Upended Life (Artemis University Book 1)

by Erin R Flynn

  She nodded confidently. “Leave it to me.”

  “Awesome.”

  “Yes, I am,” she teased, preening as we grabbed trays. She reached over and touched my ponytail. “And we might talk trim and what products you use.”

  I snorted. “Whatever the cheapest shampoo I could get, free hotel stuff sometimes.”

  “Blasphemy,” she gasped. “We’ll get what you need ordered. Do you know how to straighten it?”

  “I did it once,” I drawled. “It took me three hours. I’m not doing that again. I have way too much hair.”

  “It would be hot to do some sections that were down and pull up curls over it,” she muttered.

  “You do whatever you want, Izzy. Just don’t get mad at me if I ruin it by going for a run or plan to remake me into Barbie. I don’t do complicated.”

  “I can work with that.”

  We ate and I did my best to ignore the energy when Mr. Panty Soaker came by but it was getting ridiculous. If it got any stronger I was going to spontaneously orgasm.

  Seriously, it was that strong, lighting up every nerve I had in a deliciously torturous way.

  And I knew he felt it too from the looks he was giving me from the next table.

  Right, cold shower to get ready for the ball.

  I went back to studying when my hair was drying and so did Izzy until she declared it was time to get ready. She gave me a worried look when I sat down for her to do my hair.

  Then she smiled and went for my phone, showing me how to download the Amazon app and sign in. Oh fuck, shopping from my phone when I now had money?

  That was dangerous, for sure.

  Still, it entertained me and I actually downloaded some games. Burner phones didn’t have those and I might as well figure out some ways to sit still better.

  The ball meant there was no service for dinner so I hoped they had good food at least instead of tiny portions crap. When Izzy was finishing up with my hair, I sighed as I realized makeup came next and I’d needed to replace mine for a while.

  Well, I could now, right?

  Damn, having money was expensive.

  I created an account at Sephora and purchased some basics and one larger color pallet that I thought would work best for me. I wasn’t heavy into makeup and my skin was flawless so foundation and whatnot would just be ridiculous.

  I was lucky. I knew that, believe me.

  I had enough problems though, so great skin seemed fair to me.

  It was just after six when we finished getting dressed. I tried to talk Izzy into being more fashionably late—the ball started at six—but she told me these sorts of functions weren’t the type to act like that. Not when we were the freshmen and not elites from old-money families.

  I understood that first one but fuck if I cared about the second.

  “Damn, I’d totally date you,” Izzy complimented as I tucked what I needed in my clutch.

  “Thanks. We can make out but I don’t fall on your side of the fence totally,” I replied, smirking when she gave me a shocked look. “As I said, you’ll have to try harder for scandalous or embarrassing things I’ve done.”

  “Good to know. Just don’t dance on the tables drunk.”

  I wrinkled my nose at that. “No worries, I’m not a drinker. Too much shit goes wrong unless it’s pizza and beer chill or a barbeque.”

  She nodded, but I got the feeling she might be one of those girls who got hammered at parties. I would carry her home and keep her safe but she was on her own if she puked.

  People were all over as we reached the student union and the events room where the ball was at. So she’d been right not to be more than fifteen minutes late. Good to know.

  That meant we could duck out early, right?

  We waved when we saw Natalie and her friends, doing a lap at Izzy’s suggestion so we were undoubtedly seen by someone in the faculty.

  I knew Dr. Craftsman saw me because he choked on his drink when he looked my way. I’d found him first so it was interesting to see his reaction.

  It was not interesting to see the woman next to him fawn all over him like he was dying instead of his drink going down the wrong pipe. Well, it made sense he’d have admirers.

  She looked maybe five years older than him, no older than thirty for sure, and gorgeous. Was that his type?

  I shook off the thoughts. I wasn’t touching that stove. Sure, if I could just convince myself of that. But her acting like his date irked me, not helping my mood and wanting to be there.

  Izzy said she was going for drinks and I nodded, wanting away from Dr. Craftsman’s view and to check out the food.

