by Cara Wylde
“Don’t make us wait all night,” Sariel pushed.
“I won’t.” And with those words, I raised my arms above my head and jumped.
The iciness of the dark ocean felt like a punch to my chest as I broke through the surface and sank. Once it enveloped me, my body got used to the temperature, and it didn’t feel as bad. I kicked my arms and legs, exhaled through my nose to keep the water out, turned toward the light of the surface, and started swimming quickly and elegantly, like I’d learned when I was eleven and my parents agreed to pay for a couple of swimming classes, hoping I’d actually be good at it and later go to competitions. After a month, my instructor informed them I was average at best, and that was the end of it.
I was close to the surface now, my lungs burning for lack of oxygen. I hadn’t swum in so long, I’d lost the hang of it. Normally, I should have been able to hold my breath longer. It didn’t matter. It would be over soon. I’d breach the surface, take a deep breath, wipe the water out of my eyes, and swim toward the shore. And then, they would all accept me. I’d be part of the VDC at last.
Close, so close.
I felt something wrap around my legs, and it didn’t make any sense. Algae? No. It felt different. It felt like… rope. Plain, normal rope. I twisted my body to reach it and try to untangle it, but it was no use. It snaked around my hips and my waist, trapping my arms and tying me up from head to toe. I struggled and tried to kick my legs, but I couldn’t move an inch. I was sinking. I shouldn’t have been sinking, though. I relaxed my body and waited for the water to do its thing and push me up so I could float, but that didn’t work either. It was as if something was pulling me down, something heavy that was attached at the end of the rope. I strained my eyes to see in the deep darkness, and for a split second, I thought I saw a rock down there, a rock that kept sinking and sinking, and pulling me down. Down down down.
I was out of air. I couldn’t move, couldn’t swim to the surface, couldn’t call for help. Magic, I thought. Mages. Lorna. Because it was the only logical explanation. Sariel had done it again, and this time… for the last time. Because I was going to die. Drowned. I relaxed my body and let it happen. Closed my eyes and tried not to think of anything. I’d read about death by drowning, and it was one of the worst, most horrible ways to die. At least, I’d get to see a Grim Reaper before my soul left my body. A Grim Reaper in the flesh. So, at least I’d die knowing that Grim Reapers really did exist, and this whole thing hadn’t been a dream. Just a bad dream.
I must have lost consciousness at some point. When I regained it, my body was twisting and convulsing, my chest was burning, and a sharp stab to my lungs and throat pushed me to double over and retch violently. Water flowed up my throat and through my purple, frozen lips, and I heard someone protest and jump a few feet away from me, disgusted.
“I did not imagine our first kiss like this. Wet, cold, and nasty.”
GC. What was he doing here? What was I doing here? I was no longer in the water. I sat up, drew my knees to my chest, and wrapped my arms around them, my head buried low, so no one could see the tears streaming down my face. I was on the beach, I could feel the sand sticking to my skin and my soaked leggings and bra, and I could hear the VDC guys whispering around me. At least, they weren’t laughing. That had to be something.
“Damn, girl, are you crying?” GC scooted closer, suddenly not as concerned that I might vomit water all over him again. “Of course you’re crying. Come here.”
I froze. My eyes snapped open, but I didn’t move a muscle, because I simply couldn’t understand what was happening and what the next immediate danger was. GC wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close to his chest, and I didn’t know how to react. He was still naked. I felt his chest pressing against my side, his hands rubbing my arms to warm me up, and then his chin on top of my head.
“I’m sorry, girl. I’m so, so sorry. I should’ve come sooner, before they got to do this to you. I should have never left you with them.”
“Them?” I managed in a small, weak, croaked voice.
“Those bastards! Sariel and Lorna. And those other two idiots, who just stood there and watched. I thought Paz and Francis were better than that. They’re not.”
