Chimera Academy The Complete Collection

by Eva Brandt

  I didn’t believe him. I couldn’t believe him. But I wanted to be free. “Jared…”

  “Jar’yd,” he corrected me. He brushed his lips against mine, all the while squeezing my wrists so tightly I was surprised he didn’t leave burns. “I’m Jar’yd. And I can be your future, if you’ll let me.”

  His future wasn’t one I could accept. He might speak promises of freedom, but what he offered was another cage.

  I could never accept that. I refused to be used and abused again.

  Angry and frustrated, I summoned my power and directed everything I had at him. Gaia’s magic and Tartarus’s fire came together inside me, blasting him off me.

  He landed a few feet away, his figure crackling with purplish flames, a dark red shield flaring around him. He seemed completely unharmed and I knew that I’d been right to be wary.

  “I suppose I deserve that,” he said. “My apologies. I promised I’d take it slow with you, but it’s just so difficult.”

  “You could go at a snail’s pace and it still won’t make a difference. I won’t change my mind.”

  “We’ll see.” He looked down at my hands, and I realized that, the moment I’d attacked him, I’d done damage to myself. “You should be more careful,” he whispered. “I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

  He sounded like he meant it and I had to wonder if I’d underestimated him. Then, I took another good look around and remembered where I was.

  If I was hurting myself, it was because of him and this stupid place. “Just let me go, Jared. This is wrong. In your heart, you must know that. Holding me captive in this place is no better than what The Grand Judiciary was doing to those innocent people.”

  “You’re wrong, Selene. You’re wrong and I’ll prove it.” He walked up to me once again and took my hand. This time, instead of being forceful, he kissed my wounded wrist. “You probably won’t believe me, but I’m sorry things have to be this way. I wish we could have met and courted properly, when I was still a human being and I could offer you a relationship you could understand. But this is better. Helios will protect you and here, you won’t ever have to feel pain and rejection.”

  His voice was so soft that I didn’t have the strength to push him away again. And when he finally left, I found myself wondering if there wasn’t more truth to his threat than I’d believed, if perhaps, he couldn’t indeed convince me I belonged here.

  The Claiming

  Jar’yd

  One month later, Nexus time

  It had been a little over a month since I’d brought Selene to Eos. We’d spoken every day. I hadn’t tried to kiss her or touch her intimately, and in return, she hadn’t blasted me away again.

  Two days into her stay, I’d taken her on a brief tour of the lower levels of Nexus. I knew she’d eventually try to escape, but I couldn’t keep her trapped in the den either. That was no way to treat a mate.

  Hilariously, it was when she met my team that she realized we’d crossed paths even after the tournament. Teela was avoiding her, but the rest of my group had decided to show me their full support. Danadu had even said she thought a meeting with Selene was necessary. She hadn’t been Terran, but she was female, and she had a different perspective than me.

  The moment she saw them, Selene had her epiphany. “You… You were on Mercury that day! I remember now.”

  She was looking between Ostheo and Viu’an, who were among the most easily recognizable Heliads. Despite having the same photon glow I did—in their Heliad form, at least—it was impossible to miss their unusual appearance. Viu’an was particularly memorable, and his enthusiasm over Selene’s presence—and possibly her breasts—hadn’t changed.

  He wriggled his tentacles in her general direction, which led to Danadu grabbing him and squeezing him in her rocky arms. “Sorry about that. This creature is naturally so lecherous I have no idea why we even put up with him.”

  “It’s because I’m so adorable,” Viu’an replied. “Also, you love my lecherous ways.”

  Kallios slapped Viu’an with his paw, then made his way to Selene and me. “Just ignore him. I promise we’re mostly not insane here. Mostly.”

  “Err… Right.”

  I made all the introductions, and Selene was as polite as could be expected of her. She even petted Ostheo’s head the exact way he liked, although she was clearly uncertain if she was doing the right thing. We didn’t address the huge elephant in the room, not until we got back to the mating den, at least.

  “You lied to me,” she accused.

