by A. S. Oren
I pull out the cookies, and he looks back at me. “You could never be a shitty girlfriend, Lon.”
Why didn’t Jericho stay around then? I wish we would’ve never found out about the Fold and what it meant. We could still be happy all together.
As I put the cookies onto a plate, his arms wrap around my waist, and he places his chin on my head. “Stop thinking so hard. Today is a fun, relaxing day where neither of us have to worry about anything, except for maybe what we should order from the kitchens for lunch and dinner.”
I lean against his chest. “So it’s really going to be just the two of us, all day, watching anime?”
“Unless you have a problem with that?”
I turn around in his arms. “Of course I don’t. I’m just glad you don’t want to go anywhere else. It’s been a long time since we got to hang out all day and watch tv. Since we were kids.”
“Only thing missing is Paden, but I want to be selfish and have you all to myself today.” He hugs me close, and I smile.
I press the side of my cheek into his chest. “I love you, Mav.”
“I love you, too,” he mutters, mouth full. I look up to find him munching on a cookie.
“You couldn’t wait for the soymilk?”
He shakes his head, as he reaches into the cabinet above my head and pulls down two small glasses.
I take the glasses from him and set them on the counter before opening up the fridge for the soymilk. “Take the cookies to the couch and don’t eat them all before I get there.”
“I’ll make sure to save you half of one.” He laughs.
“You better not, butt.” I walk back the couch with the glasses.
He presses a cookie against my lips as I hand him his glass. I shove more of the cookie into my mouth. “So good.”
My eyes widen as I set my vegetable lo mien on the floor and lay down on the couch to rest my head in Maverick’s lap. I can’t take my eyes off the screen. Usami has just pushed Masaki onto the bed. Heat floods my body; I thought Maverick said this isn’t a hentai? He just made that guy…I bite my lip. Maverick’s hand comes down to stroke my hair. Wait, that’s it? They didn’t even take their clothes off. My thighs shift. I kind of wanted to see them do more.
Raising my hand, I take hold of Maverick’s and kiss the back of it. He stares down at me. “Do you like this anime?”
My cheeks burn hotter. “Yes. I’ve never watched a yaoi anime before. I was afraid they were all hentai, and Edgar would find out.”
He grins. “Well, I wasn’t too sure there for a minute that this wasn’t hentai, but they didn’t show anything.”
“I was a little disappointed.” Did I just admit that aloud?
One of Maverick’s eyebrows goes up. “You were?”
I laugh and hide my eyes with my free hand. “Yes.”
“Omae ha kawai.” He kisses me on the nose and lifts my hand off my face.
“Anata wa baka kawaii desu.” I stick out my tongue at him.
He gasps. “I am not a baka, Paden is.”
I shake my head and sit up to kiss him properly on the lips. His hand lets go of mine to hold my back and pull me closer to him. My fingers go into his hair, as I kiss him harder. I break the kiss to move and straddle his lap. He stares at me, his eyes dark blue. I’ve never seen them like this. I push his hair out of his face. His black eye from a little over two weeks ago has faded to light greens and yellows. He wouldn’t let me heal it for him. “I wish you would tell me what happened.” My fingertips stroke over the old bruise.
He grabs my hand and holds it against his cheek. “I don’t want to talk about that right now. Please don’t make me.”
I frown. The sound of the anime fills the room. “I won’t make you talk about it.” Leaning forward, I kiss his neck.
His arms wrap around me, and he holds me close as he moans. Excitement fills my chest at his sound of pleasure. Electricity courses through me; all pain has left me for the time being.
My hands rub at his chest through his shirt; his warm hands move underneath the hem of mine and travel up my back. He moves his head to kiss my lips.
Something hard presses against my butt. I know what that is. I grind against him to gauge his reaction. He groans and deepens the kiss. Heat floods me down there. This feels good and right.
I break the kiss. “Mav, I don’t want to stop. If you do, you need to say something now.”
He licks his lips. “Are you sure?”
I nod and pull my shirt off.
His eyes linger on my breasts before he looks into my eyes. “I’m ready, too.”
An overwhelming joy fills me. This is right.
CHAPTER SIX
I wrap the comforter from my bedroom around my naked body as I stare out at the sky from the spelled windows in my living room. I have about half an hour before I’ll change, but I don’t have any pain. None. I never knew sex could feel that good or make the effects from the Fold last longer. It was as if balls of energy moved between us and exploded with warm tingles all over. It’s been at least an hour, and I still feel like I could do anything and not have to fight the pain to get it done.
Warm fingers ghost over my upper back. “There’s a mark on your back.” Maverick kisses my shoulder.
I turn my head to look back at him. “What? I don’t have any marks on my back.”
He traces something on my skin. “Yes, you do, right here. Go look in the bathroom mirror.”
I laugh and shake my head. “Okay.” I shuffle over to my bathroom and turn on the light. The wall size mirror makes it easy to peer over my shoulder at my back. He’s right. Two curved lines meet at a point in the centre of my shoulder blades.
