In My Blood: A Paranormal Academy Reverse Harem Romance (Angel Academy Book 2)

by Riley London

  “I may not be here by this time next year,” I answered. “None of us may be. You heard Mrs. Deveraux, if the Princes of Hell all band together to take back Heaven, to take back Earth, it’s over for all of us.”

  “Yes. She did say that. But until we hear from the council, there’s no guarantee of anything.”

  “So, you think the best course of action is to just pretend like nothing’s happening?” I asked.

  “What do you suggest we do instead?”

  “Benjie, if the house is on fire, it doesn’t do us any good to pretend like we don’t see the smoke. We need to take action. We need to figure out an escape route. We need to grab a fire extinguisher. We need to call the police station. We need to do things that give us our best shot, or else we’re going to be living with regret and a house that’s now completely turned to ashes—”

  “Go out with me.”

  “...What?”

  “We need to do things that give us our best shot, or otherwise we’re going to be living with regret,” Benjamin quoted my words right back at me. “Go out with me, Celeste.”

  “What? Like on a date?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?” I needed to rephrase my question, as I realized it came out a little strange. “I mean, why now? When we’re in the middle of all of this?”

  “Would you rather I wait until the Princes of Hell descend upon the Earth?” Benjamin grinned.

  “Fine.” I smiled, as I closed my notebook. “Where do you want to go?”

  “To the roof of the main building. Seven o’clock.”

  “Wait. Seven o’clock tonight?”

  “Yes.” Benjamin nodded. “Will that be a problem for you?”

  “Uh, I guess not. As long as you don’t mind me wearing my uniform. If you would’ve given me a little more notice, I could’ve gone shopping and got something nicer to wear—”

  “Your uniform is perfect,” Benjamin beamed. “And if you need something to enhance your outfit, feel free to wear your jacket over your blouse. I promise I won’t report you to Mrs. Deveraux for the clothing violation.”

  “Gee. Thanks.” I lightly chuckled, before I leaned back in my chair. “Seven o’clock, it is then.”

  “I didn’t know we could get up on the roof...” I spoke, as I climbed the final flight of steps. Once my foot touched down on the rooftop, I was greeted by the smell of the warm night air, and a vanilla scent that wafted over toward me.

  “We’re not really supposed to be up here,” Benjamin admitted, climbing up the steps behind me. Once he reached the top of the roof, he came to stand at my side. “I had to make a deal with Micah to stand guard, just in case Mrs. Deveraux decides to make rounds tonight in the hall.”

  “Ooh. Benjamin Nash, the bad boy.” I smirked. “I’m not used to seeing this side of you.”

  “I try to keep it reserved for the summertime.” Benjamin grinned right back. “You like the smell of vanilla, don’t you? I was able to get ahold of some candles, and I set them out before our date.”

  I looked to my right, noticing the set of candles that Benjamin had put out for us. I walked over toward them, and that’s when I saw a long, black shape sitting a few feet away from them too.

  “What’s that?” I asked, as I pointed to the shape in the night.

  “That’s our date,” Benjamin replied, before he reached down and pulled the figure into his hands. As he held it in his palms, I was able to get a better look at the thing, and I could tell that it was some kind of handheld telescope.

  He turned it over in his grip, and I spotted the B.N. engraved in bronze onto the telescope’s side.

  “Birthday gift?” I asked.

  “Kind of. It was given to me on the day of my birth, one of the items typically passed down to the Nash men in my family. It belonged to my great-great-grandfather,” Benjamin explained. “It’s called a spyglass. He used it when he was at sea.”

  “Your great-great-grandfather was a fisherman?” I couldn’t hide the surprise in my voice.

  “He served with Meridian Beauregard,” Benjamin replied.

  “Oh.” I remembered that name. It was the half man, half angel who’d rescued the slaves from a slave ship, offering his own life in return for theirs. “Did he survive after the ship?”

  “Yes. Meridian was the only one who sacrificed his life. However, my great-great-grandfather was the one who went on to serve on the council.”

