by Eva Ashwood
My blood rushed in my ears as he straddled me, and I bucked, hooking his arm and shifting my weight to roll us both over.
“Ah, shite!” With a muffled curse, he rolled us again, laughing low in his throat when he ended up on top of me with my legs wrapped around him.
Lachlan and I had stepped into the training room at around nine in the evening, and we’d been going hard for the past hour. This was the first time I had sparred without magic in days, and it felt amazing to just fucking fight. My powers were starting to settle in much more deeply, to become as instinctual and second-nature as the boxing combos I’d been practicing since I was ten. And I knew that in the upcoming battle against the gods, I would absolutely be calling on every magical advantage I had.
But that hadn’t stopped me from begging Lach to spar with me tonight in a good old fashioned brawl; no magic allowed.
Judging by the way his eyes had lit up when I’d asked him, he’d been dying to scratch that itch just as much as I had.
And judging by the look in his eyes now, by the feel of his body between my legs, it wasn’t the only itch he’d be happy to scratch. We’d all been too exhausted to do much but collapse into bed and pass out every night for the past week, and although I loved having them curled up next to me while I slept, I’d been seriously missing the physical connection the three of us shared.
I grinned up at Lach, a challenging expression on my face. “You ready to tap out?”
He chuckled, and I could feel the vibration of it in the connection between our bodies. “Tap out? I dunno if ye’ve noticed, Snow, but I’ve got ye pinned.”
“Yeah.” I tugged my bottom lip between my teeth. “But sometimes being on the bottom isn’t such a disadvantage.”
As I spoke, I rolled my hips against his, hooking my legs around his waist and pressing into his ass with my heels, making his cock grind against my core. I felt him thicken and harden against me, and the low groan that fell from his lips made my clit throb.
Fuck, yes.
“Oh, ye think ye can still win this, do ye?” he asked, his voice shifting to a low rasp. “And how exactly do ye plan to do that?”
“Like this.” With a grin, I trapped his arm and rolled us again. But this time, I didn’t stop moving. Using the momentum of our roll, I flipped around, grabbing his leg and putting it in a lock.
The big man grunted in surprise, then hissed and tapped out when I tightened my hold.
“Never let down your guard, Lach,” I reprimanded as I released him. My tone was teasing, but a tendril of fear unfurled in my belly. We’d been pushing each other hard this whole session, and although neither of us would say it out loud, I knew why.
We were scared.
We were worried for each other.
A sudden swell of emotion gripped my chest, and I got to my feet, brushing off my pants. “I think that’s enough for tonight. Let’s go.”
I stepped forward to help him up, but as he grasped my hand, Lach gave a sharp tug, throwing me off balance as he pulled me down on top of him. Then he rolled us, pinning me with his large body as his green eyes blazed down at me.
“Never let down yer guard, lass.”
His voice was low, and the way he was staring at me made my blood heat. For a suspended moment, we just stared at each other, thick tension building in the space between us.
Then we moved at the same time, our lips crashing together in a kiss that was almost as violent and raw as our sparring session had been. My teeth clacked against his, and I felt a sting of pain as I cut my lip, but I hardly paid attention to it. My tongue was sliding into his mouth, tasting him, battling with his own tongue, as my hands raked over his body, tearing at his clothes as if I hated every single stitch of fabric he was wearing.
We rolled again, then again, our joined bodies moving restlessly over the floor as we fought to get closer to each other, pulling off articles of clothing so desperately they almost tore.
When we were finally naked, skin to skin, Lachlan didn’t waste a single second. Settling me onto my back, he spread my legs and drove inside me, plunging balls-deep in one hard thrust. I arched against him, scratching at his back as he fucked me. My hands moved down to his ass, digging into the firm muscles as they contracted with each thrust.
“Fuckin’ hell, Ari. Why weren’t we doin’ this the whole time?” he muttered, his words almost incoherent as need overtook him.
