Wrath of the Gods (Magic Blessed Academy Book 3)

by Eva Ashwood

  The sweetness was a manifestation of our love, but this was too.

  Palming the back of my head to take our kiss even deeper, Trace pivoted, turning back toward the large metal work table. I gasped as he set me down on it, every bit of skin that wasn’t covered by my tank top prickling at the feel of the cold metal.

  He broke our kiss and pulled back, grinning mischievously when he noticed my nipples had peaked at the sudden chill.

  Still settled between my legs, he dropped his head and bit down on one of the peaked buds through the thin material of my tank, making me yelp and grab fistfuls of his hair again.

  He chuckled, his teeth closing just a little bit tighter around my hard nipple. “Shh, Ari. People are sleeping. We don’t want to wake them up.”

  “Then stop pressing all my wake-up buttons,” I shot back, arching my back in a way that suggested if he actually did stop, I’d kill him for it.

  He must’ve read between the lines, because he didn’t stop at all. Instead, he transferred his attention to my other breast, hesitating for a brief moment just before his mouth closed around my nipple. The anticipation made every nerve ending in my body scream, and when he finally bit down, I tilted my head back, panting out a breathless cry.

  As he drew back, his blue eyes gleamed in the dim light of the kitchen. He straightened, tugging my tank top off and looking down at me sprawled on the table before him, my legs wrapped around his waist and my chest heaving. His thumbs found my nipples as he massaged my bare breasts, making me think I’d go out of my mind from an overload of sensations.

  I’d never known I could come just from nipple play, but it was about to fucking happen.

  Before I could hurtle over the edge though, he pulled his hands away. Then he carefully unwound my legs from his waist, stepping back. He turned and strode toward the large freezer on the other side of the room, and my jaw fell open.

  What the hell? He wants a snack now?

  I was pretty sure the appliances in the Magic Blessed Academy building were run by a combination of magic and technology. I still wasn’t exactly sure where in the world the academy building was actually located, but I highly suspected it was very far off the beaten path.

  Trace opened the freezer, and I was about to give him shit for leaving a job half finished—but before I could, he was already walking back toward me, something glinting in his hand.

  When the cube of ice met the skin between my breasts, I hissed a breath, pulling my bottom lip between my teeth. Trace grinned wickedly, then slid the piece of ice in a broad circle around my breast, tracing a spiral pattern until the cold, wet cube brushed against my nipple.

  I half sat up, a tortured groan bursting from my throat, and he chuckled softly as he pushed me back down.

  “I love you, Snow. Let me take care of you.”

  As I sprawled back out on the table, it occurred to me that Trace’s definition of “take care of you” might be something along the lines of “make you pass out from pleasure.”

  Not that I was complaining.

  Little trails of water slid down the side of my breast from the melting ice cube, and I did my best to hold still as Trace moved it over and repeated the spiral pattern on the other side. But my breath was coming in short gasps, and although he hadn’t even touched my lower half yet, my clit was throbbing in time to my heartbeat, a steady ache building in my core.

  He looked up at me through his lashes as he trailed the ice cube down my stomach and over the dip of my belly button. When he reached my soft cotton pants, he trailed the ice cube over the skin just above the waistband, and when I growled in frustration, he laughed. But he gave me what I wanted, sliding my pants and panties off with one hand while the slowly melting ice cube traced pathways over my hips and upper thighs.

  My clothing fell to the floor as Trace brushed the piece of ice over my folds, then between them, just inside my pussy.

  The feel of the cool slickness against my hot, swollen core was more than I could take, and I tossed my head back and forth, gasping and panting.

  Another low chuckle rumbled in Trace’s chest, but when I looked down my body at him, he looked like he was torturing himself as much as me by dragging this out. His cheeks were so flushed I could see the tint even in the shadowy kitchen, and his hair was mussed from my fingers, sticking up at odd angles.

