First Kiss: The Ghost Bird Series: #10 (The Academy Ghost Bird Series)

by C. L. Stone

  I missed them, too.

  North came in, zipping up the tent behind him. “Are we all here now?”

  “Yup,” Gabriel said from underneath his blanket. “No thanks to any of you.”

  I took my spot in between Nathan and Silas, sliding into my sleeping bag and settling in.

  “Let’s just try to get some sleep,” Kota said, smoothing out his sleeping bag and putting his glasses carefully on a little cooler near his bed. “We’ve got an early day tomorrow. Lights out.”

  Kota’s request was followed by a few grumbles, but no one argued. Kota was on the very end closest to the tent door. Next to him was Victor, then North. Silas, me, and Nathan were on the mattress, and sleeping lengthwise at our heads were Luke and Gabriel.

  Silas pressed close, providing some heat but not enough for me since he was wrapped up in his own sleeping bag. Nathan leaned against me on the other side. His fingers found their way to my face, and he slipped one between my lips.

  I wanted to give him one of my fingers, but I was too cold to take my arm out of my sleeping bag. I chewed on his finger a little but then dozed off.

  NIGHT IN A TENT

  I wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but at I woke up freezing. Despite Silas being close to my left, and Nathan on my other side, my back and stomach were cold, even though the sleeping bag. My forehead was sticking out and cold. My feet were ice. The air from the mattress wasn’t warm at all, and the tent itself had cold air throughout.

  I exhaled a long puff of air, and could swear I was seeing my own breath hanging above my face.

  I tried moving to my side, but my shoulders ended up freezing, and then Nathan and Silas weren’t close enough. I either had to cuddle with one or the other. I tried Silas. As I got closer, he did turn into me, but I wasn’t getting much heat along my stomach, and my butt and back were cold.

  I moaned. My mostly-asleep brain was trying to work out a problem, and I couldn’t do it if I was cold, so I was trying to figure out how not to be cold.

  If I was cold, they had to be cold, too. We shouldn’t sleep in the cold. I knew that. Extreme cold makes you sleepy, but if you fell asleep in it, you could die. I knew that from living up north and everything I had been taught in elementary school about staying safe during the winter. Have they ever been this cold while camping? Maybe they were so cold they were sleeping through it, and that was dangerous. “We need to get up,” I said, hoping someone was awake.

  I caught someone mumbling back but it faded. Either he wasn’t concerned or didn’t hear me. Was everyone able to sleep through this cold? What had happened to the heater?

  “Silas,” I said.

  “What?” he asked, his deep voice vibrating the bed.

  “We need to wake up.”

  “It’s not snowing,” he said.

  “No. We can’t sleep here.”

  Someone else groaned, there was a creak and thumping around, as if someone flipped over on a cot.

  “North,” I called. No one was listening! I was sure this was wrong. We couldn’t sleep in these frigid temperatures—maybe they were groggy from the cold shutting down their brains. Freezing to death wasn’t good. “North,” I called again.

  “Baby,” North mumbled back. “Go to sleep.”

  “We can’t sleep in the cold,” I said, turning a little, allowing some cold air into my sleeping bag, enough that my body started to shake and rattle against the cold. “Did the heater break?”

  “You can sleep,” North said. “We’re here. You’re fine. Go to sleep.”

  “It’s too cold,” I said. “I can see my breath.”

  North groaned. “You’ve got a sleeping bag. It’s not that bad.”

  “We can’t sleep,” I said. He was missing the point.

  “Why can’t we sleep here?”

  “Because... if we sleep in the cold we may never wake up!”

  There was a rustling, and I glanced over to see North sitting up. “Sang. Get your pretty ass over here before I come over there and thump you.”

  “Thump her,” said a slurred voice of Gabriel.

  I didn’t want to get thumbed, but it was really cold and I didn’t want to get out of my sleeping bag.

  “Come on,” North said.

  I only hesitated another moment. I pulled myself out of my sleeping bag. Silas and Nathan turned over as I tiptoed my way toward North’s cot.

