Angel: Reverse Harem Academy Romance (Angel Academy Book 2)

by Erin Cain

  Grace felt the pleasure begin to overcome her, the sweet feelings growing to a fever pitch and clouding her head. When Vance increased his speed, thrusting deeper inside her, Grace just couldn’t take it anymore, couldn’t hold back for another second.

  She climaxed hard, holding onto Vance tightly as she did. Waves and waves of pleasure crashed over her. She felt like she was drowning in the perfect feelings, drowning in the way he held her and she shivered against him, moaning his name.

  She couldn’t remember ever feeling so good, feeling so much pleasure coursing through her body in one moment. She couldn’t remember ever feeling so lost in the bliss and the pleasure. Burying her head into his skin, she held on for dear life as she trembled.

  It was overwhelming and beautiful. It was everything that Grace had never dared to let herself feel, never relaxed into. But with Vance, it was different. With Vance, she couldn’t help but give herself over to the pleasure and sensations that coursed through her body.

  It was too much, it was not enough and it was perfect in every way, perfect and erotic and everything in between. She moaned and shivered, biting her lip hard.

  It was perfect and she couldn’t have asked for better. Vance climaxed soon after her, his body tensing with pleasure, holding her tightly as he shivered, his own pleasure washing over them both and leaving Grace feeling giddy, gasping and shaky and perfect. Vance was panting hard as he sank back into the pillows, Grace collapsing on top of him in his arms.

  She struggled to catch her breath, as they rested there like that for the longest while, no words passing between them, no words needed as they lay in the hazy darkness, the world silent around them, no noise but their heavy breathing.

  Grace shut her eyes and basked in the feeling, not wanting reality to rear its head and bring her down. She didn’t want to let her fears in: the trial, Dylan, her mounting stress. She didn’t want any of that in this moment.

  For the moment, this was perfect and it was all that she needed. This was everything that she wanted and more, and reality could wait.

  Just for a moment, reality could wait. Because lying on Vance’s chest felt so good, so right, so safe and warm, and Grace was so very tired.

  Chapter 6

  When Grace got to flight class the next morning, not even Dylan’s dark glares could sour her mood. Vance hadn’t exactly been able to stay the whole night, but luckily, they’d woken up in time to hear Trish coming up the stairs.

  Throwing on clothes, amidst panic and laughter, they’d managed to get themselves presentable before Trish had arrived upstairs.

  Much to Grace’s delight, Trish and Vance got on well. Vance had offered to take her to dinner since they had, well, skipped that bit. This had sent Grace into peals of laughter, but she’d declined, and they’d parted with a kiss and a promise to meet up at Weapons training.

  Grace was still floating on cloud nine, even though it was the morning after. It had been amazing, and Vance had been a perfect gentleman afterward.

  So, when Dylan glared at her, she just ignored him. She had to practice her manifestation, and she didn’t have the energy to deal with his passive-aggressive self.

  In fact, it wasn’t until halfway through the class that Grace paid any attention to him. And that was only because he stormed right up to her.

  “Don’t ignore me!” Dylan said as soon as he was within earshot.

  “Oh, hi Dylan.” Grace turned, forcing a smile. “If you wanted to talk to me, you just had to say.”

  Dylan scoffed. “If this is how you’re going to be during the trial, we’re screwed.”

  Grace looked at him calmly, no longer feeling the anger bubble up. She was feeling more relaxed and happier than she had in a while, which put her in a good position for dealing with Dylan. Still, the trickle of worry for the trial still tugged at the corners of her mind.

  “We’ll be fine, I’m sure,” she answered after a minute.

  “Yeah, yeah. Fine.” He laughed and it was a dark sound. He seemed furious about the pairing, even angrier than Vance had been.

  “Look…” He sighed and shook his head. “You’d better not mess this up for me, do you understand? I’m not getting kicked out of the academy because some Nephilim doesn’t know her place.”

