Second Chance Heat, a reverse harem magical academy HEA paranormal romance: Book Four of the Second Chance Academy Series

by Ella J. Smyth

  I grinned at the situation. “Wait until you try to lick your balls. Then you’ll be really pissed.”

  Macha glared at me before returning to his grooming. When he was sufficiently clean, he sat up in his strange, catlike motion and patted barefoot and naked towards the bathroom.

  Goddammit, that guy was hot. His ass was as tight as the rest of his body, and watching his dick swing as he walked, I was glad Amber had resisted having him neutered. I shuddered, pushing that very real possibility out of my mind. Instead, I watched Macha as he stopped in front of his food bowl, sank to his knees, and stuck his nose into a pile of kibble.

  * * *

  Amber

  * * *

  I was still recovering from waves of ecstasy, enjoying the feeling of lassitude that followed. But when Lance stirred between my legs, I asked, “What about you? Don't you want to come as well?”

  Lance winked. “I will eventually. But not until I've made you come again.”

  Before I could say anything, he licked his index finger and pushed it inside my sodden pussy. Then he started anew, licking my clit while pressing against that spot inside of me that sent shivers through me with every pass.

  I couldn't hold back my moans. I hadn’t thought I'd be able to come again so quickly, but whatever he was doing, it was working. Taking a deep breath, I relaxed into his caress. I was getting closer and closer when he stopped working my clit. Instead, he pushed his hand under my ass and found my hole. He moved his finger in circles, pressing a little harder each time.

  That’s what Sibelius had done during his assassination attempt. I tensed as images of the assault flashed through my mind.

  Lance stopped right away. “Hey, baby. It's me. I would never hurt you. You know that, right?”

  I kept my eyes trained on his face and focused on how the air felt cold on my wet core, how Lance’s fingers pushed my hole open gently, and how the smell of our sex permeated the air. It grounded me in the present. The past was over, best forgotten.

  “You're okay?” he asked again.

  “Yes. I'm fine.”

  “Oh, I know you are.” The corny line made me laugh.

  He took the sound as permission to carry on. Licking and sucking my pussy, Lance's finger opened me up more and more. When I came again, it was with Lance’s finger in my ass and his tongue in my pussy. I held on to his head as I clenched around him.

  I didn't have time to recover when Lance jumped up, grabbed my hips with both hands, and rolled me over. I must've been out for several seconds, because he'd managed to put a condom on his impressive cock. With one shove of his hips, he buried himself inside of me.

  The sensation was overwhelming. I felt oversensitive, yet craving to be filled by him. He didn't hold back. Pulling me onto my knees until my hips were at the height where he wanted them, he slammed into me, over and over again.

  The only noises in the room were the slapping of his balls against my ass and the pistoning of his cock inside my wet pussy. My nipples scraped along the bedcover as he pushed me to and fro, and his hand reached around until his fingers found the spot I wanted him to rub. As he set a harsh, punishing rhythm, his fingers slipped over my nub until I could feel yet another wave building.

  This time, I screamed my release. Lance took hold of my hips and pulled me as hard as he could onto his massive cock. He groaned my name before coming inside of me.

  When he collapsed on top of me, I felt lighter than I had in weeks. We’d both needed the release.

  Half an hour later, we were back on the square, blending in with the students on their way to the academy shop before their next class. Lance was walking next to me, hands in his pocket, his head lowered as if he were staring at his feet.

  In reality, his eyes were darting from side to side, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Again, I had the oddest feeling of being watched, but no matter how much I searched, I couldn't find the source. Staring at the windows of the main building would have been too obvious, but as far as I could tell, the strange reflection from earlier was gone.

  I nudged Lance with my elbow. “Do you think she's back?”

  Without slowing down, he replied, “She’s probably still around. Whether she’s in the Fae realm or back at the Academy, I don't know. Although, if she were here, I'm sure the school would be teeming with her people.”

