Monster's Mystery (Blackthorn Academy for Supernaturals Book 12)

Chapter 1

I feltsweat trickle down my back under my sports bra and grimaced. I didn’t bother wasting my energy to cast a spell to refresh myself; I still had a fifteen minute bike ride ahead of me before I reached home. On top of that, it wasn’t worth using my draining energy on a spell. It wouldn’t get replenished as fast as if I were at school.

I reached the top of a hill and paused for a moment, resting with one foot on the ground while I popped the top of my water bottle and squirted lukewarm water into my mouth.

It was not refreshing.

As I dropped down the other side of the hill the breeze was better, and I felt my sweat dry on my temples, matting my auburn hair.

I found my thoughts drifting as I continued on my way home, bouncing from my work at the golf course to school, which I wouldn’t be returning to for another month.

A sigh rose from my chest unexpectedly. I missed my boyfriend. I missed having my magic feel as powerful as it did at the school. I missed my studies.

And did I mention I missed my boyfriend?

A subtle ache made itself known between my legs, and I resisted the urge to rub myself over the seat of my bike.

I’ll have an hour when I get home to play with one of the new toys Aiden bought me. After a shower.

I banished the sexy feelings of Aiden from my mind, focusing instead on my studies and magic. Blackthorn Academy was situated on a nexus point; a connecting point of the ley lines that crisscrossed the Earth. Some nexus points were extremely powerful, others less so, depending on how many lines crossed at that point. In the case of our school, it was three, which was fairly low, but was enough to boost the replenishment of energy spent on magic. Being away from that boost for the summer was difficult, but I’d have to get used to it. I only had two years left at school before I graduated.

Look out, world, here I come!

I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do yet, but I knew it would have something to do with traveling. I wanted to explore, not just specifically other nexus points and the magical communities that existed in the surrounding areas, but everywhere else, too.

I turned onto the little tree-lined street that my parents and I lived on. The neighborhood was quiet, the kids inside to keep out of the heat of the afternoon. They’d be out after dinner, playing road hockey or basketball with their friends on the street. I’d miss the familiarity, but this place would always be here for me when I came home to visit. I was looking forward to making my own way.

The little white house came up on my left, and I swung one leg over the bike, coasting up the driveway and hopping off at the garage. I walked the bike into the shelter, leaning it against the wall with the others. My parents had taken the car to their jobs in the city center, carpooling with a neighbor who worked with them.

I picked up my purse and water bottle, heading into the house and the blessed relief of a shower.

Halfway through stripping off my clothing, my mirror shimmered, indicating that someone was calling me. I picked it up, making sure only my face was visible, and answered the call.

“Hey, babe,” Aiden’s voice, a deep rumble, met my ears before his beautiful brown eyes filled the mirror’s surface. “I miss you.”

I smiled. “I only put you on a plane yesterday afternoon. You should be able to make it until the end of summer without a problem.”

“It’s not the soul bond thing. I just miss you,” he explained.

One of the trickiest things to maneuver was Aiden’s soul bond with me. He wasn’t human, he was a beast shifter, and they only had a soul bond with one other person. Sometimes, they lived their whole life without meeting that person, like our Dean of Students, Professor Dunlop. Once they met their soul bond, though, being apart from their mate could actually kill them.

Unfortunately, Aiden’s family wasn’t too thrilled that he had bonded with me, a witch, rather than a more ‘suitable’ choice, another shifter or monster. He hadn’t fared well, losing weight and energy, until his family let him come to visit me in midsummer for a week. He had completely recovered, and should be able to survive until we were together again at school. Aiden’s grandmother had not been allowed to continue seeing her soulmate, my grandfather, and she had died. His family wasn’t happy about our bond, but at least they weren’t trying to force him to marry someone else.

My parents didn’t have similar issues, but they were worried that I had tied myself to someone when I was too young to know better. I tried not to roll my eyes. They didn’t understand. My grandfather did, thankfully, and was extremely supportive. I may not feel the soul draining that Aiden did when we were apart, but I loved him and felt like I was missing a part of myself when we weren’t together.

“I was at work today. I didn’t have time to miss you,” I teased him.

