Goddess Academy: The Complete Reverse Harem Collection

by Clara Hartley

Cara

  I found my way back to the encampment Apollo had set up for us. He’d magicked into existence a few tents for us to share. My vassals were sitting around a campfire, their edged features lit by the orange, glowing fire that crackled in the middle of them. Fenrir lay on Liam’s lap. He was high on alert, ears perked and at attention.

  I made my way over to the group. As I did, their gazes were trained on me, all filled with burning accusation.

  “It’s not my fault, you know,” I said. I set my ukulele aside, picked up a long stick, then poked the fire, stoking the flames. The smoke smelled just like Apollo did. “I’m just trying to save you guys.” I noticed that Devon was missing from the group. Where had he gone? “You should be applauding me for being so amazing. Caramel Valencia, savior of the worlds. I used to destroy things with my clumsiness.”

  My sad attempt at a joke didn’t win me any smiles. Damn, why couldn’t they just act as if they were happy? Did everybody have to wear sour expressions? I wanted to go out blazing and laughing, because that was just how I liked seeing things.

  Theo glanced at the ukulele next to my calf. “You play?” he asked.

  I smiled. “I never told you guys I did, huh?”

  Theo shook his head.

  “Want to try?” I asked.

  Theo placed a hand on his chest. “Me? I’m not the most musically inclined.” I noticed that the glow from the fireplace changed the shade of his eyes. From green to a light ochre.

  “Yeah. Everybody can play.” Whether they could play well varied from person to person. Theo declined my offer. It was my attempt to butter him up, so that the vassals would loosen up and talk to me normally again. I opted for singing instead. Hansel wouldn’t even look at me. He had his attention focused on a dying tree. Its leaves were disintegrating—Nyx’s work.

  I strummed the ukulele. Just like with Apollo, it created a beautiful tune. And then I sang, letting the calming effect of music wash over me. The sun was down, and a cool breeze accompanied us. I closed my eyes and tried to enjoy this moment. But the anxiety my vassals were projecting affected me too much. I continued strumming, until I hit the wrong chord and broke the melody I had going on.

  Damn it.

  I blinked at Liam, whose eyes had been pinned on me the entire time. “Can… can you guys please stop being like this?” I asked. “It’s grating. I can’t stand it.”

  Liam slackened, conceding my plea, then raised both his hands. He invited me into his embrace. “Come here,” he said. I withheld a whine. Thank the goddesses. Or fuck them, really. Whatever. I was just happy that one of my vassals accepted me into his arms again, because rejection was a bitch, and I didn’t take it well.

  Really, why couldn’t they reject me for something less worthy of punishment? Hating me for having some savior complex? That wasn’t fair.

  I cuddled into Liam’s embrace. He was so warm. Coupled with the heat from the flames, I felt so comfortable that I might fall asleep. I didn’t want to doze off. There was little time left.

  Liam trailed his hand down my face and pressed his lips on my forehead. “I really hate you,” he said.

  “You can just tell me that you love me. Massage me. Pamper me. Treat me like Hansel does.” I darted my eyes toward Hansel. How he used to pamper me, anyway. The foolish sod was still throwing a tantrum. He really should respect my decision.

  Liam studied me for a long moment. I shivered under his tender touch. He smoothed his hand across my body in such a gentle manner that any girl would melt. Liam kissed the side of my jaw. “Okay, then,” he said. “I will.”

  I frowned. Did I really just hear that? Coming from Liam?

  The worlds really must be coming to an end.

  “What did you say?”

  “I’ll treat you well. Like you deserve,” Liam said. He tucked his arm behind my torso and knees and stood, cradling me as if I were made from porcelain. “And I’ll do it having you to myself.”

  I gaped at him. I probably looked like a fish, but the sudden change in Liam had gotten me all stupefied. He was usually a lot more aloof.

  “Where would you like to be touched, Cara?” he asked.

  “Touched?” I asked, a blush creeping to my cheeks.

