by Cara Wylde
“Professor, can you please tell me what I did wrong?”
“I already told you what you did wrong today.”
“Not today. In general. I can’t help but feel like… you might have something against me.”
He looked uncomfortable for a moment. Maybe it was time to start confronting all the teachers who’d been jerks to me from day one. He recovered quickly.
“I don’t have anything against you, Miss Aleksiev. I just think your behavior is inappropriate.”
“My behavior…”
“The other day, you were having coffee with Professor Lovecraft. In his office, after classes. I consider that inappropriate behavior, yes.”
My eyes widened. “We were only…”
“You seemed very intimate.”
I shook my head. “This is a misunderstanding.”
His jaw tightened. He stared me down, his thick, dark brows furrowed, his eyes throwing daggers at me. This wasn’t about my meeting with Professor Lovecraft. This was about something else, but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure it out. Not here, not now, not when his mood was so volatile.
“What if I informed Headmaster Colin about it? Do you think he’d condone your behavior, Miss Aleksiev?”
I threw my hands in the air. “This is unbelievable! How can you think there’s something going on between me and Professor Lovecraft? He is… he is…” I was at a loss for words. “Way older than me!”
He grinned. “Is he? Because you’ve lived quite a long life as well, haven’t you?”
That blocked me. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. To that, there was no way I could come up with an intelligent reply.
“Thought so.”
“What are you talking about?” I managed in a choked voice.
He stepped up to me, filling my personal space with his presence. I pulled my spine as straight and as tall as I could, but I still felt like a child before him. Damn genes! The women in my family were simply… not tall. When he spoke, I could feel his hot breath on my face.
“What is your secret, Miss Aleksiev? How are you human and yet… immortal?”
“I’m not immortal…”
“If you’re not, then it means you’re cheating death. You’ve been cheating death for quite some time.”
I shook my head. A strand of blond hair escaped my braid, falling on my cheek. He did the most unexpected thing – he reached out his hand and brushed the hair away from my face. His fingers lingered inches from the shell of my ear, and I found myself so unbearably tempted to lean in and press my cheek to his palm. He pulled away before I made a fool of myself. I hadn’t been with a man in a while. It was something I needed to fix, because I was starting to embarrass myself.
“Does the Supernatural Council know? They must…”
I kept silent.
“Will you tell me your secret, Miss Aleksiev?”
He murmured the words, his voice low, almost seductive. I was in a state of shock, and it took me a second to recover. When I did, I took a step back and placed my scythe between us.
“There’s no secret, Professor Wyvern.” It was a lie. How I’d managed to stay alive and young for so long was the most well-kept secret of the millennium. “I must hurry to my next class.”
And I was out of there, like a gazelle running away from a hungry lion.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Mabon was right around the corner, and the tradition was to throw a party in the forest. Grim Reaper Academy owned the domain around it, which included the forest, the beach, the caves – everything. The “Private Property” signs weren’t the ones stopping humans from wandering about, though. Magic stopped them. Headmaster Colin reinforced the spells around the domain every month, just to be safe. It was, most likely, overkill, but when it came to protecting the supernatural world from the prying eyes of humans, it was always better to be super safe than super sorry. Anyway, I didn’t want to go to the party, but Hayley insisted. Somehow, we ended up friends, and because we were both human, she was closer to me than to her Neutral Death colleagues. It wasn’t that the NDC girls didn’t accept her, but it was more like… they weren’t crazy about having her around. They could live without her. So often, I could see it in Hayley’s eyes that she suffered because of the injustice, but there was nothing I could do about it. People liked me even less. Yes, I was popular – the most popular girl at the Academy, – but not in a good way. I was dealing with extremes – some students and professors revered me, while others despised me. I couldn’t tell whether anyone truly feared me, but I considered it a possibility. No matter what they said or how they felt about me, facts were facts: I’d retired Valentine Morningstar. Did that make me dangerous? Maybe. Was it a clear indicator that I wasn’t like them and didn’t belong here? Definitely.