I bit my lower lip. I couldn’t say another word. There was nothing left to say, in fact. They’d gone too far. They’d tried to kill me. Sariel had come up with this whole stupid idea that if we jumped in the ocean we were VDC, he waited until I believed it, used the other guys’ naivety to convince me, and when I’d finally given in, he’d told Lorna to drown me. As simple as that. How did I not see it coming? How did I not read it in his eyes? The hatred he harbored for me… I couldn’t understand it, but it didn’t matter. Some things were not made to be understood. They just were, and you had to deal with them. I had to deal with the fact that Lorna and Sariel had tried to kill me. Thanks to GC, they’d failed. But when were they going to try again?
“You’re okay now. You’re okay. I won’t ever let you go.”
GC wrapped me tighter against his chest, and little by little, I relaxed. His bare skin was warm, almost hot against my frozen body, and his touch was gentle and carrying. Who would’ve thought? The guy who’d tried to fuck me since day one had been the one to save my life.
“How did you… How did you pull me out?”
“I saw the guys standing on the edge, looking into the water. Lorna was there, too. Francis said your name, and I realized you weren’t there… Lorna had this look in her eyes, like she was focusing hard, and her fingers were pointing at the water. She was a few feet away from Francis and Paz. I’m not even sure they’d seen her, but that’s beside the point. And I knew. You were there, in the ocean, sinking toward the bottom because Lorna had done something to you. I shifted back and jumped after you. You were all wrapped up in a bunch of rope.”
I nodded. He fell silent, and I was fine with that. He’d told me everything I needed to know. I enjoyed his warm embrace for a few more minutes, then started shaking from the cold. His body wasn’t enough to protect me from the sharp breeze, not when my clothes were wet. I finally straightened my back and looked up into his dark blue eyes. Dark blue was a color that fit him.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
He beamed at me. “Don’t mention it.”
“I’d like to go back now.”
He helped me up, and my knees almost gave in. I leaned on him, and he was more than happy to support my weight. Oh my God, he really was still naked! Completely naked! I averted my gaze from his crotch and looked up instead. The VDC guys who’d jumped before me were all on the beach, forming a semi-circle, like they’d formed around Sariel up on the cliff. They were silent now, not even daring to whisper amongst themselves. We started walking, and they stepped back to make way for us. I was tired before we even reached the rocky path that led up the hill.
“I can’t make it.”
“I may have a solution, but I don’t know if you’ll like it.”
“Anything.”
“I can shift and carry you on my back.”
My shoulders tensed. Ride on the back of a bull? A golden bull who was, in fact, a false god? Hell yeah! Bring it on! I would have probably enjoyed it more in different circumstances, but I wasn’t going to complain.
“That works.” I tried not to let him know how much I liked the idea.
“For real? I thought you’d be terrified. I mean, after what happened.”
I looked straight into his now green eyes. “Should I be terrified? After what happened…”
He shook his head thoroughly, and his wet hair stuck to his forehead, cheeks, and neck. Had it grown longer since the first day I met him? He needed a haircut.
“You can trust me,” he said. “I’d never do something like that to you. I never have, I won’t start now.”
It was true. He’d never had. He’d laughed at me along with the whole Violent Death Cabal and a few students from the other cabals, but he’d nev
er actually bullied me. I guess laughing could still be considered bullying, but seeing how he’d just saved my damn life, I could let it slide.
“Okay,” I said simply. I was holding myself back. I didn’t want him to see just how grateful I was that he was there, with me, that he had been there when I needed a friend the most. I didn’t want him to see how much I wanted to throw myself at him, hug him for dear life, maybe even kiss him. Maybe, even do more. Adrenaline was still coursing through my veins, my body was still in fight or flight mode, and since neither was appropriate at the moment, I had this urge to burn off my energy somehow, some way. Some way that included feeling his body all over mine, surrendering my lips to his, letting my hands travel all over those ripped muscles and tight ass. I never wanted him to put on clothes ever again.