  Benjamin brought the spyglass up toward his eye. “And even though we never had the chance to meet, it amazes me that I’ve been given the opportunity to see things through his eyes.”

  “To see things through his eyes?”

  “Yes. Look here.” Benjamin handed me the spyglass, as he briefly touched my shoulder. “Aim it at the night sky and tell me what you see.”

  I looked into the spyglass, pointing it at the sky.

  What I saw nearly brought me to my knees.

  Everything was illuminated, the stars, the planets above them. It was as if I was able to see through to the entire galaxy, with the constellations appearing like frames of art, hung alongside the walls of the universe. I pulled the spyglass away from my frame, before I handed it back to Benjamin.

  I let out a breath, one that I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding in. “What was that? What do you call something like that?”

  “God’s eye.” Benjamin smiled. “My great-great-grandfather supposedly found a piece of glass that’d been formed in Heaven and he used it to make part of the telescope. Although, my father said the more likely truth is that my great-great-grandfather found a way to pray over his spyglass, embedding it with that kind of vision for the rest of its lifetime.”

  “It’s beautiful,” I quietly admitted. “But it’s also...a lot. I couldn’t even tell what I was looking at.”

  “You learn how to focus in, after you’ve had enough practice. Besides, once you’ve seen the full picture, you really start to understand how much the little stuff matters,” Benjamin continued. “When just one star is out of place, the whole universe is thrown off its balance.”

  “You’re kind of a poet, aren’t you, Benjie?” I smiled.

  “As much of a poet as an angel can be.” Benjamin brought the spyglass toward his side. He then turned to look at me, with a stoic expression on his face. “There’s something I wanted to talk to you about, Celeste.”

  “What is it?” I was worried by Benjamin’s tone. “What’s wrong?”

  “I wanted to talk to you about us.”

  “About us?”

  “Yes.” Benjamin nodded. “We never quite got back around to the conversation, after everything we’d been through last semester. I didn’t want to bother you with it.”

  “What’s there to talk about?”

  “What are we going to be?” Benjamin asked. “I know that we’re friends, and if that’s all you wanted, then I could learn to live with that. But I thought that you’d want to be more. Although, there seems to be the issue of Charlie. You’re dating him, aren’t you?”

  “It’s not what you think,” I explained. “Charlie isn’t possessive. Our relationship is more progressive than that.”

  “What do you mean?” Benjamin tilted his head to the side. “Progressive?”

  “Yeah, we don’t really do the whole jealousy song and dance,” I continued. “Just because Charlie and I love each other, it doesn’t mean that he owns my body.”

  “But you two have been having intimate relations, haven’t you?” Benjamin asked.

  “Yeah.” I shrugged. “Still though. I’m my own person. I get to decide who I want to be with, as long as I’m open and honest with all of my partners.”

  “All of your partners?” There was a subtext to Benjamin’s question, and I could hear it as loud as day.

  “Well, there’s Charlie. And...there’s Zachary,” I replied. “I’m honestly surprised he didn’t say anything to you about it.”

  “I have asked that he keep his exploits to himself
,” Benjamin smiled. “Is that all?”

  “All of my partners? Yeah.”

  “Okay.” Benjamin nodded. “Then, I’d like to be added to the list.”

  “Added to the list? You make it sound like a trendy nightclub or something.” I laughed. “There’s not a proper list or anything, Benjie. Things just happen, whenever they happen.”

  I gave Benjamin a curious look before finishing with my thoughts. “I’m pretty shocked that you’re okay with all of this, Benjie. You seem like such a traditional kind of guy.”

  “I am,” Benjamin answered. “But from the moment that I met you, Celeste Venoix, I knew that you weren’t a traditional kind of girl, and if I ever wanted to have a chance with you, then I’d need to learn how to adapt.”

  “I don’t want you to feel like you’re making some kind of sacrifice.” I grimaced. “If you’re not okay with a relationship like this, you don’t have to—”

  “I’m not making a sacrifice. I think there’s been a misunderstanding,” Benjamin interrupted my words. “I’m willing to do whatever it takes to be with you, Celeste, and I’m willing to abide by your terms. I’m not giving up anything. I’m gaining something that I’ve wanted for a very long time. You.”

