“Our first ever winner, ladies and gentlemen!” Rusty recovered from his obvious shock and applause rippled through the air.
Orion staggered to his feet, lifting a hand to heal himself and I relaxed as the pain in his posture ebbed away.
Rusty cast magic at the glass box to bring it down, opening it with a reluctant expression and holding it out to Orion. “Congratulations,” he said through a smile that was so obviously false it made me hiccough a laugh.
Orion grinned, taking it. “And here I was thinking this thing was rigged.”
“Never,” Rusty said, clearing his throat.
Orion headed off the stage and I moved through the crowd to try and find him. A line of teachers walked into the tent and I paused, turning the opposite way, my heart fluttering anxiously.
My Atlas pinged and I took it out.
Lance:
Do you want a ride home?
My heart beat frantically as Washer stepped past me, making a beeline for a bunch of the performers in bikinis.
I tapped out a quick reply, frowning as Washer’s hand landed on one of their bare backs.
Run for your life girls.
Darcy:
Are you freaking crazy???
Lance:
Yes. For you ;)
Come with me.
I tapped my foot anxiously, angry but desperate to see him too.
Darcy:
Okay, where should I go?
Lance:
Behind the tent is a fence that borders the road.
Wait on the other side of it.
I headed out of the tent, chewing on my lower lip as I circled around to the back of it, finding a high wooden fence at the edge of the field. No lights shone this way and I was pretty sure I was safe from being seen.
I gazed up at the top and pushed air out of my palms, propelling myself over it. I landed on the street on the other side, stumbling only a little and smiling at how well I’d managed it.
The street was quiet, the opposite side of the road leading into a thick woodland. No streetlights were in sight and my breath clouded before me like a ghost in the moonlight.
It was a few minutes before headlights flared and a fancy red Faerarri pulled up beside me. The windows were blacked out but it was pretty obvious who owned this car. The passenger window slid down and Orion leaned across to look at me.
I slapped the side of the door, my anger pouring out. “How could you do that? You nearly gave me a heart attack.”
“To be fair, I nearly gave myself a heart attack, Blue, so can we call it even?”
I shook my head, blinking back those damned tears which kept coming for me tonight. I kicked the front wheel and his brows pulled together. “Can you stop attacking my car? She doesn’t like it.”
I sniffed, turning my back on him and staring up at the moon. Tears blurred it into a fuzzy white ball of cotton wool and I tugged down my sleeve to dab them away. A shadow filled my vision as Orion sped in front of me, his expression taut.
“I didn’t mean to upset you,” he said, sounding lost. “I don’t apologise very often. It’s not a very Fae thing to do. Did I not do it right?”
I smacked his chest as another tear spilled over. He caught it at the edge of my chin, wiping it away with his thumb.
“You could have just said the words,” I whispered with another sniff and he gave me a hopeful grin, inching closer into my personal space.
“I’m sorry.” He pressed his hands either side of me on the car and my breathing hitched.
“You smell like her,” I murmured.
“Then make me smell like you,” he commanded and I caught his lapels, dragging him down to meet my mouth. Our kiss tasted of tears and desperation. The hurt between us blurred in the middle then faded to nothing like the rain had come to wash it away. Forgiveness was never easy, but the knot inside me finally came loose and I could breathe again.
“Come on,” he said, stepping back. “This evening is still salvageable.”
“I wish we could stay at the funfair together.” I frowned.
“Well...I hear another funfair has popped up in my bedroom for the night,” he teased.
A laugh broke free of my throat and Orion grinned, pushing a lock of hair behind my ear.
“If you want to go back and find your friends, I get it.” He squeezed my hand and I interlaced my fingers with his.
“Hm, well I quite like the sound of this other funfair. Is there a rollercoaster?”
“No but there’s a slip and slide?” he offered.
I laughed as Orion tugged the door open and I dropped into the seat. I put the window up as he shut the door and he shot into the driver’s seat at speed.
