Page 30 of Artemis’ Bow (Halfling Academy #5)

“ W here?” Tristan barks.

“Dominic is on the phone in the office. I left it there because…” He glances at us warily.

“Good call,” Tristan says. “I have to take this.”

“You were in Winslow,” I say.

“I was,” he says, cheeks turning pink.

“You were rhyming the whole time. Glad to see you back to normal.” I grin.

Tristan stops in the doorway. “Stay with them. Alpha Greyson is forcing the pups to shift back and once he’s done, show them to the suites we set up for them.”

“What are their names?” Greyson asks.

The two gray pups whine and one yips at Greyson as he bumps his little head into Greyson’s shin.

“That one is Micah and the other is Malcolm. They are twins,” the beta says.

“Be ready with a blanket or something. The others aren’t used to nudity the way we are.” Greyson nods.

“Got it.”

Greyson goes through the same process and the twins are covered in sheets in minutes. They all cluster around Chloe like she’s the glue of their little friendship. It’s the cutest thing I have ever seen.

“What were you guys doing when the moon went missing to end up in your wolf form?” I ask.

“We were on a run, and then when we came back, we couldn’t shift,” Micah says. “I was scared we would go feral.”

“Nah, it wouldn’t have gone on that long, even if I hadn’t come to help.” Greyson ruffles his hair.

A yawn I can’t control bursts free and Jayden glances over. He must notice the exhaustion setting in because he cuts in through the chatter.

“Tristan said you would show us to our rooms. Beth is dead on her feet.”

“Are you okay?” Colby asks.

“Yeah, buddy. Just tired. We had a long drive today all the way from California.” I pat his shoulder.

“I’ll show you to your rooms. Pups, it’s time for you all to go to bed too. We’ll let your parents know you’ve shifted back and are free to go in the morning,” the beta says.

The kids all say goodbye to us and we get back into the elevator, only traveling one floor this time. It feels like a waste when I climb twelve flights of stairs on a daily basis, but I don’t say anything because I’m exhausted and just ready for sleep.

He shows us to a room and nods for me and Jayden to go inside. “We’ll see you guys in the morning.”

I don’t even get to admire the room before Jayden has me in his arms, carrying me into the attached bedroom. He lays me on the bed and I’m out before my head even hits the pillow.

Waves crash over the white sand beach I find myself sitting on, staring at the clear blue sky.

“What am I doing here, old man?” I ask as I turn to Nereus.

“I thought you could use the reminder.” He shrugs.

“You mean my daily nightmares aren’t reminder enough, you come to torture me in my sleep too? I never wanted this but I’m here and doing it.” I clench my hands into fists, draped over my bent knees.

“I didn’t make you experience anything he isn’t capable of himself. Nereus sayss.

“Don’t fucking play with me. I’m sick to death of your games. You have done nothing but make me despise you. I don’t deserve this when I consistently go out of my way to save everyone else, Nereus. It’s bullshit. We both know I will do what needs to be done.”

“Do we, though?” Nereus raises an eyebrow. “I don’t know which path you will choose. There are many.”

“Pulling me here in my sleep was a power play to make sure I do what you want. It’s fucked that you thought Lotus Island was the best place for this chat, but I shouldn’t be surprised.” I shake my head in disgust.

“There are many paths. Some you go to the end of all this and fail, some where you’re pushed too far and you throw your hands up, and a few where you must choose. Those paths are the ones I’m most concerned about.”

“Really? You’re most concerned with me choosing love over duty?

” I laugh without humor. “The paths where I’m pushed too far and just up and quit should be the ones that concern you because I promise you if I end up on one of them, the end of the world is on your head.

The blood of innocents will not stain my hands because it’s you who will push me too far. ”

Nereus shifts in the sand uncomfortably. “Every one of those paths I push you too hard.”

“So, why are you dragging me to Lotus Island trying to push me even more? I will do what I always do. I will not fail. It’s not an option for any of us.”

Nereus sighs. “The paths are still uncertain. There is still much to be done.”

“So, why don’t you do something constructive rather than veiled threats, like dragging me back into my nightmares?” I shake my head.

The old man of the sea turns his gaze back on the waves. “The burden of sight is still a burden on those long lived as we are. If I tell you too much, then we could end up losing. It could change everything.”

“You probably changed things dragging me here because I think I hate you more than ever,” I growl. “Which side are you really on? Because if I say I’m done, I’m fucking done and I don’t care if the world burns. If you fuck with me again, I am out.”

