Chapter 201: Code Red!

PRIYA’S POV

Waking up felt like floating on a warm cloud.

The Egyptian cotton sheets of the king-sized bed were impossibly soft against my bare skin.

Pale winter sunshine poured through the terrace glass, lighting up the penthouse suite in a wash of gold. Outside, the blizzard had cleared, leaving the harbor blanketed in sparkling white snow.

I stretched my limbs, letting out a slow, luxurious sigh.

Every single muscle in my body had a deep, delicious ache. My hips were tender, my inner thighs were sore, and my mind was thoroughly wrecked in the best possible way.

Four orgasms.

A slow, satisfied smirk curved my lips as the memories of last night rushed through my head. Pinned to the hallway wall. The bed. Cowgirl. All fours.

Beside me, the mattress dipped.

Adrian was already awake, leaning back against the plush velvet headboard.

He was shirtless, wearing only a pair of dark gray lounge pants. His dark hair was charmingly rumpled, his sharp jaw dusted with morning stubble.

In his right hand, he held a small white ceramic cup of steaming espresso.

"Good morning, counselor," he murmured in a low, smooth voice, laced with amusement.

His eyes swept over me as I pulled the white duvet up over my breasts, his gaze lingering on the faint red marks scattered along my collarbone.

"Good morning, Professor," I countered, leaning up on one elbow.

Adrian chuckled, reaching over to hand me a second espresso cup from the nightstand.

"I took the liberty of brewing you an espresso," he said, his thumb brushing against my fingers as I took the cup. "Given the amount of physical labor you performed last night, I assumed you’d need the caffeine."

I took a warm sip, letting the rich, dark roast wake up my senses.

"Physical labor?" I raised an eyebrow, smirking right back at him. "If I recall correctly, you were the one who completely lost his composure, Professor Flores. You weren’t very restrained when you had me against the headboard."

Adrian’s smirk softened into something surprisingly gentle.

He set his espresso cup down on the tray, shifting closer until his warm bare chest was pressed against my side.

He reached out, his long fingers tucking a dark curl behind my ear, his knuckles lingering against my jaw.

"I’ve never lost control like that in my life, Priya," he confessed quietly, the playful arrogance stripping away into raw, honest sincerity. "I came to Briar burned out. Cynical. Ready to coast through a temporary teaching gig and figure out what was left of my career."

He held my gaze, his thumb stroking my lower lip.

"And then you came along," he whispered. "And you blew up every single rule I had."

My heart did a strange, fluttery flip in my chest.

For all my snappy legal rebuttals and guarded defenses, hearing Adrian Flores speak with that kind of quiet vulnerability made my throat tighten.

"Section 4.2 still exists, Adrian," I reminded him softly. "Monday morning is coming."

"I know," Adrian said with a hard expression. "We have to be smart. In public, you’re the sharpest student in my seminar, and I’m the visiting faculty member who grades your papers without bias. But behind closed doors?"

He leaned in, capturing my lips in a slow, deep morning kiss that tasted like dark espresso and sweet surrender.

"Behind closed doors, you’re mine," he murmured against my mouth. "And I have no intention of letting you go."

I smiled into the kiss, my fingers tangling in the thick hair at the nape of his neck.

When he finally pulled back, he patted my hip through the duvet and swung his long legs over the side of the bed.

"I’m going to take a quick shower," he said, standing up. His broad back and muscular shoulders flexed as he stretched, completely unbothered by his bare skin. "Then we can order room service. Whatever you want."

"Sounds like a plan," I purred, sinking back against the pillows.

Adrian gave me one last lingering look before padding across the hardwood floor and disappearing into the frosted glass master bathroom.

A second later, the sound of running water echoed through the suite.

I rolled onto my stomach, basking in the peaceful morning warmth.

My gaze drifted through the open bedroom doorway toward the suite’s private hallway.

My phone was still out there, lying face-down on the plush carpet runner where it had slipped from my fingers last night.

After that frantic, near-disastrous FaceTime call with Nora in the hallway where Adrian had been on his knees torturing my thighs, I panicked.

I had faked a dying battery, hung up, quickly switched the phone to Do Not Disturb so nobody could interrupt our private Thanksgiving, and let it drop to the runner the second Adrian pulled me against the wall.

"I should probably go grab it and check if Nora texted," I muttered to myself.

I swung my legs over the side of the mattress, padded barefoot across the cool hardwood floor, and stepped into the hallway.

The phone was resting right against the baseboard.

I scooped it up from the plush runner, walked back into the bedroom, and curled back against the pillows.

I tapped the glass screen.

The display lit up.

I swiped down from the top corner to toggle off Do Not Disturb.

