Shadowblade Academy 1: Darkness Calls

by KC Kingmaker

  “Shit,” I groaned, realizing what was happening to me. The warmth inside bloomed into white-hot heat.

  He cocked his head, fixing me with an amused smirk. I expected he could read my flushed face like a book.

  “Want to take this somewhere else?” I asked, tossing my drink.

  His smirk turned devious. “I thought you’d never ask, hun.”

  We retreated from the clearing, into the thicker foliage nearby. He took my hand and led me along like a puppy, out of eyesight and earshot of anyone else. Once we were far enough away from the party, he turned around to face me.

  His visage had darkened by the lack of light from the candles and moon. It made everything more exciting and mysterious. Tree limbs jutted out to poke us and keep us on our toes, even as he caressed my chin with the pad of his thumb.

  He moved within an inch of my body, his strong presence engulfing me. My breath hitched in my throat as I lifted my gaze to his beautiful face.

  Venn’s lips danced over mine, his warm breath whispering invisible promises on my skin. I could taste the fresh hint of citrusy hops on him, and I had no doubt he could smell the same on mine. It wasn’t the booze that made me so heady and dizzy—it was Venn himself, making me hot and bothered without even trying. Inside, every nerve was on edge, ready to explode at a moment’s notice. At a moment’s touch.

  His arm curved around my side, brushing against the lower swell of my breast, either intentionally or not. His hand found my back and massaged, while his chest squished against mine.

  “Venn,” I breathed. My nipples pebbled against his broad, strong pecs. My arms took on minds of their own, hands starting to travel over his figure as he felt my curves. “You said you think dark thoughts.”

  He grunted, tucking his head into the nook of my neck. He peppered my neck with kisses that made me squeeze my thighs together to keep from losing myself. I rolled my head back on my shoulders to let him continue his adventure to the front of my neck, where he dabbed his lips against my collarbone.

  “Not right now I don’t,” he said, voice pinched.

  I nodded in agreement. The desire inside me set off every repressed feeling I’d had since coming to Shadowblade Academy. He was igniting a fire within me that I hadn’t touched in long, long time.

  I wanted to stay true to my task. I also knew there was a time and place for everything—that it was okay for me to let go every once in a while. If I didn’t want to burn out and crash, I needed to find time to relax and embrace the simpler pleasures of life.

  Venn was my ticket into that sensory mode.

  He pulled back momentarily, lips leaving a scalding, invisible tattoo where they’d touched my skin. I felt needy at his departure. Greedy for his touch. My fingers tightened around his biceps, brow furrowing in frustration.

  “Coralia,” he said, something like guilt crossing his face. “I need to tell you something.”

  I flared my nostrils, went on my tiptoes, and wrapped my arms around his neck. “Not right now you don’t,” I said, echoing his sentiment from moments before.

  My lips crashed against his to steal the words from his mouth. I swallowed his breathless gasp and slid my tongue inside him, trying to assert dominance when I had no right to.

  He fought back, tongue battling expertly against mine in a duel I could have engaged in for ages . . . if the rest of my needs weren’t so pressing.

  One hand gripped eagerly at his side, while the other carded through his hair. He tangled his fingers in my locks and gripped tightly, making me moan into his mouth. His other hand skimmed my spine and back, falling on the curve of my ass. He cupped my flesh through my skirt and sent me reeling.

  I backpedaled into a tree with an “oomph,” not removing my lips from his a single time. We were still in our epic fight for carnal dominance, and I was losing. It made no difference to me—I was suddenly so horny from his roughness I would let Venn Gable do anything to me. My mind filled with the possibilities.

  I propped myself up on a butt-high branch, thick and sturdy enough to handle my weight with my feet still on the ground.

  Venn saw the position I was taking and lifted his brow. “Are you sure?”

  I tugged at his coat in response, pulling the front of it free from his slacks. “Yes.” I parted my legs and wrapped them around his calves, forcing him toward me.

  “So eager,” he said with a typical Venn smirk. So mischievous and knowing.

  “I can’t help it. I need you.” My heart galloped against my ribs, and even harder when his hand pressed against my breast and dipped into my blouse.

