Academy of Deadly Arts

by Helen Scott

  “Interesting, but it’s time for you to go. I have work to do and can’t babysit the two of you.” He sniffed and looked at Gaius’s mom.

  Holy shit. Was he there to collect her soul?

  Even though I hadn’t spoken aloud the Arbiter’s gaze flew to mine and he squinted as though there was something he was trying to discern from my soul. I knew in that moment that we needed to leave. I wasn’t sure how the Arbiter collected souls, but I knew that Gaius shouldn’t be there to witness his mother’s death, not if I could help it.

  “How do we leave?” I asked.

  “Has this happened to either of you before?” The Arbiter chose to ignore my question while his gaze landed on Gaius and I started to think that he could actually see the truth in my friend’s words when he spoke them.

  After Gaius said no, the Arbiter’s gaze swung my way. I simply nodded my head. I could almost feel him in my thoughts, rifling through and looking at the memory of me seeing my mom at my old apartment. Nobody had that power though, right?

  A small smile played at the Arbiter’s lips and I couldn’t help but feel that he could read my thoughts. After a moment’s consideration he said, “I’ll find you in a few hours, Avery. We need to talk, but until then I have work to do.”

  With a flick of his wrist the portal appeared again and this time there was the wind sucking us toward it as well. I reached for Gaius and caught his hand in mine as he moved back toward the portal faster than me. Part of me felt like it should be the other way around since he was bigger and weighed more, but then that would be in the mortal realm. Who knew how weight worked for ghosts.

  As soon as I had a secure hold on him I relaxed and let the portal suck us back to Purgatory. It felt like standing in a wind tunnel with a fog machine; everything swirled and blew around us while I hung on to Gaius’s hand with all my might. Lights flickered reminding me of the summer storms we would get in the mortal realm, the ones that would inevitably knock the power out and leave us playing find the emergency candles in the dark When something yanked us in a specific direction, I knew that we were almost home.

  When the fog dissipated we were in what I could only assume was Gaius’s room based on the amount of artwork that was strewn around the place. My eyes ate it all up, every morsel that I could see that would give me an insight into this man’s mind.

  “Nice bed,” I said finally after we’d both been lying there for a couple minutes.

  “Thanks,” Gaius replied slowly.

  “Are you completely freaked out?” I asked, my eyes roaming the ceiling and the posters on the wall. It didn’t have the same intensity as the room we had arrived in before, but looking at this one and my memory of that one, it was clear that they were both owned by the same person.

  “Completely? No. A little? Hell, yeah. We just saw my mom, today, in real life. Like we just traveled to the mortal realm like it was no big deal. And chatting with the Arbiter? Don’t even get me started with how weird that was. It was like chatting with the devil, except it was the devil’s nice cousin. I thought he was going to smite me then and there—”

  “Gaius, breathe,” I said, interrupting his tirade. I rolled on my side to face him and found his sky-blue eyes staring at me. “Just take a deep breath, follow me,” I continued as I took his hand and placed it on my chest so he could feel my slow, measured breathing. I put my hand on his chest so I could feel his breath as well, and was pleased when after a few minutes his breathing slowed. His heart rate was different though. It thumped against where my hand rested on his chest at a rapid pace, and I couldn’t help but glance up at him through my lashes.

  He was staring down at me with an intensity I wasn’t used to. The color of his eyes had morphed from a beautiful sky-blue to a wild, crackling blue that reminded me of a flame. It made my breath catch, and suddenly where his hand connected with my chest felt like I was slowly burning, but in the best way possible.

  “There, all good,” I said, my voice shaky as I withdrew my hand from his chest.

  “Avery, can I kiss you?” Gaius’s voice was low and sent a shiver of anticipation down my spine. The fact that he asked was beyond sexy to me. I mean part of me loved dominant men who took what they wanted but another, bigger part, liked being included in the decision. What can I say, I’m a complicated woman.

  I nodded, my mouth going dry as he drew closer to me, our breath mingling.

