by Erin R Flynn
“I found it at the base of one of the trees but didn’t check out the rest. It looked like a vine,” I muttered, studying the orange-looking watermelon. “Is it melon or citrus?”
“Both but with a citrus flavor. That small and it will be tart. You get a bigger one and it will be like sweet lemonade. They grow like human watermelons so you must have vines and plants among the trees. We’ll have to go check it out.” He cleared his throat and tapped what I’d left out. “But first you could answer why you’re involved with a teacher and didn’t ask him for help on this?”
“I hadn’t even thought to do that,” I admitted, wincing internally when hurt filled his eyes. “It’s embarrassing, Julian. You’re a genius and I shouldn’t even be taking classes at Artemis because I don’t have a high school degree. I’ve never picked classes—not even my college ones—and it just seemed… I don’t know what I’m doing. I didn’t think who to go to for help yet, just how to balance it.”
He gave a slow nod. “Darby and I came up with a plan if you’re interested?”
“Really?” I whispered, my heart filling with relief and mushy feelings for them when he nodded. I sat next to him and looked it all over. “Okay, what do I do? How do I balance all of this plus college plus quickly so no one figures out I shouldn’t be in college?”
“First, stop worrying about that,” he said gently as he moved his arm around me. “You got an exception and the school board agreed. No one’s going to kick you out if the student body finds out. This is the one area we’re understanding as a community as it wasn’t your fault you were unknown. So take that worry off your shoulders, okay?”
“Yeah, thanks,” I sighed. That helped for sure.
“We got you,” he promised. “You don’t need to worry about honors or AP classes, that’s more for those going full time, currently high school students. You’re also doing this with a tutor and you don’t seem to want to go into math as a field.” He chuckled when I gave him a dry look. “I thought not. So we’ve got Algebra II and pre-calculus/trig to cover the rest of your math.
“Chemistry, physics, and earth science, which is listed as a freshman class but you took biology, which they have for sophomores.” That made sense and had been one of my trip-ups. “You have to take US History—which I know will be boring now that you know there’s more to the world, but suffer through it. We picked Geography & World Cultures and US & Global Economics for your other two history credits.”
“Those seem the most useful and not completely boring filled with lies,” I muttered, looking over the list.
“Right, so we’ve got British & World Literature and American Literature left for English. Now, we agree you take Gothic Literature for one of your four electives because it’s all the books you’re reading with Professor Nelson’s English class now.”
I bobbed my head. That was smart. I hadn’t thought to read the class overviews.
“Good, then I think Personal Finance as your other elective as that would help you feel more comfortable inheriting what you did, plus learn something useful for life. Also you had flagged Microsoft Office 1 and 2 as your electives so that’s all of them.”
“Language is left.”
“You’re going to take Latin I and II and I’m going to help you. I know Latin fluently and yes, it will absolutely help you with spells and magic. I understand your hesitation taking them online without working it verbally, but we will. And you’re required two years advanced Latin at Artemis.”
“I didn’t know that,” I sighed, glad at least it was settled.
“I figured, as Darby said he realized you didn’t have the normal acceptance packet like regular students given how you came in. I will get it and over winter break we’ll sit down and plot out a path for your six years and what you’d like to learn. It’s all subject to change so please stop looking like you’re going to freak out.”
“It’s a lot.”
“It is, but even if you choose wrong, the world will not end, love. You’ll do the very normal thing of a student and drop or change a class. No big deal, I promise.”
“Okay, I can do this.” I swallowed loudly but then let out a slow breath. “What do I sign up for over break?”
“Darby asked you speak with him on that first and he could use your help in the gym downstairs.” He smirked at me as if he thought that wasn’t all but I could guess it was a chance for us to talk alone. “Good, then get to it, because I’m going to make you a full English so you’re ready for the day.”
I nodded, giving him a quick kiss before leaving. I might not like coffee—or not be able to handle it more than dislike it—but I liked it on his lips. “Nummy.”
“Get going before I get caught eating you,” he grumbled, pinching my ass when I turned away.
Oh, he’d get it for that.
I headed for the door off the kitchen to go downstairs and proceeded down. I hadn’t been on that level yet, but the moment I stepped off the last stair I realized I was an idiot.
There was a portal to Faerie in the house and here I’d been using the one at the student union, which was much riskier.
Idiot. Seriously, that was just stupid when I had one here. I really was going to spank myself.
Or maybe let Hudson do it but not tell him why. That sounded like fun.
I made my way along and saw where the utilities stuff was plus some storage rooms that were loaded with crates and boxes. Interesting. None of that had been listed in Conall Townsend’s instructions so it made me curious what we would find. I continued on and found the sauna that I knew Mel was updating before I got to the gym.
It was huge for a home gym, the size of one whole wing for sure. It needed updating and more but I could tell Mel was already using it and probably had plans knowing her.
“Good morning,” Darby greeted from behind me. I finished my assessing of the room and turned to find him standing by the pile of mats.
“Morning. You needed me?”
“Yes, I was hoping you could help me figure out what I’m doing wrong stretching that’s not getting certain areas,” he said, giving me a nervous glance.
