Lucas peered over my lap from his chair like he was trying to get a look at something under the rabbit. “I’d prefer if he didn’t leave pellets on the bed.”
I rolled my eyes. “The beds clean themselves. Besides, there’s always Isaac’s bed. Isn’t there some option to live off campus here?”
They exchanged a look that I couldn’t quite read fast enough to know if I’d said something wrong. Lucas shrugged. “Maybe. Not yet, though.”
“What’s that mean?” I asked. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to suggest we should move into together or—”
“No,” Isaac said quickly. “Nothing would be better. We’ve… talked about it a little. But for now, the dorms are the only option.”
I quirked a curious eyebrow. “So… that won’t always be the case?”
Lucas shrugged, smirking at me. “Who knows?”
When Isaac only mirrored the mysterious expression, I narrowed my eyes at both of them. “Magicians and secrets. It does get old.”
“If I recall,” Isaac murmured, “you didn’t drop by for secrets. Did you?”
I bit my lip, shrugging one shoulder as I hefted the rabbit and set him down on the floor, where I’d secured a few carrots for him to chew on and a dish of water to drink. He loped under the bed to get to them as I leaned back on Lucas’s bed. “I did drop by for secrets,” I said. “But not that kind, no.”
The two of them turned wicked as they moved toward me. Excitement ran through me, but as they crawled onto the bed on either side of me I had a sudden flash of my moment with Hunter, before everything unraveled. Guilt followed behind. I should have told them before, and now that we were about to get a little downtime together it made me ache to think that I’d betrayed them, even for a second. “Uh… there is one thing,” I said quietly as I sat up, nervous at the prospect of copping to what I’d done. “Probably, you should know before we… you know.”
“What’s that?” Isaac asked as he trailed a finger down my neck and over my back. Even through the uniform shirt it left behind traces of wiggling lightning.
Lucas put a hand on my leg. “Tell us,” he said softly, squeezing gently just above my knee.
I bit my lip. “Um… so, the night that I had my last… waking dream event,” I said slowly, “before that, I was with Hunter.”
“Yes,” Isaac said. “We know. You told us.”
“I left out a detail,” I muttered, sick with a mix of hope and guilt. “I didn’t really mean to, it was just… after what happened I had other things on my mind, and then with classes and everything we haven’t really had this kind of time so it just never came up and, well… it’s just that Hunter and I kind of… well, we kissed. And I know we had a whole talk about being exclusive and he didn’t force himself on me or anything, it really isn’t his fault, we just were talking about Nathan and this whole thing with him teaching me and… and… I don’t know. There’s no excuse, and I’m so, so sorry.”
The two of them were quiet a moment. I looked from Lucas to Isaac and then down at the floor. “I don’t know why I did it.”
“Sure you do,” Lucas said quietly as he squeezed my knee again and then let his hand travel up along my thigh, under my skirt. “You miss him. Just like we do.”
Isaac’s hand traveled up to my neck, tangled in my hair a little, massaging the tense muscles at the base of my scalp. “Don’t beat yourself up over it.”
Part of the knot in my stomach untied. “You’re not mad at me? After we talked about it just being the three of us, I thought…”
I trailed off as Lucas reached the top of my thigh. “We know how you feel about Hunter, love,” he breathed against my ear. “He’ll sort himself out, but it’ll take time. It always does with him. In the meantime, you’re not supposed to be worrying about anything right now, right? Pretty sure that was the deal.”
“How do you suggest I not stress out about Hunter being, well, Hunter and worrying that Nathan is secretly going to ‘disappear’ me at any moment?” I ran my hands through my hair, pulling it out from its ponytail, intent on redoing it. Lucas’s hand on mine stopped me though, as he instead directed my hand to his lips. I expected a gentlemanly kiss on my hand (I blamed all the regency era movies I’d watched over the course of one week this summer) but my stomach burned with desire when he did something utterly salacious. It felt like he stole my breath from my chest as he sucked my finger into his mouth, his tongue teasing me with lustful promises.