  Gaius reached up with the hand that had been resting on my chest and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. The blue and purple strands were probably a mess after the wind in the portal had whipped them about. Once my hair was secured his hand trailed down my cheek to my chin and his thumb reached up and tugged my bottom lip free from my teeth.

  I hadn’t even realized I’d been biting it. My nervous habit continuously left my bottom lip a little ragged but when Gaius closed the distance between us I couldn’t pay attention to that; he was all I could focus on. His lips glided over mine until he was at the perfect angle. He nipped at my bottom lip and a moan caught in my throat making my mouth part. He took full advantage as his tongue swept in and tangled with my own.

  When we separated for a moment to come up for air I couldn't help but watch him. His eyes held so much emotion that it made me squirm. I had never been good with guys, never held down a relationship for longer than a few months, if that. Usually when they started to get serious I ran for the hills throwing up a peace sign on my way out. The emotion Gaius was showing me didn't scare me though. It made me squirm because I wasn't good at dealing with it, but in all honesty it excited me more than anything else.

  "You're so fucking beautiful," he whispered as he trailed his fingertips lightly down my neck to my collar bone and over to my shoulder before sliding down my arm. The touch left tingles in its wake, all of which shot straight to my core like fireworks going off into the night.

  "Shut up and kiss me," I whispered back. I wasn't one to take compliments, at least not well.

  He did as I asked though. Gaius's lips descended on mine and this time the hunger behind them had a desperation to it, like he never wanted to stop kissing me. In that moment, I didn't want him to either. I felt like a teenager again, making out with a boy until my lips were red and chapped. I didn't want to just make out with Gaius though.

  I pulled away from his mouth and kissed his neck, trailing a line down to his collarbone, to the exact spot that I loved to be kissed. My hands smoothed over his chest and shoulders as I rolled back and pulled him with me. He chuckled softly and I smiled against his skin in return, inhaling the heady scent of him.

  He grabbed both my wrists, pulling back enough that I couldn't reach him with my hands or my mouth. I pouted, making an exaggerated gesture with my lips. He sat back on his knees, releasing my wrists but still holding my hands, and looked at me clearly deciding how to put something. I didn't rush him. I was more than happy to just lie there and stare up at him. Between the golden tint to his skin, the blond hair, blue eyes, and perfectly plump lips there was nothing about his face I didn't enjoy looking at. I couldn't help but think that I'd feel the same way about his body, if I ever got to see it without baggy t-shirts and jeans that is.

  Blue eyes and a wide smile gazed down at me and it was like the sun breaking through clouds. "We don't have to rush this," Gaius murmured, kissing the palms of my hands between words. His eyes were hooded and his voice barely above a croaked whisper as he spoke.

  "I'm not doing anything I don't want to do. I promise," I replied, making a serious face.

  This time he laughed, his smile radiant with joy as he leaned forward and seemed to crawl up my body until he could kiss me again. "And what exactly is it you want to do?" he all but purred against the sensitive shell of my ear.

  "The better question is what don't I want to do with you. I'm up for whatever you are so long as we keep it casual, at least for now."

  "Casual it is," he said, but I couldn't help feeling like there was a hint of disappointment in his voice.
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  I cupped his face and kept our eyes locked. "I like you, a whole lot, and if you're able to give me an orgasm then you'll be at the top of the charts, but we've only just met. I want to get to know you a bit more before I give you my heart. Does that make sense?"

  "You'll give me your body, but not your heart?" His brow furrowed.

  Well, this got much more serious than I’d intended. I sighed and moved to sit up. He backed up and let me have plenty of room. "I've kissed two of your roommates, you know that right?" When he nodded I continued, "I can't deny that I have feelings for you, just as I can't deny that I have feelings for them. I can't just pick one of you eenie-meenie-minie-moeminie- style, that's not fair. I don't want to have to pick at all. I don't want to ask all of you to share me, but not see any one else. I don't know what's going on with this any more than you do. I do know that I've wanted you since I first met you, that the feeling of your hands and lips on my skin has made me feel like I'm on fire, in a good way, and that I want to bring you pleasure as much as I want you to give it to me."

