15 Ariuk
Ariuk
Nick and Luc weren’t joking when they said they weren’t going to let anyone near me.
It was quite hilarious watching these demons fight off the many humans who wanted a chance at me.
After all, whatever was happening with my Temptation essence plus the remnants of everything Heaven had spent years calling angelic was drawing everyone in.
I’d drawn attention on Earth before, but never like this.
Whatever had fully awakened after Heaven cast me out and Dante opened my essence had taken something that used to simmer beneath the surface and turned it all the way up.
Including the lovely demons who had sworn up and down that they weren’t going to touch me in public.
Well, Luc had sworn.
Nick had just grunted, which meant he hadn’t truly agreed, and the only way I knew this was the fact that he had his hand snaked in between my legs, resting dangerously close to the apex of my thighs.
His breathing had become more labored the longer we sat in this class called Chemistry and I had started shifting uncomfortably as the undying need to soothe the ache between my legs grew.
My back arched as a particularly gnarly shock made my core clench, my nipples pebbling, chafing against the fabric of my clothing.
Luc glanced over, frowning at the two of us, knowing full well what Nick was doing. He leaned over, trying to be discreet. “Your fucking eyes are glowing, Ari, and that’s not natural. Nick, if you don’t take your fucking hand—”
His fingers tightened around the pen in his hand hard enough to crack the plastic.
“Mr. Morningstar. Yes, both of you. Please leave our new student alone. Your antics have no place in this classroom. Ari, is it? Let me have you sit a little closer to the front.”
I froze, unsure of what to do. Even if I hadn’t been with these demons, I still wouldn’t have wanted to sit at the front.
Even in training, I had always chosen a seat where I was the least likely to be noticed or called on.
Sitting in a classroom full of angels that knew what their gifts were meant that not only was I constantly ridiculed, I was also constantly a disappointment.
And now I was being moved closer to the front, the fears of previous schooling haunting my mind.
“Miss Meyer,” the professor repeated more firmly. “Would you please?”
I almost snorted at the fake name Dante had left me with. Angels didn’t have last names. We just were.
Nick removed his hand, letting me slide out from my desk and move to the front. I spared them a glance before plopping my ass in one of the seats closer to the window and as far away from the rest of the student body as possible.
The girl beside me was immediately drawn to me, sticking her hand out in greeting. “Melody. Saw you come in with the kings of the campus. What’s the deal?”
Her grin took over her entire face, her bright blue eyes demanding answers I didn’t want to give. I kept my gloved hands tucked beneath the edge of the desk and glanced toward the professor, who was already scribbling something across the board.
“Aren’t we supposed to be listening?” I muttered, trying to give her the cold shoulder.
Melody leaned closer like personal space was a suggestion. “Nope. He gives us all A’s anyway.”
“Then why are we here?” Human school seemed like a waste of time if they weren’t actually using the knowledge for anything.
“He grades on attendance.”
She shoved her outstretched hand closer to me again. “I’m Melody.”
“You mentioned that.”
Her smile only widened.
I looked past her shoulder toward the back of the room. Nick was staring at her hand like he wanted to set it on fire. Luc looked marginally more civilized, although the cracked pen still sat between his fingers.
Seeing that I wasn’t going to shake her hand, Melody dropped it back to her side. “What’s the deal with them? You dating one of them? You related? Shit, you’re a cousin or something, right? Did your mom marry their dad or something? That’s why they’re so protective!”
Her voice crawled above a whisper but no one even batted an eye at her monologue.
My frown deepened, wondering how she thought we could be related. We looked nothing alike. “Do you let other people talk, or do you just assume things?”
Training would have told me that those words should have never made it out into the open, but I was trying to embrace this be-myself thing. If I was truly going to do that, I had to stop holding my tongue and apologizing all the time. Ari, the angel everyone expected me to be, did that.
I was still figuring out what Ari, Temptation, actually did.
“Why—that’s rude.” Melody blinked at me, offended for all of two seconds before barreling right back in. “Anyways, you open to playing wingman? Never seen either one of them date but I figure that—”
The growl that tore from my throat was anything but human. The silver of my eyes illuminated her face for a moment. Melody jerked back, her eyes widening before curiosity quickly overtook the brief flash of alarm.
Unfortunately, the mere thought of anyone having my demons for themselves made something ugly twist beneath my ribs. Three days ago, I would have laughed at the idea of getting territorial over anyone. Now the bond reacted before I even had time to pretend I didn’t care.
Melody blinked several times before leaning even closer. “Your eyes are so fucking cool. Where’d you get the contacts? I’ve been meaning to get some for my cosplay.”
“Cosplay?” I asked, tilting my head to the side.
My braids fell with the movement, shielding half my face as my emotions calmed and so did the brightness of my eyes.
“Yeah! Like roleplay and—oh, you must think I’m weird. I’m so sorry. Don’t worry about it. Back to those delicious boys back there…”
She wiggled her brows.
I bit back the urge to growl again.
A few of our other classmates were starting to stare now, and when I glanced back, Nick was already halfway out of his seat. Luc caught the back of his shirt and dragged him down again without ever looking away from me.