  I stopped in my tracks. A student nearly walked into me and threw me a dirty look. I kept my eyes glued on the broad back of a man maybe fifty feet ahead of us.

  Lance followed my gaze. “What is it? Did you see somebody?”

  I squinted where I’d spotted Lawson, Farkas’s head of security. But a group of kids were obscuring my line of vision. What if it had been him? My head swam, and my palms turned damp. A wave of nausea swept over me at the thought of his men finding us out here in the open.

  “I thought I saw Lawson.” My voice sounded as shaky as I felt.

  Lance quickly checked our surroundings before taking my hand. “Come on,” he said urgently. “If he's around, we need to get our supplies as quickly as possible and then warn the others.”

  We rushed to the little shop. A few short minutes later, we’d confirmed our tokens were still active.

  Lance stared at his haul in dismay. “I’m suddenly craving a salad.”

  Loaded up with prepacked sandwiches, bags of Ramen, and candy bars, we made our way back. Junk food was great, but not all the time, and not when we were on the run. The flow of students was thinning out as the next block of classes started. As we entered the boys’ dorm, I looked back over my shoulder, scanning the area one last time.

  Lawson stood on the other side of the campus, his gaze trained on the girls’ dorms. My knees went weak, and I pushed Lance in the hallway. “Quickly, inside.”

  I prayed Lawson hadn’t seen us. But when I checked through the door window, he had his back to us, walking towards the main building. Lance towered over me, following Farkas’s man’s progress with his gaze.

  “Yep, that’s Lawson. We need to get out of here soon. He’s looking for us but doesn’t know yet exactly where we are.”

  There was no panic in his voice, only determination. I inhaled deeply, drawing strength from his calm tone. By the time we’d arrived at our room, I felt much calmer. That only lasted until we entered the room.

  Kiernan was stirring under his cover, but what drew our attention was Macha. I didn’t know what to expect, but it sure wasn’t the newest member of our group on his knees with his nose in his food bowl.

  My jaw dropped open. The only sound in the room was Kiernan’s stirring and the crunch as Macha munched down on the dried meat and cereal.

  I was the first to break the silence. "Really? Macha, stop eating that stuff. You're not a cat anymore."

  Macha lifted his head, his eyes wide as if he'd only just realized what he was doing. With impossible grace, he got off the ground and wiped his mouth with the back of his hands. Next, his tongue emerged, and with obvious pleasure, he licked his hand from his wrist all the way up to the fingertips.

  Kiernan groaned. "Oh, gross. Looks like he’s definitely more cat than boy."

  I threw him a reproachful look. “That’s a nasty thing to say. It’s not his fault.”

  Kiernan’s ears turned red. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Macha.”

  Macha didn’t respond, but he clearly understood Kiernan’s comment and accepted his apology.

  I approached Macha carefully, stretching out my hand as if to calm a shy animal. Keeping my voice soft and non-threatening, I said, "Hey, Macha. Can you understand me?"

  Macha looked at me, his eyebrows pulled together. Then he turned and walked into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

  5

  Amber

  I felt like a fool and dropped my hand to my side.

  Lance bent over laughing. “Okay, he acts like Slug. No doubt about that.”

  “But what did I do?” I asked. “I just tried to be nice to him.”
<
br />   “Slug never needed an excuse to act like a primadonna. He’s still a cat, even though he’s swapped bodies. Maybe he took offense to being coddled?”

  I stared at the closed bathroom door. What could I do to help him transition?

  “Why did he change back now of all times? What’s different?” Kiernan asked.

  I tapped my front teeth with my index finger as I thought out loud. “I wonder. Maybe Farkas didn’t make it after all. Could it be her spell died with her?”

  Lance chimed in. “I suppose it's possible. Because these transformation spells are so rare, there is very little information about them. I might be able to look something up online, but…” He shrugged.

  Kiernan said, “Could we use the library computer?”

  I hadn’t thought of the library. But I should have. Mr. Denholm, the old librarian, had offered his help before. “You know what, guys? We can’t do this alone. We need allies. Who do we know who might help us?”

