Wrath of the Gods (Magic Blessed Academy Book 3)

by Eva Ashwood

  Deciding to deflect like mad, I straightened up a little. “The main point is, the gods have been lying to everyone here—except the admins they’re in league with.”

  “Holy shit.” Eden’s eyes seemed to keep getting bigger, to the point where I was afraid they would pop out of her head. “So… you’re gonna do something, right?” Worry tinged her tone. “I know you. Of course you’re gonna do something. What are you gonna do?”

  I dragged in a breath and let it out slowly. “The guys and I have been working on a plan to go up against the gods. We’re not going to let them do this to us. We’re gonna stop it.”

  Eden’s already pale face grew a little paler. “Alone?”

  I shrugged. “If we have to. Yeah.”

  “Aria…” Her fingertips wound around the ends of her light brown hair, fiddling with the strands nervously. “Even if you are a god, or you have god-like magic somehow, I don’t know if that’s enough. You’re just one person, and even with three guys who’d march into hell with you if you asked, you’re completely outnumbered.” Her gaze caught mine, her expression earnest. “If you really want to have a chance against them, you need an army.”

  Chapter Four

  Eden and I stayed in the closet for another hour, at least. She had dozens more questions, and I answered every one, getting her as up to speed on everything as I could.

  Now that she knew as much as she did, I wanted her to know everything. Shit was about to get dangerous, but maybe she had a point.

  An army.

  More people who would fight on our side.

  It wasn’t something I had ever really considered, but maybe there was something to that. If all magic users revolted against the gods, would they be able to stop us? Or would we truly have a chance of bringing them down?

  Surely, all of our wild magic combined with the god gifted magic of everyone else would be a formidable force. If we had all of that power working together, fighting one God—or even all of them—might actually work.

  Or… it might be a complete disaster.

  We didn’t even know exactly what the gods were capable of. Going up against them could be suicide. If the gods were capable of taking us all out, and we all gathered in one place to fight them, they could wipe us out in an instant.

  Another problem with trying to rally the school like Eden had suggested was the fact that at this point, I didn’t have a lot of allies.

  The entire school had turned against me and the guys, thinking that we had cheated somehow in the Gods’ Challenges. Wesley hated my guts, and he was the golden boy right now after winning the last Gods’ Challenge.

  Eden and I had spent so long talking that I barely made it to my first class on time. There was a buzz of excitement in the air at the first day of classes, but I found my mind constantly wandering, making it hard to focus on the lessons. In my Power and Precision class, I tuned out Professor Wist, glancing around at the other students as they listened intently.

  All of this. The gods want to end all of this.

  Ultimately, it didn’t really matter if everyone at this school hated me or not. I wasn’t going to let the gods kill them with impunity. I’d even stick up for Wesley, the stupid fuck, if the gods came after him.

  The day seemed to drag on for eternity, and by the time my last class let out, I felt like a jittery mess. As students headed toward the cafeteria for dinner, I went to find Merrick. He was in the library, tucked away in a corner poring over a textbook in a magical bubble he’d created. When I was close enough that my movement caught his eye, he looked up, a smile spreading across his face as he realized it was me.

  With the push, he expanded his bubble to include me. I sat down next to him and looked around. The stacks and chairs around us were empty; most of the students had already gone to dinner.

  “I was just about to call it on studying and come find you.” He smiled. “Everything okay?”

  I dropped my bag on the table and rubbed my hands over my face. “No. I mean, it’s no worse than it was when we got here, but that’s not saying much.”

  “We’ve only been back for a day and a half, Ari.” Merrick’s voice was gentle. “Cut yourself a little slack. We’ll figure out a way to stop this, to protect the students who compete in the challenge. But it won’t all happen overnight.”

  His words were kind and strong, and they did actually help soothe the tension in my chest a bit.

  I bit the inside of my lip and reached out to thread my fingers through his. “I want you to help me.”