  He lifted up the flap of a tent and entered, then set me on the ground. Liam pushed me onto my back. He spread my legs and rested between them. “Here?” Liam asked. He massaged the area between my thighs. My natural reaction was to pry his hand away. I should embrace the sensuality of it all, but how attracted I got to Liam when he acted like this stirred all sorts of strange, uncomfortable, but desirable emotions in me. Liam took my wrist and pushed it flat against the ground. My breath hitched in my throat.

  Breathe, Cara.

  I inhaled sharply, then spread my legs wider for Liam.

  “That’s obedient of you,” he said. He pushed my shirt up my belly and placed a kiss there. His fingers wandered, searching the curve of my thigh until they got dangerously close to my center. Tension gathered in my belly. Why was he dragging this out? Touch me already!

  I hissed when Liam’s fingers lightly grazed my center. He gave me wet kisses that moved up my stomach, then shifted until his lips found my nipple. “Or do you prefer to be licked here?” Liam asked. He looked up toward me.

  “It’s…” Words left me.

  He flicked his tongue over my nipple. Shock waves of pleasure trickled down my spine. I clutched the back of Liam’s head, twining my fingers in his locks. Liam sucked and nibbled and licked. My center tightened with the need to be touched, but he continued teasing me, kneading the flesh of my thigh and not giving me what I want. I rocked my hips against him, and still he avoided my core.

  “You’re not giving me the right answers, Cara,” Liam said, voice sultry and dripping with lust. I moaned softly when he pinched my other nipple, punishing the nub and sending waves of pain—the good kind—through me.

  “Fuck you.”

  “Hm?” Liam asked. I thought I heard laughter rumbling from his chest. “Tell me where you want me to touch you. Or you’re not going to get it.”

  “Asshole,” I said. “You’re hard as hell, too.”

  “I’m not the one writhing.”

  Was I writhing? Damn it. I was probably salivating like Liam’s good whore. Like my other vassals, he was perfectly aware of how to touch me. I growled my frustration and grabbed his wrist, forcing it to my pussy. “There,” I said. “Touch me there.”

  Liam cocked his head and grinned. He wasn’t too convinced by my response. He conceded anyway, then stroked me through my underwear. “You’re already soaking wet,” he said.

  I opened my mouth to say the first snarky remark that shot through my mind, but Liam found my clit. He added just the right amount of pressure to drive me wild. My remark turned into a moan. My vassals outside could probably hear me, but I didn’t care. This felt fucking good, and I was going to embrace every second of it.

  Liam pushed my underwear aside and dipped two fingers into my core. He returned his attention to my nipple, building up the pleasure. My mind fogged as numbness took over. I relaxed underneath Liam’s workings, letting him do as he wished. I whispered his name in a soft plea. He wouldn’t stop. He just massaged and played and gave me a mind-numbing amount of sensations.

  I wrapped my arms around Liam and drew him toward me, needing to have him closer. The build climbed, the knot in my belly wringing tighter. I clutched him as hard as I could. I loved Liam so much. At least as the chiasma, I would still be connected to him. But it wouldn’t be the same as this. “I’ll miss you. Miss this.”

  Liam paused, and with him, I stilled.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, dragging a thick lock of black hair away from his eyes. He looked sad. I hated seeing that.

  “Nothing,” Liam said. “I can’t stop you, Cara. It’s just…” His next words hitched in his throat. He dipped his head and rested it in the crook of my neck. “We’re trying to stop it.”

  How?


  I had no time to voice my question. Liam had taken his cock out and positioned it on my exposed pussy. With a quick thrust of his hips, he spread my folds, entering me. I was already wet and ready for him, and all semblance of sense disappeared from my thoughts. He rocked back and forth. Spreading and stretching and taking me. When I met his gaze, I saw fire in his eyes. It burned with an intense desire.

  Liam made me feel wanted.

  I reached underneath his shirt and moved my hands up his torso. I traced the ridges of his abdomen. He was so warm. The intimacy of this shook me.

  “Mine,” Liam said, then bit the side of my shoulder. He began sucking at the spot where he’d bitten. I knew he’d leave a mark, but I didn’t care. I was too lost in the fog of lust. If Liam wanted to claim me, then so be it. “You’re mine.”

