by Meg Xuemei X
I vowed secretly that if anyone came at either Yelena or me, they’d learn that harassing us was more trouble than it was worth.
“No one can stand Demigod Héctor’s touch,” Yelena said, coming to my rescue again. It was evident that I was the only one who lived under a rock coated with so much ignorant moss. “Whomever he touches dies instantly.”
“I hope I can have the same ability,” I said longingly, thinking of all the enemies I had. “I want to be in his house.”
“Héctor is very lonely,” Neha said, as if she personally knew him. “I feel so bad for him. All his sexiness gets wasted like that.”
So the Demigod of Death ranked number one in the Academy libidos because of his lethal touch combined with his natural damn sex appeal and, of course, perfect male torso.
I wasn’t surprised that the girls voted Axel as number two, but I was astonished to find out he was actually a fourth year student in Half-Blood Academy.
He was a demigod, so he didn’t obey any of the rules. He skipped most of his classes and only popped in every now and then to poke fun of the professors or cause some trouble for everyone. Otherwise he was in the war zone with his father or, according to gossip, making time with his pick of the women on campus.
Goddamnit, the Demigod of War wasn’t much older than me, and I’d thought he was ancient, like the other demigods.
Next time he pissed me off, I’d tell him he ranked as the least hot demigod in the Academy because of his baby face. I bet it’d leave a big bruise on his oversized ego.
The number three crown went to Paxton, who was mostly feared.
“Getting on his bad side is like having a death mark branded on your forehead,” Jessica, another first-year, whispered with a shiver. “But he’s so hot. I could just watch his rippling muscles move all day long. Last time when he strode toward me with those powerful legs, I almost passed out at the sight of him.”
Poor Zak was listed as number four, probably because he kept the most distance from the recruits and was way too serious. He never smiled.
According to my bunkmates, he was eons old and the most powerful of the demigods. He was one of the first-born demigods and had just returned to Earth a century ago when the gods’ war with the demons summoned him here.
With a life that long, who wouldn’t grow apathetic? I kind of felt sorry for him. Immortality could be a curse.
Paxton had been born when the war between Lucifer and Ares had just started. He was basically the product of war. No wonder he was the nastiest of them all. There was probably nothing but violence surrounding him when he grew up, which definitely would shape his worldview and personality.
So, this was academy life?
During daytime, we attended classes and beat the shit out of each other; at night, the girls gossiped about hot boys—practically drooling over them, especially the demigods—without any filter.
I wondered what the male students talked about in their bunks.
When the girls’ discussion circled back to the lonely hotness of the death demigod, I snuggled under the blanket and rolled my eyes.
I wondered how Jasper and Circe were doing and if they’d settled down well.
I didn’t know what tomorrow would bring me, but after only a day in the Academy, I wasn’t looking forward to it.
CHAPTER 9
_____________
I wasn’t sure if this was a dream or what—it felt more real than anything in my waking life. But I had no idea how I’d gotten here.
I was in an opulent apartment in a skyscraper. Through floor-to-ceiling windows, I looked down on a lush park of green and pink. Opposite that window was another overlooking a bustling city under my feet.
Parts of the city had burned. Clusters of fire still smoldered in some buildings, their smoke trails whirling into the windy sky.
It must be the war zone, but I hadn’t spotted Dominion soldiers fighting horned demons down there. Maybe it was too far away for me to see the battle unfolding, or maybe both sides were in a recess.
Everyone needed a lunch break, right? Except the scavengers who dashed out of broken buildings and stores and scattered through the streets, collecting what they could find.
I trained my sights on the intact part of the city where people went on with their lives—crowds in the prosperous commercial districts and streets—strolling, shopping, skateboarding, or burying their faces into their phones, probably texting or something.
I’d never in my life used a phone—nobody in Crack did—but I’d heard that social media was still a thing in the parts of the world controlled by the demigods.
The Olympian gods wanted civilization to continue on, while, according to rumor, Lucifer didn’t care much about it, particularly not social media. He wasn’t exactly a popular guy in any non-demon city. He wasn’t even popular in Crack, but neither were the demigods.
I swept my gaze around the apartment, and my breath caught when I spotted the most stunning view through glass doors that led to a spacious balcony. A pair of massive, black wings spread to their glorious, full length, soaking in twilight.
As they slowly, lazily folded and then vanished, I found myself staring at the bare torso of a giant male who perched on a chair custom-made to accommodate his wings. Taut muscles rippled across his bulging arms and beautiful back as he ran a hand over the thick mane of his dark hair.
I hadn’t met anyone more mesmerizing than this specimen, even though I hadn’t yet seen his face. Unable to resist my need to take a quick peek, I snuck up to him.
At my first step, he wheeled toward me.
His gaze fell on me, so intense it froze me where I stood.
A swirl of dark stars came alive, brightening in his sapphire eyes.
“You came back,” he said, his voice deep, silky, and rich, wrapping me with its potent seduction. I could orgasm just by listening to him talk a little longer. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
A smile floated to my lips. “That’s flattering, but I think this is the first time I’ve met you. Uh, do you have a name?”
