Authors: Abigail Boyd
My body reacts instantly to his words, desire spiraling up from my core. I’m convinced my insides are going to melt.
“I’m offering you a proposition. You need help with your magic, I’ve seen you struggling. You have an interest in necromancy, and I can teach you. And we both need help getting this—” he nods between the two of us “—Off our minds. So I help you, and in return, you help the both of us. It’s even stacked in your direction.”
I’m a little stunned as I lean against a nearby chair. I cock my eyebrow, not believing the words coming out of his perfect mouth.
“So if I spread my legs for you, you’ll teach me? Wouldn’t that be treating me like a sex worker?”
His mouth presses into a hard line. “No. Like I said, it’s a fair trade.” He reconsiders, his eyes flashing. “Although I like it when you talk about spreading your legs.”
“I just got out of a relationship,” I protest, even when my insides are melting into molten liquid. “It ended, badly, and I’m not ready to start another one.”
“I’m not talking about a relationship. I’m talking about sex—clean and dirty. A release, to get rid of all this tension. I know you feel it, too.”
He glances toward the door then steps forward, his hands drifting down my shoulders and my arms. I can’t deny the tingles that stir on my skin at his touch. My nipples tighten on the other side of my shirt and my heart beats wildly.
“I don’t like you,” I argue weakly, even though every part of me is screaming the opposite as I look up at his flawless face. And he knows it.
He smirks gently, and I see the hint of a dimple again. He’s too beautiful to be real. “You don’t have to like me, but I know you want me. I could feel it when we kissed.”
His breath smells like spearmint and it makes my mouth water. I want to taste him again. His fingertips press insistently into my skin.
“Admit that you think about me, too,” he urges in a whisper.
I feel shy and his intensity makes me blush, wanting to hide my face. I swallow the lump in my throat and gaze up at him. “I do. I know I shouldn’t, but I can’t help myself.”
He reaches down and captures my mouth in a kiss. He tastes divine and I clutch at his shoulders, drinking in every sensation as my toes curl in my shoes. Even though this time I’m prepared, he still makes me lightheaded as his tongue strokes mine.
I pull back, breathless, my lips swollen from the kiss. “And if I say yes to your proposition?”
“One time. Anywhere you want, any way you want.” His thumb runs across my bottom lip and I close my teeth gently around it, making him groan. He presses his forehead against mine. “God, if you knew the things you do to me…”
“Maybe you can show me sometime,” I whisper, boldly running my fingers down his shirt and slipping them into the top of his waistband. I slide them back and forth over the soft, velvety skin covering his rigid stomach muscles. He moans again, gently lifting my hand away.
“Getting me into trouble again, I see.” I can hear the grin in his voice. He pulls back, looking into my eyes. “But we’ll have to be careful and discreet. We can’t acknowledge each other around the others, unless it’s a class matter. Just so that they wouldn’t catch on. And keep your mind clear around Paige.”
I’m weighing the options in my head. “But you’ll still help me with my magic?”
He nods. “I do agree that you have promise, and it would be a shame for that promise to be wasted.”
“So I just have to follow more of your rules?”
He pushes my hair back from my forehead and I’m shocked as he kisses me tenderly there. His lips are soft and gentle as they press into me, and I hold my breath. “If you’d seen the things I’ve seen, you would understand my need for rules. They’re the only thing keeping me sane in this madhouse.”
“I don’t know if I can decide right now,” I admit, conflicting thoughts filing my head.
“Just think about it overnight. Sleep on it. You can tell me what you’ve decided tomorrow.”
I leave the room in a daze, feeling like I’m far away from the others as I join them in the sitting room. I don’t know how I’ll ever sleep tonight.