  Merrick chuckled. “That’s a pretty broad area, there. What exactly do you need help with? I mean, we all know you’re a little bit crazy, but I’m no psychiatrist.”

  I rolled my eyes and kicked his chair lightly. “No, not that. I need you to kick my ass.”

  He cocked an eyebrow, a wicked gleam lighting in his eyes. “To be honest, there are other things I’d much rather do to your ass.”

  A little wave of heat moved through me, but I shook my head. “I know I spent most of the summer training, but now that we’re back, I feel like I need more. And the thing is, I can’t get any of this training in class. Especially now that I’ve got what you guys think are godly powers—I can’t go throwing that shit around in front of professors. I’ll be spending every class trying to tamp down my magic, and that’s no use if I want to actually be improving.”

  He closed his book, turning to face me more fully. “So what can I do?”

  “You’re amazing at controlling your magic.” My fingers tightened around his. There had been a time when the two of us were so competitive that I would’ve hated to admit he was better than me at something. But now, that hardly seemed to matter. “In fact, I’m pretty sure you’re the best student at this school when it comes to control.”

  One corner of his lips quirked up. “Did you just call me uptight? I’m pretty sure you just called me uptight.”

  “Hey, if the shoe fits.” I chuckled. “But I meant it as a compliment, if that helps.”

  “It does.”

  “Anyway, I guess I want you to kick my metaphorical ass more than anything. If I have more power than I ever expected at my fingertips, I need to learn how to control it better. If I can’t do that, it’s useless to me.” My stomach twisted as I recalled my talk with Eden and my worries about trying to recruit other students in our campaign against the gods. “We might be on our own in this, so we need every advantage we can get.”

  Merrick stuck his book in his bag and threw the strap over his shoulder, pushing back from the table. “Well, there’s no better time than the present. Come on, there’s a training room on the other side of the school that I don’t think ever gets used anymore. We can go over there.”

  For the first time in a long time, I actually felt a little bubble of hope and excitement rise up in me as we made our way through the corridors. I trained every day on my own over the summer, but it’d been a long time since I’d trained with anyone else.

  Merrick was no-nonsense and intense, and no matter how much affection he had for me, I knew he would push me. And that was exactly what I needed.

  In the training room, I took off my shirt, leaving myself in just a sports bra and a pair of stretchy pants. Merrick kicked off his shoes, then walked out onto the mat barefoot and stood in front of me with his hands crossed. “You ready?”

  I nodded. “I’m ready.”

  As we began to train, I had to remind myself several times that I had asked him to kick my ass.

  He was like a drill sergeant, making me repeat spells over and over until I’d found a way to do them with maximum efficiency and minimal effort. As a trained fighter, I was used to thinking offensively all the time, taking every opening I saw and letting my emotions feed my fight instincts.

  Merrick was the total opposite. Tactical, controlled, and strategic.

  It felt like looking at the world upside down, but by the time we were done, I’d actually gotten closer to matching his style, and althou
gh I was exhausted and tense from concentrating so hard, a little flicker of pride lit in my stomach.

  I still didn’t quite know where these new powers had come from, but I was getting closer to mastering them.

  Pushing my hair away from my face, I walked over to the bench along one wall and sat down, leaning against the wall and letting my eyes drift closed. Of course, now that I was no longer moving, my brain started running at a million miles again, thinking about what was to come.

  The bench shifted slightly as Merrick sat down next to me and nudged me with his shoulder. “What’s on your mind?”

  I turned toward him, biting my bottom lip. “It just feels like maybe I’ve gone insane. I’ve decided to take on the gods, the most powerful magical beings in the world. I keep waiting for one of you to try to have me admitted to the psych ward or something.”

  Merrick stared at me for a second. Then he took my hand in his, pressing a kiss to each of my knuckles. When he looked up again, his gaze was serious.

