by C. R. Jane
When we finally emerge from the forest, I breathe a sigh of relief as if the forest held an invisible grip around my lungs. Nyx doesn’t lower me to my feet, but carries me back to my dorm, despite some strange looks from other students. It’s weird that they aren't questioning the fact that Nyx is covered in blood and carrying me.
“You can let me down now,” I insist, feeling uneasy, but he doesn’t budge.
“Not if your ankle is sore.”
I can’t complain when secretly, I’m loving being this close to him, our bodies touching, having him show me such dotting attention. A girl can get used to this, yet my mind keeps flipping back to the wolf in the woods, the danger, how close I came to death. And what was he doing there with Liam?
“How did you fight that wolf with your bare hands?”
“I’ve trained in combat my whole life.”
Except I don’t buy his excuse. It was a freaking monstrous wolf with fangs and such speed. “But you had no weapon.”
“You’re safe, that’s what matters.” He lowers me to my feet in front of my door, and I fiddled for the key in my pocket before jamming it into the keyhole. I push open the door, step inside, and turn to Nyx. I half expect him to follow me inside, but instead he’s retreating.
“Stay off your ankle,” was all he says as he walks away, no acknowledgement of yesterday or anything else.
I stand there, blinking hard, baffled by the hot and cold treatment from these guys, doing what they want on their own terms, when they want.
“You coming to dinner or not?” Mercy calls out through my door. “It’s pizza night!”
“Give me a sec.” I zip up my jeans and step into my shoes before opening the door where Mercy is half leaning against the frame, looking sorry for herself. “They’re not going to run out of pizza.” I laugh, the sound of it making me flinch since it seems so fake, but I can’t get the nurse’s results out of my head. Maybe they made a mistake with the blood tests? And there’s the whole fact that my life keeps being threatened at every turn at this school.
“Pepperoni always goes first, and I don’t do olives in the supreme.” She straightens and hauls me down the corridor by an arm.
“There’s always ham and pineapple,” I reply.
She cuts me a death stare. “Take those words back or I can no longer be your friend. And when you eat them, you’re eating SpongeBob’s house. That is sick.”
I chuckle and nudge her at her intensity over pizza night. Inside the cafeteria, there are people everywhere, and we made a fast zigzag line between the crowd toward the front of the line, somehow pushing in, courtesy of Mercy, pizza fanatic.
“Have you noticed how your lover boys are hardly ever in this cafeteria? They’re missing out big time.” She heaps four slices of pepperoni onto her plate and grabs another in her hand before taking a huge bite out of it.
“I have so much to tell you. You’re going to freak,” I tell her instead of responding to her comment. I’m suddenly having trouble deciding on what pizza I want with how messed up my mind feels at the moment.
“Yes, tell me now!”
I finally fill my plate with supreme and meat lover’s pizza slices before following Mercy to a free table. Just then, Liam enters the cafeteria. Shoulders dropped, posture slouched, he seems to look like his old self.
“Give me a sec.” I put my plate down and head over to him, curiosity burrowing under my skin. “Hey, Liam, how are you?”
He glances up, staring at me with a strange crooked smile, shadows gathering under his eyes. “I’m good, I guess.”
“Did you see that wolf in the woods today?”
He cocks his head to the side, studying me like I just said the craziest thing. “I’m just here for pizza.” When he tries to sidestep me, I move into his path.
“But you went into the woods earlier today with Nyx, remember?”
His brow wrinkles with confusion, his nostrils flare. “Are you feeling alright?”
“Just tell me what you remember,” I demand.
“If this is your way of trying to get me to do your chemistry assignment, it’s not working.” He brushes past me, then glances back at me. “I never go anywhere near those woods. Don’t you know they’re haunted?”
He heads to the lineup for food, and my head swims. He doesn’t remember going into the woods with Nyx, or he’s lying about it. I’m so confused. If he’s not lying about not remembering being in the woods...what the hell did Nyx do to make him forget about it?