“Ouch, she bites,” Aiden said, a crooked grin appearing on his lips. “How are your parents?”

“Same as ever. They were glad to get to know you and enjoyed having you here.” I bit my lip. “How are yours?”

“They’re happy I’m home and healthy. I think they truly believe that you’re my soulmate now.” He rolled his eyes. “Is it as hot there as it is here?”

“Probably worse. Isn’t it raining in Manchester?” I replied.

“It doesn’t always rain here,” Aiden protested.

I raised an eyebrow.

“It only sprinkled a little this morning,” he added.

“That’s rain!” I said vehemently.

“Nah, not really. I barely got wet when I walked the dog.”

“I got wet and there was no precipitation all day here,” I said.

“Oh really,” Aiden said suggestively. “What made you wet? Thoughts of me?”

I opened and closed my mouth a couple times. “That wasn’t what I meant, for your information. I was talking about sweat.”

“Nope. Too bad. I’m picturing it already,” Aiden said with a smirk. “Did you touch yourself at work?”

“No!” I replied, shocked.

“Did you get off on your bike on the ride home?”

I hesitated. “No.”

“You don’t sound so sure.” His expression turned dark and serious. “Show me your pretty pussy. Prove to me that you’re not wet.”

My face immediately flushed with color.

“Siobhan,” he said my name like a caress. His eyes flared with fire. “Show me. Now.”

“I was just about to hop in a shower,” I said, putting the mirror on the chair, angled so that he could see me. I only had my underthings on, and I caught a pleased look from him. I shimmied out of the panties quickly and tried to spread myself so that he could see. “This isn’t going to work,” I said at last, sighing in defeat.

“Put the mirror on the floor and kneel over it,” Aiden ordered.

I flushed again. It sounded so filthy but I did as he asked.

“Spread your lips,” Aiden murmured. “Show me how I would fuck you with my fingers if I was there behind you.”

I whimpered and slipped a finger between my lips, rubbing through my juices that had gathered, feeling rather like Pavlov’s dog hearing a bell. Except instead of drooling from my mouth, I was wet elsewhere.

“Oh, that’s it, baby,” Aiden’s voice crooned from below me. “Get that new toy out, the one we bought when I was visiting. I want you to suction cup it to the floor and then ride it until you collapse from pleasure.”

“Fuck!” I gasped, my thighs already shaky from anticipation. My room was small, so I didn’t have to leave my position on the ground, stretching to reach the bottom drawer of my bedside table.

I fumbled around inside it for a second until my fingers bumped into the heavy silicone head. I hefted it out and stuck it to the floor in front of the mirror before going back for the lube.

“Are you tired?” Aiden asked, concerned.

I glanced from him to the lube. “Tired enough that I don’t want to waste my energy on lube when I’ve got some within reach,” I retorted. I slicked up my hand and rubbed it over the giant dildo I was going to force into my body.

It wasn’t as big as Aiden’s cock in his shifted form, but it came close.

My mouth watered.

Hmm, maybe I’m more like Pavlov’s dog than I thought.

I looked back into the mirror to see that Aiden had leaned forward to get a better view. I gave him a show, rubbing the head over my lips, coating it in my wetness before letting it slide inside, just a bit.

“Ooooh, feels good,” I moaned, throwing my head back dramatically. “Feels like you.”

“That’s nothing like me,” Aiden growled. “I thought you’d remember after a week of me pounding into you.”

I couldn’t help the giggle that burst from my lips as I bent over the mirror again. “I was teasing.”

“You’d better be,” Aiden grumbled. “Just for that, get your vibe. You’re not allowed to fuck that cock until you get yourself off.”

I rolled my eyes, but did as he said. “Better?” I snarked, turning the vibrator on and holding it to my clit.

“Mmm,” Aiden purred, running his hands through his hair, his gaze fixed on my slowly moving fingers. “Wish I could be there to hold you down, make you edge yourself over and over again. Make sure you can’t come until you’re positively sobbing for it.”

