The Professor’s Secret Passion

The Professor’s Secret Passion by M.L. Rhodes

An Amber Allure #1 Bestseller!

Professor Aidan Sheridan has secretly fantasized about his grad student, Nathan Turner, for two long years.  And now Nathan is hinting he’d like to move beyond their professional association to something on a deeper, more intimate level.  Although Aidan longs to claim the sexy, younger man as a lover, he doesn’t dare admit that he, too, burns for more.  Not if he intends to protect Nate from a bitter event in his own past that still haunts him.

When Nate suspects Aidan is hiding his real feelings, he takes matters into his own hands.  The long-pent-up passion between them explodes into a night of erotic and emotional intensity neither man can forget.  But in the light of day, will Nate’s love be enough to heal Aidan, or will the professor’s fears tear them apart?

Genre:  Contemporary
Release date:  September 2, 2006
Length:  Novella (21K words)

Available in ebook formats at:  Amber Allure, Kindle US, Kindle UK, ARE, Sony, B&N, Fictionwise, and other online booksellsers
Available in paperback at:  Amazon.com (The Professor’s Secret Passion is included in ML’s paperback gay anthology Couplings.  Click here for more info on Couplings!)

Excerpt…

Aidan reached out as if he were going to stroke Nate’s cheek, but then he stopped, his fingers curled into his palm, and his hand fell to his side.  The intensity of his gaze, which seconds before had been a swirling window to his soul, grew dull.  He shook his head and his voice was little more than a hoarse whisper.  “I’m sorry, Nathan.  You’re my student, and my friend, but nothing more. I don’t feel what you want me to feel.”

The cold plunge of the words hit the pit of Nate’s stomach, then spread outward, leaving him numb.  He’d been so certain there was something there…  He stared at Aidan, wishing him to take it back, change his mind.  But as the seconds ticked by on the wall clock, he didn’t.

So that’s in then. 

He felt himself nod, but it was like an out of body experience—he was present, but not.   “I understand,” he murmured.

Mechanically, he released Aidan’s hand, grabbed his book bag, and felt his heavy feet carry him to the door.  Felt his hand close around the cool metal of the knob.

But then, as if he were suddenly stepping out of the fog, his head cleared.  Puzzle pieces shifted in his mind, and in a moment of crystal clarity, everything fell into place—Aidan’s odd behavior this evening, his hot and cold emotions, his denial moments ago.

Nate released the knob, spun around, and turned toward the professor, who still stood by the desk.  Aidan looked startled.  His face was paler than Nate had ever seen it.

The book bag thunked to the floor.  Keeping his gaze locked with Aidan’s, Nate crossed the space between them in two steps, lightly grasped the man’s head in his hands, and settled his lips over Aidan’s.  He tasted warm and cinnamony, like the cinnamon mints he kept in his desk drawer.

Nate teased at Aidan’s lips, sucking, nibbling, slowly urging them open, and Aidan put up no resistance.  In fact, when their tongues at last made contact, he moaned softly, and his hands snaked around to clutch Nate’s back, confirming everything Nate had suspected.

Nate kissed him thoroughly.  Passionately.  Trying to pour all his own intimate feelings into it so Aidan would understand this was the real thing.  When he finally pulled back, he gazed into those green eyes he’d come to know and love so well.  “I don’t believe you don’t care,” he said.  “When you’re ready, I’ll be here.”

This time Nate’s steps to the door were as light as his heart.  All he’d needed was to know that Aidan felt something.  And now that he had that, he could wait until Aidan was ready to accept those feelings.

Before he reached to open the door, however, Aidan was behind him.  Gripping Nate’s arm, he turned him around and pushed Nate back until the heavy wood collided with his backside.

Now it was Nate’s turn to stare in surprise.  At the intense expression on Aidan’s face, a surge of heat coursed through Nate and detonated in a white-hot burst right below his balls.

Hands braced on either side of Nate’s head, Aidan slanted his mouth over his with a hungry, forceful urgency that caught the younger man off guard.  It was pent-up desire in its raw form, almost more of a claiming than a kiss.

Moments later, breathing hard, Aidan gasped, “Damn you, Nathan. You were supposed to walk away.”

“But I didn’t,” Nate said softly.

“No.  You didn’t.”  He rested his forehead against Nate’s and sighed.  “I shouldn’t be feeling these things for you that I feel.”

Contented satisfaction filled Nate.  “Why the hell shouldn’t you,” he demanded.  Then quickly added, “Never mind, we’re not going to have that conversation again.”  His hand automatically moved up to caress Aidan’s lightly stubbled cheek, and he stared in appreciation at this man he’d admired, craved, cared about for months.

“I’ve wanted for a long time to kiss you like that,” Aidan admitted, eyes closed as if he were struggling with himself.

“Then you should have.  I would have let you, you know?”

