School of Broken Wings

by C. R. Jane

  “If you hate them so much, why are you here?”

  “Because of you. And maybe I’m learning that not all the fanged monsters are the same.”

  I arch a brow. “You almost said something nice about them. Careful, you might start liking them.”

  He laughs at my sarcasm. “God, I missed you, Adeline. Our chats, our time alone.” He steps even closer, leaving but a whisper of space between us. “I used to fantasize about you every night after our time together, you know. I’d dream of all the things I wanted to do to you.”

  “Don’t,” I stop him, my cheeks blazing. He’d rarely spoken to me like this. “Don’t try to distract me. Just be truthful with me. You knew about vampires before coming to Raven Academy, didn’t you?” Deep down inside, I’m sick to my stomach that he came to the academy for a sinister reason. “You kept giving me clues, like mentioning the mirror and no reflection. Then there was your lack of reaction when you discovered vampires went to Raven Academy. I remember back at the academy camp, and when we found the dead kid. You knew then what killed him, didn’t you? How did you know? Are you one of them?”

  His nose wrinkles with disgust. “Fuck, no.”

  “Then what?” I bite back. “If you want me to trust you, then you need to be honest with me.”

  He swallows loudly, but there is no other sign of his discomfort. He’s the master at disguising his emotions. “Yeah I knew about them. But I also came to the academy for you.”

  Heaviness settles on my shoulders. “Me?”

  “I suspected for a while what you were,” he explains quickly. “But I know there’s more to you. And I came here to protect you.”

  His words punch through me, along with Braxton’s earlier words about me being more. “What does that mean?”

  “Adi,” Dante calls out from the beach.

  I glance over to them as Connor steps back from me.

  Dante is waving for me to join them.

  “I’ll let you go to them. Your lovers are calling,” Connor says, turning away and strolling into the house.

  “Wait, you were going to tell me,” I say.

  But when he glances at me from over his shoulder, he says, “You need to trust me, Adi. If you want to stay alive, I need to remain by your side, whether you want me to or not.”

  Chapter 4

  “The bath is ready,” Nyx calls out from down the hall just as I walk toward him. But his announcement does exactly what he intends. I see it in the huge grin on his face. Every other guy in the house suddenly dashes toward the bathroom, their footsteps pounding the wooden floorboards.

  Crash. Bang.

  They sound like rushing wolves for a meal, hitting anything in their way. They want to discover if I am the one about to have a bath.

  All five of my men now stand in the hallway, their eyes weighing heavily on me, and suddenly, I feel like I’m walking toward my own sacrifice. Connor isn’t there. He doesn’t behave like the others. Then again, our history makes things more complicated. But I don’t want to think about problems tonight. Not after a day of training, and when even walking hurts muscles I never knew I had.

  Once I reach the doorway, I turn back to them all and offer a mischievous smirk. “Just so we're clear. I am locking the door, and I am having a bath on my own.”

  Dante groans first, then Finn’s expression falls. Alexander’s brow arches. Braxton gives me his best puppy dog eyes. I laugh and slip into the room, nudging Nyx to leave.

  “Let me show you around,” he insists with delight in his gaze.

  “I am sure I can navigate a bathroom. Now out. I want some alone time.” The moment he steps out, I have five faces looking at me. I blow them a big kiss and shut the door quickly.

  Warmth sweeps over me to see their hunger, to know they will do anything I ask. I love each and every one of them, but right now, I just want a peaceful bath.

  I reach down to lock the door and find there is no lock on the door. Typical. So I turn to look around for a chair to push under the door handle, just to ensure I get no unexpected visits when the tub catches my attention. A pearlescent freestanding bath with golden claw feet waits for me in the middle of the large bathroom. Candles cover the window sills, filling the room with a soft light and only then do I hear the light ballad of a calming song. But I can’t see where it’s coming from. Windows are thankfully frosted, so no one can spy on me. A large white vanity sits at one end of the room with a large mirror with ornate gold trimmings along the edges. Everything else is white, like I’m floating on a cloud. Akin to the mountain of bubbles in the tub.