  The air was so cold, I thought my feet would freeze to the bottom of the tent. Why did the Academy pick winter as the time to camp? Why was this a thing? I’d have to talk to North. He was reasonable. He approved of Gabriel getting me out of my tent because of the cold. He’d hear me out and he’d make everyone get up and go sleep somewhere else. Maybe he’d go get the heater from my tent. Maybe we’d sleep in the cars with the heat on. Anything had to be better than the ice cold tent.

  Instead, North surprised me by opening up his sleeping bag. He found my hand in the dark and tugged me down. “Get in,” he said.

  I wedged myself into the bag, snuggled close against him while on my back. He reached over me, zipping us up.

  North tugged the sleeping bag up around our heads. It was surprisingly warm and got warmer quickly when the material covered my head. He mumbled to me inside the darkness. “Now what the hell are you talking about?”

  “It’s too cold to sleep here,” I said. “If you fall asleep in the cold, you don’t wake up.”

  “Baby, we’re not dying of hypothermia.” He dropped his head against my hair and wrapped his arms even tighter around my body, drawing me in closer. “Now close those pretty lips and go to sleep.”

  North’s sleeping bag warmed even more. Was his thicker than mine? I didn’t understand, but chilled shivers took over my spine again. . North tucked his arms closer around my body. He pulled me around until my back was pressed up against his chest, my butt into his waist. He crossed his arms over my chest, and bent his head, until and pressed his lips to the back of my neck.

  Our legs pressed together and I slid my fingers along his arm, silently thanking him. Maybe he hadn’t realized how cold I was in my sleeping bag. Maybe the others had better sleeping bags. I’d have to inspect them in the morning and see what made the difference.

  I dozed for a while. I woke when I felt North’s lips against the back of my neck, trailing to my ear. The air was still, and it was dark. I strained to listen, even though I was sure the others were sleeping and no one was paying attention.

  Maybe North knew that, too.

  I stretched slightly, but the move made my body press closer into his. His arms tightened around me. His lips parted until he was sucking at my skin.

  His teeth grazed at the soft spot behind my ear and sent a wave of warm sparks through my body. My hands covered his forearms that were wrapped around me. It was the only spot I could reach. I rubbed my fingers against his arm as if to let him know I loved what he was doing. It was the first tender moment I’d had with any of them since we’d arrived, and I hadn’t even realized how much I missed a touch like that.

  Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

  Part of me wanted to stop him. His kisses, his touch reminded me of when we were at the hotel on the beach. Could I remain so quiet if he continued? Each gentle brush of his lips against the soft skin along my neck made my heart throb.

  My body responded in ways to his kisses that felt good, but I was confused as to what I should do.

  His mouth trailed down my neck to my shoulder. The coarse hairs on his face electrified me.

  His lips parted. When his teeth grazed against my skin, I shivered into him again. I smothered a moan against his arm.

  He was going to do it. I felt it inside me. Part of me panicked, sure the others would hear.

  The other part of me didn’t care and wanted it badly.

  His arm tugged me tighter around the waist and the other was a cushion at my head, supporting me up and giving himself support to nuzzle against my shoulder.

  He bit down sl
owly, his teeth sinking into my skin. It was only a half bite, less pressure than what I knew he could do.

  At the same time, his arm holding up my head came down, sliding around my chest and holding strong. The other pulled me in tighter. A leg wrapped around mine, locking me in.

  The jolt took over my body, diminished only by his strong hold. Electricity coursed through every nerve. There was nothing else except the bite and the feeling it brought.

  My shoulder pressed back against his teeth with an instinctual reaction. I craved more. He was holding out and I couldn’t bare this.

  He held onto me with his teeth on my neck for a moment, before slowly easing up. He sucked at the spot, sending another wave of shivers through my body.

  A minute passed before I could breathe again, sinking back against him. I swallowed a moan, forcing myself to stay silent.

  His mouth lifted until he was nuzzling behind my ear again. “Baby,” he whispered, his voice gruff.

  My heart pounded, out of control. He’d stirred something inside of me. My brain whispered that I should be quiet and go back to sleep, but my heart was drawn to him, craving, needing.

