Chased by Darkness: A Reverse Harem Academy Romance: (Four Kings Academy Book 1)

by Taylor Spratt

  My jaw dropped. Oh, no! Dear God, no! He isn’t about to say what I think he is, is he? I waved my hands in a desperate attempt to signal him, but it was too late.

  Springing from his saggy old lips like poison were the words, “The Void Users were originally a member of the Necromancer Class, the witch subset best known for their sexual attraction to the dead…” Interrupting him, the room erupted in a boom of laughter and mockery.

  Noooooooo!

  I feel dizzy. I think I’m gonna to throw up. My nails dug deep into my arm. Deeper and deeper and deeper till my uniform blouse was spotted red.

  “Now-now, listen here!” The professor scolded, waving a finger about. “This is not the kind of behavior I expect of grown witches and wizards! Behave yourselves this instant or I’ll be calling the chancellor!” The laughter doubled.

  Nice try, Mr. Whitlock, you might as well have threatened them with a Care Bear attack.

  “Necromancers may have garnered a bad reputation over the years, but I can assure you that most of them are very decent people!” He huffed, straightening his shirt collar.

  He turned to face the whiteboard and continued writing.

  I glanced over to the other end of the room, searching for Luca and Bane. If I was going to have to go make peace with Rebecca after class, I’d need something to take my mind off of this a little, even if it was another stolen glance at her boyfriend.

  Where was Luca? My eyes fell to his empty chair. Bane was sitting all comfy with his legs up in the air, absentmindedly looking at Professor Whitlock.

  Suddenly the rapturous aroma of iced cherries and wild roses hit me like a warm fluffy pillow to the face.

  “Hey there beautiful,” a deep voice sang. My head jerk to the left in shock, my eyes the size of dinner plates.

  “Luca!?”

  King Luca was kneeling, yet still towering over me on the stone seat to my right. His princely smile, shining like the sun. His hand was outstretched, in my direction, with the biggest and most beautiful blue roses my eyes ever beheld.

  What in the world?

  The entire room, professor and all, went silent in unprecedented amazement as Rebecca Vanderwall’s boyfriend, one of the four kings, tried to give roses…. to me?

  “I don’t know if this is the best time or not, but I couldn’t bear to wait another second,” he said, his eyes firm and sure. “Beautiful, will you be my Queen?”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Aria

  Wonder what Rebecca’ll do when she hears this one.

  I swallowed hard, my legs practically vibrating. “What did you just say?”

  “Please, be my Queen,” Luca repeated, still smiling hopefully, and my brain stopped. A cool sensation whipped up in my core, swelling, bubbling up and expanding to critical mass.

  My heart raced a mile a minute and before I even knew what was going on a panicked voice shrieked from behind.

  “Ahhhh! Make it stop! Please help me!” I spun around and my heart stalled; the room flooded in a sea of gasps and mouths covered in horror as the student behind me was doused in radiant black flames.

  Rippling darkness seemed to swallow him whole as he leapt onto the table in front of him, flapping his arms wildly like a dying ostrich, terrified and in agony. Then he jumped up and down on the table, screaming for help from the professor.

  A tear slid down my cheek at the awful sight of his rapidly disintegrating clothes and the putrid odor of hot sulfur.

  Did I do that? Those were my flames. What the hell is wrong with me?

  “Someone please!” He yelled, leaping onto my table and then to the next, soaring down towards the professor in a birdlike flight for rescue.

  I have to get up and help him, I thought, trying to hold back the anxieties ripping through me. I flinched in my seat but I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. All I could do was sit there trembling, as he splatted to the floor in the center of the room, flailing his arms in pain.

  I was horrified at what I’d done, but worse, I had no clue how to retract those stupid flames. I was completely useless!

  Professor Whitlock pelted him with his jacket and dozens of other students joined in to do the same. The flames slowly dissipated, a little more with each smack of a jacket, shirt or blanket from those brave enough to help.

