Root Rot Academy: Term 2

by Watson, Rhea

  Just… a whole castle of raging Medusas for most of January.

  Fantastic stuff, really.

  “You busy?”

  From her tone, she had finally tamed the rage within. Good.

  “Always,” I crooned. Eyebrows lifted in a Are you fucking serious? sort of way, Alecto pushed up on her toes to peer over my shoulder, then glanced back for a sweep of the nearby stacks. Empty, of course, every last one of them, the library beyond closed for the night, all the lights dimmed and the highland stars twinkling through the glass ceiling.

  Naturally, I knew what she wanted.

  What other reason was there to approach a man’s door at midnight but sex?

  And I was more than happy to give it to her, to scratch an itch that had been more and more difficult to satisfy as of late, but she had to beg for it. Beg. Preferably on her knees with my cock in her mouth; she had turned me down once already—and now she ought to suffer a little before I rocked her world.

  Playing the part, I leaned out to scan our surroundings as well, then retreated into my office with a scowl, hands on the doorframe and body barring her entrance.

  “What can I help you with, Professor Clarke?”

  Lower lip snagged between her teeth, Alecto went soft and silky as that blouse, sidling close enough to march her fingers up my torso and coil them around my tie. In contrast to her prim and proper, I was pared back and rumpled, my jacket and vest gone, sleeves scrunched to my elbows and tie loose. Mustard-yellow slacks that paired with a grey top instantly started to tent, the traitorous bastard desperate for her touch, and I slowly lowered my hands along the doorframe, as if bending to her will, to her cozy, sweet but not too sweet scent that lingered in my linens to this day.

  Conflict tore across her features, but just briefly—a flash and nothing more, as if to remind me she wasn’t here because she had fallen for my charms.

  This little fury craved release, same as me.

  As soon as my finger found her chin, she let me tip her head back, let me guide her to my lips for a tender kiss—

  “Oh my gods,” I rasped, eyes open and boring deep into hers when they flared, those thick black lashes fluttering, “it’s so unhealthy. We can’t keep doing the same old crap.”

  A shuddering breath washed over my lips, and Alecto retreated seconds later, offended, wearing her hurt out in the open. She turned away in a hurry, about to scramble into the night with her tail between her legs.

  I wouldn’t let her.

  After all, I didn’t want her to go.

  She just needed to feel rejection’s bite, sharp and cutting, perhaps even a little insulting.

  Feel what I’d felt that day in the gardens.

  Only I didn’t pity her as she had pitied me—that was the difference.

  But this was good enough. Cruel enough.

  Grinning, I skipped after her and snagged her crooked elbow before she reached the nearest stack.

  “Come on, fury,” I teased, wheeling her around, fully prepared for a smack. She came easily, stumbling into my chest like she was relieved, almost happy to let me lead. I wiggled my brows at her, refusing to read into it. “We can be unhealthy together.”

  I hooked an arm around her cinched waist and hauled her in, forcing her onto her toes for a kiss that had her squealing indignantly, all hard and furious, lips parted on impact and tongues tangling like old foes.

  A kiss so distinctly ours that it made my chest tight and my knees weak.

  But ever the pro at masking anything real, I walked us backward into my office, then slammed the door and locked it. You’re in for the night, fury. The threat carried in my rough caress, hands everywhere, cupping everything, pinching and yanking at her flimsy silk blouse and rigid black skirt that clung so perfectly to her generous hips.

  Consistent to a fault, Alecto gave as good as she got, ripping my tucked shirt out by the middle, slashing her nails up my neck and into my hair. She matched my every flash of teeth with a nip and snap of her own, coming apart in my arms, trapped between a fae and a locked door, a wild thing backed into a corner.

  Bizarrely enough, there was comfort in the storm, security in the savagery. Sure, lovers had surrendered to my brutality before, but they did so meekly, willingly—all without a fight. Alecto had always been fists and ferocity, from the first time to tonight, her touch electric and her kiss a maelstrom.

  More than a worthy rival, my fury.

  Exciting. Brutal.

  But soft, too.

  She always let me win—Alecto Clarke offered the best of both worlds, hard and soft, a beautiful dichotomy, a lover who kept me guessing.