Hayley needed a date, so I said “yes”.
The party was deep in the forest, in a large clearing where the mages had spelled loudspeakers to hang from the trees. Each cabal was gathered around a campfire. There were some professors around, making sure everything was fine and everyone behaved, but I knew they’d leave later and leave us to our own devices. For now, the sun hadn’t completely set yet, and the guys were fussing with the campfires, while the girls chatted and had cocktails. There was food, too, beer and drinks of all sorts, all brought in by the staff. There was music, but it wasn’t too loud. It felt like everyone was waiting to get drunk at least a little bit, so they could start the actual party and set the place on fire.
“We’re early,” I grumbled.
“Seems so. Can you imagine I’m the youngest person here? It’s crazy!”
I laughed. “Are you even allowed to drink?”
She rolled her eyes and walked over to the table that was supposed to be the bar. She grabbed two bottles of beer and handed one to me.
“Let’s start light.”
We clinked our bottles and drank. Normally, each of us would have stayed with her own cabal, but I went with her to sit around the NDC campfire. Not that I had anything against the MDC, but there was a demon there that kept pestering me, challenging me to punch him right in his stupid face. Yes, Valac hadn’t given up. Not even after I’d refused him countless times.
Night fell, and with it, the music turned louder and wilder – a mesmerizing, intoxicating beat that pushed you to your feet, and before you realized what you were doing, you were in the middle of the crowd, jumping and swaying, your hands in the air, your head banging, hair everywhere, in your mouth, your eyes… I lost Hayley at some point. It was just me surrounded by sweaty bodies, and I wondered how I hadn’t known that I needed this. That I needed to move my body, dance erratically, let go. That I needed the night, the moon, and this deafening music blasting in my ears. My mind was blank. After years of stress, anxieties, of my thoughts going in circles, I felt empty right now, and it was amazing. And in this moment, everyone was so busy drinking, dancing, and making out in the shadows that they didn’t notice me anymore. They’d forgotten about me, and that allowed me to finally forget myself, too. It felt like I’d stepped out of my body, and now I was looking at it from somewhere above, marveling at how wildly I could dance, at how my hands traveled over my chest, down my sides, to my hips as I undulated, worshipping my own curves, completely unbothered by whom might have been watching me. I wanted to be watched tonight, because I felt so empty, I’d thrown all reason out the proverbial window, and I wouldn’t have minded if someone stepped up and offered to fill me for just a few hours. I pushed my hands into my long blond hair, threw my head back, closed my eyes and danced with abandon. Who was this woman? I didn’t know. She was a part of me, and I remembered allowing her to come out in the past, but it had been so long ago that I wasn’t sure what she was capable of, what she was going to do now that she was in control of my body, while crazy anxious Yolanda had taken a back seat. When I felt two strong, warm hands sneak around my waist to grip me and pull me against an equally strong chest, I easily gav
e in. A smile played on my lips. I leaned my head back, and it met his shoulder. My arms bent back, grabbing him by the neck and encouraging him to brush his cheek against mine. I recognized his cologne, his minty breath, his possessive touch as he gripped my hips and grinded his erection against my lower back.
Davien Krause.
I needed a fuck tonight. I’d decided this in PE, when I’d noticed my panties getting wet every time Professor Wyvern stepped into my personal space. The man clearly didn’t like me, and somehow, I was still stupidly attracted to him. The incubus could get him out of my system, and I didn’t care that Domina fucking Wingblaze thought he was her property. Right now, I didn’t care about anything. Davien’s lustful energy enveloped me, clinging to my neck, my breasts, my lips… Pouring inside me as I slowly parted my legs. I was wearing skinny jeans and a red tank top that revealed my flat belly, with a leather jacket thrown over my shoulders. After all, it was the end of September, and the temperature wasn’t particularly kind at night. But with Davien’s body flush against mine and his incubus magic floating around me, getting me drunk on lust, I felt hot. I didn’t fight it. I didn’t want to. So what if the incubus was using his powers on me? I needed this just as much as he did. My core throbbed for him, I could feel my juices seep through my cotton panties, and I suddenly wanted to be naked with him and feel his skin on mine.