  Gaius was quiet for a long time before he replied. "What if we make an agreement?"

  I raised an eyebrow, silently asking for more details.

  "I'm not going to ask you to be monogamous to me, because you're right, that's not fair. I want you to be happy whether that's getting an orgasm from me or from Bowie, I don't care. So, what if you're not monogamous to me, but you are to the men of this house. Me, Noah, Xavier, Bowie, hell, even Jude since he basically lives here anyway. I don't mind sharing you with my brothers from other mothers, but I don't want to share you with a random stranger. Is that fair?"

  It was my turn to stay quiet for a while. I felt like this was a conversation we needed to have with all of them, although Xavier had already made his position, and Jude's for that matter, clear. Could I date all of them? Did I even have the emotional capacity for that? Was I just being greedy? My thoughts were spinning and the only thing that made sense was what Gaius had said. I'd be faithful to the men of this house, but within that I could sleep with and date whomever I wanted. I still wasn't sure about them seeing other people, but that would have to be a bridge I crossed when we came to it.

  "Agreed," I said, and stuck my hand out like it was some kind of formal negotiation that was ending. Gaius took it and shook, keeping his serious face for all of a minute before he cracked a smile.

  "Now, where were we?" He moved toward me with the glint of a predator in his eyes. "Ah, yes, I believe I was right about here." His lips descended on mine once more and his body was more appropriately lined up so I could feel everything about him, and I couldn't wait to unwrap my new toy.

  20

  Avery

  Gaius's kiss was like breathing in life itself. He tasted sweet but with a hint of bitterness, just the way I liked my coffee. I wanted to devour him body and soul.

  His hand tangled in my hair grabbing a chunk of it and pulling it back so my throat was exposed, before he licked a long line up my skin from my collarbone to my jaw. I shuddered underneath him and a small moan escaped me.

  “Fuck, the noises you make are enough to make me want to rip off your clothes,” he breathed in my ear, before biting down on the lobe and tugging lightly with his teeth.

  “Then do it,” I dared him.

  He smiled against my skin and looked at me briefly before his hand slipped under the edge of my cropped t-shirt. He was warm, like a beam of sunlight moving across my skin. “You asked for it,” he growled.

  A moment later both hands were under my t-shirt and spread over the skin of my belly. He gripped me and pulled me up so I was sitting against him, in his lap. He fisted the bottom of my t-shirt and split it open. The sound of the fabric tearing was paired with a roll of his hips and I couldn’t tell if it was intentional or if he almost lost his balance. Either way it turned me on.

  Gaius pushed the material of the shirt open, spreading his hands over my rib cage as he did so. They moved up and over the mounds of my breasts until he was pushing the shirt down my back and arms. I extracted myself as gracefully as possible and soon I was in just a bra, my panties, and the skirt.

  As soon as my arms were free of the t-shirt sleeves and the straps of the dress I cupped his face and kissed him, pushing my weight onto my knees so I was hovering above the tent in his pants. His hands took a quick detour to my back and flicked open the clasp of my bra letting it fall forward off my chest.

  Gaius pulled away and looked down, his own hands coming forward to cup my newly freed breasts. I gasped as he took my pert nipples between his finger and thumb, rolling them ever so slightly. My hips bucked forward involuntarily, and my head fell back as I arched my back, thrusting my breasts into his hands.

  One hand released my nipple and landed on my thigh, traveling up, under my skirt excruciatingly slowly. I wanted him to be rough, to throw me about and take what he wanted, but the fact that he wasn’t, that he was treating me like the most delicate china, turned me on even more. I hadn’t had a lot of gentleness in my life, I wasn’t used to it, but if this teasing was anything to go by then I sure as hell didn’t want him to stop.

  After what felt like an age of him playing with my nipples and kissing my neck while his hand moved ever closer to where I needed him the most, I was almost insane with need. He finally reached his destination. The teasing didn’t stop there though. Apparently Gaius was the devil in disguise as his fingers ghosted over the top of my panties.

