Vampire School (Elite Academy Book 1)

by Scarlett Haven

  “Asa.” I breathe out my response, not bothering to elaborate further. I can’t help but wonder if I will spend the rest of my life being frustrated with that man.

  Henry’s hands continue to rub at my thighs. “I will talk to him.

  My heart swells.

  Henry is so sweet to offer. As selfish as it sounds, I’m glad for the offer. I’m not sure my heart can handle hearing anymore rejection from Asa.

  “You are way too good for Asa. He doesn’t deserve you.” Henry’s face is red, and despite his gentle touch, I can see the anger clearly written on his face. His jaw is clenched and his eyes are cold, but they soften as they look at me. “Everleigh, you are incredible. Never let anybody, including your mates, make you feel like you aren’t. I will spend the rest of my existence trying to show it to you.”

  Henry is a good man. When he cares for somebody, he cares for them deeply. I feel fortunate that it’s me he cares for.

  “How did this weekend go with your parents?” I ask, because I really don’t want to talk about myself anymore. I’m also curious what his parents think about the fact that he has a mate who has three other mates.

  He smiles widely at the mention of his family and his entire face lights up. “They are so happy for me. They were disappointed that you couldn’t come, but they are excited to meet you. I told them how amazing you are.”

  Amazing? I hope they aren’t disappointed when they finally do meet me.

  “I can’t wait to meet the people who raised such an incredible man.” I stroke my thumb along his cheek, feeling so thankful that he is mine.

  He sighs, his hand freezing on my thigh. “As much as I hate to admit this out loud, I have another class to teach. I need to go.”

  I jump up from his lap. “It’s okay. I have homework to do anyway.”

  “I’ll see you soon.” Henry gets up from his chair and walks me to the door. “You are beautiful.”

  He leans down and presses his lips softly against mine. I sigh, leaning into him.

  Henry has my heart.

  4:00 am

  Who better?

  Early that morning after I finish all my homework, I decide to call Asa. I figured he’d call me after Henry spoke with him, but I haven’t heard a single thing. I’m not sure what’s going on with Asa, but it would be nice to hear his voice. I miss him. But my call goes straight to voicemail.

  What the heck? Why does he have his phone shut off?

  I need to know what happened when Asa visited my parents. Knowing Asa isn’t answering those questions, I decide to call my dad. Certainly he will talk to me. But he doesn’t answer. Once again, my call goes to voicemail.

  Frustrated, I fall backwards onto my bed and cover my face with my hands.

  Does nobody want to talk to me?

  My phone rings. I expect it to be my dad calling me back, but instead I see Rowan’s name pop up on the screen. My heart races and I can’t help but smile.

  “Hi, Rowan,” I answer, putting my phone on speaker. “I’m so glad you called.”

  “Rough day?” It’s so good to hear his voice.

  “It’s not so bad now that I’m talking to you.” Maybe I shouldn’t say stuff like that to him. I know he said that he wants to take things slow, but I can’t seem to help myself.

  “I had a rough day too,” he says.

  I frown. “Who do I need to beat up?”

  Rowan laughs. “Nobody. Just hearing your voice makes everything better. But I do appreciate your offer to beat people up for me. Maybe next time I’ll take you up on your offer.”

  “You can talk to me. I promise I’m a good listener.”

  “Did you know that the royal vampire family isn’t really liked by the bitten vampires?” he asks.

  I hesitate. “I… uh… yeah. I knew that. Even my dad, who fights for the rights of bitten vampires, isn’t liked. It’s kind of silly if you ask me. We are all vampires. It shouldn’t matter if we were born or bitten.”

  He lets out a breath. “I’m glad you agree. A lot of bitten vampires think all your family has an elitist-only mindset.”

  “That’s not true at all.” I run a hand through my hair, feeling exasperated. “Is that why your day was bad? You thought I was like they said?”

  “No,” he replies venomously. “Everleigh, I know without a doubt that you aren’t like that. Your heart is so pure. It just upset me that they were talking about you like that, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it. I hate this. I just want to be able to defend my mate.”