  I had started to need that.

  Need her.

  Never before had I revisited a woman this many times, but kissing her now, shoving her up against the door and greedily stealing her moans, felt like coming home.

  Like this was where I—we—belonged.

  For I was no stranger to the battlefield, and this fury was every inch a warrior.

  My hands roamed far and wide, planting a flag on her every curve, until eventually landing on the thin zipper at the back of her skirt. As my teeth blazed along her jaw and down to her throat, I yanked at the little clasp and peeled the fabric open so it spilled along her thighs. I followed shortly after, questing down her figure, taking a pearled nipple into my mouth through the blouse and her brassiere, making her squeal so deliciously when I added some bite.

  The moment my knees touched the hardwood, the rest of it didn’t stand a chance. The stockings rolled down easily, and Alecto had stepped out of her kitten heels by the time I reached her ankles. Panties came next, just a boring pair of black cotton that told me she hadn’t landed on my doorstep intentionally—hadn’t come prepared to seduce me by any means.

  Her thighs trembled long before my lips reached them, and I kissed my way north again, slow and steady, taking my time to nip and bite and suck, hoping to mark her up in the most inopportune places—

  “Gavriel.” Until she snarled my name, her fingers suddenly twisting into my hair. Alecto’s stance widened as she hauled me toward her center, and I smirked, hands curving around the backs of her knees and forcing her legs farther apart. Greedy vixen. Demanding brat.

  Who knew that did it for me?

  I found her neatly trimmed at the crux of her thighs, a smattering of mahogany to match her unruly curls. It had been a fucking eternity since I’d gone down on anyone, since I licked a lover from front to back, between the folds and up around her clit. Alecto shivered and moaned when I did it to her now, when I tasted divine femininity in its purest form and lapped at her altar.

  In an age gone by, I loved to lick a woman’s cunt until she screamed.

  Lately, I’d just been so fucking miserable that I hadn’t bothered with much foreplay in general, nothing beyond kissing and a bit of fingering anyway. Just enough to make sure they were ready for me—me, a selfish, miserable, drunk old fae teetering on the brink of a breakdown, the nightmares returning and the guilt giving me a constant stomachache.

  Word had spread: the fae dildo wasn’t much fun lately. Fewer fell into my bed, even less for my charming smiles and whispered innuendos. Had it not been for Bjorn keeping me company on the staff tower rooftop several nights a week, the pair of us gossiping like teenage girls and swapping war stories like brothers, I would have been totally alone.

  And then there was Alecto—who had the sweetest pussy I’d ever eaten.

  So much so that a lot of the shit outside this room and inside my skull faded away, leaving only her musk, her slick folds and swollen clit. Her quivering thighs and her insistent fingers. The moment her knees buckled, I threw them over my shoulders, propping her up against the door and spreading her ass cheeks so that I could dive deep and forget the world.

  My thumb on her clit was her undoing. Press, press, swipe back and forth, circle over and over again—gone. She came with a sob, thighs clamping around my face and hips writhing over my laughing mouth. My fu
ry rode me through the rise and fall of her climax, to the point that if she wriggled and mewled any longer, she might just suffocate me.

  Maybe that had been the plan.

  The ultimate revenge for my thievery, my rakish ways, the trail of broken hearts left in my wake—smothered to death by a woman’s cunt.

  Sounds about right.

  Only when I eased her legs open and reared back to draw a full breath, Alecto let me, slumped against the door with flushed cheeks, her breath dancing in uneven beats. Pride swelled in my chest—need swelled in my cock. Urgently. In her pleasure-addled state, she was easy enough to manipulate, pliant and soft and heavy-lidded as I set her feet back on the ground, worked my way out from between her thighs, and stood before her. Towered over her, one hand planted to the door, the other fiddling with the droopy silk bow at the base of her throat.

  Hooded amber swept across my mouth, my chin—across flesh forever stained with her climax. To her credit, Alecto didn’t shy away from it, nor did her blush darken when I wiped it all away. Instead, I could have sworn pride shimmered back at me, unfazed by her own pleasure, so unlike past lovers who hated to see their desires and needs painted across my face.

