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I don’t respond, once again confused by my body’s reaction to him. Someone growled at me, so let’s get all hot and bothered, because that makes complete sense—not. I try to shake it off, and I stay seated as Corin makes his way around the kitchen, filling a plate with a mixture of everything. A cheese toastie, a hashbrown, some pancakes and other delicious things. My stomach lets out another rumble and my mouth waters.
When the plate is practically overflowing with food, Corin sets it down on the coffee table in front of me, setting a coffee beside it as well. My eyes narrow on him and his smile widens. “Cappuccino, three sugars, lactose free milk.” Butterflies erupt in my stomach and I tear my eyes from Corin’s.Settle the fuck down, I think, chastising my stomach, but it doesn’t help. Goddess, I’m like a pre-teen with my first crush.
“Thank you,” I mumble, and that feeling of being pampered only increases when Corin sets down all manner of spreads on the table in front of me for my pancakes. It’s practically singing to something inside me, and I swallow hard, unsure how to deal with it.
I wait till he’s sitting down with his own plate of food before I dig into mine and moan. Damn, it tastes even better than it smells.
“You need to buy a fucking restaurant. This is amazing. I can’t believe I thought the takeout you got was good, it’s nothing compared to this,” I say between mouthfuls. When Corin doesn’t respond, I glance up at him and find him staring at me, his cheeks flushed red, an expression I can’t decipher on his face. Before I have a chance to try though, he ducks his head, letting his hair fall to cover his face.
A sound of discontent nearly slips from my lips, at him hiding from me, but I choke it back.What the actual hell is going on with me?It’s like there’s a side inside of me that’s just starting to wake up, and it’s completely foreign to me. I bite the inside of my cheek and pull myself together. It’ll work out. It has to. And at least I’m not alone. I glance over at Corin through my lashes, while Lexi and the other guys' faces flash through my head. Yeah, I’m definitely not alone. My dads too, not to mention my familiar. I’ll get through whatever this is, and my power flare-ups. It’ll all be fine.
Chapter Twenty-One
Nessa
Whenthere’saknockon the door I’m curled up in a corner of the couch, wrapped in a velvety blanket and surrounded by a barrier of pillows. Belly full, relaxed and pampered. My eyes slide to Corin as he gets up from his place beside me to answer the door. Unicorn chirps from where she’s snuggled in my lap and I don’t even try to get up to see who is here. Corin has successfully pampered me into a coma of contentment. Hell, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve had to force away the urge to purr—something I’veneverwanted to do for someone before. Well not before I came to the academy, anyways.
When Dylan’s clean laundry and old books scent reaches me, a shiver rolls down my spine. These men are going to kill me. His low voice reaches my ears as he speaks quietly with Corin before stepping into my dorm. When I make eye contact with Dylan, memories of what we did flash through my head and my eyes go half-lidded. As though he knows exactly what I’m thinking about, a flush creeps onto his cheeks and his blue eyes dart from mine. I settle back into my comfy corner, shuffling the blankets around to make a little room for the grumpy part-vampire supe. Unicorn nuzzles at my hand before getting to her feet with a yawn. I stroke a hand down her back and she chitters before flying to the window. I give her a smile. She’s been cooped up with me since we came back to my dorm earlier after my runes assignment, so I can understand why she’d want to stretch her wings. She launches out the window, circling back around once before heading for the forest and my attention returns to Dylan.
He steps closer, cautiously, eyeing my pile of blankets with an unreadable expression on his face. After what seems to be a moment of internal deliberation he goes to walk past me to sit on one of the other couches but my hand snaps out, fingers clamping around his wrist. It’s not a conscious movement and my brows draw down as I eye my hand like it’s an alien. My lips part, ready to make up some explanation for my odd behaviour, but when I look up at Dylan’s expression I find him watching me, pupils dilated. My head cocks to the side as I take in the way his chest is rising and falling sharply. Experimentally I tug on his arm and he comes closer without protest. Giving in to me immediately.
I swallow hard, a shudder rolling through me at the control he’s offering. Reaching out, I grab his shirt with my other hand and pull him down so he’s leaning over me, our faces now only inches apart. My eyes dart down to his lips and that is all the permission he needs.
His hand comes up to cup my nape, collaring me with his long fingers. He angles my head as he closes the space between us, his lips meeting mine. I melt into him, my hands sliding to his chest to grip his shirt as he kisses me. It’s deep and slow, his lips soft against mine before he pulls back a little, placing a sharp nip to my lower lip before he backs away fully. I meet his eyes, body flushed with arousal and a whine falls from my lips. I mentally flinch away from the sound, but that new, untapped side of me is at the forefront of my mind right now. And she has no problem making sounds like that. The normal me, though, wants to growl in frustration. It’s like having two sides of me fighting a battle for supremacy in my brain.
