“I’m coming,” I pant out, and then all words are gone. My pussy clenches around his length, my heels dig into the bed, and I lift my hips so he can drive even deeper. He slams into me with a final, vicious thrust that lifts my feet from the bed. I scream as waves of ecstasy grip my entire body from my toes curling to the chills racing across my scalp. Darius grinds into me, smashing his pelvic bone against my clit and forcing himself so deep that his full balls press tight to my ass. His grip crushes my hands, and his whole body jerks as his cum spurts into me again and again.
My own orgasm seems like it will never end. Pleasure rolls through my body, overwhelming me again and again. I don’t know where I am or who I am or anything but the power of the sensations gripping my body over and over. Finally, I begin to come back to myself, my clenched muscles easing out of their contractions. My calves are cramping with Charley horses, and my throat is sore from screaming.
Darius’s voice cuts through my bliss. “Rein it in, Jade.”
Dazed, I drag my eyes open, thinking he’s scolding me for being too loud. But the protest dies on my lips when I see the swirls of blue magic filling the room, so bright they nearly blind me.
“Pull it in,” Darius instructs. “You need that power.”
“How?” I manage, my brain only functioning at about two percent capacity after that orgasm.
“The same way you let it out,” he says. “Draw it back in, baby.”
He rocks his hips against mine, and I can feel the fullness of his cock inside me. I close my eyes again and feel the magic, feel it swirling inside me and out of me. I begin to pull it in, letting the orgasm turn inwards. I can feel it building inside me, and I almost cum again. Darius urges me to keep going, though, to work through it. I hold my gaze on his and breathe, forcing my body to differentiate between the magic and the orgasm he gave me. After a few minutes, the visible magic in the room is gone.
Darius leans down and gently kisses my lips. “You are magnificent.”
“You’re one to talk,” I tease, squeezing my knees around him.
“Do that again a few times, and I’ll be releasing it all over again,” Darius warns.
I bite my lip and squeeze him again, rocking my hips against his. I can feel him start to grow hard inside me again. “I could probably use the practice,” I muse, trying not to grin my fool head off. “I’ve never done that before.”
“You said we’d do this once,” he reminds me.
“I did?” I ask, my eyes widening. “I don’t remember saying that.”
“Jade,” he says. “It has to be once. I’m honored you chose me to be your first, and I admit that the offer was too tempting to resist. But after this, we have to control ourselves.”
“After this,” I say, running my nails up his back. I run my hands around his collar and begin to loosen his tie.
“Jade…”
“Come on,” I whisper. “It’s my first time. Don’t I get to enjoy it for more than a few hours?”
He growls against my neck. “You’re impossible.”
“I prefer persistent,” I answer, sliding his tie over his head. “Now, if you get naked with me, I’ll behave.”
“I don’t think you know how.”
I bite my lower lip to keep from smiling even bigger. “I’ll be an obedient little student if you teach me more.”
He rolls his hips against mine, his cock full and hard inside me again. “Is that right?”
“That’s right,” I whisper, pulling open his shirt and sliding my hands over his sculpted pecs. “At least for tonight.”
Chapter Seventeen
“Ho-ly shit, you got laid,” Asher crows.
“Shut up,” I hiss, glancing around the lawn where we’re sitting. Now that May’s closing in, it’s hot and muggy as hell, but we’ve made a habit of eating outside under the trees to avoid the cafeteria as often as possible this semester.
“He’s right,” Rocco says from beside us. He’s leaning back on one elbow, tossing grapes in the air and catching them in his mouth.
“What?” I ask, twisting around toward him.
“Dude, everyone on campus knows that,” he says. “You’re glowing like a freaking unicorn.”
“I am not,” I say, laughing through the embarrassment. The dopey grin on my face isn’t helping.
“So, who’s the lucky guy?” Asher coaxes.
“No one,” I say, picking up my sandwich. “How do you know I didn’t get the magic on my own?”
“Oh, no,” Rocco says. “I can tell when you do that. This is way stronger than that.”