  North released the strong hold on my body, and I gently pushed for room to turn and face him. He pulled me in, his arm encircling my head to hold me close again, and his palm at the small of my back, urging me close, even as I was snug against his body.

  He kissed my nose once, lingering there. I breathed in his musk, and it was all I could smell at that moment.

  I listened for any sign of the others, but they were still.

  I may have whispered his name, but it was so soft on my lips, I wasn’t sure if he could hear it at all.

  His head tilted, and his broad lips met mine.

  The kiss was strong, like him. Cautious, careful North, for the moment, kissed recklessly, feeling every corner of my mouth with his lips. His tongue followed, circling, diving in.

  I responded, and I only pulled back when I needed to catch my breath.

  North ducked his head lower and kissed my cheek close to my ear. His leg covered mine again, locking himself against me. With my shorter legs, my toes curled into the material of the sweatpants he wore to bed.

  I lowered my head, wanting to bite him back. The way we were positioned, it was too awkward to reach for his neck. Instead, I pressed my cheek against his chest, my hands smoothing out his T-shirt.

  “Baby,” he whispered, his body stiffening against mine. There was a slight edge to his voice. A warning? I couldn’t tell. I stilled for only a second, listening, but only hearing light snores and breathing.

  I tilted my head until my lips were pressed against his chest, kissing at the muscles of his chest.

  North shivered. His mouth pressed at the top of my head, tense.

  My teeth grazed along the shirt but I wanted to touch his skin. I tucked two fingers into the neckline of his shirt, drawing it down.

  His hand flew up, catching mine, but he didn’t draw my hand away. I hesitated for a moment, unsure what he wanted from me, what I should do next.

  Maybe he was worried about the noise.

  I exhaled slow and then took in as much air as possible. I held on to him, determined to remain quiet. I dropped my mouth to his bare skin and kissed it.

  He sucked in a breath, and his chest pressed to my mouth and he let out the quietest moan. It was enough to make me kiss the spot again, wondering if his reaction had been from the kiss or if he’d been expecting a bite.

  His other hand found the back of my head, rubbing the base of my neck and then finding the spot where he had bitten.

  The pressure of his thumb over the bite sent a new wave of bravery through me. I opened my mouth, putting my teeth to his skin, and bit his chest, slowly. My teeth sank into his chest and my tongue darted against him.

  North smothered a grunt in his throat, and I felt the rumbling through my bones. He pitched against me. A sharp metallic creak sounded as the cot jerked at his reaction. His hand at the back of my head held me to his chest, afraid to move, afraid to let go.

  Suddenly his fingers twined in my hair, pulling my head away from him. He pushed me until I was almost teetering off the edge of the cot, held up only by the sleeping bag.

  North quickly found the zipper, ripping open the sleeping bag. He crawled over me, starting to stand up. He lifted me in his arms as he stood, and then stilled when he was fully up.

  My eyes fluttered, trying to figure out what he was doing with me.

  North released me until I was standing. I think he only meant to put me down so he could get around me, but he was walking away, and caught my ankle and I dropped in a heap on top of someone else. I managed to scramble to sit up, worried I’d hurt whoever was sleeping.

  “Ug,” a voice said underneath me and a body shifted in the cot. I scrambled as best as I could while trying to get out of North’s way. Where was he going?

  He lumbered toward the tent opening, unzipped it and stumbled out into the night. I heard the zipper again and then his footsteps as he stormed off, the crunch of grass getting fainter under his boots.

  The body beside me shifted, the sleeping bag opened and a head appeared. I moved until I was sitting up on the edge of the cot.

  “Sang?” Victor whispered.

  “Hmmm,” I whispered. My heart thundered in my chest.

  North storming out worried me. He’d done it before. I felt like he had liked what he’d been doing, and yet when I tried to bite back, he’d pushed me away. If he didn’t like it, he could have stopped me before that point, so why hadn’t he?

  Should I crawl back into his cot?

  Would either of us sleep if he returned?