  “I didn’t. It just didn’t occur to me to mention the trip to Mercury. And honestly, I thought you’d figured out the truth by now. It’s not like the Great Mother sends a million random Heliads in Terran areas.”

  “Yes, but I don’t know the Great Mother, do I?” Selene asked, throwing her arms up in exasperation. “The only person I know here is you.”

  “You know my team now as well. You’ll meet everyone else gradually.”

  Selene growled and directed a magical blast at me. The Heliad photon shield easily absorbed it, but I still got the message. That had not been the right thing to say. “All right, all right. I’ll go. But I do mean what I said. I didn’t intend to lie to you.”

  “In the big picture, intentions don’t matter all that much. It’s actions that count.”

  I couldn’t argue with her, but I still hoped that my actions would prove that I meant what I said, and that we truly were supposed to be together.

  In hindsight, it had been a foolish hope. Three days after her meeting with my group, she tried to escape for the first time.

  I had no idea how she’d managed to open the den lock. It was supposed to be impossible, and the only ones who could go in and out were me and the sun spirits. But somehow, she’d done it, and she’d forced the sphere to listen to her.

  Unfortunately for her, mating dens weren’t so easy to escape and I’d foreseen this possible turn of events as well.

  I was in the training nucleus, in a sparring session with Kallios, when I sensed what had happened. The jolt of photons that coursed through me almost made me take my friend’s head off. At the last moment, he ducked underneath my photon blade. He ended up having to sacrifice his tail in the process, but it was better than the alternative.

  As I watched the appendage fall to the ground, I grimaced and shot him an apologetic look. “Sorry about that. I got distracted.”

  “No problem,” he replied. “I’ll grow it back. Besides, I was getting irritated with you not taking me seriously. Our opponents won’t be so considerate, you know.”

  I did know, but I also didn’t much like chopping off Kallios’s limbs. Oh, well. I’d have to make it up to him somehow, in a different way. For the moment, I was needed elsewhere.

  “I’ll keep that in mind. I’m sorry, but I have to go now.”

  “Your flame-haired female, is it?” Kallios smirked. “Go and have fun. Make sure you breed her properly.”

  I didn’t bother to reply. I wanted nothing more than to do exactly that, and who knew? Maybe he was right and this was my chance to give Selene a little lesson.

  I’d tried to be kind and understanding and I’d encountered some success. But mates also needed to be disciplined before they were bred, and the time had come for me to do that.

  When I arrived at the mating den, the sight that met my eyes almost made me burst into flames. At an intellectual level, I’d known what I’d find, of course, but it was still so fucking arousing it took my breath away.

  Selene was back in her bed, at the mercy of the Phaeton Hearts. The plants had grabbed her right as she’d tried to make her escape, pulled her back in and torn off her clothes.

  Two vines were now keeping her legs spread, exposing her pussy to my greedy gaze. A golden bloom was rubbing her swollen clit, while a thicker vine was lazily moving in and out of her cunt. Her wet flesh made squelching, addicting sounds as it stretched to accommodate the plant and her glistening labia seemed to glow in
the light the blooms emanated.

  Selene was torn between trying to struggle and moving into the thrusts. I knew for a fact that Phaeton Hearts were very good at sex, and she had no chance at really shoving them off, especially not now, that they’d tasted her juices.

  “I suppose I should have mentioned that the plants can sense when someone is breaking the rules,” I commented as I made my way into the room. “They have the ability to stop it and even punish the person, to some extent.”

  “Get them off me,” Selene said, panting. “I… Gaia… Please… Jared…”

  I didn’t correct her again, since I didn’t mind her using my human name. I could be Jared for her, if that was what she wanted. Besides, I could hardly expect her to remember my Heliad name when a Phaeton Heart was fucking her.

  “Your mouth is asking for one thing, but your body wants another,” I told her, “and I think I know which of the two is more truthful.”

  As I took my clothes off, I watched the plant move in and out of Selene’s slick pussy, my cock growing harder and harder by the second. “Is that the real reason why you want to go back to Terra? Do you need to be fucked? Because I’m perfectly capable of giving you all that, and more.”