  I should have gone down there to help. I should have done something but instead I just sat up here, cowering at the thought of what they’d think of me, what they’d do to me if they knew I was the pyro. Or did they already know?

  My head rose, my eyes darting around the room.

  There were several angry glares fixed on me. On the left right and center, they all knew it was me. I could evaporate and still not escape their admonishing glances.

  Some cracked their knuckles, others just gawked at me muttering threats under their breath.

  “Aria?” Luca said, and I could hear the shock in his voice. I couldn’t look at him right now. I could take all of them hating me, but not him.

  I dropped my gaze to the floor, grabbed my bag, and sped for the door.

  ***

  I rammed it open and started running through the empty hall. A heavy hand wrapped around my arm, halting me in my tracks. I turned, tears coursing down my cheeks to see Luca, out of breath, eyes drawn in dismay. Blue rose petals lined his path over to me.

  “I can’t go back in there, not after what I just did!”

  He pulled me into his arms and hugged me.

  “Don’t worry beautiful everything will be all right,” he said, a weary smile forming on his face, as if to comfort me.

  He released me from the hug and wiped at my tears with his thumb.

  “Please don’t cry, I can’t bear to see your tears,” he insisted.

  “Did I kill him? Please tell me he’s okay.”

  “Is that what you’re afraid of?!” Luca chuckled, gripping his sides, tilting his head forward into the laugh. “Those were just a little cursed flames, Beautiful. Cheer up, they don’t burn like real fire. He was just a big drama queen if you ask me.”

  “Too bad the other students didn’t see it that way. Half of them looked ready to kill me,” I retorted.

  “None of them would dare!” He assured, gripping my hands in his. His expression going dark, a protective aggression glinting in his eyes. “I would never let them harm you.”

  I couldn’t help but smile from the intensity of his eyes on me. They were earnest and true. Man, he really was something to look at, especially this close up.

  His smile widened and his irresistibly sexy dimples popped right in as if summoned by my joy. My eyes locked on his and then I felt it. That same ethereal tug I felt with Alexander before. It was as if a string were tied irrevocably to me from the inside, and the other end led right to Luca.

  He stilled, and I saw something more. Past the shimmering waters of his crystal blue eyes lay a thick layer of murk clinging desperately to the tide. Anything that waded there too long would be sure to drown.

  One thing was for sure, he'd been through hell, every bit as much as I had. As if I were standing in front of a man covered in open wounds, I wanted to pull him into my arms and hug him, offering what little comfort and warmth I could.

  My hand drifted toward his shoulder, my eyes glassy, but before it connected, I jerked it away. He’s not yours, Aria. He can never be yours. Don’t forget that.

  “What’s wrong?” He said, his eyes heavy with concern.

  “Ah... Ah, nothing!” I said, waving a hand reassuringly and then tried to change the subject.

  “Wait a minute. I didn’t see your name on the roster,” I said. “What were you doing in Control of Dangerous Magics class?”

  He rubbed his chin as if taken off guard by the question.

  He smiled. “Well, isn't it obvious? I haven’t been able to get you off my mind since orientation. When I heard you’d be in Bane’s class I knew I had to crash.” The words rolled off his tongue like soothing steam. He bumped his wide muscular c
hest into me, while gazing down at me seductively.

  Woah. Wait. First Alexander, now Luca? What was going on here? I know I was lusting after all four kings in the orientation hall, but I never once expected it to go the other way.

  “You’re not a Void fetishist, are you?” I said pointing an accusing finger.

  “Hahaha! Christ no!” He laughed. “Is that what you think? A man would need to be a fetishist to like you? For a woman so beautiful you really lack confidence, Aria Kolgrim."

  “Well then, I didn’t peg you for a two timer," I said folding my arms and jerking my head to the side.

  His laughter cut like a knife and he looked genuinely hurt at the accusation.

  “Listen beautiful,” he said resting a hand on my shoulder. “I may be many things, but a cheater isn’t one of them. Rebecca and I had a mutual arrangement last year. But I never lied to her, never told her it would be more than it was. The girl is bat shit crazy. When she popped up at orientation, I played along with it as to not embarrass the girl. Only god knows what she might do if I set her off one of her legendary fits of rage.”