  I waste no time and undress. Laying the clothes on the chaise lounge chair near the wall, which seems to glimmer in the candlelight, I hurry toward the tub over the cold tiles. This room is spectacular. If I had a room like this, I would never leave it.

  I climb inside the tub, one leg dipping into the hot water, but it’s not unbearable. Drawing my other leg inside, I crouch down into the heat and inhale the scent of roses. I’m completely swallowed up by bubbles. I bat them away, driving them toward my feet. Now, a huge white wall of foam faces me. Not sure Nyx has ever had a bubble bath in his life, because this is five times the amount of bubbles anyone would need. I slip farther onto my back, where only my head sticks out, and I release a breath, losing myself to the calm.

  A broad smile spreads over my lips as I lay in peace and quiet. I can’t help but feel like I’m hiding in here, and I love it. Though my mind keeps wandering to what the rest of them are doing out there.

  My thoughts slide over to Connor. Despite his secrecy, just knowing that he still wants me fills my stomach with those pesky butterflies that refuse to leave me. Surprise is an understatement that he somehow ended up running away with us. He tells me it’s because he wants to protect me. But so do my five men. So, he’s either super cocky to think he is the only one who can save me, which is extremely likely, or he’s hiding something massive from us.

  I try to push thoughts of him out of my mind and let myself just enjoy the tranquility, the silkiness of the water against my skin. I remind myself the priority right now is surviving, and then I can deal with whatever the hell is going on with this heart of mine.

  A sudden explosive sound comes at me all at once. The door shoves open. Loud footsteps boom. Voices I can’t decipher steal the peace.

  Panic lashes over me.

  I jolt upward frantically to sit in the bath, water and bubbles splashing up and over the tub’s edges. My heart is racing, and my silvery white wings involuntarily snap outward from behind me, tossing even more water across the bathroom floor.

  Snapping around in the tub, I find Alexander kicking the door shut behind him with his foot, his eyes devouring every inch of me.

  “Giving your wings a wash?” His voice is breathy like he’s run a marathon.

  “Ha ha. Hilarious. Why are you rushing in here like a madman and scaring me half to death?”

  Alexander strolls toward me, running a hand over his mouth, like he might be drooling. “Had a bet with the guys, and I won.”

  That’s when I look down at his tee to see it’s stretched across his stomach and even torn around his neckline. He has a scratch down the side of his neck, and a bruise forming on his arm. His black hair is messed up. But none of that seems to matter to him. He just stares at me with those starved blue eyes.

  “So you all had a fight to see who got to come in here?” I don’t know why I’m surprised at all. Part of me is extremely excited to see the length he’d go to. I don’t foresee a lot of alone time for myself in the future. Especially now when me being naked is involved.

  “Something like that,” he admits.

  I roll my eyes but just watch silently as he approaches me.

  He stands over me in the tub. Suddenly, I feel vulnerable, my cheeks ablaze, and I welcome the bubbles covering me.

  “You went a bit overboard with the bubbles,” he tells me.

  I reward him with a frown. “This was Nyx’s handi
work not mine.”

  He laughs. “Come on, I’ll help you wash your wings.”

  “I’m pretty sure I can handle it,” I tell him.

  “But it would be easier with me helping,” he persists. The way his gaze roams over me can’t be ignored, even if I try.

  His hand sweeps over the top of my wing, and I sense the tenderness of his touch. It covers me in shivers, my nipples hardening.

  “Your wings are beautiful, Adi. They glint like the brightest moonlight and are utterly mesmerizing. They’re a reflection of you.”

  It’s impossible for me to even think about kicking Alexander out of the bathroom now. I can’t ignore the fire in my veins in moments like this, when he shows his softer, more romantic side.. He is everything to me, and I want to be in his arms. To feel alive and whole. Lately with all the touches and kisses from all my men, my libido has been ramping up. I feel constantly turned on around them.

