by Wendi Wilson
I could feel the pressure of excitement building in the room with his words, the buzz of conversation in the room growing louder. Even though they were afraid, the students knew the fight against the Zephyrs was what they’d been training for their whole lives.
“Now that you know how serious the situation is,” Cris said, gaining the attention of the class once more, “I need you all to focus on your studies, intensify your training, and get plenty of food and rest. It could be a few weeks, a few months, or even a few years before the conflict comes to a head and you’re needed, but it will happen. And you need to be ready.”
He gave the class permission to catch up on homework or talk quietly amongst ourselves for the rest of the class period while he sat at his desk, tapping on his tablet. I turned in my chair to face Easton.
“What do you think?” I whispered. “That was a bold move, right? Just putting it all out there like that? I wonder if Finn knew he was going to do that.”
“I don’t know,” Easton said, his expression thoughtful. “But I think it was the right thing to do. We may just be kids, but we can’t afford to be complacent. We have to be ready.”
“I agree,” Shaela said, leaning in to join our conversation. “Sebille almost got her hands on you both, and Cris, Charles, and I could have died. Charles almost did. That’s what happens when you’re unprepared. We can’t let it happen again.”
I nodded in agreement. They were right. I just hoped Finn agreed, too, and didn’t reprimand Cris for his galvanizing words.
I caught my father’s eyes on me and offered him an encouraging smile. One that let him know I had his back, and that he could count on me. His eyes crinkled at the corners before refocusing on his tablet.
We were in this together. All of us. And it would take all of us to be victorious.
“I THOUGHT MAYBE we could take a walk.”
Easton’s hopeful expression and gold aura warmed my insides as I stepped from my bedroom and joined him out in the hall. I hadn’t been expecting him, so his knock on my door had been a surprise. We’d parted ways at dinner, each going to our rooms to study.
Shaela was out with Charles, so I was happy for the reprieve. I pulled the door closed behind me, and Easton’s hand slipped into mine, his grip warm and tight. He led me down the hall, and we descended the staircase. We slipped out the front entrance and onto the grounds with only the light of the full moon lighting our way.
“Thanks for coming out with me,” he said. “I was feeling restless.”
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
He shrugged, saying, “My mom called. She wanted to warn me that my father has plans to visit the academy.”
I tugged him to a stop, unable to stop the look of horror that etched its way across my face.
“What? Why?”
“He didn’t give her a reason. He doesn’t feel the need to explain himself to her.”
A flash of power streaked through me, and I had to physically force it back into remission. Easton’s dad was a real piece of work. He hated his own son for being born because he wanted to be king, and Easton’s existence made that impossible. So he reviled Easton and abused his wife for handing her claim to the throne to her son.
“It’s okay, D,” he said, pulling me from my thoughts. “I can handle him. I always have.”
“But you shouldn’t have to,” I argued. “It’s just not right, Easton.”
“It is what it is,” he replied, his voice carrying a note of defeat.
“I don’t know if I can accept that,” I said honestly. “If I see him mistreat you…”
I trailed off, letting the unspoken threat hang in the air between us. To my surprise, Easton’s face lit up with a beatific smile. He pulled me closer, his free hand grasping mine. He pulled both my hands into his chest, erasing the space between us.
“I love it when you get feisty,” he murmured. “Your eyes flash with blue fire and your face floods with color, making you more beautiful…if that’s even possible.”
The anger and indignation drained out of me as I filled back up with a different kind of heat. I tried to keep my expression stern, but I couldn’t stop the smile that tugged at my lips. My brain lost whatever witty response it was formulating as Easton’s mouth closed the distance between us.
Just before our lips met, he whispered, “I love you, so much.”
Then he was kissing me. My mind went blank, knowing nothing but the feel of him against me. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew we were standing on the lawn, in full view of the school with bright moonlight washing down on us, but I didn’t care. If someone was watching, let them watch. All that mattered in that moment was us. Our connection. Our desire. Our love.
Easton came to his senses first, breaking off our kiss with heavy breaths huffing in and out through his mouth. Taking a step back, he untangled the fingers that had become twisted in my hair. Slipping his hand back into mine, he turned and walked back toward the building.
“Can you stay with me tonight?”
His voice held a note of vulnerability that told me, despite our heated kissing, his need to have me near went much deeper than physical desire. His aura glowed gold with the barest hint of pink around the edges. Hope that I’d say yes, mixed with a flash of love or desire.
I nodded, and his aura flashed yellow with relief and happiness.
“Let me just go leave a note for Shaela, and I’ll meet you there,” I said, giving him a soft smile.
At the top of the stairs, he brushed his lips against mine and squeezed my hand before releasing it. Then he turned and headed toward the boys’ wing as I walked in the opposite direction toward my room. My head was in the clouds, thinking of spending the night in Easton’s warm embrace. Then, about halfway to my door, the anxiety set in.
I wasn’t sure what his expectations were. I’d slept in his bed before, but only when we’d been exhausted and thinking of nothing but sleep. This was different.
Easton needed me. Needed to feel secure in the embrace of my affection. But…did he need more? Were we ready? Was I ready?
