Reckless Times: A Paranormal Romance (Paragon Society Book 1)

by Michelle Hercules

  “Hold on. I’m coming.”

  I head for the kitchen first. Desperate situations require crazy measures. I fill a plastic bag with ice and press it against my crotch.

  “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck,” I curse under my breath. This hurts like hell. But it works at least.

  Annoyed now, I stride across my living room and open the door with a hard yank. Andy’s fist is up. She was ready to knock again.

  “Finally,” she says, then pushes me out of the way.

  “Sure, come in.” I close the door with a bang. “What are you doing here?”

  “I need to talk to you.”

  “Haven’t you heard of something called the phone?”

  She turns around, giving me the chance to take a proper look at her face. She’s irritated, but there’s also something else, a concern maybe.

  “I didn’t want to call. I had to see you in person.”

  I didn’t expect that answer, nor how that would make me feel. I’m stupidly happy that she wanted to talk face-to-face. I’m an idiot.

  “Oh, okay.”

  “Don’t sound so pleased. I need a favor.”

  “Another one?” I raise an eyebrow, even though she can’t see the gesture.

  She scrunches her nose. “What’s that smell?”

  “What smell?”

  She comes closer and takes a big whiff of my body. “Ah hell. I smell sex. Were you playing with yourself just now?”

  And now my face is on fire. What would she think if she knew I was masturbating while picturing her naked? I don’t know if her presence here is manifestation or sheer bad luck.

  I take a step back, crossing my arms. “What? That’s crazy. I was doing homework.”

  “Sure, sure. I can hear the embarrassment in your tone.”

  Clearing my throat, I continue. “You had a favor to ask?”

  She begins to play with her hair. “Right. I want to live at Paragon, and I need your help convincing my parents that’s a great idea. Or better yet, a necessity for my full integration at the academy.”

  I watch her closely. “You want to live in the dorms where you’ll have to deal with those assholes who wanted to humiliate you? Why?”

  “First of all, they tried and failed, so that’s a nonissue. Everyone is terrified of me now, so I see my moving in there as a fit punishment. Secondly, I have to get out of my parents’ house. It’s suffocating.”

  I understand Andy’s motives, but having her move out doesn’t really work with my plans of getting closer to her father. It was the main reason why I wanted her at Paragon Academy, even though it doesn’t seem as important as getting closer to her.

  Damn, my priorities are all messed up.

  “I’m not sure,” I say.

  She takes a step closer, invading my personal space. “Come on, Stephan. Please. Think about it. If I live there, we can have extra training sessions.”

  That’s exactly what I need, to be alone with her after school hours. I swallow hard as I attempt to rein in my arousal. Shit. I wonder if she can sense it.

  I drop my eyes to her mouth. She’s so close and so tempting, I find myself leaning in. Her light gray eyes lock with mine as her lips part.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Andy.” My voice is loaded with yearning.

  Without a word, she flattens her hand on my chest. “Your heart is beating so fast.”

  “Is it? I hadn’t noticed.”

  “Mine is too.”

  Suddenly, her chains make an appearance in all their golden glory, wrapping around Andy and me. They shine so brightly I have to squint to protect my eyes.

  “Are you planning on forcing me to agree?” I joke.

  “No. I just wanted to get a better look at you.” She scans my face, and then, to my surprise, touches my cheek.

  A shiver runs down my spine. “Andy… what are you doing?”

  “I don’t know.”

  She runs her fingers over my lips, reawakening my arousal. Like a fool, I grab her by the waist and tug her flush against my body. She gasps in surprise before she pulls my face down and kisses me.

  A bolt of electricity hits me straight in the chest as our lips touch. Fuck. If Hell exists, I’m going straight there. There’s no hesitation on my part, even though there should have been. I give in to the desire that’s been building since I saw her for the first time.

  I take it slowly, probing her lips open with the tip of my tongue. She seems uncertain of what to do, and the thought that this might be her first kiss occurs to me. I’d better not fuck it up. I let go of her waist to frame her face between my hands while I devour her mouth.