  “Fits of rage? That’s the understatement of the year.”

  “When I heard she’d attacked you I went to her immediately and told her to leave you alone, clearing up any delusions she may still have of us being together. I never want you to ever have to go through that again and I am truly sorry,” he said, gently pressing a soft hand to my face.

  “So,” I sighed, jerking my head away. “You just wanted her for some fun? Is that what you want from me too? Just some fun?"

  He stiffened and his gaze flattened.

  “Come. We need to talk in a more private place,” he said, his eyes roaming the long empty passage. There were dozens of slightly cracked doors going all the way down.

  He cupped my hand and pulled me into a nearby alcove. It was much darker in here than in the open.

  “Beautiful, I-”

  “So, even if I believe what you said about the Rebecca thing. What about the burnt picture?" I said, interrupting him. "Are you gonna tell me it wasn’t you and your brother who pushed it under my door or maybe you just sent one of your lackeys to scare me?”

  “It was Bane,” he admitted, cupping his forehead in embarrassment. "He can be rash and ruthless at times, especially when he doesn’t get his way. When you refused to join us in the hall, he was livid."

  “Yeah," I said with a groan, "I remember that part.”

  He gave a deep exhale. “This school can be such a terrible place, it’s no place for someone like you.” He gripped my waist, pulling me into him gently, our eyes locked.

  “Someone like me?”

  “An innocent,” he said softly, staring down at me with dreamy eyes. I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t. I was drawn to him in the same way I was drawn to Alexander. His hard chest pressing into me like an impenetrable wall wasn’t helping.

  There was more than lust between us, as if something clung to the air; a dark seduction filled the alcove, the sweet spiciness of his breath tingling up my nose and filled me.

  “You need my protection.” His grip around me tightened as his fingers caressed my lower back with a smooth possessive rotation.

  He rested his warm cheek against mine and whispered softly in my ear. “Would you like a protector, Beautiful?”

  His breath tickled my neck, dulling my senses like an erotic drug.

  When his head raised, his eyes zeroed in on my lips with tunnel vision. He stared as if peering inside me, far deeper than eyes could ever go.

  My heart pounded rapidly in my chest.

  He leaned in and pressed his lips hard against mine, his arms trapping me to him. He thrust his warm sleek tongue in my mouth, flicking and gliding over mine, exploring every inch of my mouth.

  My every muscle relaxed, robbed of all strength and my body sank lower and lower in his arms.

  He pulled me back up against the protection of his chest as if to save me from drowning in the hot, wet air that now soared through the alcove.

  His lips slid from mine and he plunged them into the curve of my neck.

  I shuddered, unprepared for his warm tongue trailing over the sensitive flesh of the curve. Electric currents swirled, building up pressure under my skin readying to explode under the pressure of his warm tongue’s devouring glide.

  He kissed his way along my neck over to the nape and started sucking at it. He sucked harder and harder till the skin pinched and ached in a burning pleasure.

  “Luca,” I moaned, my mouth a speaker box to the living desire that now threatened to swallow me whole.

  I cried out softly, the sensation of his intense sucking taking its toll.

  As if realizing my pain, he stopped sucking to lick over the area instead. His healing tongue soothing right over the little red mark he’d made.

  He eyed it, looking pleased at his brand. And with one more lick, he sealed in its rosy hue.

  His head rose as he looked down at me with a heavily lidded lust in his eyes, as if he were in a daze, and I felt the hard poke of something long and thick prod angrily into my belly.

  If anything ruled Luca now, it sure as hell wasn’t his brain. There was nothing logical about the burning passion in his eyes.

  Without warning, he dropped one hand from my waist and tore the red tie from my neck, pulling every button with savage fervor.

  The blouse fell open. The pink of my lacy bra was now on full display, and he eyed the lace with dilated curiosity. My shame heavy in my reddening cheeks and neck, I jerked my head away, slapping my hands over my chest.

