Water sloshed against metal as Paige summoned a small wave and rinsed out the pot I was holding. I glanced between it and the stream a short distance away from our camp.
“Remind me again why we can’t just do this instead of lugging up water from a stream every time we stop to cook or fill our waterskins,” I said as she summoned another small blast and swept it around inside the pot.
“Because actual fresh water from a real source tastes much better than summoned water,” Paige replied while rinsing out the final remnants of our dinner. “Remember that time that other water mage in our class forced you to drink some of it?”
“Forced me to drink it?” I gave her a flat look. “She tried to drown me by holding my head under water.”
She chuckled. “Fair enough. But you did poison her right before she could ask that guy out.”
“Which I only did so that you could ask him out instead.”
“True.” Shaking her head, she blew out a sigh. “And what a disappointment he turned out to be.”
“So you’re saying that I almost got drowned for nothing?”
“Hey, don’t forget that I’m the one who pulled the water out of your lungs afterwards. And I was the reason she landed her ass in detention for two months.”
“Wait, what?”
“Did you really think she stole those tests?” A villainous grin slid home on her lips. “Nah. I forged that paper and planted it on her.”
A surprised laugh tore from my chest as I stared at her.
She smirked and lifted her shoulders in a casual shrug. “As if I would ever let anyone try to drown you and not face any consequences.”
Warmth spread through my chest. After shaking out the final drops of water from the pot, I let it dangle from my fingers while I raised my other arm and jabbed her in the ribs with my elbow. “You’d make a pretty good dark mage, you know.”
“Nah. Still can’t really do the whole blood and gore thing.” She tipped her head from side to side as if considering. “But helping one out and doing sneaky shit…” Her eyes drifted towards where Callan and Henry emerged from the tent that they had dragged Lance into after I had knocked him unconscious with my poison. “Like what Henry does for Callan. That I could do.”
I followed her gaze. Callan stretched out his arms above his head while Henry summoned a wave of water and doused the fire. A cloud of steam rose into the air before a warm night wind blew it farther into the darkness between the trees. My eyes tracked the way Callan’s muscles shifted when he stretched like that, before my gaze dipped down to the sliver of skin right above his pants that became visible when his shirt rode up his stomach.
“He’s pretty hot,” Paige commented in a casual voice while we made our way back to camp.
I snapped my gaze to her. “Who?”
“Well, both of them, to be honest. But I know who you’re making eyes at.”
“I’m not making eyes.”
“Oh you definitely are.” She chuckled. “But I get it. Like I said, he’s hot.”
“He’s also incredibly dangerous, untrustworthy, and an utter bastard.”
“Uh-huh.”
Before I could retort, we reached the spot opposite the object of our discussion.
For a few seconds, the four of us only watched each other from across the now darkened grass. Then Paige yawned loudly.
“We should probably get some sleep.” Placing one hand on her shoulder, she moved her arm around in an exaggerated way. “But the wound in my arm still hurts, so is it okay if I get my own tent this time?” She turned to me. “And then you and Callan can share one instead.”
Suspicion bloomed inside me as I narrowed my eyes at her.
From a few steps away, Callan did the same while saying, “I don’t think—”
“Just tonight, until my arm feels a bit better,” Paige interrupted while looking between us with the biggest pair of puppy eyes I had ever seen. “Please.”
Callan held her gaze for a few seconds before flicking a glance towards me and then heaving a deep sigh. “Fine.”
“Great! Then it’s settled.”
Turning slowly, I leveled a pointed stare at Paige while saying in a quiet voice, “What exactly do you think you’re doing?”
She just flashed me a wicked grin and winked at me.
“Alright,” Callan said before I could push the issue further. “We’ll reach the mountain before nightfall tomorrow. Getting there is the easy part. Getting to the top and then all the way to where the Enhancer is hidden will be the real challenge. So everyone get some sleep.”
“What else would we be doing?” Rolling my eyes, I turned away from the annoying force mage and to my even more annoying friend before stabbing a finger at her. “And you. We’re going to have words later.”
She just chuckled and wiggled her eyebrows at me before sauntering over to the tent next to where Henry was standing. “Goodnight.”
While muttering curses under my breath, I stalked over to the tent at the edge of camp. The footsteps behind me informed me that Callan was following, but I didn’t wait for him. Instead, I just crawled into the tent and let the flap flutter closed behind me.