By the time I scribbled out a note for Shaela, fed Blossom, and ran to the bathroom to brush my teeth and change into something more comfortable, I was a nervous wreck. I tried to even out my breathing and get my anxiety under control as I walked back to his room.
I stood outside the door, my heart pounding in my chest, weighing my options. I’d nearly decided to run back to my room and wait for Shaela to get back so I could hash it out with her when Easton’s door swung open, revealing a very firm, very naked chest.
Heat flared inside me as my eyes roved over the hills and planes of his torso. He was so beautiful, I could hardly take it.
“What are you doing out here in the hall?” he asked softly, and my eyes snapped up to meet his.
“Trying to decide between fight and flight,” I admitted.
“You don’t want to stay?” he asked, but there was a twinkle in his eye that told me he knew very well I’d been practically drooling over the sight of all that bare skin.
When I didn’t answer, he stepped to the side and motioned for me to enter. I slipped through the opening, knowing that the conversation we were having was better had inside, rather than out in the hallway where anyone could overhear us.
Or record it on video, which had happened more than once. Tiana Avery relished catching me on camera and spreading anti-December propaganda around the school.
“I do want to stay,” I said, continuing our conversation once he closed the door firmly behind him.
The click of the lock engaging echoed through my ears, and I flinched. Easton noticed, the knowing smirk falling from his face to be replaced by lines of worry. His aura faded from a light pink to a bright blue.
“What’s wrong, D?”
I knew I was being contradictory, telling him I wanted to be there but acting like some kind of skittish animal. Positive he could see the anxiety in my aura, I took a deep breath and forced
my muscles to relax. I stepped closer to him, wrapping my arms around his waist and pressing my cheek against his chest. His arms closed around me, holding me to him.
“I’m just nervous,” I mumbled into his chest.
“Because you think I want to have sex tonight,” he finished for me, saving me from having to say the words.
My face heated with a blush. Keeping my cheek pressed firmly to his skin, I nodded. I was too embarrassed to look him in the eye. I squeezed my eyes shut, mentally berating myself for being so self-conscious. I’d learned to be so strong, a force to be reckoned with, but…
“Hey,” Easton said, pulling me out of my own head.
His fingertips slipped under my chin, lifting my face toward his. He brushed his lips against mine, a whisper-soft touch that calmed me like nothing else could. My arms tightened around him of their own volition and I tried to deepen the kiss, but Easton pulled back to look into my eyes.
“I do want to be with you that way,” he whispered. “God knows I want to. But not until we’re ready. Not until there’s no uncertainty, no fear, and there will be no regrets. I have no doubt that when that time comes, we’ll both know it.”
He smiled then, a smile so sweet and filled with love, there was no room for even a hint of disappointment. His aura glowed pink around his head, and I was sure mine matched it. I lifted onto my toes and pressed my mouth to his as my arms unwound from his waist and slipped up around his neck.
A groan vibrated in his chest when my tongue brushed against his, and he walked me backwards toward his bed. I fell back onto the mattress and pulled him down on top of me, my legs locking around his hips. I’d forgotten my nerves. Forgotten his vow to wait until we were both ready. Forgotten everything but the feel of him in my arms, his mouth ravishing mine before moving down to press hot kisses against my throat.
Heat scorched my veins, making me itch all over. I groaned as Easton’s mouth moved up to the sensitive spot behind my ear, and he echoed the sound back to me. My nails scraped against his back and I bucked beneath him, unable to control the movements of my own body.
Easton’s mouth moved back to mine, his movements slow and measured. The kisses softened, diminishing to light pecks before he rolled to the side, pulling me with him so we lay face-to-face. I stared into his eyes as our breathing slowed, their color more molten silver than ice-blue as his aura raged in the dark pink of desire around him.
He wanted to take things further. It was written all over his face. But he’d stopped. He knew that, despite my raging hormones telling him differently, I wasn’t ready. Not mentally or emotionally. And he wasn’t going to let me make the decision when I was blind and deaf with lust.
His eyes flicked up to the space around my head before meeting mine. “I love you, too,” he said, his smile showing a row of perfect white teeth.
I rolled to my other side and his arm draped over me, pulling me back against his chest. His lips pressed against my shoulder, then his head dropped to share my pillow, his face nuzzling into my hair.
“Thanks for not burning down my room with a lustnado,” he joked, the sentence punctuated by a yawn.
I pushed my elbow back into his ribs, and he grunted before chuckling and squeezing me tighter. I snuggled back against him, finding our position extremely comfortable.
As my heartrate slowed into a relaxed rhythm, I remembered why Easton invited me to stay in his room in the first place. He needed me, needed my support, because of the dreaded news he received from his mother.
Easton’s father was coming to Oberon Academy.
CHAPTER 4
“So, I got you something.”
I looked up from my seat on the floor where Blossom was nuzzling my thigh. Shaela stood just inside the door, two large white bags hanging from her fingertips. It was Friday afternoon and classes were done for the day, and I hadn’t seen her since my training session with my dad ended.
