More of him.

More of everything.

“Although…” Lachlan tilted his head to the side, considering. “Now that I think about it, maybe they should’ve come too. It would’ve given us a chance to come up with a plan.”

I shrugged. “We’ll have time when we get back to school, we just have to be careful about it. The Gods’ Challenge and the preliminary competition won’t happen for at least a month.”

We only had one week left before classes started, and Lachlan and I had pretty much been inseparable since we’d found each other at the underground fight ring. It was strange for me to want to spend that much time with someone, but I hadn’t had any desire to leave his side—and I was pretty sure he felt the same way. He didn’t cling, but I could tell he wanted to keep me close. I never thought that I would feel comforted by a man wanting to protect me, but things were different now. Besides, if any bad shit went down, I would protect him right back, so that made us even.

We were stronger together, and it’d taken me way too long to realize that.

Lachlan grunted in acknowledgement of my words, then strode over to me, grabbing a fistful of my hair and tilting my head back so he could devour my lips in a searing kiss. My body sparked to life instantly at his touch, and I pulled my feet off the chair and looped a hand around his neck, stroking his tongue with mine.

“Why don’t we head back over to the club,” he murmured when he pulled back. “I want to get a change of clothes, and the guys are having a cookout today.”

I wrinkled my

forehead. “It’s cold outside.”

He chuckled, releasing his hold on my hair and grabbing his keys. “They open the garage and cook out, and then we all hang out inside. It’s kind of a thing that they do. I think they cling to the idea of summer so that they don’t feel so depressed when the Boston snow comes and makes ridin’ a drag.”

We headed out on his bike, cold wind whipping over us even as our combined body heat created a bubble of warmth between us. The clubhouse was about thirty minutes from my squat little rental, on the outskirts of Boston. I had met several of the guys over the last week, and they were all very welcoming. There was nothing but laughter inside the place—and a whole bunch of macho personalities just like Lachlan’s.

It’d been eye-opening to meet his club brothers, and it gave me a different perspective on how non-magical people handled it when their friends suddenly developed magic. Vincent had tried to be accepting and supportive when I’d been “blessed” with magic, but as I’d been reminded when I’d visited the fight ring, he just couldn’t look at me the same way anymore. It hurt more than I wanted to admit that my old life had rejected me so thoroughly just because I had magic now.

But not everyone was like that. Lachlan’s motorcycle club hadn’t kicked him out—and no one seemed to look at him with distrust or fear. They treated him as if he was still one of them, no different than any of their other members.

It was nice.

The cookout was freezing but fun. There was loud music, free-flowing beer, but mostly friendship and family. I hoped that whatever the hell happened at Magic Blessed, I would be able to come back to Boston to be around people like this again. My old life was gone, and I needed to start building a new one.

Maybe even one that includes Lachlan, Merrick, and Trace, and the people in their lives.

As I brought my beer bottle to my lips, Lachlan wrapped his thick arms around me from behind, pulling me in close against his body. Once, such an overt display of possessiveness and public affection would’ve made me stiffen in panic, but instead, I sank back into his touch, smiling as he brushed his lips over the curve of my neck. We both watched his club brothers and their women talking and laughing around us, and Lachlan lifted his head to whisper in my ear.

“I’m glad ye’re here with me, lass. Thank ye.”

I turned my head a little to meet his gaze. “For what?”

“For letting me show ye this part of myself.”

A little thrill ran through me at his words. At the realness of them. He was serious about this—serious about me.

Turning a little in his embrace, I lifted my chin and pressed my lips to his. I could feel him getting hard behind me, his cock pressing against my ass, and I grinned.

“Take me back to your room.” I rolled my ass against him. “I kinda want you to show me more parts of yourself.”

He tipped his head back and laughed, the deep, boisterous sound filling the large room. I swore the sound traveled straight to my clit.

Gods. A girl could get used to this.

“You got everything?” Lachlan asked as I zipped up my bag.

I nodded, tension already gathering in my muscles.

The second week of our break had flown by, and I was torn between dragging my heels and rushing as Lach and I got ready to return to Magic Blessed Academy. Part of me wanted the break to last forever, but now that school was starting back up, I found my focus sharpening, resolve growing in my chest.

“Where’s your portal gonna be?” I asked, shooting a glance at the tall redheaded man. “Back at the club house?”

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Secret of the Gods (Magic Blessed Academy 2) - Page 9