Academy of Mages and Shifters 1

by Laura Wylde

  “Yes,” I agreed with a nod. “It certainly was. You are one hell of a good kisser.”

  There was a beat of silence which had me in a sheer state of panic that I had said the wrong thing, until she erupted into giggles. Laughter that peeled loudly through the caves and that I found so infectious, I couldn’t help joining in. We ended up bent double in hysterics which was ridiculous considering the situation surrounding us, but it felt incredible. Chuckling with Megan took the weight of the world off my shoulders. There was a lightness to me that I hadn’t felt in a very long time and it was a sensation that I wanted to cling to forever.

  Once we started laughing, the sexual chemistry flooded through us once more. It was a really strange but nice combination of friendship and feelings. Perhaps this was what it was supposed to feel like… falling in love with a friend. I could really imagine it, and to be honest, I could see it with all of us. Even Connor who initially seemed not to like her but was the first one out of all of us to kiss her. She could have been the one for us.

  It was Megan who eventually leaned in and reconnected us, bringing us back to yet another kiss. This time, it was deeper and more passionate. Her tongue massaged mine, and I pulled her body closer to me, loving her body heat. I almost wanted to peel her clothes off, to undress her and see where this could lead, but Megan O’Malley deserved a whole lot better than a dark cave floor, so I was going to have to hold myself back.

  “Oh my God.” All of a sudden, Megan leaped away from me as if she’d been electrocuted. “What was that?”

  “What?” I gushed, wondering what the hell had her so panicked. “I didn’t hear anything.”

  She pressed her finger to my lips to silence me which I instantly obeyed, and I strained my ears to listen. It didn’t take me long to realize just what Megan was talking about. I could hear it too now, like a scuffling sound. I leapt upwards and started to look around to see what could have made the sound. I was primed to shift at any moment if the situation demanded it. I would be a dragon in a moment if the demon showed himself.

  “Oh, hell,” I groaned. “I can see what it is. There are some rats here.”

  “Magical ones?” Megan demanded, her voice trembling with terror. “Something to do with the demon?”

  “No, just normal ones.” I shook my head, instantly trying to reassure her. “We should get out of here though because it’s unnecessary for us to keep looking when we haven’t even found a trail or anything.”

  “We could go and see if everyone else has found anything,” she agreed. “We don’t know what’s going on.”

  I held out my hand to her and she took it willingly. As her fingers interlocked with mine, I couldn’t keep the giant smile off my face. Much as everything was messy, something good had come from these escapades. I just hoped that the other guys had located the demon because we got nowhere. I didn’t think that any of us wanted to continue chasing the shadow around the country with no idea of what it was doing.

  Chapter 11

  Megan

  “Wow,” I gushed as the cold air whipped through my hair. “This is higher than I have ever been before.”

  I wasn’t sure if it was because Trevor was smaller or it was safer for him to go higher because his color blended in the sky, but I was enjoying the thrilling terrifying experience. Up until this point, I had only trusted Artemis to soar me through the air, but considering what Duncan had said to me before, I wanted to try with other dragons. After the awesome bonding time I’d had with Trevor in the caves, complete with an amazing kiss, he was the next obvious choice. Just as long as he didn’t keep me up this high for too long because it was also freaking me out a little.

  I leaned in against Trevor and pressed my body against him until he slowly lowered me down towards the ground. I realized how hard my heart hammered violently as I hit the floor, but it was adrenaline as well as fear.

  “You really are fast,” I giggled, with a heat in my cheeks as Trevor turned back to his human form. “Wow.”

  “I know, that’s my advantage over everyone else,” he laughed. “But I’m glad that you enjoyed flying with me.”

  I impulsively leaned across and planted a kiss on his lips. The other dragons were sitting around the campfire that was set up to keep us warm and I just knew that they could see us, but I didn’t feel any need to be embarrassed. They all knew about me and Connor anyway, so why not explore how far the bond stretched?

  “I would fly with you again, any time. It was really awesome. You’re a great guy, Trevor.”