So it wasn’t only that. I noticed he didn’t have his glasses on, probably his contacts instead which I knew he had for physical training class.
“How come you only wear your contacts for a bit?”
He frowned. “Do you not like the glasses?”
“No, I do, it’s just the humans I knew took days off from contacts to wear their glasses or hated one or the other so only used one.”
“Ahh, it’s rare for supes to have glasses, a small percentage of vampires really, but it runs in my family. Which means no one makes supe contacts. Our bodies react as if it’s a foreign object so it burns through them pretty much. I figured out fast to only use daily contacts so it’s not horribly expensive, but by the end of physical training the contacts are pretty much gone.”
“That’s cool, creepy, and seriously weird all at once,” I admitted, shaking my head. “Are your eyes bad?”
“No, but given we have advanced vision from humans, it’s odd to adapt as I grew up a supe and being told what vampires should have for senses. I basically lose the heightened vision without the glasses and a very low human prescription.”
“If it’s not normal for supes you got bullied for it, right?” I checked.
“Relentlessly,” he drawled.
I grabbed my ponytail and shook it. “Yeah, me too.”
He snorted. “People are just jealous. Your hair is gorgeous and girls at school talk about it all the time.”
I flinched. “I didn’t know that, just they say it’s a bad dye job.”
“None of them think that. They seethe they’re so jealous and the guys think it’s hot.”
“You?” I checked as he headed for the mat he must have pulled out earlier.
“Yes,” he answered, shocking me he said it so plainly even if he didn’t look at me. “How do you want to start?”
I as
sumed he meant with stretching and not the gutter where my mind immediately went. “What are you trying to stretch out or where are you sore?”
He sighed. “Mostly my core. I’m fine with neck, shoulders, and arms, but lower, and I start feeling too tight or aching when I sleep, which I shouldn’t as a supe so I think I’m doing stretches wrong.”
“You’re also dehydrated,” I told him, nodding when he gave me a shocked look. “You drink enough for a human and your weight from what I’ve seen but you have to add in the hydration you lose working out. Get in the habit of drinking more and it will help your stretching and aches.”
“Okay, thanks.” He didn’t seem to know what we were doing next so I went with being a brat, moving in front of him on the mat and slowly bending over to touch my toes.
Basically putting my ass on display for him, inches from his groin. “Did you watch me?”
“Yes.”
I chuckled. “I meant, did you watch how slow I went down. Some people snap into stretching and that does more harm than good.”
“Oh, no, I thought it was for my benefit.”
“Well, yeah, but the goal was teaching and the visual, not if I can get you hard.”
“You can,” he mumbled but moved to do what I did.
I stood and stepped closer. “Good, now hang there. As long as you’re not feeling pain or discomfort, you won’t hurt yourself just stretching. You’re warming up your body to move more and with that comes flexibility.” I ran my hands over his back and even his ass to get to his hips. “All in here you feel it, right?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Good, then let’s do some mid-back stretches so you get what you need to reach that area.” I sat on my butt and patted for him to sit at my feet, which I had in front of me.
He did, giving me a curious look before using my shins as a back rest when I guided him there. Then I pulled his shoulders and head back slightly over my knees so it was a gentle stretch on his mid- and lower back.
And my hands moved over his shoulders to his pecs.
I leaned in closer so my lips were almost to his ear. “If you’re not sure what you’re stretching, do it without your shirt on and in front of mirrors like these. You’ll see what parts of your body moves.” I ran my hands over his sides. “You think back but you’d see the stretch here. It feels good here, right?”
“Yes,” he panted.
“Good. If you don’t have someone to partner with, this is good for solo on a balance ball. Get one for your room. I read on mine and work on my core.”
I waited until he agreed before moving him to lie back on the mat. I knelt on the mat and held one hand to his right shoulder as I moved his knees to stretch to the left to keep him balanced and stable.
“I like you, Tamsin,” he whispered. He cleared his throat when I blinked at him, making me realize I was leaning way over him given he was taller than me and it was a reach from his knees to shoulder. “I was hoping you’d go out with me. I thought we could do another eating challenge but this time a date. I saved that first prize that you gave me for some reason and I thought we could have fun.”
I searched his eyes before letting go of his knees and straddling him to get on the other side of him. His nostrils flared as he stared at my body over his in a suggestive way before I did the same stretch to him on the other side.
“I didn’t think you’d really say it.” I sighed. “I didn’t think you really thought it.”
“I do. Will you have dinner with me?”
“A date? Like a real date?”
He nodded. “Yes, a normal, real date even if I don’t know how to do that either.”
I did a double take. “You don’t?”
His lips twitched. “I know, shocking when I’m such a charming, nice guy, but no, I don’t have much dating experience. More like you with hookups with people I didn’t realize didn’t take me seriously.” He snorted. “One so I’d do all her homework and help her get into college.”
“Ouch.”
“Yes, I have a stellar history of women walking all over me until college,” he grumbled. He cleared his throat again when I didn’t say anything. “Are you game?”