  Instead, I got Ronald Von Thann, head of the school board and the douche who wanted to breed me. Standing next to him was his super hot son and that didn’t improve my mood either.

  “Ahh, Ms. Vale, nice to see you clean up well for an event like this,” Ronald greeted.

  This man was unreal. He just fucking gave me his grade like looking over meat and he seriously didn’t understand how disturbing it was he commented on my looks like that.

  So I was just as outlandish, neighing at him like a mare, blowing air out my lips as I stomped my foot and all of it.

  He pressed his lips in a thin line, rage filling his eyes.

  Good, now we were both pissed. I smirked at him and turned to leave when a beautiful woman with gorgeous dark coffee skin leaned into him.

  “Darling, what was that about?”

  Darling? Oh, right, his son was mixed race so the chances were good the black woman was his wife.

  I decided not to leave just yet. “A commentary on your husband’s desire to treat women like breeding mares if he so decides it, following it up with a creepy comment on my looks that the head of the school board should not be making to a nineteen-year-old. Or any woman really.”

  She frowned a me but then elegantly snickered. “I see, you think you’ll get some female solidarity by telling me that.” She raised an eyebrow, clearly looking down her nose at me, which she could as she was a bit taller. “My loyalty is to my family and mate, always. I will always be on their side. You must be the unknown without family. If you had family you’d know that.”

  “I have family, she’s like a sister to me,” I corrected, narrowing my eyes at her. “I understand loyalty just fine. The difference is she’s loyal enough to me that she would never make my loyalty to her conflict with my morals and what I feel is right. So unless you think women are bitches to pop out babies when men decide it for them, your mate wasn’t loyal enough to you to do the same.”

  “What is she talking about, Ronald?” she asked him, glancing between us. “Why does this girl think you wanted that?”

  I chuckled darkly when he opened his mouth. “He can’t tell you, confidentiality rules of the school board.” I clucked my tongue when he looked like he might argue. “I was very clear on the repercussions if you did and the debt you would owe.” I smirked at him. “And your son goes here, right within reach all the time.”

  “I can’t, she’s right,” he bit out. “Though I would think that goes both ways and my distasteful, shocked statement would be confidential as well.”

  “I don’t think that’s how it actually works,” I muttered, shrugging after a moment of thought. “Fine, if you’re asking me to forget it as you understand it was gravely wrong to say, I won’t ever tell anyone else that you wanted to breed a young woman interviewing for Artemis University after she was abducted and brought there.”

  Steam about came out of his ears then, as I said it loud enough for lots of people around us to hear me… Which was the point.

  I not only wanted people to know he was an asshole but the quickest way to handle a threat was to make sure lots of people knew about it as it limited their ability to carry out what they wanted.

  “Have a lovely evening, Mr. and Mrs. Von Thann,” I said, smirking at Ronald before glancing at Lucca. I gave him a nod, the shock on his face comical in a way that let me know he r
eally hadn’t approached me on behalf of his father.

  Hell, I was pretty sure Ronald Von Thann would forbid his son from so much as speaking to me after what I’d just done.

  Fine. By. Me.

  But the interaction left me keyed up, my energy ramping up at the threat and ready for the fight. I tried to breathe through it as I went for food, shocked how much energy there was now, but it wasn’t working.

  And then the other energy started, Mr. Panty Soaker somewhere close. I popped a few bites in my mouth before I couldn’t take it anymore.

  I needed to get out of there before something bad happened. I found a side exit that led to the bathrooms and ducked out of it, continuing past the bathrooms and thanking my lucky stars when I found a janitor closet at the end of the hall.

  I had thought to get some air outside but the party seemed to be all over the student union with the amount of people.

  I made sure no one saw me slip in there, clutching a shelf and trying to breathe through the fucking orgasm and power surge I was about to have. He gave chase though and I wasn’t sure if I was going to kill him or whimper in relief.

