The steam obscured some of the detail of the backside view he had of her nudity, but only some. He was taking his own clothes off, then, his drunkenness feeding into his growing lust as Harper lowered herself into the warm water of the steam bath.
“Well?” she called. “What are you waiting for?”
He followed her, letting out an involuntary sigh as he sank in up to his waist. Harper turned to face him, pulling her arms up into the elemental stance, looking both serious and seriously drunk.
“I’ve never known you to be intimidated by an opponent before, Eldon,” she said.
“I’m not—”
Harper thrust a hand forward. Lee flinched on reflex, though she’d only slapped her arm down to splash him, rather than cast anything. She grinned and shook her head, her arms momentarily pulling wide enough open for him to have a clear view of her full breasts, each with a wide, pale nipple at its center.
“What are you, a ten-year-old?” he asked.
“There is a such thing as being too cautious.” Harper shrugged and furrowed her brow slightly, looking almost disappointed.
Lee wasn’t sure whether it was sexual frustration or just the normal kind that spurred him forward. The steam felt hot against his face, and hotter with each step. Harper fell back into her casting stance. He pulled his own arms up, though a spell duel wasn’t even close to what he now had on his mind.
Closing the distance to her, he lunged forward, wrapping her into a cross between a tackle and a hug. He heard Harper gasp and immediately begin vying for control. It was always about that with her. Control and dominance. Master and apprentice.
Lee could feel his erection pressing into her stomach. It almost hurt, given the angle they were at and the amount of muscle they were both putting into drunkenly wrestling against one another. He could think of a better place to put it. A few, in fact.
He gripped Harper by the thigh and buttock with either hand, lifting her up. Her naked cleavage slid upward across his face, wet from the water or her sweat or some combination of both. Lee found the angle and sank her down onto his cock. He felt a shudder run through her as he entered her and let out a tiny gasp.
She had a way of triggering his primal side, of turning sex into the rough, borderline-competitive act that it truly was under the surface. Either he was going to take her, or she was going to play with him. There was rarely anything in between when it came to Harper.
He felt her wrap her legs around his waist. She wasn’t a light woman, but Lee was strong and determined to keep her in his grasp. Harper had ideas of her own. She twisted, still keeping him inside her but leveraging Lee’s hold on her to spin him around.
He bumped against the edge of the tub and then fell backward completely, the edge biting painfully into his back. Harper slipped downward, her head briefly disappearing under the water. Lee felt something more than the warmth of the bath engulf his cock. He stared downward at a mass of billowing hair underwater, her braid having come loose at some point, and felt her soft tongue and lips putting in work.
Her breath ran out just as he reached the cusp of his pleasure. She looked like a different woman as she resurfaced, her blonde hair now loose and hanging in soaking wet locks about her shoulders. Her gaze was the same, full of intensity. Full of control. She gripped his tool in her hand, squeezing it almost painfully tight, and began leading him out of the bath.
He could have grabbed her and continued with their game, taking her from behind, or lifting her up again. A rather engorged part of him certainly wanted to. Instead, he followed along, water dripping off both their bodies, two sets of wet footprints leaving illicit evidence in their wake.
The storage room in the far corner of the chamber was full of clean towels. Harper knocked a row of them onto the ground and roughly pushed Lee down onto his back across them. She stretched out over him, kissing his lips, caressing his face, momentarily ignoring anything else.
He ran his hands across her buttocks, up her sides, over her breasts. He tried to shift her toward a more mutually pleasurable angle. Harper stilled him with another kiss, biting his lower lip slightly as it ended. She took hold of his tool and slowly slid it inside her. Slowly, deliberately, she began to ride.
He let her lead, at least at first. The same primal competitiveness flooded through him as he watched her fall into a faster rhythm. He twisted, pushing Harper down underneath him onto the pillows, and began thrusting into her, hard. He felt a surge of possessiveness. He was her apprentice, but here and now, she was his for the taking.
“That’s it,” she whispered. “Oh God, Eldon.”
He gave her a rough kiss and fucked her as hard as he could. Her blonde hair was fanned out underneath her, with a few unruly strands hanging across her face. She was biting her lip, each moan and breath a bit higher in pitch than the last until they caught in her throat completely.
She came just before he did, and it almost felt like a chain reaction. Like the sight of Harper, his master, writhing from the ecstasy he’d inflicted on her was just too arousing for her apprentice to take. He unloaded deep into her, heedless of the consequences. Harper stretched out across the once-clean towels, smiling and drunk on more than just alcohol.
The ridiculousness of the situation dawned on him as he brushed a formerly clean towel off his shoulder and stared up into the dim light of the storage closet. He leaned onto his side and looked at Harper with her messy hair and distant blue eyes.
“Gen really did manage to get under your skin with the way she set up this duel, didn’t she?”
Harper let out a long sigh. “I suppose she did.”
“I’ve never seen you react to a challenge by getting wasted before,” said Lee. “It’s… about Zoe, isn’t it? Fighting her former boyfriend must bring you back to when the two of you first—”
“Stop.” Harper sat up and pulled her knees to her chest. “Enough, Eldon.”