He took a few steps back, and something sparkled in his eyes. He shifted in seconds, his body growing and elongating, the whole process seeming natural and painless. In the blink of an eye, GC stood before me not as the sexy man that I knew, but as the false god that he was, in all his golden glory. He was a massive bull with sharp, curved horns that could probably tear through flesh and bone if the necessity presented itself.
I fidgeted, unsure of what I was supposed to do. Mount him? Grab him by his golden short hair and pull myself up? Just as I was thinking that, maybe, I should have walked after all, GC knelt before me. I’ll. Be. Damned. He’s kneeling. A false god is actually kneeling before me. That made no sense. Did he really like me that much? Did he like me enough to kneel in front of me when he was obviously used to being worshipped by mortals and supernatural girls who asked for nothing more than the privilege of giving him blow jobs?
“What are you waiting for?”
“Oh my God, you can talk!”
“Of course I can talk. What shifter books have you been reading? I hear shifter romance is a thing in the human world these days.”
“I don’t read shifter romance,” I mumbled. My mother’s books didn’t count, okay? I just got curious last summer and wanted to see what she was reading every day before breakfast. She’d gotten this weird habit of waking up an hour before me and my dad, so she could drink her coffee in peace and read. When we’d come down, however, she’d stuff her book in a cupboard before we could take a look at the cover. When I confronted her about it, it turned out she was reading paranormal romance and hiding from my dad. Made sense. He would have judged the shit out of her.
I approached him carefully, keeping an eye on his sharp horns. They looked like they were made of solid gold. Still trembling from the cold, I swung one leg over his back and straddled him carefully, afraid that if I made a wrong move, I’d hit him unwillingly and he’d respond by throwing me off. It turned out I was being paranoid. He pushed himself back to his feet, then started climbing the hill easily, as if I didn’t weigh a thing and he didn’t even feel me on his back. To my relief, he walked at an adequate pace, not too slow, and not too fast. Once we got to the top of the hill, though, I told him to feel free to walk faster, because I was freezing my ass up there, perfectly exposed to the breeze and the sharp wind blowing through the forest. We didn’t stop to retrieve my clothes, and I was actually grateful for that. I didn’t want to see the place where Sariel, Francis, and Paz had stood and watched as Lorna was pushing me to the depths of the ocean. To my death. Their plan had been pretty sound, though. If none of them talked, everyone would have thought it had been an unfortunate accident and I’d drowned because I couldn’t swim, and I’d been too proud to admit it. Brilliant plan. Too bad it didn’t work. Revenge. Now I truly owed it to myself to get revenge on Sariel and Lorna. Maybe Francis and Paz, too.
I rode through the gates of the Academy on GC’s back, and all the students who happened to return from Mabon watched us with wide eyes. They stepped aside, and GC climbed the stairs to the main doors. Someone opened them for us, and we walked into the inner court. When we reached the building, I jumped down and looked away as he shifted back. I did my best to keep my eyes off his gorgeous body as we climbed up the spiral staircase to the north tower. We met a bunch of students on the way, but GC couldn’t care less that he was buck naked and all the girls – and some of the guys – were ogling him. He walked like he owned the place. If anything, he seemed more confident than when fully clothed.
He walked me to my room, and that was when I realized I’d left my key in my uniform blazer. I cursed under my breath.
“What’s wrong?”
“I lost my key. I’ll go down to the kitchens and find someone from the staff who can give me a spare.”
“Or…” He looked at me suggestively. “You could sleep in my room tonight. No strings attached, promise!” He pressed his right hand to his heart. “I know you’re not in the mood. Hell! I’m not in the mood after jumping off a cliff to rescue you. I’ll tell you what I’ll do, though. I’ll run you a hot bath, and while you warm up and wash up, I’ll make you a nice cup of hot cocoa. Are you hungry? I think I have some leftovers in the fridge.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “And then what?”
He shrugged. “They I let you sleep. I can take the couch.”
Oh yeah, I’d forgotten. Their rooms were more like oversized apartments compared to my humble bedroom.