"What do you think it means?" I walk back into the living room. Maverick sits on one of the couches in his boxers, a grin from ear to ear across his face.
"I don't know, does that book from your mom say anything about weird marks showing up on your body after you've had sex?"
"It may. I haven't read all the way through that area of the book. I thought it was going to be a while before I did anything like this, but I guess the Fates had other plans."
The smile falls a bit off his face. "Did you like it? I mean, was I good, did you...feel good? I couldn't tell."
It didn't last long, maybe a few minutes at most. "I really liked it, and yes, I felt good Mav. For the first time since this curse shit started for me, I don't have any pain. Like at all, and the sun is setting. I should at least have an ache in my bones, but there's nothing there."
His eyes widen. "Maybe, I broke the curse."
I shake my head. "I wish, but I don't think so, but I could be wrong. Maybe I just needed to have sex with a member of my Fold, and it was enough to break it. I think I should bring Amr over here though; maybe he knows something about this mark on my back. I can put the earring in to buy me more time if I start to change."
Maverick laughs. "I guess I should put my clothes back on." He picks his shirt up off the floor.
A tingle invades my spine. It doesn't hurt, but could it be the change? I glance at the window. It could be; it's dark enough outside. It still doesn't hurt though. I dash into my room and grab the earring off the bedside table. I don't wear the pieces of shaman crystal all the time. I want to be able to choose when I want them to work for me and when I don't. I do carry them in a small pouch when I'm away from my room though, just in case we make an impromptu trip to the cabin, and I need them.
The instant the crystal touches my skin, the tingle ceases. Then, it was the change coming on. What would've happened if I went through with it; would it have hurt like it has for the past few of weeks? How long will this high from the sex last?
"Enid, phone and video call Amr." I pick up my P.A. card. It transforms into a cell phone and dials Amr.
"Hey." He answers with his face appearing on my screen.
"Hey. Could you come over to my dorm for a minute? I need to show you something."
He nods. "Sure. I'll be ove
r in a minute."
He hangs up the phone, and I rush around the living room, putting on my clothes from earlier.
"You could've stayed naked, I wouldn't have minded in the least." Maverick pats his lap as he watches me pull up my sleeper pants.
"Shush, my brother is about to come over here. I don't want him knowing we just had sex, that's weird."
Amr knocks on my door before letting himself in. Paden, Dante, and Horace follow behind him.
Heat flares on my cheeks. Dear Sun god, what if they figure it out? How do I deal with this? I was never trained on how to tell my other Fold members and boyfriends that I just had sex for the first time with my other boyfriend. Now that I think about it, it all seems so confusing.
Amr takes a seat on the couch. "Does it smell weird in here to anyone else? What did you need to show me?"
Oh just shut up please. I grab his hand and pull him off the couch. I head for the bathroom and close the door behind us. "Why did you bring everyone with you?" I hiss.
He holds up his hands. "We were hanging out with each other when you called. I didn't know they couldn't come too. They're members of your Fold, and Horace goes everywhere with me."
I sigh. "You didn't do anything wrong. It makes me feel awkward right now."
He frowns. "What do you mean?"
I turn my back to him and take off my shirt. I press the shirt to my chest. "Do you know what this mark might be? It just appeared a little while ago, and I think it has something to do with the Fold."
His eyes widen. "You had sex!"
I wince. "Could you have yelled it any louder? I don't think all of China heard you well enough.”
Amr covers his mouth with his hand. "Sorry. I just didn't think you'd be the first out of the two of us to do it."
"Well, I did. Do you know what this means or don't you?"
He nods. "Mom has one too, but hers is finished, since Dad is the only one in her Fold. It’s just a thick black line in the shape of a circle. Once you've bonded with all your Fold members, it will be a completed picture. Looks like you have a while to go. It's the tip of the top of it now."
My eyes widen as I put my shirt back on and face him. "How many people can be in my Fold? It can't be more than four, right?"
He shrugs. "One guy in the Angel legends had two hundred partners. You won't know until the piece on your back is done."
I sigh. "I hope it isn't two hundred. I don't think I, or anyone else, could handle that."
"So what was it like?"
I gulp. "Amazing. You know that warm feeling they make you feel when you kiss them? Imagine that burning ten times hotter but feeling amazing. I'm in no pain right now. I haven't been since we…finished."
"Wow. I want do it with Horace, but I don't think he's ready yet."
I nod. "He will be one day, I'm sure of it. You've just got to be patient." I place my hand on the doorknob, time to face the music. The others have to know by now. If Maverick didn't blurt it out to them, then Amr yelling it had to have clued them in; this door isn't soundproof.
Opening it, I inch out toward the sitting area, into a room full of silence. Paden, Dante, and Maverick stare at me while Horace plays on his tablet, doing something on a black screen. Amr comes out from behind me and sits down on the couch next to Horace; Amr lays his head on his shoulder and watches whatever he’s doing on the screen.
