by May Dawson
The chorus was about the girl who beat him without even trying—the one he wanted to protect even if she didn’t want him. The way he described me as warm and funny and fearless, as bringing light into his world, made my vision blur with tears. It was hard to believe anyone saw me that way.
He pressed his palm over the strings as the last notes began to fade away.
“The problem, Madeline Northsea,” he said, “is that I’m the same person I was before. I’m sarcastic and fucked-up and… do you want to fill in any adjectives?”
I shook my head. “I happen to like you the way you are, Jensen McCauley.”
“You are really damaged,” he said, and I had to laugh. The slightest smile curved his lips. He picked up the sheet music next to him and held it out to me. “There you go. Now we’ve both got something on each other.”
Anyone who read this music would know damn well who Jensen wrote these lyrics for. As I took the sheets from him, our fingertips brushed. When our gazes met, heat sparked between us.
“You really plan on keeping our truce this time,” I said.
“Well.” His smile deepened. “I don’t think you and I are done fighting. I think we’ll always fight. But I’ll have your back when it comes to anyone else. Everyone else.”
I could lose myself in that rare, genuine smile.
I stepped between his legs, slipping my arms around his shoulders. “I’ll have your back too.”
“I already know that,” he said, serious for once.
He caught me around the waist and kissed me wildly, with all that reckless Jensen passion that he kept hidden under the surface.
Chapter Fifty-Seven
A few minutes later, I was straddling his lap, and Jensen’s hand was in my hair as we traded deep kisses, when someone knocked on the door.
“Ignore them?” He mouthed at me, raising his eyebrows.
“I wish,” I mouthed back.
It could be important. We’d raised a whole lot of trouble.
And, for that matter, we were supposed to be confined to the dorms right now. If it was Rafe or Lex, they’d expect to find us in our rooms or downstairs in the gym.
I had to be on my best behavior…until I broke all the rules again to go find my father.
Reluctantly, I climbed off Jensen’s lap. He groaned as he pushed his hair back from his handsome face, before he stood and adjusted his clothes. Pulling at the front of his trousers didn’t do much to hide the enormous hard-on he had from our make-out session.
When Jensen swung open the door, Penn stood in the doorway.
“Can we talk for a second?” Penn asked, before he noticed me sitting on the bed. I waved, and his eyes widened. “Oh. Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Jensen said. “I was just pledging my undying love to Northsea here.”
He sounded so flat and sarcastic, as usual, and Penn gave him a look. Jensen was hard to read.
Especially when he was telling the truth.
“Come in.” Jensen waved Penn in, surprising me. “What did you want to talk about?”
I turned over the music on Jensen’s nightstand. Jensen’s song for me was his own little dirty secret, and I didn’t want anyone else to tease him about it.
Unless he crossed me, of course.
But I didn’t think that would happen. This time, we had a real truce.
Penn’s gaze flickered to me. He’d expected to find Jensen alone, but he must have decided he could say whatever he needed to say in front of me. He swung to face Jensen, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I wanted to talk to you about my pack,” Penn said to Jensen. “The part they played in what happened to your sister.”
We knew now that Tommy had worked not for the alpha of the Kierney pack—who had been distributing drugs—but for Penn’s father himself, before he tried to cut ties with the witches.
“Did you know?” Jensen asked.
Penn shook his head. “I knew we were dealing drugs to the shifters. That’s bad enough. I didn’t know about the witches.”
Jensen shrugged.
For a second, my breath caught, watching two men I loved stare each other down.
Jensen’s face was such a mask as usual that I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
Penn, despite his confession, looked cold as usual, with his tattooed arms crossed and his face impassive. Jensen was much bigger than Penn, since he was well over six-feet-tall, all ropy muscle over a lean frame, but Penn was no less athletic, his frame elegant and sleek despite the danger in his coiled muscles.
But no matter how different they were in some ways, in other ways they were two of a kind. They tried to hide so much of themselves from the world. They faced each other so coldly, as if they didn’t both have hearts that beat so fierce and loyal beneath.
