by S R Watson
I can no longer lie to myself. I’m head over heels in love with this man. He angles his hips, and this new position has us both splintering into pieces. I feel him throbbing inside me.
“Damn, Genesis. You feel so good.”
He places tiny kisses along my jawline and massages my breast. He flicks my nipple, and I feel a bite of pain. He leans down and takes one into his mouth and begins to suck. I can feel the moisture pooling between my folds again. He alternates nibbling and sucking both breasts, and now I am on fire. I feel his erection lengthening along my thigh right before he enters me again. Three orgasms later, I’m sated and bone tired. He disappears to get us a washcloth. When he comes back, he cleans me up, and all I can do is lie here during this intimate moment.
“Are you worn out?”
He gives me that wicked grin that I love and winks. If I weren’t so tired, I would beg him to take me again.
“Yes, babe. You wore me out,” I admit. He climbs into bed with me, and I smile. “I love sleeping with you.” I flush crimson after realizing I just admitted this out loud. I don’t want to spook him. I cover my eyes with my hands, afraid to read his expression. He removes my hands and places a kiss on the tip of my nose.
“No regrets, love. Always speak freely. I actually like sleeping with you, too.” He pulls me closer and brings the covers over us. “I don’t know how long before Loren comes back, but I can’t make myself leave tonight. I want to be with you just like this. In a bubble that’s just us.”
“I like this whole bubble idea. Nothing can touch us inside our bubble. It’s just us inside with great sex.” I chortle.
He squeezes me and bites my shoulder. My back is to his front. “Great sex, huh? I would say fucktastic, but great works too. We need an abundance of it here in our bubble, only coming out for food.”
I am speechless. Maybe, just maybe he’s falling for me too. I don’t want to read too much into it. I can’t set myself up for that type of fall if this is just fun for him. If his tenderness is any indication, I would say that’s not the case, but I can’t be one hundred percent certain. It’s not like he asked me to be his girl or anything. I won’t push him, but I’m happy with our progress. I snuggle into him and let myself fall into a deep, peaceful sleep.
Chapter Twenty-One
Elysian
I wrap the white bath towel around my waist after stepping out of the shower. I was tempted to let Genesis join me, but that would have only resulted in us both being late to class. Thankfully, we only have Managing Expectations with Professor Thorne. Rules, rules, and more rules. I walk into the bedroom just as Madison enters. And she is not alone. Loren flanks her with a knowing grin on her face. I know she came back last night because I heard her awful attempt at trying to be quiet. She was gone when I got up so that played into my decision to shower here. I don’t have a private bath in my dorm. I didn’t want to risk having to wait for an available shower, and I couldn’t attend class with dried jizz from last night’s activities.
“What in the tea do we have here?” Madison asks, her eyes traveling south to my semi-hard cock pressed against the cotton.
“Meet our third roommate,” Loren jokes. “I dig it,” she adds, letting her own eyes take in the bulge behind the towel.
“I didn’t realize you were back,” I apologize to Loren. “Or that you had company.”
“Oh, I’m just company now.” I was going ask what she thought she was before, but she continues with the reason for her visit. “Whatever. I just came by to see if Genesis and Loren were coming out tonight. I had no idea you’d be here.”
Her eyes evade me. Her voice thick with hurt. She doesn’t know about the incident from yesterday. How could we still go out?
“Sure. I’m down,” I hear Genesis respond. “I need to see my parents.”
“Maybe we should sit this weekend out,” Loren proposes, on the same page with me.
“On the contrary,” Madison challenges. “Something is up with the wolf pack. Nobody is saying what, but I know they’ve gotten into some trouble. James is being tight-lipped, but I know he can’t make it out with us. While the faculty is distracted with the pack, it’s easier for us to leave.”
James is one of the wolves we met at the campfire. He didn’t come out with us the first time we left the campus. I look over at Genesis who has her arms crossed over her chest. “I need to see them,” she mouths.
“Fine, but Genesis and I both have people we want to meet up with. How will that work?”
“We leave the same way as last time. We’ll exchange numbers, but we will all meet up at the same diner at two a.m. This way we can all ride back together.”
“Sounds easy enough,” I admit.
I don’t really have anyone to meet up with because of the short notice, but I can still call my folks and reach out to my buddy Josh. I’ll leave some room in my planning in case Genesis wants me to go with her to see her parents.
“See you guys tonight, then.”
She leaves, and I feel somewhat sorry for her. I didn’t plan on her seeing me this way in Genesis’s room. However, now it reinforces that nothing between us will ever happen.
“That towel really suites you.” Loren snickers, interrupting my thoughts. “But in all seriousness, are you two really going to go out tonight after everything that’s happened in the last couple of days?”
“I’m trying to stay positive,” Genesis remarks. “That was an isolated incident with a jealous, power-hungry prick. It was at least clear that he was working with his dumb cousin without the support of the pack here. I don’t know what the outcome is, but we can’t live our days in fear.”
“I guess she has a point,” I agree. “We have to trust that the faculty has it handled. The best way to get over it is to resume our lives before all this mess came about.”