Chapter 9
It’s been another long day. So, when I step out of algebra class and find Alexander leaning against the wall in the school corridor, his leg bent and his foot propped on the wall behind him, I have little patience for it. Students watch him as they pass by, but no one stops to talk to him, they move fast. They fear him, and I don’t blame them.
“Hope you didn’t wait too long,” I say sarcastically.
When he meets my gaze, there’s something dark behind his eyes, something heavy and I can’t work it out.
“Is everything okay?” I ask, begrudgingly concerned despite my best intentions.
He nods and pushes off the wall before collecting my arm in his, laying claim over me and ensuring everyone sees it.
As much as I tell myself I don’t want him around, there’s a part of me that appreciates his devotion in taking the school order of guarding me seriously. I just wonder if he’s hating every second of it.
Rough handling me, he tugs me past a group of girls chatting. Fire spikes in my chest and I wrench my arm free. “Stop it. I’m not your nuisance and don’t need you to man handle me like this. I didn’t ask you to walk me to every class. If you don’t want to do it, fine, don’t.”
Recently, I’ve found myself slowly getting closer to Finn and Nyx, they’re opening up to me, but Alexander… the gang leader is the prickliest of them all, holding his walls between us high.
“I’m always going to look out for you.” His voice is softer than I expect. “Just had a shit day.” His brow furrows and his gaze falls on anywhere but me.
I reach out and touch his forearm, the muscles shifting under his skin. I know all about shit days. Ever since my physical, every day has been like that. “What happened?”
“Politics, drama. But I’ll sort it out. I just want you safe, Adeline. These halls aren’t always safe for someone like you. And tomorrow is the camping trip… I need you to be safe.”
Stepping back, breaking our touch, I say, “Someone like me? I’m not as weak as you seem to think.”
“That’s not what I meant.” He closes the gap between us and collects me into his arms, despite me pushing against him. “Stop fighting me all the time.”
“Then stop thinking I’m useless. I can handle myself.” I stumble free from Alexander’s grip, his eyes trailing up and down my body as if he owns me. Like nothing in the world will stand in the way of him taking what he wants from me. He always looks at me this way, and it leaves my knees wobbling, reminding me of the power he holds over me. When he notices me tremble, his lips pull into a grin so devious it ignites a fire deep in my core.
“Go then,” he orders, and those two words rub me raw.
With a grimace, I drive away the heat within me and turn from him, hating how much he affects me. Sure, I want him, crave him, damn dream about him, but he pushes and pushes me, and when I finally will give in, he’ll break me. I know this, yet I still fall victim to his charm every time.
Students push past me in the hallway, and I press against the grain, shoulders nudging me, grunts and sighs in my ears, not a care in the world as they bump into me. Over my shoulder, Alexander is gone, and a strange ache settles under my ribs, something I can’t understand. He never ceases to make me feel things I hadn't felt before.
The walls seem to press in around me, the chatter deafening. I trip over someone’s feet and stumble. A hard shove to my back, and I tumble forward. Panic grips me, and I try to pivot, but it’s too late. I’m fa
lling, the floor rushing up toward my face, and I’m about to get trampled on by the hoard of these stampeding rhinos.
A scream drives forward when quick hands grasp my arms and heave me out of the tide before setting me on my feet with such ease, I might as well be floating.
I gasp for air and raise my head, meeting dream-worthy emerald eyes, crowned by the thickest dark brows. “Shit, I could have died. Thank you.”
“You would have survived,” Professor London snarls.
I bristle against him. Seems like everyone is in a dark mood today. “Then why save me?”
But he doesn’t respond. His gaze sails down the hallway to where Alexander and I stood moments earlier, me held in his grip, our bodies pressed together, the world fading around us.
The Professor had seen us, and he doesn’t approve. His grasp on my arms tightens.
“You’re hurting me.” I wriggle against him, but instead of releasing me, he drags me by the arm down the hall and into an empty classroom, kicking the door shut behind us. Darkness permeates the corners of the room, only the overcast light pouring through the small windows chases away the shadows.