I stand up and walk to the waves, trying to force myself to wake up, but I just keep staring at the crashing waves, almost in a trance, until my fingers begin to tingle and heat pools low in my belly. What in Hades is happening to me?

I rub my thighs together as phantom hands grip them.

“Wake up, my love,” Jayden says from far away.

I blink my eyes open and moan as a wet tongue slides up my inner thigh. My fingers thread through Jayden’s white-blond hair and tug him where I need him most.

“Fuck, Jayden, what are you doing to me?” I pant.

“Eating my breakfast.” He chuckles, the vibrations sending heat through my core.

“Oh gods.” I arch my back as my hands tighten in his hair.

Jayden swirls his tongue around my clit, spreading sparks through me, and he groans against my skin.

“You gotta control your magic, love,” he whispers.

He presses two fingers inside me and curls them, hitting that spot inside me. It’s enough to send me over the edge into my first orgasm. Colors swirl behind my eyes. I scream in ecstasy and convulsions rack my body.

“Fuck, I love watching you come on my tongue,” Jayden growls. “You taste like ambrosia.”

Jayden’s shadows swirl around us in a chaotic dance of darkness, ready to play as well. They cover me in nips, licks and fingers pinch my nipples. I tense when something nudges my ass.

“Relax, baby. It’s just my shadows. It’s going to feel so good,” he says.

He pushes his shadows a little farther as he presses his fingers inside me again. The shadow solidifies as it slowly pushes in my ass, smaller than Jayden but still uncomfortable at first, but when Jayden sucks my clit into his mouth, nipping it with his teeth, it becomes an inferno of sensations.

“Gods, baby, you take me so good. You feel so good wrapped around my fingers and my shadows. Fuck.”

“Jayden, shit. I’m gonna come again.” My head thrashes back and forth as an even stronger orgasm blasts through me.

My electricity breaks through my control, lighting my whole body with pleasure and I scream his name into the quiet room.

“Mmm, good girl,” Jayden growls.

I never thought praise was a kink I had until Jayden started calling me a good girl when I come for him. Now I moan at the praise.

“I need you, Jayden,” I beg.

“What do you need, love? You need to tell me.” He pushes his fingers in and out, sending me up that cliff again as his shadows play my body.

“I need your huge cock, Jayden,” I say. “Fuck me, hard and fast.”

“Hmmm, not yet. I need you to scream for me one more time before I fuck you.” Jayden nips my inner thigh and goes back to eating me with abandon. “I’m still hungry.”

I grip his hair, tugging him up, but he grasps my wrists and removes my hands from his hair, placing them at my sides and holding them there as he continues feasting on my pussy like a starving man.

The shadow in my ass expands, becoming even bigger as it relentlessly thrusts in and out of me.

I’m powerless to do anything other than feel—Jayden’s lips and tongue devouring me, the shadow fucking my ass hard and fast, and the tingling in my belly growing steadily.

His other shadows pinch my nipples before lapping and biting at them.

I’m not even sure I have a body anymore; I’m a mindless mass of sensations as he attacks every pleasurable zone inside of me, sending me higher and higher. When I’m sure I’m about to detonate harder than I’ve ever come in my life, Jayden stops.

The orgasm slips away like water as Jayden sits back on his heels and licks my juices from his lips.

“What are you doing?” I shriek.

“Trust me,” he says with a smirk.

“You’re a diabolical bastard,” I say.

“Yes, but I’m your diabolical bastard.” He shrugs.

“Why did you stop? That was shaping up to be the best orgasm of my life.”

“It’s going to be so much better in a second.” Jayden flips me onto my stomach easily.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

I push up on my hands and knees, but Jayden presses a hand between my shoulder blades, shoving me back down so my breasts are pressed against the sheets. The shadow in my ass dissipates and it’s replaced by a long finger.

“Jayden, what?” I say and moan.

His mouth devours me again. At this angle, it’s even better as his tongue thrusts inside me and he presses a finger to my clit as he adds a second finger into my ass. I tense up but relax as the pleasure spikes again.

Jayden continues fucking me relentlessly with his tongue and thrusting his fingers in my ass. The noises escaping my throat are honestly embarrassing, but I can’t bring myself to care as I climb even higher.

“Oh my gods, Jayden,” I screech.

Black clouds my vision and I’m pretty sure I lost consciousness for a second. Jayden smooths a hand up my spine. My electricity shocks a small gasp from him. His cock nudges my entrance finally. I arch my back, pressing my ass into him, but he slams a hand on my hip, stopping my movements.