I shook my head, not able to formulate a good answer. There wasn’t one. This was what we should’ve been doing all this time. Fuck training. Fuck sparring.
This was all I needed.
Lachlan set a punishing pace, slamming into me hard and then grinding his hips against me before withdrawing and thrusting in again. Sweat dotted his brow as he lifted one of my legs, resting my calf against his shoulder to give him a better angle to thrust deeper.
“I love the way ye squeeze my cock. I love the way ye drive me fuckin’ mad, sweetheart.”
He kissed me again, but our lips kept breaking apart from the force of his thrusts, and finally, he rose up onto his knees, hooking both my legs under the knees and lifting my ass off the floor. I was completely at his mercy in this position, and it allowed him to go deep and hard, making pleasure spike through me like a drug.
Whimpering and gasping, I grabbed my breasts in a firm grip, squeezing and massaging them, tugging at my nipples and pressing my boobs together, all the while keeping my gaze locked on the man above me.
He was so fucking dominant and powerful, holding me up as he thrust inside me, his thick cock stretching me just to the point where pain met pleasure.
“Lach…” My eyelids fluttered as I fought to keep hold of my sanity, of my consciousness. “I’m gonna… oh fuck, I’m gonna…”
Before I could finish the sentence, an orgasm crashed into me like a runaway train, making my toes curl and my pussy clench around Lachlan’s cock. He shortened his strokes, driving into me with shallow jabs as my inner walls tightened and convulsed. He rode me through it, letting my body come down from the high before he pulled out and slid back in slowly, filling me completely.
“More?” he murmured, his gaze capturing mine.
“Fuck, yes.”
“That’s my fuckin’ girl.”
He draped his body over mine and rolled us again, stopping with his back on the mat and me straddling him. His hands reached up to cup my breasts before gliding over my rib cage, following the dip of my waist and settling on my hips.
“I want ye to ride me, sweetheart,” he said roughly. “Use my cock te get yerself off again.”
Fuck. His words alone might do that.
His words, and the look of pure worship on his face as I began to slide up and down his shaft, using the muscles of my legs to control the movement.
I could feel how very hard he was, his cock like a steel rod as I clenched around it, milking him with every roll of my hips. And even as another orgasm began to coil low in my belly, I focused on the man beneath me. On the broad sweep of his shoulders, the firm muscles of his chest. The way his biceps and forearms clenched as he gripped my hips. His strong, angular features, and the slight shadow of stubble that had grown on his jaw.
I loved this man.
I loved him with every damned part of myself, and I wanted him to know it.
To feel it.
Bracing my hands on his chest, I rocked my hips faster, riding him hard. The full lips I loved so much drew back in a grimace as his abs contracted, the muscles tensing and tightening. “Fuck, Ari. Ye feel so damn good.”
His words fed my determination, and I kept stroking his cock with my pussy until finally, his fingers dug hard into my hips. Holding me in place, he slammed into me from below—once, twice, three times.
Then, on a tortured groan, he spilled himself inside me, sitting up and wrapping his arms around me as I followed him over the edge.
He held me so tightly I almost couldn’t breathe as the orgasm washed through both of us. But I didn’t
care. I hugged him back just as tightly, burying my face in his neck as a mix of emotions and physical sensations overwhelmed me.
His cock pulsed a few more times, and he shuddered in my arms.
I wasn’t sure how long we stayed like that, gripping each other so tight that no daylight could ever come between us. But slowly, incrementally, he relaxed in my hold. He sank back down to the floor, bringing me with him so that my body rested atop his. His cock slipped out of me, and I could hear the heavy beat of his heart beneath my ear.
His fingers traced a soft path up and down my spine as exhaustion crept up on both of us.
The last thing I heard before my eyes drifted shut were his whispered words.
“I won’t lose ye, Ari. Ever. I can’t.”
Chapter Twenty-One
We dozed in each other’s arms for a while, our breath falling into sync as I rested my head on his broad chest. Neither of us was fully asleep, but we weren’t fully awake either, hovering in that in-between place between consciousness and oblivion.
