A safe foot of space separates him from me, and he gazes at me with the cockiest smirk on his perfectly kissable lips. I hate his mouth.
That’s not what you said last night.
My consciousness is a cruel bitch.
He shifts his weight slowly, picking up his binder, meeting my attention with the most arrogant look on his face. He’s so big that when he takes a step forward, he shadows over me, stealing away the hot morning sunlight.
“Let’s go to class, baby.” His hand slips slowly into mine and with one small tug, he pulls me away from the watchful eyes of our peers.
“Oh, so I’m baby today,” I mock, knowing full well I should really, really shut up.
But his tone isn’t cold and cruel like it normally is. It’s easy and teasing in a way that I’m not used to. “Just for today, Feck.”
My lips quirk at the familiar name. That’s better.
Hand in hand, he weaves us effortlessly through the crowd. And the crowd? They part for him like a god walking among mortals.
He really is this powerful Prod whose energy can be felt before it’s seen. I’m in awe of him, really. It’s sad he doesn’t seem to have any kind of happiness, any kind of pleasure in this life.
I can’t stand not knowing why.
“Why are you here, Phoenix?”
We pass a couple, a real couple, and Phoenix’s attention drops down to how the male faerie is carrying his girlfriend’s binder, book, and purse even.
A short pause drifts through him before he reaches over me and steals my binder away, carrying it on top of his and continuing to lead me into building A. He doesn’t mention the binder situation but I can’t help but glance down at them every couple of seconds.
It seems you can teach an old demon new tricks.
Demon see, demon do.
Okay. Okay. I’m done.
“Last month, I was brought in for excessive theft.”
The word excessive seems odd but I ignore it.
We reach the Introduction to Prodigium’s classroom and I pause there, my hand left forgotten in his.
“Theft? You were thrown into this Prod prison because of theft?”
He shifts on his boots, a strange smirk tilting his lips. He leans in until hardly any space separates us. “I broke into a Viagra warehouse and consumed a pallet of their merchandise.”
I blink at him. The exasperation never fades so I’m left blinking at this beautiful man who just confessed his sins of robbing a warehouse and eating what I can only image to be several thousand tablets of Viagra…
“Did your fucking dick explode?”
Laughter shakes out of him in the quietest sound of amusement. It carries until I too, am smiling up at his strange, beautiful happiness.
He shakes his head slowly.
“No, but when I fucked the guard for twenty-four hours straight, his boss called the police. And unfortunately, supernaturals got involved. Academy of Six got involved. I just—I wanted to fucking feel something. Anything. I’m an incubus born without a soul. Two opposing natures in one. I don’t think it’s something they’re going to be able to teach me here. You can’t fix something that was born broken.” The sadness of his tone steals my breath away and I realize we’re still leaning into one another, both of my hands holding his now in the most casual way.
I hate the pools of tragedy that have taken over his deep emerald eyes.
He’s right, there’s nothing anyone can do about who he is as a person.
But I can try to take his mind off of it.
At least for a minute.
“Can I kiss you like a girl who likes a boy?” My head tilts up higher, my nose skimming along his, waiting for his reply with too much emotion pounding through my heart.
His head barely nods before my lips press to his, his body covering mine in an instant, slamming my back into the concrete wall. The slow way his head tilts, the deepness of his kiss, and the faint hint of a groan that hums from his lips, makes me almost think... he does feel something.
But it’s all just hopeful nonsense.
He steps back slowly, breath shaking through his lungs like it never fully hits as he stares at me with wild dark eyes, the hint of the demon who owns him peering out through that sinful gaze.
“I’ll meet you at gym class.” His fingers stall, intertwined with mine for another few seconds before slipping away. “No one will hurt you, okay?” There’s so much concern and kindness in his eyes, I don’t even know what to say to him. I nod vacantly.
It’s oddly easier for us to talk when we’re yelling and fighting.
Maybe it’s just easier for me.
Maybe I’m the one who doesn’t have a clue how to be someone’s girlfriend.
Thirteen
Izara
“I told you he’s a good boyfriend,” Saint sing songs the moment he takes a seat at my side.
“You literally said he only knows how to use his cock when it comes to women.” My gaze collides with his amused expression.
“That doesn’t sound like something I’d say.” His ridiculous smile widens to reveal his sharp teeth and I can’t help but roll my eyes at him.
“I thought vampires never forgot.” I place my binder on the desk in front of me. I’m not looking forward to the day ahead, not when at the end of it I’ll have to suffer through fucking gym, but at least Phoenix’s presence will ward off the bullies. A small blessing in this shithole.
“The saying is an elephant never forgets… I don’t know what offends me more, the fact that you basically called me an animal or that you actually take notes in this fucking class.” He looks at my carefully scrawled information on Prods with barely concealed disgust curling his lips.
“Just because you’re a slacker doesn’t mean I have to be.” Seriously, even Phoenix takes notes to class. Saint doesn’t have a fucking thing. I wonder if he has a good memory and doesn’t need to take notes, or if he’s trying to purposefully get kicked out.
This place is terrible, but the alternative isn’t any better. What could this man’s life have been like before he came here for him to be so callous?
“At least I didn’t get caught skipping gym.”
Of course he has to remind me of that. Thinking of confinement just reminds me of my sex dream with Phoenix, which just makes me blush and causes heat to pool between my thighs as if he were here. Seriously. I can still feel the lingering of his touch over my every inch, and I can’t possibly fathom why I’m craving the real deal. He hates me. I hate him.
Maybe we could hate fuck.
Did I say that out loud?
A beat of terrifying silence slips by without Saint’s ridiculous commentary.
No. Good.
“They knew about that kind of fast.” My foot shakes beneath the table, bumping into his. “It’s this ankle bracelet. I bet it has a magical camera and audio built in.”
Saint chuckles and in one quick, languid move, he brings his legs on top of the table in a relaxing pose, one ankle crossed casually over the other. The uniform leg of his pants slides up to reveal a pale ankle, and the glowing electric band wrapped around it.
“Not a built in camera,” he supplies. “It’s a basic nice ‘ol magical GPS.” His fingers go to it, and if I expected it to burn him, it doesn’t. But as he tugs it, the confines only tighten around his skin until it looks like it’ll chop his foot entirely off.