  I paced through the room, thinking out loud. “Mrs. Palmer is out. We have no idea where she is. Then there is the librarian. If we could make it to the library without being noticed, Lance could look up transformation spells.”

  I glanced at the closed bathroom door, then back at Kiernan and Lance. “Honestly, I'd really like to know if Macha is going to remain human. It's awkward enough he slept in my bed every night as a cat before. But if he turned back? I wouldn't know what to do with him.”

  I shook my head to dispel the thought. “Anyway. Back to potential allies. Castle and Whitehall are out. I wouldn't trust either of them. Castle is a brute, and Whitehall taught us all this weird spy shit.”

  “What about the healer?” Kiernan asked. “So far, he hasn't ratted us out.”

  That was true. If he’d told Lawson, we’d been arrested already. Mr. Odwell knew where we stayed because we’d had to tell him. He was going to call in this afternoon to check on Kiernan’s wound and change his bandages.

  “All right. When Odwell arrives, we’ll ask him to help us. How much time do we have until he gets here?

  Kiernan was chewing a chocolate bar and answered with his mouth full. “Couple’f hoursh.”

  I looked away. Guy had some nerve to be bitching about Macha’s eating habits. “Okay, that's decided then. Macha would probably be happier to eat a sandwich than kibble. Could you offer him some when he comes out? Lance and I will check out the library.”

  The campus was full of students, hungry after a long morning of lessons. The cafeteria was next to the library, and we lost ourselves in a wave of noisy kids rolling towards lunch. I sighed wistfully. Inside the large room just ahead, they'd be serving stew and salad and pizza. I was so sick of chocolate bars already.

  As before, Lance and I kept our heads down and walked as quickly as we could. We veered off the main path towards the library while keeping our eyes open for anybody following us. Pushing open the door, I stopped on the threshold, inhaling the familiar smell of paper and ink. Mr. Denholm was not at his desk.

  Lance murmured, “Probably restocking books.”

  He made a beeline towards the only computer, sat behind a pillar. I followed the sound of squeaking cartwheels and soon reached an aisle where the librarian stood on his tiptoes, pushing a book into its rightful place.

  “Mr. Denholm.”

  The librarian jumped. His face dropped in surprise, and so did the book, right onto his head.

  “Ouch.” He rubbed his forehead where the heavy volume had hit him. Glancing at me reproachfully, he picked up the book, inspecting it briefly for damage, and placed it on the cart. “Amber. You shouldn't be here.”

  I hadn't quite expected that greeting. “I'm sorry, Mr. Denholm. What do you mean, I shouldn't be here?”

  “It's too dangerous for you. You know they’re looking for you, don’t you?”

  I swallowed hard. It was one thing suspecting it and another to have it confirmed. “Who is looking for us? Ms. Farkas?”

  The librarian shook his head. “No, we don't know what happened to her. But Lawson is here, and the FBMA placed a call to admin about you and your friends.”

  “The FBMA? How are they involved in this?”

  “I have no idea. Other than the Academy is run under their purview. If something hinky’s going on here, they would be interested in it.”

  That made sense. I gathered my courage and asked straight out. “Mr. Denholm, could you help us? Kids have been disappearing from the Academy, and we… we've uncovered a plot with the Fae.”

  Dammit, I hadn’t planned on blurting out the last bit. And sure enough, at the mention of the Fae, all color drained from his face. He grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me deeper into the aisle, as if he didn't want to be so close to the main hallway.

  He pressed me against the furthest wall and whispered, “Don't mention the Fae around here. I always suspected they were behind some of what’s been happening here, but if they are, you can never ever talk about it.”

  Well, that wasn't helpful. I pushed his hand away from my shoulder and sidestepped him. Looking him squarely in the eye, I said, “We know they’re dangerous. Is there anything you can tell me that could help us get out of here?”

