by Keary Taylor
A smile broke out on my lips. I brought my hands to either side of his face and bounced up onto my tiptoes to kiss him.
His hands wrapped around my waist, sinking low on my back. I let my hands melt down to the back of his neck. He walked us forward and around the couch. He sank back onto it, keeping his hands on my hips. So I crawled up onto his lap, my knees on either side of his hips.
His lips were something I knew I would never get tired of. Our lips moved together in perfect synchronization. They explored one another. They loved one another. Every piece of us was made to go together.
I relished in the feeling of Nathaniel’s hands moving up my hips, up my sides, over my back. He held me like I was something precious and desirable. Like he’d never let me go.
My hands slid back down to his neck, and I felt his pulse under my palms, growing quicker and hotter.
“It’s a good thing I love you so damn much,” I said, smiling against his lips. “Because your open mind might get us killed someday.”
I leaned back just a bit, observing the small, sad smile that formed on Nathaniel’s lips. He raised a hand up, brushing his thumb over my cheek.
“I might not be willing to get into fights to defend myself, Margot,” he said, “but if there was ever any chance you were in danger, every ounce of self-restraint I’ve developed over the last few years would vanish in an instant.”
“Stars, I love you,” I breathed out as I leaned forward again, claiming his mouth because he was mine and I was absolutely his.
My hands were all over him. They were greedy and hungry and desperate for more, more, more of him.
I didn’t know what it was, why we were waiting to have sex. There was this boundary and neither of us had crossed it, even though it wasn’t something we’d discussed.
Maybe it was just that we were both a little bit old-fashioned in some ways.
Maybe it was that neither of us wanted to discover every bit of each other too fast.
But for now, we were happy to explore just about everything else.
Nathaniel rolled us over, pressing my back into the couch, his body shifting on top of me. His lips moved from mine, to my neck. As his tongue licked out, exploring my skin, and his teeth grazed my flesh, I felt alive. Every nerve ending in my body was on fire. I was electric.
I heard it as I tilted my head back. Books lifted into the air. The desk lifted. Half of the room was floating.
But that didn’t stop my hands from gliding over Nathaniel’s shoulders. It didn’t stop his mouth from returning to mine, or my fingers from sliding into his hair.
“I don’t want to go home,” I breathed out, knowing the hour was getting later and later.
“I can’t believe your dad doesn’t have a problem with this,” Nathaniel breathed against my flesh, every inch of him trembling with need.
“He keeps making jokes about becoming a grandpa too soon, but secretly, I think he’s hoping for it,” I said, smiling.
Nathaniel chuckled and shook his head.
But somehow, we both just knew. Someday, we were going to grant my father his wish.
Just not yet.
“Come on,” Nathaniel said as he sat back and pulled me to my feet. I groaned in disappointment but knew that it was time. I needed to go back to the house.
“Walk me home?” I asked as I grabbed my coat from the coat stand by the door.
“Always,” Nathaniel said with a rogue smile, grabbing his own coat.
Snow was softly falling as we stepped outside. It was fully dark by now, the abandoned garden pitch black. But as we rounded onto the manicured grounds of Alderidge, the lamp posts lit our way.
“Are you still determined to go to school this next semester?” Nathaniel asked as we walked through the crunching snow.
“I haven’t made any quitting decisions yet,” I chastised him. “And I’m already signed up for classes. Besides, if you’re at school, I might as well be, too.”
He didn’t say anything else, but leaned over and pressed a kiss to the top of my head.
I felt the snow already melting into my hair. So, I looked up. I raised my hand just slightly.
And I told the snow to drift off either direction, away from us.
Instantly, the snow parted over the top of us, almost as if we had an invisible umbrella above us. Not another flake landed on either of us.
Nathaniel just smiled and hugged me closer.
There was dim light glowing and flickering in the window as we walked in front of my house. We could see my father’s silhouette, bent over a book.
“Everything’s going to be okay,” Nathaniel said as we stopped in front of my door. “I can feel it. What we’re doing, with just the two of us, it’s difficult, but imagine what we can get accomplished with three of us.”
I still wasn’t happy about it. But I didn’t say anything. I gave an acknowledging nod.
“I love you,” Nathaniel said, pulling me into his chest, wrapping his arms around me.
“I love you, too,” I said, meaning those words, even though I wasn’t so sure about everything else that had happened today.
“Sleep well.”
I smiled at him, pressed a quick kiss to his lips, and walked inside.
Chapter Two
January third brought the first day of winter semester with it. It had snowed six inches the night before, adding to the twelve we already had, and Dad called over to the school twice to be sure they weren’t delaying or cancelling. They weren’t. So, Dad went out with a shovel to start on the driveway and the sidewalks.
I stepped out onto the porch and looked one direction and then the other. There was someone out at the end of the road, but they were far away and looking the other direction.
I smiled as I looked at my father bent over his shovel, his back to me.
I lifted my hand. I mentally reached out to the snow.
Instantly, every bit of it lifted off the driveway and the sidewalk, and then dumped itself in the center of the lawn.