I spun in his embrace, looked up into his dazzling green eyes, and purred: “Wanna get out of here?”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
He took my hand and led me out of the dancing crowd. The Academy was too far, though, and I could have teleported us both there, but I didn’t want to make a show of myself right now. Not only could I teleport on my own when the other students hadn’t even started learning how to do it with a teleportation pin, but I could also teleport a second person with me. I didn’t want Davien to see how powerful and independent I was. I wanted him to see the petite blond, vulnerable woman he’d entranced with his magic, and who’s only salvation right now was his cock. I wanted him to want me, not fear me, despise me, or envy me. I wanted him to treat me like all the other women he’d fucked before, not like Yolanda Aleksiev, the dream traveler who’d saved the world once and was probably going to save it again.
We walked through the forest, away from the party. Deeming that we were far enough now, he pushed me against a tree, and claimed my lips with a vicious kiss. I opened happily, granting him permission, allowing his tongue to ravage my mouth. His knee parted my legs, his hands were everywhere – groping my breasts, squeezing my sides, grabbing my ass to lift me up and pull me closer, so his hard cock would rub against my pelvis. He pulled at my jacket, and I broke the kiss just long enough to shrug it off my shoulders. I smiled up at him. The hunger I saw in his eyes made me moan as I hooked one leg around his hip, grabbed his face between my palms, and kissed him feverishly. I was grinding on him now, begging him to get me off.
“What do you want to do?” he breathed out.
“Seriously? An incubus asking for consent?”
“I’m a demon of lust, not a savage. I want you to feel good. The more satisfied you are, the better I can feed from you.”
I laughed. Yep, that was the deal. Sex with an incubus meant that he’d absorb my energy – the energy of my orgasms, actually, – and harness it for later. I didn’t care. As long as he gave me what I needed, I’d let him take what he wanted.
“Touch me,” I whispered, pulling the straps of my tank top off my shoulders, along with those of my bra. He helped me by pulling my cups down, and soon, my pebbled nipples met the chilly night air. I hissed at the low temperature biting into my warm, sensitive skin. But his hands and mouth were on my breasts soon, pulling, kneading, sucking and biting, and it was the most exquisite feeling ever. I let my head fall against the tree and looked up at the stars as an orgasm built inside me without Davien even touching me between my legs. “Not enough,” I moaned.
His hands went down, and he expertly unbuttoned my jeans. He shoved two fingers inside my panties, and I bucked my hips toward him to give him better access. He found my wetness, spread it around, but instead of pushing his fingers inside me, he circled my clit tentatively, coaxing it out from underneath its hood. I bit down on my lower lip. It felt amazing! And he wasn’t doing much, he wasn’t doing what other men hadn’t done before, but it was so easy to see that he’d done it so many times to so many women, that he was an expert at telling exactly how my body was designed to receive pleasure. The human men I’d been with in my long lifetime had never worked such magic on my sensitive nub. Not a stroke was misdirected, not a stroke was in vain. It was like my body was an instrument, and Davien fucking Krause was the first one to play it as it should have been played a long time ago.
I held onto his shoulders. He sank his face in the crook of my neck, his teeth nibbling at my skin, leaving bruises. He was marking me. I was too far gone to stop him. While his fingers rubbed my clit faster and faster, his other hand was on my breast, twisting my nipple until it hurt. Pain mixed with pleasure, and I came hard, cursing under my breath, moaning so loud that if it hadn’t been for the loud music blasting through the forest, the whole Academy would have heard me. My juices spread over his fingers, and when he pulled his hand out of my pants, he grabbed me by the back of my neck and forced me to look at him as he stuck his fingers in his mouth and licked them clean.
“Delicious,” he growled.