I fold my arms over my chest. I’ve never been this nervous in front of Paden over something I did with Maverick. We never talked about how to juggle sex into the equation of our strange relationship. All we’ve ever done is made out and cuddled, and that was after we left Edgar’s house. “I guess we should be mature and talk about this. I can see you want to, Den.”
Paden shrugs. “There’s nothing to really talk about. You two had sex.”
I rub at the back of my neck. “Please don’t be passive, Den. I can’t take that right now. Don’t be like Jericho, holding everything in until it gets to be too much.”
Paden clenches his fists, and Maverick places a hand on his shoulder. “I’m not holding anything in like Jericho. I told you that day in the shack, when we were eleven, I just want to be by your side. I don’t care about anything else. You two were together, and you were ready, that’s all that matters. It isn’t my place to say anything about it. It was your choice.”
I close the distance between us and sit on his lap whilst laying my head on his shoulder. “It’s a tad annoying sometimes how understanding you are.”
He wraps both arms around me to hold me in place. “That’s my job as the leader of the group and as one of your boyfriends, to be understanding and hear all sides before I make a judgment call.”
I touch Dante’s leg with my toes. “How do you feel about this? I think it would be best if we all stay open about our feelings, so that no one ever feels left out or unneeded. I assume that because you’ve stayed you’ve come to accept, at least in part, the Fold?”
He shrugs. “I didn’t expect me to be your first, we just met, so I have no issue with it, and I’m just going with the flow of how things are in my life right now. So I’m happy with all of it.”
Does being members of my Fold make them complacent? Would they be okay with this if the Fold wasn’t a part of the deal? I don’t know if I will ever find out the truth. They will always be willing to go along with this strange situation. I wish there was someone I could talk to that has more than one Fold member. Mom just won’t understand; all she’s ever had was dad to deal with.
Morning of the next day…
I sprint from my bed, wearing only a pair of boxer-briefs and no shirt. What the hell, not again. I must be in Minos’s body again. Because last time I checked, I had breasts.
My stomach gurgles, and we crouch over a toilet and heave into it. Hot, black stuff boils up our throat as we puke into the porcelain bowl. We heave until our abs ache and thighs shake with the strain of trying to hold us in this position any longer. We close the lid and flush the toilet. Standing, we peer in the mirror and wipe a smudge of black stuff off the corner of our mouth. Minos’s face stares back at us, even though it feels as if I should be seeing my face within his lilac eyes.
We grip at the sink’s counter and our nails shift into long black talons. Our breathing increases as pain radiates through our bodies.
We run from the bathroom and into a living room where all the furniture has been pushed to one side. The sun peeks through the clouds, visible from the skylights, as we fall to the ground and rip the skin off our chest. Black scales rise to take the place of the flesh as we let out a gut wrenching scream. We open our eyes just as the sun’s rays shines into them and our body morphs into a black dragon.
I sit up as the dream ends and forces me to wake up. Still in my uniform, I lay in the middle of my bedroom floor with the sun beaming in through the window.
Did that really just happen? Was that real? Was Minos forced into changing like I do? But, the sun is out. I don’t understand. I need answers, and I know where to get them.
Getting off the floor, I grab my P.A., and Enid unfolds. “Run program Hide.”
The light moves behind her eyes before she nods. “Program Hide has been activated, perimeter around you is secure.”
“Thank you. Follow me, stay close.” I leave my dorm and head for the hall that will lead me to the infirmary. Dr Quinn is the one who will have the answers I need about Rosemen; I just know it.
CHAPTER SEVEN
I enter the infirmary; clean white beds line either side of the room. Black and white checker tiles make up the floor with boring, bare, white walls to match it all. None of the beds have students in them. Good. No witnesses to say I was here. The Hide program doesn’t protect me from being seen by the human eye.
I try not to run as I go to the back of the room, where his office stands behind a wooden door with his name on it. I didn’t even consider whether or not he sleeps here. I just assumed. What if something happens in the middle of the night and he’
s needed? He would have to be on call within the infirmary, right?
I pound on the door several times. If he is sleeping in there, then this will wake him up.
“Hold your fucking horses, I need to get some pants on!” I only have to wait a second before the door gets ripped open. “Someone better be dying and worth it for you to bug me at…” He stops as his eyes fall on me. “Miss Radcliffe. What are you doing here? Are you hurt?”
“No, I need to speak with you.” I nudge past him and go into his office. It just has a desk and two chairs in the room, but off against the far wall stands another door. That must be where his bedroom is. Enid stands behind me as I take a seat in his chair.
He runs a hand through his long, brown, and semi-curly hair before he closes the door. “Yes, come into my office, Miss Radcliffe. I don’t mind.” He stands in front of the desk with his hands on his hips. “What is this about?”
