Blindingly bright light detonated inside me. Without meaning to, I sent it into him. It wasn’t an orgasm. Perhaps this was the first time I had awareness of my affinity working separately from an orgasm. I was aware of him absorbing my energy and sending it back inside me. The experience was blissful and delicious.
With one hand pressed flat against my lower back, he directed the magic in my core to condense and compress. His other hand massaged my thigh.
“I failed my lesson, didn’t I?” I asked.
“You didn’t do very well on your first attempt to master pleasure, but all things considered, you did better than your first attempts during pain magic. I’d give you a -D.” Fabric rustled.
Smooth fabric brushed my shoulders and breasts. His scent intensified, the perfume of books and oil paint mixing with the lavender and starlight of his magic. He tucked his jacket around my shoulders like a blanket.
“Since I passed, does that mean I deserve a reward?” I asked.
He chuckled softly, the sound especially wicked. “No.”
My heart sank. I had come to him for a lesson. I had made myself vulnerable and showed him I trusted him. I had sat here exposed while he’d ogled me and caressed me, and he was rejecting me. My face flushed with shame and then anger.
“You’ll deserve a reward after achieving your goal. That will take time.” Thatch smoothed a hand over my hair, the gesture affectionate. “I, as your teacher, on the other hand, deserve something for putting up with such a trying student.”
Was that a smile in his voice? It was hard to tell with him. I quickly peeked out from beneath the blindfold. He was grinning. I rarely saw him not frowning. Joy radiated from him as brightly as sunlight.
He tugged the blindfold back into place before scooping me into his lap. His arms were warm, and I snuggled against his body heat. He enclosed me more tightly in his jacket, making me feel safe and secure. I would have liked to embrace him, but I couldn’t with the way he’d swaddled me.
“What kind of reward do you think I deserve?” he asked.
“Me,” I said.
He laughed. “Of course you would say that.”
He tilted my chin up toward him and kissed me. Wasn’t I the teacher’s pet?
THE END
A SNEAK PREVIEW
Of Curse
You Will
BOOK ELEVEN
CHAPTER ONE
The Dungeon Master’s Reward
At the start of the school year, I would never have imagined I would be naked and blindfolded, sitting on the lap of my sworn enemy in his office. Only, Felix Thatch wasn’t my enemy anymore. He’d proven he cared about me when he’d crossed the invisible line of professional distance to rescue me from being tortured by jorogumo venom. He’d sacrificed his lack of emotional involvement to tell me how he felt. He was my magical mentor, my friend, and something more.
What that something was hadn’t yet been determined.
“What kind of reward do you think I deserve?” he asked, a teasing smile in his voice.
“Me,” I said.
He laughed. “Of course you would say that.”
He tilted my chin up toward him and kissed me. Wasn’t I the teacher’s pet?
I leaned into Felix Thatch, embracing his warmth under the jacket he’d draped across my shoulders. He drank me in as though I might quench the thirst in his soul. That kiss was more magical than any lesson I’d learned at Womby’s School for Wayward Witches thus far. Of course, I’d only been a teacher and sorcerer’s apprentice for two and a half years. I still had a lot of magic lessons ahead of me.
“Is it time for some sexy magic?” I asked.
“Perhaps,” he said.
Because I still wore the blindfold, I couldn’t scrutinize his expression. The formal quality of his refined British accent made it difficult to decode whether he was being serious or teasing. “It’s time for the teacher to be given a reward for once. You can be such a trying student, I should think I’ve earned it.”
Apparently, I’d passed his test and shown him I trusted him by sitting in his scary meditation chair while naked and vulnerable with magic I couldn’t control. Goosebumps shivered across my skin as he slipped his jacket down my shoulders an inch. His lips brushed against my neck, skipping the chain of the amulet I wore from Elric, and across my collarbone. I laced my fingers through the silky locks of his hair, wanting him more now than ever.