“I think we can offer something suitable,” Isaac murmured into my ear as his hand slid over my belly to tease at my skirt’s waistband. I let my eyes fall shut as Lucas moved to another finger, enjoying the sensation more than I ever thought I would.
Hunter flashed through my mind and I jerked, startling myself. I blushed hard, embarrassed that I almost thought about someone else while with them. I peeked one eye open, squinting at Isaac as he traced his lips over my shoulder.
I shuddered as he looked at me through his dark eyelashes, his eyes full of heated desire. Slowly he arched an eyebrow before his sinful lips tilted up in a knowing smirk.
“Something, or should I say someone, still on your mind, Amy?” he said, his whisper sending shivers through my body as I tried to stammer a reply. But he covered my lips with his own, teasing me with a simple kiss, so much more innocent than I knew he was capable. “Do you wish it was Hunter’s hand sliding under your skirt?” I squeezed my eyes shut as I felt curious fingers tease their way under my hem. They stayed there, just on the provocative side of appropriate, rubbing in soft circles. Isaac’s lips nipped at my earlobe before he continued in a hushed whisper. “Or his tongue teasing your fingers?”
I whimpered at the idea that cast and I could feel myself growing wetter, my pussy crying out to be touched. Lucas’s mouth moved from my hand to my neck as his hands deftly unbuttoned my shirt, unclasping my bra and pushing both items off of me, baring me to them.
Knuckles brushed down my breast before fingers plucked and teased my nipple. “Hunter would spend hours on your tits.” Lucas’s voice was labored and dropped an octave. He pressed into me, as if seeking attention for his straining cock. My focus narrowed down to where they touched me and the words they spoke in my ear. “Teasing, and pinching, and sucking.” It was like he was casting an illusion for me with his words. In my mind, their hands turned into Hunter’s. “Do you want that, Amelia? Do you want Hunter to taste you, to wrap his lips around your nipple, teasing you with his mouth until you’re on the edge of cumming from that alone?”
“Oh god, yes,” I shuddered out, sagging backwards onto the bed, my hands lifted to rest over my head and my eyes still shut to maintain the illusion. Oh, I knew it was Lucas and Isaac doing this to me, and it was hot as fuck. But having them encourage me to fantasize about Hunter? It made everything so much hotter.
Lips and hands enveloped my breasts, and I imagined it was Hunter’s hands kneading my breasts, guiding a nipple toward him so he could lick at it before wrapping his lips around it. It was delicious torture only relieved when he moved to my neglected breast, the sensation shooting down into my panties.
The relentless manipulation drove me to the edge as promised, and when I sank my fingers into the back of his uniform, in my mind it was Hunter’s back I clutched as I hung on the precipice of orgasm. I wanted to rub my thighs together, but those teasing fingertips pinned me to the bed as if they were ropes.
“Would you tell Hunter that you were going to cum?” Isaac’s voice was warm velvet across my cheeks and I reached out to grasp his shirt, lips parting as I let out a low moan. I nodded, unable to form words.
“Tsk, Tsk, Ms. Cresswin,” Lucas admonished me. “Tell Hunter you’re close to cumming. Say his name and he might make you cum.”
Fuck if that didn’t nearly do it just then. I licked my lips, desperate for more than the gentle teasing of Lucas’s hands, just enough to get me so close, and wanting to beg for Isaac to slip into my underwear, to touch me in the exact way that would shatter
me.
“I’m so close, Hunter,” I cried, my hips bucking as saying his name turned the dial to max. Isaac’s hand moved so quickly I could only let out a yelp that turned into a moan as he cupped me, grinding his heel down against my clit.
“Come for Hunter, Amelia,” Isaac ordered, his hand giving my aching clit exactly what it needed.
“Say his name, Amy,” Lucas seconded before his lips wrapped around my nipple once more.
“Hunter,” I moaned out, unashamed. “Hunter. Hunter. Hunter.” It was my personal mantra of lust. Every other word, in all the languages I knew, disappeared and I could only cling to his name. Then... I was launched over the edge, arching my back as my hips ground down against Isaac’s palm.