  When I would try to move toward him, to feel his touch, he would move away with a chuckle. I was growing impatient and there was only so much of this gentleness I would put up with. Maybe I should be the one teasing him. The thought spawned a devious plan in my mind.

  I pulled his head up and kissed him thoroughly twining my tongue around his and nipping at his bottom lip, while my hands stroked over his shoulders and down his chest and abdomen until I found the edge of his t-shirt. I lifted it, revealing the planes and valleys of his chest, before tugging it over his head.

  Once that was off I pushed him down onto the bed, my hands pinning his shoulders. I was sure he could get up if he really wanted to, but he seemed quite happy to enjoy the attention my tongue started paying to his nipples. First one, then the other, evoking groans and hip rolls from him, just as he had from me.

  I began to unbuckle his pants, my hands nimble in their work. As soon as he could help he lifted his hips and I slid his jeans and boxers down until his cock burst free, rising up to meet me. The sight of it made my mouth water and I almost threw my plan out the window, but the man deserved to be teased after doing the same to me.

  My head lowered and I took the wide, blunt head of his cock into my mouth, but didn’t close my lips around it or touch it with my tongue. His eyes went wide as I began moving like I was sucking him off without touching him except at the base.

  “Fuck, Avery, if you don’t touch me soon I’m going to lose it,” he groaned.

  “Is that so?” I asked as I poked his cock with a finger. “Like that?” I grinned at him when he scowled down at me.

  “Payback, huh? Is that what this is?” He raised an eyebrow in question.

  “Yes, sir,” I replied with a grin.

  With a growl he pushed upward and into my mouth, his cock touching my tongue when I didn’t move back in time. “What if I promise you at least one orgasm?”

  “Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” I warned.

  “I have very talented fingers,” he said with a confidence that had me believing him.

  “Deal.” I said before I closed my mouth around his cock and sucked.

  The noise that left him was the most erotic thing I’d ever heard. His hands fisted the sheets as though he wanted to grab my hair and hold me still but was resisting the urge. I appreciated that but would definitely remember it for next time. My head bobbed up and down while my tongue swirled around him, and his hips flexed in my direction.

  I took him as deep as I could over and over again, unti
l my nose touched his skin and I felt him deep within me. My tongue poked out and licked the base of his shaft and the top of his balls and I felt his whole body tense. Before he could come from me sucking his cock I pulled back.

  The fire in his eyes when he looked at me was enough to make me shiver. “Turn around,” he growled at me.

  I did as he asked, flicking my skirt up to reveal the lacy black thong I’d been wearing the whole time. A groan sounded from him as he sat up and pushed me forward until I was on my hands and knees.

  His hand slipped underneath the material of my panties and pulled, easily snapping the lace and revealing my pussy to him. I knew I was wet, almost embarrassingly so. When he groaned and stroked my pussy lips I knew he could see exactly how wet I was, what he’d done to me. Two fingers thrust into me so quickly that I screamed, unprepared for the intrusion. My body adjusted quickly though as he began to thrust in and out of me.

  One hand pressed on my lower back, holding my skirt up, forcing me to arch my back and put myself on display for him. “That’s right, show me that sweet little pussy,” he said as he slipped his fingers out of me.

  I heard a sucking sound and looked over my shoulder to find him cleaning off his fingers with his mouth while fisting his cock with his other hand. It was so fucking sexy that I couldn’t find words. He grinned down at me as he moved between my legs, and I felt the head of his cock rub against my folds.

  With one, long push he was inside me, and I was screaming his name. I’d barely been able to deep throat him he was so big, and now from this angle, he felt at least twice as huge. The thick shaft parted my inner walls, and as he rocked his hips I felt him inching in farther and farther until his hips rested against my ass.

  I gasped when he was finally fully seated within me, enjoying the stretching and fullness that was only ever experienced with a big cock. The hand that was on my back gripped my skirt, bunching the material around the waist band, while the other hand was winding itself into my hair. With those two hand holds I couldn’t move anywhere as he began to thrust into me.