Rebels and Runaways: Eden Academy Book One

by Grace McGinty

  I wrenched my face away. “Not enough to make a move. If I hadn’t kissed him, would he have treated me as a friend forever, until he found a more appropriate mate?”

  Sammie must have worked out where I was guiding us, because he pulled into a clearing in front of a small spring-fed waterhole. It was beautiful, green and remote. He shoved the SUV into park and climbed out the car, walking around the hood and coming to my door. He wrenched it open, grabbed me out, and I was forced to clutch his shoulders. He carried me around to the front of the vehicle and rested me on the hood of the car. He took my face in his hands.

  “You, Carmen Baxter, are unforgettable. I swear to you, whatever Bobby’s reasons for keeping it a secret have everything to do with him and nothing to do with you. You are fierce.” He kissed my cheek softly. “Beautiful.” His lips moved down to my jaw. “Loyal.” He kissed the corner of my lips, his tongue darting into the crease. “And sexy as hell. He wants you so bad, it must have hurt him to be so close to you all these years and not touch you. Torturous even.”

  Then he kissed me, and the taste of his lips was heady. He kissed me with a ferocity that backed up his words, and I was breathless by the time he pulled away. Flint leaned on the driver’s side fender, watching us with heated eyes.

  Sammie stepped back, heaving in breaths. “This is not what we’re here for. Do you swim, Fireball?”

  Flint looked affronted at the very idea. “Um, no.” He looked at the spring like it might rise up and eat him. Sammie grinned at me, moving towards Flint faster than I thought would be possible for a human, grabbed him up and ran toward the spring. It was probably pretty cold this time of the year, but I didn’t care. I peeled out of my jeans and boots, stuffing them on the passenger seat of the car. Sammie dropped Flint into the water then ran back toward the shore. Flint burst out of the water like an angry salmon, his shirt plastered to his body like a literal wet dream.

  “You better run, human!”

  Sammie laughed, taking off toward the back of the SUV and my face curled into a smile over their antics, despite my crappy mood.

  I stepped between a pissed-off looking Flint and Sammie, placing a hand on Flint’s chest. “Come and swim with me.”

  His eyes moved away from his prey and back at me. He took in my tight tank that showed off my midriff and the long expanse of my legs. “I can’t swim,” he said absently.

  I heard Sammie curse, but I didn’t say anything about it. “That’s okay, the water isn’t deep. I’ll swim and you can stand.” I tugged at his sopping wet shirt. “Get these off first though.”

  He grinned, and there was that mischievousness again. He peeled out of his clothes and it was like the best kind of stripshow. Slow. Torturous. Even Sammie drifted over from the safety of the back of the SUV, pulling his own clothes off as he watched us with hungry eyes. He didn’t come closer though, letting me tame the fiery beast.

  When Flint was standing before me in tight boxers, I led him into the water, his fingers wrapped in mine. “You won’t let me drown, right?” he whispered.

  I looked over my shoulder at him. There was real concern in his eyes as we waded out. I stopped and turned, putting my arms around his neck and pulling him close. “Never. I’ll be here to keep you afloat for as long as you need me.”

  “What if it’s forever?”

  I didn’t answer. I just kissed him. The kiss was soft and sweet and full of the promises that I couldn’t say out loud. Not yet at least. “Let’s swim.”

  I looked at the shore, at Sammie in his boxers and nothing else, his warm skin decorated with dark tattoos. Damn, he was so beautiful.

  Standing this close to Flint, I could feel the hardness of his cock, hopefully partly because of me, but also partly because of the man on the shore. “Are you coming in?” I yelled.

  He nodded, quickly eating the space between us as I grabbed Flint’s hand and pulled us in deeper. He gripped my fingers tightly, but followed me anyway. Into the very thing that scared him.

  How could a guy who’d been so abused for so long give over his trust to me so easily?

  I wondered what he’d be like if he’d never been sold, if he’d grown up with loving Djinn parents. We would have never met, and although a selfish part of me hated that idea, I would give anything for him to have skipped that trauma. I just had to make it up to him, I guess. Make the next hundred years the best ever.

