Hunt (Academy of Unpredictable Magic Book 5)

by Sadie Moss

  The guy smiles and waves. He’s wearing a shirt that says Han Shot First and a pair of beat up jeans. He has skin the color of oak, warm brown eyes, and is a good few inches taller than either Mads or me. He’s even got glasses—oh Lord, he couldn’t be more Maddy’s type if he tried.

  Judging by how his whole face lights up when he sees her, I bet he would try if she asked. My flirt senses are tingling.

  “Justin!” Maddy’s voice is higher pitched and flustered. “Hi!”

  “Hey.” Justin grins at her, both of them acting like I don’t exist.

  “Hi,” I say, stepping a bit in between them like a bodyguard and narrowing my eyes. “I’m Elliot, Maddy’s older sister.”

  Look, everything Maddy’s told me about Justin is good, and he seems like a decent guy from what I can tell in the ten seconds I’ve known him. But this is my little sister we’re talking about. Only the best is good enough for her.

  His cheeks get a little red, and he quickly holds out his hand. “Hi, I’m Justin. I’m one of Maddy’s friends. I saw you on the livestream of the Trials. It was pretty amazing.”

  “Thank you.” I shake his hand. Then I tighten my grip a little as I ask, “So, how long have you and Maddy known each other?”

  “Since our first year.” Justin catches Maddy’s gaze, and hoo boy, I can practically hear the violins. I hope to God I’m not that sappy with any of my guys. Although I probably am. “We were in the same Practical Magic class.”

  “Justin’s done a lot of great work to stand up for the Unpredictables,” Maddy puts in quickly.

  “I’m glad to hear it. You guys hang out a lot?”

  “Uh, yeah, we’ve got the same friends and all that,” Justin replies.

  I can’t resist poking a little fun at Maddy. It only seems fair. When I was in my coma after Johnson—the crazy asshole in charge of the Trials—attacked me, Maddy spent almost three months with the guys by herself, which means she got to tell them hundreds of embarrassing stories about me while I couldn’t even defend my honor.

  Now it’s time for my revenge.

  “Oh, cool. Then you must’ve gotten to know her pretty well. You’ve heard all about the pet sock she had when she was little, right?”

  “Elliot!” Maddy hisses.

  “Yeah, she glued googly eyes on it and gave it a funny voice and everything. Hilarious.” I grin evilly.

  Maddy looks like she wants the earth to swallow her up. “Not funny…”

  “Oh, come on, I’m sure Justin’s heard all these stories already! Like the home video Mom made of you running around at two years old singing ‘I Can Show You the World’ from Aladdin.”

  Maddy elbows me, hard. “Nope! Justin definitely does not need to hear that.”

  “Or what about when you developed a massive crush on Milo from Atlantis, and you were heartbroken to find out he didn’t exist?”

  “Oh my God!”

  “She’s always had a thing for nerds,” I confide in Justin.

  Maddy points at the car, angling her face away from the tall, cute boy so she can glare at me. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

  “Hmm, I don’t know, I think I want to spend some time getting to know Justin better.” Switching gears, I grin fiercely at him, showing a few more teeth than necessary. “It’s so nice to see that Mads is in good hands. She’s my baby sister; I raised her after our mom died. It’s nice to relax and know nobody’s going to hurt her, so I don’t have to carry a baseball bat around anymore, you know what I mean?”

  Judging by the look of wariness that comes into the kid’s eyes, he knows exactly what I mean: hurt my sister, and I will break your damn legs.

  “Maddy’s amazing,” he tells me, his voice earnest. “You’re lucky to have a sister like her. And from what she tells me, she was lucky to have a sister like you growing up.”

  Well, that definitely all sounds promising. And as much as I might want to, I can’t stand here and interrogate the poor guy forever.

  Relaxing my protective older sister stance just slightly, I turn to Maddy, who’s blushing furiously at Justin’s words. “Okay, you’re right, sis. I really should go.”

  She nods, and her blush and smile fade as she grows solemn. “I know. Love you, Ellie.”