  You can only push a guy so far. It’s what he’d told me before. Why didn’t he tell me before I got too far? If it hurt or he didn’t like it, then I didn’t want to do it anymore.

  Victor unzipped his sleeping bag. “Hurry up and get in. It’s cold.”

  How was I supposed to explain to Victor what had just happened? I couldn’t even explain it to myself

  But he didn’t ask. Victor simply urged me into the sleeping bag until I was lying next to him. He reached around me to zip it back up.

  “Princess,” he cooed, as his arms remained around me, drawing me close until I was facing him. His hand moved against my shirt around to my back. He stilled at first, but then his fingers shifted, finding the spaces between my ribs and following them. He started at my spine and traced around, following the bone. It was a short, smooth movement like I’d witnessed him do to piano keys when he was thinking or considering a song to play. “What’s wrong with your sleeping bag?”

  “It was cold,” I whispered, still thinking of North, worried that he’d gone off by himself in the middle of the night. “I was freezing.”

  “Aw, was it not working?” he asked. His lips met with my forehead. “I’m sorry.”

  “Working?”

  He kissed my brow. It was just a sweet kiss, like one would do to a child who broke a toy. “What? You didn’t turn it on?”

  Even though it was pitch dark, I blinked, trying to figure out what he was talking about. I pushed back a little, looking at him, his face having a bluish glow from moonlight shining through the thin tent wall. “What do you mean it turns on?”

  There were a couple of snickering giggles from Luke and Gabriel’s direction.

  Victor reached up and touched my arm. “Our sleeping bags heat up. There’s a little button and then a dial where you can direct how much heat...”

  I groaned. “No one told me about the button. I didn’t see one.”

  “Luke didn’t tell you?”

  I blinked. Luke was supposed to tell? “Luke!” I said in a harsh whisper.

  More snickering, louder this time. “I swear, I thought I said something,” Luke said. “I thought you knew.”

  Maybe he thought he had, but no one else had bothered to mention it to me. I suddenly felt silly for not looking at the sleeping bag closer. I didn�
�t know they could do that. No wonder North’s was so warm. Were they battery powered? I fell back into the cot. Did none of them hear me saying I was cold? Or did they just assume mine wasn’t working right?

  “I hate you all,” I said, grumbling.

  I thought I heard Silas and Nathan giggling with the others.

  “Sorry,” Victor said, sounding sincerely apologetic. “I thought you knew. Seriously, I would have said something before.”

  “I hate everyone except Victor,” I declared. I snuggled into him. He wouldn’t kiss me and dump me on someone else. He wouldn’t destroy my tent. He wouldn’t refuse to tell me my sleeping bag heated up, and then giggle about it.

  I hated to admit it, but a lot of it was at least partially my fault. I could have checked out the sleeping bag and noticed something was different. I should have known I couldn’t bite North like that without things getting too loud and he felt he had to leave. If I’d at least let Gabriel into the tent and heard him out, I would have agreed with him about it being too cold and too dangerous to sleep there alone. My pride was more hurt than anything.

  “Oh my god, Trouble,” Gabriel said, shuffling as he turned over. “I love you, but please shut the fuck up and go to sleep.”

  My heart wanted to flip out at him saying he loved me, but I knew from his tone he was just trying to butter me up so I wouldn’t yell at him. He didn’t really mean it. “Gabriel…” I was too tired to fight him.

  “Everyone go to sleep,” Kota said in a groggy voice. He flipped over in his cot, facing the wall. “You’re all ridiculous.”

  I bit back my retort to Gabriel, not wanting to anger Kota. Victor moved a hand around the back of my head, coiling a lock of my hair around his finger and drawing me into his chest. His lips brushed against the top of my forehead.

  “Shh, Princess,” he whispered into my ear. “Stay with me. I won’t let them pick on you anymore.”

  I snuggled into his chest, my lips pressing against his collarbone. I would stay with him. I’d be his camping buddy. I was still mad at Gabriel knocking down my tent, and I wanted to get back at him later for doing that. And maybe for Luke as well for not telling me about my sleeping bag.