The exact millisecond the phone reconnected to the cellular network, all hell broke loose.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz-buzz-buzz.

The phone began to vibrate violently in my hand like an angry hornet, notifications cascading down the screen in a terrifying, unbroken waterfall.

Missed Call: Bear (11:02 AM)

Missed Call: Bear (11:08 AM)

Missed Call: Bear (11:15 AM)

Missed Call: Bear (11:22 AM)

Missed Call: Bear (11:34 AM)...

My jaw dropped.

Fourteen missed calls.

All from Bear.

Before my brain could even process that, the text messages started expanding across the glass like an incoming missile barrage.

Bear (11:05 AM): Priya. I made turkey pot pie with the leftovers. Dropping a hot tray off at North Hall.

Bear (11:12 AM): Your car is in your spot under a foot of snow. I knocked. You awake?

Bear (11:25 AM): Knocked three times. Nobody answered. Priya, answer your phone.

Bear (11:40 AM): Your windows are black. If you had a seizure or passed out from that migraine, I swear to God I’m kicking the door latch in.

My stomach dropped straight through the floor.

"No, no, no, no," I choked out, my voice cracking in pure panic.

Then came the texts from Nora.

Nora (12:05 PM): PRIYA! Bear is outside North Hall panicking! He says you haven’t answered your door or your phone in fourteen hours!

Nora (12:08 PM): Knox tried calling you too! Are you okay?! Please text me the second you see this!

A cold wave of pure terror washed over me.

Bear was literally standing outside Room 304 with a hot turkey pot pie right this very second, about to bust through the wooden door like the Kool-Aid Man!

If he kicked the door open, or worse, got the campus RA or campus security to unlock the room... they would find Room 304 completely empty.

My fake bed-rot decoy would be exposed.

My migraine lie would fall apart in seconds.

And Nora Bennett, the sharpest woman at Briar University, would immediately realize her best friend had vanished for Thanksgiving night. She would start asking questions I could never answer without destroying Adrian Flores’s entire legal career.

"Code red," I gasped, bolting upright in bed. "Code red."

My thumbs flew across the keyboard in a frantic blur.

I needed a cover story. A rock-solid, ironclad alibi that explained why I wasn’t in my room, why my phone was silent, and why I hadn’t driven anywhere.

My legal brain kicked into emergency overdrive.

The law library.

The Briar Law Library had a basement level... two floors below ground with thick concrete walls, zero cell reception, and private study carrels that were open twenty-four hours to honors students with card access.

I rapidly typed out a reply to Nora, my fingers practically shaking against the glass:

Priya: TELL THE TWO-HUNDRED-AND-FIFTY-POUND LUMBERJACK TO STAND DOWN! I’m alive! My phone was on Do Not Disturb in the basement law library stacks! I lost track of time cross-referencing footnote 14 on Vance v. Department of Commerce for seminar! There is literally zero cell reception down here! My battery is low, but I am walking back to North Hall right this second! Tell Bear to leave the pie with the front desk and DO NOT LET HIM BREAK MY DOOR!

I hit send.

The little blue bubble delivered.

I slumped forward against the duvet for half a second, my heart hammering against my ribs so hard it felt like it was going to burst through my chest.

Then reality hit me again.

I wasn’t in the basement of the law library.

I was four miles away, in a luxury penthouse suite at the Grand Harborside Hotel, completely naked.

"Move, Patel, move!" I whispered frantically to myself.

I threw off the duvet and leaped out of bed.

I grabbed my cashmere sweater and skinny jeans from the armchair, yanking them on with furious speed. I shoved my feet into my leather boots, practically tripping over the rug as I scrambled across the floor to scoop up my weekender bag.

I grabbed my makeup, my keys, and my coat, shoving everything inside.

The bathroom door swung open, a cloud of warm steam drifting into the bedroom.

Adrian stepped out with a white towel wrapped securely around his waist, water droplets glistening on his broad chest and dark hair.

He stopped dead in his tracks, his eyebrows shooting up in utter bewilderment as he took in the sight of me frantically zipping my coat.

"Priya?" Adrian asked in a confused tone. "Is there a five-alarm fire, or are you robbing my suite?"

"Worse," I gasped, slinging my bag over my shoulder as my thumb opened the Uber app. "A giant hockey defenseman is currently trying to break down my dorm room door with a turkey pot pie."

Adrian blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I don’t have time to explain!" I said, rushing over to him.

I grabbed the front of his towel, pulled him down, and planted a breathless, searing kiss on his lips.

"You were incredible last night," I whispered against his mouth. "Room service is on me next time. I have to go before campus police gets involved."

Before Adrian could even get a word out, I spun on my heel, grabbed my phone, and sprinted out the door of Suite 408.