Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
Izzy
I’m fuming mad for reasons I don’t understand as I go to my next class. We sit in a room akin to a small lecture hall and flip through the pages of a book about simple spells. All of us are in the class together, but Reid sits across the room with the woman I don’t like.
She’s pretty. I hate that she’s pretty.
Of all the guys, I didn’t expect Reid to be hit on this soon.
An instinct inside of me to march across the classroom and shove a finger into her chest, demanding that she stay away from my man, shocks me.
Yeah, I’ve kind of always seen these guys as mine, but it’s not like they’ve felt the same way.
I’ve seen all of them with other women. Dating. Laughing. And I’ve had to suck it up and deal with it.
But Reid? As far as I knew he’d gone out with a couple of girls in high school, but I never saw him flaunt his relationships like the others had. Hell, he might not have even dated anyone. It could’ve just been rumors.
But now he’s suddenly some kind of women magnet? It more than bugged me.
We practice a few simple spells. Nothing happens with them though, because the teacher explains that intonation is important with magic.
After awhile, a few people manage to turn their hair green for a few seconds, but the spells won’t work for me. Maybe because the woman with Reid just laughed at something he said. Was her hand on his knee or just on her own? I squint, trying to see beyond the little desks.
When the spell class ends, all the guys managed to change their hair colors, briefly, and all of them were strutting around like no one’s business. It only added to the anger building inside of me.
In our herb class, in a greenhouse, the woman sits with Reid again. I swear I’m about to kick her ass…not that I think I can kick the ass of a woman who spins knives on her fingers and looks like she trains ten hours a day, but I sure as hell will try.
“You want to prune the plant?” Wilder asks, grinning at me.
My gaze tracks Reid when he gets up and starts out of the greenhouse. “No, I have something to take care of.”
Wilder and Van exchange that glance I hate. The one that means they’re silently guessing at what I’m thinking. But I stand from the bench and follow the direction Reid goes.
Outside, the air is crisp and cool, but I couldn’t care less. My gaze scans the space around me for Reid. I suddenly catch a flicker of movement and turn. There’s a decrepit-looking tower, and he disappears into the darkness of the stairs.
Clenching my fists, I take off after him.
Storming up the stairs and throwing open the door, I kick aside the can that holds it open.
Inside the room is a comfortable-looking bed, straw in one corner, and a spinning wheel, like some kind of fairy tale.
But I don’t care about any of it. My gaze goes to Reid as he turns, looking at me with a frown.
“We needed another set of clippers, but I think I went the wrong way.”
“We?” I emphasize the word.
His frown deepens. “Mercy and I.”
My arms cross in front of my chest. “You mean the woman who’s been hanging all over you since this morning?”
He looks confused. “Mercy is awesome. She’s helping me and--”
“I don’t care! What are you doing with her?”
I hate when he throws his hands up. “Making a friend. Isn’t that what you were doing with that fucking vampire?”
I’m shocked by the anger in his voice. Reid is always so tame, but not right now.
Not standing there by the little window with the sunlight highlighting his dark hair, and his pale green eyes flashing with irritation.
Did I used to think Reid was a little nerdy?
Well, there’s nothing nerdy about the muscular man in front of me.
Licking my lips, I feel desire rise inside of me. “I was just talking to the vampire. He wasn’t jerking me off under my desk.”
“Jerking you…. What are you talking about, Izzy?”
I force myself to look up from his stunning body, and my gaze connects with his. “Are you telling me that woman isn’t interested in you?”
He freezes, and my chest hurts when I realize my instincts were right. “She was, but I told her that you and I...” He hesitates, then his gaze locks with mine. “Actually, I didn’t know what to tell her.”
My chin tilts up. “Tell her you’re unavailable.”
He stalks toward me. My shy, sweet Reid actually stalks, like some pissed off alpha. “Why am I unavailable?”
I glare, not willing to be the first one to admit it.
His hands close over my arms, and he pulls me closer. “Why, Izzy?”
Fuck, he’s so hot right now. I mean, I’ve always found him attractive, but hell, he’s not the boy I fell in love with. He’s a man I want to touch.
“Things are confusing here,” I say, my words low and husky. “We should stick together.”
“We can stick together, even if I’m sleeping with Mercy.”
I shove back from him, but he doesn’t let me go. “You’re thinking of sleeping with her? Not a snowball's chance in hell! If you’re going to sleep with anyone--”
Every muscle in my body freezes. I said too much. I definitely said too much.