  “No, I… I don’t…”

  The Phaeton Heart started moving its stamens against Selene’s labia, and the scent of sweet nectar filled the room. Selene cried out, losing track of her previous train of thought. “What…? What is it doing to me?”

  “Nothing you won’t enjoy,” I replied. “The Phaeton Heart feeds off sexual pleasure. That’s why it’s encouraging you to feel good. But don’t worry. There’s plenty of room inside you for my cock too.”

  Now naked, I crawled between Selene’s legs. The plant gave me room, the vines caressing my body and welcoming its new food source. It knew me, since it had fed off me plenty of times before, both when I’d been alone and when I’d had sex with other Heliads.

  With some reluctance, the bloom moved away from Selene’s cunt, granting me access to her clit. The vine kept thrusting into her, though, and I didn’t try to stop it. Instead, I lowered my mouth to Selene’s pussy and flicked my tongue over the sensitive bundle of nerves.

  She arched her back against the bed and screamed, having obviously not expected the sensations one single touch from a Heliad could summon inside her. When I’d told her that I’d been reborn from Helios’s power, I’d been completely honest. Every part of me was crafted out of photons. When I was in my Heliad form, I could bend fire and light in ways that outmatched anything Terrans were capable of. Using my tongue, I could send sharp spikes of heat through Selene, just enough to stimulate her without causing her pain.

  At first, I didn’t push her too much. I kept the temperature and pace moderate. But the more she writhed against me, the hungrier I got. I found myself delving deeper, increasing the intensity of my photon touch.

  The plant responded to my lust and the speed and strength of its thrusts intensified. Selene abandoned all pretense of resistance, moving against me and the tentacle fucking her, her whole body begging for more. “Oh, Gaia,” she croaked out. “Oh, please…”

  I lifted my head, ablaze with passion, but doing my best to control it. “Please, what, Selene? What do you want?”

  She looked down at me, and somehow, she still found the strength to glare. Helios help me, I loved this woman. “Your cock,” she spat almost resentfully, straining against the vines immobilizing her arms.

  My immediate instinct was to comply, but I held back. “Where? Where do you want it?”

  As I spoke, I brushed my finger over the Phaeton Heart. A surge of heat went through the stem, echoing all the way into Selene’s insides. Selene collapsed back down onto the pillows and let out a frustrated whimper. “I… I don’t know. Everywhere. Anywhere. I just… I need it.”

  There were so many options. On one hand, I wanted to thrust my dick into her outright. I already knew that her body would feel heavenly. But at the same time, I couldn’t rush this. It was my claiming, our first time together, and I needed to make it as memorable as possible.

  “All right, Selene. Don’t worry. I’ll give you everything you need.”

  With a thought, I told the Phaeton Heart what I wanted. It obeyed, forcing her upright, then onto all fours. Since it was so flexible, it didn’t even have to pull out of her to fulfill its task. Once Selene was in the right place, several other vines curled against her beautiful breasts, teasing her nipples. Another tentacle slid into her ass, stretching her and getting her ready for anything I wanted to do.

  Selene gasped, unprepared for this second invasion. I took advantage of it to thrust my dick into her mouth. For a few seconds, her eyes widened as she tried to adjust to having a Heliad cock inside her. Physically, I wasn’t much different than I’d been as a human, but my temperature was higher and my cock had changed a little bit. She didn’t know what to make of the shell around my testicles and the coating of liquid heat around my cock.

  But Selene was nothing if not adaptable, as she’d more than eloquently proven during her stay at Chimera Academy. Her eyes closed, and just like that, she surrendered to me, to the moment and the sensations.

  I buried my fingers in her long, sun-colored hair and started moving in and out of her mouth. She was a Terran, so her body temperature wasn’t as high as mine. But even so, her intoxicating sexual presence overwhelmed the natural laws of physics and made me feel like I was back in my old body, burning up, at the mercy of a power far greater than my own.