Quiet fell between us.
The heavy thump of my heart was almost loud enough for me to hear let alone him with his super-sonic ears. I wet my mouth as he drove off down the road, wrangling my emotions.
“Where’s Fran?” I asked lightly.
He chuckled. “You know, she’d really kill you if she heard you calling her that.”
I shrugged. She can try.
“She got called into work. Apparently there was a Nymph sighting in east Tucana. The anonymous caller was very insistent,” he said, tilting his head innocently and my mouth fell open.
“You didn’t?”
“I did.” He barked a laugh. “Where’s Polaris?” he asked, his voice dropping as he barely concealed the bitterness in his tone.
“We had an argument,” I said tersely, a knife twisting in my gut at the memory.
“About?” he inquired, reaching over and placing his hand on my knee. Even through my pantyhose I felt the blazing heat of his skin and my body responded with a surge of adrenaline.
“You,” I admitted.
He shot me a concerned look. “He doesn’t know anything, does he?”
“Of course not, he just thinks I have a crush on you and that I’m pathetic for doing so. And a whore apparently.”
His grip tightened on my knee and sparks skittered beneath my skin.
“Fuck that kid, I’ll tear him a new one the next time I see him,” he snarled.
“I might join you in that.” I rested my hand on his and he wrapped his palm around mine.
“You’re freezing.” He released a wave of warm air that rushed over me and reminded me of the other night when I’d shown up soaking wet at his house.
Orion turned down a dark road where the trees leaned overhead, creating a long tunnel for what seemed like miles.
“So have you forgiven me now?” he asked with amusement in his voice.
“Technically you owed the apology to my sister,” I pointed out and he gave me an incredulous look.
“By the stars, am I going to have to electrocute myself again for Tory Vega?”
I laughed. “You know that numb guy wasn’t hooked up to the mains right? Well, he wasn’t until I hooked him up myself.”
“What?” he gasped.
“Yep.” I squeezed his fingers.
Orion pulled over to the side of the road and my brows shot up as he dragged me forward and slammed his lips against mine. I was half choked by the seatbelt and he quickly released it, my heart rate climbing as his tongue pushed into my mouth. I clambered into his lap with a surge of excitement, straddling him and clawing my hands into his hair as I devoured his kiss. His hands slid under my dress and I urged him on by lifting my hips, lost to how much I wanted him.
A deep growl emanated from his throat as he found his way barred by my pantyhose. He ripped a hole in them between my thighs and I sucked in a breath of surprise.
“Orion!” I laughed but my laughter turned into a moan as he found his way into my panties and pushed his fingers inside me. “You owe me a new pair,” I said breathlessly.
“I’ll get you a whole new wardrobe if you make that noise again.”
“What noise?” I panted and he pumped his fingers harder, drawing a needy moan from my lips.
“That one,” he grunt
ed, shifting his free hand between us to undo his jeans.
I arched upwards to give him room and my head banged against the roof. We both laughed and he removed his hand from my pantyhose, tugging my dress over my head.
“Let’s get rid of these.” He tore my pantyhose in half and I gasped as he peeled them off my legs.
“Hey, how about we tear some of your clothes?” I tugged at his shirt and he caught my wrists with a mischievous grin.
His eyes travelled down my near naked body and the lacy red underwear I wore while sucking on his lower lip. “I’ve missed this.” He kissed my collar bone and tingles rushed beneath his lips. “And this.” He curled a lock of my hair around his finger and brought that to his lips too. “And these.” He squeezed my breasts and I giggled. “Hm...you’re missing something though.”
“What?” I frowned.
He reached behind his seat and produced the crown he’d won at the fair, placing it on my head. I smiled so wide my cheeks hurt.
“Better,” he said, his eyes becoming hooded as he rested his hands on my thighs and drew me closer.
“If you go around placing crowns on my head, you’re going to be in trouble,” I teased and his mouth skewed.