“Nathan—”

Nate pressed his lips against Aidan’s to silence any protests he might make.  He’d managed to pull the man out of his shell, and now he wanted to concentrate on keeping him there, showing him how good it could be between them so he’d stay out.

As the kiss deepened, and as their tongues moved in slow, sensuous thrusts against one another, the burn of arousal that had begun when Aidan pushed him against the door, continued to build in Nate.  His cock, never truly soft anytime he’d been around Aidan for the past few months, stiffened to full size.  It bulged indecently—and damned uncomfortably—against the seam of his pants.  He didn’t want to scare Aidan off by jumping his bones this fast, but he didn’t have a prayer of hiding his blatant hard-on if their bodies got any closer together.

Aidan rendered the thought moot when he cupped the back of Nate’s head with one hand, and slid the other around his waist, tugging him in tight against his own body.  Their groins notched together, Nate’s yin to Aidan’s yang, and vice versa, melding them in perfect, complimentary harmony.

Aidan’s erection pulsing against his caused Nate’s brain to temporarily shut down, and he floated in a sea of sensual haze.  Two hard cocks rubbing together, even separated by layers of clothing, was erotic as hell.  But when their hips began to move instinctively, pressing their groins tighter together, thrusting, grinding, the friction was so intense it was all Nate could do not to cum in his jeans.

Yet at the same time, it wasn’t enough.  After months of painful longing, he couldn’t seem to get enough, taste enough, touch enough.  It’s like the dam hadn’t just cracked, it had burst wide open, and he couldn’t stop the flood if he wanted to..

Reviews…

5 Kisses!!  ”Nate Turner highly values the wisdom and experience he’s gaining working as a graduate student teaching assistant for Professor Aidan Sheridan. Aidan is at the top in his field, and in more than two years Nate’s had many opportunities to be thankful for his advisor, but during this current semester Nate has realized that his feelings for the Professor are much deeper than just gratitude and friendship. Nate has been out for twelve years and is now ready to settle into commitment; the nine-year-older Professor is just the man in his sights.

When Aidan offers Nate an opportunity to accompany him on a summer seminar teaching position in Chicago, Nate thinks this is the open door for which he’s hoped. But when Nate broaches the subject of his feelings for Aidan, the Professor demurs. Negative experiences in his own past are keeping Aidan in thrall to fear of intimacy. When Aidan tells Nate outright that he’s not interested, Nate remembers all the non-verbal signals, the looks, touches, and sighs, and he refuses to be a party any longer to Aidan’s denial.

I haven’t been this strongly affected by a book in quite a long while. I can’t imagine any reader not sweltering, sighing, sobbing, and throbbing through The Professor’s Secret Passion.  M.L. Rhodes has long been known as a writer of steamy erotica, but in this book, she has definitely surpassed herself. Reader: if you’re looking for a late-night bedtime treat, pick up on The Professor’s Secret Passion”

—Reviewed by Frost, TwoLips Reviews

5 Angels!!  “M. L. Rhodes’ The Professor’s Secret Passion is a brilliant and moving novella… Nathan and Aidan are two strong men in their every day lives, but when it comes to their love for one another, they are unsure, even hesitant. They both feel things very deeply, be it love, hurt, determination, despair or happiness.  Sex is described in magnificent, graphic detail -– including in a public office, where there is a risk of exposure. The Professor’s Secret Passion is not my first M.L. Rhodes story, and it certainly won’t be my last!”

—Elizabeth at Fallen Angels Reviews

“The Professor’s Secret Passion is a masterful story of a deep love between two incredible men.  After two years lusting after each other, both men have a series of choices to make in order to find out if they can be together.  Nathan is the perfect man for Aidan and I loved how he never gave up despite whatever obstacles Aidan threw at him.  I thoroughly enjoyed The Professor’s Secret Passion and look forward to taking it off my shelf and re-reading it again!”

—Shannon, Joyfully Reviewed

5 Angels!!  “This is a wonderful story that pulled me in from the first page and did not let go until the very last. The characters were wonderful in their emotions and thoughts. I just could not get enough… M. L. Rhodes is a gifted and wonderful storyteller.”

—Silver Raven, Fallen Angels Reviews

4 Stars!! And an O for “orgasmic” heat level from JERR!!

“I LOVED The Professor’s Secret Passion! Ms. Rhodes wrote an interesting and extremely sexually exciting book.”

—Marcy Arbitman, Just Erotic Romance Reviews

Another 4 Stars!! And an O for “orgasmic” heat level from JERR!!

“I’ve long been a fan of M.L. Rhodes’s work. This romance was definitely up to her usual standards. Nate was very realistic and convincing as the youthful, hopeful doctoral student. Aidan was perfect as the reluctant professor, more concerned with the adverse impact that a relationship might have on his student than with his own happiness. The sex scenes were super yummy…a wonderfully sexy, romantic story that I would recommend to any lover of m/m romances.”

—Sakura Kai, Just Erotic Romance Reviews