Their Shifter Academy 3: Undone

by May Dawson

  She smiled faintly. “All right.”

  The two of us traded more kisses, her hands wandering my body in a way that made my already-stiff cock twitch with desire. God, I wanted her so badly, and from the way her hands skated under the hem of my t-shirt, up my abs, then along my sides, she was just as desperate for me.

  Then her palm brushed across the welt on my back. I schooled my face so she wouldn’t see it hurt, but she frowned, pulling back.

  “Jensen,” she said softly.

  “Mm?”

  “Are you hurt?”

  “Nah, it’s nothing.”

  “Take off your shirt.”

  “That’s quite an imperious tone,” I teased her. “When you’re so adorably tiny.”

  “I’m five-foot-six. I’m average height, you’re just built like a monster,” she rattled off, since it was a familiar argument, but her heart wasn’t in it. She was frowning a little. “I hurt you, didn’t I?”

  “Nothing I can’t handle.”

  “I don’t want it to be something you can handle when I touch you,” she shot back.

  That was hot. I pursed my lips, knowing the gig was up anyway. She wasn’t going to give up.

  I pulled my t-shirt over my head, tossed it onto the bed, and turned around.

  She gasped. “Oh, Jensen.”

  “It’s not as bad as it looks.”

  “What happened?”

  “The new dean’s what we could call a traditionalist,” I said.

  “He did this to you?”

  “No,” I said.

  “Who did?” she asked, steel in her voice.

  I twisted to capture her in my arms again. She gazed up at me, her face tight with worry and anger.

  “I’m fine,” I told her. “Let’s say I deserved it.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “You don’t even know what I did. You weren’t here.”

  “I don’t need to,” she said, her voice fierce. “If someone hurts you, I’m always going to want to make them pay, Jensen.”

  “You are really the cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” I told her, tucking a strand of blond hair back behind her ear. No one had ever been so protective of me before.

  Cute wasn’t really what I meant. But it was easier to say.

  I moved in to kiss her again, but she stopped me with her palm against my chest.

  “Who was it?” she asked.

  I glanced down at her hand, holding me away. “Oh, it’s like that, is it?”

  “Yeah, it’s like that,” she said, her voice heated. “Just like you want to know I’ll always be yours. Well, you’re mine, and I won’t let anyone hurt what’s mine.”

  Her words lit something deep inside me, and I kissed her. Her hand slid up my chest, then cupped my cheek as her lips caressed mine open.

  She turned her head abruptly, breaking our kiss. She fixed me with a look, eyebrows arching.

  I sighed. I wasn’t going to be able to hide it forever. “Rafe.”

  “Rafe hit you?” Her words were a quick staccato, her jaw suddenly tense.

  I almost whistled. If Rafe saw that look, it should leave him shaken.

  “He didn’t have a choice. Clearborn’s new rules. And I’m not mad,” I assured her.

  “You’re defending him,” she said.

  “I know, it annoys me too. It feels unnatural.”

  She started to slide off the desk, and I caught her.

  “Please don’t,” I said. “At least…if you have something to say to him…do it another day.”

  “He hurt you. You think I’m going to cool off?”

  Hopefully. “I just want a night with my girl.”

  “Why don’t you shift so those bruises will heal?”

  I shook my head. “Unless we’re called out for an alarm and told to shift, we’re not allowed for a week after. We have to go for check-ups at the infirmary to make sure we’re healing…but not too fast.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” she said.

  “I know,” I said impatiently. “And I’m happy to rage against the establishment another day, but right now, I don’t really give a fuck about anything but having you close to me. I missed you so goddamn much.”

  She still looked frustrated, and then suddenly, she seemed to relax, as if she’d made a decision. She looked up at me as she bit her lower lip.

  “Did you miss this?” she asked, running her fingertips over the waistband of my trousers, then unbuttoning them.

  “You know I did,” I said. “Although I was going to say the sweeter stuff to you…”

  “I don’t need sweet, Jensen,” she said, her voice husky. “I need you just the way you are.”