He lifted his jacket over my shoulders, enveloping me in his warmth. His hands were feverish against the chill of my skin.
“Shall I have you here on my desk . . . on top of papers I still have to grade?” His voice was a low rumble. “Or would you prefer someplace more private . . . with pillows and blankets and all manner of inconsequential items . . . as if one truly needs such . . . material comforts?”
It was the way he paused for dramatic effect that made me laugh. “Yes. Comforts and privacy. That’s what I want.”
I started to peel back the blindfold, but he took my hand in his and kissed my fingers, preventing me from doing so. He handed me my bundle of clothes and the shoes that I’d left on his desk before I had undressed for the meditation chair. It would have been an amusing sight to witness his surprise at finding me naked and in his office after the party. I wanted to see his expression now, but I suspected something about this made him feel less vulnerable. Maybe he didn’t feel as though he needed to hide if no one was watching.
I hugged my clothes to my chest.
Felix Thatch wrapped me more securely in his jacket, buttoning it around me before lifting me from his lap and carrying me down the short hallway that led to his room. I was fortunate how private this section of the dungeon was with his private quarters to the right and the stairs that led to the Pit of Lost Souls and the crypt to the left. Even so, a little thrill of nervousness passed through me that Vega might pass this way on her way to visit the corpses on the level below.
His footsteps echoed against the stone floor. I slipped an arm out from under the sanctuary of his jacket and wrapped it around his neck. He smelled like starlight and oil paints.
I’d pined for this closeness to him for over two years. I could hardly believe my fantasies had come true. I couldn’t stop smiling. This made up for all those times I thought he hated me. It made up for the days students threw spit wads at me when my back was turned or tried to hex me. I might have worked at a school for juvenile delinquent witches, but I had two good things going for me at the moment: I had my magic back.
And I finally had Professor Felix Thatch.
He ceased walking, and he shifted my weight to his right arm as he fumbled for something with his left hand while still trying to hold on to me. I was afraid he might drop me and held on to him more tightly.
Something thudded to the ground.
“Ah, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop,” he said.
I presumed he meant my actual shoe.
A door creaked in front of us. Something scuffed across the floor, possibly him kicking my shoe out of his path.
I started to lift the blindfold from my eyes.
He tsked. “Don’t even think about it.”
I removed my hand from the sleep mask, laughing. This was the Thatch I knew, bossy and stern, but I suspected I heard a playfulness in his tone. I could never quite tell whether he was serious by his voice alone. The door thudded closed behind him as he stepped across the wooden floor.
He leaned forward and set me down across a bed that felt as though it were made of clouds. The fragrance of roses and candle wax greeted my nose. I smoothed my hands over the soft surface. The sheets felt like silk or at least they did in patches. The round circles of silk shifted under my fingers. It took me a moment to realize he’d covered his bed with rose petals.
I smiled at the sentiment. “When did you have time to do this?” I lifted up a petal.
“Hours ago after I divined you would be spending the night in my room,” he
said it in the lofty way he adopted when trying to sound like a Celestor. “Truly it is a relief you didn’t decide to have your way with me at my desk, or else this would have been a complete waste of my magic.”
I wasn’t sure whether he was teasing or his defenses had gone up again and this was his way of pretending to be someone he wasn’t. I wanted to see his expression.
He removed the bundle of clothes from my lap and covered my legs with a blanket. With meticulous care, he unbuttoned his jacket from around me and removed it. I leaned back into fluffy pillows.
The last time I’d been in his bed, the circumstances had been drastically different. I’d been hurt after the first time I’d used my magic to defend myself. He had shown me what my affinity was and how touch affected me, yet he had made it clear he wouldn’t take advantage of my touch magic. Even though I had wanted him to kiss me, he’d forced himself to keep a professional distance.
Despite all that had happened since, nothing had actually changed between us. I still wanted him.