  The librarian shook his head, at least having the grace to look regretful. “If I’d known you had business with the Fae, I‘d never given you that book. You remember the book? Do you?”

  With one last admonishing glare, he turned on his heel and walked away, pulling the trolley full of books behind him, as if he couldn't trust me to be left alone with his darlings. I stared at his retreating back, thunderstruck. Somehow, I’d expected him to be more helpful.

  But what did I know? After all, he was only an old man, doing his job. It wasn't in his pay scale to risk life and limb for somebody he hardly knew. But he’d mentioned the book. Several times. He hadn't asked for it back, and now that I thought of it, the way he’d phrased it had been very deliberate.

  I groaned and dropped my head against the wall. I’d left the ancient tome in my bedroom. That meant I had to risk going back and getting it. I had no other option. There had to be something in that stupid book I hadn’t discovered yet. After my disastrous experiment with the hex bags, I’d barely looked at it again.

  I checked that the coast was clear and joined Lance. “Did you find anything?”

  He pointed his finger at some text on the screen. “I did. But I'm not sure what it means.”

  I squinted. “Who the hell created that website?“

  The background was mint-green, and the font some weird blue with squiggles. As I looked closely, the letters danced and changed position. I blinked, but the same thing happened. I couldn't make out a single word.

  Lance grimaced. “I'm sorry. I forgot you don't have a subscription. This is the online magazine for the magical community I told you about. It’s bespelled to make sure duds can’t read it.”

  I elbowed him hard, annoyed at his use of the slur. “I told you not to use that word.”

  He rubbed his rib cage. “It slipped out. Anyway, let me read this to you.”

  The paragraph mentioned metamorphoses briefly. It didn't talk about the wielder of the spell, only about their victims. Apparently, the spell depended on the experience of the mage. The more experienced, the longer the spell would last. The rest of the paragraph went into metaphysical discussions about morality and the responsibility of the spell-wielder toward its victim.

  I didn't think Ms. Farkas would've given Macha another thought if I hadn’t found him. Watching the letters dance on the screen, a thought occurred to me. “Do you think it was Farkas who poisoned Macha when I first got here?”

  “Very likely. She wouldn’t have wanted to be found out. The article says unauthorized spellcasting is subject to heavy penalties. These kinds of spells are considered worse than murder.”

  He placed his finger on the screen, right at the end of the article. “Here it says that if the turned person stays in the shape long enough, the human brain
will deteriorate. There have been cases where it was considered more merciful to keep the turned person in the new shape because they wouldn't be able to assimilate back into human society.”

  My eyes burned. Jesus, that hit me hard. Is that what was happening to Macha? Would he not be able to be a human again? We had no idea how long he’d been locked into a cat’s body.

  Wiping my eyes quickly, I asked, “Does it say what the limits are? How long can a person be transformed before they lose their humanity?”

  “No, it doesn't. It seems to depend on a lot of factors. The experience of the spell wielder or the mental strength of the victim.”

  He placed his hand on mine. “I think Macha will make it. Don't give up hope yet.”

  My heart felt heavy. I couldn't get the image of Macha out of mind. The way he’d knelt on the ground, crunching kibble with his back teeth.

  6

  Amber

  The healer, Mr. Odwell, arrived right after we’d gotten back to the room. He seemed even more cagey than the librarian. A gray newsboy cap pulled deep into his face, he checked to make sure that there was nobody in the hallway before he slipped into the dorm room.

  Lance murmured, “Does he think people wouldn’t recognize him because he’s wearing a hat?”

  I shushed him, not wanting to antagonize the man. Odwell ignored us. Without saying a word, he pulled up Kiernan’s shirt and examined the wound.

  “You can take off the bandages tomorrow. Your injury’s is a lot better, although it’ll still take a few days to be fully healed. I’ll leave some cream on the bedside cabinet. Keep applying it until it’s gone.”

  With a brief nod, he was about to leave as quickly as he’d arrived.

  Lance blocked his exit. “Hang on there. Why are you in such a rush?”