  My heart swells. “Rowan, don’t defend me. You have to go to school there. You have to get along with the teachers and students. If you make them hate you, your time at Mystic Academy will be miserable. And as much as I wish you could come to Elite Academy, I don’t think that’s going to be possible. My uncle would never allow it. He wouldn’t even let my mom come here after my dad turned her.”

  “This sucks.” He sighs. “Why do the vampires have to be like this? Why can’t we all just get along so I can always be there with you?”

  It excites me to know that he wants to be here with me. “We could always run away. That sounds nice right now.”

  “I would never ask you to leave your family. Besides, it’s only four years. What is four years in the span of eternity?”

  He’s right, but four years seems like a long time right now. Either way, I don’t want the only way to see him to be for him to sneak on campus, or for me to sneak into Mystic Academy. That just doesn’t seem right. I will fight until it won’t matter if a vampire is born or bitten.

  “I wish I could fix this.” I pace back and forth in my room. “I just don’t know how.”

  “Why can’t you?” Rowan asks, skepticism in his tone. “I mean, you’re royal. People will listen to you. Who would be better to fight for the rights of all vampires than you?”

  He’s right. I know he is. I had just never thought about it before. Maybe because I was too young to do anything, but I am eighteen now. By vampire law, I am a legal adult. And while some may still view me as young, I do have a voice. I should use it for good. Maybe I can make a difference, and not just in a classroom.

  “You’re right. I should fight,” I say, after a moment of consideration.

  He sighs. “I don’t know why I said that. I don’t want you to fight. It seems dangerous. If anything happened to you, I don’t know what I would do.”

  I grin. “Don’t worry, I have four mates to protect me. Besides, it’s like you said, if I don’t fight for the rights of bitten vampires then who will?”

  It’s my duty. Now that I’ve accepted it, there is a rightness to it.

  This is what I was born to do.

  3:07 pm

  My soul.

  I can’t sleep.

  I’ve tried everything, but I’m just so restless. My mind just won’t shut off. All I can think about is Asa and how he’s not really talking to me right now. Is he mad at me? Did something happen with my parents? I don’t know, and not knowing is killing me.

  I keep thinking about how Asa is acting like he used to. Like how he did before I knew he was my mate. And I can’t go back to things being like that. Not again.

  Turning over, I reach over and turn on my lamp. I can’t keep doing this. I have to sleep tonight. So, the only logical thing to do is go to Asa’s room.

  Asa’s room is ridiculously far from my own. It’s on the other side of the school, but it is on the top level. A lot of teachers have a room at the school, and Asa’s is somewhere in the mix of all theirs. I’ll have to be quiet so as not to wake anybody, not that I’d get in trouble if I was caught anyway.

  The truth is, if I wanted Asa to stay in my room, he would be allowed to. He’s my mate. It’s just nobody knows he’s my mate just yet. Even if he wasn’t my mate, there still are no rules against teachers dating students. Vampire school is a lot different than human school.

  I tiptoe my way down the hallway. I can hear rain hitting the windows. It’s st
ill rainy season in Florida, so it rains a lot during the day time. I hear a clap of thunder that nearly makes me jump.

  When I get to Asa’s room, I use the key that he gave me to unlock his door. I wonder if he regrets giving me the key now.

  Asa is lying on his bed, asleep. I shut and lock the door behind me and walk over to his bed, climbing in. I don’t expect him to pull me into his arms, but he does. He snuggles me close to him and then he kisses me.

  I’m not sure what I expected when I came in here tonight. I mean, I have to get up in like four hours or so. I only came in here so I could get some sleep. But I also was hoping that maybe Asa would talk to me. I need him to talk to me. But this… this is better.

  His lips brush against mine, and I kiss him back, desperately needing to feel close to him. I run my fingers through his hair and he kisses me harder, climbing on top of me. He pins me to the bed with his weight, but he’s still careful to hold most of his weight off of me.