  It was hot as hell. I wanted to ruin him, to make him unravel completely.

  Before I could sit up and try to reach for the bulge straining his pants, he pushed the ice cube a little deeper inside me, finding my clit with his thumb at the same time.

  My world spun, seeming to collapse in on itself and then expand as a burst of sensation surged through me.

  “That’s it, Ari. Come for me. Come, baby.”

  Keeping his thumb on my clit, Trace withdrew the ice, and as the orgasm continued to roll through me, I watched him pop the melting ice cube into his mouth. The feral, hungry grin on his face as he tasted it—tasted me—made me groan.

  “You sure you aren’t… trying to kill me?” I panted, and Trace laughed softly as he chewed the remainder of the ice.

  Then he licked his lips, hooking my thighs and pulling me closer to the table’s edge. I caught sight of his thick cock springing free as he pushed his sweats down, then his broad head nudged my entrance.

  “Never, Snow,” he said softly. “In fact, one of my main goals in life is to keep you alive.”

  I would’ve laughed at his comment, but there was a sincerity in his tone that made the sound die in my throat. And then he surged forward, filling me in one deep thrust, and I forgot everything but the feel of him.

  He draped his upper body over mine as he began to fuck me hard and fast, and when he caught my mouth in a deep kiss, his tongue was still cool from the ice. We kissed until every last bit of the chill was gone, and I wrapped my arms and legs around him, holding him close as he drove into me over and over.

  When I came again, it was with a scream that might’ve woken up the entire school if Trace hadn’t swallowed it with his kiss, absorbing my pleasure and feeding me back his own like a feedback loop.

  With one more hard thrust, he froze inside me, his hips pulsing against mine as he emptied himself in my channel.

  As my body finally began to relax, tension seeping from my muscles, Trace gathered me in his arms, lifting me off the table with his cock still buried inside me. My arms and legs wrapped around him automatically, and he held onto me just as tight, our chests pressed together as we breathed in sync.

  “We should go upstairs,” I finally murmured sleepily against his skin. He had to be getting tired. I was exhausted, and I wasn’t even the one holding up another person.

  “We will, Snow. Soon.” His fingers ran through my dark hair, and turned his head a little, pressing a kiss to my jaw. “I just need another minute. Just like this.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Despite the fact that I’d barely slept the night before, I was up early the next day.

  Turns out, there’s something extremely motivating about knowing a bunch of gods plan to kill you and all your friends.

  Trace rolled me over on the bed for a deep kiss that made my toes curl a little, memories of last night invading my thoughts. I let Merrick and Lachlan kiss me good morning too, basking for just a few short minutes in the bubble of happiness that seemed to fall around us every time the four of us were together like this.

  But worry was eating a hole in my stomach lining, and not even a good, long fuck would solve the problems we were facing. So before things could progress any more, we all climbed out of bed, got dressed, and went downstairs.

  The first order of business was to check on our prisoners. Dean Frost was practically spitting with anger, and I gave her a heftier dose of the knockout spell before shifting my gaze to Miss Avery and the others. None of them seemed to want to share her fate, because they all hung back, watching me with wary eyes.

  Okay. So Frost was definitely the leader of this
operation.

  It made me hate the woman even more, something I hadn’t thought was even possible. But it was good, in a way. As long as we kept her out of commission, the odds of the others trying anything stupid were much lower.

  I instructed another student to go get some food and bring it back to the makeshift holding cell, then asked a second-year guy named Mitch to set up a watch rotation so we could keep eyes on the dean and her lackeys at all times.

  Only when Mitch scampered off to do as I’d instructed did it occur to me that, whether I had ever wanted this or not, I had become the de facto leader of the remaining students at Magic Blessed.

  The thought made my stomach pitch, a combination of nerves and distaste rising inside me. This wasn’t what I had ever wanted. I wasn’t the kind of person who craved a leadership role, who wanted to be in charge. But I was the kind of person who liked to get shit done, and who hated to see bullies win—so if this was what it took to make that happen, then so be it.