  “Benjie...” I shifted towards him, before linking my arms behind his shoulders. “That’s so fucking sweet. What the fuck.”

  “Hmm. Maybe I am a bit of a poet.” Benjamin chuckled, before bending down to kiss me.

  As soon as our lips met, the electricity started up again. As sparks shot through my fingers, I deepened the kiss between Benjamin and me, letting my tongue swirl against his own, as my hips suggestively pressed further into him.

  But Benjamin soon broke off our kiss before moving a few steps away from me. “Sorry, Celeste.”

  “No, I’m the one who’s sorry. Did I do something to hurt you?” I asked, as I looked him up and down. “Sorry, it’s just when I get like that, I sometimes lose a bit of control.”

  “No. You didn’t do anything to hurt me. It’s just...” Benjamin looked off to the side. “I’m not like Zachary.”

  “I know. That’s what I like about you.” I grinned.

  “No, I mean...I don’t have any experience.”

  “Experience?”

  “With women. With sex,” Benjamin continued. “I’m a virgin, Celeste.”

  “Oh,” I said in a quiet tone.

  “Does that make you less interested in me?” Benjamin murmured.

  “No. Not at all.” I reached out and took Benjamin’s hand into my own. “I think it just means that we should move at whatever pace that you’re comfortable with. We can do whatever you feel like doing, when you feel like doing it.”

  “Okay.” Benjamin sighed, squeezed my palm. “Would you like to perhaps just hold each other’s hands as we gaze upon the stars?”

  “I would perhaps like that, Benjie.” I leaned my head onto Benjamin’s shoulder. “I would perhaps like that very much.”

  Chapter 7

  “Just give it up, Celeste,” Zachary groaned underneath me. “You’re never going to last longer than me. You like my cock too much.”

  “Shut up,” I moaned, as I grinded my hips down against Zachary again. “You’re so fucking cocky.”

  “Don’t act like you don’t like how cocky I am.” Zachary laughed, grabbing onto my waist. “You’re pretty full of my cocky, right now, aren’t you?”

  “Shut up!” I whispered, as I felt my pussy start to clench against Zachary’s shaft.

  Shit.

  I was way too close to coming. I didn’t quite know how we’d gotten here, but I knew that Zachary and I had made a bet earlier this morning about which one of us could last longer in bed. It started with Zachary eating me out under the sheets, and then, I was riding his cock as rough as I could, trying to tip him over the edge.

  “Shit!” Zachary cursed, before he let out a loud groan. “Your pussy’s getting tighter. You must be close.”

  “Nope,” I lied, as I continued to rock against him. “Are you close?”

  “Fuck yeah, I’m close. I always get close when you’re close,” Zachary sped through his words. “Fuck. We might end up with a tie, if we come at the same time.”

  “We’re not going to come at the same time. You’re going to come before me.”

  “No fucking way—Shit!” Zachary cursed again, as I quickened my pace against him, letting his cock slide in and out of me in double time. My toes curled, as the first wave of an orgasm threatened to pull me under, but I somehow managed to suppress it.

  “Shit, shit, shit!” Zachary groaned, pumping inside of me, his hips lifting away from the bed. He muttered something under his breath, before giving me an annoyed look. “Fine. You win.”

  “Told you so.” I grinned, as I rocked myself to completion, moaning out Zachary’s name as I came against him, hard.

  “Meet you after Mr. Toorin’s class? Back in our dorm?” Zachary asked, as we walked down the hall toward the cafeteria.

  “Zach. Chill. We just had sex this morning.” I chuckled, as I turned the nearest corner. “We still need to do other stuff, you know, like study and eat and sleep.”

  “Nah. We don’t need to do any of that,” Zachary continued. “Just come back to the dorm after class? Please? I’ll make it quick this time.”

  “Fine.” I playfully rolled my eyes, knowing full well that I wanted to have Zachary inside of me again just as much as he wanted to be inside of me too. It’d been like this for a few months, with Zachary and I having sex every chance we could. I just couldn’t get enough of him, and I’d borderline wondered if it was possible to be addicted to someone, because if so, Zachary and I were completely addicted to each other.

