Thank god for cold showers.
25
Ben
Raven left so quickly that none of us got to check in with her after our session. Good thing she lived in the room next to me. And I had a key.
I should probably have knocked but she did give me the key for a reason. And tonight felt like a good reason. While most of me wanted to check in with her, I couldn’t deny the arousal that had flared during our training session.
It didn’t make sense. Usually, I was able to keep my libido in check around others but tonight it was on overdrive. I needed to make sure Raven was okay. I also just needed her. Badly.
I could hear the sound of the shower running when I stepped into her room. It was tempting to strip down and join her but last time we’d had sex in the shower we’d had company. I wasn’t sure I wanted to bring that memory back to her right now. Right now, I didn’t want to share her at all. I wanted her to myself. All of her.
The bathroom door opened and Raven stepped out, a towel wrapped around her. She jumped in surprise when she saw me. “Ben! You scared the shit out of me. Why didn’t you knock or something?”
I held up the key.
“Right,” she said. “Maybe I should ask for that thing back.”
I grinned. “You don’t want to do that.”
She dropped the towel to the floor. “You’re right. I don’t.”
My eyes widened. I wanted her. I came here hoping for this. But I never expected to be greeted this way.
Raven walked toward me slowly, her wet hair dripping down her naked body. She was stunning without her clothes on. Her skin was so soft and all of her curves drove me wild. I wanted to touch every inch of her.
She stopped right in front of me. “Are you going to get naked or do I have to do it for you?”
She didn’t have to ask me twice. Quickly, I stripped off my clothes. Then, I grabbed her around her waist, picking her up so I could kiss her. She wrapped her legs around my hips and I stumbled forward, our lips locked together in a punishing kiss. Her fingers worked their way through my hair as the kiss deepened.
Somehow, we ended up in the bathroom and I set her down on the countertop next to the sink. Her legs were still wrapped around my waist and I was now at the perfect height to enter her.
As if she knew what was coming, she slid her hips to the edge of the counter and then she smiled at me. It was a playful, knowing smile. As if this had been her plan the whole time.
It was enough to drive any man to his knees.
Tilting her hips up so I had better access, I entered her in one quick thrust.
She cried out in a gasp and tossed her head back, her elbows bracing against the countertop for support. Her breasts moved up and down with each thrust and her moans of pleasure were driving me wild.
I leaned down, taking one of her nipples in my mouth, slowing my thrusts. She grabbed my back and slid her palms down to my hips, encouraging me to pick up the pace. I obliged, moving my mouth to her lips, devouring her as I continued to fuck her.
Her kisses were distracted and I could tell she was already nearing climax. After a few more thrusts she pulled her mouth away from mine, gasping for breath as she reached orgasm.
I wasn’t ready yet but watching her close her eyes and hearing her cry out was almost enough to push me to the edge.
As the orgasm finished, she regained some control and she reached for me again, pulling herself closer to me. Then, she laced her fingers through my hair, pulling my head closer to her. She kissed me hard then sucked my lower lip into her mouth, flicking it with her tongue.
The sensation was all I needed to get me there. I groaned into her mouth as I came.
The two of us remained there for a moment, her arms wrapped around me, as we caught our breath.
I couldn’t help but think that I was the luckiest man in the world.
26
Luka
Raven winked at me from her place in the circle of students gathered to watch another combat session in gym. Coach Miller had taken to doing them every few days. Drawing two random students and making them battle it out. So far, I’d avoided it and so had Raven. I wasn’t sure why but I was grateful.
I had a feeling Professor Halifax would have some choice words for the coach if we showed up to our training session later today with black eyes. She kind of scared the shit out of me. She was far more powerful than I realized before. But she was helping us, so I supposed that made up for a lot.
Our last two sessions with Professor Halifax had gone better, Raven was quickly learning how to adapt to finding our magic and weirdly, I was starting to feel the magic from her other mates.
I swore I could feel Ben’s energy during breakfast. It was weird. Not necessarily in a bad way, but it was different. And a little hot. Every session finished with me needing a cold shower.
Raven and I had managed a few meet ups in the library the last few weeks and our encounters seemed to super charge my magic. It was wild. Just her and me was the same amount of energy that I’d get from a whole orgy.
I sort of wondered what it would be like for my magic if she invited her other mates. It had to be something extraordinary. But I wasn’t about to ask her for that. Not with Ben still glaring at me when I got too close to her. The twins might be more amenable to it.
“Luka, in the circle,” Coach Miller called.
Fuck. It was a matter of time before he was going to toss me in here. Shoulders slumped, I shuffled in, using my body language to let whoever the competitor was know that I wasn’t into this. With any luck, it would be someone else who would half ass it until the coach got bored.
“James,” Coach Miller called. “In the circle.”
I lifted my chin in greeting to the ice demon entering the circle. His dorm was on the same floor as mine and when we were first year’s we’d shared booze in our rooms a few times before we got too invested in our studies. Well, before we both found girls. We hadn’t talked in a while, but I knew he was a tough opponent.