“Oh good grief,” I said, jumping to my feet. I came between them, grabbing Penn’s crossed forearms in one hand to tug him toward me, then catching Jensen’s hand in my other.
Jensen’s brows arched above his golden eyes. “What are you doing?”
“Translating for stupid wolf boys,” I shot back. I turned, pressing myself against Penn’s chest as I pulled his arms around me.
“Oh Jesus,” Penn muttered in my ear.
“Jensen,” I said, dropping my voice low, trying to mimic Penn. “I’m sorry for what my pack did to your sister. Can we be friends anyway?”
Penn sighed behind me.
I tilted my head up to look at him, just as his eyes flickered closed like he couldn’t even bear to look at either of us. I asked, “Where is the lie, Penn?”
He shook his head without opening his eyes.
“I’ll take your body against mine any day, Maddie, but I don’t need you to speak for me,” Jensen said. “I’d like to try being your friend, Penn. If after everything, you really want that.”
His voice came out flat as usual, but his words made me ache.
I tugged Jensen’s hand, and he let me pull him closer. Penn’s eyes opened just as Jensen wrapped me in a hug. I was trapped between the two of them, caged by hard abs and muscular chests, and I grinned as Penn wrapped his arms around both of us, just for a second.
“Truce,” Penn said.
“For all of us,” I said.
“Truce,” Jensen agreed.
Jensen tilted my chin up, pressing a kiss to my lips as if he intended to seal the deal. Jensen’s words came back to me: Penn doesn’t like me much, but I don’t hold that against him. He might get over it if we ‘bond’ with the girl we both like.
As I returned his kiss, Penn took a step back. I grabbed his t-shirt, reeling him back in.
Penn’s heart was beating fast, but when I broke away from Jensen and raised my face to Penn, his lips seared to mine. He wrapped his arms around me.
I was caught between them again, and that was exactly where I wanted to be. As long as I wasn’t torn between the two of them. I broke away.
“Do you mind, Penn?” I murmured.
Penn shook his head, just the quickest shake as if he too was lost in the moment, and then his lips claimed mine again.
Jensen’s hands stroked over my body, lifting the plaid pleats of the skirt I wore, to tease over my hips. When I looked up at him, his golden eyes smoldered with desire. My lips grazed his cheek, from the roughness of his five o’clock shadow to the soft cheekbone above it.
Jensen wrapped his fingers around the back of my head, his fingers twining in my hair, and I smiled. He was always such a possessive bastard, even when he was willing to share, and I loved it. He kissed the corner of my smile, nuzzling his nose against my face.
The two of them took turns kissing me deeply, savoring me. While my lips were on Penn’s, Jensen ran his hands up my sides, underneath my school blouse. His trailing fingers left sparks in their wake.
Penn began to undo the buttons on my blouse. A playful smile arched his lips as his fingers worked slowly, patiently, down each one.
Jensen tugged my blouse back, o
ff my arms, then tossed it over his shoulder. As soon as it was off, he kissed the skin he had just bared. His lips moved across my shoulder to my neck, and I pressed back into him, savoring his touch. His hand stroked across the front of my skirt, then slipped beneath it.
As need heated between my thighs, my hips rocked against his hand. From the corner of my vision, I caught the flicker of Jensen’s grin, before Penn claimed my lips again.
His lips nudged mine apart, his tongue slipping against my upper lip. My lips parted against his, savoring his taste, the sweet, wet warmth of his mouth.
Then Jensen teased away my panties. Cool air caressed my mound before his big hand covered me. His fingers circled my clit, and my hips rocked harder against his hand, bucking with my need for him—for them both.
“You should feel hot wet she is, Penn,” Jensen said softly. His hands slid to my thighs, and Penn brushed his fingers across my clit instead. I bit down on my lip, almost feverish now with desire, and twined my arms around Jensen’s shoulders, letting him take my weight.