  A tear slid down my cheek, as the contrasts of my emotions threatened to rip me in two. All these things I felt for Luca, I couldn't explain. But to have him look at me like this, so exposed? I couldn't, I just…

  There was sadness in his eyes, and was that guilt in the stiffening of his shoulders?

  He grabbed my chin, pulling it up to meet his gaze.

  “Do you fear me?” He asked with an almost trembling voice.

  “No! Not in the slightest,” I replied honestly.

  “Good!” He gently batted my hands off my chest.

  “Then don’t ever hide from me, beautiful. I crave every inch of you.” The words fell off his lips like sweet honey and once again I was entranced, unable to escape the possession of his gaze.

  His expression softened, and he placed two long fingers to gently trace along the bra’s top edge. My nipples hardened like rocks just from the sight. They now ached painfully against the inside of the fabric, begging to meet the source of their arousal.

  His eyes traced the curves of my breast with fervor and his lips pulled up in a slight smile.

  He swallowed.

  He pinched at the top of the bra with the tips of his fingers and gave the fabric a teasing tug; the release and shift in pressure on my aching nipples sent pleasure coursing through my body. I squealed with excitement.

  His smile widened, as if pleased by my reaction and curious about what other sounds I could make.

  “Beautiful, I’m going to taste you now,” he stated matter-of-factly, and my jaw nearly fell to the floor, excitement and fear straightening my back like a ruler.

  “Taste what!?” I gasped.

  “Your cherry nipples, of course.” He laughed. “Haven’t you ever had your nipples sucked before?”

  I shook my head, not believing we were actually having this conversation.

  “And what about your pussy?”

  My head jerked back, and I blinked rapidly.

  “Wow, this should be illegal.” He leaned in close, whispering seductively in my ear, “A girl like you should be pleased daily.” He bit down hard on the lobe and I stifled a cry.

  He moved down to kiss gently over my neck, trailing his way slowly to the bra.

  I trembled uncontrollably, all defying words stuck in my throat.

  Oh, my God! Is he really going to?

  With every inch that he got closer and closer
to the fabric, my skin grew more and more electrified under his ferocious lips, as if preparing for the savage assault of his tongue over my nipples.

  “Shall we try?” He said, eagerness hanging on his every word. “Will you let me hear your pleasure cry?”

  His words froze time in its tracks. His warm tongue traced the tops of my breasts, lighting fires over the skin, shooting rockets of sensation straight to my aching pussy.

  His licking turned to sucking and cruel biting all over my upper chest, yearning to know the mountainous treasures below. I gave out a breathy cry, my pussy now throbbing bitterly with need.

  His fingers clenched down around the clasp at the back and he yanked it free impatiently, as if desperate for his taste, desperate for sweet oblivion.

  My bra slid from my chest and fell to the ground. My nipples jumping free, my breast embarrassingly on display.

  My face twisted in shame and Luca spun me around faster than he could take his look, pressing my back into his chest.

  “Shh, shh, beautiful. It’s okay. I don’t need to see you just yet. I’ll take my time.” He assured with a calm understanding, and before I could say a word of thanks, he plunged his warm wet tongue deep into my ear. The air left my lungs and fire exploded between my legs.

  I moaned uncontrollably. His eager tongue, blinded with need, explored and invaded every inch of my tender lobe paying extra attention to the hole. He went as deep as he could, flicking his tongue teasingly inside and my pussy clenched more and more flooding with need.

  Not taking his tongue from my ear, his hands slid up to cup both of my breasts. He pinched each nipple, locking them between the strength of his fingers. Pain laced pleasure exploded from my nipples.

  “Luca!” I cried, victim to the cruel onslaught of his hands. My nails dug into his thighs. The mix of his prodding tongue and ruthless fingers were driving me to the cliff’s edge in ways I’d never known, but it was more than that. It was like these big warm hands belonged to me, those tender lips, that wicked tongue. They were all made for me, made to touch me, made to bring me pleasure and me alone.