“Patience, love.” He chuckles.

“I need you, Jayden.”

“So greedy for my cock. I just gave you three orgasms and you’re already panting for more.”

“Yes, so fuck me already,” I snarl.

Jayden slams inside me all the way to the hilt and I scream in pleasure and the tiniest twinge of pain, but it’s not enough. He stops inside me, his fingers tightening on my hip as he holds himself still.

“Fuck, baby, you keep squeezing me like that and this is going to be over before it’s even begun.” He runs his palm up my back again and this time wraps my hair around his fist, pulling me back as he covers my back with his chest and kisses me roughly.

Our tongues explore each other and my taste on his tongue makes the kiss even more erotic. I moan into Jayden’s mouth and his hips flex with a short shallow thrust that drives me wild with the need for him to slam into me hard and fast.

“More. I need more.” I break the kiss.

“I know what you want, my love.” Jayden leans back, pulling himself out almost to the tip and then slamming into me again.

I practically see the stars that have been absent in the sky for the last week. Jayden sets a steady pace, fucking me hard with my hair wrapped around his fist. The bite of pain when he tugs it only sends me higher.

“I need… I need.” I can’t form the words as he fucks me mercilessly.

“You want to ride me, dirty girl. You want to ride my cock and come harder than you ever have before.”

“Yes,” I hiss as he slams into me a final time before flipping and lying on his back.

“Fuck me, my love. Fuck my cock like you own it because you do.”

I crawl up his body and lick his cock from root to tip before crawling higher and slamming my body down on his fat cock.

“Oh gods, baby. You’re so fucking perfect.” Jayden reaches up, palming my breasts and pinching the nipples as I roll my hips a couple times, rubbing my clit on his pubic bone.

We’re both climbing higher and higher as I move, bouncing on his cock. One of his hands travels from my breast to my clit and he circles that in time with each thrust of my hips.

“Come all over my cock, love,” Jayden commands.

Between the command, his shadows, and his thumb pressing to my clit, I detonate again. My walls convulse around him and Jayden follows me over the edge with a shout. I collapse on top of him, breathing heavily, trying to calm my racing heart.

Jayden runs his fingers in featherlight touches up and down my spine in a soothing gesture. He seems to recover before me, his heartbeat slowing beneath my ear.

“You wanna tell me what had you whimpering and growling in your sleep?” Jayden asks.

“Not really.” I rest my chin on his chest, staring into his bright-blue eyes.

“You can’t keep it all bottled up all the time. That’s how you ended up so exhausted before. You didn’t tell me you weren’t sleeping.” Jayden raises my chin when I glance away from him. “Trust me, Beth. I'm not going anywhere."

“Nereus pulled me into a dream with him because he said I needed a reminder,” I snarl.

“It was actually Nereus?” he asks.

“Yes, he chose to take me to the Lotus Island to remind me about the bullshit he made me experience.”

“I fucking hate that guy.” Jayden’s arms tighten around me. “I won’t ever put you in that position. We have been over this many times.”

“I know but he said there are several threads of fate and some of them I am forced to choose. There are some where I’m pushed too far and just say fuck it and leave them to fix their own messes.”

Jayden sits up, pulling me into his lap.

“I don’t know why he’s so focused on the threads that deal with you when it’s more likely that he's going to push me too far and I am going to just throw my hands up and peace out."

“He either doesn’t believe you would let innocents die because the gods are assholes, or he doesn’t believe he can push you far enough to make you quit.” Jayden grips my thigh.

“I warned him not to push because all that blood will be on his hands,” I say.

“I think if everyone just stopped with these bullshit dire warnings and let us do what we set out to one step at a time like we’ve been doing, everything would be much simpler.”

“They all have their own agendas; they all have their own reasons for the things they do and ask us to do. It will never be simple with them.” I shrug.

“You’re right.” He sighs. “I say we just ignore the dire warnings and their plans and just focus on the goal at hand. We bring Artemis back and go from there.”

“Yeah, I like that idea. There’s no sense in borrowing tomorrow’s problems for today,” I grumble.

“We should probably get on the road and solve this first problem as quickly as we can.” Jayden lifts me off his lap.

“No time to waste, I guess,” I mumble.

Everything sucks. I don’t know what the threads of fate hold. Nereus didn’t tell me, but if he’s contacting me, he’s worried, and if he’s worried, the world is in some serious shit.