  I was about shoulder deep by the time Sammie caught up, and once he was beside Flint, I waded further out. The water in this lake was so clear that I could see the bottom, and it wrapped around my body, cooling my blood. Bobby had never done anything but protect me my whole life. I’d always trusted him implicitly so I probably owed him the benefit of the doubt. I would hear him out.

  But if I didn’t like his answers, what the hell would I do? I was it for him. His fated mate. He could have other mates, but it wouldn’t be the same. I looked between the two men in front of me. What I felt for these guys was different from what I felt for Bobby. He was like an addiction, like fire in my blood. A need in my belly. Some other anatomical, romantic bullshit. It was like our souls had been connected together before I’d even gotten over the idea that boys were gross. I was still getting over that one.

  If I didn’t like his answers, I would make him grovel like no man had grovelled before him, that was for sure.

  I flipped over onto my back and watched the sky turn to a deep azure. The nocturnal animals were starting to rise, and sounds of the forest were soothing. A hand reached out and gripped my ankle, and I was gently towed back between the bodies of my boyfriends. Two of my three boyfriends. Well, maybe three.

  Sammie looked down at me, his dark eyes filled with heat. “You look like a mermaid or a water nymph or something.”

  He slipped his arms around my back and held me up as he bent down and kissed me. It started out gentle, small sipping kisses that got deeper and deeper until I moaned. He yanked me upright out of the water, pressing me against his broad, hard chest. I couldn’t help but wrap my legs around his hips.

  When Flint moved in behind me, his warmth pressed against my back, I moaned again. Holy shit, this was perfect. Sammie kissed me harder as Flint slid his hands under my tank, peeling it off and flinging it back toward the shore. Then, he was unclipping my bra, and my nipples were pebbled hard in the cool water. My bra went in the same direction as my tank, and then his hands covered my breasts. Our collective groans echoed around the clearing. His hands were amazingly warm despite the cold water, and the dichotomous feelings made my brain short circuit. I could feel the hard press of both of their cocks; Sammie’s against my core and Flint’s between the cheeks of my ass.

  Sammie slid a hand up into my hair, the other one holding my hips still as he ground his cock into my center, making me moan even as my ass rubbed against Flint, making him groan too.

  “Jesus Christ,” he muttered, kissing and nipping at my neck, and I was pretty sure I’d died and gone to heaven.

  Sammie kissed me again, sliding his hand out of my hair to grab my ass. “Best. Ass. Ever.”

  Then he was lifting me up, helping me float on my back as he hooked his fingers under my panties, sliding them down my thighs and letting them float away. I laid there, floating and bare between them, and the feel of their eyes eating up my flesh made me warm despite the slightly cool wind.

  Sammie sunk lower in the water until his shoulders were below the surface and his head was between my knees.

  “I’m going to taste you, because I’ve been dying to know if you’re as sweet as you look.” His words were confident, and so damn erotic, but his eyes asked permission. I should probably tell them that the only person who’d ever gotten me off was, well, me. Maybe mention to them both that I was a virgin and that this was meant to be some kind of momentous thing. But I didn’t.

  His lips travelled up my thighs, hot lips pressing against cooling skin, as he hooked my thighs over his shoulders. I felt Flint’s hands under my back, holding
me in place.

  Sammie’s kisses turned into nips, and my breathy noises turned into moans as his hot breath slid over my pussy. When he ran his tongue up my slit, I didn’t know if I should be embarrassed or turned on, but I think it was the latter because I was pretty sure I was going to explode.

  Then he sucked my clit and I knew the answer. I slammed my thighs around his ears with a shout. Hopefully I didn’t bust his eardrums.

  He must have been okay though because his tongue swirled and sucked in ways I didn’t think were possible. Heat rolled up from my gut as my whole body throbbed with the climax that was just out of reach.

  Well, out of reach until Flint reached around and tweaked my nipple. “Oh my god,” I gasped, my hands somehow wrapped in Sammie’s tight curls, holding him where he was as I ground against his face.

