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“It should be illegal for you to look this sexy in my clothes,” Wyatt whispered against my lips as he teased the lapels of his collared shirt. “Coming home to you wearing nothing but this is the best surprise ever, Bev.”

I went to glance around since I hadn’t ever seen his apartment and I wanted to see his space. How had I not noticed it getting in there though?

He turned my head back to focus on him. “Did you spill on your clothes or am I just the luckiest man ever that you got naked for me again?”

“Both?” I asked, but it came off more like teasing him. I hadn’t meant it like that but still smirked at him, his pretty eyes lighting up.

“Mmm, I’ll have to find where you spilled and lick it off of you. Let me check you.” He brushed his lips over mine and I had a thought that this wasn’t a good idea, but then he did it again and I fisted his shirt.

I’d forgotten how good it felt to kiss him. Apparently, he’d missed it as well because he ripped open the shirt, buttons flying all over.

“It’s my shirt. I don’t care if it’s ruined, but I want you to wear all of my clothes now,” he said with a moan in between kisses. His hand moved into the shirt and he cupped my breast. “Fuck, perfect. So fucking perfect.”

I leaned back so he had better access and he suddenly lifted me up, growling when I yelped.

“No, no more hard surfaces for you. I’m not taking you on my damn counter after you rightfully chewed me about my desk. I want you in my bed even if we only make out.” He kissed me fiercely. “Let’s only make out a hundred times so you get that you’re not just sex to me. No more being mean. Only sweet and sexy to you.”

“I’d like that,” I admitted. I let out another yelp when he tossed me onto his plush comforter. I was a bit surprised he had a king-size bed in a teacher’s dorm, but it was Morrigan, so it probably made sense that the teachers were treated well?

I was snapped out of my random thoughts when he moved over me and was shirtless. He was so incredibly handsome, and his upper body was so defined and sexy. Seeing him at the gym shirtless had been so… His friend was right and he shouldn’t be shirtless around women.

Well, the guy had said his students but yeah, just women because Derek Wyatt was too attractive and distracting. His hair was hanging in my face, but I also liked the hat look. Right then, I was happier that his hair was available to me so I could play with it as we kissed.

I gasped when his hand went back to my breast and then he kissed down my neck. His lips took over and he licked each of my nipples before teasing them in turn. His long fingers teased my clit before pushing inside of me.

“You like that, Bev?” he whispered before sucking on my nipple again. “Tell me you like that.”

I moaned, pushing my hips up in encouragement. “I like your mouth better.”

“Did I at least do that right?” he asked, his voice so sad that it hurt my heart. It made me mad that I wanted to comfort him even when he was the jerk and I was the one hurt. I wasn’t sure how that worked out, but I didn’t know how to fix it in my head.

Where was the same switch or button to control my feelings like that?

Yeah, yeah, I knew there weren’t any, but it would be really nice if there were.

“Where is your head?” he asked me gently. “Are you—we don’t have to yet if you’re still thinking about what happened.”

I met his worried gaze and didn’t want to admit that I didn’t know which crazy or thing he was referring to that could distract me. Or make me not want to have this type of fun. What happened between us? I wasn’t sure and I was going to brush it off because he was my professor and I’d let this happen again—which I’d be mad at myself again for later.

But I didn’t want to brush it off.

And I also didn’t want to stop.

I’d wanted this with him. It felt good and… I wanted it.

I wanted him. No matter what else was going on with us, the connection was good as long as he stopped playing the games.

So I said as much which probably wasn’t the right thing to do. “I don’t want to stop. I like this between us when it’s us and not the games or bullshit.”

His eyes flashed something I didn’t catch, but then he kissed me as his fingers got back to work. Then he kissed down my body and ate me out until I screamed in pleasure. He wasn’t done with me though and kept going, moving my legs over his shoulders and doing it again like he was dying for me.

Then he begged me to sit on his face and let him drown in me. It sounded a bit much and off-putting, but… I wasn’t into women. Maybe it was something guys liked?

Either way, I liked it from my end.

Then I gave him what I knew he liked and took charge, riding him. He was shocked that I not only took initiative, but instigated the sex first. He said nothing had ever felt better than us together in that moment and I had to agree.

It felt fucking amazing.

Until I woke up alone in bed and was touching myself.

In my bed.

In my dorm.

“Oh, just fuck everything ,” I groaned.

Just for good measure, I covered my face and gave a wordless scream.

