Canis Falls Academy- Year One
Page 8
“I’m not leaving here without that journal,” she said, and I could feel the power behind those words.
I turned to see a determined look cross her face as she leaned forward in her seat. Her jaw was tensed, her chin set in a way that told me she’d be willing to take him on if he refused her and damn if it wasn’t the hottest thing I’d ever seen. I’d never seen anyone stand up to my father before, but this woman did so without a care in the world, even after I’d explained how dangerous he was.
My father met her glare head on with an angry one of his own. “I aint given ya shit. Now git outta my house before I throw you out.”
“I’d like to see you try,” she snorted, almost petulantly.
He rocked himself out of the chair but a sharp gust of wind knocked him back in his seat so hard he nearly tumbled over the back of it.
“Like I said, I’m not leaving here until I get that journal.”
My father let out a grunt as a tremble of magic raced through him. He was trying to shift but the alcohol was affecting his ability to concentrate on the shift itself.
Brinley stood, coming to stand over him, and I’ll be damned if he didn’t cower away from her, shoving himself further back into his seat. I’d never seen him cower from anyone and that action told me something I hadn’t realized before. He was a coward. All the power he’d ever had over me was washed away in the brief reaction he hadn’t been able to hide fast enough.
His eyes found mine and I could see the plea in them as he barked, “Git this girl outta my house.”
I smirked under his command. There was nothing he could do to me. “I suggest you tell us where you’ve hidden the journal and we’ll be on our way.”
He gasped at my words but didn’t argue. Instead, he pointed toward the kitchen. “If ya can find it in there, ya can have it.”
We found the journal easily enough, stashed between a stack of old magazines my mother once owned. In less than an hour, we were safely back to the academy, sitting in my room. I stretched across the bed as Brinley claimed the desk and began thumbing through the notes.
“I wish I knew what any of this meant,” she sighed, closing the journal for the third time.
I’d tried my hand at deciphering the meanings behind the words but had no better luck. It was all a bunch of scientific gibberish to me, though I’m sure it held some meaning to the Nephrites.
I took in a deep breath. “I’m sure they’ll know what do with it.”
“Gaw, I hope so.” She breathed, rubbing the back of her neck.
She stood and began pacing the room, frustration coming off of her in waves that had me on edge. The poor girl couldn’t catch a break. She hadn’t really begun her studies yet and already she thrown into a fight she had no control over, forced to save a group of beings she hadn’t even known existed until a few weeks ago.
In an attempt to get her mind off of it, I stood up and tugged her into my arms. “I wanted to say thank you for what you did back there.”
She returned the hug, wrapping her arms around me, and the scent of her set me on fire. When she looked up at me, I could see the question burning in those deep greens that always left me off guard.
“Standing up to my father. That was pretty brave of you.”
Another question burned in her gaze but she seemed to understand exactly what I was saying. Seeing her stand up to him took away all the power he’d once held over me to the point, for the first time, I felt safe from him. He couldn’t hurt me anymore.
She softened her expression and I don’t know what came over me but I leaned down and claimed her lips in mine. It was a gentle kiss, full of questions, questions that burned through me until she returned the kiss much more fervently than I’d expected.
Breaking the kiss, I looked down at her.
A salacious smile spread her lips and fuck if I wasn’t hard right then. The way this girl had crept her way into my heart, stunned me. I’d managed for so long to keep myself away from feelings like this, to keep myself guarded but she’d been able to see right through the rough exterior from the very beginning. She’d been able to see me.
I pulled her tighter against me, loving the feel of her body against mine. Loving the way she fit perfectly in my arms. She was the perfect combination of soft and hard, vulnerable yet strong, and I couldn’t help the feeling the need that washed over me at that moment.
Perfection. Something I hadn’t deserved to touch, yet when her arms came around my neck, pulling me down for a kiss, I knew she felt differently. Our lips collided in a rush of heat that nearly stripped me bare. I wanted her. I’d wanted her since I’d first laid eyes on her but was too wrapped up in my own self-pitying bullshit to do anything about it. But with our lips moving in synch with each other, my confidence swelled. She’d stripped away every bit of that anger and loneliness until there was nothing left but me and her.
She parted her lips and I took full advantage, slipping my tongue past her lips and tasting her fully. The taste of her exploded on my tongue and sent a sliver of heat rushing to my cock which tightened further. I pushed my hips forward, pressing it to her belly and she shivered before pulling a hand away from my hips. When she reached down and grabbed my cock through my jeans, I felt a painful bliss course its way up my body.
She groaned when I broke the kiss, before letting out a light whimper as I trailed kisses along her jaw. I wanted her, there was no denying that, but more than that, I wanted to give her every bit of what she’d given me. Unbuttoning her blouse, I allowed my mouth to travel over the soft curve of her breast before she pushed me back.
“I don’t know if I can do this,” she said in a whisper. And I could feel the desperation in her voice as she said it. It was as if she were asking me to make the decision for her, to decide just how intimate we’d become and…
I couldn’t. I didn’t know what made her change her mind about it but I wouldn’t force her to do anything she wasn’t comfortable with.
She sighed. “I’m scared.”
And there it was, that vulnerability that made me fall for her in the first place. She was honest with me. More than that, she was honest with herself, setting her limits, protecting her heart and that’s what made her different. And that’s what had guilt clawing its way into my thoughts when she left, leaving the journal behind. If everything she’d said about the Nephrites was true, there was no way I could let them get their hands on her mother’s notes, not when the fate of Canis Falls was at stake.
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