  His climax neared. I saw it in the straining of his face. Mine closed in at the same time as his. Our pulses raced in tandem, and I heard his breathing as loudly as mine. Liam kept me locked in place so he could pound into me. The pace of his hips quickened. My toes curled from the force.

  And he came.

  Just as I did.

  Pleasure rocked through me. I tossed my head back and screamed out Liam’s name, unable to contain the sensations that shattered my mind.

  “I love you so much, Cara,” Liam said when he finished. He slumped against me, hugging me close. “Please, don’t go.”

  It was the first time I’d heard Liam this vulnerable. We might have just had mind-blowing sex, but he held me as if I was the most precious thing in both worlds, and that broke my heart.

  “I won’t,” I lied. I craned my neck and placed a kiss on his neck.

  “Good,” Liam replied, letting himself believe my lie.

  We cradled each other, and I shivered underneath his touch. I was shaking. Terrified. Morning would come too soon, and this would end. I sucked in a deep breath, taking in as much of Liam’s scent as I could.

  I couldn’t sleep that night.

  Sleep would be a waste of time, and I didn’t have much of it left with my vassals.

  Thirteen

  Cara

  A crashing noise woke me from my daze. I was clutching Liam tightly, trying to memorize every inch of him.

  The crash.

  Where had that come from?

  “Wake up,” Liam said, shaking me. He didn’t have to. My eyes were already wide open. Liam quickly dressed, and I watched him as he did. He pulled a shirt and jeans on, then searched for his daggers and strapped them around his torso. Liam grabbed my hand and pulled me up. The air around me seemed to have thickened, weighing heavily upon us. “I’d prefer to let you sleep in, but there’s a battle outside.”

  “Another battle? Who is it between this time?”

  Behind Liam, I saw Fenrir in the midst of battle, warding off the goddesses. Some of their magic burst into nothingness as it came into contact with the wolf’s fur.

  “Devon’s got all the goddesses here,” Liam said. “Your mother included.”

  “What?”

  Liam lifted the flap of the tent and looked out. “We can’t stay here. Hurry up, dress yourself.” My clothes were still in disarray due to last night. I continued hearing booming, crashing, the sound of metal on metal coming from the outside. Haven and its stupid damn wars. Weren’t we going to settle it with the agreement with Nyx?

  “Was that where Devon went?” I asked, following Liam into the open. I stilled at the sight before me, dumbfounded by how bizarre it was. Hundreds of Apollos fought before me, battling goddesses and vassals alike. The sun above had dimmed, probably due to Apollo spreading his powers out. “Holy—”

  Liam tugged me by my wrist. He walked briskly past the battle, pushing aside a brightling who stumbled toward him. The brightling had been injured, and the horse-headed creature took two weary steps before collapsing into a puddle of blood.

  The past few weeks had hardened me to such sights. I no longer grew queasy at them. I saw Ares up ahead. He was difficult to not recognize, with his bushy eyebrows that screamed for every goddess’s attention. He wielded a huge axe. Loosing a roaring battle cry, he swung his axe and knocked out five Apollos at once. The Apollos poof-ed and disappeared after Ares knocked them away. They weren’t as sturdy as the real one.

  Ares leapt at another group of Apollos after he’d finished. He was a force on his own, blazing through the battlefield like a raging fire, doing his title as god of war justice.

  “What did Devon do?” I asked Liam as we meandered our way through the chaos.

  Liam threw a dagger through a brightling’s forehead. The creature with the frog head croaked, then collapsed, dying from the blow.

  Liam wiped his dagger on his pants then answered, “A trade. He told them about why the worlds were actually falling apart, and for your safety, he’s agreed to lead the goddesses to Apollo. Maybe with Apollo captured, we can fix the realms again, and you’ll be all right.”

  It took a moment to mentally process Liam’s words. “That… that isn’t how it works.”

  “It was worth a shot.”

  “You guys are going to botch the ritual. Catching Apollo isn’t going to do anything. Liam, let me go.”

  A couple of Apollo clones had broken from the battle. They chased after Liam and me, faces filled with hardened determination, as if they had something to say to me. I struggled against Liam’s grip, hoping to get myself loose so that I could clarify things.

  “No,” Liam said. “I’m going to get you to somewhere—”

  But Liam was no match for me.