  “You know, no one has ever told me that before.” His eyes hit the floor hard. “I have always been considered the runt or the outsider, so to have you look at me the way that you do feels honestly incredible. I can’t tell you enough.”

  I bent my knees, desperately needing to see into his eyes. “Well, I truly think it about you. You make me relaxed and happy. We have a good laugh as well, don’t we? Me and you?” I shot him a wink. “And we will always have the cave. Our little secret.” Not that it would stay a secret, I was sure. “And if it wasn’t for those damn rats…”

  I had a feeling that Trevor wanted more to happen in the caves, and to be honest I did as well. I wanted him to be brave enough to peel my clothing off, to dip his eager fingers into my panties and to feel how much I desired him. If he had laid me on my back, I would have been able to ignore the damp wetness and allowed anything to go forward.

  But I suppose it was probably for the best that it hadn’t. It wasn’t an ideal situation. Plus, I had always heard through the druidess whispers that sex wasn’t right, it wasn’t as fulfilling unless it was with one of the clan. It had to be the whole harem to make it work out. To make it the best thing ever. I wanted it to be the best.

  “Right, come on.” Trevor slipped his fingers in to mine and we headed back to the fire. No one commented on us holding hands, but Artemis did wink at me in a happy for me kind of way. I grinned right back.

  “So, that was good, huh?” Connor asked before handing me a plate of food that he had cooked on the fire.

  “I liked it. It was nice flying in the light and blending in with the sky. A lot of fun.”

  “Yeah, I can imagine.” Connor rolled his eyes. “The rest of us need to wait for the night time to hide in.”

  “I have to have some advantages.” Trevor shrugged and laughed, happy to banter with his friends. “Being the smallest and everything. If it means being faster and able to travel in the daylight. I will take it.”

  He seemed a lot more relaxed now that we’d kissed, and I really liked it. I enjoyed seeing Trevor not looking quite so weighed down. He didn’t deserve to struggle with everything. It seemed like he had always carried the fear of what everyone else thought of him on his shoulders and getting rid of that suited him a lot. He had insinuated that he hadn’t always had the easiest time in Scotland, and I could see that in him now. Poor guy. Well, at least he had a harem that looked after him and respected him now. That was the main thing. He could move forward positively.

  “So, you guys really didn’t find anything?” I asked, directing my question at Connor more than anyone else because he had been the most vocal in his explanation about their lack of success. “Nothing at all?”

  “Nope,” he replied, popping the P. “Absolutely nothing. Not even a sign that the demon was here.”

  Urgh, that was so frustrating. Were we being taken on a wild goose chance here? Would we have no chance of finding him? I couldn’t even imagine how they would feel at the academy if we returned with nothing. The teacher would go mad. I was sure that we weren’t going to be allowed back through those doors until we had him.

  “Do you think that maybe we should go back to Big Ben then?” I attempted. “Continue the journey there?”

  “I don’t know.” Connor shook his head. “I’m not sure if going backwards is the best solution. We need to find out where he’s going next and follow that trail. Not that we can see where he is at the moment. He’s doing
that fucking annoying thing where he’s all over the place again. We have to wait until he stops.”

  I wasn’t sure how to feel about sitting around and just waiting. It wasn’t the easiest thing to be sitting ducks, but at the same time, I needed the rest. I was grateful for the time to just chill out and eat, plus the chat was awesome as well. Getting to know these guys was always amazing for me. They truly did fascinate me.

  “Okay.” I nodded and smiled at Connor, surprising myself at how good it felt to agree with him. “Let’s do that.”

  I leaned back and rested my head on the ground, staring up at the stars. The twinkled brightly, allowing me to get lost in the idea that everything was alright in the world and there wasn’t anything to worry about. It was an addictive sensation, one that I could get intoxicated by and sucked into if I let myself.