  She was made for this, made to be fucked, to suck cock and take dicks. No wonder everyone in the Grand Chimera Unit had been so obsessed with her. Even the damn Phaeton Heart couldn’t get enough, and it wasn’t a mammalian life form.

  Desperate to own her, to brand her as mine, I sent another surge of power through her. Selene jerked against me, her powers responding to my own. She let out a muffled cry and came, her body tightening around the tentacles still fucking her.

  Phaeton Hearts didn’t have nerve endings so they didn’t feel physical pleasure like we did. But they responded to orgasms anyway, so Selene’s ecstasy triggered a natural reaction inside the plant as well. The tentacles pulsed and parted, and the perfume of the flowers became even more intense as the vine filled Selene with its sap.

  I came very close to finding my peak too. If I managed to hold back, it was only because I wanted more. I wanted to bury my cock deep inside her, to come in her pussy and make her mine in every possible way. And I knew now that it was more than possible. She’d given herself to me and I wouldn’t waste this chance.

  The sap of a Phaeton Heart increased fertility in women tenfold, as long as they didn’t have preexisting problems like Teela. In my case, it was practically a guarantee that Selene would conceive for me. Perfect. Today, I could truly breed her and start my family, just like I’d hoped.

  The slick plant pulled out of Selene and retreated, completely freeing her from its grip. Left without the plant’s support, Selene almost fell over. I caught her before she could lose her balance and lowered her on her back, onto the bed, brushing my lips over hers in a gentle kiss. “Shh. I know it’s overwhelming, but it’ll all feel so good.”

  Selene said nothing. Instead, she wrapped her arms around my neck, holding onto me as tightly as the plant had held onto her. Understanding what I wanted, she spread her legs wide for me, inviting me inside. I couldn’t have resisted her if I’d wanted to. In one single, powerful thrust, I slid home.

  Her channel opened up to me like a flower. She was still slick and gushing with a combination of her own juices and the plant’s nectar, and the fluid felt heavenly around my dick.

  I groaned, somewhat reconsidering my previous plan. I should have perhaps allowed myself to come previously, since at this rate, I wouldn’t manage to get more than a few thrusts in before I came. It would be embarrassing as fuck and not what I wanted for our first time.

  Come on, Jared. The fucking plant made her enjoy herself.
You can do better, can’t you?

  I could. Selene was mine, my beautiful Terran, my mate. She was a gift from Helios and I’d treasure her forever.

  I forced myself to move more slowly, to compartmentalize my pleasure and focus on hers. It worked, although at the same time, it was torture—the sweetest torture in the universe. It was more than worth it.

  My heart skipped a beat and every inch of me throbbed with the desire to bury myself inside her so deeply we’d never be separated. But even if I was a Heliad, my body didn’t work that way. Despite all my efforts, I soon had to succumb to the unavoidable.

  I didn’t have enough coherence to send another jolt of power through Selene, but I didn’t need to. When I came, my climax naturally triggered hers, her sensitive channel responding to the energy particles in my semen.

  It felt amazing, but at the same time, quiet, almost peaceful, natural in a way few things ever were for me. We rode the wave of our orgasm together. When we kissed, it felt so right, lacking the desperate urgency the Phaeton Heart had triggered inside us. When she held me, it felt like she was pulling me all the way into her soul. And when I looked at her, I saw myself as Jared again—both Terran and Heliad, no longer torn between the two parts of me. I saw a future in which I wouldn’t have to burn to start anew.

  When it was all over, I collapsed on the pillows next to Selene, shared a look with her and smiled. Selene smiled back. “That was amazing,” I whispered. “I knew we’d be perfect together.”

  I really should have kept my mouth shut. Selene’s warm expression faded and her breath caught, as if she’d had a sudden epiphany.

  And that was when everything went wrong—and Selene burst into tears.

  * * *

  Selene

  I’d let him fuck me. More than that, I’d begged for it like a whore. I’d fucked myself on his pet tentacle plant, for Gaia’s sake.

  What was wrong with me? Had the plant drugged me? Was it because of that? It had to be, because nothing else made sense.