Maybe I should tell Paige how I really felt about Callan, and why it could never happen, so that she wouldn’t try to do something like that again.
Searing panic flashed through my chest at the mere thought of it.
No. I couldn’t tell her. Because the moment I said the words out loud, it would become real. And there would be no going back then.
Twisting around inside the narrow space, I scooted over to the back wall and unlaced my boots before stripping out of everything except my underwear and the thin shirt I wore underneath my riding outfit. I had barely had time to put them down in the corner before the tent flap was thrown open and Callan’s ridiculously handsome face appeared in the opening. He shifted his gaze between me and the otherwise empty tent.
Since it was summer, and since we also couldn’t fit anything that wasn’t strictly necessary into our packs, we only slept on a blanket inside the tent.
Callan’s eyes drifted over my body as I crawled back from the edge and instead lay down on one side of the blanket. I could feel his gaze as if it burned through my skin all the way into my soul, but he said nothing as he removed his boots and stripped out of his leather armor until, just like me, all he had on was his underwear and a shirt. Then he lay down next to me.
It wasn’t the world’s biggest tent, and his shoulders were much broader than Paige’s, so his arm brushed against mine when we lay like that.
Tense silence descended over the small cramped space.
While I lay there on my back, staring up at the pale tent ceiling, I could feel the heat radiating from his body and smell the leather from his armor. In my chest, my heart beat so loudly that its thumping was all I could hear. I suddenly felt incredibly awkward. Which infuriated me because I rarely did, and I hated the feeling.
“So, another night next to a clingy octopus, huh?” I said since I could no longer bear the strange silence.
Callan laughed. It was a sound of genuine amusement, and it dispelled the tension around us in a flash.
Turning his head, he looked at me while arching an eyebrow. “If I remember correctly, you were the clingy octopus who snuggled up to me that night.”
I rested my cheek on the blanket and met his gaze as well. “Really? I just remember last night at Hanna and Jack’s place when you were holding on to me for dear life.”
“That was because I was trying not to fall out of the damn bed.”
“Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that, pretty boy.”
He let out a dismissive huff. “What else would it be?”
The words stung more than I wanted to admit, and they reminded me of his taunt back in his kitchen when I had asked him why he had saved me from Malcolm’s trap.
Anger crackled through me, drowning out the hurt. When the hell had I become this pathetic?
Yanking out the dagger I had placed on my pile of clothes, I rolled over so that I straddled his hips while pressing the blade across his throat. He blinked at me in surprise, but the weapon was already in place. While keeping that anger around me like a shield, I leaned closer to his face.
“I think you were worried that I might try something like this,” I mocked before giving him a sharp smile. “After all, I still have a lot of revenge to exact. You took me prisoner. And put me in a collar, remember?”
Amusement pulled at his lips as he looked up at me. “You put on the collar willingly. And I’ve already given you your one free shot at revenge.”
“I don’t need any free shots.”
“Clearly.” He let out a dark laugh. Holding my gaze, he pushed himself up on his elbows. “So… Your move, sweetheart.”
Sweetheart. These days, that nickname yanked at something fragile in my chest every time he said it. I wanted him to mean it. I wanted him to whisper it against my naked skin. I wanted him to moan it into my mouth as he kissed me senseless. I also wanted to stab the knife into his damn heart for making me feel that way.
Before I could decide whether to murder him or kiss him, he wrapped his hand around the back of my neck and yanked my mouth down to his.
Heat flooded my core as he claimed my lips while he braced his other hand on the side of my ribs. I kept the knife in place against his throat while he released my neck and grabbed the hem of my shirt with both hands. His lips ravaged mine as he pushed the fabric up my stomach.
Reluctantly breaking off the kiss, I moved my arms above my head and let him help me out of my shirt. After tossing it to his right, he drew his hands up my sides. His touch sent lightning shooting across my skin.
I placed the dagger back against his throat while he undid the fastenings on my brassiere and then removed that as well. My nipples hardened at the exposure.
Callan pushed himself into a sitting position and grabbed my hips. After lifting me slightly off his lap, he helped me wiggle out of my panties too. While his hands worked and I shifted my legs around, he stole desperate kisses from my mouth.