Limp from the orgasm, I let Isaac banish my panties without admonishment. They were likely ruined after that anyways. I lazily complied, my eyes closed in bliss, as they rolled me to my side. I heard Lucas mutter the familiar contraceptive spell, but Isaac’s was different. Unfamiliar. I turned my head to look back at him, and then felt a warm, soothing sensation where I definitely didn’t expect it.
“Oh—what...” My throat closed up. We actually hadn’t done this yet and I could feel my nerves beating against the relaxation I’d found.
“The spell will make it much more comfortable for you,” Isaac said against my shoulder, his tongue flicking out as if tasting me. “If you want to, we don’t have to. And if we do, and you don’t like it, we’ll stop.”
I chewed on my bottom lip, flashing my eyes toward Lucas, whose cock pressed against the juncture of my thighs. He watched me, curious, his golden eyes darkened with lust for me.
I nodded, unsure at first before finding my voice. “I want to try it,” I said with genuine feelings, even if a part of that was uncertainty. Never of my lovers, only of trying something new.
“That changes, and you let us know,” Lucas said as he slid a hand down my thigh until he guided my leg over his hip. He reached between us, gripping his cock and dragging it against my pussy.
“Promise,” I said quietly, unable to speak any louder as I pushed back against Isaac. It was like the idea had gone from wariness to an overwhelming need.
Isaac pressed his lips against the back of my neck and I felt him guide his cock to my ass. Slowly, he entered me, and I was thankful to the spell. I had heard, before I knew about magic, of girls having anal sex and how uncomfortable it could be without proper preparation. But with the aid of magic, Isaac slowly sank into me until his cock was buried in my ass, and it felt amazing. My breath hiccupped out of me as he started to slide out.
My breath caught entirely as Lucas thrust his cock into me at a faster pace, the dichotomy of the sensations making my mind go blank. Over and over, Lucas and Isaac caught me in their devious game of push and pull. Spinning me toward another orgasm as they fucked me at the same time.
Then they started talking.
“You let Hunter get you ready for us,” Lucas said before he licked a hot stripe against my neck.
“Say his name again, Amy.” Isaac’s words came out in shudders, his thrusts growing harder. “Let him know how good we’re fucking you for him.”
“Show him how much you love our cocks in you, how much you wish it was him fucking you right now. His cock fucking your pussy.”
“Fuck.” My voice cracked at the end, as my hands scrambled against Lucas’s chest, my nails catching on his buttons. I wanted to sob, the pleasure building in my stomach, so much deeper—heavier—than before. Once again, Hunter’s name spilled from my lips. Over and over, louder and louder, as if calling his name alone would summon him to me. That he would feel my pull through space and let him hear me worship him with my voice. I could feel my pleasure beating against my skin like harsh waves trying to drag me into their depths. I could feel the weight of it spreading into my magic as it filled every part of me, Lucas and Isaac’s harsh pants the accompaniment to my song.
Hunter. Hunter. Hunter.
Over and over, until I couldn’t even say that and light burst behind my eyelids as my orgasm overpowered me.
When I finally came out of the blissed-out stupor we found ourselves in afterwords, my limbs still felt too heavy to move. So I leaned back against Isaac, my head pillowing on his shoulder. Lucas was slumped against me, his face against my chest, his arm thrown around the both of us. He was adorable, occasionally pressing delicate kisses to me.
“Hey,” I whispered, loath to break the relaxed calm of the room. “Why are you two still roomed together? I thought they changed?”
Lucas’s breath raced against my chest as he huffed out a quiet laugh.
“When we were freshmen, Lucas got it in his head to make sure we were always roomed together,” Isaac whispered, bringing a hand up to play with my hair. “He got it in his head to bespell the admin’s scroll that made the selections. The assistant who caught him was impressed enough with his enchantment that he offered to fix it permanently for us.”
“Huh,” I grunted in amusement. I ran my fingers over Lucas’s draped arm. “Thank you, by the way. About Hunter?”
Lucas squeezed us tight as he tilted his head to look up at me, an understanding smile on his face. “How could we blame you? Hell, we knew Hunter wanted you last year. The man has to get over his self-imposed guilt already.”