  He teased my hard nipple, expertly tweaking it so the hint of pain lapsed into pure pleasure. At the same time, he pulled my blouse off my shoulders on the other side, exposing me, and brought my full breast into his mouth. His tongue laved my nipple as he fingered the other, and all I could do was lean my head into the crook of his neck and moan softly.

  My knee found his crotch and the hard mound straining to get free.

  I couldn’t believe how quickly things had transitioned—from a kiss, to a hot embrace in the woods, and hopefully more.

  The distant, faint sounds of the party dragged on, but our concentration was elsewhere. I couldn’t get my hands off him. He couldn’t get his tongue or fingers off my tits, and it made me smile with satisfaction, knowing I was the sole object of his desire. “I want it,” I said greedily, pulling his head up from his lusty excursion in my bosom. “Give it to me, Venn.”

  “Yes ma’am.” He licked his lips. Seconds later, the clank of his belt buckle drew my eyes down.

  His pants fell halfway down his thighs. His cock sprang up, heavy and thick, with the most beautiful purple hue I’d ever seen. The sight of his big beautiful dick made my mouth fall open. The dark tip, dripping with his arousal, had me licking my lips in anticipation.

  “I’m already so wet,” I explained. “I—I don’t know what’s come over me.”

  He reached between my parted legs, running his palm over my warm inner thigh. When his digits reached the apex of my legs, my toes curled. He palmed my folds through my damp panties, toying with me. The knot in my belly fluttered like a million butterflies flowing through the sky.

  “Yes,” he agreed. “Yes you are.”

  His finger curled the hem of my panties and slid it aside. He stared lustfully at my pink, glistening pussy in the darkness. I saw a gleam in his eye.

  Gripping his fat cock at the base, he trudged forward, squeezing between my pillowy thighs. “Are you—”

  “Don’t ask again, Venn,” I growled, then abruptly reached down to clutch the head of his cock. His arousal smeared against my palm and he grunted thickly.

  The fae surged forward, keeping my panties slid, and fed himself into me.

  My head rolled back against the tree branch as he breached my entry and filled me with his girth. A surge of exquisite sensations tumbled inside like falling dominoes, going from my core up to my flushed face.

  I moaned and clasped the back of his neck, urging him forward. My other hand twisted to find his taut ass so I could hold him completely against me.

  Venn used my natural wetness to glide inside, filling me to the brim with his size. With a few short pumps, he had bottomed out, and then he was rolling into a rhythm that had my legs lifting off the ground.

  Knees bent, I hugged Venn tight as he fucked me against the tree, in public, in nature. It was humiliating but oh-so-hot to be doing it where any passing student could have caught us. I was embarrassed at being the instigator. But the dirty satisfaction felt even better. And the vying emotions roiling through me had no chance against my unbridled lust. It trumped all.

  Feeling his impressive length punching into me set my mind at ease. Before long, I had no thoughts at all swirling about. The bestial need to get off controlled my every pant, moan, and movement.

  I locked my legs around his ass, pushing to help him fuck the moonlight out of my gaze.

  A cracking sound cau
ght my attention—the branch I was sitting on was about to break from my weight, and gods what an embarrassing situation that would—

  The branch snapped in half and I yelped.

  Venn’s hands masterfully cupped both my ass cheeks and kept me aloft on his length. I let out a breathy, disbelieving chuckle as he carried me and continued to work me over, shoving my back against the sturdier tree trunk beside me.

  “Fuck, Venn, that was smooth,” I grunted, hugging him. The fireworks were loading up. Any minute, they would erupt, and I had no say in it. I could feel the pressure building to an epic crescendo.

  Venn stayed mostly quiet in the darkness, opting to listen to my soft moans rather than get us caught by passersby.

  His hips bucked and I felt him swell inside me. My eyes widened as his turgid length spread my insides apart and bulged my stomach.

  My mouth popped open and I let out a breathless cry of joy. Eyes rolling to the back of my head, the wave crashed against my insides and broke, sending ripple after ripple of ecstasy swimming through me.