Maybe I should also ask for his number and then get a phone.
“You don’t remember me?” he asked.
My face sank a little. I would curse the universe if it had created such an utterly gorgeous man but made him a loony or a creep or something worse.
“Maybe you’ve mistaken me for someone else?” I asked before a new swirl of dismay swelled in my chest. If he mistook me for another girl, then I wasn’t the one he was waiting for and eager to see. Then I had no business here.
He laughed sensually. “Come here, lamb. Last time we didn’t get to talk.” His laugh dropped, and his voice turned into dark silk. “Some force pulled you out of my dream too fast, and I wasn’t pleased.”
What he said didn’t make sense. But then this was a dream, as he’d announced.
My body urged me to go to him, but I stood my ground and narrowed my eyes, still surreptitiously ogling him. “I’m not a lamb. You need to correct your mistake.”
He sighed. “Fine, Marigold.”
I sucked in a breath, happy that I wasn’t the wrong girl who crashed this party.
The beautiful man rose from his chair as if impatient that I didn’t move to him as fast as he’d demanded. Before I made another step, he’d reached my side. His arm lashed out and snuck around my waist.
The next moment, we were on the balcony with me in his lap and my shirt nowhere to be found.
This relationship had developed super fast. Before I even knew his name, I was already cuddled with him, topless.
“I can’t wait to touch you again,” he said, snuggling his nose against my neck as he inhaled my scent.
He smelled of clean male and dirty sex mixed with cinder and night. His scent caressed me, arousing me out of my mind.
I traced my fingers along the ridge of his defined muscles before I pressed my breasts against his hard chest.
I wanted to know how it felt to be skin on skin w
ith him.
He chuckled in lustful amusement, his massive erection throbbing against my butt through his trousers. The near uncontrollable desire to tear his pants off and have his large, hard cock inside my heat assaulted me so hard I almost reached for his pants.
Wait a second!
I blinked, trying to regain some control. I didn’t want to be perceived as a savage by this lovely man. Maybe I should slow down. But what if the dream ended abruptly before I could enjoy this man?
Yet I shouldn’t be so willing and eager to get it on with a stranger like this, even in a dream, right?
“What’s the matter, lamb?” he asked, genuine concern in his eyes. “You get this pouty look when you’re worried. What’s bothering you? You know you can talk to me.”
My chest warmed. He wanted to talk instead of having his way with me right away, and he wanted to know my problems.
“I got into this new school by accident,” I said, twirling his silky hair around my finger. “Everyone there knows their place and which house they belong to, except me. No one knows what I am or what kind of power I have. Everyone got their powers upgraded but I just got burned. I’m the freak.”
I thought of all the runes dancing across my body, then disappearing under my skin, never to surface again, like golden coins falling to the bottom of the deep sea.
“Nonsense,” he said, his sapphire eyes warm and loving. “You aren’t any sort of freak. You’re the woman of my dreams.”
I gave him a bright smile with a genuine ease I never felt with anyone else.
“You have the best smile in the universe,” he said, his thumb tracing my lower lip indulgently.
“I know,” I said. “It’s only for you.”
He was the nicest dream man, and it was so easy to talk to him. If everyone in reality was even a little like him, the world would have more peace and less violence and death.
“I won’t share you,” he said. “You’re mine.”
Aha, my dream man was possessive, which wasn’t going to work well since he couldn’t have me outside of this dream. However, I didn’t want to say anything that might upset him and spoil our beautiful moment.
“I don’t even know if I have magic or not,” I said. “Maybe I do, but it doesn’t seem like it wants to be discovered. I don’t blame it. I don’t trust those people in the school either. They only want to turn me into a killer. That’s all we are to them—killing machines.” I untangled my finger from his hair and pressed my palm against his face.
He leaned into my touch, cherishing it.
His skin felt so warm, and his stubble pricked against the heel of my palm. This dream was amazingly realistic with all its scents and textures.
“The three big assholes who rule the school and half of the world can’t figure out me or my powers,” I babbled, grateful that he was still listening attentively. “I love how it frustrates them. They don’t like mystery. They don’t like the unknown. Yet I’ll remain one, and that’s my poetic justice.”
“However,” my grin waned, “I’m a bit concerned that if my power doesn’t manifest soon, or if I’m really a dud, they’ll have no use for me. They’ll get tired of me and my attitude, and then they’ll snap their thick, rude fingers and dispose of me. I bet one of them has already imagined erasing me from the face of Earth. I irked him pretty hardcore.”
“No one will touch you,” he snarled. “You’re mine. I won’t allow anyone to hurt you, even in a dream. I’ll slay them all.”
His wings whooshed out aggressively.
“Uh, thank you,” I said. It felt nice that he was so protective of me, even it was in a dream. When it ended, he would disappear.
But then how come we both realized that this was a dream?
Wasn’t that a bit bizarre?
Or maybe it wasn’t a dream after all, but we’d met in an alternative universe?