  “Listen to me, Ari. If we thought you didn’t have a chance, we would’ve tied you to the fucking bed to stop you from marching into this fight. But we haven’t. Because we believe in you. You are the strongest person I’ve ever met. And you haven’t grown into that; you’ve been strong from the moment I met you. It’s what drew me to you in the first place. You may be nervous, but that’s a good thing. It will make you cautious. But I promise you, you can do this. And you’re not alone.”

  His words were so earnest, so heartfelt, that they slipped between my ribs, past every defense I had, and landed straight in my heart. I blinked as sudden tears stung the backs of my eyes, my breath catching in my throat.

  He meant every single word he’d said. I could see it in the firm lines of his expression.

  And it was just what I had needed to hear.

  “You know, you still could tie me to the bed,” I told him, letting my lips curl up at the corners. “I don’t think I’d have any complaints about that.”

  He laughed, heat flickering in his amber eyes. “Noted.”

  “Come on.” I jerked my head toward the door, feeling like a massive weight had been lifted from my shoulders. “We missed dinner, but maybe we can still grab something before we go find Trace and Lach.”

  I moved to stand, but Merrick kept his grip on my hand, pulling me back down almost as soon as I was on my feet. I landed on his lap, my back pressed against his chest, and his free arm banded around my waist, holding me snugly to him.

  “Uh uh, Ari. I’m not done with you yet.”

  Chapter Five

  The low growl in his voice made my stomach clench, and I shifted a little, rubbing my ass against the hardness I could feel growing beneath me. “No? You had some more magical control tips for me?”

  He hummed, releasing my hand so he could cup my breast instead, his fingers rolling and pinching my nipple through the fabric of my shirt. “Fuck, no. After picturing you tied up to a bed, being fucked by Lach while you take Trace in your mouth, or writhing while all three of us worship you with our lips and teeth and tongues… control is the last damn thing I have right now.”

  His cock was fully hard against my ass, and he ground his hips against me as he spoke, as if to punctuate his point. My clit throbbed hard, my pussy clenching as arousal ignited like a flame inside my belly.

  I hadn’t been kidding about being tied up—but hearing him describe it, hearing the rasp in his voice as he considered the possibilities? It made me want to demand we find the others and then go get some damn rope so we could do this right now.

  But that would’ve required me to get off Merrick’s lap, and at the moment, that felt utterly and completely impossible.

  It felt too good.

  Too fucking hot.

  The muscles in his forearm danced as his grip on me tightened even more, and his body was hot and hard beneath mine, strong and unyielding. His unique, addictive scent of bergamot and honey trickled into my nostrils, and I found myself swirling my hips, trying to relieve some of the ache growing inside me.

  The hand on my breast slipped under my shirt, delving into my bra cup so that his bare skin touched mine. A fresh burst of sensation surged through me, and I tipped my head back, arching into his touch.

  Now that he was sure I wasn’t going anywhere, Merrick released his tight hold on me, slipping his other hand down the front of my stretchy athletic pants. He slid his finger through my pussy lips, another soft groan resonating in his chest as he felt how turned on I was already.

  “Fuck, Ari. You’re so wet. You’re all slippery for me.”

  I bit down hard on my bottom lip, my eyelids drooping as he slid one thick finger inside me. My walls clenched around him like they were trying to lock him in place, to keep him from ever stopping this sweet torture, and I felt his breath pick up.

  “You like that?” he murmured.

  “Yes.”

  “You want more?”

  “Yes.”

  Grinding the heel of his hand against my clit, he slid another finger inside me, adding to the feeling of fullness as he worked them slowly in and out. It wasn’t the same as his cock, but that only made me hungrier, my pussy contracting around his fingers as I let out a low whimper.

  “Gods, I love to hear you make that sound,” he muttered, moving his fingers harder and faster. “I love to be the one to make you make that sound.”

  “Merrick!”

  The word burst out of me like a prayer, my head dropping back against his shoulder as my whole body melted into his, letting him take my weight completely. Letting him own me.