  Flint bent in half and kissed me, catching my moans with his tongue. But Sammie wasn't done. He slid two fingers inside of me, even as my pussy fluttered around them, curling his fingers against my g-spot and drawing out my orgasm into one long, torturously good moment.

  “Uh oh,” Flint whispered against my lips.

  I sat up, my feet touching the rocky bottom of the lake, and I looked over to see Bobby standing on the shore. He could have been there for seconds or hours. His face was unreadable, his hands thrust tightly into his pockets.

  Sammie’s eyes ran over my face, trying to figure out what I wanted, probably. I couldn’t help him with that. I didn’t know what the fuck I wanted.

  But I knew I wouldn’t find out if I remained hiding here in the depths of the lake. I gave the guys each a soft kiss, and walked toward the shore.

  Toward my best friend.

  Toward my fated mate.

  22

  Sammie

  She was a fucking goddess. She strode out of the water with complete confidence, water sluicing off her pale skin. She stole my breath. Shifters had a different opinion of nudity by necessity, but I knew for a fact that body dysmorphia was just as rampant in the supernatural communities as it was in normal human society. They still looked at the same magazines, followed the same models on social media, got told the same values of what beautiful was.

  But Carmen, she didn’t even seem remotely bothered as she strode into the cold night air to stand toe to toe with Bobby.

  The guy had fucked up. I mean, I’d fucked up too, but I had no idea he’d been denying his mate bond. That was almost impossible. Unless you were a strong Alpha, apparently.

  We couldn’t hear what he said, but he whipped off his hoodie and dragged it over her head. The cool night air swirled around us with the setting sun, and goosebumps broke out across my skin.

  “It’s cold, right? Here, let me,” Flint whispered, stepping toward me and wrapping his arms around my ribs, pressing his long, tight body into mine. Then he imperceptibly warmed his body, until it was hot and hard against me. It was… amazing.

  Our faces were so close that I could have leaned forward an inch and kissed him. I looked into his gray eyes, searching them for something. I didn’t know what, so I swallowed the lump that had lodged in my throat. “Cool trick.”

  “You should see what I can do with a candle and an ice cube.” He laughed, looking over at the shore. “Should we go up there?”

  Despite the warmth coming from Flint, I was still cold. “It’s that, or let my balls freeze off.”

  Flint laughed, sliding his hand down my abs until it dipped below the water and the waistband of my boxers. He bypassed my still hard dick and cupped my balls. Then he warmed them with his palm. Leaning closer so his lips were beside my ear, he rolled my balls in his hand. “Roasted nuts.”

  A laugh burst from my chest, and it might have come out more like a moan. He nipped my ear with his teeth, dragging his fingers along my hard cock before pulling his hand out of my shorts altogether.

  I was so well and truly, royally, fucked. These two had a grip on me and I was too enraptured to struggle. I moved toward the shore, my head held high. I had to tell myself that I wasn’t doing anything wrong. Mouse had claimed me too. I was making love to my girlfriend, not stealing Bobby’s mate.

  I just had to repeat it to myself when I met his eyes. His face was carefully neutral as he looked between Flint and I, and I didn’t know what to do. Let them fight it out? They obviously had shit to work through. But I didn’t want Mouse to think I didn’t have her back. So I held Bobby’s eyes as I walked up to her, running my hand across her back.

  “I’ll be just over here if you need me,” I murmured in a low voice. She gave me a brittle smile, and I resisted the urge to pull her into my arms and drag her away from whatever was causing her pain. In this case, it was Bobby.

  Maybe I should kick his ass for her, but she didn’t need my help in that department. Flint whispered something in her ear and moved to the back of the SUV with me.

  We were only giving them the illusion of privacy. I could hear every word clearly, even with my human ears.

  “I’m sorry, Mouse.”

  “Fuck your apology, Bobby. You lied to me.”

  I could almost hear him grinding his teeth. “I never lied.”

  There was the unmissable sound of flesh hitting flesh, and Bobby let out a grunt. “A lie by omission is still a lie. I deserved to know. I’ve been walking around mooning after you like an idiot, and everyone but me knew that it was because you were my fated mate.” She huffed, and then her voice sounded a little closer. “I feel betrayed, even though I shouldn’t. I feel like an idiot.”

