I'd never seen a guy naked, other than sneaking peeks at some online porn. My eyes were wide and my mouth dry. He probably wasn't overly endowed, but close-up, his cock looked massive. And that was supposed to go into me? I swallowed dryly, suddenly nervous as hell. Closing my legs, I tensed up and glanced anywhere but at Kiernan right in front of me.
"Hey." Julian turned my head and kissed my check. "Remember, you don't have to do anything you aren't comfortable with. We only want to make you feel good."
Kiernan sat down and laid his hand on my leg. "Absolutely. If it's too much, we stop. You call the shots, okay?"
I nodded, feeling like an idiot. Yes, clearly I was a virgin and completely inexperienced. My eyes burned with embarrassment as I'd pushed my fists under my chin, covering my breasts with my elbows.
Kiernan tugged me forward and pulled me into a tight embrace. "Do you need to stop?"
Did I? I felt a little shivery, but no, I didn't want to stop. Kiernan's skin was delicious against mine, and he smelled so good. Julian was stroking my back and my hair, trying to calm me. Desire sparked like glowing embers at the continuous petting. I dropped my arms from their defensive position and allowed my legs to relax.
"I really want to get my mouth on you," Kiernan said quietly. Behind me, a low groan escaped Julian.
"I want to watch," he whispered into my ear. I leaned back against Julian and returned to my previous position. Kiernan stretched out on his front and grabbed both my thighs in his hands. He pulled me toward him so that I was half-inclined against Julian.
And then he blew my mind, pardon the pun.
He kissed his way up my inner thigh, holding my hips steady. Which was just as well, because I couldn't stop moving. Julian played with my nipples, fascinated with the way they peaked. He plucked them gently, and each time he tugged, a jolt of arousal ran through me.
Something was happening as Kiernan bit me lightly, close to my leg crease. A current seemed to run from Julian's fingers to Kiernan's mouth, passing through my core. Little blue flames danced along my skin, occasionally caressing Kiernan's hair. Julian inhaled sharply the first time he noticed it.
"St. Elmo's fire," he whispered reverently. "This is incredible. It's an electrical discharge on the masts of ships, but I've never heard it happen to people."
Kiernan lifted his head, his eyes dazed with pleasure. "It tickles, like tiny jolts running through me. Try it, kiss her neck."
Julian licked along my jugular. I dropped my head sideways at the sensation, offering him more space to move. He shuddered behind me. "Wow. You're right. It feels like electricity flowing into my balls."
His hands gripped me tighter as he ground his lower body hard against me. Kiernan chuckled before lowering his head and continuing where he left off. He pushed my legs further apart to make space for his broad shoulders. Then he licked right into the middle of me.
The sensation of his slippery tongue entering my core was so intense, I bucked against him and bowed my back. I felt like I was flying apart, the sensations overwhelming me. But Julian held me tight, never letting go. The mouth between my legs never let up.
Kiernan licked, bit, and sucked, sometimes gently, sometimes hard, learning my body's responses. I couldn't hold back any longer. My moans grew louder and more plaintive. Kiernan responded to the noises I made by fisting his cock. Julian watched over my shoulder, shivering whenever I writhed against him.
Finally, when I thought I was going to go crazy with the building need, Kiernan licked in quick circles around my clitoris, and I died and went to heaven. I shivered and shuddered through the most intense orgasm I'd ever experienced. I was dimly aware that Kiernan ruthlessly stripped his cock until he exploded against the bed cover. Julian's movement against me sped up until he also groaned loudly, his whole body tense until he went limp.
The three of us didn't move for a long time. I had no strength left in my arms and legs. Barely conscious, I drifted at the edge of sleep. Julian had fallen still behind me, only his breathing showing he was alive. It wasn't until Kiernan shook first my arm, then Julian’s, that I realized something wasn't right.