“You can tell when I—Never mind,” I mutter, my cheeks warming.
“Well, you don’t have to tell me when he’s here,” Asher says. “But you’re going to tell me.”
“I’m as curious as everyone else,” Rocco says. “Do tell, Jade.”
“You’re not mad?” I ask.
Rocco munches a grape, a smile on his face. “Nope.”
“Why?” I ask, narrowing my eyes at him.
“Because now that you’ve gotten over your hangup about sex, I’m hoping you’ll turn into a regular slut, and I can finally get some.”
“Pig,” I say, throwing a grape at him.
He ducks to catch it in his mouth. “I prefer Pumpkin, if you’re handing out nicknames.”
“On to more important topics,” I say. “We’re going to go raid Silas’s house to get my dad back this evening. Who’s with me?”
“Really?” Rocco asks, sitting bolt upright. All signs of the relaxed, goofy sorcerer are gone, replaced with a protective intensity that makes my heart swell. I know it would make his parents proud if they could see how easily he goes from lounging around to businesslike and ready to act. He’s every bit as good as Ryker and Thorn, even if they don’t see it.
“Yes,” I say, taking his hand and smiling shyly at him. “You’ll come with us, right?”
“You couldn’t stop me if you tried,” he says, smiling back at me with those dimples that make the world disappear. He slides a hand along my cheek, cradling my head and bringing it forward as he leans in to press his lips to mine.
“Get a room,” Asher says. I can tell he’s rolling his eyes without even looking at him.
“Don’t be jealous,” I say, drawing back and giving his knee a little shove. “You’ll find someone.”
“I better,” he says. “Your sexy juju is giving me a non-stop boner. You think a certain, smoldering Dark Arts teacher would help me out with that?” He wiggles his eyebrows at Elowen, who stares down at her lap, her cheeks flaming.
Tell him, tell him, tell him, I will her silently.
“I don’t know,” she mumbles. “But I’ll go with you, too, Jade.”
I don’t know what assistance she’ll be, since she’s too scared to really use her magic, but I’m grateful for any support I can get.
“Thank you,” I say with a nod.
“It’s the least I can do,” she says.
“You don’t owe me anything,” I say. “I forgave you. That didn’t come with conditions. You’re not a Bella.”
“Still,” she whispers, chewing on a hangnail and staring at me with her big, saucer eyes. “I wish I hadn’t done that. You’ll probably never trust me again.”
“I trust you, or I wouldn’t have asked you to come along,” I say firmly before turning to my other friend. “Asher?”
“Is a certain, smoldering Dark Arts teacher going?” Rocco teases in a dramatic imitation of Asher’s earlier words.
“Of course I’m in,” Asher says, flicking his bangs off his forehead. “I can’t let you go in there and start shit without knowing what you’re talking about, as you’re apt to do.”
“Hey,” I protest. “I don’t start shit with people. I just end it when people start shit with me.”
*
That evening, we rendezvous in the parking lot behind the school. My fingers are shaking as I grip Cleo, trying to find some stability in her four-tined littl
e form.
My three guards are there, along with Elowen and Asher. I glance around, wiping my hands on my jeans and pretending I’m not looking for Professor Darius, pretending my heart doesn’t do a flip at the very thought of him. I haven’t seen him since this morning, when he kissed me goodbye before heading to his first class. The last kiss we’re supposed to share for three years.
I made it count.
I’m pulled from the sweet memory by the sound of familiar, obnoxious laughter. The next second, the Bellas step around the corner of the building.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, narrowing my eyes and stepping toward them.
“We heard there was a field trip,” Brunette Bella says, twirling the ends of her short hair.
“Not a field trip,” Blonde Bella snaps. “A mission.”
“Whatever,” Brunette Bella says, sounding bored. “We owe you, so we’re paying up.”
“You already took me to Silas’s,” I say to Blonde Bella.
She snorts. “I owe you more than a car ride,” she says. “I don’t like to be in anyone’s debt, and I know you’ll just hold it over my head forever if I don’t repay you. So, here I am, risking my life for your lame-o human dad. Does that make us even?”