  We hug tightly. God, she’s so old. Twenty. When the hell did that happen? Every time I look at her, I still see my baby sister. I think I always will.

  But she’s growing up. She’s an adult. And she’ll choose her own boyfriend, and her own job, and her own path. All I can do is be here for her to cheer her on during the good times and support her during the bad.

  I manage to keep it together as I pull away from the hug, kissing her on the top of her head before sliding into the car. But after she’s waved me off and I’m back on the road to Roman’s house… the tears come.

  Crying isn’t really my thing, even when I’m super upset. But right now, it feels like I need this.

  Nothing’s changed. I’m going to see Mads again soon. But it feels like so much more than that—like it’s finally sunk in for me that she’s an adult. That she’s going to be living her own life, forging her own path, and no matter how close we remain, we’ll never go back to the time when we shared a small one-bedroom apartment in Portland.

  She’ll always be my younger sister. But she’s not my baby sister anymore.

  Chapter 5

  I pull myself together by the time I get back to the house, brushing away any lingering trace of tears.

  When I roll up the driveway, there are some suitcases sitting out on the front porch. Ah, for Roman. He’s got to head back to campus early too, since he’s a professor at Griffin and needs to prep for the semester.

  I’m actually glad he’s leaving. Not that I want him to go away or anything—far from it. But the fact that he’s heading to Griffin means I’m going to see him soon, in just a week when I get back to campus.

  Unlike the other guys, who I’ll be leaving behind in a week.

  Roman gives me a small smile as he steps out of the house, and I toss him the car keys.

  “Glad to see you’re in one piece,” he teases.

  “Hey. I’m an excellent driver.” I grin as I step forward.

  As soon as I’m within reach, he pulls me in for a kiss, his hands settling on my hips, and I press myself up against him. He’s all firm muscle and tall enough that I have to get up on my tiptoes to kiss him properly. Kissing Roman is always a full-body experience, and I love it.

  I pull away, but just slightly, just enough that I can kiss the tip of his nose and watch him roll his eyes in amusement.

  “Be good while I’m gone, Reckless.”

  “No promises,” I reply, waggling my eyebrows. Then my voice softens as I add, “Let me know when you get there safely?”

  Normally, I’m not the kind of person who cares if someone checks in with them or not, but with all that’s been going on with Unpredictables… I just want to be sure he’s okay.

  “Of course. Let me know when you’re on your way next week, and I’ll meet you.”

  Roman and I hid our relationship for the first year and a half because he’s a professor and I’m a student. It’s not against the rules at Griffin Academy, but it could’ve easily led to people crying favoritism on things like grading.

  Ha. As if. They clearly haven’t seen my scores in Roman’s class.

  But it’s been long enough, and enough stuff was happening, that we decided we had to say something before someone noticed and chose to say something for us. So now, Roman can meet me at the gate if he wants, and kiss me in public if he wants.

  And he does seem to want to. Which, hey, I’m sure as hell not complaining about.

  “I will,” I promise him.

  He pulls me in again, kissing me so deeply he dips me a little. It’s like he’s going away for years instead of just a week. His kiss leaves me dizzy, breathless. I can hardly stand upright by the time he’s finished.

  “See you soon,” he whi
spers, his voice rough.

  “See you soon.” I wrap my arms a little tighter around him, soaking up a few more seconds in his embrace.

  When we finally break apart, I help him load up the car, then watch and wave as he drives away. When he disappears out of sight, I turn and head inside.

  I have one week left with my other three guys.

  Dmitri, Asher, and Cam were all a year ahead of me at the Academy of Unpredictable Magic, so they graduated last year. Which is why they’re looking for jobs, and why they won’t be coming back with me.

  I’m definitely not relishing the idea of being on campus without them.

  We spend the next few days in the house together, the three of us, and I’m constantly with at least one of them. I want to take advantage of every second and not think too hard about how we’ll have to part ways soon. I want to savor it, to be with them and be happy about it, instead of focusing on the looming cloud of melancholy on the horizon.