CHAPTER 13
True to my thoughts, it takes what feels like hours for me to drift off. I even try to distract myself with the ancient tomes in the bookshelf in my room, but my racing mind stops my drowsiness. Every time I close my eyes I see his dark, sultry eyes and the corner of his mouth lifted into a sexy smirk. I’ve never been so attracted to anyone before, and his proposition…if his kiss is any indication, he’s an expert at giving pleasure. I don’t miss the clumsy dance of Braden’s fumbling fingers or his jack rabbit thrusting. What I walked in on between him and Kate was far more passionate than our sex life had been in months. But the pain that used to pierce my chest when I thought of him is a dull ache now.
I dress and go into the library the next morning, and see that Luke is already waiting for me. I have no idea what to expect, and his demeanor is cool and confident as he flips through a book. I walk past him to the librarian and she fills up my cart again. I wheel it down the aisle and can feel the electricity stirring between us as he follows me.
“Have you decided what you want to do?” he asks me casually as he sets his book on my cart and leans back against the shelves. He crosses his arms over his chest and gazes at me with those black, intelligent eyes.
“I’m here and not hiding. That should answer your question.” I can’t even look at him because I’m blushing so hard. I lost my virginity when I was sixteen, and I’ve had several partners since then, but the intense magnetism between us makes me feel young and naive. I don’t know how to articulate what I want. “Am I the first person you’ve propositioned like this?”
He nods, amused. “Yes, the first and only. It’s never occurred to me with anyone else.”
“Do you ever see anyone outside of Juniper?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t leave the grounds, much—certainly not as much as I used to. And I don’t date. I see no point in getting attached to anyone when we’re all going to die. Why cause yourself unnecessary heartache?”
“That’s a cold way to live.”
He thinks about it for a moment. “I suppose I am cold. You’ve said so yourself.”
“Is that the reason you only want us to—” I lower the already low volume of my voice and glance down the stacks, checking for the nosy librarian “—sleep together once?”
He leans back, one leg bent and resting against the shelf. “Yes. That way no attachments can form. No emotions.”
I raise my eyebrow. “I don’t think you have to worry about me getting emotional over you. I don’t like you, remember?”
He grins at me. “I remember.” He sets the book beside him and glances down at my hand. “That’s not a promise ring on your finger, right?”
I wear Astrid’s gift all the time, so I usually forget it’s on. I spin the plain brass band around my finger.
“No, just a gift from a friend. It’s supposed to help with my magic, but I don’t know if anything can anymore.”
He frowns. “Have you been having as much trouble in all of your classes as you have in mine?”
I nod, biting the inside of my lower lip. “I talked to the Headmistress about it. My thoughts when conjuring are completely scattered and can’t channel the magic the way I could when I first got it.” It’s almost uncomfortable to look to him for advice, but I know he won’t sugarcoat the truth. “In your experience, is that unusual?”
He pulls a few tomes from my cart and slides them into the shelf next to me, then leans his hand on the shelf and tilts his body to the side. “It’s not unheard of, but it’s not typical, either. Usually, a fledgling witch’s power is very concentrated. That’s why part of your training is learning to divert it and control different forms of magic. I wouldn’t worry about it too much, yet.” He catches me smiling at him. “What?” He frowns.
“Are you trying to make me feel better?”
He chuckles softly. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him actually laugh before. “Don’t get used to it.”
“I just didn’t realize you were capable of humor.”
He smirks. I wish he would smile more often. I like this person hiding beneath his armor. “I’m capable of all kinds of things,” he says in a low voice. “I could make your body feel pleasure in ways you never imagined possible.”
He leans forward and draws me into a kiss, the danger of being exposed only sweetening the moment.
“Come to my room next Saturday,” he says, his eyes unfocused and filled with desire. He brushes his thumb across my chin. “I don’t want to wait, but I have a slew of things to do in preparation for the elemental exam next Friday.”
“I will.”
His lips find my neck and he kisses me there, making me dizzy. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispers against my skin. “Would you object if I gave you a taste of what you’re in for?”
My heart skips a beat, the ache flaring between my thighs. I would never object to that. “What, here?”