“You don’t have to close yourself off, Harper. I care about you. You know I do.”
“What I know…” she said, slowly. “…is that you’re still keeping secrets from me. You’ve never been totally honest with me, have you, Eldon?”
He gaped at her, breath catching in his throat.
“Maybe I’m keeping secrets, too,” she continued. “Maybe when it comes to Zoe, I still…”
Lee breathed out. “You still love her?”
Harper shrugged. “I don’t know. Love isn’t reasonable.”
“Truer words have never been spoken,” he said. “It’s okay to be honest with however you feel, Harper.”
“She’s… not the only one I might… love.”
“I know.” Lee smiled and caressed her cheek. “I understand how that can sometimes be the case, too.”
CHAPTER 23
Lee arrived back at his dorm room to find Toma in the middle of having his foot mauled by the kitten, though from the grin on his friend’s face, it apparently wasn’t an unpleasant experience.
“This is the definition of kawaii,” said Toma. “She is a complete maniac. What’s her name, and where did we get her?”
“His name is Harold, and I’m not really sure,” said Lee, shooting a glance at Tess, who was wringing her hands on his bed. “He just showed up out of nowhere.”
“Uh, you know it’s a girl though, right?” asked Toma.
“Harold is not a girl!” shouted Tess. “Lee, tell him Harold is not a girl.”
“The jury is still out on that particular issue,” Lee said.
“Er, you can just look at its bottom bits,” said Toma. “I don’t see how it’s really in dispute…”
Lee chose sleep over wading into the unexpectedly complicated issue of their new kitten’s sex. He pulled Tess into his mystic stream once she’d given Harold a goodnight kiss, and the two of them drifted off in each other’s arms.
A sharp knock woke him up early the next morning, which was no small tragedy, given his hangover. He opened the door expecting Harper or perhaps Eliza. G
en, dressed in a clean white robe, greeted him instead.
“Initiate Amaranth,” she said. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”
“Lead Instructor,” Lee mumbled. “No, of course not. What can I do for you?”
“I’d like you to continue your exploration of Kuh-Matton. I believe the illusion class you’d usually have on this day of the week is still on hiatus, is it not?”
Lee nodded. Instructor Constantine had been shipped off to one of the Order of Chaldea’s maximum-security detention centers, and a replacement still hadn’t been found.
“Sure. I’ll check in with Harper, and we’ll—”
“Harper is going to be occupied today,” said Gen. “I’d like you to take the lead on this.”
Lee raised an eyebrow. “I’m honored, but I’m not really sure what I did to earn this responsibility. I’m still just an initiate. It’s not as though there aren’t better-trained candidates you could send to handle this if Harper’s busy.”
“You’re Harper’s apprentice. Doubtless you’ll have a bright future within the Order based off that fact alone. Think of this as the first step on a much longer journey.”
She was staring at him, her green eyes boring into his with an intensity that betrayed her true intentions.
“This is a test,” said Lee.
“Everything in life is a test of some sort. With that said, based on Harper’s detailed report of what you’ve already explored of the burial tomb, I highly doubt you’ll run into anything you can’t handle. Feel free to take Initiate Willis and the new transfer student along with you, if you’d like.”
Gen waited until he’d nodded, and then left without another word. Tess had moved to stand behind Lee and pulled him into a reverse hug as he slowly shut the door.
“Want me to come with?” she whispered.
“If you want, but I think I can manage if you’d rather stay,” he said. “I know how much attention the little furball needs.”
“Thanks.” She gave him a squeeze and a kiss on the cheek.
As it turned out, Lee had an additional unexpected volunteer. He heard Toma stirring as he pulled on his winter gear.
“I’m coming, too,” muttered Toma.
Lee hesitated, unsure of how much of the conversation with Gen or even possibly Tess his friend might have overheard. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright.” Lee shrugged. They would have an opening on one of the snowmobiles, and he rather liked the idea of spending some quality time with Toma, spelunking through an ice cave.
The two of them stopped at the female initiate’s dormitories, and Lee took on the risk of sneaking in to quietly knock on Eliza’s door. She was willing, albeit reluctant, to gather Willow into the fold for them, and twenty minutes later, the group assembled in front of the gate.
“Oh!” Toma gaped at Willow. “I, uh, don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of, you know…”
“Right.” Lee smiled and gestured between them. “Toma, this is Willow, Harper’s cousin, and the school’s new resident druid-in-training. Willow, this is my good friend Toma.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Toma.” Willow flashed a sweet smile and flicked a few blue-blonde bangs out of her face.
“Likewise!” said Toma. “I, ah, never realized Harper had a cousin. You certainly take after her in some pretty, um, defined ways.”
Willow folded her arms. “Yes. We both have boobs.”
Toma let out a nervous chuckle. Lee grinned.
“Thank you for saying what everyone was thinking, Willow,” he said. “Now, if we could refocus on the task at hand…”
They left the college and extricated the snowmobiles from the shed. Lee held the keys to both in his open palm as he took stock of the three other potential drivers.
“I’m not much for these sorts of things,” said Willow. “How about I just ride on the back of yours, Lee?”
