by Willow Hayes
Akito jumps up onto the bed, sniffing around before settling down. The knowledge Nakoa shared about Akito being able to talk and possibly shift someday makes me suddenly realize the sheer number of orgasms I have given myself with him in the room and it leaves me wanting to hide my face and never come out.
I flush bright red and turn away from him only to find him right in front of me. Looking at me with mischief in his eyes. “You little shit, you sat there, knowing what was happening.” I put my fists on my hips and give him a fierce look, but he looks just so freaking cute that I can’t hang onto my anger. “I want desperately to be mad at you, but I just can’t find it in me to.” I get a sense of satisfaction from him as if he knew I couldn’t stay mad. I roll my eyes and plop down on the floor next to him. I grab him and bury my face in his fur. “I wish you could shift, so I could carry on a conversation with you that wasn’t so one-sided.” The longing for that connection grows so strong that I have to get up and walk away, lest I begin to cry. “I’m taking a bath and closing the door you naughty perv.” I hear a huff before I close the door, and I laugh despite myself.
The bathtub is amazing. There are bath salts on a nearby shelf, and they leave the room smelling like lavender. I’m tall and can never fully recline in a tub because they are always too short, but not this one. It’s like a mini hot tub. Seriously, this must be how royalty lives. Then I laugh at the irony of that statement. I begin to think about the past few days and end up going round and round, getting nowhere because it’s still the same problem I’ve been chewing on and making no progress.
My mind instead drifts to the guys. By the gods, they are so sexy. I am so screwed, and not in the good way. I have to train with them, live with them, and be around them every day. I can’t let myself want more than that because more never works, and more is a distraction from what I need to be doing which is training my magic. I make a commitment to keep my distance, physically and emotionally. Yes, because that will be about as easy as pie given that I will be training with them every day, all day. I roll my eyes at myself but strengthen my resolve to keep them at bay.
Nevertheless, my libido has other plans for the evening sparked by Luka’s teasing, and I start to think of their sexy asses and hard bodies. Keeping my distance doesn’t mean I can’t fantasize about them though, so I allow myself to remember being pressed up against Teo and all his hard muscle as we danced. I remember the way Nakoa straddled me after our training session, and the way he responded when I nipped his ear.
The need that cooled some with my anger at Luka and my embarrassment with Akito flares back to life. I run my hand down my neck, envisioning Luka’s mouth instead. With my other hand I roll and tweak my nipple. The feeling going straight to my already aching clit. I trail my hand from my neck skating it gently down my stomach to my folds. I find my bundle of nerves that is screaming for relief and flick it. I moan then remember my promise to make Luka regret walking away, so I circle my clit again and when another moan escapes I make sure to not hold back.
Luka
Walking away from Kenna was harder than I ever thought possible. Sure, I’ve turned down sex plenty before, and I’ve also slept my way through a few towns. But how can royalty and a lowly underworlder dhampir even stand a chance? They can’t. She’s the princess for gods’ sake. At the club, I promised her a night to remember, and that was exactly what I would have given her, but no more, even with how much I wanted her. I have never given any woman more than a night to remember because as an underworlder relationships are complicated at best, so it’s easier to just avoid them. The few times I thought I would take a risk and explained that I was a dhampir did not end well, so I stopped trying.
But when she was darting around trying to get to me and we’re both laughing it was easy to forget who she is and what I am. Her light neroli scent called to me, and the next thing I know I’m a breath away from kissing her neck. I saw the goosebumps my breath had caused, and I heard her breaths catch. I could smell her arousal, and I knew she wanted me, and by the gods do I want her too. My desire for her has only grown since the night at the club, so smelling how much she wants me was like a drug I couldn’t seem to step away from. I don’t know how I found the strength to walk out of her room, but when I did her arousal was clouded with anger. It’s good that she’s angry because it’ll mean we won’t make the mistake of starting something that can never be. Or I guess more accurately, I won’t make a mistake of taking something I can’t have.
As I take my anger and frustration out on the bags in the gym I try to beat the bag hard enough to forget her scent or how her lush curves felt pressed up against my body, but gods know I will never be able to forget, the sensations seared into me. I shake my head, conceding defeat as I towel off and make my way to my room.
I stop, confused as to why Teo is leaning against the wall in the hallway. I look at him and am about to ask what he was doing when I hear a moan. I stop dead in my tracks, and my eyes pop open wide. I whisper, “How long has she been, um, well yeah?” I stumble on my words, and I’m unsure as to why I feel so frazzled. Teo and I have shared women before, so it’s not unusual for the two of us to be enjoying the sounds of a woman in pleasure. He only shrugs and gives the universal signal to shut the fuck up. Then she moans again, and the puzzle of why I stumbled over my words is solved. Who could think straight with that sound happening?
I lean my forehead against the wall while we listen to her pleasure herself, and I want to kick myself for walking away though I try desperately to hang on to the truth of the way things must be. I squeeze my eyes shut and try to decide between making a quick getaway or torturing myself by staying and listening to every delicious moan. I wrestle with this choice for a few more moments, my impossibly hard cock straining against my shorts. While I wrestle with what to do her moaning increases. Gods she’s close, and like a moth to flame, she draws me in.