  Asa and I have kissed several times, but we’ve never kissed like this. He rests his leg between mine, nudging my legs apart. I let my legs fall open, holding nothing back from him.

  Any time I’ve ever pictured sex, in my mind it’s always like it is in the movies. I always imagine a couple kissing as they walk toward the bed, clothes being thrown off along the way. I imagined the guy, usually Asa, wouldn’t be able to hold back. He would want me so bad that we would just do it. But I’ve got to be honest, the real thing is so much better.

  Asa kisses me slowly, but passionately. He can’t take his hands off me, but he’s taking his time. He’s letting the anticipation build.

  I like that he isn’t asking me for permission, at least not out loud. Whenever he goes to slide his hand somewhere new, he always pauses, as if to get my permission. I’m not going to stop him though. I’ve been dreaming of this moment since I was fourteen. There is no way I’m going to stop him.

  He slowly removes each layer of clothing. My shirt is the first to go. I think he’s surprised when he slides my shirt over my head and I’m not wearing a bra, but he doesn’t say anything. He just begins kissing me again, this time slowly making his way down my body with his mouth.

  I never imagined that having Asa kiss my breasts could feel so good. He gently sucks and bites me. I squirm beneath him, and when I do he grinds his hips into me. I feel just how hard he is when he does it, and it only makes me more excited.

  Asa Ferreira wants me.

  I feel his hands at the bands of my shorts. He pauses, this time waiting for permission. I give him a nod of my head, letting him know that this is okay. This is more than okay. This is exactly what I want, even if I wasn’t expecting it to happen tonight.

  My shorts are pulled down, soon followed by my underwear. I’m completely naked in front of Asa. Even with the lights off, I know that he can see me well. Maybe I should feel shy in front of him. Nobody has ever seen me naked before. But I’m not shy. If anything, I feel empowered. Maybe that’s because I can still feel Asa’s very hard member pressed against me.

  Asa isn’t wearing a shirt. He only has on a pair of boxer briefs. I guess that is just how he sleeps. I put my hand on the waist, pushing at them. He takes the hint and removes them.

  “Everleigh,” he whispers, his voice breaking.

  I know he’s about to say something to me, and it’s probably going to be something that I don’t want to hear. He’s going to break my heart, I just know it. So I press my lips against his, trying to get him focused on something else—like the fact that his mate is currently under him, completely naked.

  Asa takes the hint and he kisses me back.

  I don’t know what to expect now. I guess I kind of just figure he will have sex with me, but instead he touches me with his hand.

  I’ve touched myself before. Many times, in fact. I’m a virgin, not a prude. But Asa’s touches are different. Somehow, he knows exactly where to touch me to make me squirm. He knows how to use just the right amount of pressure.

  I come against his hand. I come harder than I ever have in my life. The fact that we haven’t even had sex yet just makes me feel more excited.

  He lines himself up with my center. He’s right there. All he has to do is move just a little bit and he will be inside of me. We will be one, and we will officially be a mated couple. He won’t be able to run from me anymore, because he will be mine, just as I will be his.

  It’s about so much more than just pleasure. It’s about us promising to be together for eternity. And I couldn’t be more sure of my decision.

  “It might hurt a little bit.” Asa pauses, still giving me time to back out.

  Doesn’t he realize I can’t back out? I’m in way too deep.

  “Asa, I love you.” It’s the first time I’ve admitted the words to him out loud. “I don’t care if it hurts. I want to be yours.”

  His body relaxes just a little bit. I didn’t realize how tense he was until that moment. “I love you too, Everleigh. More than life itself.”

  Asa gently pushes inside of me. I feel a tear as he breaks through my virginity, but it doesn’t hurt like I thought it would. The pain is gone almost as quickly as it came, and now all that’s left is pleasure. He gives me time to adjust to the size of him, and then he begins to move.

  The pleasure is overwhelming. It’s different than anything I’ve ever felt before. He fits so deep inside of me, and he fits so perfectly. It’s almost like he was made to fit perfectly inside of me, and I realize he was.