“Hold on!” snapped Eliza. “We haven’t even reached that part of the discussion yet.”
The two women shot each other irritated glances that almost seemed to match.
“I’ll drive!” said Toma. “I bet I can get up to speed on how one of these babies works in no time.”
Eliza let out a resigned sigh. “Lee, give me the keys.”
“Sure thing.”
Willow did end up on the back of his snowmobile in the end, with Toma on the back of Eliza’s. Surprisingly, there were few complaints. Lee could make a guess as to why as he watched Toma settle in behind Eliza on the seat, wrapping his arms just under her breasts, which still lent an obvious plumpness to her otherwise tight winter jacket.
It was the same situation, though reversed, with Willow. Lee caught a hint of her perfume, a sweet, heady scent, as she climbed on behind him. He could feel her body, two parts in particular, softly mushing against his back.
“Let me know if there’s anywhere in particular you want me to put my hands,” she whispered into his ear.
He felt her palms slide up and down over his jacket, subtly groping his abdominal and then pectoral muscles.
“Just make sure you keep a tight grip,” he said, glad she couldn’t currently see his face.
“Of course!”
They set off at a deliberately slow speed, to start. It was early morning, and the clouds formed a thick, obscuring layer across the sky, trapping the sun and its light in purgatory.
Not much snowfall had occurred since their last trip back from Kuh-Matton, and their return tracks were clearly visible and easily followed. Lee took the lead, glancing over his shoulder every few minutes to make sure Eliza and Toma were keeping up.
Two hours passed under the thrum of engines and the hiss of cold wind before Kuh-Matton finally came into view on the distant horizon. It seemed to rise from the snow as they approached until the hulking cliffside loomed over them, ominous in its own shadow.
“The frost trolls built this?” asked Toma, gesturing to the massive circular copper door.
“It was a long time ago,” said Lee. “I’m not entirely clear on the details, either.”
“We’ve already explored the first few chambers,” said Eliza. “As long as we can get by the frozen blockage that stopped us last time, we should be able to push even farther this time around.”
She seemed confident, which was good, given that Lee still had a few doubts about the viability of his own solution. Thumper’s ice magic was impressive, but there was no guarantee it would have the effect he was hoping it would.
They made quick progress retracing their steps. Toma was vocal in expressing his amazement as they passed into the sections made completely of ice, with faint white-blue illumination filtering in from the ambient daylight outside.
Each chamber seemed to be a little colder than the one before it, and Lee was on the verge of shivering outright when they reached the ice wall that had ended their previous expedition. Toma let out an appreciative whistle as he took it in.
“I’m surprised Harper didn’t just blast through with one of her fireballs,” he said.
“She tried.” Lee glanced over at Eliza and Willow. “So. Who has an idea about what else might work?”
“I couldn’t think of anything,” said Willow.
Eliza frowned at her. “Did you even try?”
“Of course I did!” Willow turned her palms up. “Look, I just transferred to Primhaven. It’s not as though I didn’t have a full plate over the past few days.”
She and Eliza scowled at each other. The local snow fox Willow had apparently tamed climbed up onto her shoulder, and she started scratching its head.
“It’s fine,” said Lee. “Eliza? I’m assuming you have something.”
“I do.” She grinned at him and reached into her coat. “I borrowed a blasting rod from the enchanting lab. You guys might want to stand back.”
She took up a position at the top of the spiral staircase, and Lee and the others watched from below. The blasting rod looked like a simple piece of polishe
d black wood, no more than a foot or so long, with no obvious indication of its function or the magic contained within.
Eliza thrust the rod’s tip forward, and a jet of intense orange-and-red energy burst outward. A flash of heat spread backward through the room, followed by the roar of explosive force as the flame jet struck the ice. She seemed to struggle to hold it steady in her hand, and after no more than a few seconds, she staggered backward and released the blast.
“Well,” said Lee. “That was impressive if nothing else.”
“It was a good attempt,” said Willow, with the slightest hint of smugness.
The blasting rod had done little more than etch a few scratches into the crystalline ice wall. Eliza muttered to herself as she ran her hands over them.
“I was positive it would work,” she said. “I really thought…”
“It’s okay.” Lee stepped forward, making his way up the stairs. “We still have at least one more idea to try before giving up.”
He set a hand on Eliza’s shoulder, reassuring her and gently guiding her out of the way. He couldn’t help but smile as he assumed his conjuration casting stance. There was something he rather liked about putting a new ability to the test so soon after first discovering it.
Focusing his will, Lee channeled Thumper by her true name. The conjuration portal flickered open. Nothing happened for three of the longest seconds of his life, and then the snow bunny poked her head out.
She giggled as she bounced out of the portal, her furry body jiggling in a couple of places that drew Lee’s attention. She did just as they’d practiced, throwing the full extent of her ice elemental hybrid abilities at the blockage.
Her frost spell resonated as it struck the frozen wall, having an effect akin to feeding oxygen into a flash fire. The crystalline ice shifted under the influence of the spell, bulging outward in some places while cracking in others. Its underlying structure was compromised, and a loud shattering sound echoed through the room as it finally crumbled, falling to pieces like a broken mirror.
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