I felt like I was drowning in a dark ocean. I could see the light above me, but I couldn't reach it. I willed my arms to move, my head to turn, but I might as well have ordered the bed cover to spread itself over me to stop the frost from invading my body. The longer I lay between a motionless Julian and an increasingly frantic Kiernan, the more my body temperature plummeted. My blood seemed to congeal in my veins, and my heart beat sluggishly against the cold.
"Come on, guys, stop playing around," Kiernan ordered. He felt my forehead, swore, and finally covered me with a blanket. It didn't make a difference. My teeth were chattering, yet I still couldn't open my eyes or move a limb. And then the paralysis disappeared. Julian gasped for breath behind me and sat up. Then a rush of warmth suffused my body, and I was able to wiggle my fingers and toes.
"Thank God. What the hell happened to you?" Kiernan stared at us, his face white and shocked. I flung the blanket back and sat up. Then I grabbed my clothes and got dressed. I didn't know what to say. I’d just had a life-changing sexual experience, followed by the weirdest blackout ever. My stomach rumbled. The craving for something sweet nearly floored me. "Have you got any candy?"
Kiernan stared. "What?"
I repeated the question. He jumped up and rummaged through the top drawer of his desk.
"Here," he said, handing me a squashed protein bar.
"I want some, too," Julian said. I barely recognized his voice, he sounded so rough and weak.
"I don't have another one," Kiernan said. I broke my bar in half and handed it to Julian. He devoured it in two bites. Then he took a deep breath and got up. "Wow. That was weird. Did I pass out or something? I literally can't remember anything after I..."
He looked down at his pants where a damp stain had seeped through the fabric. "Oh. That's embarrassing."
I couldn't help myself and grinned. "Maybe next time you'll remember to get undressed first."
He gave me a haughty look. "Funny you think there'll be a next time."
He ruined the statement by winking at me. "I'll just grab a quick shower. Will you wait until I'm back?"
I nodded. It was getting late, but I didn't feel quite at full strength yet. When Julian had left the room, I asked Kiernan, "What do you think just happened?"
He shook his head. "I have no idea. We were all having a good time, and then you guys collapsed. Like, as if somebody drugged you. I couldn’t rouse either of you, and your skin was so cold, I thought your"—he swallowed hard—"heart had stopped."
I heard what he didn't want to say. He thought I'd died. Wouldn't that have been a bitch to explain to the head witch?
Kiernan had gotten dressed while I was having my mini-freakout and pulled me into his arms. We sat snuggled up, seeking comfort in each other's arms, until Julian returned. Kiernan got up and hugged his friend. Julian held on tightly. Whatever had happened had rattled us to the core. As I watched the boys, my mind wandered to what was missing. Or better, who was missing.
"We need to tell Lance about this," I blurted out. "What if it happens again? What if all four of us have sex, and something worse happens?"
Like one of us doesn't come back? I didn't say it, but I could tell I wasn't the only one thinking it.
Kiernan nodded. "I think you're right. He's one of us now. He needs to know."
Julian added, "We need to do some research. Let's meet at the library tomorrow after class. If it's magical in origin, we'll find what caused this."
When I got back to my room, I fell into bed and slept like a rock. I couldn't even feed Slug and had to leave it to Beth to fill his bowl. I vaguely remembered my roommate talking to me, but I was gone before she finished the sentence.
I met the guys at the library after dinner the next day. Lance joined us to help. When he saw me, he kissed me gently, bumped fists with Julian, and hugged Kiernan. I watched my boys, hap
py that we all got on so well.
Then we settled down to read and take notes. Julian had charmed the old librarian to get some more advanced magical theory books, hoping that we might find something to point us in the right direction. But several hours later, we were none the wiser.
At nine o'clock, I had enough and, with a thud, closed the book I’d been scanning. "Sorry, guys. I'm exhausted. Early night for me tonight."
Lance put his hand over mine. "How are you feeling after yesterday?"
I shrugged. "Okay, I guess. Just really tired."
His blue eyes bore into mine with an intensity that made me a little uncomfortable. I averted my gaze, staring at his hand. It was broad, with long fingers. Strong. Dependable. I turned my palm up and closed my fingers around his. When I looked up, he was smiling tentatively at me. My heart clenched at the display of support.