“Where have you been?’ I asked, climbing to my feet before picking up Blossom and placing her in her cage.
“That’s your surprise,” she said with a smile. “I had my mom send me some stuff from home, and I got word that it arrived. I had to go to the mailroom to pick it up.”
“There’s a mailroom here?” I teased, being intentionally obtuse.
Shaela rolled her eyes. “Yes, there’s a mailroom. Aren’t you even going to ask me what it is?”
I laughed. Messing with her was too easy. I held out my hands, palms up, and opened and closed them into fists.
“Gimme. Gimme.”
A bright, beautiful smile lit up her face as she hurried toward me. She dropped one of the bags on her bed and held the other up high before pulling down the zipper on the front. My eyes widened as she pulled the cloth covering away to reveal the gorgeous creation it hid.
“I’ve never worn it,” Shaela said, her voice laced with excitement at the sight of my eyes bugging out of my head. “The color just wasn’t right for me. But for you…”
She trailed off as my fingers reached out to brush against the delicate material. It was the most beautiful dress I’d ever seen. Of course, my life being what it was before Oberon Academy came calling, I hadn’t had much occasion to see fancy dresses, but somehow I knew it was special.
Made of a soft, silky material, it was an electric-blue color that nearly matched the shade of my eyes. Black gems glittered along the neckline and down the bodice, with a few sparkling here and there on the long, billowing skirt.
“I don’t know what to say, Shae,” I said, testing the shortened version of her name on my tongue. I liked the sound of it.
“Say thank you, Shaela and that you’ll wear it tomorrow night.”
“Tomorrow night?” I asked, still dazed by the sight of the magnificent dress.
“Oh my God, D. Snap out of it. It’s just a dress,” Shaela laughed. “It’s for the Valentine’s Day dance, dum-dum.”
She laid the dress on my bed when I didn’t take it from her and skipped back to her side of the room to grab the bag she’d deposited on her own bed. Unzipping it with a flourish she whipped the covering off to reveal a strapless gown in the softest of moss green. It sparkled all over with glitter with a full poufy skirt that was short in the front and long in the back.
Shaela held it against her chest and twirled around. “Isn’t it gorgeous?” she asked.
I nodded mutely with wide eyes. It really was beautiful. Then my eyes trailed back to the blue one, burning with emotion.
“Thank you, Shaela,” I choked out.
Easton had asked me to go to the dance with him, and I’d agreed, but any excitement I might have felt was dampened by the fact that I had nothing appropriate to wear. I’d resigned myself to wearing my uniform, or at the very least, borrowing a pair of jeans from Shaela. But every time I mentioned it, she’d brushed me off, changing the subject. Now I knew why.
“Of course,” she said, her own eyes a little misty. “What are best friends for? Now, try it on so we can make sure it fits without needing alterations.”
I gave her my back and started unbuttoning my shirt when her voice rang out behind me.
“Oh, wait! I almost forgot.”
I looked over my shoulder to see her rummaging through her bag. With a triumphant smile, her hand popped out holding a black lace bra with matching panties. She tossed them my way and my hand automatically reached out to catch them.
“You needed something strapless for that dress,” she said. “Can’t have your plain white bra straps ruining the effect.”
I nodded and turned back around, laying the undergarments on my bed. I studied them while I finished undoing my shirt. They were finely made with expensive materials, the bra padded and the panties not much more than a scrap of lace. I’d certainly never owned anything so nice, or expensive, according to the price tags still attached.
Or as sexy.
My mind went back to the night I stayed in Easton’s room and our frank discussion about being more intimate. A
bout how we would take things to the next level when we were both ready. That discussion was never far from my mind, always popping into my thoughts when I kissed Easton. Or smelled his scent. Or saw him from across the room.
It was like my libido was running on overdrive.
“Maybe I should just do it and get it over with.”
“Do what?”
Keeping my back to Shaela and ignoring her question, I slipped out of my skirt and pulled the dress over my head. Once I had the material settled into place, she came over and zipped me up. I released the hair I’d held up and turned around to face her.
Her eyes rounded into wide saucers as she looked me up and down. She twirled a finger and I twisted around, showing her the back. When I spun back to face her, she clapped her hands together.
“It’s perfect!” she squealed.
I walked over to the mirror and gasped. The dress fit me like a glove—snug on the top, loose and flowing from the waist down to my feet.
“It’s going to look amazing with your wings out.”
I spun on a heel, my mouth falling open. “What?”
“Didn’t anyone tell you?” she asked her brows furrowed. “It’s tradition. Everyone keeps their wings out during the dance. It makes it seem more…magical, I guess.”
My eyes drifted shut with dread and disappointment. “Maybe I shouldn’t go.”
“Don’t be silly, D. Everyone has seen your wings. It’s not a big deal anymore.”
“But—”
“No buts. Easton, Charles and I will be with you the whole time. If anyone tries to talk smack, they’ll have to answer to us. It’ll be fine. I promise.” She popped out a hip and tilted her head. “Now, get out of that dress and tell me what you were talking about when you said you wanted to get it over with.”
I grimaced, flipping around and lifting my hair so she could unzip the dress.