  We had lost almost twenty people to the carnage of the Gods’ Challenge, and another dozen hadn’t returned from the godly realm when the game ended. Wesley was among that group, and I cringed a little to think of his body rotting on the ground somewhere in the desert or the dry forest of the playing area.

  The majority of us had made it back alive though, and that was what I needed to focus on now.

  In the mid-morning, about thirty students met in a large training room on the first floor. I noticed that Eden and Nadia were right up at the front, and I felt a flash of pride for my friend. Eden was sweet and bubbly, a pacifist if there ever was one. But even she was ready to step up to a leadership role in this fight.

  “Okay,” I said once everyone was mostly settled. A lot of students were still recovering from the Gods’ Challenge, and we had lost nearly forty people yesterday. “We know where the shield came from now. And we know that unfortunately, it won’t hold forever.”

  A ripple moved through the crowd around me, murmurs and panicked whispers filling the space.

  “But,” I continued, plowing ahead, “it gives us time to prepare. Time to get as ready for this fight as we can possibly be. You all are here because you know something bad is coming, because you understand that the gods want to wipe us out. There are a lot of students at this school who are still scared to admit that. So the way I see it, every moment from now until the shield breaks down, we need to be focusing on two things. One: training. Two: convincing anyone who’s still on the fence that, as shitty as it may be, this is our best chance. I sure as hell wish we had a better set of options, but right now, it’s looking like our two choices are fight or roll over and die. And I know which one I choose. Every damn time.”

  “Agreed.” Eden stepped forward, catching my gaze and giving me a small, encouraging smile before turning to face the others. “I say Aria should be in charge of training us. She’s the strongest magic user here, and she’s faced off against the gods more than any of us. Professors who are willing to actually start teaching us instead of just trying to hold us back can help us with magical theory and stuff. And we should start thinking about the strategic entry and exit points of the school building. If it comes down to a fight, we’ll want to know where our weak spots are.”

  I shot her a look, impressed.

  Eden had seriously changed since the first day I’d met her, and I was proud as fuck to call her my friend.

  The other students all nodded and murmured their agreement, and I saw Lachlan shoot me a wink. Then the burly Irishman stepped forward, rubbing his hands together as a feral smile broke out on his face. “Then what the fuck are we waitin’ for? Let’s get ready to kick some godly arse.”

  The next week and a half seemed to simultaneously drag and fly by.

  Every day was packed full of training and preparation, arguments with other students who were still resistant to the idea that the gods would betray us, and strategy sessions with the small group who had stepped up to lead.

  By the time my head hit the pillow every night, it felt like I might fall asleep and never wake up. And yet, every morning I was jolted awake by a fresh wave of worry that today would be the day Ryker’s shield gave out. Today would be the day the gods came for us.

  We resumed “classes” in a sense, but first, we threw out the entire curriculum. Instead of the half-assed lessons we had been taught before, the few professors who had solidly sided with us—Professor Wist among them—pushed us to our limits, stretching our powers and abilities in ways we had never experienced before.

  Holy shit, I thought to myself on the tenth day of our training as I watched Eden and Mitch spar in the middle of the large classroom. What would it have been like if our training had been like this from day one? How powerful would we all be now?

  I had seen all of my classmates, and even the three men I’d fallen in love with, improve dramatically in their skills since we’d all started training hard. Even I was improving, and now that I was no longer holding back at all, the scope of my powers was obvious to everyone around me.

  Students looked at me with awe when I passed them in the hall, but at least the mistrust had begun to fade from their eyes. More and more of students who had been on the fence or unwilling to commit to a fight had started showing up to our training sessions, and it felt good to see the school’s student population coming together as a mostly united force.

  I’d considered keeping part of what Ryker had told me a secret—namely, the fact that I was his daughter and part god.

