10. Aeron
Aeron
I’d been a good boy all week. I went to all my classes, did most of the homework, and I even managed to participate in class with some thoughtful questions.
Then, when class was over, I spent my evenings with Quill, working on our assignment while gently torturing him.
It wasn’t much, but it was honest work, the kind that brought me far more joy than it should have.
And the more Quill tried to push me away, the more I tortured him. I’d never had so much fun.
But it was Friday now and that meant no meeting with Quill tonight.
The cross-country team was having their first meet of the season.
However, since it was going to be on the Widdershins campus, that meant I could go watch.
He had no idea I was coming of course. In fact, I was pretty sure he told me not to come anywhere near him outside of class or our little study group meetings.
But I wasn’t the type to take orders from anyone.
Besides, I wanted to see that cute little butt of his as it raced down the trail.
The bleachers were only scantily filled when I arrived.
After the attacks on campus, there weren’t many people showing up to sporting events, especially cross-country.
I found a spot near the back, away from the main group, and settled in to wait.
The afternoon sun was warm on my shoulders, and I leaned into it, letting it heat through my scales.
I scanned the gathered athletes warming up on the field, looking for that distinctive shock of red hair.
It didn’t take long to find him. Quill was stretching near the starting line, his lean body folding in half with an ease that made my cock perk up.
He was wearing the school’s cross-country uniform, a fitted dark purple jersey that left his shoulders and arms bare, and black running shorts.
I’d never seen him like this, stripped down and ready to run.
The sight of all that exposed skin made a warm tingle run down my spine and straight to my dick.
“You ever been to one of these before?”
I turned to find a tall, blonde fae man settling into the seat beside me. He had mischievous eyes and a certain grace about him that was altogether inhuman. Attached to his right arm was a hunky werewolf whose clothes were so tight that he was almost bursting out of them.
“Nope,” I said, barely giving the man a glance. “First time.”
“Oh.” He plopped down beside me, the werewolf joining him. “I was hoping you could tell me how this works or if I’m supposed to cheer or something?”
I let out a dry chuckle, my eyes drifting back to Quill. He was doing a quad stretch now, pulling one leg up behind him with fluid grace. “Yeah, I guess you’re supposed to cheer. That’s generally how these things work.”
“Right, of course,” the fae said, sounding oddly relieved. “I’m Lysander, by the way. This is my pup, Dax.”
The werewolf gave me a friendly nod, but I barely acknowledged it.
My attention was still fixed on Quill, the way the muscles in his legs shifted and flexed as he moved through his warm-up routine.
The purple jersey clung to his torso just right, and I found myself imagining peeling it off him, slowly, to see what was underneath.
“You here to watch someone specific?” Lysander asked, and there was something in his tone that made me glance at him. His mischievous eyes were fixed on me with an intensity that felt almost knowing.
“Yeah,” I said. “That redhead down there. Quill Aster.”
“No shit!” He gave me a hard slap on the shoulder in his excitement. “He’s my roommate!”
I felt my stomach twist. Along with it came a sudden realization that made my skin prickle.
Lysander was Quill’s roommate. That meant he’d seen him in various states of undress, that they slept in the same room, that anything could’ve happened between them.
The thought made something dark and possessive coil in my gut.
“Yeah?” I turned to look at him more carefully now, trying to remember if I’d seen this fae before. There was something familiar about him, something that nagged at the edges of my memory like a word on the tip of my tongue.
“He’s a good guy,” Lysander continued, settling back in his seat with a satisfied smile. “Bit uptight sometimes. Why do you ask? You two friends or something?”
“We’re doing a class project together,” I said vaguely, my eyes drifting back to Quill.
He was heading toward the starting line now, stretching his calves against the fence.
The angle gave me a perfect view of his ass, the curve of it evident even through the black shorts.
My cock stirred again, and I had to shift in my seat to get comfortable.
“You know, you look familiar,” Lysander said thoughtfully, and I could hear the fae turning his attention fully to me now. “Have we met before?”
I shook my head, still not looking at him. “I don’t think so.”
“Huh. That’s weird.” He paused, and I could feel him studying me with that same intense gaze. “There’s something about you though. Something I can’t quite—”
The starting gun went off, cutting him short.
The runners exploded forward in a burst of motion and sound, and my entire focus narrowed down to just Quill.
He was fast, I’d give him that. His long legs ate up the ground with an efficiency that was almost hypnotic to watch.
The other runners seemed to fade into the background as he found his rhythm, his breathing controlled, his movements economical.
“Come on, Red!” I heard myself shout, then immediately regretted it. Beside me, Lysander turned to look at me with an expression that was somewhere between amused and suspicious.
But Quill had heard me. I saw his head turn slightly, just for a fraction of a second, and then his pace picked up. His body leaned forward, his muscles driving harder, faster. The gap between him and the second-place runner widened with each stride.
“That’s who you are!” Lysander blurted out. “You’re Aeron Pyre! Everyone on campus is talking about you!”
Quill rounded the corner, disappearing into the woods. The other runners weren’t too far behind him. I found myself hoping he could keep up his pace, that he wouldn’t push himself too hard like he had the other day running from me.