“I think it will be safer for you to sleep in my room tonight. Just saying.”
A chill ran up my spine, and it wasn’t because I was colder than I’d ever been in my life. He was right. I didn’t want him to be, but he was. What if Sariel came back to finish the job? On the first day of school, when I’d woken up in a bed full of dead cockroaches, Klaus had easily unlocked my door with magic. Lorna could do it with a flick of her wrist. Before I could figure out what the hell was wrong with these people and why they wanted me dead, it was probably safer to stick with someone who… well… didn’t want me dead.
“Okay, but only if you promise nothing will happen.”
He raised his hands as if to show that, no, he didn’t have his fingers crossed behind his back.
“Promise.”
I pursed my lips to suppress a smile. “And that you’ll put on some clothes.”
“Cross my heart.”
“Lead the way.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
I woke up slowly, lazily, enjoying the touch of the silk sheets against my skin, and the warmth of the sunlight sneaking through a crack in the curtains on my face. Mmm… GC’s bed is way better than mine. God, what a mattress! I stretched, feeling the strain from the night before in my muscles. Struggling against Lorna’s rope had been quite the workout, especially for my legs and arms. My muscles burned like I’d hit the gym and combined leg day with arm day. Not that I knew what that meant… I’d never been to a gym in my life. Good thing I was naturally lean and strong.
My heart skipped a beat when my hand landed on a smooth, warm chest that rose up and down with every breath. GC. But he’d promised he’d sleep on the couch! And I believed him, like the fool that I am. He’s GC. Of course he’ll do whatever the fuck he pleases. I turned on my side slowly, tucking my hands under my cheek, and looked up at him. He was shirtless. The duvet covered him up to his waist, so at least, I hoped he was shirtless and not entirely naked. I hadn’t known this about him, but now I did: one of his quirks was walking around naked. Not that I minded…
He stirred in his sleep, yawned, and opened his eyes. I didn’t move. He turned to face me, and we looked at each other for a long minute, just drinking in the moment. I didn’t know what was going through his head, but I knew what was happening inside my body. The night before, he’d given me an oversized T-shirt to sleep in. Despite his kind suggestion to go commando, I’d put my panties on, even though they were still damp. The same with my wristbands. I’d let them dry on the heater for a while, along with my panties, but they didn’t dry perfectly. I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to sleep with someone else in the room without my wristbands. Now, I was in GC’s bed, more naked that dressed, and I wa
s staring into his blue eyes, staring deep and hard, trying to read him once and for all. I wanted to understand this guy. Figure him out. Why had he saved me? Because he wanted to fuck me? If he reached out and touched me, I didn’t think I would’ve said no this time. After all, my panties still felt damp, but I was pretty sure it was for an entirely different reason.
“Nothing happened,” he said. “We didn’t do anything last night.”
“Then why are you in bed with me?”
He scrunched up his nose. Oh, he was cute. “The couch sucks. It was giving me serious back pain.”
I giggled despite myself, so I bit my lower lip in an attempt to stop the silly noise I was making. What the hell?! I sounded and behaved like Kitty and Sammy when they were trying to let him know their legs were wide open if he wanted to park himself between them.
“How did you sleep?” he asked. “I stayed on my side of the bed, you see?”
“I see…” I gave him a once-over. “Are you wearing anything under that?”
He grinned. “Well, well, well… I didn’t think you cared.”
I blushed.
“I’m not naked. I’ll prove it to you.”
He grabbed the edge of the duvet, and I couldn’t look away. He pulled it off him, and revealed that he was, indeed, wearing a pair of black shorts, but not much else. The shorts were pretty tight, too, because I could see the shape of his erection. Morning… This was the first time I was waking up next to a guy in the morning, and it was too bad he wasn’t my boyfriend. I would have really loved to re-enact all those romance stories I’d read about the woman waking up to feel her man’s erection pressed against her back. And while he was still sleeping, she’d sneak a hand under the covers and…