Dad stood up with a start, looking to the left and the right in utter confusion. His hand even went to his hat, as if he were worried it was going to float away, too. I couldn’t help but laugh, to which he suddenly twisted around, searching for an answer. His eyes met mine, wide with shock and maybe a little fear.
I just smiled.
Dad looked nervous, but he smiled and laughed, too. He shook his head at me as he walked back up to the door, leaning the unneeded shovel against the side of the house.
“You’re a handy one to have around, every now and then, Margot Bell,” he said as he tapped my nose with his gloved finger.
“Every now and then,” I said.
We gathered our things and stashed them in our bags. And then we donned our thickest coats and hats and gloves and walked outside into the frigid air.
I continued to clear the sidewalks, so long as no one was around to see.
“How does Nathaniel not freeze in that solarium?” Dad asked as we set off on the sidewalk. His eyes slid in that direction, to the north end of the university.
“He has a fireplace,” I said, casting my gaze that way, too.
“But he’s surrounded by glass,” Dad said, shaking his head. “No insulation. I’m worried he’s going to sleep too deep one night and not stock that fireplace, and he’ll just freeze to death.”
I smiled, and something in my heart fluttered. Dad cared about Nathaniel. Truly cared about him. Nathaniel was family. While my father had never had a son, Nathaniel had become that to him.
“If it gets too bad, I’ll make sure he stays at the house,” I said.
“Sleeping on the couch,” Dad said, fixing me with a pointed look, even though he’d let Nathaniel sleep in my bed once before, and hadn’t bothered to kick him out on other nights when Nathaniel had fallen asleep there after studying. Like three nights ago.
“Of course,” I said, instead of pointing all of that out.
More and more students were floc
king into the university in droves. It was a totally different scene from the first day of the last semester. Everyone had been half clothed and ready to take on the world.
Now, everyone was bundled up and looked like soldiers heading off to battle. It was the second semester and we all knew what we were in for now.
The floor was slippery with melted snow as we stepped inside. Shoes squeaked against the tile and voices echoed loudly through the halls. Friends caught up after the long holiday break, bragging about the exotic locations where they’d vacationed, the overpriced gifts they’d given, and the spoils of rich parents they’d received.
I aimed right to head to my first class, when a set of blue eyes caught mine.
David Sinclair walked toward me, flanked by James Richards and Gerald Paulson. His eyes fixed on me. His lips were set thin and narrow.
Just then, a warm hand settled on my lower back. I glanced up to see Nathaniel. He quickly bent down and kissed me with a whispered good morning.
But I looked back at David.
He looked at the two of us darkly. But there was venom missing in his eyes. I didn’t see any traces of promises for vengeance in them. I didn’t see any calculation in his eyes on how to win me over.
He just held my eyes as he and his Boys walked down the hall, and then walked right past us.
“I think your little mind trick worked,” Nathaniel said as he watched them go. None of them looked back after they passed us. “I didn’t feel promises that he was going to kill me like they were words being screamed from his eyes.”
I chuckled, because that was almost exactly what I’d been thinking. I slipped my hand into Nathaniel’s and started down the hall. “And, did you notice who wasn’t with them?”
“Borden,” Nathaniel said simply.
I nodded.
It was going to take a whole lot more than one morning for him to prove anything to us.
We made our way halfway down the hall before I stopped in front of a door. Writing 122.
“Is your schedule at the library the same this semester?” I asked, hesitating in the doorway, letting the other freshman in behind me.
Nathaniel shook his head. “I have Mondays and Saturdays off now.”
I smiled, happy to hear that he had extended our weekends. “Should we go to Mom’s office after class then? I’ve got some things I want to work on.”
Nathaniel nodded and smiled.
Happy and content, I leaned forward, accepting his kiss.
This felt like the most natural thing in the world. Me and him. Together, in the school, falling into our own version of normal.
“See you after school,” I said, smiling as I watched him walk away toward his own class.
I had five classes this semester, the same as last. Writing, Latin, a general ed science class, Humanities, and a literature class. Fifteen credits would keep me plenty busy. Adding our mage studies on top of that, and I was exhausted already, not even accounting for any homework in the grand clockwork of it all.
I wasn’t sure how Nathaniel was going to balance his seventeen credits, plus his library hours, plus mage studies.
One day at a time, I supposed. That was all we could do.
Nathaniel and I coordinated our lunch break this semester. So, at noon, I stepped out of my Latin class and made my way to the cafeteria. It was a noisy space with the buffet along the back wall and rows of tables, six across and ten deep.
I rarely ever ate lunch in here. Typically, I went back home to get food, but with our schedules this semester, our thirty-minute break didn’t leave quite enough time for that.
It kind of felt like high school all over again.
All the rich kids sat together, all the scholarship kids were scattered around the room, trying to figure out where they fit in. The lacrosse jocks stuck together, and the pre-law students were always arguing with one another at another table.
I spotted Nathaniel across the room and walked over to join him.