With Quill gone, I could turn back to Lysander. “Yeah. That’s me.”
“I thought you might be,” he grinned, scooting a little closer. “You know, I’ve always wondered what it would be like to be with a dragon.”
“You and everyone else,” I scoffed. Seriously. Who did this guy think he was?
“Oh… are you and Quill like… together or something?” he asked without a hint of annoyance in his voice. “He never wants to join when I have my boys over.”
That possessive feeling coiled in my stomach again, like a snake about to strike. “Maybe you’re just not his type.”
“Oh please,” Lysander laughed. “I’m everyone’s type.”
Fuck… this guy was goddamn annoying. Is this what I sounded like to Quill?
I felt a muscle twitch in my jaw. This fae was either genuinely oblivious or he was deliberately trying to get a rise out of me, and I wasn’t entirely sure which was worse.
The fact that he seemed to think he had some kind of claim on Quill, that he could just casually invite him to orgies, made my blood simmer.
“Maybe he’s just not interested in your thing,” I said, keeping my voice level even though every instinct in my body wanted to growl at him. “Ever think of that?”
“Nah,” Lysander said with the kind of casual confidence that only came from someone who’d never been told no in their life. “Everyone’s interested in my thing. Quill just needs the right invitation, the right... motivation.”
I turned to look at him fully then, and I must have let something show in my expression because even Dax, the werewolf, shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “He’s not interested,” I said quietly. “Trust me on that.”
“Oh, so you two are definitely a thing,” Lysander said, and there was something almost triumphant in his tone. “That explains why he’s been so distracted lately. He’s usually more focused on his studies.”
I didn’t respond. Instead, I turned my attention back to the trail, waiting for Quill to emerge from the woods. The other runners were still out there somewhere, their positions spread out along the course. But I wasn’t interested in them.
“You know,” Lysander continued, apparently undeterred by my silence, “I’ve never actually asked him directly if he was into guys. He just never seemed interested when I mentioned it. But if you’re—”
“He’s into me,” I cut him off, the words coming out more possessive than I’d intended. “And he’s not interested in your little parties.”
“Fair enough,” Lysander said, and he actually sounded amused rather than offended. “Can’t blame you for keeping him to yourself. He’s got a nice ass.”
That did it. I felt something primal rise up in my chest, a deep rumble that started in my core and wanted to claw its way out.
My hands clenched into fists, my claws pressing into my palms. The scales along my spine prickled with heat, and I had to consciously remind myself that we were in public, that shifting right now would be a very bad idea.
“Don’t,” I said, my voice low and dangerous in a way that made even Dax lean away from me. “Don’t talk about him like that.”
Lysander’s expression shifted. The amusement faded, replaced by something more calculating. He studied me for a long moment, and I could see the gears turning behind those mischievous eyes. Whatever he saw in my face seemed to satisfy him because he held up his hands in mock surrender.
“Alright, alright. I get it. He’s yours. Message received.”
But he wasn’t mine. That was the infuriating part.
Quill made it abundantly clear every single day that he couldn’t stand me, that I was nothing but an annoyance to him.
And yet, every time I got close to him, every time I caught that spike in his heart rate or caught the scent of his arousal in the air, I knew there was something there beneath all that resistance.
He wanted me, he just didn’t want to admit it.
And I, despite my plans to play it fast and loose at Widdershins, wanted him too.
Nobody else held my attention like he did and I couldn’t tell if it was because I loved the chase, or if there was something else going on…
something I didn’t want to admit to myself.
But before that thought could take root, a shrill screech split the air. Everyone startled, including Lysander and his werewolf toy.
“THERE HAS BEEN A WARD brEACH.”
It was Dean Thornfield’s voice once again.
“I REPEAT, THERE HAS BEEN A WARD brEACH,” it continued, the voice echoing across campus. “ALL STUDENTS ARE TO RETURN TO THEIR DORMS IMMEDIATELY. ALL ACADEMIC BUILDINGS WILL BE SEALED. ANYONE CAUGHT WANDERING CAMPUS WILL BE DETAINED. I REPEAT, THERE HAS BEEN A WARD brEACH.”
I looked toward the woods, my heart suddenly pounding a mile a minute.
Quill was out there.
I was on my feet before the announcement even finished echoing across campus. My body moved on pure instinct, driven by a fierce protective urge that I couldn’t explain. Quill was out there in those woods with something that had breached the wards, and that was all that mattered.
“Whoa, hold up,” Lysander called out, grabbing my arm. “We’re supposed to go back to our dorms. That’s what the Dean said.”
I yanked my arm free without even looking at him. “I don’t give a fuck what the Dean said.”
“But Quill—” Lysander started, and I could hear the concern in his voice now, the casual amusement replaced by genuine worry. Good. At least he cared enough to be worried.
“I’m going to get him,” I said, already moving toward the bleachers’ edge. “You stay here.”
I didn’t wait for a response. I dropped from the bleachers and started running toward the trail, my body already picking up the pace. I had to find him before whatever had breached those wards could touch him.
I had to save him whether he liked it or not.