Secret of the Gods (Magic Blessed Academy 2)

Once I was done, I stood with my hands on my hips, chewing on my lip. I could already feel tension building inside me, an eagerness to act, to do something. I’d never really been known for my patience; it was something Vin had lectured me about plenty of times. I needed to do something to blow off this steam before it started pouring out of my ears.

Turning, I slipped back out of my room. Without even consciously thinking about it, my feet carried me down the winding hallways until I reached Trace’s room. As I raised my hand to knock, memories of the last time I had come to his room made my skin flush.

That had been the night I’d finally admitted to myself—and to the men too—that I needed them. That I wanted them. That I wanted this thing between us to be more than a partnership of survival.

To someone else, that may have seemed like a pretty obvious admission, but it had taken me several weeks of wrestling with myself to finally reach that conclusion. I had spent my life as a lone wolf, unattached to anyone else and wary of emotional connections.

So the fact that I’d been falling for three men at the same time?

Three dominant, powerful men who actually stood a chance of matching me, of being my equals.

And that had scared the shit out of me.

It still did sometimes, but honestly, that hardly mattered anymore. I had leapt off the cliff, and I was free falling now.

My knuckles rapped against the door three times, and a moment later, Trace opened it. His curious expression morphed into a wide smile as he caught sight of me, and he caught me around the waist, pulling me into the room.

I was vaguely aware of the door shutting behind me, but everything else faded away as Trace’s lips crashed into mine.

Our greeting downstairs had been incredibly restrained, I realized now. I hadn’t known how fiercely my body and soul had missed him until I was free to express that fully. We stumbled across the room, hands groping and tongues colliding as our lips stayed locked in a deep kiss. When the backs of his legs hit the mattress, Trace sank down onto it, pulling me with him.

“Damn, I’ve been going crazy without you, Snow,” he murmured, tracing the line of my jaw with his lips. “I never knew I could miss someone so much.”

“Same,” I admitted on a whisper, butterflies flapping in my stomach at the admission. I had faced down men twice my size in the ring without an ounce of fear, but this was something else entirely.

I pulled back just enough to tug his shirt over his head, smiling at the sight of his familiar tattoos. Some of them were only half-formed, since the skin that’d regrown from the healing potion Merrick had given him hadn’t replaced the ink that had once been imprinted on it. But it made the tattoos more beautifully striking, as far as I was concerned.

Too beautiful to just look at.

Shifting my hips, I rolled us over on the bed, straddling Trace and leaning down to run my tongue over the rough edges of ink that decorated his skin. The burns had been worst on his back, but there were patches of ink missing on his arms and pecs too.

He groaned, his chest vibrating beneath my lips as his fingers threaded through my hair. I c

ould feel his cock pressing against my core, and I rocked against him.

How the hell had I ever thought I could resist this?

Trace’s hands move to the hem of my shirt, tugging it up. “Let me look at you, gorgeous. Let me see you.”

I sat up just enough to let him rid me of the garment, and he unhooked my bra and tossed it aside too. He cupped my breasts, the bright blue of his irises darkening with desire as he licked his lips.

Then he sat up, surprising me as he latched his lips around one of my nipples and sucked hard. I threw my head back on a loud moan and felt him chuckle.

A second later, we were off the bed as he surged to his feet, his hands cupping my ass and thighs to hold me up. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he carried me across the room, his lips devouring the skin of my neck and shoulder.

Trace wasn’t as broad-shouldered as Lachlan, but he was solidly built. Pure, lean muscle. Holding me up with one hand, he used the other to open the door to the small, attached bathroom each dorm was equipped with.

He set me down once we were inside, his fingers finding their way to the button of my jeans.

Anticipation made my pussy clench, and I returned the favor, helping Trace out of his clothes until we both stood naked before each other.

He stepped back and opened the shower stall door, turning the water on. The hiss of the shower spray filled the small room, and he turned back to face me, a sinful grin tugging at one corner of his mouth as his heated gaze traveled up and down my body. “Fuck, Ari. I feel bad for every man in the world who doesn’t get to see this. Not that I’d ever fucking let them.”

I cocked an eyebrow, running my hands provocatively down my sides, over the swell of my hips, before bringing them toward my bare pussy. I slid one finger between my folds, and Trace’s cocky grin disappeared, replaced by a look of hunger.

“Except Merrick and Lach, right?” I teased, sliding my finger inside myself, teasing my entrance.

Trace dragged his gaze up from the spot where I played with myself, his voice thick and raspy.