Chapter 15
Still ridingthe high from watching Dragon Polo, my friends and I joined the other students jostling each other on the way back to the academy.
Even though we hadn’t won, our team had played excellently, and we had only lost by one point. I was exhilarated by the sport and was eager for the next match.
“When is it again?” I asked.
Una rolled her eyes. “Two weeks. The Swedish team is coming here. Next week, our team is going to Ukraine, but they don’t encourage field trips for the rest of the students.”
I pouted a little. “It’s not like it’s difficult to travel by portal.”
“No, but space is limited. Whichever teams are facing off against each other for the finals will encourage the rest of the student body to attend. So we just have to make it to the finals, and then we can travel to another school,” Una said.
“Unless that school comes here,” Bruce pointed out.
“Doesn’t matter to me,” Una said, shrugging nonchalantly. “Either way, I’ll have a whole new pool of boys to flirt with.”
I laughed. “Of course that would be your goal. What about the team members? Did any of them catch your eye?”
“Several.” Una winked at me. “I’m going to be very busy tonight.”
“Sounds exhausting,” I said, shaking my head. “Good luck.”
“I don’t need it, but thanks.” She beamed at me. “I’m heading for the stables now, hopefully, to catch one of them as they leave. See you at dinner.” She wiggled her fingers in a wave and split off from the rest of us, following a gaggle of girls to the left of the castle, where the stables were located.
Some of my energy disappeared with her. “So many sports fangirls,” I murmured to Aiden. “Do you think the women riders are as popular with fanboys?”
“Oh, definitely,” he replied, pointing off to the side. There was a small group of male students standing under a tree, pointedly not looking in the direction of the fangirls. “They’re just not quite as obvious. But I guarantee that more than one of them will succeed in scoring.”
“That’s a terrible joke,” I said, chuckling a little anyway. “How long before dinner? I’m starving.”
“We’ve got about an hour. Dinner is later than usual because of the match,” Bruce said. “Did you want to try your new spell while we wait?”
I bit my lip, trying to decide. “I think we should wait. It’s still raining pretty hard, and should peter out by the time the dancing starts. Plus, I have a lot of homework.”
“You want to do homework?” Lilia asked, startling me. I hadn’t even noticed that she’d joined our group. “Now?”
“Yes? What else is there to do?” I asked, surprised.
“There are appetizers and mingling with the Bellamie team. It shouldn’t take them too long to come up to the castle,” Lilia explained. “How did you not notice these events in previous years?”
“I was really focused on my books,” I said, blushing.
“And Aiden,” Bruce teased. He glanced toward the statue standing in front of the school, a forlorn expression on his face. “I can understand that.”
“I didn’t know you felt that way about me, dude,” Aiden said with a chuckle, draping his arm across Bruce’s shoulders.
Bruce blushed. “Not what I meant. Well, not in the same way. I do miss having you around. You haven’t slept in your own bed at all this year.”
Aiden sobered. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you felt that way. I’ll make more of an effort to hang out with you.”
“You should sleep in your bed tonight,” I said, swallowing back my possessiveness. “I can handle one night alone.”
“You won’t be alone,” Lilia said, tucking her arm in mine. “I’ll stay with you.”
Brom raised an eyebrow in a silent question.
“No, you stay in your own room tonight. I think we should do a girl’s night sleepover,” Lilia said.
I laughed. “Almost as if we were roommates.”
Lilia joined in the laughter. “Who’d a thought, huh?”
“It’s a date,” I said. “After the dance, say around eleven, we’ll meet in our room and sleep in our own beds. That should give Aiden and I more than enough time to test out my new spell.”
“I thought I was going to help?” Bruce said with a pout.
“You really want to help when there are pretty girls who are experts at riding dragons, if you know what I mean, ready and willing to dance with you?” I asked, channeling Una.
Bruce rolled his eyes. “This is more important. Besides, those girls have enough willing fellows chasing after them. Unless you wanted alone time with Aiden...” he trailed off.
I did want alone time with Aiden, but in the middle, or even the border, of the dark forest was not the best place for that. “No, we’ll steal some time alone before bed, I think,” I said. “You’re more than welcome.”
“I forgot to ask,” Aiden began. “How were your office hours today?”
“Oh, they were fine for the most part,” I said. “There are a couple first year boys who think they know everything. I handled them.”
“How?” Lilia asked.
“I told them if they were so certain of their answer, then they didn’t need me and they were more than welcome to leave.” I sighed. “Having Professor Akhtar as my thesis supervisor is a dream, but dealing with first years is unpleasant.”
“That’s putting it mildly,” Bruce snorted.
“You dealt with that very well,” Aiden said, dropping a kiss on the top of my head. “It’ll get better.”
“I suppose.”
“We should go get changed into something more suited for the dance,” Lilia said, pulling me into the castle. “You men look fine, but we need dresses, I think.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Not sure how I feel about trekking out to the forest border in a dress.”