  I didn’t even have to look over my shoulder when I heard the door open and close again, knowing it was him.

  He moved until we were almost touching, his breath tickling my ear and hair. The way he panted showed he was affected as much as I was. “Say yes.”

  Yup, I was going to whimper. That was fucking hot. No preambles or talk, just wanting to get to the good stuff when we were both dying. “Yes.”

  He growled and kissed my neck as his arms came around me. “This dress is everything.” His hands were everywhere as he moved his lips along my neck and shoulder. When they moved lower to move the dress aside so he could pull up the shorter skirt under it, he hesitated, asking again basically.

  “Yes,” I moaned as I opened my purse. I had put the condom in as a damn joke because who was I going to hook up with? Apparently my pussy was having the last laugh and I was fine with that.

  “I want you bare,” he snarled.

  “I’m not on anything and I don’t know you,” I argued, wiggling it at him. “This or nothing. I’m not stupid.”

  He eased down and moved his hand over it, basically holding my hand as he pressed his body into mine more. His tongue traced the shell of my ear. “The clinic has what you need. Go there for next time.”

  Good to know but not enough. “I don’t know you or—”

  “We don’t have human diseases.”

  Well, that was also good to know but still I sighed. “It’s a thing with me.”

  “What?” he demanded, a bit of growl in his voice again.

  “Casual is fine but if you’re putting your cock in me unwrapped, you’re not putting it in anyone else unwrapped. So I don’t care who else you screw but if you want a repeat and bare, you screw them with condoms.”

  His large hand moved under my dress and cupped my ass. “Fine, I want you bare next time. Every time.”

  “I’ve never done bare,” I confessed.

  “I want you bare now.”

  “No.”

  He paused. “We don’t need a condom for your ass.”

  “Dude, you are massive and I’m sure your dick is. We are not having anal sex in a fucking janitor’s closet. No way. I’m not exploring my virgin territory like this with a huge guy.” I started to get annoyed, trying to yank the condom and push him away.

  “Don’t go,” he argued, not budging and trapping me there. “I’m sorry.”

  I went to tell him he couldn’t be such a dick to me but that energy flared between us again, dancing all over my skin. I moaned, hearing him do the same.

  Fuck, fine, he could be a possessive dragon as long as he fucked me.

  “You might be too big,” I half whined, half bitched. I gasped as he pushed aside my panties and thrust a finger in me.

  Fuck, this was really happening. I was a bitch in heat with this dragon and all I wanted was him to make the energy and need stop.

  He growled at my reaction and ended up ripping my panties off of me, which was hot. I got a second finger and that was it, I was done for, covering my mouth and crying out as I came.

  His lips came back to my neck, clearly turned on by my orgasm, which I also thought was hot, as most guys just wanted me to be done to get to their turn and not be labeled as assholes.

  He moved three fingers in me and then seemed at his limit. He pulled them out and I heard the foil open before his zipper and felt his pants drop. He kissed under my ear again. “Thank you.”

  He grabbed my ass and pushed into me, my second orgasm hitting me as he stretched me ridiculously wide and hit everything good in me. He rocked his hips to keep my climax going which I could have kissed him for… Making me realize we hadn’t even kissed. I didn’t even know his name.

  Seriously, what was this fucking energy and what was it doing to us?

  “Show me your nape,” he growled and then about purred when I tilted my head so my hair was out of the way.

  He managed to slide one hand into my dress from the open back and cup my breast as his other hand moved to my hip. I turned my head a bit and he caught on, claiming my lips in a deep kiss.

  It wasn’t sloppy at all since he was so much taller. It made me wonder how uncomfortable he was doing it like this as my heels were not enough to line us up.

  Then again, he didn’t seem to mind from the noises he was making. He pinched my nipple through my bra, growling it was in the way but not risking the dress or messing anything else up. He’d already destroyed my panties after all.

  “More,” I demanded, glad I wasn’t sounding so much like I was begging now that I’d had a few orgasms. The energy ebbed a bit each one. Was that the way to ease this? Did that mean we had to keep fucking?