  But I was sick of secrets, and I had known there would be no way to disguise my power if I truly trained as hard as I could. People could judge me or hate me or fear me or do whatever the hell else they wanted, but I wasn’t holding back anymore. I was going to use the full force of the power available to me to protect my school.

  Eden and Mitch finished their fight, both breathing heavily but looking pleased with themselves, and everyone broke up to head to dinner.

  “You coming?” Eden nudged me, swiping her sweat dampened hair away from her face. “I want you to give me some pointers on that trick you do where you use your magic like a springboard, to launch yourself into a jump.”

  I grinned. “Not something I ever would’ve thought I’d hear you say.”

  She laughed, wrinkling her nose. “Well, I’m just trying to keep up with the times.”

  “Yeah, I’ll explain it to you again. Actually, after dinner I can show it to you if you want.” I glanced toward the stairs as we made our way down the hall toward the cafeteria. “I’ll meet up with you in a sec. I just need to go do something really quick.”

  “Okay.” She joined the throng of students heading to the cafeteria, giving me a wave.

  After darting up the stairs, I made a beeline toward my dorm room, chewing on my bottom lip as I walked.

  It was strange. Other students might seem a little intimidated by me or frightened by me now, but they had all taken the news that I was the daughter of a god in relative stride.

  Me, on the other hand?

  I still couldn’t process it. I kept running through my conversation with Ryker over and over in my head, delving into my memories to try to pick up any hint or clue I should’ve noticed as a child that the man who claimed to be my father was actually no such thing.

  But I couldn’t find any. I had loved my dad, the man who’d raised me, and I was sure he had loved me too.

  In that sense, I was glad that Ryker had stayed out of my life. I’d at least managed to have something like a normal childhood—for a few years, anyway, before I’d been left on my own at age twelve.

  The sheets on my bed were rumpled when I walked inside the room. All three of the men had been sleeping in here every night since we’d gotten back from the godly realm. Everything else at this school was turned on its head, so sticking with our original dorm assignments seemed pointless and stupid. And besides, I was pretty sure we all felt the same sort of desperate need to keep the others around, as if we wer
e all anticipating the moment when battle might drag us apart, might kill one or all of us and shred the happiness we’d found into little pieces.

  Shoving those fears into the back of my mind before they rose up and swamped me, I grabbed the little notebook I’d kept for years from its place atop my dresser. I’d never really been a “dear diary” kinda girl, but I’d kept this journal around to jot down random shit that I just needed to get out of my head. I also had a few keepsakes and mementos pressed between the pages near the back, and I flipped to a picture of my mom, pulling it out.

  The photo was worn and faded, but the face in it was achingly familiar. High cheekbones, a heart-shaped face with a slightly pointed chin, dark hair tumbling over one shoulder. My mom had been beautiful, and I could see so many of her features in me.

  I stared at the picture harder, shifting it back and forth so that light played across the surface.

  Who the hell were you, mom?

  I knew more about her now than I ever had before, but every question that’d be answered had only led to dozens more questions. All my life, I’d thought my mom was an ordinary woman living a simple, straightforward life. But in reality, she had been a wild magic user, a brave and daring woman who had fallen in love with a god and paid the ultimate price for it.

  Ryker’s words echoed in my mind. It shouldn’t be possible.

  I shouldn’t exist. Regardless of whether my mom fell in love with a god, it should’ve been impossible for them to have a kid together. According to Ryker, that had never happened before. No gods had fathered half-human children.

  So what did mean?

  My father was a god. My mother was a wild magic user.

  What does that make me?

  Chapter Twenty

  My back hit the mat with a heavy thud.

  I rolled quickly, slipping out of Lachlan’s grip before he could pin me. Then I scrambled to my feet, lashing out with a well-timed kick before he could tackle me again. I caught him in the shoulder, sending him sprawling, but he managed to hook my standing leg with a sweeping kick of his own, bringing me down again.