He closes his eyes, and the muscles in his jaw move. “You have no idea how many times I’ve thought about you at night.”
“Really?” That’s sexy.
I feel strange. I’ve felt strange since the first time the guys tried to act like they owned me with the vampire. Since the siren was rude to me. Since I saw Reid with that woman and I couldn’t control my flames.
It’s like my whole life I’ve wanted things, but I’ve been too afraid to go after them. But now, I’m not afraid. And that desire to not hold back, to take what I want, makes me feel powerful and in control.
“Did you ever touch yourself thinking of me?”
His eyes flash open. “Fuck, Izzy, don’t say things like that.”
“Why not?” I ask, placing my hands on his chest. “Tonight I want to think about what you’re doing in your room alone, and I want to know if it’s me you’re thinking about.”
“It’s always you,” he admits, visibly swallowing.
I lean closer.
“Hel wants me to be alone,” he whispers. “I don’t want to be alone. I don’t ever want to lose you..”
I kiss him, and I’m shocked when he kisses me back like a man starved for my touch. His mouth is hot and demanding. His hand moves restlessly from my arms, down my side, and then to my ass.
When he grabs me, heat travels straight to my core, and he presses me against his erection.
For some reason, I know what’s going to happen now, and I know it’s going to be with Reid.
It was always going to be with Reid. If someone was going to take my virginity, there was no one better than him to do it.
I shift against his erection, feeling a need that burns inside of me.
It’s not that I haven’t had boyfriends. It’s not that I haven’t had any experience. But now I wanted it with Reid. And I knew a few intimate touches wasn’t going to be enough. I wanted to feel Reid inside of me.
His lips break from my mouth and trail hot kisses down my neck. He murmurs my name like a prayer, and my nipples harden at the sound of my name from his lips.
When a shudder moves through my body, I push back from him, panting.
His hands curl into fists. “I’m sorry. That was too fast. That was--”
I reach for the hem of my shirt and pull it off.
His mouth drops open, and I’m glad I wore a nice bra. A black one with lace that hugs my breasts. His gaze moves from my bra up to my face.
“We don’t have to do…anything…or everything.”
I stand taller. “I want to.”
A confidence I’ve never felt in my life comes over me, and I cross the distance between us and peel his shirt off. “You’re going to need to get bigger clothes,” I say, a husky note to my voice.
He nods. “I could barely get into my shirt this morning.”
I reach for his pants and run a hand along his bulge. “And you definitely need more room for this.”
His eyes darken. “Izzy…”
I flick open the button on his uniform and pull the zipper down. “Boxers.” I can’t hide the surprise in my voice. Somehow I pictured him more of a briefs man.
Tugging his pants down, he helps struggle out of them. Then he stands before me in nothing but his boxers, the material tented over his erection.
Again, I feel like I’m someone else. Someone experienced and confident as I reach for his boxers and pull them down his hips. He swears as I climb to my knees in front of him. I know what I’m doing long before I lean forward and lick his tip.
He swears again. “No, Izzy, I’m supposed to be the one--”
His words cut off as I take him fully into my mouth and start sucking. I move him back and forth, wrapping him with my heat. I love the way he tastes: sort of sweet, like the man himself. And I love how he seems to swell, eager for my touch.
My hands slide to cup his ass, and I pull him deeper into my mouth.
After a minute, he starts to thrust, and one hand digs lightly into the back of my hair. I can sense inside of him a need to release, to go crazy and take me, but he holds back as if his greatest desire is to be gentle with me.
It was always going to be Reid. This is how it was always supposed to be.
When I wrap my tongue around him, he suddenly tenses and pulls back from me.
I stare at him in disappointment, licking my lips, wanting more.
“Come on,” he says, his voice rough as he reaches down a hand to help me up.
I watch his every move as he starts to undress me, and he watches me too, as if waiting for me to stop him. My skirt comes off. My shoes and socks. And then I’m standing in front of him in nothing but a bra and underwear.
“You’re so beautiful,” he murmurs.
I move to the bed and lie back. His dick bobs as if eager for what’s next.
When he unclasps my bra and stares down at my breasts, somewhere in the back of my mind I feel like I should be embarrassed or feel shy. This is Reid, my childhood friend, standing over me with a hard-on, looking at my breasts.
But I don’t. I don’t feel any of those things.