  I could easily get on board with that. For real, fine by me.

  “Yes, more,” he agreed, shoving in me further until he bumped my cervix. Or I assumed that’s what it was as I’d never had that happen before.

  A few hookups with guys I should never have paid attention to did not make me an expert on sex.

  And the fact I agreed to hook up with those guys again was something I should have been embarrassed about.

  “Fuck, you’re heaven,” he groaned as he bumped it again. “Hurts?”

  “Not sure, maybe not for in here,” I admitted. I’d heard women could orgasm that way but it made them ache and I was fairly sure I was already going to ache from fucking someone so big.

  He grunted but made sure not to thrust as deep next time. I leaned back against his chest as much as I could and he kissed me again. His hand on my hip slid lower, teasing my clit until I came again.

  He swallowed my cries this time, his lips still on mine as he pinched my nipple even harder, which I loved. Just as my orgasm started to ebb he finished, pressing my clit in a way that set me off again.

  Holy shit. He made me come four times with a quickie closet hookup. Shit. He could totally fuck me again.

  “I want you again,” he growled.

  “Don’t know I can,” I admitted.

  He flinched. “A virgin?”

  “No, but not a long list.” I wasn’t sure why I answered but I did. Blame it on the post-sex bliss.

  “Go to the clinic. Next time you’re bare.”

  I angled my head for another kiss which he gave, softer this time, which made me shiver. “If you get my pussy bare you better lick it first, you pushy dragon.”

  His lips twitched at that but kissed me again. “Agreed. I’d love to taste you.”

  Shit. That was hot.

  “I gotta get back to my roommate,” I mumbled, feeling awkward now that the hormones and crazy energy had stopped.

  He frowned but nodded, pulling out of me. He didn’t move away though, seeming at a loss of what to do too, which made me feel better he didn’t do this all the time either.

  He spun me around and kissed me deeply, setting my blood on fire again. “W
ear a skirt if you want me to fuck you. I’ll find you and please you, my princess.”

  Oh. Fuck. Me… Right, he just had. That was sexy. I nodded, speechless. I fixed my dress and grabbed my purse on the shelf before booking it for the door.

  Luckily we were right by the bathrooms so I ducked in there to clean up. He might have used a condom but I was practically dripping down my thighs from my own orgasms and how turned on I’d been.

  That was wild. I freshened up like I’d just used the washroom, waiting until my legs were sturdy again before heading back to the ballroom.

  Izzy found me almost immediately, giving me a confused look but not asking as she handed me a drink. I thanked her and we hit up the food.

  I felt eyes on me the whole time and managed not to look through one plate, but then I had to.

  At least I could hope everyone around us didn’t know what I’d just done. Hopefully?

  12

  Except it wasn’t my dragon staring at me. It was Darby. I smiled and gave him a small wave.

  He nodded and looked away.

  Damn, he looked fine in the suit I’d picked out for him. That definitely was the right choice. His hair was nicely styled and he looked mature with his glasses, ready for anything. It actually warmed my heart I might have helped with that.

  “Ms. Vale, good to see you,” Headmaster Edelman greeted.

  I finished my bite and nodded, extending my hand. “The ball is amazing.”

  “Yes, it’s nice to have some fun before the semester starts.” He glanced at my roommate and I realized he didn’t know everyone. I was special.

  Not always a good thing but better than being treated as trash like I’d grown up.

  Well, some days.

  “Headmaster Edelman, this is my roommate, Isabella Kincaid,” I introduced.

  He shook her hand and smiled. “Lovely to see you getting along then. I thought she was a wise choice to room with you.”

  “She is,” I agreed. “She’s been diligent in explaining what I need to know as I’m ready for it. It’s nice to be rooming with someone who deserves to be here and appreciates it, not like a different girl I met who was trying to blackmail my tutor into doing her homework for her. I didn’t think that the type of student at a top tier college—lazy and a cheater threatening people.”