He grins with devilish charm. “Why not? It’s going to be one long, hard week. We need something to tide us over.” He traces the tip of his finger slowly across my collarbone, sending tingles across my skin, as he steps behind me.
His right hand lands on my thigh and travels a map on the exposed skin above my stocking.
“Luke,” I whisper, protesting gently.
“Tell me to stop,” he whispers back, his hand settling on the cloth front of my panties, his voice sexy and commanding. “Tell me to stop and I will.”
I hesitate for only a moment. “Don’t stop.”
His hand dips into my panties and he skims his index finger across the seam of my inner lips, caressing me gently. I shudder and arch back into him and he squeezes my breast with his other hand. I’ve never been so turned on before. I spread my legs enough so that he has access, and he finds my oversensitive clit and begins circling it with experienced fingers.
“God, you’re so wet,” he says, half-whisper, half-moan. “All for me.” I hear the strain in his voice. My inner muscles clench and I bite my lower lip as he nuzzles his nose along my ear.
“What if someone comes and sees us?” I force out as waves of pleasure radiate from between my legs.
I hear amusement in his low reply. “Don’t worry, I’m keeping watch. The only one coming is you.”
It feels so dirty and wrong but so amazing—just like everything with Luke. Despite my attempt to smother it, a moan escape my lips, and his teeth gently nip my earlobe.
“No, no—bad girl. Don’t make noise or I’ll have to stop.” Why is his bossiness such a turn-on now? He increases the motions of his fingers, swirling in slow, sensual circles. I bite the inside of my cheek and rock back against him. The rigid outline of his erection presses into my lower back.
My legs are trembling and ready to give out but he slides his arm around my torso. My breathing becomes shallow and erratic as I get closer to the peak. His breathing increases in response, and that only excites me more. His lips brush the curse of my ear and move back down to my neck as the fingers of his free hand press possessively into my hip.
I let out a silent cry as my orgasm smashes through me, buckling my knees. Stars explode in the blackness behind my closed lids. He continues massage me, drawing out every last tremor of pleasure, my hips bucking gently.
I squeeze my thighs together, sealing his hand between them. He holds me up as I regain my balance. Every cell in my body is singing. I want to touch him, to trap him and seal his mouth in a kiss, but I’m temporarily immobilized.
He gently kisses a spot on my shoulder. “Are you going to give me my hand back?”
I part my thighs and his hand pulls away. He tugs my skirt down on both sides and I stand up. He smooths a stray strand of hair back from his forehead and straightens his jacket. His eyes are softer and he regards me quietly.
“I can’t wait to have a whole night to ourselves.” His words set off a fresh flare of weakness in my wobbly legs. I’m still breathless and wanting more, and I feel like my head is floating above my shoulders.
As my mind clears, I think about the date he picked. “Don’t I have library duty again that day? I’ll have to stay late today to make up for the time I’ve wasted. Not that it
was
wasted.”
His lips twist into a smirk as his fingers encircle my bracelet. It glows blue before falling off into his hand. I rub my wrist and widen my eyes at him.
“You’re relieved of your duties,” he says, stowing the two halves of the bracelet in his pocket. “I’ll tell the Headmistress that you completed all three hours.”
I can’t help but smirk. “You’re just a regular rule-breaker.”
He gently takes another curl of my hair and twists it around his fingers. “I wouldn’t go that far. But something about you makes me want to do things differently.”
CHAPTER 14
All of the level two students are lined up outside in the courtyard. It’s bitterly cold as flakes of snow tumble down and the unforgiving wind blows our chapped cheeks. I am a bundle of nerves and I can barely stop myself from shivering as I cast a glance at Paige and all of our teachers and wardens, including Luke. He’s not looking at me, and we’ve been discreet since our dalliance in the library. I wonder what he did when he left that day—if he satisfied his own urges by himself. Warmth floods my lower stomach in response to my thoughts and goosebumps break out across my skin.