I shuddered in pleasure at the thought. Although Aiden had been visiting for a week, we hadn’t had much time to ourselves, and had only managed to have quickies, other than the one memorable evening when my parents had gone out and Aiden had made love to me for three hours straight, in both his forms. We’d stayed connected by his knot afterward, cuddling in the afterglow. But that had not been a night for deprivation. I had lost count of how many orgasms Aiden had given me before he’d come the first time, let alone the last.

“I want you to stick the head of that fake cock inside your pussy. Only the head, mind. Give your body something to hug as it tightens.” Aiden grinned. He was positively diabolical, but I loved it.

The head of the dildo was thick, but it narrowed right below the corona before flaring out again at the shaft. I’d have something inside me, but I would want more. And Aiden knew it.

I whimpered once it was seated inside me, my thighs straining to keep me from dropping down the length.

“The faster you come, the sooner you can fuck your little silicone toy,” Aiden said.

I growled a little, making him laugh.

I swear I came a bit, just from the sound of his laughter. It hit a chord inside of me that makes me swoon.

The vibrator was working overtime on my little bundle of nerves, my clit twitching with need as it swelled under my experienced touch.

Although Aiden and I had explored each other’s bodies quite thoroughly over the course of the school year, he loved to watch me touch myself, resisting the urge to assist me until after I had made myself come.

Honestly, it was a pretty great ego boost to have someone derive so much pleasure just from watching me touch my own body. It wasn’t something I was particularly used to.

Body positivity is difficult. So much media is thrown at us, to have to look a certain way, feel a certain way. If you look different, if you’ve got hips and thighs that are thicker than average, it’s hard to remember that you are still gorgeous. Well, at least it is for me.

Maybe that’s one of the reasons Aiden likes it when I do this. He likes seeing me confident in my own skin.

Speaking of skin, I wanted to crawl out of mine. The buzzing vibrations were driving me to distraction, which made my trembling thighs loosen a little, dropping my body down the dildo. I noticed when I felt my body open up over the second bump, which was much larger than the first.

My eyes shot open and I stared into the mirror, hoping that Aiden hadn’t noticed.

He was looking right back at me with the biggest smirk on his face. “Did you come?” he asked quietly.

I shook my head.

“So you’re deliberately disobeying me,” he continued.

I shook my head again, more vehemently this time.

“No, no, you obviously want that little toy inside you.”

I wondered where this was going and swallowed hard when I realized.

“Maybe you should sink down all the way. This is what you want, isn’t it?” he said, his voice like silk. “Go on. Stuff yourself.”

Slowly, showing a level of patience I didn’t feel, I lowered myself down to the base of the toy. The last bump was the largest, and it connected with the base, which meant I was stretched as wide as I could be. Or at least, as wide as the toy would stretch me. I whined a little, and swallowed it back. I didn’t want my body to get used to the intrusion. I wanted to ride!

“There you go,” Aiden said. “Doesn’t that feel nice? Use your fingers. Show me how tight you are around that toy. Yessss, just like that. Good girl. You can use your vibrator again now.”

My jaw dropped open. “What?”

“You need to come before you’re allowed to fuck yourself silly. You’re not allowed to move. Do you understand?”

“Oh fuck,” I muttered. The way my thighs were angled, this was going to be an even more difficult position to hold. At least I couldn’t fall any further onto the toy. It was seated as deep as possible within me.

I turned on the vibrator again, and touched it above the bundle of nerves, now swollen with desire. I could see, although somewhat distorted, in the frame of the mirror. The shock of being touched again sent sparks shooting up my spine, making me arch my back and thrust my breasts out. I was close.

I clenched down on the toy within me, squeezing it to try to dissipate some of the tightly coiled tension inside me. It wasn’t enough, and my body shot up the peak of my passion rocket-fast. All of a sudden I was flying, stars sparkling behind my eyelids as I cried out my orgasm.

When I came back down, I bent over the mirror, my arms shaky. I looked into Aiden’s fiery gaze as he smiled.

“That’s my good girl. Now I want you to ride me.” He put the mirror against his thighs as he lay back in bed, giving me a viewing angle up his body, his cock front and center. “Fuck yourself on my cock until we’re both covered in cum.”

I grinned back at him. “I can do that.”