  She pushed me then, and I took a step back. She slipped off the desk and sank to her knees in front of me. When she drew me out of my trousers and ran her tongue across my tip, my knees almost gave out.

  She was so strong and amazing, and the thought that she would do this for me never failed to take me by surprise.

  She swirled her tongue around me, taking me in and out of her mouth. I looked down at her shiny blond hair swinging back and forth across her slender but athletic shoulders, and a wave of disbelief came over me.

  She was really mine. She really loved me.

  The way I felt for her staggered me.

  The feel of her mouth on me was amazing, and I rested a hand lightly on her head, enjoying the feel of her soft hair under my fingertips. I could barely resist the pull my hips felt to push toward her, seeking even more of her, and I exhaled hard.

  She ran her hands up my thighs until her fingertips rested on the curve of my ass, and then she pulled me deeper into her mouth. I almost gasped at the shock as she pulled my hips forward rhythmically until she relaxed and I took over, my hips rocking back and forth as she sucked my cock. Desire hummed through my body, wrapping through every muscle, which tensed as I came closer and closer to the edge.

  “I’m going to—” I whispered, and she looked up at me, mischief lighting her eyes.

  I’d take that as a yes.

  I shattered inside her mouth, my knees weakening until I reached out and caught the edge of her dresser with one hand to steady myself.

  She was smiling as she straightened, swiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “Good?”

  “I don’t usually write Yelp reviews, but I would for that,” I said.

  Her grin widened, turned into something deeper. “Well then, could I have my foursome, please?”

  “You can have anything you want,” I said. “Anything that’s mine, anyway.”

  “I’ll hold you to that, Jensen McCauley,” she said lightly.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Maddie

  While I was gone, the guys had taken the original bunk beds that were in my room and converted them into four single bunks, all together along one wall. One double-king-sized bed.

  “Who’s idea was this?” I asked, staring at it. Someone had even gotten a pair of king-sized covers. “I’m not sure if you’re a genius or a completely wicked sinner or a dedicated snuggler or… I have so many feelings.”

  “Why choose?” Penn asked, touching my lower back. I turned into him, and his hand slid down across the curve of my ass, stroking sparks everywhere he touched, as our lips met.

  The two of us were still trading kisses when I felt Jensen move behind me. His lips trailed across my throat, and I tilted my head back, welcoming him in.

  “Come here,” I murmured to Ty, who still stood in the doorway, looking uncertain.

  That uncertainty dropped away in a second as he crossed the room to us. He kissed my shoulder, and I caught him in my arms and bobbed up on my toes to kiss him. The two of us traded quick, fevered kisses as I drew him across the room toward the bed.

  “It seems a shame not to make the most of the new furniture,” I murmured, before I pushed Tyson down on it.

  He let me push him, falling easily onto the bed. He looked so athletic and cute and overdressed as he gazed up at me.<
br />
  I straddled him, before tugging at the hem of his t-shirt. He sat up, raising his arms above his head, and I tore his shirt off overhead.

  “Well, that doesn’t seem fair.” Penn sat on the edge of the bed, and his hand slipped up my lower back.

  Jensen knelt on the other side, and he caught the hem of my t-shirt and pulled it over my head in one smooth motion.

  My guys and I took turns undressing each other, in a slow, teasing dance. Then I straddled Tyson again, wanting to be sure he didn’t feel left out the first time we were all together.

  I loved them. I wasn’t sure about saying it, but I loved every one of them, and I needed every one of them.

  I needed Penn, who kissed me now with his narrow mouth as my hand slipped across the colorful ink tattooed across his chiseled shoulders. He was the carefree, wild one who gave me the freedom to be wild too, to kiss who I wanted to kiss and say what I wanted to say. He believed in being who you were, unrepentantly—and even though that wasn’t easy for him as the alpha, he was going to figure it out. I knew he would.

  Tyson tugged me down to him, and the ends of my hair swirled across his tanned skin before his lips met mine. The athletic, easygoing best friend who made me laugh… who was so much more than just a friend.