My leg was draped over Lachlan’s body, and one of his muscled arms wrapped around me, holding me close against him.
It was perfect.
There’d been a time in my life when the idea of cuddling after sex would’ve made me break out in a cold sweat. I would’ve run the other way if a guy had even suggested wanting to hang around after we both got off—hell, that’s exactly what I’d done with Merrick. I had run so far and so fast in the other direction that it’d taken us both getting hauled in to Magic Blessed Academy for our lives to intersect again.
But now?
Now these little moments with my three men were what gave me the strength to keep forging ahead, to keep moving down a path that could very well end in all of our deaths and the elimination of all wild magic users.
It’d taken me a hell of a long time to get here, but I had finally realized that caring about people wasn’t a weakness. Being loved wasn’t a weakness. It was my greatest strength.
Still half asleep, Lachlan tightened his grip on me, hauling me even closer so that I draped over his body, resting on his chest like a cat. His stunning green eyes blinked open, and the warmth and desire in their depths made my heart expand. Running his hands up the curve of my back, he threaded his fingers through my hair and lifted his head to kiss me.
Slow and deep, an exploration of my mouth, my lips, my tongue.
I fell into it, letting my body melt against his as I gave myself over to him entirely. As it always did with us, what started sweet and tender quickly grew heated and fierce, and I straddled him as I sat up, keeping our lips connected as he sat up with me.
His cock thickened beneath me, coming to life again as I rocked my pelvis against his, and his tongue ravaged my mouth, tasting and devouring me.
“Fuck. I can never get enough of ye,” he grunted.
He sounded genuinely frustrated by that fact, and I chuckled into our kiss, gliding my slick pussy over his cock again. “Good.”
His grip on my hair tightened, fisting the thick strands close to the roots, and he pulled my head away from his so he could meet my gaze. The look in his eyes made fresh arousal burn through me, and my clit throbbed as it brushed over the head of his dick.
“That doesn’t mean I’m not gonna try,” he murmured roughly, something almost like a warning in his voice.
Oh, fuck yes.
I shot him a taunting grin, and he growled, wrapping an arm around me and quickly flipping me onto my back. Before I could reorient to this new position, he was sliding inside me, stretching my walls with the thick invasion of his cock.
“Gods, yes, Lachlan!”
I arched against him, wrapping my legs around his waist as he pounded into me hard and fast. Our first fuck had been a much needed homecoming, a reminder of everything we meant to each other and the strength of the feelings between us.
This?
This was a release of all of those feelings.
And it felt fucking incredible.
With every deep stroke, every harsh grunt, I could tell Lachlan was trying to do just what he’d promised—trying to get enough of me. Trying to get deeper inside me, to taste and touch and tease more of me. His lips were everywhere. On my mouth, on my neck and jaw, licking and sucking at my breasts.
And when he came on a deep groan, the muscles in his neck standing out corded and thick, I squeezed my inner walls around him as tight as I could, trying to get enough of him too. My walls clenched around him rhythmically, each pulse of his cock sending me closer to the edge.
Then I flew off the cliff too, writhing and moaning beneath him as ecstasy flooded my body.
We were both breathing hard, covered in a light sheen of sweat. For a moment, he just rested on top of me, and the feel of his heavy weight draped over me, his cock still buried deep inside me, and his warm breath ghosting over my neck—for just that moment, it felt like maybe we had both satisfied our deep, insatiable craving for the other person.
It wouldn’t last though. I was sure of that.
As soon as he pulled out, my body would miss him all over again.
“I love you,” I murmured, just because I could.
Because I could finally say it with no hesitation, no doubt at all in my mind. No fear.
I felt his smile curve against my skin, and when he lifted his head, his grin beamed down at me. “Love ye more, Snow.”