  And that only made my cock strain harder to get at her.

  “On your knees, fury,” I whispered hoarsely, haphazardly undoing her bow tie before dropping my hand to my trousers. The implication was clear, but the pop of a button and hiss of a zipper certainly solidified things. Alecto’s eyes narrowed, and when she made no move to sink before me, the hand braced on the door snapped to her throat. Squeezed hard enough to make her eyes widen and her pulse flutter. Then steered her down, down, down to her knees, which she settled on almost sweetly—like she belonged there, at my feet, eyes rebellious and lips quirked.

  Stars above, how had I ignored this perfection? All for the sake of not double-dipping…

  Stupid.

  Prideful.

  Idiot.

  Teeth gritted, I freed my aching cock, the bead of precum smearing across her lower lip as it zeroed in on her mouth. Alecto bucked back into the door, hands resting primly on her thighs, and her gasp resonated through my otherwise silent office when I fisted her hair and roughly tipped her head up for me—

  Then seized her parted lips by thrusting between them. Lashes fluttering, my bratty fury sat straighter to accommodate, coughing when I nudged at the back of her throat. A heartbeat later, however, she moaned, long and low, the sound vibrating up my shaft and coiling in my gut. I hissed, pleasure taking over, all sharp and unfamiliar and very much welcome.

  As soon as her eyes found mine, I saw the challenge in them—the dare to dominate. Even with my cock in her mouth, even as she knelt at my feet, Alecto Clarke had such power over me. Swallowing hard, mind already stupid with desire, I planted my forehead on the door and threaded my other hand into her hair, both buried deep in her curls.

  Slowly, achingly, I eased out of her. Let her drag those full lips my entire length. Cocked my head and arched an eyebrow, prompting her to flick her tongue at the silky head, circle it as I had done her clit. Then, just when those audacious ambers met my weathered greys, I thrust.

  Deep. Hard. Forced her to take me even as she sputtered and smacked at my thigh.

  Smirking, head on the door and cock buried to the hilt, I fucked her face—no sympathy, no coddling. I met her challenge head-on and took her, made her mine as drool dribbled down her chin and tears gathered in her eyes.

  And she fucking loved it.

  Alecto opened her mouth wider to take me deeper. Moaned when my cock allowed it, her interest buzzing in my belly and making my balls clench. In those moments, she smirked, even with her mouth full, knowing exactly what she was doing to me. I gripped her hair harder. Thrust faster. Did my best to throw her off.

  Then nearly blew my load down the back of her throat when she slipped her hand between her thighs to play with herself.

  “Fuck.” I withdrew on the verge of implosion, cock throbbing, every muscle stretched taut and about to snap. Alecto panted and gasped, chasing her breath, glowering up at me with the same frustration and want I hurled down at her. That mischievous hand stilled between her thighs, and as soon as I let go of her hair, she slumped and wiped at her face, drying under her eyes and around her mouth with the hem of her blouse.

  It would have been easy to just lose myself. To take. To be the selfish bastard like always.

  But for the first time in a long time—since her, actually—I didn’t want it to be over just yet.

  Didn’t want things to end with my pleasure alone.

  Didn’t want her to go.

  Please don’t leave me here alone.

  Of course, I let none of that show, exuding my usual take-it-or-leave-it attitude as Alecto shuffled around at my feet. However, the moment she slithered up my body, brushing my cock in passing, and pressed her mouth to mine, I was gone. Fucked. All take it and no leave it, an arm around her waist so that her curves crushed against me and she couldn’t run even if she tried. Alecto responded by gently cupping my cheeks, our kiss unusually soft—in stark contrast to the way our mouths had brutalized and been brutalized by each other only moments earlier.

  But the minx showed her true colors as soon as those devious fingers smoothed along my jaw, down my neck—and locked around my tie. My eyes snapped open to find hers impishly staring back, and she tightened the knot with no warning, collaring me—choking me—with my own attire.

  Which simply wouldn’t fly.