“So,” Nathaniel asked as we got in line for food. “Was this first day of class as boring as the last?”
“It still isn’t challenging,” I said as I grabbed a tray. “But I think I’m not going to float by quite as easy this semester. How was yours?”
Nathaniel shrugged as the student employee dumped some food on his plate. “I’m taking a class on early Germanic history. It’s quite interesting.”
“Is your German getting any better?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
“Du bist die schonste Frau, die ich je gesehen habe,” he said in what sounded like absolutely perfect German to me.
Again, I raised an eyebrow at him. “And what does that mean?”
He bent down and pressed a kiss to the hollow beneath my ear, even though we were in the middle of the lunch line. He whispered close to my skin. “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.”
I blushed. Even though I knew Nathaniel was attracted to me, even though he made me feel beautiful every single day. I felt my face flush brilliant red.
He simply gave me a rogue smile and I stepped up to the register to pay for my lunch.
We turned to the tables and I set off for an empty space in the middle of the room. With no one else at the entire table, it was perfect. And it was then that I realized that Nathaniel and I were becoming loners, recluses.
And that was absolutely okay with me.
I’d just forked some of the less than great potato salad into my mouth, when someone set a tray down next to Nathaniel, and dropped right into the seat.
Wide-eyed, I stared at Borden Stewart.
He gave each of us a nod, and set to digging into his food, like he’d done this a million times before.
My eyes still wide with shock, I looked around the lunchroom.
People were staring. At least half a dozen eyes were focused on us, their brows furrowed, staring at this new development.
Borden was a Society Boy. A senior one at that. He was a leader, a head. They stuck together. And now he was sitting with Nathaniel and me, known outcasts.
And just then, David, James and Gerald walked in.
I sat there, frozen, my eyes fixed on them, as the three of them walked to get in the food line. They weren’t looking for us, but I was just waiting for it to happen.
The three of us sat there silent, not saying a word. Borden just ate his lunch. But Nathaniel and I were frozen, knowing something was going to happen.
The Society Boys got through the entire line. They paid for the food, and then they turned to face the tables.
It only took two seconds for David’s eyes to find us. First, he stared at me. And then his eyes shifted to Nathaniel. And then straight to Borden.
My heart started hammering the second he stepped forward.
I was back on that beach, watching as he tried to drown Nathaniel. Attempted murder. That’s what he’d gotten away with, because he was rich.
Down the row of tables he walked, flanked by the other Boys. He walked straight to our table, and he stopped right at the end.
“Looks like you’re lost, Borden,” David said, and it sounded like he was using every ounce of will he had to keep his tone even. “Not sure how the stench of poverty isn’t driving you back to where you belong.”
Borden’s eyes rose up to meet David’s, and I was actually shocked at the strength and lack of intimidation I saw there.
All these years, I’d watched him be the beta to David’s alpha. But right now, I was seeing no beta.
“This is where we part ways, David,” Borden said. His voice was even, but it possessed a power that told every ear that could hear he was serious.
“Excuse me?” David asked, his voice similarly even.
Borden’s eyes flicked off to the side in a dismissive way. “You and me, me and the Society Boys, we’ve come to an end.”
David just stared at Borden, blinking twice, three times. His lips were set in a thin line, and I saw him carefully considering his words. “Th
e Society isn’t something you just end. It’s something you are born into. Something that carries ties for the rest of your life. Get up and come back to the table where you belong.”
“Piss off, David,” Borden said, enunciating each word, just a little bit.
David stood up straight, his brows furrowing together. He was silent for another three seconds, mulling over the swift, public dismissal Borden had just given him.
And I got really worried when a small, controlled smile pulled at the corners of his mouth.
“So, this is what you want?” he asked. He gave just one, small nod. “Good. Because something needed to make this semester more interesting.”
And without another word, he walked further down the aisle before turning, and taking a seat at the Boy’s table. Not knowing what to say, James and Gerald followed, glaring in confusion at Borden as they passed him.
I realized then that I’d been holding my breath. My heart was pounding loudly in my ears.
“Well done,” Nathaniel said, clapping Borden on the shoulder. “Welcome to the target club.”
Borden just glanced over his shoulder, meeting David’s searing glare. “Let him do his worst,” he said. “I’ve never been scared of the name Sinclair.”
And why would he be? Borden was literal royalty, after all. And he was also a mage.
So much for having a nice, quiet semester flying under the radar.
Chapter Three
I had been looking forward to this literature class. But this was a new teacher, and this was his first semester. As I looked over the syllabus, I could tell, this was going to be a horrific couple of months.
The second the time ran out in class and every student started grabbing their things and heading out the door, the girl in front of me let out an audible groan and shook her head in disgust.
“What, you’re not a fan of Edgar Allen Poe or John Steinbeck?” I asked.
She groaned again. “Not exactly. Sorry, I’m not meaning any offense.”
I chuckled and shouldered my bag. “None taken. I kind of died a little inside at the reading list. Life is hard enough. I don’t need to spend it reading the most depressing books in history.”