  He straightened up and Grace had to admit that his build could be intimidating for some. “You follow my lead and you keep your head down. I’ll deal with the demon. I’ll deal with everything. I just need you to shut up and do as I say.”

  Grace swallowed, his words tasting bitter. She needed to work with him, and she needed to keep the peace. “I am not going to slow you down. My training and my studies are going well.” She paused, before continuing, “Now, I’m going to go back to practicing. If you want to talk about the trial again, I’m always happy to listen.”

  Then she turned and went back to concentrating on the power inside her, working on manifesting her wings. They were practicing banking today and she wanted to get it right.

  Dylan just stood there for a moment, seemingly caught off guard by Grace’s calm reaction. She wasn’t going to give in to his anger anymore, and he didn’t seem to know what to do about that for a moment.

  Then he sneered and shook his head. “I guess Vance is teaching you something, after all. How to be holier-than-thou.”

  He spun around and headed to where his bag was, grabbing it and leaving the field. Grace watched him go for a moment. Class wasn’t finished, but he didn’t particularly seem to care.

  Grace shook her head and turned back to practicing. Being calm certainly seemed to stop things from escalating, but she felt no closer to sorting things out between them. She felt no closer to bridging the gap and making things better, which was unfortunate.

  They needed to work together for this trial.

  Grace was willing to push through it, but it seemed like Dylan was as resistant and stubborn as ever. Not for the first time, she wished that she could do the trial with Vance instead. She had no doubt that they could work together seamlessly and make things happen. She had no doubt that things would be a lot better if they would work together.

  But that wasn’t going to happen and she had to work with Dylan instead.

  And so, in order to compensate, she would have to stay after training, every day. She would have to put in extra study hours and work with Vance to build up her skills. She needed to build up her skills and she wasn’t in the mood to wait on Dylan’s good graces.

  She would have to manage it herself. And so, when the rest of the class filed out, Grace stayed behind. She had half an hour before her next class and she was going to use every minute of it.

  ~

  Grace was so caught up in manifesting her wings that she didn’t hear the footsteps approaching her. It was about ten minutes after flight training and just about everyone else was gone.

  “Nice work. You might want to focus on the energy a bit less,” a deep voice resonated through the quiet field.

  Grace almost jumped out of her skin, her heart pounding in her chest. She spun around to see an older gentleman standing beside her. He was dressed professionally, with blond hair that was almost white. He smiled, and there was something intriguing about that smile.

  “Oh, sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

  She hadn’t seen this particular teacher around on campus, but it wasn’t that strange. After all, she only had three teachers – four if you included Dina. There were so many other teachers around the campus, as well as administration staff that Grace just didn’t know about.

  “That’s alright. You were focused on the task at hand. There is nothing wrong with a focused mind.” He smiled again. “But when it is too focused, it can be a hindrance.”

  His words were wise and measured, well-spoken. Grace nodded slowly. She didn’t fully understand what he meant yet, but she would consider it deeply when she next practiced. She wasn’t one to turn down advice and this guy seemed to know his stuff, know what he was talking about.r />
  “Thank you,” she said.

  “That’s okay. I was actually hoping to catch you in class, but I didn’t quite make it in time.” He looked at her intently and for a second, Grace felt like she was under a microscope. Then he continued, “I wanted to hear your account of what happened during the first trial.”

  Grace felt a flicker of confusion, a moment of uncertainty. Then she relaxed. She was so on edge since the first trial, especially with the announcement of the second trial, that she was mistrustful of everyone.

  It made sense that people would want to know the story about the first trial, especially teachers. Maybe he ran a class that took the fallen angels into the equation. Maybe he needed more information about how to work through barriers. There was a variety of things that he could need the information for.

  “Oh, okay. That’s okay. What do you want to know?”

  “Just give me a run-down. It’s useful to understand the full situation. In case anything happens again.”