“One of these days,” Isaac said, “Hunter will realize what he wants for himself. This whole tortured thing he does? It’s not new. You’ve got to understand, he came from a place where everyone sacrifices for the greater good. It’s an endearing quality—he’s utterly selfless—but at times… getting him to admit what he wants and act on it is like pulling an old stump from the ground. It only comes slowly, and it makes a mess on the way. If anyone could get him to stand up for his own wants, though… it’s certainly you.”
I wasn’t sure that he did, entirely, but maybe that was a conversation that needed to happen. I kissed them both a final time as we said our goodnights and made my way back to my room late enough, thank God, that no one was around to see my obvious just-got-fucked hair. Pete wasn’t in the room; probably, he was with Serena doing god-knew-what. I could certainly imagine a few possibilities, but I was sure that they were nothing like the reality. It sent me down a spiraling rabbit hole that I quickly climbed back out of.
Speaking of rabbits, I laid down in the bed and put Mister Rabbit on top of the covers, and was just a little melty when he snuggled up near my armpit and closed his tiny eyes, nose wiggling rapidly.
“Must be nice,” I breathed as I switched my lamp off. “Having the simple life, munching carrots and snuggling all day. Though, I guess that life rarely involves sudden trips across several state lines. Sorry about that.”
The rabbit didn’t respond—something that was in no way guaranteed, I thought—and before long I was slipping into sleep, counting myself down in the hopes of going right past dreams and into a deep, dreamless sleep where I could actually get some rest.
Oh, the futile hopes we foolishly cling to.
Amelia
I fully intended to have that conversation with Hunter. I just decided, after several awkward, failed attempts, that it might be better to wait until winter break, which loomed just a week away, along with this Academy Summit event. I was rehearsing that conversation for about the two hundred and sixty-fifth time, not that I was counting, during Percy’s—Professor Turner’s—supposed class on Abyssal Magic and Outsider Cults, when he actually managed to say something that caught my attention. It wasn’t an anecdote about his personal travels or rare manuscripts he’d gotten exclusive access to, for one thing.
“Which brings us,” he said, “to the subject of the Outsider Gods themselves.”
My ears practically burned. I sat up straighter in my seat and put my pen to the notebook in front of me for the first time this class. For the time being, Hunter was set aside in my thoughts.
Professor Turner paced behind his desk, pensive, before he came around to the front of it and lea
ned against the edge, his gaze sweeping the room in a melodramatic fashion. “There is some belief,” he said grimly, “that speaking the names of the Outsider Gods is enough to draw their attention even from beyond the bounds of our reality. Therefore, they have been given monikers; pseudonyms which, it is hoped, will not rouse their attention when spoken.”
If that was true, Az-Harad had me under a magnifying glass. I felt like that was the sort of thing that should have been introduced on day one of the class. Thanks, Professor.
“That said,” he went on, “no one really knows whether it’s true or not. Which is the problem of the Outsider Gods. All those that have much knowledge, like the famous, if unfortunately short-lived, magician Abdul Alhazred, who is one of our few firsthand resources regarding these mysterious beings, have a tendency to go mad in their research. However, I have been fortunate—if one can call it that—to peruse a list of these beings and their many names.”
I wanted to tell him to please get on with it. Two seats away, I saw Hunter white-knuckling his pen as he stared down the rows of seats in the small lecture room, probably thinking the same thing. My eyes lingered over him, willing him to look my way. He kept staring so harshly at his desk I was surprised it hadn’t caught on fire. Professor Turner kept droning on since he never gave us anything of value without first giving us the story about how he came to it.
He pushed off the desk and began to pace along the front row. “About eight years ago,” he said, “I was on an excavation to a buried temple about sixty kilometers southwest of Fayum, Egypt. The excavation had been difficult. The builders of the temple, and the generations of cultists who had used it as their sanctum, had lain a series of nasty wards and enchantments on the outer walls, the inner chambers, and the entrance to the sub-level where their rituals and worship took place. We took twelve competent magicians with strong archaeological backgrounds. Only five of us made it to the sub-level.”
A Spell for Shadows: Rosewilde Academy of Magical Arts Page 15