I wrench free from his grasp, my back hitting the wall, my spine pressing into the stone, my pulse electric.
“What do you want?” I ask, unable to read his moody expression.
Dark hair frames his gorgeous but hard face. His jawline clenches, his brows pull together. “Do you think I’m a fool?”
His words slice through me. “What are you talking about?” I’d never seen him this riled up, this upset before.
“They’ll ruin you.” His voice darkens.
I swallow hard as his hand reaches for my shoulder, fingers digging into my flesh, but I know exactly who he’s referring to.
“And you, what will you do to me?” I gasp out, the words coming out much more provocative than I intended.
My words elicit the smallest smirk at the corners of his mouth, and this isn’t the image of someone who intends to be angelic but quite the opposite. And it shouldn’t affect me, but it does. Seeing that devilish expression etching across his face as he imagines who knows what he’ll do to me, melts through me. He might as well have stripped me naked and run his tongue over every inch of me because he’s left me breathless. My heartbeat thumps deep inside me, and I shouldn’t have let myself go there, but the tidal-wave of excitement rattles me. The image rushes forward, me beneath him, naked and exposed and stretched out on his desk, his lips dragging over my flesh, one hand to my throat, holding me in place. I don’t protest, I need to be at his mercy. Desperate to have him take me.
Except, he’s my professor at Raven Academy.
Not someone I should be daydreaming about like that.
Clearly, something is wrong with me.
He leans closer, and I sense every single movement. The graze of his jaw against mine, the delicate way he slides strands of hair behind my ear, his hot breath brushing my neck. Shivers coat me, leaving me utterly at his mercy. It takes every inch of strength to stop from throwing myself at him like a sex starved woman.
“What I could do to you…” he trails off, but he doesn’t need to say anything else. The damage is done… I’m falling so fast my knees give way and if it isn’t for the wall, I’d have fallen to the floor. I clench my thighs together from the jolt of euphoria curling tighter in the pit of my stomach.
Breathing faster. In and out, I can’t move. I can’t do anything but drown in the desire consuming me. I’ve never wanted anyone to rip my clothes off more than I do him right now.
“I’m going to kill them if they touch you again,” he snaps, his sudden outburst and cockiness is the opposite of the man I thought he was when I first started school.
His words rattle through me, rendering me stunned. “Wait… What? Don’t be ridiculous.”
Part of me grows exhausted of reacting like a yo-yo around these guys who leave me breathless, who tease me endlessly, who prove how much power they indeed hold over me.
I raise my chin, my words short and sharp, fueled by the frustration with myself. “You’re jealous?”
“Of boys? No! But I need you to realize where you belong.”
“Belong?” I stiffen, finding braver words, needing to voice them. “I don’t belong to anyone.”
He laughs, ridiculing me, while those deep eyes pierce into me. “That’s your first mistake. Everyone belongs to someone at Raven Academy.”
His words linger in my mind. As does Alexander’s dominance, along with his friends’ actions, and everyone else who’s always pushing and pushing everyone around them. This school is a battleground to climb to the top, stepping over others, and nothing else counts.
“Alexander Dachnavar is perilous,” the Professor hisses.
Questions form in my mind to better understand what he means, to help me work out for myself who is dangerous. I doubt he’ll share more details, and as much as I wish for a different world where I understand my feelings, it won’t happen any time soon.
With square shoulders, I murmur, “I better go then.”
I turn to leave, but Professor London steps into my path, tall and broad shouldered in his perfectly fitting suit. He belongs on a runway, so what makes someone like him become a teacher instead? What makes someone like him be drawn to me?
He strolls toward me, and I back away, once again hitting the wall. Butterflies burst through my gut, the anticipation of him coming for me electrifying, it is more than words, more than I can comprehend.
One hand presses to the wall over my head, he leans in, covering me.