  The guys know there’s only so much time though, and they know I’m not looking forward to leaving them behind. I can tell they’re not looking forward to it either. Even Dmitri, who’s not exactly the clingy type, practically becomes my shadow, sticking close to me at all times.

  On the plus side, I’m getting almost as much sex this week as I have in the past two years combined, so… silver lining?

  The dark-haired, broody man does need some alone time though—it’s just part of his DNA. He confesses as much to me on my last night in the house, and I can tell he feels guilty about it.

  Asher and Cam are cleaning up dinner in the kitchen, and Dmitri and I are in the living room in front of the fireplace—not that we have a fire going right now, since it’s still summer.

  “I don’t want you to think…” He pauses, gathering his thoughts. “It’s not that I don’t want to spend time with you.”

  “It’s okay, I totally get it. I know it’s not about me.” I pause too, wondering if I should ask this, if I should bring it up. “Is it about your parents?”

  I can see Dmitri hesitate for the barest moment, and then he nods.

  Ah, yup, I was right. I reach across the couch and take his hand, squeezing it. “Hey. These things take time. When my mom died, when my dad left… it hurts. You don’t just go through all the emotions once, and then you’re done with them. You have to let them settle in. Take all the time you need. It’s okay.”

  Dmitri looks down at our joined hands for a moment before he nods. He raises our hands to his lips so he can kiss my knuckles, then lets go and stands up. His dark eyes shine with gratitude and tenderness as he meets my gaze. “Thank you, Princess.”

  I watch him leave, and a few moments later, I hear Asher and Cam enter from the kitchen.

  “He okay?” Cam asks.

  Asher and I nod in tandem. “He just needs some time,” I say.

  I’m not concerned—I would have been, back in the beginning when we first started our relationship. But now I have more trust in him, and I know he’ll lean on me when he needs me and not just disappear into himself. He’s trying to talk to me about this, letting me know when he needs to go off on his own instead of just vanishing. It’s progress.

  Asher sits down on the couch with me while Cam runs upstairs to change his clothes—he spilled tomato sauce on his shirt while cooking—and the citrus and lemongrass scent I love so much tickles my nostrils as he grabs the remote.

  “Netflix?” he suggests, turning on the TV and pulling me into his side.

  I curl up with him as he flips through the options, but I don’t really want to waste my last night in this house watching a movie. Don’t get me wrong, watching movies is fun, but tonight I’d rather do… other things.

  I kiss up his neck, slowly, teasing him. Asher stiffens but doesn’t do anything for a moment, like he’s wrestling with himself.

  The moment when he gives in and turns to kiss me properly is so worth it.

  Something about kissing Asher always seems to make time slow down—I get lost in this place where nothing else matters or exists but the feel of his lips on mine.

  It’s one of my favorite feelings in the world, and as our lips stay fused together, I crawl onto his lap, needing to press more of our bodies together. I can already feel him getting hard, his stiffening cock pressing against my clit in a way that urges me to rub against him, seeking more friction.

  When I do, he groans into my mouth, dropping his hands to my hips to help me move as he rocks his pelvis against mine.

  Asher’s out of school now, which means he doesn’t have to wear his magic repressing cuff anymore—and that means he could pretty much read my mind anytime he wants to.

  I know he wouldn’t go prying into my head without my permission; he’s very careful with his power and is a big believer in privacy and free will. But sometimes I wonder if he just absorbs my emotions without even trying to. Because he’s always been able to read me like an open book—but now? Now it’s like he wrote the book.

  Every touch is like an answer to a question I didn’t even know I asked. He anticipates every need, every swell of arousal within my body, and rides that wave like a pro surfer, teasing sensations out of me that I’ve never felt before.

  He deepens and slows our kiss, each stroke of his tongue so thorough and languid that I almost can’t stand it. At the same time, his hands slip under my shirt, his fingers and palms skating over the bare skin of my back—and even though he’s touched me like this more times than I can count, a shiver runs through me as my whole body reacts to the contact.

  “Hmm. Is this a private party, or is there room for one more?”

  Cam’s voice is a little rougher than usual, and although there’s a teasing tone to it, I know he’s genuinely asking.