As she reaches climax a shudder goes through my body, and it’s all I can do to not cum right here in the hallway. I grimace slightly as I turn away. I make eye contact with Teo and whisper, “Holy Fuck.” He’s got a huge grin on his face while he palms himself, and I wish to the gods that I could just let go like Teo. I turn to my room planning to chase my own release, repeatedly, to the memory of her moans.
Eighteen
Kenna
Mommy told me to run as fast as I can to find Arion. I run down the hallway to his quarters, but the hallway goes on and on. I hear people running behind me. They taunt me yelling, “Come out, come out, wherever you are, Princess.” The voices are getting closer, and I start to cry. All I want is my mommy, but she said it’s not safe, and I had to run. Suddenly I slip on something wet and fall to my hands and knees. It hurts, and when I look at my hands they are covered with something warm and sticky. When I look closer I realize it’s blood, and I start to shake and cry out until a hand wraps around my mouth and yanks me into a nearby room. I can’t breathe, and I try to scream and claw at the hand on my mouth.
The hand transforms into a very different, very familiar hand, and all I can see is Callie and how she isn’t moving, her blonde hair spilling out around her like a halo. I try to scream and go to her, but he only holds me tighter. He leans down to whisper, his breath skating over my ear making me shiver with revulsion, “She’s dead, and you won’t be telling anyone about what you saw otherwise you’ll be next. Do you understand, little bitch?” Tears are falling down my face, but I nod my understanding. As soon as he releases me I dive for Callie. I cling to her small frame and cry silent tears because I know he’ll beat me if I make noise.
I rocket up in bed confused by the noise I hear, but then I realize the noise is my own sobbing. I go to wipe the tears from my face and freeze. My hands are sparking red. By the gods! Not again! I grip them tight, willing my magic to calm. The door slams open, scaring me half to death, and all four of my guys are suddenly in the room looking around. When they find no threat they relax slightly. Nakoa moves closer to the bed,
his eyes full of concern and his voice gentle as he says, “We heard screaming. What happened?”
It takes a bit for my tears to slow enough to talk, but they wait patiently. “I’m sorry I scared you. It was only a nightmare.” Trying to downplay the whole thing and keep them from worrying. The guys look dubious but nod.
“Are you ok? Do you want to talk about it?” Luka offers softly.
“I’m ok. It was a nightmare I’ve had many times,” my voice sharper than I intend, but I really don’t want to talk about it. I shrug to downplay the terror I still feel coursing through my veins.
Luka tries again, “I can smell your fear, Kenna. You weren’t just a little afraid, you were terrified, are terrified.”
Damn supes and their noses. I look between them, seeing a stubborn concern, and I realize I’m not going to be able to convince them that my nightmare was nothing. I take a shaky breath and begin to describe the hallway. They all listen patiently and sympathetically. When I get to the part about Callie I pause, I just can’t tell them about her, so I give them only the basics, not letting on to how real it is to me. I can’t look any of them in the eye while I relive the terror and panic, so I bury my fingers in Akito’s fur and watch as it runs through my fingers.
Then I feel Teo’s hand slowly lift my face to meet his. I can see compassion alongside rage, which confuses me. Have I said something to make him angry? The confusion must have shown on my face because he shakes his head and palms my cheek gently, “No Spitfire, I’m not angry at you. I am angry for the things that were done to you.”
He seems to instinctively know that it’s not simply a dream, that I’m reliving the moment I found Callie’s body. I flinch away from the compassion he shows me and from the hand on my face because I don’t deserve it. “Nothing has been done to me. I’m fine,” I lash out.
“Why am I sensing guilt in you? You didn’t kill this girl, so why do you feel so much guilt?” Teo looks perplexed as he runs his hands through his hair.
His words are like a knife to my heart, but I can’t share this with them. They will know I am broken beyond repair, and that I carry her death with me every day. I shake my head and stay silent because I won’t lie, but I can’t tell them the truth.
“It’s okay Kenna, you don’t have to share anything you aren’t ready to share but know we are here for you,” Nakoa says, his voice full of quiet compassion. I nod but don’t look at them as they quietly make their way out of the room.
The guys’ property is on the outskirts of the village, and some distance up the mountain I love so much. The back of the house has an excellent view of the village below, and the rolling hills behind it. The sunrise promises to be amazing, so when my alarm goes off this morning I quickly silence it, not wanting to wake the guys again. I grab my camera and tiptoe out the door. Akito’s footsteps are silent next to mine as I find the perfect spot to set up.
Once the tripod is settled and my camera attached I lean back on my elbows to watch the sun light up the sky. This past week has been an overwhelming whirlwind of events, and a sunrise is exactly what I need. I hold the remote for my camera in one hand and bury my fingers in Akito’s fur with the other. “What do you think of all these changes, huh?” Not that I expect a reply, but it always helps to talk to him. He licks my face, and I laugh softly. When I turn to face him I take in his intelligent eyes and feel his devotion. “I love you, Akito.” I kiss his nose and receive another lick in return.