  Snarling, I fisted her hair again and tore her away. My fury went with a cry, all smiles as I dragged my tie off and threw it onto her instead, opening the loop enough to get it over her mane, then sealing it around her beautiful throat. Leashed, she stumbled forward at the first sharp tug, and I marched her across my office, kicked aside the twin chairs in front of my desk, and then tossed her against it, bent her over the cruel edge by the back of her neck.

  Cock harder than it had ever been in its whole fucking life.

  And the backs of her thighs still glistening triumphantly from her climax.

  “Tell me, fury,” I whispered roughly, stroking her wayward curls, a little faux tenderness before the main event. “Are you a back-door kind of girl?”

  She stilled—and then, much to my surprise, snorted.

  A snort that turned into a full-blown gigglefest, the mood shattered, the tension gone as her whole body shook with laughter.

  “Oh my gods…” Alecto peered back with tears and incredulity in her eyes, lips stretched into a smile bright as the sun—whereas mine had thinned considerably. “What did you just say?”

  Suddenly much too hot, I stood behind her with my trousers around my ankles, briefs halfway down my thighs, and shirt tented over my hard-on. “I—”

  “Was that your fucked-up way of asking if I like anal?” she demanded, eyebrows creeping up her forehead when I blinked back at her, stunned at the turn of events.

  “I… You—” I shook my head and motioned to the witch bent over my desk with both hands like that explained everything. “The line was fine!”

  Alecto giggled, propped up on her elbows and ass in the breeze. “It was the worst thing I’ve ever heard, but okay.”

  Jaw clenched, I lashed out with a playful, albeit firm, spank to her backside, which only made her laugh more. Quite the strange response to pain and discipline, fury. Sighing harshly, I stepped aside and waited for her to taper off, arms crossed and expression stern. Fortunately, embarrassment didn’t seem to faze the ramrod-straight traitor reaching for her; he was ready to go no matter what she said or how she said it.

  “Well?” I growled as she brushed her knuckle under her eyes. Alecto chuckled softly, then popped her chin onto her fist, eyeing me over her shoulder.

  “Well, what?”

  I scoffed and pointed to her ass, my handprint a pale pink across both cheeks. “You really want me to say it again?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Say it better.”


  “Fury,” I growled, patience running thin for this charade. It all felt too intimate, like we had tripped over each other and fallen into the murky seas where friends and lovers collided. We had never struggled for conversation before, talk coming cheap and easy for Alecto and me, even if most of it involved insults and anger, but this…

  I didn’t know how to feel about this. Teasing and filthy talk and giggles and—

  This was uncharted territory, and while my heart didn’t seem to mind, my head remained wary.

  And my cock just wanted to get on with it either way, so I suppose that meant we were in a fucking deadlock.

  “You got any lubricant?”

  Determined to focus on what I could handle rather than what sent me into a tailspin, I shuffled around my desk, opened the top left drawer, and grabbed the half-empty bottle of lube at the back.

  “Always,” I drawled, planting it on the desk right in front of her face. Alecto snorted again as she picked it up and examined the label.

  “Of course.” She shot me a look, eyebrows up. “Only you would have lube in your office desk.”

  That smart mouth was going to get her in trouble one day—and I so relished the thought of punishment. Smirking, I crossed back around the desk while she scrutinized the bottle, then snatched the silky loop around her neck and wrenched it up. Alecto squealed as I dragged my tie up and over her chin, then tightened it between her parted lips. At first, I considered keeping the knot at the front, just for the added girth, but quickly turned the whole thing around so I could hold the tail like a leash when I fucked her.

  “Much better,” I purred, cock resting on her backside as I leaned over, making sure to put my full weight on her as a reminder who had the power here, and grabbed the lubricant from her hand.

  And again she let me.

  Sure, she glared, eyes narrowed, brows knit, shooting daggers over her shoulders with my tie gagging her saucy mouth.

  But she stayed put. Folded over my desk, Alecto stayed even when I stepped back to lube up my shaft, generously applying layer after layer, coating the damn thing thrice over until I’d used up most of the bottle. I saved the last bit for my fingers, the pair I cautiously probed into her puckered hole. Then the glare died, replaced by fluttering lashes and stuttering breath. With a soft, strained moan, Alecto lowered herself fully onto my desk, hands splayed over the wood, offering herself to me as I readied her.