“I’ve never been tempted like this before,” he whispers. Then his lips brush mine. Not innocently, but fiery, passionate, and starved.
Pulling away crosses my mind, but it’s too late. The moment we touch, I’m lost, utterly and completely lost. He tastes like danger and sin… and I crave so much more. Needing him like nothing else.
I reach for him, my fingers fumbling over his chest. They slide under his jacket and curl over muscles, reaching his neck, drawing him closer. Each breath comes harder, faster, and I inhale the air like my life depends on it.
His kiss lights up my whole body, and I hold onto him, unable to fathom not being with him. When his hands fall to my hips, I lock mine around his neck, drawing closer. Our bodies press tight, his palms sliding over my hips and lower.
One kiss and his intoxication is instant.
I lose control.
I don’t want this to end if it means having a man like him pinning me to the wall, his tongue plunging into my mouth, tasting me, claiming me.
“I’ll make you beg for me,” he breathes in my mouth, and I just moan as he licks my lips.
When he kisses me again, my toes dig into my shoes, my breaths rising. I’m ready to beg, to do anything if it means kissing him for eternity.
A creak sounds behind him, and he breaks our kiss before turning around. I gasp for air and stare out from behind him to find Clarissa’s silhouette against the open doorway. I don’t need her to step out of the shadows to know she’s scowling and judging me, just as I did when I first caught her giving Mr. Dusk a blowjob on my first day.
“What are you doing here?” Professor London growls.
Clarissa flicks a red curl of hair over her shoulder and spins out of the room, but not before I see the evil grin twisting her lips.
My stomach drops, my body losing strength. Her hatred floods me, and I’m under no miscomprehension she’ll do anything but cause trouble with this information. I should worry she’ll inform the principal, but it’s our word against hers, and in all truth, the real concern lies with what she’ll say to Alexander, to the other guys.
Which is insane… do I really believe I stand any chance of dating these men? A teacher who threatened to kill Alexander, or the alpha and his gang who act just as possessive around me? My thoughts flick to the Finn and I’s moment the other day.
My insides tear to pieces… I can’t do this; I can’t ma
ke sense of what’s going on.
When Professor London turns to face me, his face showing that he plans on resuming what was just interrupted, I lower my gaze. “I have to go.” Not waiting for a response, I rush out of the classroom and run down the empty hallway not looking back. I just need to be left alone, to clear my mind. To stop falling for these guys who’ll ruin me, and before everything blows up in my face.
I’ve just stepped outside the classroom when Mercy appears, jumping up and down excitedly. I just hope she doesn’t have more questions about the blood test and the results I told her about. It set her mind aflame with conspiracy theories, and while listening to her theories about others is fun, it’s not fun hearing them when they involve me.
“Apparently the choir results just got posted. We need to see if you made it. I mean you had to have made it with the way that everyone was raving about your performance,” she gushes.
A small tendril of hope curls in my stomach. Good news about something I want so bad is exactly what I need. I haven’t heard anyone “raving” about my performance but Mercy’s much better than me at keeping her ear to the ground, so maybe I did better than I thought.
The list is posted just outside the room where the tryouts took place. There’s a crowd of students gathered around the bulletin board, some of them pulling away looking dejected...others looking thrilled. I stop in my tracks, suddenly feeling sick.
“I don’t think I can look,” I tell Mercy, who’s been pulling me along excitedly.
“Chin up, you’ve got this,” she says soothingly. I can tell she’s excited about the prospect of a non-scholarship student actually making it. “I can go up and look,” she offers, bouncing slightly on her toes.
I shake my head. I should be able to do something simple like this. “No, I’ve got it,” I tell her, walking slowly towards the crowd of students, kind of feeling like I’m being sent to my death.
I see the back of Clarissa’s head as she looks for her name. She gives a little shriek of excitement signaling that she’s made the choir. A little part of me sinks at that news even though it should have been expected. Clarissa is good at everything. She continues to look at the list even though she’s obviously found her name already...and I know that she’s looking for mine.