Penn stroked me steadily as Jensen ducked his head to devour my shoulders, my neck, with his kisses. My knees went weak, my thighs tensing and beginning to tremble, as Penn’s touch turned me to jelly.
“Hold please,” Jensen said, suddenly ducking to catch my legs behind my knees. He swept me up against his chest before carrying me easily across the room to the bed. He deposited me on the bed before covering my mouth with his once again.
I kissed him wildly, clinging to his shoulders until I felt Penn climb onto the bed beside me. Then I turned, leaning to kiss Penn, as Jensen caressed my breasts. He reached back to unhook my bra with one hand, and I grinned at how easy and practiced that motion was. Remember to hold that against him later. For now, I wasn’t interested in cracking jokes.
Jensen pushed me down on the bed, gently, teasingly. Penn swung his leg over to straddle my thighs. He flipped my skirt over onto my stomach, then ducked between my legs. His gaze was intent on mine as his mouth pressed to my clit. His tongue darted inside me, his tongue steadily pulsing inside.
I gasped, then warned him, “I’m going to—”
He just smiled, as much as he could with his tongue working steadily inside me, teasing against my g-spot.
“Not to speak for Penn but, that’s kind of the point,” Jensen drawled with his usual sarcasm. He covered my lips with his, as if my every gasp and groan and sigh as Penn pushed me closer and closer to orgasm was delicious.
My hips bucked wildly, and Penn wrapped his arms around my thighs, going along for the ride, never slowing.
I tightened around Penn, my muscles tensing one last time. I could barely stand the pleasure, which was so intense it hurt. Then suddenly, the world around us seemed to glow as my pleasure shattered into orgasm.
My muscles relaxed, and I smiled down at Penn as he rose, my clit throbbing and warm and satisfied. He leaned on his elbow beside me, his fingers teasing over my abs, then pressed a kiss to my lips. When my lips parted, I tasted myself—smoky, a little bit sweet.
“It hardly seems fair,” I murmured.
“Babe,” Jensen said. “We’ve got six hours until P.T.”
“You two are going to be the death of me,” I murmured, twining my hand in his hair, pulling him close for another kiss.
But really, they felt like life.
I turned my face from his to kiss Penn. Then I sat up on my elbows, smiling at them both. I was willing, but… “I’ve never…”
“Well, me neither,” Jensen said. He glanced toward Penn with a raised eyebrow. “You?”
Penn shook his head. “I think we’re smart enough to figure it out, though.”
Penn slid off the bed, then offered me his hand. I let him help me off the bed. There were butterflies fluttering against my ribs, just like there had been my first time with Lex; it was a pleasant kind of nervous uncertainty, though, full of expectation and affection.
“I’ve got faith in us,” I agreed, and I meant that about more than just this moment, these positions.
Jensen stood from the bed, pulling his t-shirt off over his head. His nipple ring flashed in the moonlight, and as I undid his belt buckle, I kissed his pec just above his nipple. His muscles rippled, tightening, as if in desire, and I tentatively flicked my tongue across his nipple. The nipple ring was cold and hard, a strange sensation against the warmth of his skin, and I drew it into my mouth. When he trembled against my body, a heady sense of power swept over me.
These men were both so cool and self-possessed, but not with me.
Jensen stepped out of his jeans, and I pushed him down onto the bed. He let himself fall, a surprised grin flashing across his face as he bounced on the end of the bed. He stayed there with his cock rising above his taut abs, propping one arm beneath his head to watch.
Meanwhile, Penn spun me to face him. He kissed me slowly, deeply, as he and I undressed each other, removing the last of my surviving clothes and his school uniform. His hands cupped my hips as he pressed behind me. His cock teased against the curve of my ass.
I looked over my shoulder at him, and he leaned to kiss me, caressing my lips with his as he steered me toward Jensen. The two of us were still trading kisses as I straddled Jensen’s hips.
His big hands slid up my thighs, trailing sparks in their wake. Golden eyes met mine, and I felt drawn to that stubborn, kissable mouth all over again. I leaned over him, the ends of my hair trailing over his washboard abs, then his chest, so I could press my lips to his. His hand slid across my neck and tangled in my hair, possessive and rough even when his lips were tender.
