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The Education of Professor Cullen by @she_viking

Tuesday, December 27, 2011.




http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=103504186372610&set=a.115093091880386.12259.100001390874714&type=3&theater
Pairing: BellaxEdward
Rating: M
Status: Complete
Warnings: NC-17
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5910879/1/The_Education_of_Professor_Cullen

The Education of Professor Cullen by @she_viking

Summary: College professor Edward Cullen is thoroughly annoyed by his student Ms. Swan. Everything about her bothers him, and he longs for the semester to be over. But what happens when he meets her one night when they aren't in school? Lemons and naughty language.
Sheviking’s story, The Education of Professor Cullen delivers us Professorward at his finest. And it was incredibly hard to write a review for. It’s one of, if not the best Twilight fan fiction story I’ve ever read, and covers so many different, well-written aspects that it’s hard to describe and explain it in only a few words.

Despite being only thirty two years old, at first the English Literature Professor sounds, dresses and acts like a man beyond his years. Especially when it comes down to his twenty two year old student, Miss Swan. She infuriates and perplexes him at the same time with what seems to him as a strange style of dressing and her outspoken and opinionated personality.

Today her hair looked like it had been done with an electric mixer and was piled on top of her head with half a million pins. I had never seen her wear her hair down in the two months that she had been my student, and it bothered me for some reason. She was pretty enough but apparently insisted on hiding herself behind ridiculous outfits and hairstyles. Not to mention her makeup. I groaned internally when I remembered the hideous black stuff she usually wore on her eyes. She hadn't looked up from her book today so I didn't actually know if she looked like a deranged version of a mime as usual. […] The girl seemed to have no appreciation for the fact that I was her professor or the decorum with which she was expected to act around me. […] I looked at her outfit, if you could even call it that, and shuddered slightly. Why some young women insisted on dressing like street walkers was beyond my comprehension.

He can’t stand her and wants nothing to do with her, until one night after bumping into her at his brother’s club, he gives her a lift home. Quickly, Edward’s plans for having nothing to do with ‘Ms. Swan’ escalates into them becoming what some would interpret as a booty call, though it soon changes into more than that, on Edward’s part at least.

He has no real experience, romantic or otherwise, with women, and Isabella is the perfect solution. He learns all he needs to know through her instruction, and realises that his previous assumptions couldn’t be further from the truth for himself, and Isabella. As the story progresses and they learn more about each other, feelings are inevitably added into the mix.

"You're so sweet and wonderful and lovely in every way," I murmured. "I want to be there for you if you need a friend to talk to or have fun with, I want to pleasure you as your lover and I want to take you out on dates as your boyfriend. I want to pull out your chair for you, serve you wine and treat you like a lady. I want to make you as happy as you make me. I want all of that with you, Isabella. Only with you."
Her bottom lip trembled and once again her eyes filled with tears.
"Edward," she choked out. "Please don't say stuff like that."
"Why not?" I asked with my heart in my throat.
"Don't you see? You're the one who's wonderful and sweet. Not me. You deserve someone who can give you all that. Someone closer to your own age and not someone like me who doesn't know what the fuck she's doing."

Professor Cullen doesn’t swear or use any of the crude language and actions that we expect to be shown or boasted by a guy who has a sexy young woman longing for his touch night after night. He’s caring and sensitive, despite the fact that their arrangement is supposed to be solely about sex and sex only. With Isabella’s guidance and encouragement, he learns how to please a woman, and even unleashes the naughty streak that he didn’t know he had.

"I'm not the only one who likes it a bit rough," she moaned. "You like it too, don't you, Professor?"
"Fuck yes," I confirmed, far too aroused to care about my crude language.

Sheviking intertwines lots of subtle sub-plots and events from the books in a way that keeps her story original, yet still enhances it with a sense of familiarity, which is nice since the characters are complete opposites of their book selves. It was the best night of my somewhat long life, and now that Isabella was here with me I had a feeling that there would be many other great nights to choose from in the future. I might even have to start a top ten list or something like that. I smiled at the thought and held her tighter.

In fact, she even subtly elaborates on Edward and Bella’s characters through her use of “Ms. Swan’s” perception that ‘Nabokov is using the main characters as symbols’ when discussing the characters in the book they’re studying in class. "Humbert is older, sophisticated but emotionally stunted. He likes serious literature and classical music. He represents Europe. Lolita is young, fun-loving and quite naïve. She likes coca cola, rock music and glossy magazines.

The story is very true to life, with well-timed moments of humour throughout.

"We're here for lunch," my father said. "You invited us, remember?"
I did? Wait. 'We?' My mother is here! Oh fuck! I am so dead!
I wanted to kill myself for being such a gargantuan idiot. I had completely forgotten that my parents were supposed to come over today. In all my excitement it had slipped my mind and now I had to face the fact that my idiocy was the reason why Isabella looked like a deer caught in the headlight.
"Edward," she whispered. "My clothes are on the living room floor. They know you have a girl in here."
"Either that, or they think you're a cross-dresser," she added with wide eyes.
I honestly can't decide which option is less embarrassing…
I certainly wasn't embarrassed about Isabella but having my parents almost walk in on me having sex was just about the most mortifying experience of my life.
"Oh God," I groaned.
Isabella climbed out of bed and pulled various items of clothes out of her bag.
"What are you doing?" I whispered.
"I'm getting dressed," she said quickly. "I can't very well leave naked."

They both grow together, and learn together. Despite Isabella’s confidence, deep down, she’s distant and keeps people at arm’s length. She’s charismatic and bubbly, but it’s a façade that she’s adopted to get through the day. As she teaches Edward how to love, he slowly chips away at her walls, revealing the hurt she endured in a past relationship, and with love and care, he heals the scars she has.

She threw up her hands.
"I don't know what I'm doing, Edward! I feel so fucking much for you that it scares the crap out of me and it makes me want to run just like before. You don't need that. Don't you see?"

We read, with a sense of pride, as the professor grows and becomes confident in himself, and comfortable in his own skin. They’re an odd couple, and it seems that though the odds are stacked against them, they’ll be able to go the distant. He grounds her, and she revitalises him. He offers stability and a home, while she provides that very essence that makes it a home.

This story is a fluffy/smutty one, which makes a nice change from the angst filled dramas that took over the fan fiction world a couple of months ago. There are no tears (except for ones of happiness) and it leaves you with a smile on your face once you’ve finished reading. TEoPC is complete, which is a relief, because waiting for the next update was excruciating. It’s one of those stories that leaves you wanting more and more, even after the beautifully written, well thought out chapters that Sheviking provides, and thankfully, she’s also working on a future take/epilogue for those of you who are anxious for another helping of tender, sexy Professorward.








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