  My orgasm comes fast. I wasn’t expecting it. I guess I thought the one orgasm I had during foreplay would be my only one. But this one… it’s more intense. My stomach muscles feel like they tighten and I call out Asa’s name during my release. He comes right after I do, and he calls out my name too.

  Afterward, Asa kisses my forehead and then he gets a wet washcloth to clean me up. It’s unbelievably sweet, but it’s exactly what I expected from Asa. After we’re both clean, he pulls me into his arms and he holds onto me. The rain and storm fades away. It’s only the two of us.

  It’s fitting that I chose Asa to lose my virginity to. He is, after all, my first love. He is always who I imagined it would be with, even though I thought it was only ever going to happen in my fantasies.

  Asa already had my heart. Now he has my soul too.

  Wednesday, September 16

  8:11 pm

  Over my head.

  I wake up on Wednesday evening with a smile on my face. I can’t help but relive my memories from last night. And waking up in Asa’s bed is nice. I love being surrounded by his smell. I hope that all of this means that whatever he was upset with me for is not in the past.

  When I open my eyes, I realize that I am in bed alone. My heart sinks. This must mean that Asa is still upset with me. Us completing the mate bond meant nothing to him.

  We should have talked last night, I know that, but everything felt so perfect. I didn’t want to ruin the perfect moment we were having.

  Asa told me that he loved me. I hold onto those words, hoping that he meant them. I need the words to be true.

  I have been in love with Asa since before I even knew what love really was. With him, my feelings are all consuming, but maybe I do turn a blind eye to things I should question. I just jumped into completing our mate bond when I really should’ve been asking questions.

  I hear a noise coming from Asa’s bathroom and I hear the water running in his shower. I’m relieved to know that he hasn’t left me completely alone, but I still would have preferred to wake up in bed with him.

  Despite all of this, my heart is still so happy. I can’t bring myself to regret what we did. All I can think about is how happy I will be to make Jude, Henry, and Rowan mine as well. Only then will I feel complete.

  But under all of my emotions, I can feel something else. It’s something strong, but I know it’s not my emotions. I realize that it’s coming from Asa, and it is fear. No. It’s not just fear. He is terrified about something. As I tr
y to search his mind and see what it is that has him so scared, his mind closes. It’s like somebody slamming a door in my face. It happens so suddenly that it actually hurts.

  It’s then that I know that Asa is hiding something from me—something he is desperate to keep from me. It’s why he’s been avoiding me. But I can’t figure out what he could possibly want to hide from me. The only thing I can think of is maybe I’m really bad in bed, but that doesn’t explain the fear that he’s feeling, and it definitely doesn’t explain why he was avoiding me before.

  Whatever it is, I’m going to have to be patient and wait for him to come to me. The problem is, I’m not a very patient person.

  I wish I knew what happened this weekend with my parents. I wish my dad would call me back. Not knowing is going to drive me crazy.

  I hear the water shut off, and I am nervous to see him when he comes out. Are things going to be awkward? Or will he pretend like everything is fine? Does he regret what happened last night?

  Last night was one of the best nights of my life. Just thinking about it makes my body feel warm. I didn’t realize it would feel so amazing, but it’s so much more than just pleasure. It’s intimate. It made me feel so close to Asa in ways that I didn’t know were possible.

  I’ve always known that sex completes the mate bond, connecting two souls as one. I just didn’t know it would be so incredible.

  The door to the bathroom opens and Asa walks out, fully clothed. His hair is still wet and he smells so good.

  Asa looks at me, raising an eyebrow. “Did you know that your thoughts are very loud?”

  My face grows warm as I ponder all of my thoughts since I woke up. A lot of them were about sex, and they are embarrassing. I put up a wall to block him out. I can’t believe I didn’t do it before now, I’m not used to my thoughts not being private.

  “Don’t be embarrassed. It’s cute.” He sits down on the edge of the bed, close to me. “I have to teach a class at nine o’clock, so I need to head out. But feel free to use my shower if you need to.”