by Nikki Dean
She moaned, long and loud against him as she bore down, trying to get him deeper. The tight beginnings of another orgasm were pulling at her, reducing her entire being down to a few square inches of needy flesh.
“Damn it, Bunny, you’re so fucking perfect,” Nico muttered, finally pushed too close to his breaking point. “I need to be inside you.”
She barely had time to nod before he flashed above her, flipping her onto her back as he wrapped her legs around his waist and slid home. Arching her back as he filled her with a groan, Nico grabbed her hands and pinned them to the mattress. Mal clung to him, twining her fingers through his as he drove into her hard, making sure to put pressure on her clit every time he bottomed out.
It was too much. The building orgasms crashed through them both at the same time, pulling them together on her web as they lost themselves to the euphoria. The waves of pleasure seemed to go on forever, spiraling through Mallory’s mind as she experienced it from both sides.
Breathing heavily, they both finally calmed. Nico had collapsed above her, his naked chest covering hers as he lay there. “You okay?”
Mallory nodded and let go of his hands to wrap her arms around his shoulders. He nuzzled against her hair for a second, then shifted and rolled them both to their side. She clenched one leg around the bottom of his ass, trying to keep him inside her for just a little longer.
Nico smiled and kissed her forehead as he grabbed her hips and rocked against her, ensuring that he didn’t slip out yet. “You know you’ve ruined me for all other women, right?”
Her heart stilled a second, then flared with happiness. “Oh, yeah? So you’re telling me I’m going to have to keep you forever?”
“Something like that.”
“I’ll have to check my dating calendar, but I think we can work that out. Your friends might get annoyed though.”
On cue, his phone chimed with a text notification. Nico huffed and squeezed her ass, not budging to answer it. “Careful or they might want to get in on it. You can’t even deny that you wouldn’t enjoy Matt being inside you while I’m licking your clit.”
Her inner walls clenched at the words and Nico grinned wickedly. “See?”
Mallory tweaked one of his nipple piercings as a mock punishment, then moaned with him at the pleasure. “Stop talking about your friends in bed if you don’t want me to think you’re bi.”
“Oh, they wouldn’t be here for me,” he whispered as he rocked against her again. His newly hardened cock hit just the right spot and she moaned.
“How are you possibly ready to go again? It’s been like three seconds,” she exclaimed. “Not that I’m complaining.”
“Magic, Bunny. Magic.”
Chapter 22
The next few weeks saw everything settle into more of a routine. Mallory caught up on her classes and spent most of her time with Nico, with frequent visits from Alec and Damon as well. Nico had as good as moved into her room and was sleeping there every night, but they didn’t see Matt as much as Mallory thought they would.
He stayed away, spending more time on the weekends in his little apartment off campus, or asleep in Nico’s room alone. Mallory felt bad about it, but didn’t know what to say without him bringing it up first.
“What’s up with Matt?” she finally asked Nico one evening. Alec and Damon had been over and crashed in the unoccupied room next door instead of going back up to the ninth floor. “He seems upset. I thought you two couldn’t spend more than a day apart?”
“Dunno, I was wondering about him, too. When’s the last time you two spoke?”
“That night after he picked me up. He hasn’t tried to come over or call, and it’s been weeks. I feel like I’ve driven him away from your group, and I hate that.”
Nico sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. “He still feels bad about everything. You should call him.”
“I don’t even know what I’d say.”
“Are you still pissed about the reports?” Nico asked.
“I guess not. I’ve been reading them every week, and he hasn’t said anything about my web. I trust him.” It was true. Somewhere along the line she’d realized that he really had stuck his neck out for her that first day they met, and then continued to try to protect her afterwards. He didn’t have to do any of that, but he’d done it because he was a good guy, and respected her wishes about her magic as much as he could.
She was lucky to have him as her handler.
“Good,” Nico said. “I’m glad you finally trust him. He’d never hurt you, Bunny. Or any of us.”
“I’ll text him tomorrow,” she promised. “Ask him to come over for pizza or something.”
“Or chess?” Nico teased.
They’d been playing after classes, but before her evening runs with Damon and Alec, which had somehow become a thing. She wasn’t obligated to go to physical training in the mornings until her second year in the Academy, but that didn’t stop Damon from showing up at her door and dragging her out behind him. Alec had begun joining them, running without a shirt on just to tempt her into keeping up. Or so he said.
Mal refused to admit how effective the strategy was. His broad shoulders and heavily muscled chest, not to mention chiseled abs and defined back, were all capable of stopping traffic even without his magic powers, and Mal felt the weight of jealous stares nearly every time they went out. Still, she wasn’t an idiot and good scenery was good scenery, so she kept running with them even when she would have quit otherwise.
Damon rolled his eyes every time Alec mentioned it, even though Mallory wasn’t really sure how he knew. The increased stamina was handy for the weekly marathons she was having in bed with Nico, as well as getting better on the obstacle course in Damon’s class. He’d even hung her silks in the gym for her, now that it was open again after the damage from the amaroq attack had been repaired.
“I could ask him about chess. MacKenna’s been on my ass about when I saw Matt last, which I still find weird. Were they close when he was at the academy?” she asked.