  “Fuck, yes, Snow.” His voice was rough. “Do you know what I want?”

  “What?” I panted. I could barely string two words together, could barely even think, but I knew I wanted to hear whatever he was about to say.

  “I want to fuck you. Right here, right now. In this training room, with the door unlocked.” He withdrew his fingers from my pussy, sliding them up to circle my clit instead, the pads of his fingers moving in a harsh blur. “I hope someone walks in. I hope they see me buried inside your tight pussy, hope they see your whole body trembling as I make you come on my cock. I hope they hear you scream and they know that no one but me or Lach or Trace will ever make you sound this way.”

  Oh, fucking hell.

  As if the things he was doing to my body weren’t maddening enough, every filthy word he spoke made my arousal spiral even higher. I was grinding hard against him now, trying to rub more of my ass against his cock and more of my clit against his hand.

  “Fuck,” I gasped, my breath coming in short, sharp intakes.

  “What do you want, Ari?” he breathed in my ear. Then his tongue traced the curve of my earlobe before he brought it into his mouth, biting down gently on the sensitive flesh.

  “Fuck me, Merrick!”

  I tried to keep my voice low, but it was probably much too loud for an unlocked room where a man currently had his hand down my pants.

  Merrick didn’t try to silence me though. A hungry chuckle vibrated in his chest, and before I could even register the movement, he was drawing his fingers away from my clit. He lifted me slightly, just enough to let him shove his pants down several inches, and then he hooked the waistband of mine, tugging my athletic pants and panties down in one swift motion.

  I felt his cock against my bare ass for a second, smooth and hard and hot as a brand. Then he was fisting his thick length, lifting me again, and lining himself up with my slick entrance. Wrapping both arms around me again, he brought me down hard on his cock, impaling me in one quick thrust.

  My teeth clamped around my bottom lip so hard it nearly bled as I cut off the scream of pleasure that welled in my throat. My legs were trapped a bit by my pants, and my body was pinned to Merrick’s, so there was nothing I could do but give in to the sensations barreling through me.

  As he thrust up into me from below, making me bounce on his lap, I held on to his arms, my mouth falling open as my head t
ipped back again.

  “What would they see?” Merrick’s wonderful, devilish lips were at my ear again, nipping and biting, his breath warm on my skin. “If someone walked through that door right now, what would they see?”

  My pulse picked up and my breath came faster as a dozen filthy images flashed through my head. It was early evening. Most people were probably hanging out in the common rooms, finishing up dinner, or back in their dorms studying. But it was entirely possible that some ambitious student might decide to do a little extra practicing before classes tomorrow. Might walk into the training room expecting to find it empty.

  And if they did, what would they see?

  “They’d see you buried inside me,” I murmured, my voice low and husky. “They’d see how you stretch me, how you fill me up. They’d see you pounding into me. And they’d see how much I fucking love it.”

  He grunted beneath me, and I felt the effect my words had on him. His thrusts became harder and deeper, his grip on me tightening as one hand delved into my bra again, massaging the tender flesh with a hungry, desperate touch. His lips found the side of my neck, and I tilted my head, letting him take every inch of skin that he wanted.

  As he drove up into me, his mouth devoured me. His teeth scraped over my skin, and his tongue flicked over the pulse that beat wildly in my throat.

  “You’re so damn beautiful, Ari,” he muttered, sounding half-delirious—just like I was. “Come for me. Squeeze my cock. Let me feel you fall apart.”

  Normally, I wasn’t in the habit of doing what other people told me. I didn’t take orders from anyone, and any person dumb enough to test that was liable to end up with a broken limb. But there were exceptions to every rule, and my body had clearly decided that the three men who had found their way into my heart were exceptions.

  Merrick’s low growl made my body shake, and I dug my fingernails into his forearm as my pussy clamped down hard. He let out a choked sound, and when I felt the first pulse of his cock, it tipped me over the edge.