“Well let’s not tell anyone then,” he said, leaning in to kiss my neck.
I started unbuttoning his shirt, aching for the feel of his flesh against mine. Our movements grew more frantic, his kisses turning to bites, his fingers pinching, while I clawed at his chest to get the buttons open and finally pushed his shirt over his athletic shoulders.
He tugged my bra down to free my right breast, his mouth encasing my hardened nipple and sending pleasure shuddering through me. A tight ball of need grew in the pit of my stomach and I rolled my hips over his crotch, his arousal bulging against my panties. He groaned appreciatively, sucking harder against my sensitised flesh.
I lifted up on my knees to free him from his pants and my ass bashed into the steering wheel, setting the horn off.
I snorted a laugh and Orion tugged me forward by the hips again to stop the noise.
“This is way more difficult than I expected,” I joked and he grinned devilishly at me.
“Definitely worth it though.” He freed himself from his boxers, pushing my panties aside and all amusement fell away as he guided my hips forward.
I rested my forehead to his, inhaling as he pushed into me. He hissed between his teeth as I lowered onto him, moaning as he filled me up inch by inch.
I started riding him and he chased my mouth for kisses as I writhed on his lap, delighting in the incredible feelings his body delivered me. His fingers dug into my hips, pushing me down on him in a glorious rhythm. I rolled my neck, bracing my hands on his shoulders as I took what I so desperately needed from his flesh.
“Don’t fight with me again,” he demanded, his teeth raking against my ear.
“Don’t give me a reason to.” I sank my nails into his shoulders, making him groan and thrust harder between my legs. One of my knees banged against the parking brake and the other slammed into the door, but I didn’t care about the bruises. I’d take all of them in payment for this bliss.
My hips quickened to meet his and we fell into a sweaty, breathless tangle of limbs and wanton kisses. He wrapped one hand in my hair and tugged hard enough to hurt. “That’s for Polaris,” he growled as I yelped.
I scraped my nails down his chest so hard I drew blood. “That’s for Fran.”
He looked down in surprise, then released a breathless laugh. “I like you angry.”
“Let’s not make a habit of it though,” I panted.
“Deal,” he groaned as he pushed into me again.
I pressed one hand to the window, my spine straightening as an urgent pressure built between my thighs. Orion’s hand rode the curve of my spine before forcing me onto him, finishing me. Pleasure cascaded through me like an exploding rainbow and I clung to him as he drove harder and faster into me, finding his own release, grunting my name in the back of his throat.
My legs trembled as I came down from my high, slumping against him as I lost all the energy in my body. I rested my head against his shoulder, our breaths burning hot, leaving a fog on the windows around us.
He trailed his fingers up and down my bare thighs, my skin overly sensitive to him. He tilted my chin up, kissing me so sweetly it seemed to coat my lips in sugar. My hand rested against his chest where his heart beat like the wings of a powerful bird and I smiled at the feel of this formidable man struggling for breath because of me.
I climbed off him into my seat, finding the crown in the footwell where it had fallen off at some point. We both dressed in silence but we kept catching each other’s eye and sharing grins.
When I was decent – apart from my lack of pantyhose– Orion restarted the engine and headed on down the road.
“So did you get any information from Polaris during your date?” he asked.
“You’re never going to let that go are you?” I mocked.
“It just fucks me off that you can go out in public with him and not me.”
“Well that’s how it is,” I sighed, turning to gaze out of the steamy window beside me. I painted a grumpy face on it and wrote Orion above it.
He glanced over, breaking a smile. “Is that what I look like to you?”
“Not quite.” I added angry eyebrows and fangs, turning to grin cheekily at him.
He laughed and I smiled satisfactorily.
“Diego didn’t say much about his uncle, just that he’s an asshole. And that his mother and father go off with him sometimes to help him with his ‘work’.” I shrugged. “Is that useful?”