  “Oh, right, okay. Well…” Grace took a deep breath, brushing her hair out of her face, “Well, I saw that something was going wrong with the fight. Dina tried to stop the match, but the barrier wouldn’t give.”

  Grace shifted her weight, feeling the familiar panic in her chest when she thought about how close she had come to losing Vance.

  “I ran down and managed to get through the barrier because, well… I’m a Nephilim, so I guess the barrier wasn’t rigged for me. I ran it and things kind of just… happened. Vance was in trouble and I wanted to help. I hadn’t even been able to manifest my wings before then.” Grace laughed nervously, hoping that the teacher wasn’t about to think less of her.

  “I see.” He nodded, looking thoughtful.

  The silence stretched between them for a moment, something quiet and thoughtful. Then he nodded again. “Thank you.” He tilted his head. “And you have a plan for the second trial? I’m sure everyone is rooting for you to pass,” he said.

  “Oh, yes.” Grace nodded firmly. “Vance and I have been training.”

  “Vance? Is he your partner?” The man looked mildly surprised.

  “Oh, no, but he’s been helping me study and helping me prepare.” Grace smiled. She was grateful for Vance’s help and now that she said it out loud, she realized again how lucky she was.

  “I see. Why are you not training with your partner, then?” he asked, curiosity seeping into his voice.

  “Well…” Grace trailed off. It probably wasn’t a good idea to talk badly about a fellow student, especially since Dylan was well known. “We aren’t… exactly seeing eye to eye… but we’re working on it.” She managed a smile.

  The man’s eyed turned serious. “It’s in your best interest to work together with your partner in this trial. You were strong in the first trial, but this one is designed to be completed by two people.”

  Grace sighed, feeling the familiar weight settling on her chest, “I know. I do. I’m just… having trouble getting through to him. I think I offend him by existing.”

  The man chuckled, although the sound was far removed from genuine humor. “I understand. It takes some people a while to come around.” He eyed her off for a moment. “After all, you are the first Nephilim in this academy. It’s unprecedented.”

  Grace nodded, “Yeah. Yeah, I know.”

  The man smiled. “But you seem to be doing well, if the first trail is anything to go by.” He straightened up, as if he was ready to go, his blond hair glowing like a halo in the afternoon light. “I hope to see you succeed in the second trial as well. Just make sure you work together with that partner of yours.”

  “I will. Thank you.” Grace smiled.

  He offered his hand and Grace reached out and shook it. His hand was warm and firm, and all at once, she felt a jolt move through her.

  “Good luck,” he said.

  Then he turned and walked away, his coat billowing behind him in the growing wind. There was something unusual about him, a poise that Grace couldn’t quite place, a certainty, surety, confidence. It was like Vance, but magnified.

  “Well, he has a point.” Grace sighed to herself as she walked over and grabbed her bag. “I have to work together with Dylan on this trial.”

  It was just a pity that Dylan didn’t want to work together with her.

  She didn’t know how to convince him and she had a feeling that he just wasn’t going to listen.

  So, the best thing she could do was practice and study and prepare so that she could complete this trial on her own. It was the only way she could guarantee her success.

  And she wasn’t going to fail.

  Chapter 7

  Grace checked and double-checked her clothes, the straps that crossed over her body and anchored her sword to her back. They were firm, and she’d been practicing with them for a while, but it still felt alien to her. The sword strapped to her back was lightweight and she was grateful for that. Other than that, she only had a handful of supplies on her person.

  The trip to hell was supposed to be a short one. A few hours at most: in and out, slay the demon, and get out as soon as possible. Still, that did nothing to quell the nervousness in her stomach, the feeling of impending stress that was weighing down on her.

  It seemed like an impossible task. Even with all of the training and studying, Grace didn't feel ready. She hadn’t been at the academy for long at all. And despite her attempts, she hadn’t practiced much at all with Dylan. This test seemed like it was too much, too soon.

  “You okay?” Vance’s voice broke through her thoughts and she glanced up.