Nico frowned. “Not that I know of. I don’t think he liked MacKenna much, actually. Always said that he would make weird decisions.”
“What does that mean?” Mallory wondered.
“Dunno. Matt never explained and we didn’t ever have a reason to look into it. Matt got pulled from the academy and went out into the field at the same time we did, and that was the end of it.”
She nodded, quiet.
“What did you mean when you said that Matt seems upset? Can you actually tell how he’s feeling from here with your web, or were you just saying that because he hasn’t been around?” Nico asked after a few minutes.
Damn it. He’s too smart for this. “A little of both.”
“Explain.” He pushed himself up onto his elbow to look at her. They were snuggled together in bed, her side pressed against his chest as he held her. “Can you do that with me? Or the others?”
She sat up with a sigh, the sheet falling away from her naked chest. She’d stopped sleeping with a shirt on a week ago after constantly waking up with it twisted around Nico’s hands as he touched her in his sleep. It was like he couldn’t get enough of her skin, craving the contact with her even while he rested.
It was sweet.
“For some reason, the five of you are really bright on my web. Something about you, or your magic, makes you stand out. I can feel the four of you from across campus, if I really want to, and know how you’re doing.”
“What do you mean, how we’re doing?” Something about the way he asked it was tense, as though he wasn’t exactly thrilled with this revelation. “Do you check on us often? What about Everett?”
“No, of course not. I wouldn’t invade your privacy like that,” she protested. I totally invade it in other ways, but you know. That’s just sex. Except it wasn’t just sex anymore. Something about their relationship had changed, and Mallory wasn’t sure if the myriad of deep emotions she felt while they were connected was because
of her magic, and the magnifying effect it was having between them, or if she really did feel so much for him.
It didn’t help that her heart jumped every time she saw him, or heard his voice. His every smile brought an answering one to her lips, and his laughter made her soul feel lighter. She was almost afraid to look at it too closely.
Scratch that, she was afraid. The thought that Fitzam might show up at any time and pull her from the academy if he decided that her powers were too useful to let her stay, like had happened to Matt, was terrifying. The threat that Nico would be reassigned if anyone found out about their relationship was also daunting, and that went triple when she thought about Damon and Alec in the next room. Matt also had a lot to lose if she followed her heart there, too.
It was all risky, and all terrifying. She’d never cared so much before.
“Can you feel him now? Is he okay?” Nico asked, pulling her attention back to the conversation.
Mallory studied him for a moment. “I can try.” It was a lie. She didn’t even have to try, it was as natural as breathing to pull him up on her web and put her mental hands around his light, feeling for warmth. Sadness and loneliness echoed out from the void, telling her more than Matt himself ever would.
Do I tell him how Matt’s feeling? I don’t think they know how often he feels cut off from the group. Maybe someone should know, even though it’s not my, or their, business. But telling them might help. He could probably say the same thing about my web, though.
“I don’t really want to say. He’s not great, but it’s not my place to say it, you know?”
“He’s lonely?” Nico guessed.
She looked up in surprise. “You already know?”
“He mentions how much he hates going back to his apartment all alone sometimes. We all have a connection that makes us closer than most, and we feel it if we are apart for too long. It’s probably why Alec and Damon have been staying in the other half of your suite, honestly.”
“And here I just thought they were too lazy to walk upstairs past midnight.”
“That, too.”
“What about Everett? He’s never at the dorms.”
“Everett’s… different. He doesn’t need the link like the four of us do.” Something about his tone, and the flair of warning in his mind told her that he was hiding information.
Again.
Whatever weirdness connected the four of her guys, she was willing to bet that Everett was somehow in the middle of it. And totally unwilling to examine why she was suddenly considering all of them as hers, but the thought had entered her mind more than once. Even if Damon was a giant dickhole more often than not.
“So why is Matt being so dramatic? He could just come over,” she muttered.
“That’s not his style,” Nico replied. “He doesn’t go where he’s not wanted. He’s respectful like that, unlike some other people I know.” He rolled his eyes toward the opposite wall. “I swear they’re just sleeping down here so I don’t make you scream when you come.”
“I mean, we could just do it anyway,” she said with a wink.
“Nah, you’d hold back because you don’t want them jerking off in the other room listening to you moan. Or worse, coming in here.”
“Would they really do that?” Mallory whispered with a glance at the door. “We could always just deadbolt the bathroom door.”
“Like that could stop Alec,” Nico scoffed. “They wouldn’t do anything but give me hell about it the next day for the first few rounds, but after that I don’t know. It’s a toss-up with them whether they’d douse us with cold water or try to join in.”
She just shook her head, trying to get the mental image of Alec’s naked chest out of her mind. I mean shit, if he’s offering. Damon seems more like the bucket-of-water type, though. “I don’t really see Damon as the orgy type.”
“I think he and Alec have actually shared girls before,” Nico replied, tilting his head as he thought about it. He finally nodded, squinting a little at the ceiling. “They have, actually. They didn’t tell me any details, but I think Matt walked in on them once,” he finished with a laugh. “Although I’m not sure how anyone could withstand Alec. He has to pay attention to his magic pretty much every waking moment, so I doubt he actually fucked her. Probably just jerked off in the corner while he watched Damon.”