“Shake hands,” Coach Miller said.
I walked up to him and we shook. James looked focused, his jaw set. Guess he was going to take this fight seriously.
“No physical touch in this round,” Coach Miller said. “Magic only. Let’s see what a couple of demons can do.”
I frowned. This had to be a trap of some sort. Or he was trying to get me to show what I could do before the trials. Based on what Professor Halifax said, Coach Miller was out to get us.
“Ready, go!” The coach shouted as he backed out of the circle.
James launched a ball of ice at me right away and I lunged to the side to avoid it. I had to think fast. The coach was expecting a show here but I’d never fully shown my magic to anyone. Sure, I’d done the basics to pass classes and complete assignments, but I never let it all out.
And I knew my magic was charged more than it ever had been after all those library study sessions with Raven. I craved her touch again just thinking of it. But now wasn’t the time to imagine Raven’s lips on my cock.
I dodged another ice ball, and another. Noting that James already looked frustrated. I had to do something.
If he was going to throw ice, I’d throw fire. That was what was expected of me, right?
I conjured a fire ball and hurled it toward James. Of course he moved out of the way and the fire landed on the gym floor. Another student threw water on it, leaving a charred black circle that sizzled and smoked.
“That’s all you got?” Someone in the crowd called.
I frowned. I didn’t want to hurt him. I didn’t want to use my full magic. Even Raven didn’t know the true destruction I was capable of. In a weird way, my own magic wasn’t all that different than Raven’s. It just wasn’t illegal and it wasn’t pleasant.
James circled me, then sent a shimmer of ice across the floor, right under my feet.
I slipped as I tried to move away from the attack and landed on my side. My hands heated, responding to t
he attack involuntary. As I pushed myself to standing, my heat melted the ice into a puddle of water.
A few murmurs sounded in the group around us. They seemed to like that trick.
“Come on, man,” James said. “Quit holding back.”
“Oh, trust me, you want me to hold back,” I said.
“I don’t think you’ve got it,” he said. “A few fire balls? What else you got? You going to seduce me to death?”
The gathered crowd laughed.
A circle of icicles rose up around me, blocking me in. I sighed. It wasn’t even fair. I could melt these with a single touch.
“Come on, man,” James said.
I caught Raven’s eyes. She wasn’t laughing. She looked like she was holding her breath.
That’s when I felt it, a surge of magic rush through me that didn’t belong to me. It was Raven’s magic and it was wild.
It felt like a million tiny pins entered my skin at once, then as quickly as they came, the pain stopped. My magic hummed to life, embracing Raven’s entangling with mine.
The icicles around me caught on fire - the ice literally burned. Stunned gasps sounded from the crowd.
I wasn’t sure how I did it or what I did to cause it, but it created quite the spectacle.
With a flick of my wrist, I summoned the flames to melt the ice. Then I sent the flame in a straight line toward James.
James jumped to the side, but I was ready. The fire surrounded him, blocking his exists the way he’d done to me.
Quickly, James sent his ice to the flame, but the flame grew taller. I felt my magic grow, intensifying with every passing second.
James continued to throw ice at the fire but it didn’t stop.
“You want to see what I can do?” I asked, drunk on the magic swirling through me.
James looked at me, eyes wide.
I snapped my fingers and he fell to the ground, asleep. Then, I made him stand and commanded him to walk toward the flames.
Raven could stop time and alter it.
I could command sleep and make the sleeper do what I wanted. It was a cruel gift. One I’d taken care to hide.
“Stop,” Raven called.
I turned to her and suddenly, the impact of what I’d done came crashing in around me. I commanded the flames to die out and let James fall to the ground.
He laid there, unmoving, surrounded by a circle of black ash.
“Well,” Coach Miller said. “You learn something new every day, don’t you?”
I swallowed and kept my jaw set, not wanting to give him anything more than I already had.
“Wake him up, Demon,” Coach Miller said.
I turned to James and called to my magic, using it to wake him from the very deep sleep I’d sent him to.
James sat up and looked around, groggy. It took him a minute, then he seemed to remember what had happened. He groaned. “I guess I deserved that.”
I grinned, glad he was taking it well.
“Never encourage a demon,” Violet said.
“Good advice,” I said.
I walked over to James and offered my hand, helping him up.
“Thanks man,” he said.
“You two going to fuck next?” Coach Miller asked.
I glared at him. He was such a prick.
“Time for laps. All of you. Go. Run.”
I rolled my eyes and walked away from the circle of students who were still staring at me, heading toward Raven.
She was already at the track but she was waiting for me to catch up to her. “What was that?” She started jogging.
“I think I used your magic,” I said.
“That part I got,” she said. “What did you do to him?”
“Put him to sleep,” I said.
“And you can control him when he’s asleep?” She asked.
“Yeah,” I said.
