Gift of the Gods (Magic Blessed Academy 1)

Merrick snorted, his warm breath puffing against my skin. “Yeah. It was.”

He finally pulled out of me, setting me down and keeping his hands on my hips for a second to make sure I could still stand. I batted them away, but quickly grabbed onto a shelf to steady myself.

I was breathing heavily, holding onto the nearly empty shelf and trying to catch my breath.

Godsdammit. That was hot as fuck.

My memories, as vivid as they were, hadn’t done justice to the combustible sexual attraction that existed between me and this man.

When I finally felt sure my legs wouldn’t give out, I looked up and found Merrick zipping up his pants. He pulled the hem of his shirt down and grinned at me, taunting anger sparking in his eyes again. Leaning down, he grabbed my clothes, then backed toward the door with the wad of fabric and shoes tucked under his arm.

“You’re such a big fan of running, Aria. You like fucking someone and then ditching them?” His lips curved in a mocking smile. “Well, I thought I’d give it a try for myself. And you’re right. It’s satisfying as hell.”

My jaw dropped as he opened the door and slammed it shut behind him, leaving me standing in the middle of the supply closet completely naked. There’d been no kiss or ass grab, no plans to see me later. He’d just ditched me.

And he’d taken my fucking clothes.

I was lunging toward the door, ready to burst into the hallway, chase Merrick down, and beat the shit out of him regardless of who saw my tits—but before I could reach it, someone opened it from the outside.

A young, broad-shouldered guy with brown hair sticking out at odd angles stood there with his eyes wide and his jaw hanging open. I stopped in my tracks and glared at him. “Shut the damn door!”

He jumped and slammed it shut.

Fucking hell. I’m sure Merrick is counting on me to run out into the hall after him. He knows I’m not the type to back down.

And when I ran after him naked and obviously freshly fucked, it would only give him an opportunity to mock me in front of the whole school, to make me out to be some infatuated groupie who was obsessed with him and desperate for more.

No fucking way.

Crossing the last few steps to the door, I yanked it open again. Sure enough, the brown-haired guy was still standing there, mouth still agape. Nice to know I could still have that effect on some men.

I held out my hand. “Give me your shirt.”

He blinked stupidly, but when I repeated the gesture and the command, he moved almost as fast as those TAs had when Merrick had ordered them to leave. One hand reached up to pull the shirt off over his head, and he held it out to me, still staring at my breasts.

“Thanks.” Grabbing the large shirt, I slammed the door again.

I shook my head as I pulled the large t-shirt over my head. It fit like an extremely short dress, barely covering the curve of my ass and an inch or two of my thighs, but it would have to do.

If this was the way things were going to go at this school, I already hated it.

Merrick was a fucking dick, and he apparently had a lot of sway at Magic Blessed Academy—much more than I had. I wasn’t dumb enough to believe that a befuddled guy doing what I said while he ogled my naked body was the same as students blindly following Merrick’s commands.

I wasn’t sure what I’d expected out of Merrick, but I’d fallen right into his trap. He had probably been planning to ditch me like that for months. He’d probably sat around thinking about how good it would feel to slam the door in my face. To show me what I was missing. All I could hope was that it backfired in his

face. If he’d been thinking about it that long, obsessing about his revenge, he wasn’t going to stop thinking about me now.

As I slipped out of the supply closet and started the walk of shame back to my room, I kept my gaze fixed stoically ten feet ahead of me even as other students pointed and laughed or tittered behind their hands.

I couldn’t let my ex-whatever-he-was get under my skin. I couldn’t let him know he’d gotten to me.

And truthfully, I had far more to worry about than Merrick Van Warren.

Like the fact that I have uncontrolled magic powers.

Chapter Six

“Very good,” Professor Howes called out. “Now, pull your energy in and imagine yourself holding onto it. I want you to focus on that carafe. You want to let your magic do the work, but you must be able to control it. Pick it up—carefully—and set it back on the table. Carefully.”