  My legs trembled. If it weren’t for his hands cupping my fleshy rear, I would have staggered to the forest floor, reduced to boneless putty.

  He withdrew at the last second, the crown of his impressive endowment flaring. With a single pump of his hand, he launched a rope of cum on the tree trunk, just below my dripping pussy, between my legs.

  I gasped as he exploded, veins protruding in his neck and arms. His cordial demeanor shifted to something terrible and terrifying for a split second. Once he had spurted himself to his natural, satiated conclusion, he fell back into a normal expression.

  His eyes became half-lidded.

  I trembled for a few more seconds, the aftermath of our steamy jaunt still affecting me. Then I laughed and hugged him, both of us with disbelief in our eyes at how swiftly things had escalated.

  After a final kiss, I withdrew slightly, keeping our lips just a hair’s breadth apart. “Now then,” I murmured dreamily, staring up into his silver-flecked purple orbs. “What was it you wanted to tell me?”

  He blinked and searched my face, expression blank as a slate. Sweat beaded his upper lip from our vigorous romp. After a beat of silence, his face twisted into a mellow smile. “Never mind, hun. I don’t remember.”

  Chapter 29

  Coralia

  I FELT MORE CONNECTED to Venn than ever.

  Our tryst had been quick. Thoughtless. Our hands and bodies had done all the talking necessary. We sat on the ground afterward, backs against the tree, hiding from the rest of the party. We basked in the afterglow, our spirits swirling together. Our heavy breathing began to fall back to a normal rhythm.

  My hand found his. My head lazily propped against his shoulder as I stared out at the darkness and the tendrils of moonlight making their way through the trees.

  “So, those dark thoughts . . .” As I trailed off, I felt his body shift against mine. Rigid discomfort. A topic better left unsaid, but he’d opened the gates. My curiosity was piqued.

  “Yes?” he asked.

  “The tincture you taught me to make for the Alchemy midterm was an ancient, lost poison, Venn. Professor Hawkins told me it was something wicked from the Unseelie Court.”

  “And? All poisons are wicked.”

  I tried to gather my thoughts to figure out what I was attempting to ask. “I assume your ‘dark thoughts’ have something to do with that. It’s all connected, isn’t it? What . . . where do you come from?” I tilted my head to look up at him with wondrous eyes. “What’s your story, Donovenn Gable?”

  “Are you sure you want to hear my sob story, Coralia, after such an amazing time?”

  I gulped. Am I sure? It was a good question. My curiosity wouldn’t be sated though. “Yes. Please. If I’m going to fall for a man, I want to know what makes him tick.”

  His eyes flashed wider, a darker purple coming to his cheeks. “You’re falling for me?”

  I tilted my head, rolling my eyes. What do you think, buddy? “Let’s not look too deeply into that, okay? I’m just wondering.”

  “Fair enough.” He cleared his throat. “Where to start?”

  “I guess you could start at what brought you to Shadowblade Academy?” I scooted my butt on the undergrowth, crossing my knees and giving him my undivided attention.

  Venn lounged in a lax position, his back against the tree. A jaw tic showed me something akin to doubt. He took on a faraway gaze, staring past the canopies and beams of murky moonlight. “Tragedy in my homeland,” he said, voice filled with things unsaid, probably for a long time.

  I tried to break the tension. “Can relate. You mean the Unseelie Court?”

  He nodded. “The Gable name is powerful in the Fae Realm, Coralia. Influential, if not for all the wrong reasons.”

  “How so?”

  “I come from a long line of politicians and back-alley dealers. Then again, many Unseelie are like that. King Magus and Queen Delphine Tenebris, the leaders of our people, practically encourage it.”

  “Is that why people think of Unseelie as evil and wicked?” I bit my lower lip nervously, worried I would offend him. “Compared to the Seelie, I mean.”

  “I think that has more to do with our darker skin, as opposed to their lighter hue, and the inherent racism that comes to mind with those qualities,” he murmured, shaking his head. “That’s a whole different topic though. In the Fae Realm, Unseelie and Seelie consider the other ‘evil’ insomuch as they fight against one another. The idea that Unseelie are automatically diabolical is misguided. A very human, colonizer’s way of thinking.”