  Except, I can’t make it that easy for him, or he'll always think he can burst in on me when he wants something.

  “Trying to sweet talk me? It’s not going to work.” My attempt to come across confident fails miserably as my voice trembles.

  He doesn't seem to hear anything I’ve just said. His attention falls to my chest, and I follow his gaze to where the suds have slipped away, revealing my cherry dipped nipples. I’m breathing heavily, and lust coils deep in the pit of my gut. I see the same desire washing over his face.

  “Are you sure it’s not working?” he murmurs in a gravelly voice that sends shivers cascading across my skin.

  I swallow the thickness forming over my throat and melt under his gaze. My body completely betrays me in his presence every time.

  I push myself to stand up in the tub, all the while holding his stare. My wings spread out wider from my shoulder blades, dripping with bubbles. More suds roll down my body as I stand naked before the man who has completely stripped my heart of all defenses.

  “Fuck, Adi. Do you know what you do to me?”

  I know exactly what I am doing. My insides are alive, and my appetite is awake.

  “Will you wash me?” I ask gingerly, close to batting my eyes. But my seductive voice is enough to see the effect I have on him. His body instinctively steps closer, his mouth gaping partially open, and there’s a glaze over his eyes. In his mind, I’m already in his arms, my legs wrapped around him. His large cock thrusting deep into me.

  He doesn’t even answer. His ravenous gaze inhales all of me as his attention locks on my breasts.

  His fingers make fast work of his shirt, which he yanks up and over his head with one hand. He tosses it somewhere behind him.

  My heart thunders in my chest. Gorgeous sculpted muscles cover his powerful chest and strong biceps, all the way down to the etched angles of his eight-pack abs. He is an Adonis, a perfect man.

  The front of his jeans tent from his erection, and the sight sends an excited shiver to the burning ache between my thighs. He kicks off his boots and sends them sliding across the room, then drags his socks off. His eyes slide down my stomach and lower.

  My growing desire to have him touch me sets my teeth on edge. My blood is throbbing in my veins as a hot flush crawls over my cheeks.

  I suck in a deep breath.

  He prowls closer like a dangerous wolf. With a slide of his hand, he takes the bar of soap from the side of the tub and dips it into the water along with both hands. He lathers it until all I see is a ball of suds engulfing his hands. Dropping the soap into the water, he starts with long strokes up my body, starting from the outside of both my legs. He follows the curve of my hips, the cinching in of my waist, and all the way to my armpits.

  My skin tingles, and I chew on my lower lip. His thumbs find the sensitive spots just below my breasts. His touch is feather soft. Slow and sensuous. There is no rush but careful, calculated strokes down my arms and back up. He maneuvers himself around the tub to stand behind me and runs his large hands down my back and down over my ass. His fingers linger as they slide right down the middle of my asscheeks, filling me with arousal.

  A moan slips past my lips.

  When his hands roll back up and around my waist, they sweep upward with purpose and cup my breasts. Rubbing and washing them, they have never been this clean. My nipples are so hard, they hurt. He runs his fingers over them relentlessly.

  My breaths are coming fast, and I am so caught up in the sensation that I don’t notice him pulling one hand back. Not until I hear the metal clang of his belt buckle.

  I turn my head around as he releases his hold of me just in time to see him drop his jeans. He’s gone commando it seems.

  His erection is full and massive, the tip already coated with a thin layer of precum from his anticipation. He lifts his gaze to me and looks at me with his wicked eyes.

  He is unbelievably splendid.

  “Let me wash the soap from your body,” he says hoarsely, but the way he keeps staring at me, I doubt that’s what he’s worried about.

  I picture him wanting me clean so he can have his way and fuck me hard. And I desire him. I’m ready to submit to anything he wants.

  Alexander splashes water over my shoulders and back, washing away the soap before returning to stand in front of me. His hands run over all the suds, chasing them away from my breasts, my waist and stomach. Fingers slide higher up my inner thighs and sweep over the length of my heat, fingers quickly sliding in between my slick lips.