When I aged out of the system I worked hard to create the life I wanted, a life I was in control of. I wanted to make a difference and decided to become a social worker, so I could help kids like me. Once I could make my own decisions and my life was no longer controlled by others I began to relax little by little. University was tough, but I graduated with honors, and school brought Rya and Reg into my life. But now…after I marked the guys and knowing I’m the Princess, my life suddenly feels like it’s not my own once again.
“Look at how the pink bleeds into the red, Akito. It’s like a watercolor painting.” I snap a few shots of the colors above the village. I’ve worked hard to control my life, to keep the pieces neat and orderly. Looking at the way the colors bleed together in the sky I can’t help but think that the introduction of magic into my life feels as though my life is now like a watercolor painting. I used to know where my life was going, but now, as the water drips on my carefully constructed plans I am left with the knowledge that I cannot control how the water will change and blend the colors together, leaving the paper of my life warped and forever changed. And that is absolutely terrifying.
Nineteen
Kenna
When Nakoa and I walk in the door of the gym I wave hello to the voices calling out my name. Reg is working with a fighter on her form and turns when he hears the chorus of greetings. “Killer!” His smile is wide and helps to ease any fears I had about my news changing our relationship. He strides over and wraps me in a hug, which he holds a beat longer than usual, then turns to shake Nakoa’s hand. “You’re a little early, girly. Planning to spar?” His eyes twinkle with mirth and affection.
“Why, Old Man? You planning to take me on?” I ask with a smirk on my face and an eyebrow raised in challenge. He only laughs and shakes his head. “I wanted to show Nakoa around my home away from home.” I make a sweeping motion with my hand, indicating the entirety of the gym.
“Have at it, girly. Oh, and just so you know I’ll probably pop in and out of your class so I can get a feel of what the kids can do and for your teaching style.” When I first started teaching the class he would occasionally watch and give me pointers, but he hasn’t observed in a while.
“Sounds good, Reg. I’ll let you get back to your fighter.” I turn to Nakoa with a big smile on my face. “Shall we?”
“Lead the way, Firefly.” I throw him a playful glare at his use of the nickname, but he only smiles wide in response. I take him to each area of the gym and seeing it through new eyes makes me love it all the more. Taking in the fighters in the gym he turns to me and asks, “So, are the fighters mostly human?”
“Mostly. We tend to keep to ourselves.” I shrug, but it hits me after saying ‘we’ and including myself in that statement that it isn’t accurate anymore. Viewing my life from the outside looking in feels very much like a daytime soap storyline. The thought makes me laugh out loud because Rya loves the drama of those damn shows.
With my laugh Nakoa’s eyebrows raise in question. “What’s so funny?”
His question and the look on his face only makes me laugh harder. “I realized that I grouped myself in with the statement about humans, but I’m not exactly human anymore. Then I was struck with the thought that lately my life has been like one of those daytime soaps.” Objectively it’s funny. Living through it not so much, but I gotta find something to smile about somewhere.
“Watch those do you?” he asks with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.
“Gods no! Unfortunately, Rya watches them all too much.” I vigorously shake my head in response, making him laugh. I glance at the clock on the wall and realize kids will be here soon. “It’s almost time for class, so let’s head in. I always do an equipment check before the kids show up.”
He nods and follows me in. While I check the equipment Nakoa wanders around the room taking in the cubbies holding sparring gear, the lockers, the person shaped punching forms, and the multitude of pictures tacked to a wall. Stopping in front of the wall he examines the pictures and says, “That is a lot of kids.”
“Being a foster kid can sometimes feel as though nothing is permanent. I take pictures of each of my kids and tack them up there because it means what they experienced here was real.”
He keeps his attention on the pictures, nodding thoughtfully. “How long have you been teaching the class?”
“About four years.”
“Wow, that’s impressive. You said they were mostly foster kids right?” I tell him that they are. “How do they pay for the class?”
> My cheeks flush pink at the question before I answer, “I told Reg I would teach for free if he hosted the class for free.” I avoid going into any further detail, but Nakoa persists in his line of questioning.
“How about the uniforms and gear. I know those can be expensive. I’ve purchased many of them.” I’m silent for a few beats as I try to decide what to say. At my continued silence he turns to face me. “You pay for it don’t you?” His voice is soft and full of wonder. I clear my throat and go back to prepping the mats. My non-answer confirming his guess. Thankfully he doesn’t push the issue. “Is there anything I can do?” he asks. I put him to work helping me to finish setting up the mats.
By my side, Nakoa observes silently as the kids start to filter in and go through the arrival routine of placing their belongings in their locker and heading to their spot on the mats. The parents who choose to stay and watch find a seat on the outskirts of the room. Once the kids are in their places they immediately start the stretching routine I have drilled into them from day one. I glance between my kids and Nakoa’s face, and I can’t help wondering what he is thinking while he watches. I don’t fully understand why, but his opinion matters.
Each kid, no matter their age, warily eyes Nakoa. I have never brought a guest to class, so this is a change, and most of them understandably do not do well with change. I have gone back and forth about how and when I want to share the news during class. I know how hard it is to grow attached to an adult, only to have the adult leave, so the idea of telling them has me tied in knots. Ultimately I decided to share halfway through our hour long lesson.