My eyes were wide, and I could swear my pupils had covered my blue irises entirely, because I felt high on his power, on his magic, on the lustful thoughts he kept feeding me telepathically. All demons had telepathic abilities, and some were more skilled in this area than others. As far as I knew, incubi couldn’t read anyone’s thoughts, but they could plant sexual fantasies in their victims’ heads. That was what Davien was doing now, and I couldn’t have been more grateful. His sex-crazed desires made it virtually impossible for me to focus on anything else, and it felt… freeing.
“Fuck me,” I purred. “Now.” I turned around on my own, working on rolling my skinny jeans down my hips. But the stupid material was stuck to my sweat-covered skin. “Ugh! Help me, will you?”
“I would, if I could,” he said from behind me, and his voice sounded choked.
What the hell?!
I looked over my shoulder, and there was Seth fucking Khepri immobilizing Davien in a chokehold. I buttoned up my pants hurriedly, readjusted my bra and my tank top, and spun around. My head was starting to clear. I was still horny and in need of at least two or three more orgasms, but the incubus had been overpowered by the sphinx, and his power over me was diminishing.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing? Let him go!”
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” He yelled back. “He’s taking advantage of you, and you’re letting him! He will fuck you, feed from you, and discard you. Is this what you want, Yolanda? Is your self-esteem that low that you’d let a filthy incubus put his dick in you?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “What I do with my body is my business, Seth. What are you? My keeper? I don’t need you to follow me around and protect me, okay? I can take care of myself, and I can decide who I want to fuck on my own.”
He was seething. His eyes were trained on me. I held his gaze defiantly.
“You don’t understand,” he started, but didn’t finish the sentence, because Davien hit him in the side with his elbow, then threw his head back and caught him in the chin. Seth released him and stumbled backwards. “Damn you, Krause!”
“This is the last time you’re cockblocking me, motherfucker!” Davien turned on his heels and punched him in the face. “This is because I owed you one.”
Seth spat blood on the ground. Davien had split his lip. I covered my mouth with my hands, shocked and uncertain of how I was supposed to react when two men were fighting because of me. Seth recovered quickly, and I thought he was going to lunge at the incubus, but to my surp
rise, he shrugged off his jacket and pulled his T-shirt over his head.
“What are you doing?” Davien asked, and he sounded genuinely concerned.
Seth grinned as he removed his pants. “Are you going to run, little demon?”
“Fuck you!”
I was lost. No idea what was happening… And then, when I heard bones cracking and realized the sound was coming from Seth, I started to get some idea about what was happening. His boxer briefs were turned to shreds as his body changed from the waist down. He fell to his knees and looked right into Davien’s eyes as his legs sprouted thick, golden hair. They grew thicker and longer, but that wasn’t the crazy part. His arms started changing too, along with his torso. Wings pushed their way out of his shoulder blades, and the same golden hair that covered his legs and arms was now sprouting all over his back. His hands and feet turned into huge paws that ended with sharp claws. A long tail grew out of the end of his spine. The metamorphosis didn’t last for more than a few seconds, but it was as if I was watching it happen in slow motion. This was the first time in my life when I witnessed a sphinx shifting into his natural form – half man, half lion. He pushed himself to his now four feet, straightened his back, grinned at Davien and me, and let out a roar. Even if his head, neck, and shoulders were still those of a man, his vocal cords were those of a lion. Seth Khepri was a mighty beast with a lion’s body and an eagle’s wings.
Instinctively, I took a step back. I stole a glance at Davien. He seemed to be holding his ground, but I honestly couldn’t imagine how an incubus could compare to a bloody sphinx. Seth was bigger and stronger than him. Physically, at least. It was painfully obvious.
“What are you going to do?” Davien provoked him, laughing. “Maul me?”
“I’m going to teach you a lesson,” Seth growled. His voice was thick and menacing. He took a step forward, and I could swear that when his paw met the ground, the earth trembled in a silent warning. “You can’t just take what you want without there being consequences.”