After kissing Genesis on the forehead, I grab my clothes off her floor and take them to change in the bathroom. I know that everything I just said is optimistic. I just hope I’m not wrong. Something still isn’t right, yet I can’t pinpoint what it is.
I wake up in drenched sweat and disoriented. It takes a few looks around my dorm to realize I’m in my room safe. It was just a dream. Fuck. No, it wasn’t. It was another precognition, and I need to get to Genesis ASAP. We can’t go out tonight. None of us can. I glance at my phone. It’s nearly seven. I laid down for nap after class and have been sleep for a couple of hours. I can’t waste any more time. I have to stop the plan to leave tonight. I grab my keys off the dresser and dash toward Genesis’s room.
She’s startled when I enter. It’s only now that I just phased for the first time through the lock door. She sits up in her bed and rubs her eyes. Apparently, she’d laid down for a nap of her own. Loren walks out of the bathroom, obviously already dressed for tonight.
“Who let you in?” Loren asks, suspiciously.
“Nobody. I phased through the front entrance and your door.”
“Shut up. You can phase too?” Genesis squeals.
“Apparently,” I confirm.
“Yeah, except new powers usually mean a sign of trouble,” Loren points out. “What have you come to say that required phasing?”
“Well, since you mentioned it, there is a reason I rushed here. We can’t go out tonight. I had another premonition.”
“What?” Genesis hops off her bed and begin to pace. “What was it?”
“Danger is coming. I couldn’t count them all, but a pack of wolves will breach the campus at first light when the veil comes down. I recognized Daniel’s wolf form from his attack. This time, he’s bringing reinforcements.”
“Do you think it’s possible that it was just a dream?” Loren asks. Her brows crinkle in worry.
“Even if it was, that’s not a chance we can take,” Genesis answers.
“Genesis is right. We have to assume my vision was accurate. And if that’s the case, the attack will happen at the same moment we would be returning. We can’t let them drop that
cloak, and if the group leaves anyway without us, they will be stuck on the other side without their powers.”
“I forgot about that. Our powers are bound to the jewelry we use for the reverse locator spell. We’d be defenseless on the other side and unable to warn or help the people here,” Genesis points out.
“So what do we tell the group?” Loren asks. “I’m sure everyone is getting ready as we speak. They’re not going to want cancel without some explanation.”
“So we give them one,” I suggest. “The truth.”
“The truth?” Genesis mouth gasps in shock.
“Why not? I told you what Daniel said. It’s spreading like wildfire around campus about what we are. Soon the attempted attack on me will too. If my precognition is true, we can’t leave them in the dark.”
The girls nod in agreement. Loren calls Madison and asks to have everyone meet up at the creek. We have the advantage for now, and we need a plan. Within thirty minutes, we’ve all arrived at the place we had our last hangout.
Madison is the last to arrive. She looks past me as she marches right up to Loren.
“Okay, someone tell me what’s going on. What’s the purpose of this little impromptu meetup?”
“You mentioned that something happened with the wolf pack this morning, and I can shed some light on that,” I begin. This gets her attention. Her eyes narrow as she places a hand on her exposed hip.
“Okay. Tell us. And what does that have to do with us going out tonight?”
I start from the beginning—telling about my crazy nightmare and how the next day it came to fruition. I was only able to escape the attack because of the advance details from my dream. A collective gasp is heard around our circle, and this is before I tell them about today’s precognition.
“Oh my God, Elysian. I’m so sorry. I had no idea what the two of you were going through,” Madison apologizes, her tone softened. “I know I’ve been such a bitch.”
“It’s fine,” I assure. “But there’s more. I had another premonition a couple of hours ago. And this is even worse.”
The widened eyes and silence from the group urge me to continue. I tell them about the pack that’s coming—so many that I couldn’t even count them all.
“But they’re coming for you two, right?” Kristin asks.
“I was the target for the first attack, but the alpha here gave up Daniel’s identity as well as his cousin’s role in helping him breach this campus. My best guess is that I’m no longer his only target. Revenge is the motivation, and we don’t know if it’s with the academy as a whole or just Genesis and me along with the pack. Our best defense is to ensure they never breach the campus.”
“I agree,” Madison says. “We can’t be on the other side of the gates when the fight comes to us. We have to be ready to fight!”
“If we get my uncle and the other faculty on this, we won’t have to fight at all,” Loren adds.
“The cloak is only down for five minutes at a time. How is that even enough time to get here? Wolves are fast, but not that fast. They can’t dash or teleport,” Matt points out.
“Because they just said that Mitchell’s cousin has been on our campus. He could have mapped out landmarks to return to. They’d be waiting at the border for the drop of the cloak and won’t need minutes to infiltrate,” Madison explains.
“Why is it that we need a reverse locator spell on a piece of jewelry to find our way back here? Couldn’t we have just used landmarks too?” Genesis prods.