“If you try to sabotage this, I will kill you,” I say flatly.
“Whoa,” Thorn says, laying a gentle hand on my hip.
“We’re not going to sabotage you,” Bella says, rolling her eyes. But I catch the ache in her gaze as it drops to Thorn’s hand resting protectively on me.
“Good,” I say, waving my weapon, which is currently in pistol form. “Cleo’s a bloodthirsty little bitch, if you haven’t noticed. She’s not afraid to let me know exactly what she wants to do to you. If I were you, I’d be really sure who’s side I’m on before I go on this trip. Silas isn’t the only one who might murder your ass.”
“Oh my god, she’s threatening to shoot us,” Brunette Bella wails, huddling against Rocco and clinging to his giant bicep. “Do something!”
“Get a grip,” Blonde Bella snaps at her.
“Yeah, but not on me,” Rocco says, prying her hand loose and shooting me a guilty look.
I give him a reassuring smile and peek at Ryker. Nothing has happened between us since the morning of the shower, but I still feel a pull to him. I want to know his secrets, to know him. But he barely acknowledges me most days and rides my ass harder than ever in class. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he hated me. I still think it half the time, even when I catch the anguished longing in his eyes when he thinks I’m not looking.
Right now, he’s staring ahead with his jaw clenched and his eyes steely. No one would ever know he had a heart at all, let alone one that has been scarred so deeply it spreads across his body like rivers flow from it.
The crunch of footsteps on gravel sounds, and the next moment, Professor Darius and Topher Stephens appear from between the buildings. When I see the man who took my virginity, my heart stammers in my chest. This time, it has nothing to do with the nervousness over what’s about to go down. I fight to swallow, to breathe. It’s all I can do to stay upright as I watch him cross the lot. My pulse races faster and faster as he approaches, stopping in front of me.
“I see your magic is at an all-time high,” he says, his chocolate eyes melting me.
“I’m going to need it tonight.”
“Then let’s get going,” he says, opening the passenger door of his SUV for me. I check him quickly to see if he’s going to reconsider that move, seeing as how everyone on campus apparently knows I got laid because I’m glowing like some kind of magical disco ball. Seeing my hottie professor treating me like a princess might be a dead giveaway.
But he only smiles, a secret smile meant only for me, and closes the door behind me. I catch Thorn’s frown, but no one else reacts. Maybe he’s not as obvious as I thought. I’m being paranoid, that’s all. It’s probably not surprising to anyone that a gentleman like Darius opens doors for women. He starts to open the back door for Elowen, but Brunette Bella knocks her aside with her shoulder, batting her lashes up at Darius and laying a hand on his arm. “Thank you,” she says in a breathy voice, climbing into the back seat and showing a whole lot of leg as she does. “You’ll protect us if something happens on this trip, right?”
“Sure,” Darius says. “But our hope is that everyone coming along can contribute in some way, not be a liability.”
I hide my grin as he closes the door before she can answer. Outside, Blonde Bella stands next to Thorn, her hands clasped in front of her, looking awkward for probably the first time in her life. Darius says something to them, and they climb in a second vehicle. Topher and Elowen slide in with them, while Ryker and Rocco climb in the back of Darius’s SUV with Bella.
“If Jade’s right about Silas, this man is dangerous,” Darius warns. “If anyone isn’t sure about going, it would be wise to sit this one out. We need full commitment from everyone in attendance.”
“Got it,” Rocco says. “Let’s go.”
“Last chance to stay on the safety of the campus,” Darius says, turning the key to start the engine. I glance over my shoulder at Brunette Bella, but she doesn’t move. Her face is pale, but she gives a curt nod when our eyes meet. I shrug it off and turn back to face forward as the car starts moving.
We arrive at Silas’s too soon. As we pile out of the car, I spot a pair of red eyes in the shadows of the shrubbery, and I shiver and clutch Cleo tighter. Demonling guards, of course. I should be used to them, but tonight, I’m not coming to work for the same master they obey. Tonight, I’m on the attack.