  “Shit, I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay. You didn’t know.” He put a gentle hand on mine.

  I felt shitty for jumping to conclusions based on what amounted to gossip. Then again, how else was I supposed to know? I had to ask an Unseelie himself, and I was happy he didn’t think less of me for my assumptions and ignorance.

  “Anyway,” he went on, “I wasn’t like my wheeler-dealer parents. They could scheme and build all the wealth and status they wanted. I wanted nothing to do with it.”

  My eyebrows danced up and down and I gave him a smirk. “A little rebel, eh?”

  “You could say that. A rebel in an already rebellious, chaotic land. I was more of an anarchist. I made friends with other likeminded people—ungovernable teenagers, in the human sense.” At his side, Venn spun a thin vine in his fingers. He plucked a wilted flower and put it in his lap. Staring down at the flower, his expression looked forlorn. “One thing I was good at was botany.”

  My brow scrunched together. That’s a strange thing to admit. Wait. “Is that why you’re good at making poisons?”

  “Yes. Botany, herbs, natural remedies—I had a knack for anything having to do with plants and extracts. Before long, I was growing and making narcotics for my little group of delinquents. We wanted to tune out the noise of our parents; of our political system; of the wars.”

  It was a story eminently relatable to a human such as me. Although I’d been lucky enough to avoid drugs, for the most part, I knew people who hadn’t. The results almost always ended in tragedy. With Venn’s little tidbit, I had a good idea where his story was going.

  “My zest for nature twisted, and I twisted with it. My panaceas and medicines became dangerous drugs. I became better at synthesizing.” He looked away, shame written on his cheeks as clear as day. “My best friend was the biggest addict in our troop. We hatched grandiose plans, usually in our hazy fugues. Before we could enact any of them, he died.” Venn tore his gaze to my face, his purple eyes brimming with unshed tears. “Killed from my drugs.”

  “Oh Venn,” I gasped. I ran my hand down his bicep. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Garlock’s family mingled with mine, which meant they were at the top of the hierarchy. His death wasn’t something that could just be swept away. I was going to be punished, eye for an eye.”

  Cold fear crept up my spine, goosebumps breaking out along the back
of my neck. “The Unseelie were going to execute you?”

  He nodded. “Until Alaric Cane showed up.”

  Confusion traced my fear. “The headmaster?”

  “My parents were huge Academy donors, as you know.”

  “Ah. Name on the dojo and all that.”

  “Right. Alaric offered them an ultimatum: Let me come to Shadowblade Academy. He said he would snap me into shape, because he saw great promise in me as an expert alchemist—an exceedingly rare quality for shadowblades. If I ever fucked up, he would send me back so they could dole out my punishment.”

  “Whoa. Harsh.”

  “In taking me under his wing, Headmaster Cane also put me under his thumb.”

  “That’s understandable.”

  “No, you don’t get it. He makes me do things I . . .” Venn trailed off, shaking his head. “Never mind. We can get to that later.”

  His words, and the quick deviation from his train of thought, frightened me. What does he make you do, Venn?

  “Headmaster Cane found a scapegoat for Garlock’s death, so my family was spared the humiliation of their murderous offspring. They remained in the Court, unscathed. I was disowned in all but name.”

  “Spirits fuck me, Venn. That’s terrible.”

  “And now I’m indebted to the headmaster.” He chuckled humorlessly, shaking his head and rolling it back on his shoulders. “He raised me out of the shadows, but I had to find other people to help mold me into a better person. Which is why finding people like Dax, Sunny, Quentin, and your sister, was so special to me. They became my new family.”

  His story made me want to cry. At mention of Myria, I found a glimpse of an opening. I felt guilty for prodding, but I had to take advantage of the new trajectory. “Can . . . you tell me about Myria’s time here, Venn? I feel so lost about her. Sunny keeps everything so close to his chest.”

  Venn scoffed. “And he thinks Dax and I don’t care about her, even though he knows that’s bullshit.”