on my face before taking my hand and pulling me towards the main campus. I let her guide me towards her car, which had been left in the teacher's lot, and slipped into the front seat, watching Natasha turn the key and start the engine. The car's interior lights dimmed, leaving us in a dim atmosphere, seemingly fitting for the emotions that were being kept in the car. I could feel Natasha's eye flick over to me every few seconds as if to check if I was really there, and really real.

"Natasha." My voice came out like a whisper as if it was scared to disturb the silence.

"Yes, Desi?" Her head turned a few degrees to my direction, keeping her eyes on the road as she pulled out of the campus.

"I really do love you."

I watched as her lips morphed into her small smile that I loved so much, and her eyes lingered on me longer than they should have while we were on the road.

"I really do love you, too." She pulled up behind the stop line at a set of traffic lights and turned to face me. The morning sun was highlighting the golden flecks in her green eyes, and I could tell that my blonde hair was turning golden. Her soft hand reached out and cupped my cheek, her thumb tracing over my cheekbones, and she moved her head towards mine, pulling me into a sweet kiss. 

The light turned green, taking Natasha's attention off of me and onto our journey home, and I was left to revel in the feeling of her lips on mine. My thumb absentmindedly traced over my bottom lip as I savoured in her touch, feeling as if I were going to lose it at any second. Growing up reading books, living in an imaginary world where the boy always got the girl, or the family always ended up together in the end, made me want to have my own happy ending. But to do that, one must always treat every event like it's your last. No one ever knows it's your last kiss until the other person is not there to kiss you, the last goodbye until you can no longer speak to them, the last embrace before you can never touch them again. Life is so fragile that I wanted Natasha to always know and feel my love until the day I can't give it to her anymore. The saddest thing that can happen to a person is not a heartbreak, but an unfulfilled life.

The feeling of the motor dying down brought me out of my mind, and I watched Natasha through the front window as she walked around the car to get to me. The door swung open and I took her outstretched hand that pulled me into a hug. I latched onto her, pulling her close so that I could feel her breath on my ear, a breath that at the moment was proving to be quite effective in warming me up from the cold. Natasha noticed me shivering, so pulled away from me and led me up the stairs to her front door. The image of a crying Desi in this same spot a few hours ago flashed through my mind but I pushed it away, along with the remaining sadness that was slowly becoming replaced with happiness.

"What's the plan for today, Tasha?" I walked through the door she was holding open for me as I asked the question, looking around the foyer for a place to put my wet coat.

"Well, we need to get you out of these clothes," Natasha said, pulling the coat off of my shoulders and tugging it off my arms, leaving me in my small top and jeans from the night before. "And it's a Saturday, so I'd say we have the entire day to do whatever we want to do."

I nodded, turning back around to face her, only then seeing the small glint in her eye and the upturned side of her lips. Her glance flitted over to the couch, and I took a step closer towards her, seeing her breath hitch as I did so.

"These clothes do need to come off one way or another, I suppose." I said these words with a very serious look on my face, unrelenting, which led her to kiss me with great passion.

----------------------

"Alex knows about us, by the way." I turned my head on the pillow to watch her reaction, but Natasha merely giggled and shook her head.

"I know," she sat up, wrapping the bedsheets around her to combat the coolness of her bedroom. "He sent me a, um, email, this morning, around six."

I let out a small chuckle, "An email?"

Natasha was already reaching out to her nightstand to grab her phone, turning quickly back to me with the device in hand, letting me rest my head on her chest as she pulled up the email. It read:

Hi Professor Romanoff,

I'm sure you're absolutely great and all, but I wouldn't be doing my best friend duties if I weren't warning you to never hurt Desi. If not, I will find you. :)

Yours sincerely,

Alex.

I tutted as I finished the email, looking up at Natasha. "It's a bit late for warnings now." Natasha raised her eyebrow at me in confusion, and I smirked, poking her stomach. "I fear, Miss Romanoff, that you own my heart and body, and anything you say or do now will absolutely destroy me."

"You can't be serious, Desi?" Natasha let out a nervous breath, looking down at me through her fluttery eyelashes.

"Well, it wouldn't destroy me, because I do have some self-love, but," I rolled over and jumped onto Natasha, playfully pinning her down, "I am absolutely infatuated with you so that is a bit of a problem for me."

"Is that so, a problem, Miss Dunn?" Natasha gave me her famous teacher look from beneath me, making me bite my lip in anticipation.

"Just a small one, Miss Romanoff, I promise. Nothing that can't be solved by a kiss."

"Oh really? It just so happens that I quite like kissing you, so this shouldn't be a problem," Natasha smiled at me, signalling for me to fulfil my want.