I turned my attention back to Melody. “Sorry. I… just…” I stopped myself before another apology could tumble out. “I’m here to learn and I really don’t want to do that. Let’s just focus, alright?”
I gestured for her to face the front but she was still transfixed on my form, watching for anything else to happen.
After what seemed like an eternity trying to ignore Melody’s pointed, curious stares and Nick’s smoldering ones, the class ended.
A flock of students wrapped around me, shouting and yelling questions about where I came from, my connection to the Morningstars—I should have known that was their last name—and what I was studying. It was as if the moment I had accepted my fate, everyone else had unknowingly done the same.
I hated every second of it, the attention, the leering eyes, and the constant reaching as if everyone had suddenly decided touching me was their right.
Something prickled over my skin as anger bristled beneath the surface.
My emotions began to overwhelm me as my head spun.
There were way too many people surrounding me and I only had a few seconds before my wings decided to make an appearance.
Luc had said to embrace my emotions but I didn’t think that included letting everyone in class know that I wasn’t human.
There would be no way of explaining my way out of that situation.
Frantic and desperate for an out, my eyes shot to the window beside me.
Nick tugged me out of my seat before I could make that decision and dragged me through the small gathering crowd before pushing me into the hall.
His body stayed between mine and everyone reaching after us until we cleared the doorway.
I took off through one of the exits, trying to avoid anyone and everyone around me. Shocked gasps followed my departure.
Luc appeared a few feet beside me, pulling me into a narrow space between two buildings beside the art department, hidden from view by several large sculptures. It gave us privacy as I began to panic, scrambling to breathe as my lungs rebelled against me.
Nick appeared seconds later, drawing me against his chest and petting my head in a soft gesture wholly unnatural to him.
The insta-attraction slowly morphing into something deeper between these two men made me feel queasy. Feelings were not something we focused on in Heaven. We did what was best for the realm and then moved on. Everything was about duty and expectations.
The rumbling of Nick’s chest pressed up against my back told me the bastard was laughing. “You were going to jump out of a window, really?” He must have seen I was still hyperventilating though because the amusement disappeared almost immediately. “Ari. Deep breaths.”
Luc crowded me from the front, one hand settling around the front of my neck, squeezing softly enough to drag my focus toward him without hurting. “Look at me.”
I tried to focus on Luc, but I was too far gone. Nick pulled away just in time as my wings sprouted from my back.
The first brush of Nick’s fingers through my feathers had me shivering with pleasure, the panic cracking just enough for me to register what he was doing. He was careful. So fucking careful that it almost made the sensation worse.
It was the first time I had actually enjoyed someone touching them.
“Ari,” Nick breathed.
His fingers slowed just as I twisted enough to look over my shoulder and froze.
The midnight patches that had always scattered my wings had spread.
Whole sections that had still been white or cream were darkening toward charcoal, and several of the outer feathers had gone completely black.
I twisted farther, trying to see how much had changed since the last time I looked. “When the fuck did it spread that far?”
Nick touched one of the darker feathers again, his claws retracting before his fingers slid along the edge. “They’re fucking beautiful.”
I stared at him. “They’re dark.”
“Yeah.” His brows pulled together like I had said something stupid. “That wasn’t a complaint.”
Luc’s hand moved from my neck to my waist, steadying me as I looked between them. His gaze followed the new color running through my wings, but there wasn’t any disgust there. No alarm.
“Heaven taught you white meant pure,” he said. “That doesn’t make everything darker wrong.”
My throat tightened.
Nick’s fingers slipped through another section of feathers, slower this time. “Does this hurt?”
I shook my head.
“Then stop looking at them like something’s wrong with you.”
There was something almost angry in his voice now, except it wasn’t directed at me.
I looked down, trying to hide the stupid ache that had formed behind my ribs.
Luc caught my chin before I could.
“They’re changing again,” he said. “That’s all we know.”
“And if they keep getting darker?”
His mouth tilted slightly. “Then they keep getting darker.”
Nick pressed closer behind me, his chest warm against my back without trapping the wings between us. “Still beautiful.”
I shivered at the declaration.
For once, I didn’t hate the title that had been following me around for the last few days. Temptation. Impossibility. Whatever the fuck I was.
Unfortunately, the soft moment lasted approximately five seconds before Nick gathered me against his chest, his cock rock hard against my ass. He wrapped his arms around my waist, ensuring that he was only in contact with my clothes and not my skin.
His essence settled around me, soothing the last of the panic I was warring with, enough for me to conceal my wings.
“No. Touching.”
His voice was rough with need, his body trembling with the effort of maintaining restraint.
I twisted around, a cheeky smile playing on my lips, but he caught on before I could kiss him too.
“No. Not here. Fucking hell. Let’s go home. Shit, you’re going to be the death of us, Ari.”
Nick’s eyes flashed with a mixture of lust and amusement as he released me.
Luc shook his head as he followed us out from between the buildings. “Three days. She’s been here three fucking days.”
I looked back at him. “You’re welcome.”
Nick barked out a laugh beside me. “Menace.”
I smiled all the way back toward the dorm.