  Rushed breaths escape me.

  “You’re so wet.”

  “What did you expect when you touched me like that?”

  He grins deviously, and I’m captivated by the desire in his expression.

  “I fucking love you this wet.” Without another word, he pushes a finger into me.

  I’m trembling, my body weakening for him. “Alexander,” I gasp.

  He watches me with lust in his gaze as he steadily finger fucks me. My body responds to his teasing, heat curling at my core. I roll my head back and a moan purrs on my throat. Already I feel the burning tightness of my climax building rapidly. One touch, one finger, one minute, and I’m completely undone. He suddenly pulls his finger out of me, leaving me desperately craving him back inside me.

  I suck in a sharp breath as he takes my hands and helps me out of the tub. Without wasting a moment, he draws me up against him, his cock nestled against my stomach. My nipples strain and I push my chest against his.

  He kisses me hungrily, and I’m lost at how incredible he feels. I nibble on his lower lip, pushing myself closer to him and gripping his shoulders. His hips rock forward, grinding himself against me. I push my hand down between us and wrap my fingers around his rock hard erection. It pulses in my hand, coaxing a deep guttural growl out of Alexander.

  “I’m going to fuck your tight pussy until you scream.”

  I nod, unsure if I can trust my voice. My body thrums with desire. I run my grip up and down his shaft, but he brushes my hand away.

  “Not so fast. I want to be inside you,” he says.

  His hands hook around my waist, keeping me steady, and he lifts me up and off my feet. I waste no time and wrap my legs around him. My huge white wings curl around as if they have a mind of their own, though I know they follow my emotions and instincts. Braxton told me as much. He explained that they were a part of me and will respond to things around me just as my body does.

  He walks me to the wall. The tip of his erection already slides over my heat, and the anticipation of him pushing into me leaves me groaning.

  My back kisses the cold tiled wall as he lowers me back down, my wings uncurling from around us and pressing against the wall on either side of me. I let my feet drop to the floor.

  “Babe, I need to taste you. Since walking in here, it’s all I’ve thought about.” He falls to his knees in front of me like I’m his queen. Gently, he takes my leg and guides it over his shoulder. I’m open before him, his face at eye level with the apex of my thighs. I no longer feel embarrassed around
him. This isn’t our first time together, and he makes me feel so secure and like I am as beautiful as he insists.

  He leans in closer, sticks out his tongue and flicks it against my clit, then runs the tip over my opening.

  “Alexander,” I cry out.

  His mouth envelopes me, his tongue licking me, sucking me.

  I can’t stop watching him work his mouth on me. To see his face pressed between my thighs, taking me, driving me undoes me.

  He looks up at me and winks. “The view from down here is too fucking mesmerizing, baby. I never imagined going down on an angel.” He leans back and thrusts his tongue inside me.

  I melt at his every touch.

  With quick motions, he devours me, tasting every inch of my heat.

  “It feels so good,” I moan, my body shuddering. Arousal swells inside me, feeling like I might be flying. Nothing compares to the sensation as my brain numbs and my body takes over.

  I reach down and fist his hair, my body humming. I push his face closer and grind myself against him, unable to get enough.

  His fingers dig into my thigh, his wicked mouth ravishing me. Fuck, he is loving this. My back is plastered to the wall, and somehow, I lose track of how we manage to get my other leg over his other shoulder. His face is buried between my legs, and all I hear are the delicious slurping sounds as he eats me out.

  He sucks on me when he slides two fingers into me, spreading me. I lose it right then, my body convulses, and my hips start to shudder as an orgasm tears through me. I cry out in pleasure so loud, the neighbors are bound to hear me. Alexander doesn’t move away, but takes everything I have to offer. He keeps devouring me, which only turns me on even more.

  When he finally pulls away and lowers one of my legs to the floor, then the other, I’m utterly lost to this man. His mouth and chin are glistening, and he loves everything about me. I see it in his admiring eyes, at the care he takes with me. How did I get so lucky?