Sinful Things

16

I lean forward and hiss, “Then maybe you should stop being so reckless.”

She leans forward too, her face very close to mine. “Or maybe you should treat me like a grown woman who can take care of herself for once.”

“I’m only trying to protect you, but you do make it difficult.”

She places a hand over her heart. “Aw, Bastien, for a second it almost sounded like you cared.”

I scowl at her. “I care about keeping my promise to Jonah. Nothing more.”

She bats her long lashes at me, but then Raziel moves to the front of class and clears his throat. He glances at us like he’s worried he’s interrupting, and I sit back in my chair and gesture for him to begin his lecture.

“Today we’re going to start discussing the different Faerie courts, beginning with Summer and Spring,” Raziel says. “Together, they’re known as the Seelie courts, and in history they’ve often been depicted as the ‘good’ fae, although this isn’t really correct. They can be just as kind or cruel as any of the Unseelie fae. The Summer court is known for being both brave and volatile, while Spring court members can be both kind and capricious.”

He continues on, but I already know everything he’s discussing, so I take few notes. Instead, I wonder what else Olivia has planned. Is she going to exact revenge for everything we did to her last year, tit for tat? If so, she’ll probably go after our rooms next. Or the bell tower.

As class comes to a close, Raziel says, “Before I forget, I want to pair everyone up for your class project. If you’ve been in one of my other classes before, this should be familiar to you. You and your partner will write a paper on a topic related to the fae, and this year I’ve decided to let you choose it.”

He begins assigning partners, and when he calls Olivia, he pairs her up with me, exactly as I instructed him. I got the idea from Marcus, who did the same thing last year in Demon Studies. Raziel is a good professor, but he’s a weak-willed fool, and like most people, he has no desire to go up against the Princes. Olivia’s the only person who has ever tried.

She lets out an audible groan when she hears she’s assigned to me, and it sounds just like the one she makes when I’m f*****g her. I’m instantly hard, and she glances my way. Can she feel it, my desire for her? I shove it to the back of my mind, along with my other emotions. I feel nothing for her. Nothing at all.

When class ends, she turns toward me in the hallway. “What a coincidence that we’re paired together.”

“Indeed. What shall we pick for our topic?”

“Magical objects.” She touches the gold and aquamarine necklace hanging above her breasts. “I’d like to know more about how they’re made.”

“Good choice. Let’s meet on Mondays in the same time and place as we did last year.”

She makes a disgusted face. “Right, when you performed tests on me like a lab rat.”

“That was Uriel’s decision, and if you’d been honest about your Choir, we wouldn’t have had to do that.”

“If I’d been honest, they would have kicked me out of school.” She shakes her head. “Let’s just try to get this paper over with quickly so I can go back to avoiding you as much as possible.”

“As you wish.” I take her chin as I stare into her green eyes. “But don’t forget who provides you with your meals. Unless you want to go back to feeding on strangers?”

She opens her mouth, but can’t seem to form a reply, and I gaze down at her perfect red lips. My c**k hardens as I imagine what I’d like to do with that mouth. She senses my desire and her breathing hitches, while her eyes glaze over a bit.

“You seem rather hungry,” I ask, stroking her soft skin. “Should I come by tonight?”

“Yes, fine,” she says with a sigh, before jerking away. “But only for a quickie.”

“I’ll be there at nine.” A satisfied smile crosses my lips as she walks away. She needs me, even if she won’t admit it…and I’m more than happy to give her what she wants.

Chapter Twelve

Olivia

M

y classes keep me busy, and two weeks pass by in what seems like only minutes. I avoid the Princes, and they stay out of my way too. My hunger grows, since I took as little from Bastien as possible during our last encounter. I ignore it as best I can, and spend extra time soaking up sunlight to give me strength. That won’t last forever though, and I know it. But I can’t keep feeding on Bastien either. Sooner or later he’s going to start to grow weak, and it’ll be my fault.

I receive a message from Uriel that my succubus testing will begin on Wednesday after my normal classes, and that I’ll meet with her in one of the rooms in his house. I’m excited to meet another succubus other than my mother, although I’m not sure what kind of tests she’ll have for me. I hope I pass.At the appointed time, Bastien opens the door to Uriel’s house and instructs me to follow him. He leads me past the office and deep into the house, where I’ve never been before. We step into some kind of old-fashioned parlor, where Uriel sits in a chair with curled wood arms, sipping tea across from a woman in a red dress. She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen other than my mother, with dark brown skin, luscious curls, perfectly pouty lips, and amazing curves.