Penn stroked his hand over the curve of my ass, up my back, and I exhaled softly into Jensen’s mouth. Just being here between them felt so good, so right, even before we did anything else.
The tip of Jensen’s cock teased between my thighs, and I shifted back and forth, teasing my clit against his tip. His gaze sharpened with desire, his lips parting, and then suddenly, his hands slid around my thighs again. He pulled me down onto his cock, and I gasped at the sensation as he filled me.
He paused, but I ground down the rest of the way until our bodies had formed together. My core ached around him at his size, just for a second, and then the discomfort faded away as we began to move together.
I rode Jensen slowly, rolling my hips, controlling the pace. He bit his lip, gazing up at me with those eerie, beautiful eyes as pleasure transformed his face.
I felt Penn close behind me, in between Jensen’s legs, and he shifted, his hand caressing my lower back. I looked over my shoulder and found him watching patiently, his cock hard and ready.
I reached back and took Penn in my hand, drawing him even closer to me. I was so wet from Jensen already that when he pressed between my curves, his tip slid easily, and I gasped in desire and surprise. I hadn’t expected to feel my core tighten around Jensen like that, or to feel my body ripple with longing, as if I needed both of them inside me.
I looked up at Penn and nodded. Then I braced my arms on either side of Jensen’s shoulders. He and I traded kisses, his hands stroking gently up and down my trembling abs, as Penn slowly pressed inside me, and I gasped as he slid inside me, at the amazing feeling of being completely filled.
The three of us began to move together. My core continued to clench around Jensen, and I bit my lip to hold back the intense waves of pleasure. Penn and Jensen’s hands roamed my body, toying with my throbbing clit, caressing my breasts, and I threw my head back at the intensity of the sensations as pleasure washed over me.
Jensen’s hands tightened on my thighs. “I can’t—”
Those two words, gritted out so roughly, made me smile even though I was almost delirious with pleasure myself.
I wanted to make Jensen McCauley as crazy as he made me.
Penn wrapped his arm around my waist, the three of us all pressed intimately close as we shattered together. The most intense tingling sensation swept through my body and I moaned out loud, unable to help mysel
f. We moved together once, twice, a third time.
Then the three of us collapsed into a heap. I was pinned between two faintly sweaty, naked, muscular wolf boys in a twin bed that was far too small.
No matter what the academy might throw at me in the morning, there wasn’t anywhere else that I’d rather be.
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Silas
Moonlight seeped through the tangled tree branches above me. The guard patrol had already passed by me, close, while I pressed myself against a tree. I’d squeezed my eyes shut and willed myself to stop breathing so they wouldn’t catch the faintest suspicion. Now they were gone, and they wouldn’t be back again soon.
I undressed quickly. In the world of the shifters, nudity didn’t draw much attention. If I were caught out here, it wouldn’t strike anyone as strange that I’d disrobe for a naked run through the trees.
But I was no wolf. My muscles tensed from the cold as I pulled my t-shirt over my head. As my teeth begin to chatter against each other, I forced my jaw to relax. The night autumn wind caressed my body with cold fingers.
Every molecule we moved between worlds mattered. A t-shirt, a pair of boots. Every thing that belonged to this world poisoned my own if I brought it across. The thin fabric between the realms was tearing. I could bear the cold to protect my world.
I could bear anything.
Am I a child of this world or that one? Which realm do I poison by breathing in it?
I shook my head at myself. I wasn’t going to answer that question today. I hadn’t answered it in years of staring up at an orphanage ceiling at night, unable to sleep. I hadn’t answered it at the academy.
A smile twisted my lips as I began to cast. Golden magic sparked between my fingertips, quickly and easily. I sketched the shape of a door in the air until it hung in front of me, a glittering rectangle suspended between the trees.
Magic had come easily for me at the wizards’ academy, and here was my reward after graduation: another goddamn academy.