  She moans softly, a sound that’s in complete contradiction to the fiery woman I know her to be. It spurs me on, setting fire to my bones. I let go of her face to grab a fistful of her hair with one hand while running the other down her naked arm.

  The pace of our kiss intensifies, our tongues exploring with a new ferocity. Suddenly, I’m flying us to the couch where I sit with Andy striding my lap. My cock is so hard, I’m afraid it might break free from my pants on its own. The fact that Andy’s pussy is rubbing against it is not helping me one bit. She had to be wearing a damn dress with a flowy skirt.

  No! Kissing was bad enough. I can’t dry-hump her on my couch. She’s a student, and I’m her mentor.

  Some sense returns to my brain and I break the kiss. Her eyes remain closed, and her cheeks are flushed.

  “Andy, we have to stop.”

  “Why?”

  “You know why.”

  “I’m an adult, and we aren’t at school.” She brings her lips to my neck and leaves a trail of small kisses down my throat. “I knew you’d taste as good as you smell.”

  “Fuck.” I grab her by the hips and bring her closer, increasing the friction between our bodies. My balls become tighter. If I keep doing this, I’m going to explode.

  “Oh, this feels good,” she moans.

  My restraint is on the verge of snapping. I’m about to make a huge mistake and cross a line that can never be uncrossed. My hands are already fumbling with her skirt when a loud knock on my door almost makes me jump out of my skin.

  “Stephan, are you home?” Soren calls out.

  I push Andy off me so fast she bounces on the couch.

  “Shit. It’s Soren,” I say.

  “I know.” She stands up while finger-combing her hair. “How do I look?”

  Fucking gorgeous.

  “Your lips are a bit red.”

  “Won’t he think I’m wearing lipstick?” She looks at me so innocently that I almost kiss her again.

  “Sure.”

  The sound of a key turning tells me our time is up. I fix my pants, relieved that the bulge is gone. We have a fifty-fifty chance that Soren won’t notice anything amiss.

  “Hey, Stephan, I tried cal—Andromeda? What are you doing here?”

  Here we go.

  18

  Andromeda

  Things go from smoldering hot to awkward in 2.5 seconds. Soren is standing in the middle of the living room, no doubt switching his attention from me to his brother as he tries to figure out what he walked in on.

  My blood is pumping like a factory, making my heart feel like it’s about to explode in my chest. I can’t believe I kissed Stephan. And if we hadn’t been interrupted, maybe we would have done more than that. I sure as hell wanted to. The throbbing between my legs is still there, a reminder that I almost traded in my V-card on Stephan’s couch.

  My face becomes hot. Shit. I hope I’m not blushing.

  “So? What are you doing here?” Soren asks again.

  “It’s none of your business what I’m doing here,” I snap, defaulting to bitchiness as a protection mechanism.

  “We were discussing Andy’s training schedule. She had a question and dropped by,” Stephan replies in a much calmer tone.

  “Riiight. Andy doesn’t know how to use the phone?”

  “Bite me, Soren. If I knew you’d be here, I wo
uldn’t have come.” I start for the door.

  “Andy, wait,” Stephan says. “How did you get here? Do you need a ride home?”

  Fuck. Home. I wonder if Nathaniel is still there. That’s the last place I want to be if he is.

  “I caught a cab. But don’t worry. I’m not going home right now.”

  “Have a hot date?” Soren asks mockingly.

  I remember Leroy’s invitation to check out the underground fights. It beats roaming the streets of Hawk City alone, waiting to go home.

  “As matter of fact, yes. Later.”

  I walk out before Stephan can insist on driving me. When I’m inside the elevator, I voice text Leroy. If someone had told me a week ago that I’d be choosing to hang out with that jerkface, I’d laugh in their faces. But listening to a bunch of idiots fight sounds like a great idea.

  He texts me back in the next minute, saying he’s on his way and asking if I need a lift. I begin to dictate Stephan’s address, then change my mind at the last second. I can’t let people from school know I was here. Soren, as much as he’s an ass, won’t get his brother in trouble.