  He was calm as always, at her side. He was dressed in his gear, since he was going in not too long after her. She had insisted that he stay in his dorm and rest up before it was his turn at the trial, but he had refused, insisting that he needed to be here for her.

  It was sweet. It was one of the most romantic things Grace had witnessed in her life.

  “I’m fine,” she reassured him, even though her heart was pounding in her chest. “Don’t worry about me.”

  “Of course, I’m worried about you. You’re starting the trial in just a few minutes,” he said.

  A few minutes.

  “I wish he’d hurry up,” she blurted out.

  Dylan was taking his sweet time getting here and it was starting to worry Grace. What would happen if he didn’t show? Would she automatically fail, or be sent in alone? Neither option was appealing.

  “There he is,” Vance said. “And not a minute too soon.”

  Grace glanced up to see Dylan sauntering towards them, like he had all the time in the world. He had heavy armor, rolled up sleeves and a sword strapped to his back, just like Grace. His blond hair shone in the sunlight and Grace realized that beneath his customary varsity jacket, he had a very sturdy build. He was filled out.

  “Where were you?!” Grace blurted out. Starting conflict already wasn’t a good idea, but he needed to take this seriously.

  “What’s it to you?” he snapped back as he approached. “I’m here on time, right?”

  Vance rested a hand on her shoulder and Grace took a steadying breath. Emotions were running high. He was probably just as stressed out as she was. It was only natural that he’d be a bit snappy.

  “Are you ready, Dylan?” she asked instead.

  “Yeah. Of course, I am. Remember, I’ll handle this.” He faced Grace, his stance confident, although Grace could still see the shadow of bags beneath his eyes. “Just stay out of my way and follow my lead.”

  “Dylan,” Vance spoke up before Grace could, his eyes seeming to cut right through Dylan’s façade. “Work with Grace. It’s dangerous down there and you know that.”

  “Whatever, Vance.” Dylan shrugged, double-checking his own straps. “Let’s just get this over with.” He scoffed, turning around and heading to the front of the crowd.

  The crowd for this trial was a lot smaller, since what happened in hell wasn’t exactly visible to everyone else. That said, me
dics, teachers, and friends still gathered to make sure everything went smoothly and to see people off.

  “You’ve got this,” Vance said, his voice cutting through the confusion, “Don’t worry about Dylan.”

  “I know. I won’t,” Grace said. She took a deep breath and turned around, kissing Vance on the cheek. “See you in a couple of hours, okay?”

  “I’ll be waiting.” Vance smiled, kissing her in return.

  Grace walked to the front of the crowd, where Dylan was already standing. Dina was there, guarding what looked like a portal. It was a swirling vortex in the ground and it was much more intimidating than the books had described.

  “Dylan. Grace. Are you both ready?” she asked.

  Dylan nodded.

  “Yes, ready.” Grace managed to find her voice.

  “Alright. On the count of three, I want you to both step through the portal. We expect you to return within three hours. You must slay a demon within that time. There is no need to bring evidence. We will know.”

  Grace nodded again. Her heart was pounding in her chest, thundering against her ribcage and making her feel sick at the thought. Slaying a demon. It was really happening. There was absolutely no way that she was ready for this.

  She glanced back and saw Vance watching her. She looked beside her to find Dylan staring ahead, his face impassive and stony. Then she turned to face the swirling vortex. The gateway to hell itself.

  A place she had only ever heard of before. A place she had hoped never to set foot in. And now she was going in willingly.

  “One,” Dina said.

  Grace swallowed and checked her weapon for the final time, making sure her armor was in place, tugging her hair back into a tighter ponytail. Beside her, Dylan shifted his weight, a tiger waiting and ready to pounce.

  “Two.”

  Grace braced herself for impact. She was sure that she could feel the heat radiating upwards from the portal, but she didn’t know if she was just imagining that, or if it really was hot. The books were mixed, depending on the level of hell to which you were going. She could hear her heartbeat pounding in her ears.