“Can you do that for anyone who is asleep?” She asked.
I could see a flicker of an emotion that was hard to pinpoint in her eyes. Was she afraid of me? “I can, but I don’t.”
She smiled. “Looks like I’m not the only dangerous one.”
27
Raven
“Luka.” I waved to the incubus as he approached Professor Halifax’s door. The others were already inside but I wanted to check on him again after this morning’s gym class. He hadn’t come to lunch and I was worried about him.
His brow furrowed when he saw me and he hurried over to where I was standing. “You okay?”
“That’s what I was going to ask you,” I said. “You didn’t come to lunch.”
“Sorry,” he said. “I needed some space.”
“From me?” I asked, surprised the words came out. They sounded needy, like I was making it about our relationship. “From my magic, I mean?”
It had weighed heavily on me since not seeing him at lunch. Our magic had connected in gym, there was no denying that. I wasn’t sure how much of what he did was because of me. I was pretty sure I’d sent him extra magic.
Watching him look so uncomfortable had sent a shockwave through me. I had to help him and while I didn’t mean to send my magic, it was the result.
“No,” he said. “It’s just that nobody knew that I could control people like that. It’s not exactly a welcome skill set.”
“What about other incubi? Can they do that?” It seemed like it would be a normal thing for an incubus. They could create dreams and travel into the dream world. Being able to make people physically respond while sleeping didn’t seem too far of a stretch.
“Not really,” he said. “It’s something my family can do but most incubi can use fire elemental magic and manipulate dreams. They can’t transfer that to a physical body.”
“But your family can?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said.
“So why would anyone be surprised?” I asked.
“I guess I didn’t want them to know,” he said. “I know it sounds stupid, but it’s not a power I enjoy. I’ve seen it abused. Nobody should lose their free will.”
“I agree,” I said. “But we know you’re not going to do that.”
“I did it today,” he said. “I was trying to avoid it, but it just sort of happened. I lost control. I haven’t done that since I was a kid.”
There was more to this story than I was getting. “What happened, Luka?”
“Please don’t make me talk about it now,” he said.
“Help me understand then,” I said. “Help me know what I can do to make you feel better.”
“You can’t give me access to your magic again,” he said. “I can’t be trusted.”
“Luka, that’s not true. I trust you with my life,” I said.
He shook his head. “If you knew what I did, you wouldn’t be saying that. Just promise me, will you? Promise me that if we have to, you share your magic with Ben or Matt or Zach. Anyone besides me. There’s something unstable in me and I can’t lose control around you.”
My heart ached seeing him like this. I wanted to help. I wanted to heal him. Luka was usually so carefree and sarcastic. Whatever had happened in his past was something so dark that even he couldn’t laugh it off. I wanted to protect him and wished that I could erase whatever was causing him pain. “Okay, Luka. If that’s what it takes, I’ll share magic with the others before I give it to you.”
“That’s not what I asked,” he said.
“I can’t promise that I’ll never share it with you,” I said. “You have to know how much you mean to me.”
He nodded. “Alright, I’ll take it. Life or death only.”
“Agreed,” I said. “Now, is there anything I can do to cheer you up?”
He grinned. “I can think of several things but we can’t really do any of them in this hallway while the others are waiting for us.”
“Rain check?” I offered.
“Oh, god yes,” he said.
The door opened and Ben looked out at us. “Did you two forget that you have to turn the
handle and push to get the door to work?”
“Aren’t you funny?” I asked as I walked toward the door.
Ben tried to hide his smile. As much as he and Luka butted heads, I had noticed them talking more often at lunch lately. It was almost like they were friends. I knew better than to push it but I had to admit, I was hoping they’d continue to get along.
“Oh good, we’re all here,” Professor Halifax said. “Have a seat. I have news.”
The room suddenly felt very small and my legs felt heavy as I moved to the bench with the others. There was no way this was good news.
I sat down and Ben quickly sat next to me on my right side and Matt slid in next to me on the left. Luka and Zach sat next to Ben. The five of us stared up at our professor, waiting to hear whatever she had to say.
Professor Halifax’s expression was grim as she walked over to the five of us. “Listen carefully. There has been a change to this year’s trials.”
“What kind of change?” Matt asked.
She glared at him and he pressed his lips together into a tight line. She looked away from him, taking us all in with her focused gaze. “Due to something we’re not allowed to know about, they’ve moved up the date of the trials.”
“What does that mean?” Zach asked. “Something we’re not allowed?”
Her nostrils flared as she took a deep breath. “I don’t know. They won’t give the reason. But apparently there’s some kind of risk or something going on so they’ve moved up the trials.”
“To when?” I asked. This wasn’t good for me. My magic was finally doing what it was supposed to do. In fact, it was stronger than most of my classmates. But I had only been here a semester. I needed more time. I wasn’t ready.
“The end of the week,” she said.
“What?” I blurted out.
Academy of the Elites: Fated Magic Page 13