  When Jensen kissed me, his fingers laced through my hair, possessive and needy in a way that he’d never show on the surface. I needed his cool strength and secret heat.

  Also, he called me on my shit, and I desperately needed someone to do that sometimes.

  The three of us traded kisses back and forth, until I was aching with need, so much that I couldn’t help grinding across Tyson’s narrow hips. His cock brushed between my thighs as I swayed away to kiss Penn again.

  The three of them seemed to blend together into one blur of hands and mouths, kissing and sucking on my skin, massaging my breasts and my clit until I fell off Tyson in a helpless lump of twitchy orgasm.

  Unable to bear the teasing, I took Ty’s cock in hand and rubbed him against me, feeling him glide easily through the wet heat between my thighs. He bit his lip as he threw his head back, and I enjoyed the power I had over him—and how it satisfied the ache between my own thighs—as I used him to tease myself.

  Then I slid onto him, slowly, until he was deep inside me.

  Jensen touched my chin, and I turned my face into his, kissing me deeply.

  Penn moved behind me, and I stopped with Tyson buried deep inside me as Penn’s hand cupped my hip confidently. As I rode up and down Tyson’s cock, feeling him fill me completely each time I descended, Penn’s tip teased over the curve of my ass until I bit my lip in desire.

  I’d never known how much I’d want more than one man inside me at one time, but having all three of them worship my body and kiss me and touch me at one time was the most amazing thing I’d ever experienced.

  “Penn,” I murmured. “Please?”

  He leaned over and kissed my throat. His warm, muscular body swayed against my back, and then he gently pushed inside me, until he filled me. Deeply satisfied, the three of us moved together, while Jensen kissed me and toyed with my nipples and even tucked back my hair.

  The sounds of all of us moaning together blended into one, loud enough in my quiet room to make me bite hard on my lower lip, afraid of what people would hear.

  Then I couldn’t bear it anymore, as my orgasm crested. The sound that tore out of my throat was deep and primal.

  Then the four of us collapsed into one heap on the bed. Tyson’s cock was still buried deep inside me, and I lay on his chest, curling my head into the hollow of his shoulder. His hands massaged my back, firm and pleasant, until I could’ve fallen asleep right there, sated and naked against him.

  Penn sauntered off to the bathroom, then came back. Meanwhile, Jensen lay on the other side of Tyson. His hand rubbed absently against the curve of my ass, wakening all new desire, no matter how exhausted I was.

  Together, the four of us curled close and warm and safe. Penn pulled the blankets up over us.

  “Good night, wayward children,” Penn said huskily, leaning over to give me a last kiss until morning.

  “Good night,” I said softly.

  No matter how long the day had been, it ended wrapped in the arms of the men I loved.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Maddie

  The next few days passed in what was almost the usual blur of classes, although the long pall of the witches’ threats hung over campus. I avoided Rafe and Lex, as much as I could; I didn’t trust what I’d say to them.

  On Friday, we ran yet another drill. This time, some of our fellow students had been pre-selected as casualties who pretended to collapse in the woods. No one had warned us ahead of time. For our team, it was Rafe who lay on the forest floor, his teeth gritted and his eyes closed like he couldn’t bear to watch while we were being judged.

  Instructors paced among the trees, watching us as we administered emergency first aid, then began to carry the wounded out of the woods and back toward campus. Then a second pretend attack was launched. Some of us were supposed to shift; some of us were supposed to stay with the fallen.

  It was a mess. Communication broke down between the patrols and between the wolves and the humans. The sound of increasingly frantic baying filled the woods. I gritted my teeth, helping to carry Rafe out. Then we accidentally stumbled into a line of our own wolves that we hadn’t realized were there. We were supposed to have some kind of formation when witches attacked, but either we’d gone off-course or they were in the wrong place.

  Lex’s jaw was tight as he tried to push us through their lines, trying to stay polite as Duncan cursed at him.

  Lex took a quick step toward Duncan, and I thought he was going to hit him.