Julian had watched the exchange with narrowed eyes. He didn't look hostile, but a little wary. That was probably normal. While Kiernan and Julian had known each other for a long while and were good friends, Lance was new to our group.
Wonder how he fits in. Would he take charge? Or would he sit back and watch? The thought of what we'd gotten up to last night made heat travel through my body. Damn, that had been hot. Yesterday, I'd been too tired to digest the sensations Kiernan and Julian had evoked in me. The feel of Julian's fingers on my nipple and that tongue. Goddammit. What a talent that boy had. My eyes must have glazed over staring at Kiernan, and it took me a moment to realize the boys had stopped talking to each other. Instead, they exchanged amused glances.
I cleared my throat and got up. "Right, I'm gone. See you tomorrow."
Wrapping my pride around me like an invisible coat, I held my head high as I went back to my room.
Over the next few days, homework and research kept me busy. When I wasn’t studying, I was replaying every sigh, every groan Kiernan and Julian had drawn from me. I had a smile permanently attached to my face, even when Castle did his best to taunt me in P.E. The one fly in the ointment was Lillian’s ransacked room. Somebody had searched for something, and her disappearance had to do with whatever that something was. I was sure of it.
23
Sharon kept disappearing. Beth and I had gotten used to waking up and seeing our roommate’s bed left ruffled as if she hadn’t slept in it. The longest stretch she attended class for was three days. Then she’d miss a day. Then she’d be back for another two days. Most weekends I didn't see her at all. I asked her once where she’d been, but she’d shrugged and avoided the question.
Whitehall's class was getting stranger as the weeks passed. We had moved on to learning how to adjust our energy signatures for the different kinds of hard drives. Apparently, even a slight miscalculation could cause an augmented hard drive to blow up. How weird was that, though? We learned in detail how to avoid an explosion. But how easy would it be to reverse engineer the effect and turn an ordinary hard drive into a non-traceable, remotely operated explosive device?
I mentioned it to the boys. Julian scoffed, but Kiernan's expression turned thoughtful.
"You're not wrong," he said. "We could be doing a lot of different stuff in Tech-Mag, but we've been concentrating on how to manipulate information for several weeks. And now we’ve learned how to turn electronic devices into bombs."
"You can't be serious." Julian glared at the two of us. "Are you still at this stupid idea Ms. Farkas is training us to be… what? Super spies?"
When he puts it like that, it does sound stupid. Kiernan and I exchanged quick glances and moved the conversation on to something else. Of course Julian would defend the head witch. She was like a step-mom to him.
But, after everything that had happened before Christmas, I’d learned to listen to my intuition. Something was wrong, even if I couldn't pin it down.
One morning I woke up, realizing it was my eighteenth birthday. I lay in bed, fighting to hold back the tears. This was supposed to have been my special day, one my mom and I had planned together. My parents had given permission for me to host a party for all my friends and their friends. It was supposed to have been such a big deal—we had even planned to hire a band and a caterer.
But now? Now I was in this fucking prison, even though I had more good days than bad ones. The lessons were interesting, and I loved playing with my powers. And yet, I couldn't fight the overwhelming layer of depression that slipped over me like an old, familiar blanket. Good thing it was Saturday, because there was no way I was moving out from under my cover today.
Nobody knew it was my birthday. Correct that. Maybe somebody in admin knew since they had a file on me. But nobody else did. I couldn't bear the thought of people looking at me, watching me with pity. No fucking way.
I wrapped my blanket tightly around my shoulders, tucked my head in, and ignored Beth's attempt to pull me out of bed. “Come on, get up. I want to do something.”
I grunted and dug in deeper. Like we were allowed to do anything. I'd tried to escape over the fence and nearly got killed in the process. Walking out through the front gate would likely only result in getting zapped like Matt or Lance.