He kissed me with a resounding smack, then leaned back, pulling out of me. I hadn’t worried about falling asleep naked in the training room since we had locked the doors, and it was so late that nobody else would be looking for an open room.
Besides, Lach probably wouldn’t have cared if someone did walk in. As he strode across the room to grab a towel, he looked like a god himself in all his naked glory. His ass was perfectly shaped, round and muscular, and his thighs were like fucking tree trunks. The muscles of his back stretched and shifted as he moved, and when he turned around to walk back to me, his barely softened cock jutted out from his body, bouncing slightly with each step. His abs were cut, and the sexy V at his hips made me bite my bottom lip as he approached, kneeling next to me with the towel.
“What?” He arched a brow at me as he helped me clean up.
“Nothing. Just admiring the view.”
His eyes darkened, turning a deep green like a forest dappled with shadows. His gaze ran up and down my body appreciatively, and he grinned. “It is a gorgeous fuckin’ view.” He palmed my cheek and kissed me again, then pulled me to my feet. “Now come on. Merrick and Trace will have my arse if I keep ye up all night.”
I laughed, because he was absolutely right. I could practically hear Merrick giving him shit for it now.
“What time is it?” I asked as we dressed quickly.
“Dunno.” He shook his head. “Late.”
“Thanks.”
He chuckled at my dry tone, then waved a hand to banish the spell he’d put on the door to muffle our noises. As we stepped out into the quiet, darkened hallway, he let the door fall shut behind us with a thud.
But before we could turn toward the stairs that would take us up to the dorms, another low thud caught my ear.
What the hell? Maybe I was wrong about no one else training at this hour.
I glanced over at Lachlan to see if he’d heard it too, and he nodded, his brows pulling together.
Jerking my head in the direction of the noise, I padded down the corridor toward it, Lachlan right beside me. When we turned a corner into the hallway that lead to the front of the school, I stopped in my tracks, my heart lurching in my chest.
“Wesley?”
At the sound of my voice, the lanky man looked up. He had one arm braced on the wall, and his entire body looked like it was sagging, as if gravity was too much for it to withstand anymore.
“Aria.” He straightened a little, then began limping down the hall toward me and Lach.
With a grunt, the burly Irishman stepped in front of me. “Oh no, ye fuc
kin’ don’t.”
Wesley blinked, and as I peered around the giant, muscled barrier between us, I saw him shake his head. “It’s… it’s not like that, Lachlan. I—I get it now. I understand.”
“What do you understand?”
My hands clenched into fists, my entire body ready for a fight as I stepped around Lach. I appreciated him wanting to look out for me, and I could relate to his obvious desire to kick Wesley’s ass. But as I looked closer at my classmate, I realized Lach and I were both too late.
Someone else had gotten to Wesley first.
And they’d done a real number on him.
One eye was almost completely swelled shut. The leg he was limping on had a deep gash in it, visible through the tear in his pants. Other bruises and scrapes marred every visible part of his body, and his clothing was dirty and tattered.
“What the fuck happened to you?” I breathed, pity and horror coloring my voice.
I hated Wesley, I wouldn’t deny that—but seeing anyone like this made my stomach twist.
“You were right.” Wesley shook his head, grimacing as if the movement hurt. “The gods… they’re not on our side. They don’t want to help us.”
“Took ye fuckin’ long enough to realize that shite,” Lachlan grumbled, but I ignored him, narrowing my eyes at the man in front of me.
“They did this to you?”
Wesley nodded, swallowing hard. “Yes. They did worse to the others. They punished all of us just for… just for existing.”
Lach was right. Wesley’s moment of seeing the light was too little, too late as far as I was concerned. Why couldn’t he have realized this shit back before he had offered himself up as a lackey to the gods? Why couldn’t he have stood with his own people all along?
“Wait a minute.” I took a step forward, my heart lurching. “How did you get in here? There’s a shield around the school.”
“I know.” He nodded, licking his lips. “I felt it. But I just… walked right through.”