  I ask Leroy to pick me up a block away. There’s a movie theater at the corner, which is the perfect spot for a rendezvous.

  As soon as I step outside Stephan’s building, I curse Fatima’s choice and my need to run away from home before I could grab a jacket. It’s not even fall yet, but the weather in Hawk City has already turned. A gust of wind threatens to expose my butt to the world, so I have to brace the cold and fight to not flash anyone. At least the chilly weather has erased any trace of desire from my body.

  Walking at a brisk pace helps me get warmer, but when I have to wait at the corner, unprotected from the wind, I’m running the serious risk of turning into a human popsicle. Ugh. It was ninety degrees two weeks ago. Fuck this shit!

  I begin to hop from foot to foot, no doubt looking like the stupidest girl in the world. This goes on for five minutes until Leroy’s voice calls my name.

  “About time,” I grumble.

  “You’re wearing that to an underground fight?” he asks when I slide inside his toasty warm car.

  “What? They don’t have a dress code there?”

  “Er….”

  “Oh my God. That was a joke. You can relax, buddy. I’m not going to hurt you.”

  “I’m not afraid of you.”

  “Your scent says otherwise.”

  “What the hell! I don’t smell, do I?”

  I fight the urge to laugh. “For fuck’s sake. Are you going to act like a complete moron the entire night? I’m blind, remember? My other senses are way more enhanced than yours.”

  “Oh, right. I kind of forgot you can’t see. You don’t act like you’re impaired.”

  “I’m not impaired. And the reason I don’t act like I’m blind is because I’m awesome. Don’t forget that.”

  “Don’t plan to.”

  Some strangled voice is coming from the speakers. “What’s that crap?”

  “Vania Melson. She sounds like an angel, doesn’t she? She’s also mega hot. I’m going to her concert Saturday night. I scored backstage passes, and I’m pretty sure that’s not the only thing I’m going to score, if you know what I mean.”

  I sink against my seat, already regretting texting the guy. “You couldn’t have made it any clearer.”

  “I know you can’t tell, but I’m a ten. Girls fight for my attention everywhere I go. Jason Pierre—you know, the fashion designer—invited me to pose for one of his campaigns. I would have accepted it if my father hadn’t put the kibosh on it.”

  Holy crap, the guy is a chatterbox. I’m tempted to tell him to shut his piehole, but he’s doing me a huge favor, even if he doesn’t know. He keeps going on and on, and all I have to do is reply with monosyllables from time to time.

  When we finally arrive at our destination, I’m begging for the loud clamor of a crowd looking for blood.

  I got home super late, and if it weren’t for Fatima covering for me, I’d be so completely busted. Nathaniel and his wife had been gone for a few hours. Fatima started to give me a sermon, but I told her I was out with a boy from school and she changed her tune pretty quickly. Claiming I had to wake up early for school the next day, I was able to kick her out before she grilled me further about my date.

  Despite the late night, I was up before sunrise thanks to a very wet dream featuring a certain mentor. In the haze of early morning, what happened in Stephan’s apartment feels like I imagined the whole thing.

  A cold shower is needed, not that it does me much good. My stomach is a ball of knots when Mario drops me off in front of school. I’m mega early, so the usual cluster of students at the front is nonexistent today.

  I drop my backpack at my locker and head for the gym. My training with Stephan is during first period, which is good and bad at the same time. It’s better if we deal with the aftermath of our make-out session first thing in the morning so I don’t have to spend the entire day agonizing over our encounter.

  When I’m a few steps away from the gym door, I hear a conversation coming from inside. With a little bit of focus, I can make out Stephan’s and Soren’s voices. Not wanting to repeat the snooping I did at the cemetery, I begin to retreat, but a whispered word makes me change my mind and freeze. Knights. They’re talking about the organization that wants to change our society completely.

  Sudden jitters run through my body, and cold sweat pools on my forehead. Stephan and Soren can’t be part of that. They can’t. If they are, they’re criminals, traitors. I want to run so I can pretend I didn’t hear anything, but my damn legs won’t move.