“We could, but it’s not as effective. The faculty are not dumb. They routinely comb for landmarks that someone may have carved out and get rid of them. Plus, the jewelry also binds our power so we don’t accidentally use them in public. It’s our safety net and insurance that we won’t lose our way back,” Madison explains.
Loren is the first to stand from our circle. “I’m going to warn my uncle. Genesis and Elysian should come with me. The rest of us can meet back here in a couple of hours to see how we’re going to proceed. But going out tonight is definitely out.”
We all agree before Genesis and I follow Loren to Mr. Blakely’s office. “Do you think he’ll still be in his office this late?” I ask.
“Oh, trust me. He’ll be there. This is his weekend to manage operations, and he’s a workaholic,” she ensures.
And she’s correct. He looks a bit surprised to see us, and he’s not alone. Professor Winters is with him. He ushers us inside, guessing that something is wrong.
“I would ask to what do I owe the pleasure, but I’m guessing at this hour, this is not a simple visit,” Mr. Blakey says, gesturing for us to take a seat.
“Elysian had another precognition today, and since his first one came true, we knew we needed to warn you right away,” Loren begins.
“What was it this time, dear?” Professor Winters ask, unable to hide the alarm in her voice.
“It’s that Daniel guy again. But this time, he’s bringing reinforcements. Lots of reinforcement. They’re planning to strike at first light.”
I’m careful not to mention that the attack will happen once the cloak comes down because we’re not supposed to know about the scheduled drops.
“Daniel and Mitchell were both escorted off the campus today. There isn’t a way to find their way back here. I’ll personally cast a spell to sweep any residual landmarks leading back here just for added measure.”
There he goes with the measures thing again. I was hoping that he’d be the one to mention the cloak and to ensure that they won’t drop it.
“There were so many of them. What if they know of a way that you hadn’t thought of? What if they’ve already used landmarks to arrive here and are now just waiting to first light?” I hint. “Then your spell to sweep the forest won’t work.”
“Listen, son. I know you’re all worried, and your concerns are legitimate. But when I sweep the boundaries and forest, it will be for warmth as well. Wolves have a body temp of 109 in both human and shifted form. If they’re out there now, I will know. Thank you for the warning.” Professor Winters looks unconvinced.
“So what do we do now?” Loren asks. “Surely, we can’t just go back to our room and ignore what we know is coming.”
“That is exactly what you need to do. Nobody is getting in here. If an outside pack does gather outside our perimeters, it will only give us information on which pack we need to report to the council who governs us. For now, go to your rooms. Speak of this to no one. The last thing we need is any more students worrying.”
“Randolph appreciates you bringing this matter to our attention. Now trust us to keep everyone safe,” Professor Winter adds.
“Got it,” I reply, spinning on my heel. We gave them the information, and that’s all that we can do. Loren and Genesis follow me out.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not going to be able to rest tonight.” Genesis finally says after several minutes into our walk back to the creek.
“I’m not going to bed,” Loren agrees. “Thankfully, there are no classes tomorrow.”
We finally make it back to the creek, and the entire gang is still where we left them. They’ve lit a fire in the center of the circle. We brief them on the conversation we had in Mr. Blakely’s office—the one we weren’t supposed to be sharing. Everyone states that they aren’t comfortable with just going back to their dorm to sleep, so the plan is just to stay here.
“Does anyone want to address the big ass elephant in the room or, in this case, at the campfire?” Matt suggests.
“What, Matt?” Madison encourages.
“What happens if the pack actually gets through? What’s our defense? We have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”
“They’d have to face all of us. The whole school,” one of the quiet girls says. “They can’t take on vampires, witches, and the half gods. They’d be outnumbered in strength, numbers, and class, so none of this makes any sense.”
“But that’s just it. If what Elysian predi
cts is true, striking at first light makes the most sense. Who else knows about the impending attack besides us and the faculty? Most students will still be asleep. And if they have inside knowledge about when the cloak is scheduled to drop, then we can also assume they know that it would only be down for five minutes.”
“Matt has a point,” Madison agrees. “They will have a strategy— one to execute in less than five minutes. That’s not enough time for the other students to recognize trouble in our midst and react. The attack will be over before they even realize what’s going on.”
“Although it may be accidental, being here by the creek is a strategy for us,” Kristin informs. “If Genesis and Elysian are there primary targets, then they won’t find them sleeping in their beds. The more time they take to look for them, the less time they have to execute their attack before the cloak goes back up. Either they’d abort or be stuck on this side to deal with being outnumbered.”
“True, but what if half come for us and the other half seek out the pack here. Mitchell and Daniel both know where to find the alpha. The pack here are sitting ducks. I think we should warn them,” I suggest.
I know Mr. Blakely told us not to alarm the other students, but I wouldn’t feel right if things aren’t intercepted, and the attack happens. It’s partly my fault that they’re coming. I’m the reason Jason ousted Mitchell and Daniel to the headmaster. I can’t let them be blindsided.
“Maybe not the whole pack, but I’m in agreement with informing their alpha. Let him disseminate that info in the way he sees fit for them to be on guard. The only thing is … our secret about how we get out will no longer be a secret.”