Orion remained quiet for a moment. “Yes it gives me a couple more Fae to look into. Much as it pains me to say it, I’d appreciate if you keep spending time with him. See what else he’ll say about them. But no dates.”
“Well that’s gonna be pretty difficult as I’m majorly pissed at him and I’m guessing he is at me too.”
“What’s he pissed at you for?”
“I slapped him,” I revealed.
“Good,” he growled. “But he deserves more than that for calling you a whore.”
“Actually...I slapped him before he said that.” I twisted my fingers into my skirt as rage burned inside me at the memory.
“Why?” Orion asked.
“He said he wished you’d died when the Nymphs attacked,” I forced out, my throat closing up.
Orion’s grip tightened on the wheel. “I’m going to kill him.”
“You can’t. He’ll know I told you. And I didn’t exactly deny that I have a thing for you, if you go after him he might figure out there’s something between us.”
“What kind of thing do you have for me?” He shot me a mischievous glance.
“It will sound crazy,” I said slowly.
“I like crazy. Did you not get the memo when I tried to cook myself earlier?”
“Promise you won’t laugh?” I asked, heat invading my cheeks.
“On the stars.”
I nodded, looking out of the window so I didn’t have to see his reaction when I told him. “When we were in the battle and you were about to die, I felt compelled to save you. Like…if I didn’t a part of me would die too. And ever since then, that part of me is getting stronger like it’s become this tangible thing that lives in me. I’ve never been a jealous person before but when I see you with Francesca it’s like I turn into an animal with nothing but basic instincts.” My cheeks burned hotter and I didn’t dare look at Orion’s face, unsure why I was baring my soul to him right then. I rarely trusted anyone enough to spill my heart out to them, but I always wanted to with him. “I told you it was crazy.”
He took my hand, winding his fingers between mine and pressing his mouth to the back of my knuckles. I chanced a look his way and my heart pounded as I found nothing but happiness in his eyes. Then he said six words that made my heart shine like the moon. “Good, because I feel it too.”
&
nbsp; I guided my car down the road with half an eye on Tory in the seat beside me as she fixed her damn lipstick like we hadn’t just had the craziest fucking argument of my life on the side of a mountain. Did anything ever faze that girl? Or had she really just been through so much shit in her life that what had just happened between us wasn’t even a big deal to her?
I didn’t know. And I couldn’t figure it out. She was a closed book and it drove me mad. Girls usually chased me but with her I honestly felt like she wasn’t even interested half the time. Which didn’t make sense because I was goddamn hilarious and the sex was fucking mind blowing so what else did she even want?
Her window was open and she still hadn’t put her seatbelt on. What did she have against seatbelts? I swear the girl had more mysteries in her travel preferences than I had in my whole life.
We turned towards the fair and the sidewalks slowly filled with people. I flicked the button beside me to close her window and she cast a glance my way out of the corner of her eyes, her fingers flexing like she wanted to hit the button to drop it again instantly. But if she didn’t want her face plastered all over tomorrow’s Celestial Times then she was better off hidden behind the blacked out windows.
I drove right past a no vehicles sign and kept going beyond the crowds of people walking into the fair on foot until I turned right alongside the gates where the other Heirs’ cars were already parked. A security guard eyed my car with disapproval, his lips set in a thin line but he didn’t make any attempt to come and tell me to move it. If he wanted me to, he’d have to make me and he knew he wasn’t strong enough to do that.
“Full disclosure, the press will have recognised my car. Do you wanna pose for photos or let me carry you the hell away from them?” I asked, turning to look at Tory as I cut the engine.
She looked out through the tinted glass and I followed her gaze. Sure enough I spotted several paparazzi with cameras eyeing the car hopefully already.
“Well as the press seem to think I’m a sex addict it might not look good for you to be seen with me,” she commented. “They’ll think you’re my latest conquest.”
Zodiac Academy 3: The Reckoning: An Academy Bully Romance (Supernatural Bullies and Beasts) Page 45