“Now your shirt,” I gasped against his lips as he took my hips in a firm grip and pressed me back down on his lap.
Following my orders, he released me and then grabbed the hem of his own shirt. I took the blade from his throat once again as he pulled it over his head and threw it atop mine.
He quickly snatched the dagger from my fingers and spun it in his hand. Placing the tip under my chin, he tilted my head back and stole another kiss from my lips before he dropped the blade on top of our clothes.
Before he could take control again, I planted my palms against his chest and pushed him back down on the ground. Rising up onto my knees, I scooted backwards while kissing my way down his chest.
A dark moan tore from his throat as I brushed my lips over his hard muscles. He clenched his jaw and forced out a controlled breath as I traced the tip of my tongue over his heated skin while my fingers curled around the top of his underwear.
While my tongue teased the sharp ridges of his abs, I continued moving backwards as I drew his underwear down his legs. His hard length sprang free the moment the fabric disappeared. I laughed against his skin as I kept pushing them down.
In a very impatient move, he grabbed my ass and lifted me up as he kicked his underwear down the final bit before pushing them aside with his foot. Then he set me down on his legs again.
I arched an eyebrow at him. He just flashed me a smirk full of challenge.
While holding his gaze, I braced my palms on the ground and then slowly leaned forward. His eyes pulsed with desire. I let my lips curl into a wicked smile before I tilted my head and drew my tongue along the side of his cock.
A strained noise came from his throat.
Letting out a dark laugh, I shifted my head to the other side and did the same before swirling my tongue around his tip. He drew in a shuddering breath before finally lying down on his back again. I brushed my lips over the sensitive skin of his cock before I slowly kissed my way back up his stomach.
His chest rose and fell rapidly as my tongue traced his abs and my fingers stroked his thigh while I crawled forward. When I was almost straddling his hips again, he grabbed my face with both hands and pulled my mouth back to his. He stole the breath from my lungs as he kissed me like he had been craving the taste of my lips for weeks. I braced my palms on his hard chest while rising up onto my knees.
Tearing my lips from his, I shifted myself into position above his cock and then slid down on it.
He let out a satisfied groan.
His massive length pushed deeper inside me as I moved my hips downwards. Pleasure rolled over my body at the feeling of having him inside me. I raised my hips slightly again before moving farther down.
Callan wrapped his fingers around my wrists but didn’t move my hands from his chest. Instead, he drew his fingers up my arms. While I started up a steady rhythm, he traced his hands along my arms and then down my sides. The soft brush of his fingers made my skin prickle, and a shudder coursed through me.
Leaning down, I placed teasing kisses along his jaw that made him grip my sides hard. I laughed and rewarded his mouth with a savage kiss before I straightened again. He let out another groan from deep within his chest as I alternated between grinding against his cock and shifting up and down.
“Audrey.” It was a dark whisper. A plea.
I moved faster. Steadier. Drawing halfway out before pushing down again and grinding my hips.
The angle of his cock hit deep inside me while every move also rubbed against my clit. Pleasure washed over me, and I curled my fingers against his hard chest.
He drew his hands along the side of my ribs, sending sparks dancing over my skin, before tracing them along my breasts. I rolled my hips and ground my pussy against his cock while he trailed his fingers over my nipples.
A throbbing need built inside me.
I moved up and down, sliding his cock in and out of me while my chest heaved.
That sweet orgasm drew closer.
One of his hands slid up my chest. While rolling my nipple between his fingers, he took a firm grip on the back of my neck. Pleasure pulsed in his eyes as he locked them on me while I continued pushing his cock deeper and deeper inside me every time.
“Audrey.” His voice was like midnight thunder. “Come for me.”
Right as the words left his mouth, his cock hit a spot deep inside me that made stars explode behind my eyes.
Release shot through my limbs like lightning.
My arms buckled and I crashed down as he used his grip on my neck to yank my lips to his while my pussy trembled around his cock.
He moaned into my mouth as he came as well.
I slid my hands to his biceps, gripping them hard as pleasure washed over our bodies. Drunk on his presence, I lost myself in the feeling of his hands on me and his lips on mine and his cock buried deep inside me.
But as the orgasm slowly faded, all I could think about was that I wanted more.
I wanted more than this.
