King of Swords (Stormcloud Academy 1)

Returning to campus, I turned the keys back over to Theo. “I took good care of her,” I said.

He hugged me. “Good, and how about the car?”

I looked up at him, confused until I realized what he was saying. Theo’s guileless sweetness was like a vitamin supplement that kept the cold at bay. I relied on it completely to keep me from succumbing to the school’s toxicity.

Impulsively, I went up on my toes and kissed him on the cheek.

Theo seemed surprised by the kiss, but he recovered quickly and pulled me to him. His head came down, and his warm, caring lips covered mine. I heard a soft sound from deep in his throat. His tongue forced my mouth open, and then I felt him exploring me from within. Chills of desire spun downward as I leaned into him, wanting desperately to feel his skin against mine. I could hardly breathe with the longing for it.

This was my first real kiss. In high school, plenty of boys had taken my hand and pecked me on the lips. They had probably hoped I would pull them close like this and let them probe my mouth. But I never had felt the need to. Not like this.

Voices approached, causing me to break away from Theo. His face registered disappointment, and I noticed he tied his jacket around his waist and held his racket low. I realized why.

“Sorry,” I murmured.

“My pleasure.”

We walked back to the main building companionably. “Did you find what you were looking for?” he asked.

“I think we’ll be all right. Gail has some tailor skills, and with a little of this and that, we might just pull it off.”

“Who will you be?”

I laughed aloud. “Isn’t that the purpose of a masked ball? Aren’t you supposed to wonder about each lady and who lies behind the mask?”

He opened his mouth to say something more when the next couple for the court appeared around the corner and close enough to overhear. That was the sucking reality of our friendship. We had to keep things low-key, or Zephyr would hear about it, and another round of torture for me would begin. There was nothing fair in any of it, but I was stubborn and determined to make Dad proud of what I’d done with his gift.

Theo grabbed my hand and quickly pulled it to his lips, kissing the palm. I felt a spear of longing, just from the texture of his tongue against my soft palm. “I’ll see you later,” he promised and strode down the hallway until he disappeared between students.

I felt his absence vividly. My mind was muddled with the memory of his hard body where my nipples had pressed into the broad muscles of his chest. I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

It was going to be a long evening.

Gail and I busied ourselves, cutting and piecing together our ball gowns. We did this in my room, where we wouldn’t be watched. Even though my room was small, it turned out to be the best one as there were no windows that broke up the wall space.

We talked with girlish carelessness, for once. Who would dance with whom? What would that horrid girl with the fuzzy red hair wear? Would they allow champagne in the strawberry punch? How would we fix our hair?

“Do you know Diane, my roomie?” Gail wanted to know.

“I think she’s in one of my classes, but otherwise, not really.”

“I don’t think she likes me.”

“Why not?”

“I shouldn’t like to say it, but maybe you know. The twin girls, Erin and Poppy Holland?”

“Yes,” I grunted. We both knew the grisly history with those vipers. “What do they have to do with Diane?”

“Diane admires them and the crowd with which they keep company. She has mentioned it to me several times. I suppose that since you and I are friends—well, you understand.”

I stopped hemming the fabric in my hands and looked up. “Does this mean you’d rather not be friends with me?”

Gail couldn’t look at me. Her eyes were focused intently on the tiny beading at the hem of her gown. “It is just that I get frightfully lonely, and when you are with Theo, well, that leaves me quite alone. I should think you two will spend more and more time together as days pass.”

I nodded and looked back down at my work. “I understand what you’re saying. I don’t expect you to sit with me anymore.”

“Oh, I am so sorry, Biba. You do understand, don’t you?”

“Yes, yes, of course, I do. I’ve become the pariah. That’s part of Zephyr’s way of punishing me. He applies pressure against anyone who would be on my side. I’m quite lucky Theo can withstand that. There aren’t many who could.”

“Now you’ve made me sound quite the traitor, I’m afraid. I do not know what else to do, Biba. I am so very lonely with my parents both gone. I have no one, and should you be busy elsewhere…” Her voice trailed off as she left me to fill in the remaining details.