  “Are you okay?” The heat of Artemis’s body snuggled in next to me, shielding me from the coldness of the night. Or early morning, I wasn’t entirely sure what time of day we were dealing with right now. Or what day, to be honest. It had all become a blur with the mixed working in days and nights and without the structure of the academy. That was quite a nice feeling though, it was freeing to be without that information holding me back. “We haven’t had much time to chat since we got to Wales. Nor did we talk much in London. I just wanted to check in on you.”

  “I’m good,” I sighed. “Just drinking in the stars. Pretending the demon apocalypse isn’t coming.”

  As I laughed to show Artemis that I was joking, it took him a second to join in. I really hoped that wasn’t what he feared because surely that wouldn’t happen? God, I didn’t even want to think about a world overrun by demons. It was impossible. Especially when there weren’t as many magical folks on the planet as there used to be. Would we be able to handle it? Would we be able to fight them off and keep everyone else safe? I had no idea.

  “We’re going to sort this,” Artemis reassured me. “We will make this work. Don’t worry.”

  I turned on to my side to look at him and he did the same thing. We stared lovingly into one another’s eyes and successfully blocked everyone else out for the time being. I could hear Connor and Duncan loudly discussing our next plan of action, but I had tuned him out enough to not pick up any words.

  “Thank you for everything, Artemis,” I declared quietly while gently stroking his cheek. “You were the first person in the academy to look out for me and I won’t ever forget that. You helped me at my lowest time.”

  “I didn’t even realize that you were struggling,” he confessed. “I just liked you and wanted to talk to you.”

  “Even though it got you in trouble with Connor?” I teased. “Because he wasn’t my biggest fan, was he?”

  “Actually, I think that he liked you too much and that was the problem. He didn’t know how to hack it. He might have the rest of the female academy members falling at his feet, yet you are the one that he wants, and it probably scared the living hell out of him.” Artemis laughed. “But he’s settling into the feelings now which is nice.”

  “You think so?” I shivered as I remembered the steamy kiss we shared in London. “I hope so.”

  “And I believe that you might be settling into your feelings as well. For all of us. Am I right about that?”

  I offered him a one shouldered shrug, because admitting the truth meant fully committing to something that was forever. I wanted it, and all that I had to do was reach out and touch it, but I didn’t. Not yet. It felt too soon.

  His hand reached forward and stroked my skin as well. He brushed my face, my arm, my legs… and it was electrifying. It brought me closer to him, I rolled as near as I could, and I edged my lips closer to his. Even though a kiss had been building between me and Artemis for the longest out of all the dragons, I wanted to take a little bit longer to just stare at him and to admire him. He was beautiful in every single way, and he made me feel incredible. Artemis was the first person to make me feel comfortable and I loved that sensation.

  I breathed him in and for a while, it seemed like he was happy to do the same for me. His eyes drank my face in just as eagerly as mine did his, we couldn’t get enough of simply staring intensely at each other. Weirdly, just gazing was the most romantic thing that had happened to me. Seeing Artemis and having his eyes bore right into my soul as well was wonderful. I didn’t want it to end but at the same time, I felt myself drawn ever closer to him

  I pressed his lips against mine, just briefly at first with my eyes open so that I could still look at him. But it wasn’t enough, I immediately needed more. So, I leaned back in and kissed him again. Longer this time, sexier. I even found myself nibbling on his bottom lip which elicited a delightful moan from him. One that bolted down to my core.

  Kissing Artemis was different from Connor, he was softer and more sultry. It wasn’t the same as Trevor either, they all had their own styles, something about them that made them feel unique. But at the same time, I could also tell that they were a dragon clan and I liked that. I had a feeling that all of them together would be able to satisfy my insatiable sexual needs. I was going to need every man to make it perfect. This was what they meant by it being better with all of them, wasn’t it? Only… I hadn’t been with all of them quite yet…

  “Wow,” Artemis whispered with excitement. “Megan, you are…” He licked his lips as if he was trying to taste where I was only moments before, showing how much he enjoyed it. “You really are something else, aren’t you?”