  It was strange, to have gone from a general tolerance of each other to being around each other 24/7, and yet, I wasn’t willing to call it a love story, either. I wasn’t sure that I knew Zachary any better than I did a few months ago, at least not personally. I may have memorized every last freckle on his body, but I couldn’t even say that we’d grown closer as friends.

  We just needed each other, and when the need grew too great, we’d spend all of our free time tangled up in my bed sheets.

  When we reached the cafeteria, I saw Benjamin, Charlie and Trinity, all seated at the usual table. Benjamin flipped through the pages of a textbook, and Charlie was looking over his shoulder. Trinity was taking bites of her salad, as she kept her focus on Charlie’s frame.

  Hmm.

  I slid in beside Benjamin, who quickly closed his textbook.

  “What were you reading?” I asked. “Something boring?”

  “I don’t wish to lie to you, so I won’t say that it was boring,” Benjamin continued. “But it really wouldn’t be fascinating to those who didn’t know what they were looking at.”

  “Okay. So, what were you looking at?”

  “Just something that Benjie and I have been working on after classes,” Charlie explained. “We think we’ve finally got it all figured out.”

  “Wait. Are you two still working on whatever-the-fuck you were working on months ago?” I asked. “And you’re still not going to tell me what it is?”

  “Maybe, if this succeeds, we can finally let you in on our progress.” Benjamin beamed. “It really is an exciting realization.”

  “Exciting for him. Terrifying for me.” Charlie shrugged. “But isn’t that how science experiments always tend to go?”

  “Oh, Charlie. You can’t see it that way. You’re not a science experiment. You’re a pioneer,” Trinity replied. “You’re like...oh. What was the human’s name? The first one to walk on the moon?”

  “Louis Armstrong?” Zachary suggested.

  “Oh, not him. He was the jazz player, I think.” Trinity suddenly snapped her fingers, as her eyes lit up. “Neil! Neil Armstrong!”

  “You think I’m as relevant as Neil Armstrong?” Charlie asked.

  “I think you’re going to surpass him.” Trinity grinned. “And I don
’t think anyone will be getting Charlie Collins confused with any jazz players.”

  “Ha. Yeah. Maybe not.” Charlie grinned back at Trinity. “Hey, do you want me to get you something to drink? Your glass is looking a little empty there.”

  “Let’s both go. Make a trip of it.” Trinity rose away from the table. “And maybe we can try some of that lemonade?”

  “Yeah, if Micah left any of it for the rest of us.” Charlie laughed. “You remember how much he drank at that party last week?”

  “Oh my gosh. He drank so much that I thought he was going to throw up.” Trinity giggled, before she linked arms with Charlie. “But seriously. Let’s get going. I really did want to try some of it.”

  They walked across the cafeteria, arm in arm, and I was hit by a sharp pang of confusion.

  “Uh, since when did Charlie and Trinity get so close?” I asked the table.

  “No need to worry. They’re just friends,” Benjamin answered. “And they’ve grown much closer since you two began hiding away in your dorm room.”

  I blushed at Benjamin’s subtle accusation. “We’ve just been studying.”

  “Yes, studying human anatomy.” Benjamin chuckled after his own joke. “Although, I’ve been busy myself. I haven’t had time for much else outside of coursework and walking on the moon with Charlie.”

  “I should go talk to them.” I was thinking out loud, as I got up from the table. “I’ll see you guys later.”

  “See ya.” Zachary waved me off, before he turned his attention to Benjamin. “I can’t believe I missed one of Micah’s parties. What the hell?”

  “All out.” Charlie sighed, as he handed Trinity a glass filled with a dark, red liquid. “They still have a bunch of fruit punch left, though.”

  “Fruit punch does not make lemonade.” Trinity pouted. “But thank you for trying, anyway. You’re my hero.”

  “Eh. I wouldn’t go that far. Maybe I’m just a nice guy who helps old ladies cross the street?”