“Just change it,” she twiddled her fingers, indicating magic. “Come on, I know exactly what dress you should wear!”
“How? You haven’t seen my wardrobe since we got here!”
“It’s one of mine, silly.”
I grudgingly let her lead me up to our room to get changed.
She was right, the green silky dress she had in her closet was perfect for me. Using altering tips that Una had taught me, I was able to modify it to fit my ample curves and ass. The neckline was daringly low, plunging deep between my breasts and preventing me from wearing a bra.
Once again, I was grateful for my mother teaching me what she called the “lift and squeeze” spell, which I used now to give myself better cleavage.
The thin strings tied around my neck, leaving my upper back bare. I checked myself out in the mirror, happy with my appearance.
“You know what would look hot?” Lilia asked from behind me.
“What?” I asked, turning to take in her shimmery black dress not dissimilar from the one I was wearing.
“A dragon tattoo all across your back,” she said, her eyes twinkling with mischief.
I tilted my head in thought, examining my back in the mirror out of the corner of my eye. “I’ll do it if you do, too,” I said. “Nothing permanent, though.”
“Of course not permanent.” She picked up a book from her shelf, flipping through it for a moment. “There. This one?”
The book, apparently, was a field guide to dragons, and she was showing me a picture of a black dragon that was in the middle of breathing a large flame of fire.
I grinned. “It’s perfect.”
“Fire for your fire beast,” Lilia said with a wink. She lifted a copy of the image from the page. “Turn around. I want to get this centered properly. Lift your hair out of the way. No, shoulder blades down. Haven’t you ever done this before?”
“How do I get my hair out of the way but keep my shoulders down?” I asked, exasperated.
“Hold still!” She grabbed a clip from her bed and pinned my hair up. “There. Don’t move!”
The cool wash of magic rippled over the skin of my back, heating up for a moment and then dissipating.
“Perfect, if I do say so myself,” Lilia said.
“Am I allowed to move now?”
“Yes.”
I sucked in a sharp breath when I saw my new decoration. The tattoo stretched the full width of my back, the face of the dragon on my right shoulder blade, and the column of fire blasting across to my left side. “It really is perfect,” I said. “Thank you.”
“My turn,” Lilia said, brushing away my thanks. “I want this one.”
I repeated the little spell to copy the image, letting it drift in the air until it connected with her back. Hers was a white dragon with a long mustache drooping down either side of its muzzle. Once it was in place, she moved to turn, but I stopped her with a hand. “Hang on...” I added a jaunty Santa hat on top of the dragon’s head. “There.”
Lilia burst into giggles when she saw what I’d done. “Brom is going to love it!”
“You think so?” I asked, suddenly unsure. “What if he thinks it’s... I don’t know, rude?”
“No, it’s hilarious. He’s much more laid back now. Come on, let’s go meet the guys.” Lilia linked our hands and we ran out of the room.
Bruce had disappeared, but Brom and Aiden were waiting for us in the main hall. Aiden’s jaw dropped when he saw me.
“Darling, you look gorgeous,” he said once I got closer. “Spin for me?”
I executed a little turn in front of him, proud of myself when I didn’t fall over in my high heels.
“What is this?” Aiden stopped me with a hand when I was facing away from him. Even though it was a question, it didn’t sound like it.
“I thought it was fitting to add a tattoo for the occasion,” I said flippantly. “A black dragon, to match your hair, and breathing fire for obvious reasons.”
“A dragon that makes you think of me?” Aiden murmured quietly. He pressed himself against my back, his hands trailing down my sides. “Is it permanent?”
“Something makes me think you wish it was,” I gasped, my body tightening in desire.
“My stunning girlfriend wearing a tattoo that is representative of me? Maybe I do.”
“Should I just get a tattoo on my ass that reads, ‘Property of Aiden Evans’,” I snarked.
“Definitely not.” Aiden kissed my exposed shoulder. “If someone can see your ass, they’ve gone way too far. Maybe on your forehead.”
I giggled, tipping my head to the side to expose my neck to his lips. “Why not just stake your claim the old-fashioned way? Bite me, baby.”
Aiden growled, wrapping one arm around my waist and hiking up my dress a bit in the process, and sank his teeth into the fleshy part at the base of my neck.
I whimpered, my knees buckling. I didn’t even care that we were in the middle of the main foyer, giving who knows how many students and faculty a show. All I knew was that I needed him, and I needed him now.
He released my neck, giving it a few soft licks with his tongue. “Aren’t you grateful I cast a privacy bubble around us?”
I spun to face him, wrapping my arms around his neck. “That was incredibly thoughtful of you. How much longer will it last?”
“Not enough for all that I want to do to you,” he whispered, drawing my lips into a deep kiss.
“It’s time for dinner,” Lilia said with a chuckle and tapping me on my shoulder. “Come up for air once in a while, huh?”
I separated from Aiden reluctantly. “Yes, all right. Let’s go meet whoever it is that Una’s managed to snag from the other team, shall we?”