Man, I didn’t want to leave this realty. I didn’t want to wake up from it.
“Thank you for listening to me,” I said. “I’ve been whining a lot lately, which isn’t my usual style. From now on, I won’t bitch. Ever. I’ll stay positive for you.”
Mostly for my own sanity.
“That’s my lamb,” he said in approval as his eyes grew hooded from desire.
His mouth slanted onto mine.
He’d held back for so long to listen to my problems. A good man was rare these days, so I needed to cherish him.
But at this point, we both needed some hot, naked action.
His large hands roved over my sides, moving up my chest. I moaned against his lips when his palm cupped my swelling breast.
His tongue thrust through my parted lips, sweeping over my hard palate.
Pleasure buzzed all over me in tingling sensations.
My tongue caught his, tangling in an elegant, intriguing dance.
It felt so natural being with this gorgeous, winged being this way. Like we were meant to be together.
He let out a low groan, tearing his lips from me. His sapphire eyes shone brightly, filled with starlight. “You’re the only woman I can touch, even in a dream,” he said gently yet full of awe. “But even if I could touch another, I’d rather have you here in my dreams than any other woman in real life.”
How could he have a real life? He was a fabricated character in my fantasy. But I had no time to dwell on logic while I was busy pulling him back toward me as I threaded my fingers into his lush hair.
I didn’t want him to escape.
“Aren’t you possessive and impatient tonight, lamb?” he chuckled, his voice husky and so sexy it sent liquid fire licking between my thighs.
“I want to touch you everywhere at once, lamb, and I don’t even know where to begin,” he said, his French accent thickening with lust. “You set my cock on fire.”
Hell have mercy!
I crushed my lips against his.
Our tongues entwined, dueled, and danced.
A firestorm burned through us both, connecting us.
His hand moved down, tracing my warm skin. Pleasure stoked more flames within me at his every hungry stroke.
I rocked my ass against his erection.
A rough groan sounded from the back of his throat.
“I never knew touching a woman could be so delicious and addictive,” he said. “You’ll be my woman forever, lamb.”
He heaved me up with one hand, and his finger rubbed my sex back and forth before sliding between my folds.
I leaned back to give him more room to play with me. Here in this beautiful dreamscape, I’d let him do anything to me.
His finger thrust slowly into me as he studied my reaction intently, like I was his new addiction—his whole world.
My inner walls clenched around his finger.
“It feels so good.” I threw my head back and moaned. “And don’t stop. Never stop.”
He thrust deeper into me.
In and out and in with a smooth rhythm.
It didn’t take long for him to insert a second finger into my tight channel and thrust more urgently.
I cried out as pleasure blasted through me, lighting up my every cell.
I wanted this mystical man more than anything.
I wanted his cock to replace his fingers so I could ride every inch of its hard length.
I propelled my hips forward to ride his fingers first, and he let out a string of lustful curses.
Unable to rein himself in any longer, the sexy hunk dropped his trousers, and I looked down at his cock—smooth, tanned, and huge. It was the most striking sight.
For a second, I hesitated. Would it fit? He was so big and I was tight.
I shook my head, determined not to worry about his size. We could make anything happen because everything could work in a dream.
I planted my hands on his shoulders and rubbed my sex along his hard length.
“Do you want my cock, lamb?” he asked.
He’d observed my every move in fascination, but the hungry way I
stared at his manhood brought a smile of utter male satisfaction to his gorgeous face.
“More than anything,” I purred breathlessly.
I hadn’t known that I had this sultry side in me. I could be full of surprises, and this time it was in a good way.
An animalistic groan rumbled from his chest, arousing me even more.
His hands gripped my hips, lifting me up as if I were feather light. He placed his steel rod between my thighs and pushed me down.
I glided down and he thrust up, until we completely joined.
We then remained still, savoring and celebrating this incredible feeling of intimacy and connection.
He started moving slowly, letting me adjust to his size.
I lost patience first. I wanted more of him—all of him. I heaved my hips up and down, sliding along his rock-hard length. I wasn’t sure if I was doing it right, but it felt right, and we both panted in pleasure.
Bliss darkened his sapphire eyes, and unbridled lust twisted his face.
He gripped my hip with one hand as he thrust into me, faster and faster; his other hand buried into my lavender hair.
“Let me do the work and pleasure you, lamb.” He breathed into my lips. “You just enjoy. I need to take care of you.”
He bucked his powerful hips up and thrust deeper into me, his raw sexual need slamming into me, grinding me.
His every inch filled my heated channel, and my depths swallowed every part of his manhood.
My breasts bounced up and down as we joined, parted for a second, and slammed back together.
A knot slowly unwound in me, and I only now realized that I’d been so tense for so long.
His lust, warmth, and scent wrapped around me like a melody from the sky, the ocean, and the depths of Earth.
He thrust into me, harder and faster, sending waves of pleasure washing over every part of my body. I wanted to cling to this sensation forever.
Another series of hard thrusts, and his cock grew even larger and harder inside me.