“You might want to put some more magic into your vessel,” Ryker mutters to me as we start for the door. “You’re sending off more fuck-me pheromones than a shifter in heat.”
“Well, excuse me,” I say. “I obviously wasn’t intending to send them your way.”
“Yeah, I know,” he says. “That’s why I told you to put more in Cleo.”
Before I can retort to the impossible asshole, we’re climbing the steps. My heart stampedes in my chest as I imagine what fate could have befallen my father. Darius told me that no one’s gotten wind of any humans being held hostage. Where is he?
If anything happened to him, I might just go psycho and shoot Silas in the balls. By accident, of course. Temporary insanity.
Darius knocks on the door, and a moment later, Robert draws it open and gives a slight bow. “An esteemed sorcerer,” he says. “Won’t you come in?”
I smile at him as we enter, despite my nerves, but he maintains a professional air in the presence of so many powerful magic-wielders.
“Is Silas home?” Darius asks.
“Just this way,” Robert says, motioning for us to follow him into the opulent den. Gold-trimmed columns flank the doorway, the gold crown moldings so extravagant as to be gaudy.
“Good evening, Professor,” Silas says, rushing forward and reaching out a hand to Darius. “Any news of my employee?”
“If anyone had news, it would be you,” I growl.
“Jade,” Darius warns gently, but I barely hear him over the hammering of my own heart. This bastard took my father, terrorized him, and now who the fuck knows what he’s done to him.
“I wish I could help,” Silas says, the slimy little man visibly sweating. “But I’m afraid I’ve already answered all your questions to the best of my ability.”
“You have him,” I blurt out, my eyes aching with tears and my hands balling into fists. “I know it was you. He left me a clue. Where are you hiding him?”
“Why would I hide my own employee?” Darius asks, licking his lips and glancing from one of member of my group to the next.
“To get me to come back,” I snap.
Bella sighs as if terribly inconvenienced by this visit.
“As I’ve said before, I encourage you to master your trade,” Silas says in a rush, his eyes bulging as Rocco looms over him. “I wouldn’t get rid of the only guarantee I have that
you’ll come back to me.”
“Nice try, dickwad,” I say. “I’m going to search every inch of your property until I find him.”
“G-Go ahead,” Silas says, shrinking back from Ryker, who steps forward and grabs my former master by the back of his neck.
“Why don’t you just make it easy for everyone and tell us where he is,” he growls, giving Silas a shake.
Blonde Bella whimpers and cowers against Thorn, who gives her a disdainful look, as if something distasteful is attached to him. Like a leach. Seems fitting.
“I don’t know where your father is,” Silas wails, throwing up his hands. “I already told you. Search my house, read my mind, look anywhere you want! It won’t change the answer.”
“He’s telling the truth,” Topher says behind me.
Ryker’s eyes narrow as he stares over my head at the demon. “Is this the person you brought with you last time?” he asks Darius. “This is who read his mind? He’s a demon. What if he’s lying?”
“Ryker,” Darius says quietly. “Release the judge.”
“I’d rather snap his neck,” Ryker growls. “This piece of shit owns Jade’s life. He fucking owns a person. Or does that not matter to you as long as it’s all legal and sanctioned by the Society?”
“It is sanctioned by the Society,” Silas says, gasping in pain as Ryker’s grip tightens until his knuckles turn white. “I didn’t do anything illegal!”
Ryker’s eyes are dark with malice as he shakes the little man again. A wet stain blossoms on the crotch of Silas’s khakis, spreading down his leg. For a second, the only sound is his pained whine. I turn away, horrified and disgusted by the violence even if I am totally impressed that Ryker’s standing up for me, in his own twisted way.
“Sometimes what’s legal isn’t the same as what’s right,” Ryker says, his eyes locked with Darius’s in some silent communication. No, not a communication. A challenge.
Academy of Sorcery: Term 2: Fallen Master Page 15