  “Dad wants us to team up tonight. He doesn’t want anyone patrolling solo,” Stephan says.

  “Are you sure you wouldn’t prefer to go with Britney?” Soren replies.

  Who the hell is Britney? My chains rattle in response. Cool it, Andy. Now is not the time for bolts of jealousy.

  “When are you going to stop making those jokes?” Stephan sounds annoyed, so it means there’s something going on between him and that girl.

  My heart feels like it’s being squeezed by a fist made of steel. It hurts like a mother.

  “When it stops bothering you.”

  “Whatever. Be at my place at nine,” Stephan replies.

  “Why not earlier?”

  “Because I have schoolwork to finish. I was supposed to hand in an assignment last night, which didn’t happen.”

  “I left your apartment fairly early. What did you do after?”

  Stephan grumbles. “My mind wasn’t in it.”

  “Yeah, and we both know why. Dude, you have to get a grip on your infatuation with Andromeda. You can’t even hide it anymore.”

  I stop breathing for a second. The heaviness in my chest eases off as I’m filled with hope, even if I shouldn’t be. If things between Stephan and me were complicated before, now they’re impossible. But stupid me is glued to the floor, eagerly waiting for Stephan’s reply.

  “Hey, Andy. What up?” Leroy calls out.

  Double damn. The conversation inside the gym ceases immediately. I want to punch Leroy in the throat. Talk about bad timing.

  I hear footsteps approach the door. I only have a couple of seconds to make a decision. In a move that surprises even me, I choose the cowardly option and bolt down the hallway, fleeing the scene. I can’t face Stephan now. The kiss was bad enough, but the knowledge that he’s a Knight is worse.

  19

  Andromeda

  What I did this morning was stupid. I didn’t only skip my training but blew off the entire day of school. Stephan called and texted me several times, but I sent his calls straight to voice mail. I don’t know what I’m going to do about him.

  Things don’t improve by nightfall. Fatima comes in with my dinner and a package.

  “This came for you earlier.”

  “Who sent it?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe it’s a gift from a secret admirer.”

&
nbsp; I scoff. “Since when do we accept mysterious packages? It could be a bomb or something.”

  “It’s not a bomb. It was delivered by courier, and security scanned it. There’s nothing dangerous inside.”

  “Fine. Put it on my desk.”

  “Aren’t you going to open it?” she asks eagerly.

  “No. Stop hovering. I’d like to be alone now.”

  “Okay, okay. I’d expect you to be in a better mood now that you have your freedom.”

  Freedom. What a ludicrous notion. Fatima has no idea that freedom doesn’t seem to be in the cards for me. Six years ago, I made the stupid decision to jump from the frying pan into the fire. I traded one prison for another. It’s ironic that my main gift is chains of power.

  I eat my dinner, listen to a movie, and even attempt to do some homework. It’s past eight when I finally remember the package.

  “All right. Let’s see what we got here,” I mumble, unleashing my chains completely. I’m not in the mood to be in darkness.

  There’s a phone inside the box and an envelope. Running my hands over the paper, I feel the braille writing. My name is on it. Impatiently, I tear it open. There’s a single note inside.

  Dear Andy,

  Congratulations. You have your first mission tonight. This phone is more than just a gift; this is your connection to the rest of the team. There’s a voice message recorded on it. Those are your instructions.

  Have fun!

  The note isn’t signed, but there’s no need. Nathaniel sent this.

  Son of a bitch.

  I crunch the paper in my hand, turning it into a tight ball. Then I do the only sensible thing: I destroy the damn phone. Subconsciously, I know this act of rebellion will cost me, but right now, I don’t care.

  I had every intention of staying home tonight, but I’m too wired, too antsy for that. I need to get out, blow off steam. I know where I need to go—back to the underground fight spot—only this time, I don’t plan to be a spectator.

  The only problem is I don’t have the address, which means I have to rely on Leroy again.