I shook off my shock and sat back on my feet. I moved his right knee back to his chest, running my hand over his thigh. I thought better of it and moved between his legs so his knee was on my shoulder. My left hand cupped his ass while my right was on his inner thigh almost touching his groin.
“Am I not your type?” he tried again when I didn’t say anything.
I shook my head. “You are. I just didn’t think I was yours. Maybe physically you liked me but I didn’t think you liked the person I was and that was what had you tied up.”
Pain filled his eyes. “No, I like the person you are. Any man with a pulse likes how you look, Tamsin, but I like who you are. I like all of you. I just didn’t realize it at first and then I wondered. I felt off-kilter around you and I wanted to see if it was just me.”
Ahh, that explained the games. I hadn’t thought that Darby would be a guy to do that when he was so blunt and straightforward. That explained it better.
I studied him a moment. “So you, um, want me to be your girlfriend?”
He looked amused but then seemed to swallow it down when he realized I was serious. “You never had a boyfriend in like grammar school or high school?”
“No, why?”
“That’s how it works when you’re young like that,” he explained in his patient way that never made me feel stupid, simply no one had told me what I needed to know the right way. I could see how all of his students fell for him as he might be the prickliest pear around but when he was teaching he was amazing. “We’re adults so there’s no jumping right to that.”
I gave a relieved sigh as I switched legs. I realized my mistake when he winced. “I’m not saying I wouldn’t want to be, it’s just… You tell someone certain things if you are and I’m not ready to—I’m not sure I could handle that level with what my life is.”
“Fair enough.” He cleared his throat. “And I’m fine with Craftsman or whomever. I’d like to date you, go out on dates and see each other. That’s what I’m asking.”
“Do you want to go slow and do the whatever stuff Craftsman said?” I asked, more for my own clarification and sanity instead of his answer influencing my decision.
He sat up so fast I fell into him. He lowered his leg and righted me before cupping my face. “Yes.”
Then his lips were on mine, slowly, gently, in a way I wouldn’t have thought prickly Darby could be. It was the softest, chastest, and sweetest kiss I’d ever had and I sighed with happiness as I closed my eyes and kissed him back.
I actually giggled when he moved us so I was on the mat and he was over me. We had matching looks of shock but then he smiled that he’d gotten that noise out of me. His lips were soft as he kissed me again.
“Let’s go on a date, Tamsin. I found another fun food challenge you can smile and be all excited about.” He pressed his mouth to mine and chuckled. “And I can get more cute pictures of you but mine instead of sending them to my phone from yours.”
“What food?” I teased as I kissed him this time.
“Five pounds of nachos. You get it for free if you eat it and your name on the wall of fame. I called and made sure you could substitute out the raw onions and beans.”
I leaned back and blinked at him. “You did? Really?”
He gave a slow nod, licking his lips as he stared at my mouth. “I made a whole list of challenges hoping I could find the right one that maybe you’d agree to so you’d go with me again.”
That was ridiculously sweet and I melted, moving my hands behind his head and pulling him down again. “Yes, I’ll go on a date with you but I don’t put out the first date so don’t get any ideas.”
It totally wasn’t true but if we were going for normal I was going to make it the rule now.
He chuckled against my lips as he moved his hands up my sides
until he was almost cupping my breasts. “Got it, I’ve got to work a while to stuff you with more than food.”
Shit, I loved hot and funny. I lifted my hips so I rubbed against his groin. “Yeah, lots of dates and making out while studying, normal college kid things, and then you can feel me wrapped around you.”
“Fuck, Tamsin,” he groaned, moving his hand behind me to hold me to him as he ground his body to mine. He licked the shell of my ear and pressed us closer. “When I taste you, I want to taste all of you. I’ve never wanted to until you.”
It took me a moment to get what he meant… As I felt his fangs against my neck. A thrill of fear and excitement went through me. “That’s like a sex thing for you guys, right?”
He nodded, clearing his throat nervously. “I haven’t yet and worried I was a shitty vampire, but it was what hit me that I liked you so much. I’ve never wanted to drink from a woman and blood was just like any other nutrient needed. I didn’t get what other vampires talked of tasting of partners was so amazing. But you’re different.”
He raised his head and gave me a worried look.
“What?” I asked gently.
“It won’t bother me if we’re not exclusive, but I was hoping you wouldn’t let anyone else bite you. I mean, I didn’t think you liked any other vamps but—”
I nodded. “Okay.” I could agree to that. Yeah, that was fine. I realized the idea of other vamps biting me was savage and terrifying but for some reason if it was Darby… It was hot. “Only you.”
The dazzling smile I got from him made me rethink calling him prickly anymore.
Nah, he still was.
5
“So you wanted to talk to me about what classes I was taking over break?” I asked when we stopped kissing.
He opened his mouth to answer but my stomach growled loudly, making him snicker. He rolled to his feet and helped me up, giving me a soft smile.
“I know Izzy’s going to be with you for winter break but I wanted to ask if you were willing to extend that invitation so we could keep working together. That will change my answer what you should take.”