Lance. I couldn't figure the guy out. One moment he was all, "Oh, I'd love to go out with you," and then I didn’t see him for weeks. Julian was acting weirder than usual, getting his back up every time his beloved head witch was even mentioned, and constantly interrogating me on how I was getting on with homework.
Jesus. Like I'm a frigging child.
And what about Kiernan? I hardly ever saw him. Sure, he apologized and showed up with flowers every so often, but for fuck’s sake, I had three boyfriends and saw only enough of them to not forget they existed.
The more my thoughts went in circles, the more morose I became. I hated self-pity, but I didn't know how to stop it. Beth had left the room, so there was no reason to hold back the tears. I sobbed into my pillow, my stomach knotted up into a ball.
The bed creaked as Slug jumped on the mattress. He wormed his head under the cover until he popped up under my chin, assuming his favorite position. He was so big, I could spoon him like a child. Today, he didn’t hold still, though. Instead he wiggled and twisted like a particularly irritating, furry corkscrew, until his face was rubbing against my cheek. Then he licked my tears off my face until my skin felt abraded, and I was chuckling at his antics.
Satisfied with a job well done, he closed his eyes and fell asleep in my arms, his scarred ear hidden against my skin. I stroked his side and tummy until I inhaled some cat hair. My coughing and spluttering sounded just like him when he was hacking up a hairball. That stupid animal knows exactly how to disrupt my pity party.
I slipped out of bed without waking him and decided to go for a depressing walk, pondering lots of dark thoughts instead. I paced parallel to the West wing, turning right in front of the main part of the building where the admin offices were, and walked down the East wing. It took me about fifteen minutes to do the full circle, but I lost count of time as I went around and around. My brain went from fundamental questions like, "What will happen if I don't pass the exams?" and "Will they ever let me go, or will I have to stay here forever?" to the boys.
My feelings for them had been growing for a while. I definitely liked them a lot. Or was I getting confused now that sex was in the mix? Wasn't it normal to feel fondness for the guy who gave you orgasms? My breathing sped up as I remembered what I'd done with Kiernan and Julian. It wasn’t fair to compare them, but my mind went there, anyway.
Who was sexier? Kiernan with his broad shoulders and Irish charm? Or Julian with his amazing six-pack who knew exactly where to touch me to make me feel good? And what about Lance? Sometimes, when we were in class, I watched him. His expression was always so aloof and hostile, he seemed a different person. But then he’d catch my glance and smile. His whole face would light up, and my stomach would drop and make me go all gooey. There was something that attracted me to him other than his good looks.
Like Julian, he seemed
to hide his true self behind all the arrogance and disdain that seeped out when he got into an argument with some kid. But Kiernan had much the same effect on me. When I entered the classroom, my gaze went to where he sat. And then it would move on to find Julian.
I was very happy the boys were friends. And after our last session weeks ago, I could have sworn there was something passing between them. Maybe they were a little bi-curious? I certainly wouldn't mind.
Just as my mind went into a delicious gutter, something caught my ankle, and I stumbled before catching myself. Looking down, I stared at Slug who was weaving his big body between my legs.
"Slug, seriously. How did you get here? Are you trying to trip me up?" I muttered.
Slug stopped and pushed against my leg, angling for a back rub. I bent down and did as ordered. His blue eyes closed, and he purred so loudly, I was sure the whole school could hear him.
Most of the students had no reason to get up early on a Saturday, so most slept in. A few joggers ran along the academy perimeters. We were allowed to roam the forest, but there had been sightings of predators recently, and we’d been asked to go in pairs only.
I’d given up confining Slug to our room. It wasn’t fair to keep him indoors. But more importantly, he seemed to find his way out, no matter how carefully I locked the door. Beth and Sharon swore they weren't helping him escape. Yet somehow he found me outside whenever he wanted to.
"Come on, cat."
Slug glanced at me as if he were contemplating if he should accompany me or not. Then he lifted his tail and skipped ahead of me, turning his head to see if I was following him.
Second Chance Soul: a paranormal reverse harem steamy slow burn academy adventure (Second Chance Academy Book 2) Page 11