  “You might not want to be dead for this,” I whispered to Rafe, who hung over my shoulder in a fireman’s carry. He’d played by the rules for the last hour. The only sign he was still alive his hand pressing into my lower back to help brace his weight.

  Rafe looked to Lex, then whispered loudly, “Not worth it. Not the time, either.”

  Lex raised his hands and stepped away. Duncan snarled at him, then went back to brow-beating his cadets.

  Through the woods, I caught the watchful eyes of Clearborn standing in the shadows. All of the instructors were out prowling around, evaluating us and writing notes on clipboards, but seeing him made my heart race.

  “Let me take him,” Chase said. My knees were buckling—I’d done this too much lately—and I let my friend shift Rafe’s weight from me, although I hoped Clearborn didn’t think I’d carried him too little.

  I hated having to worry so much about what people thought of me, but that was life as a female shifter. They were judging me. There was no point in denying it.

  When we got back to campus, we took Rafe all the way to the infirmary, which was overflowing with pretend patients. We had to put Rafe down on the tile floor. Chase groaned as he rubbed his shoulder, then took his weapon back from me.

  I looked down the hall, full of students pretending to be unconscious while a handful of older students moved amongst them doing triage, overseen by the campus doc. There was no blood on anyone’s clothes, no gaping wounds torn open, but it was all too easy to imagine.

  We were at war with the witches. The attack Tyson and I had overheard them talking about hadn’t come—yet—but the truth was that we weren’t ready.

  Dread settled like a weight in my stomach.

  “It feels like we’re all failing,” I said to Chase.

  “What are his injuries?” A tall, dark-haired cadet said confidently as he leaned over Rafe.

  “He was hit by a blast of magic that knocked him unconscious, and we don’t know what spell the witches used. He started bleeding from his nose and ears. His pulse has been thready." I rattled off.

  He nodded. “Leave him here and meet back up with your patrol. We’ve got him.”

  He sounded so sure of himself that if this were a r
eal situation, I’d have felt better.

  But as Chase and I turned to head down the hall, I heard him say, “No, he’s not making the list.”

  He was talking about triage.

  “It’s just pretend,” Chase said, bumping my shoulder with his, as if he’d just seen my face. “It’s not real.”

  “But it will be,” I said. “Maybe not exactly like this, but…”

  We’d run these basic drills before, meeting up with our patrol and heading through the woods. I’d thought we knew what we were doing. Our patrol had been through real-world stuff together, and yet…

  Maybe two hundred shifters couldn’t protect the academy, yet. Not when we were still learning what we were doing. Not if all the covens launched a coordinated attack.

  When we got outside, everyone gathered around Clearborn and a handful of other instructors. The ‘wounded’ students followed us out a minute later, and Rafe clapped his hand on my shoulder as he squeezed by me. I glanced at him in surprise, warmed by his hand on my shoulder. Maybe he’d heard me worrying to Chase.

  Oh right, I was still furious at him.

  “I want you all to talk through today’s drill with your patrols,” Clearborn said, his voice loud enough to carry. “How do you feel about it?”

  There was a general grumbling through the group. Some cadets tried to posture that their patrol had done well, but others weren’t having it and shouted them down.

  “Well, good,” Clearborn said drily. “We all acknowledge that would’ve been a bloodbath. At least we can work with that. We can get better.”

  “Some people need to learn where their lines are,” Duncan muttered, shooting a dark look at Lex and Rafe.

  I knew Duncan too well. Even though he was in the cadre, he’d bullied me any chance he’d had, when Rafe or Lex wasn’t around to stop him.

  Clearborn stopped and looked directly at Duncan, who fell silent.

  “Patrol leaders, talk to your patrols and make sure they get a good night’s rest. I’ll see you all after dinner to discuss where you see room for improvement and what your plans are with your individual patrols. Tomorrow’s a new day and a new drill. We’ve got time to spend practicing until we get this right—no one is leaving campus until we do.” Clearborn told us.