Fabric rustled. When I lifted my chin, I could see the glow of candlelight from under the blindfold. The bed creaked, and the mattress shifted under his weight. Just the idea of being with him made me wet with wanting.
He scooted under the blankets and hugged me to him. I melted into the embrace of his arms. It felt like spring inside me, everything awakened and singing in joy. I smoothed my fingers over his chest. He wasn’t naked, but he wore fewer layers now. The fabric felt like cotton. The sleeves were short.
I imagined him wearing green and silver, looking like a Slytherin under the professional white button-up shirt and classy three-piece suit. I could see him as a secret goth hipster with tattoos all over his body in the fantasy version of himself.
The ice of his usual formidableness turned warm and tender. “Do you know how long I’ve waited for this moment?” he said. “For you to come to me willingly?”
“I did come to you willingly. Lots of times.” But perhaps I had come to him at the wrong times, before he’d known what to do with his feelings for me.
He touched a finger to my lips. “Hush.”
“Am I allowed to speak now that I’m done with my magic lesson?” I asked. “Or was that another one of your rhetorical questions?”
“You have many lessons ahead of you.” He laughed and kissed me. Unable to see his face, I almost didn’t believe that merry sound came from him. He gathered my hair into his fist and tugged my head back, exposing my throat. I gasped as he left a trail of kisses along my neck. He smoothed one hand up and down my back, warming my skin.
“So . . . what kind of reward do you have in mind?” I asked.
“I have something specific in mind,” he said into my neck.
His lips tasted like the darkest of chocolate, sweet and rich. I wanted this to be just as satisfying for him as it was for me. I dug my fingers into the muscles of his back, drawing him closer.
He moaned. “You do know what I like. Do you know what I’d like even more?”
I raked my nails against his skin. I imagined he was going to say something sexy like, I want to make you come. Or I want you to make me come.
Pretty much I thought he would say anything other than what he murmured into my ear. “I want you to be my helpless captive.” He leaned away from me, the absence of his warmth sending goosebumps over my skin.
I tried to puzzle out what he was talking about—and what he was doing. Maybe he was getting a condom. Or undressing. One of those had to be it.
The moment he rolled closer, I smoothed my hand against his chest. He was still partially dressed. He eased my shoulders against the pillow so that I lay on my back. My heart thrummed against my rib cage in excitement.
He took my hands in his, kissing my fingers. It was the way he held my wrists together that clued me in something was happening. He wrapped something around my wrists. It was soft fabric, too wide to be ribbon. Perhaps it was his cravat.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
He pressed a finger to my lips. “No talking.”
He lifted my arms over my head. The rhythm of my heart increased. I wasn’t so much excited as alarmed. He wanted me as his captive? He had blindfolded me and was tying me up. He had said he wanted a reward. I was under the school in the dungeon master’s quarters, a man who got off on pain magic.
I remembered that time I’d allowed him to use pain magic on me so he could gather virgin’s tears for his spell. He’d lost control and sunk into a darker version of himself. I had known he’d crossed a line when his eyes turned black and he didn’t want to stop using pain magic.
I couldn’t tell what his eyes looked like now. I didn’t know how much of this was him being kinky and how much of it was his affinity starting to lose control. My affinity might be drawing out his affinity. If that was even a thing for Reds.
I needed to see his eyes. “Can I take this blindfold off? Because—”
He cut off my words, pressing his mouth to mine. His tongue slid across mine. His lips were firm and insistent, telling me he was in charge. He stroked my breasts and stoked the fire of my yearning for him. He kissed his way down my body.
“You wear your nervousness on your body like a shroud,” he said. “Let’s see if I can make you forget your inhibitions.”
He slid his hand between my legs, eliciting a gasp of pleasure from me. At any moment I expected that to change. It might have been hot if I hadn’t worried so much about him using electric-shock pain magic on me. I couldn’t move my hands. I was his captive. Just like I had been Julian’s captive. And Derrick’s captive.