The noise does something to Dylan though—he’s in my space instantly, only pausing briefly to get my permission before reaching for me. All it takes is half a nod, then I’m scooped up in his arms and settled onto his lap as he joins me in my pile of blankets. Having his arms caging me has a part of me I didn’t even realise was tense, relaxing. His clean laundry and old books scent perfumes the air around us, mingling with mine. Content, I settle into him happily.I’m never washing these blankets again. The thought rolls through my head, prompted by that new side of me as I bring the tip of some of the fabric around us to my nose and inhale.Damn. I have to suppress a moan.These guys' scents just do something to me. It’s then that I realise Corin’s bonfire scent is swirling through the room too.
My head snaps up and my gaze clashes with Corin’s and I freeze, eyes going wide and an apology on my tongue.He just saw me acting like a complete weirdo aaand kiss Dylan.Awkward. I shrink back a little, unsure how to react to the knowledge that he just watched the display of obvious affection I unintentionally showed Dylan in front of him.
It’s like I’m playing a game of hide and seek with my issues, just waiting for one to jump out and scare these guys away from me. Just like Dylan though, Corin doesn’t seem put off by my fascination with their scents at all, merely curious and if I’m not mistaken, a little aroused.
I cock my head to the side, brows drawing down. I have no idea what I’m supposed to do with that reaction. Before I have a chance to decide whether I’m going to question them about it or not, there is another knock at the door.
Corin opens it and I crane my neck over Dylan’s shoulder to see who it is. Lexi and Oscar stand in the doorway, somewhat awkwardly before Corin welcomes them in. When Lexi’s eyes land on me, her steps falter, but she sends me a small smile before making her way over to the couch opposite the one I’m on. “Hi.”
Though her voice is quiet she doesn’t seem to be nervous, and her grey skin has a healthy silver sheen to it, gold scales shining prettily. She’s looking a hundred times better than she was at the start of the term. It’s a huge relief and one of the many things weighing down my shoulders vanishes. I relax back into Dylan’s chest, a soft smile on my lips.
Oscar moves into the room as well, plopping down on the floor by Dylan’s legs, leaning against the couch and resting his head against a cushion that’s next to my thigh. It has a waft of his peppermint and dark chocolate scent hitting me, and it’s mingling with Dylan’s creating a calming effect. Corin’s the last to be seated and he settles in on the couch opposite Lexi’s, sprawling out. Surrounded by my favourite people, I’m all ready to watch a movie from the human realm. Grabbing the remote, I choose a comedy that looks new and sit back to enjoy the show. The first thirty or so minutes go by without incident, with us making comments here and there and laughing, but then it devolves into utter chaos.
I snort chuckle as the main actor—with chronically bad luck—goes sprawling across a shop aisle after tripping over a puddle of some questionable liquid. Popcorn in hand—thanks to Corin—Lex boos at the screen, launching a piece at it.
“Too predictable,” she complains and I mock scowl.
“Hey, what are you talking about, my choice of movie is amazing.”
It’s her turn to snort now. Poking her tongue out at me, she rolls her eyes playfully and I grin. The movie draws both of our attention again when a high pitched shriek comes from her. The dumb-ass actress decided to grab a shelf and proceeded to pull half the shelf down on top of herself. Okay maybe Lex has a point. But I also want to be right so I laugh and pretend like this is the funniest shit I’ve ever seen, then gesture to the screen as if to say“see this is hilarious.”
The guys’ eyes ping-pong between us and as one we grin. “Oh it issoon,” I mutter, eyes narrowed. Scooping up a giant handful of buttery popcorn, I shove a few pieces in my mouth before launching the rest at Lexi’s face. A shocked laugh bursts from her as they rain down on her head and a few ping off her clothes. I may have imbued just a teensy weensy bit of magic in them to assure they stayed on the proper projectile.
Grabbing my bowl, I dive for cover behind my couch before Lex has a chance to recover from her shock, cackling all the while.I’m going to totally kick her ass. It’s only a few moments before clothing rustles and quick footsteps tap behind me. Startled, I tilt my head back and find a grinning Oscar leaning over the couch, his bowl held over my head already half-tipped. “Gotcha.”
Oh shit.My eyes widen and I go to scramble back, but it’s too late. I yelp as the popcorn rains down on me, the buttery beads sticking to my clothing and hair, its buttery scent surrounding me.Dammit.Determination rolls through me and I grab my bowl quickly and army crawl with it towards the couch Corin was on.Fingers crossed he’s either moved or on my side. When I reach it, I’m pleasantly surprised to find it’s empty and set up shop behind it. Using a simple duplication rune, I amass as much popcorn as I can, trying to think of strategies that don’t involve magic, to kick their asses. Other than the tiny nudge I used my magic for before, and the duplication rune which takes little to no magic, I’m not willing to risk using it when we’re just mucking about. As I work, I keep an eye on Lexi, Corin and Oscar, all of which are perched half behind her couch talking strategy.Bastards ganged up on me. So when there’s a scuff behind me, I whirl around, a handful of popcorn at the ready.
Dylan’s perched behind my back, hands raised in a show of good faith. “What are you doing here?” I whisper, eyes narrowed questioningly. Is he playing double agent?
“I want to be on your team, silly.”
A little growl rumbles in the back of my throat, trying to appear menacing while I scan his body as though it’ll tell me if he’s actually on my team or not. “Are you lying to me?”