  My vassals were being stupid, and there was no more room for silly Cara. I’d grown up, and as their goddess, I had to put them in their place. I had to keep them safe, even though their instincts were telling them to let everything burn and go to hell. I summoned the powers inside me and pulled myself away. My wings fanned out behind me. I flapped them, using all the force I could muster, and pushed myself away from Liam.

  He called my name. It was no use.

  I had to do this.

  It hurt, but it was the right thing. Tears gathered in my eyes as knowledge of what I had to give up hit me like a truck.

  I separated myself from them out of love—

  A string of leaves shot out from nowhere, aiming for my wrist. It snapped around my forearm. I looked down and recognized the glistening gold. The leaves had to belong to Hera.

  “Get her!” she shouted. I raised my wings, but they wouldn’t listen to me. The wrist restraints were supposed to suppress my abilities, and Hera’s powers took control of mine, not allowing me to use them properly.

  Hansel swept his way past the sea of troops, racing toward me.

  “Kill her!” Hera shouted.

  I watched Devon dart out from nowhere, heading toward Hera, his expression wild with panic. I doubted this was what he’d agreed upon with Hera.

  Goddesses went back on their promises.

  I wasn’t surprised.

  “Foolish.” All the Apollos had spoken in unison, their voices merging with each other. “She’s your only hope.”

  The Apollos spread their arms. Light beams shot out from their palms. I squinted, trying to see past the glare. My head rang from how blinding the magic was. From his actions alone, the battle came to a halt. I reached out for Liam, wanting to keep close to him, but someone wrapped their arms around my hips and pulled me away. I attempted to use my wings to stop him, but I couldn’t control them, not with Hera limiting my powers.

  How had the chiasma inside me broken Hera’s charm before?

  “Let me go, you twat!” I struggled, attempting to get out of the grip of whoever held me.

  “Calm down. It’s just me,” Apollo said, loosening his grip.

  “Is it you, though?” I asked. I let my body relax. Turning around, I raked my eyes over his tanned features. He soared through the air, not needing wings. His body was warm, like a heated pavement on a sunny day. “Or are you another one of your clones?”

&
nbsp; An arrow made of light zipped through the air and flew through this Apollo. He misted into nothing, just like his similarly weak counterparts did. And he let go of me midair.

  I couldn’t control my wings.

  Fuck.

  Hera needed to let me go. Her magic coiled around me, not giving me control of my own abilities. It felt like I was suffocating from the pressure. I strained and strained, but no amount of mental pushing worked.

  I plummeted toward the ground. I reached my fingers out, attempting to grasp at something. Could I die from a fall?

  I flipped myself around.

  Bad idea.

  I came face to face with the ground. It was scarier when I knew what I was going to hit. My wings were dead weight, their heaviness making me fall even faster. I winced, bracing myself for impact.

  I was going to hit the ground.

  My bones would break.

  My insides shattered.

  I glared at the ground, not knowing what was going to become of me, bracing for numbing pain.

  A bunch of Apollos piled themselves over each other, and instead of smacking against the ground, I hit the mass of cloned bodies. I ground my teeth together, flinching at the impact. They poof-ed out of existence as soon as I hit them. I bounced off them.

  And it still hurt like a bitch. I thought I heard my bones cracking, and the ache that followed that sound was unbearably painful. I wasn’t broken, but that didn’t mean that the fall didn’t hurt. I sucked in sharply to cope with the pain. Why the fuck did Apollo need to have such hard abs? He was a specimen of a man, but he’d be a lot comfier to crash into if he packed a few extra pounds around his waist.

  Around me, dead bodies lay on the ground. The sounds of battle continued, and the smells of ash and fire and blood wafted toward my nostrils. I blinked myself out of my confusion and flipped myself around. Groaning, I got to my feet.

  As soon as I gathered myself, I spotted Clotho.

  Clotho, the white-haired goddess, used to be my companion. She’d helped me when I tried to save Danna in the past, but there was no longer any of that friendliness. She rushed toward me like a whirlwind. I shuddered. Clotho was too powerful, and when such a force stared at me with malicious intent, I thought I was going to die.