  I giggled, sure that a blush was flowing through my cheeks, not that Artemis minded. He grabbed a stray strand of hair that had fallen over my face and tucked it lovingly behind my ear. There was a part of me that thought it was for the best for us both to move, to start interacting with everyone else as well, but I liked being lost in this world with Artemis too damn much. It gave me a break from everything else going on, and I needed that. In the end, it was that side of me which won out, and I remained to lie in Artemis’s arms, staring up at him until the tiredness got to me and I felt my eyes flickering closed, giving up on this day for the time being. Preparing myself for tomorrow…

  The sunlight woke me up. It got to the point where it was so bright that I couldn’t keep up the pretense of sleep any longer, so much that my body groaned and resisted, I pushed myself up into a sitting position and prized my eyes open. I rubbed the sleep from my eye balls and took a look around.

  “Duncan?” I found him hunched over a book near where the campfire was last night. “What are you doing?”

  He didn’t answer me, so I moved over to where he was and crouched beside him. I tried to read what he was looking at, but I was still too tired really to pick out any words. I couldn’t work out why he was so wired.

  “Do you need me to do anything while everyone else is still sleeping?” I asked him instead.

  “Oh, a coffee would be awesome. If you don’t mind. I could use some caffeine to keep me going.”

  I magicked one up using my talents for the menial task since there wasn’t exactly a high-class coffee machine out here in the wilderness. Duncan took it gratefully and drank a giant sip back. His eyes widened in surprise, I guess he didn’t know that I was capable of making such a nice beverage. I was oddly proud of myself.

  “Thank you, Megan, that means a lot to me. I’m just trying to work out the demon’s motive here.”

  “Ah, yes!” I agreed eagerly. “That’s what I want to know as well. I think that once we have a motive, we can work out what he’s up to and track him better. Right now, we’re always steps behind him and it’s frustrating.”

  Duncan and I shared an understanding smile. We got one another, we both seemed to think along the same methods as one another, which was exciting. It was good to have someone to bounce off like that. So, as we dived into what we both thought that he might be up to, half possible and half more conspiracy theories, and surprisingly I found us bonding as well. It hadn’t hit me until now, but I hadn’t had much time with Dun
can alone, so this early morning wake up was exactly what we both wanted and needed. Especially if I was going to end up with these guys as a harem, then I needed to know all of them intimately. I needed to know if I could like every single one of them.

  I thought that I was starting to understand Duncan, that I was getting used to his manners and way of dealing with things, but then he completely swept me off my feet by spinning me around, just as I was staring at a page in the book, and kissing me. He kissed me hard and fast, stripping the air from my lungs completely.

  “Woah…” I staggered away from him, but only because I was shocked. “That was…”

  I brushed my fingers over my lips and smiled at Duncan, silently letting him know that I enjoyed our kiss.

  “Sorry. I just wanted to kiss you.” I clutched my hand to my chest as he looked embarrassed. “I didn’t mean to make you feel all awkward or anything. I just… you have kissed everyone else.”

  “Maybe I was saving the best to last,” I shot back with a flirty wink. “And that was one hell of a kiss.”

  “But not quite enough.” I could see his confidence rebuild as he met my eyes and he realized that I actually did like him. “I think that we might need to do it again, just to be sure. Don’t you think?”

  I took giant strides towards him, closing the gap, and hooked my hand around the back of his neck to bring his lips to mine. Electricity consumed me and I felt more right than I had done in a very long time. I had kissed every single one of the dragons and there was something special about claiming a little piece of them all. Kissing Duncan only made me a hundred percent more thrilled about what it could be like to be with them together. There was me assuming that I wouldn’t find a harem, and now I was considering having sex with these men. So much had changed.

  “Oh my God.” Only Duncan’s attention wasn’t on me as soon as we pulled apart. His ambition and need to get this case over and done with before anyone got hurt overtook everything else which I totally understood. “The tracker, it’s stopped.” His eyes met mine and all I could see was panic there. “He’s in Ireland.”