I had thought they loved me. I’d never imagined any of my ex-boyfriends would have hurt me at the time. I hadn’t realized Derrick, the boy I had loved and known from my teenage years would want to drain me. I’d been too drunk on my own touch magic to realize Derrick’s intentions. I’d been too senseless to realize Elric had been using my own magic to make me complacent to his will. Thatch had warned me repeatedly each time I’d been about to make a mistake, but I’d never listened.
Then there was my more recent experience with Josie. I’d been caught in her web of lies—and her literal web. If I hadn’t been so intoxicated by aphrodisiac venom, I would have been more alarmed by the experience at the time.
It seemed I had acquired a pattern in my love life—and friend life. Everyone wanted to make me their captive.
What if this was just another lesson Thatch’s twisted mind had thought up?
Panic swelled inside me. I was already too overwhelmed and confused over what I wanted to discern my own fears from reality. As Thatch stroked me, I imagined a wickedness in Thatch’s gaze that could have been harmless mischief—or it could have been a villainous intention. It was hard to tell what was my overactive imagination and what might have been my intuition actually sensing something evil.
Though I wore the blindfold, my vision pushed past the fabric, seeing the room—or perhaps thinking I saw it. A dark cloud of energy swarmed behind Thatch, like a flock of malevolent birds, condensing into the outline of a shapely woman. There was something inherently Fae about her presence in the way I could almost fix my gaze on that black hole of light, but not quite. Her energy felt alien and distant.
Was it the Raven Queen?
Had all this been a trap?
CHAPTER TWO
The Red Pill of Reality
I had always wanted to be with Thatch, but I hadn’t ever imagined it was going to be like this. The moment was too much like being wrapped up in vines by Julian. It was too much like being held down and strangled by Derrick. I wasn’t in control.
I didn’t know what this presence was or even whether it was a construct of my fears or the Raven Queen was here.
The happy springtime that had been bursting to break free from inside me darkened with storm clouds. Lightning flickered and flashed. My breath came too quickly, ragged and shallow. I was dizzy with fear. I didn’t want
to be afraid of Felix Thatch, but I couldn’t deny his affinity was just as dangerous as mine.
Perhaps more so since he kept to himself and didn’t share who he truly was with me. He was dark and mysterious. Sometimes I feared the Raven Queen still had her barbs in him. As that malevolent presence shifted and swirled behind him, I suspected she did.
Thatch’s caressing ceased. His hand cupped my cheek. “Clarissa?” There was concern in his voice.
“I want the blindfold off. Now.” My voice came out sharp, angry. I didn’t think I felt angry, only afraid.
He tugged it up to my forehead. I blinked at the suddenness of the light. The room was lit by dozens of candles, hence the scent of wax. They were placed on saucers and in holders on the nightstand, dresser, and various places on the floor, painting the room with flickering light.
No one else was there. I tried to reach out with my mind, but I sensed nothing. Only Thatch staring at me with apprehension in his eyes.
Pale pink roses in full bloom decorated the nightstand. Petals were spread across our pillows and the bed. A pink rose petal clung to his midnight hair. Wild waves framed his face and fell into his eyes, obscuring his expression. He sat in the one place candlelight couldn’t reach past the red velvet curtains of the canopy bed.
I swallowed the fear. A lump lodged itself in the back of my throat, making it difficult to breathe. “I want to see your eyes.”
He plucked up a saucer with a candle from the nightstand. A warm glow illuminated his face. The gray storm clouds of his eyes were intense, the usual serious expression I’d grown used to fixed on his face. His eyes weren’t all black like the Raven Queen’s. It wasn’t like the time he’d been overcome by a desire for pain magic.
My voice came out harsh and unyielding. “Untie me.” I sounded incredibly calm considering I felt like I couldn’t get enough air.
His expression was blank, guarded and unreadable. He touched a hand to mine and the binding instantly fell away. I drew my arms around myself.
Hex Crimes Page 33
