3
Raven
“What are you?Can I ask that. I mean, are you a mage?”
He tossed his head back to look at me, his hair flipping with the movement. His smoldering gaze caught me like a cold wind, nearly knocking the breath from my lungs. Nobody had any business being this hot. And I had even less business being so fucking attracted to him. It was like suddenly, I was thinking with my hormones. I was twenty-one. I was supposed to be past this part of my life. Instead, I was getting physically warmer from looking at the beautiful man leading me down the hallway.
“I’m not sure you’re ready for that answer yet, kitten,” he said, winking.
I frowned, doing my best to pretend that I wasn’t turning into a puddle of goo from his smile. I needed to get to my room. And fast. Maybe it was all the excitement. Or the magic. It had to be. I’d never used magic before. Of course there would be repercussions. What if using magic turned you into a horny teenager? I would have to be careful in this place. Sex made things complicated. While it was very enjoyable, it was not usually worth the strings that came attached. Even when guys told you they wanted a causal thing, they usually lied. What they really wanted was a girl to pine over them so they could shoot her down and lift their ego up. They hated it when you didn’t pine.
We reached the end of the classroom hallway. I wished I could see inside the doors but unlike the high school I’d attended, none of the classrooms had windows facing the hallway. I guess they didn’t like it when kids stopped in the hall to make faces at the people in the room. Though I supposed that might not be a problem here. People didn’t still act that way in college, did they?
“This is the most direct route to the dungeons.” Luka stopped in front of what looked like an emergency exit door. He pushed it open and took a few steps down a darkened stairwell.
There only light was the light pouring in from the hallway into the darkness below. It was like a crime scene waiting to happen. “You’re kidding me, right?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll hold your hand if you want.”
Annoyed, I pushed past him, and took the steps as fast as I could. If this was the way to my dorm room, which hopefully had a working lock, I needed to suck it up.
As I brushed past Luka, I was hit with the overwhelming scent of leather and smoke with a hint of something else that I couldn’t identify. Whatever it was, it was masculine as hell. Pure fuel for my sex drive. My belly clenched and I tried to ignore the growing dampness between my legs. What the hell was wrong with me?
Taking deep breaths in through my mouth, I tried to focus on the scent of the stairs. Damp, dusty, cold air filled my lungs. The cement under my feet felt slick, like someone poured water on the steps. I dragged my fingers along the wall and they were gritty and a little slimy. Like something was growing on them. Disgusted, I pulled my hand away and wiped it on my ruined pants. I wondered if I would have to sleep in the provided uniform or if there was even a shower available.
I opened my mouth to ask Luka about shower arrangements just as another wave of his scent rolled over me. I breathed it in as if it were fresh cinnamon rolls baking in the oven. My mind instantly flooded with an image of the two of us in the shower naked. Water beading up on our skin as his mouth and tongue explored my nipples. Shit. Shit. Shit. What the hell was wrong with me?
Thinking about a shower around Luka was a bad idea. In fact, thinking about Luka was a bad idea. Starting something with a stranger on my first night in my newprisonschool was a bad idea.
Finally, we reached the bottom of the stairs, emerging into a hallway of closed doors. The doors looked at home in a dorm titledthe dungeon.They looked like they were made of metal and they were windowless, just like the classroom doors. Voices drifted from somewhere ahead. I craned my neck to see if I could find the source.
“Common room,” Luka said as if he could read my mind.
He pushed past me and I held my breath, not making the mistake of breathing in the smell of pure sex his pheromones created. “Come on.”
I followed him down the hall. Flickering torches - honest to fucking god torches - lined the walls. One between each of the metal doors. Two, four, six, eight, ten. Ten rooms before we reached the common area.
Several red velvet couches were arranged in a square around a low table. A group of six students in matching uniforms were laughing and talking, cards in their hands. I recognized the set up on the table. Good to know they played Texas Holdem in magic school. That was one of my few skills. Granted, I was better with a drink or two in my system but I could beat the pants off of most people I’d played against. Literally. We’re talking strip poker champion.
The laughter died down and six pairs of gold eyes turned to face me. I froze, my moment of confidence stripped away in a single second.
One student stood and set his cards down on the table in almost slow motion. His body moved with a rippling power I’d never seen before. Making every movement intentional as his large form prowled gracefully toward me.
In the flickering torchlight, it was hard to make out details other than his sheer size. The man was a beast. A dark-haired, dark bearded beast. His tan skin took on a gold tone in the light. If there was an opposite for Luka’s lean, fair beauty, this man was it.
He moved toward me, his gold eyes flickering along with the firelight. He smiled, his teeth catching the light, drawing me to his full lips, his hard jaw, his fangs. Shit. Dude had fangs.
My throat bobbed and my jaw tightened. They warned me about the other kinds of creatures in this world but seeing one up close was different than hearing they existed. I looked back up at his eyes and took in the rest of him as he came to a stop in front of me. His long dark hair hung loose around his face, settling in just below his shoulders.
Even through the uniform, I could tell he was cut. He wasn’t large because he chugged too much beer. He was this size because he probably spent most of his down time lifting weights.
“Who’d you bring me, Luka?” His voice came out in a growl that made my toes curl.
Fuck.
I’d never heard such a sexy tone in my life. This man was bad news. I didn’t even know his name yet, and I already knew that. Between Luka’s scent making me want to rip his clothes off and this man’s baritone, I was a useless, damp puddle. My whole not fucking a guy when I just met him thing was getting very tested tonight. Was every dude in this place like this? Honestly, with the way these guys made me feel, I was surprised I hadn’t walked into an orgy down here.
“New student. Room Twelve,” Luka said.