“Or got a blowjob?” Mallory asked, thinking back to his comment about teeth. “I guess it would make sense that he can’t actually move much during sex, or he’d risk thrusting some poor girl to death. Am I an awful person for finding that kind of funny?”
“Nah, we give him shit all the time.”
Mallory buried her face against Nico’s chest and laughed. “Your poor friends. One can’t touch anyone without his magic eating their soul, and another one can’t get laid without running the risk of murdering some girl with his dick.”
“I keep telling you, it’s going to take someone special.”
“Well, I don’t give out pity pussy, so scratch my name off the list.”
He was quiet for just a second too long.
“What are you thinking about?” Mallory was almost afraid to ask.
“That kiss in the gym.”
“Ugh, I knew it. Why?”
“You mean you weren’t?”
Well, yeah, but I’m not going to admit that. “Let’s just focus on the issue at hand. How do we make Matt feel less like a third wheel without making it inappropriate? He could still lose his job if Pohler found out about that kiss, you know.”
“How would Pohler ever find out?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Surveillance cameras? I never thought anyone would find out about my magic, either, but alas, the government is everywhere. Matt told me he’s a nosy ass.”
“Nah, we’d know if any were up in there. Plus the amaroq wouldn’t have shown up. It’s got an uncanny ability to avoid shit like that.”
Huh. So it knows where cameras are? What about other electronics? Does that mean we should be safe if we have a camera outside the door and window? Not that it would ever come here, of course, there are too many people. Too many witnesses.
“Want to call him?” Nico asked, grabbing his phone.
“Now? It’s like midnight.”
“So? You would have known if he was sleeping, right?”
“I think so. He seemed pretty awake to me.”
“So you’re cool with it? I don’t want to do it if you’re not on board,” he pressed.
Mal reached out on her web. Matt was up, but his mind was slightly fuzzy, almost like he was nearly asleep. He thought about the whiskey in the glass in front of him and she realized he was drunk. Even so, he was thinking about his friends, wishing he hadn’t fucked it all up.
“He’s not gonna be driving, that’s for sure. Go ahead and call him if you want. He could probably use it.”
He immediately picked up his phone and dialed a number. Matt’s voice came through the other end. “What’s up?”
“Get your shit together,” Nico ordered.
“What? Why? Everything okay?” Matt was instantly on alert. “Did she collapse again?”
“No, I didn’t collapse,” Mal sputtered. “But thanks for the concern. Everything is fine.”
“Oh, hey, Mallory.” His voice had taken on a tired note as he heard her, and she felt the echoes of his regret and anger at himself through the web. “What’s going on then?”
“Just thought you could use some company,” Nico answered. “Haven’t seen you around in a while. Bunny was asking about you.”
“Oh, yeah?” he perked up.
“Don’t make it weird, and stop avoiding me or I’m gonna come kick your ass,” Mal answered.
Matt laughed a little into the phone. It wasn’t much, but it was there. A faint spark of hope lit inside his presence. “Like you could,” he replied. “I can see the future, remember?”
“Did you see us calling you right now?” she demanded. Nico gave her an appraisi
ng look and nodded.
“You seem to be the exception to everything, Miss Magic.”
“Well, then take a shower and get your ass over here if you want to. I know you probably stink if you’ve just been lying around on your couch for a week instead of doing anything productive.”
He groaned. “You should’ve called like two hours ago. I’m not in any condition to drive.”
Nico gave her an appraising look, and she felt his curiosity. “Been drinking?”
“Just the whiskey,” Matt replied. “Not much, but enough.”
Nico and Mallory exchanged a look and Nico shook his head. He set the phone down and got out of bed, pulling on his shirt and shoes. Mallory grinned and got dressed too, then picked up the phone and grabbed Nico’s hand.
“You’re not going to puke on me, right?” Nico asked into the phone as he and Mallory went down the stairs together.
“Puke on you? What the fuck- ”
Matt didn’t get the chance to finish his question as Nico planted a kiss on her cheek and took off, not even a blur as the door on the first floor slammed loudly behind him. Mallory ran too, not nearly as fast as Nico but fast enough to make it out of the stairwell when she heard Matt’s strangled yelp of surprise on the other end of the phone.
It only took another few seconds before Nico was back, a disheveled Matt thrown over one shoulder and an overnight bag over the other. Mallory hit the call button for the elevator, then pushed an errant lock of hair out of Nico’s eyes.
“Good timing,” she said.
Nico dropped Matt to his feet and gave her a mocking bow. “As you wished.”
“You know this is kidnapping, right?” Matt muttered with a strangled cough. Mal pointed him at the small trash can that sat beneath the elevator call button and he shook his head. “It’s not that bad. But seriously, a little warning next time would be great.”
“Nico can always take you back if you’re just going to complain about it,” Mallory said as she got into the elevator. She reached out and held the ‘door open’ button, waiting for him to make his decision.
Matt narrowed his eyes as he got in beside her, Nico following with a smile.