  I clenched my fists to stop myself from rounding the back of the SUV and reassuring her.

  “If anyone’s an idiot, Carmen, it’s me.”

  Flint snorted and I had to agree with them both. Bobby was an idiot. But he was an idiot who was paying for his mistakes now. I pulled on my shirt and jacket, shimmying my jeans over my still damp legs with great hardship. Flint, however, was one hundred percent dry already. Damn fire genies.

  Mouse dropped her voice on the other side of the car, and I strained my ears to hear. “What about the other two? If we are fated mates, shouldn’t you be going crazy? Maybe you’re wrong?”

  Okay, rude or not, I needed this fucking answer. I looked through the tinted windows and saw Bobby stepping toward Mouse, taking her into his arms and pulling her to his chest. They looked right together. If he said he wouldn’t accept us, could I just go back to being her tutor?

  “I’m not wrong about you being my fated mate, Mouse. What I feel for you is buried inside me deeper than my head or my heart. It’s like my soul is gasping and you’re the only person who can give it air.”

  Damn, that was pretty romantic.

  “As for Flint and Sammie, if I could resist tearing your clothes off and making love to you the minute you turned eighteen, I can resist the more baser urges of the mate bond. I want you, Mouse, any way you’ll let me have you.” He cleared his throat and spoke a little louder. “Besides, those two guys, they’re kinda alright, and maybe they’re something special too. Plus they’re hot, so I’m not adverse to keeping them around for the view. But if they hurt you, I will tear open their guts and piss on their entrails.”

  Flint grinned. “That’s so romantic, you fucking psycho,” he called out.

  I guess that was our cue to come out of hiding.

  “We all okay?” That was a loaded question with way too many facets. I knew that apparently Mouse and Bobby were okay, but did the Alpha wanna punch me in the throat for outing him like that?

  Flint just bounded over to Carmen, picking her up and kissing her, sliding his eyes toward Bobby. That guy was the very definition of asking forgiveness rather than permission. Bobby seemed amused more than jealous and maybe what he’d said to Mouse wasn’t just lip service. He tilted his head to the side, a small smile curling his lips. “Six hands, right?”

  I finally allowed the tension to ease out of my shoulders. “She’ll need it.”

  Mouse dragged her lips from Flint. “What the hell
does that mean?”

  We both just laughed.

  Somehow, we ended up back on campus, all sitting around in Flint’s tiny dorm room. It didn’t occur to me to protest, even though I had a perfectly large house that we’d all fit in much better than on Flint’s twin bed. But then there would have been Cara and the kids, someone would be asking me what snacks we had, or to help with algebra homework, or something. Here, with these three, it felt more intimate.

  I felt guilty for shirking my responsibilities, but I was allowed a night off. We were watching a spy movie with one of my favorite lead actors. That jaw, those eyes, that chest. Honestly, this guy was how I knew that I liked men as well as women.

  We were all tangled together on Flint’s bed, Carmen lying between Bobby’s thighs, resting her back against his chest. But he’d spread his legs wide enough that Flint had managed to slide his wide shoulders in there too so he could rest his head on one of her thighs, and she had the other foot resting on my stomach. Flint had his legs tangled with mine and the whole thing was sort of… nice.

  “So, I feel like, given what happened at the lake, I should tell you all a few things.”

  Bobby made a low, rumbling noise in his chest. “Which part of what happened at the lake?”

  My eyes shot to hers, and judging by the flush in her cheeks, I didn’t think she meant her fight with Bobby.

  “Uh, the part in the lake. When, um, Sammie was…”

  “Feasting on your pussy like it was a papaya and he was a starving man?” Flint teased unhelpfully, making Mouse flush even more.

  It was kind of adorable, which was not an adjective I thought I’d give to Carmen. She was sexy, fierce, and in her own weird, violent way, kind of sweet. But puppies and kittens were adorable, and despite her nickname, there was nothing meek about her. She was a tiger, a predator in her own right.