  We’ve all been doing this relationship thing for about six months, and sometimes I can’t believe how easy it feels, how well it’s working. I think a huge part of that is because, although the guys never leave me in doubt about how much they want me, they don’t get jealous or possessive around each other.

  They don’t get mad when I sleep in one of the other men’s rooms, or even if I choose to sleep alone in my own room. They respect me and each other enough that they don’t feel the need to keep some kind of ledger of who got what when, or to track how much time I spend with each of them.

  Because it’s not like that.

  I don’t love all of them with equal-sized parts of my heart; I love each of them with my whole heart.

  So if I were to tell Cam that Asher and I need a little time alone, he wouldn’t be crushed or mad or think it means I don’t love him. He would understand.

  Ash and I break our kiss, our bodies still pressed flush together and our noses almost touching. His moss-green eyes sparkle with desire and humor as he lifts his eyebrows slightly in question.

  I grin, wrapping my arms around his neck as I turn to peer over my shoulder at Cam, who’s leaning against the doorframe with his hands shoved into his pockets.

  “This is definitely a three-person party,” I tell him. “We were just waiting for you.”

  The smile that spreads across his face beams like pure sunshine, and my pussy clenches as he strides toward us, his gait long and confident.

  Holy crap, my boyfriends are hot.

  And speaking of Asher’s mind reading abilities, I’m pretty sure he’s started using them to communicate with Cam when we’re all in bed together. They’ve pulled off some pretty complicated moves without a word spoken between them, and I don’t know how else they could’ve managed it.

  Not that I have any complaints. At all.

  When Cam reaches us, he sits down on the wide, plush couch, leaning back against the armrest and putting one leg up on the cushion. Without missing a beat, Asher lifts me off his lap, depositing me into the crook of Cam’s legs so that my back is pressed against his front. The blond mage tugs me a little closer, and his lips find my ear even as Ash continues to kiss me with his patient, mind-blowing thoroughne
ss.

  Asher’s hands slip under my shirt again, from the front this time, sliding up over my stomach to massage my breasts through the thin fabric of my bra. Cam’s hands are moving too, flipping open the button on my jeans with an easy movement and working the fly down before his large, warm palm slides inside to cup my pussy through my panties.

  I lift my hips into the touch, begging for more, and although he leaves the barrier of fabric between us, the pads of his fingers find my clit, moving in lazy, teasing circles.

  Asher draws back a little to help me remove my shoes, and then he tugs my jeans down and off, dropping them by the side of the couch as his gaze focuses on his friend’s hand between my legs.

  The deep forest green of his eyes darkens as he watches, and between Cam’s touch and Asher’s hot gaze, I’m already squirming, my breath coming faster.

  But there’s something else I want tonight. Something I’ve been thinking about for a while and really want to try. I’m a little nervous about it, honestly, but even just imagining it makes me press up harder against Cam’s fingers. I’m turned on as fuck by the idea of it, at least, and I know these two men will do everything in their power to make it good for me. I trust them completely.

  Still chasing the pressure of Cam’s fingertips, I reach behind me to hook a hand around the back of his neck as I meet Asher’s gaze. “Would you guys ever want to fuck me… at the same time?”

  I hope they understand exactly what I’m asking for, but any worries that they won’t are banished when Asher’s eyes flare with heat and Cam’s fingers freeze mid-motion.

  “That’s a little like asking a man in the desert if he’d like a glass of water,” Cam says, his voice even rougher than when he spoke before. “I think the bigger question is, do you want that, Sin?”

  My heart picks up in my chest, pounding harder with excitement, anticipation, and a touch of nerves.

  “Yeah.” I crane my neck to peer up at Cam, looking into his sky-blue eyes. “I think I do. Can we try it?”

  There’s a beat of silence as my words hang in the air—and then I’m lifted from the couch so fast that the world tilts and spins in my vision. I yelp, wrapping my arms around Cam’s neck as he lifts me in a fireman’s carry. We’re halfway up the stairs before I even process what the hell just happened, and I laugh as the broad-shouldered man rushes up the steps two at a time, Asher right behind him.