And then I did it again in the shower.

The last thing I needed was to have sex dreams about Wyatt.

Fine, not the last thing, but I really, really didn’t need it. Seriously.

I went through my normal morning routine but flinched when Nigel was waiting outside for me. With that reaction, I knew I had to broach the topic that I didn’t want to even if I thought it was all crazy.

Luckily, he did while we were moving through the buffet.

“It’s crazy that your dad’s familiar was killed the day after we were talking about it,” he muttered under his breath. “It kinda freaked me out.” He glanced around. “Do you think anyone heard us since we were in the cafeteria?”

Relief flooded me so strongly that I had to set down my tray. I let out an awkward chuckle when he just stared at me. “Honestly, I was a bit worried about it and…”

He snorted. “It’s horrible, but I would have if I could get the chance.” He sighed when I looked at him in horror. “Bevin, come on. Your father’s a monster. I’m sorry—how many people has he killed? He wants to kill you . I’m sorry for his familiar, but the gods would forgive that. Seriously, they would.”

I grabbed his arm when he got upset and turned to leave. “Sorry.”

“No, I am,” he mumbled. “I get it. You knew the familiar and felt bad it was broken. The rest of us just hate it because it helped keep your father in power. I’m not sad it’s gone, and I won’t hide that. Don’t ask me to.”

“Okay.” I was a bit surprised Nigel was being so firm on that, but he wasn’t on much, so it was fair to accept especially because it was about protecting me or what was best for me.

He cleared his throat and we went back to loading up our plates. “Besides, there’s no way I could get at it and past their security. The news showed the spot with a drone and it was way up on the roof. It had to be another familiar that did it up there. No way that Fangs slithered up there unnoticed.”

No, the huge python didn’t move that fast.

I’d still never met him, but I knew enough about snakes for that. I was disappointed in myself that I hadn’t met the familiar, but I was scared of snakes after one bit me badly as a child. It was mean, and… I had so much else going on that I didn’t need anything else terrifying me. And that hadn’t been a big snake.

Fangs was a huge fucking python. That could scare a lot of people who didn’t have a fear of snakes.

Nigel had been great about it, saying that it was fine because Fangs wanted to stay in the barn of the large familiar housing. He liked his spot up in the rafters watching all of the other familiars and enjoying the activity. He had a space up there now just for him and a heater since the new attendants were awesome and not just part-time asshole students.

So it worked out for everyone. I’d seen him from a distance when I’d been in there, but he sort of made it clear he didn’t want to be around me either which didn’t help my fear.

At. All.

After breakfast, I saw the bitch who always hassled me, and when she opened her mouth with a twinkle in her eyes, I acted first for once.

“Don’t even fucking think about it,” I warned.

“What?” she asked, frowning.

“Don’t start your bullshit this time,” I said coldly as I stepped closer and got in her face. “Enough with your rumors. This time it’s a serious fucking crime you’re about to push and accuse me of. That’s not a rumor and I had nothing to do with it. Only a fool would think I could have been able to manage it with all the security there.

“And I’m not letting you get me dragged back to that fucked family because you run your mouth and are jealous of me. I will absolutely sue you if say shit about this. This isn’t you saying you saw me leaving the rooms of people I’ve never met or you heard me moaning in a class with a teacher I don’t know. This is serious. Really serious. And I will retaliate.”

She believed me because she swallowed loudly.

I glanced around at the audience we now had. “Pass it around. I will absolutely sue this time. I did not kill Charles Shaw’s familiar. I don’t know who was involved, and I hope whoever did it is punished. That is over the line and a coward’s way to take someone on. I wanted him locked up for his crimes, not his familiar killed for them.”

Others seemed ready to accept that, but the bitch had steam about coming out of her ears as she glanced around and saw no one was ready to lay into me. I saw in her eyes that she was about to double down and start shit with me that I just did not want to deal with.

It pissed me off. It really pissed me off. I was tired of these bullies and assholes just doing whatever they wanted and no one punishing them—no one handling them even after I disproved all their bullshit.

I had a flash of something I read in Father’s study, one of his spell books focused on business. Learning more and above my required lessons was one of the few times he praised me given how lazy the others were. Even if he thought I didn’t have the magic to use any of the spells, he said it showed I was a Shaw to be so driven.

Funny since he was a lazy, cheating, pathetic asshole, but… Whatever.

The spell was useful in the moment and I quickly said it before she could blast me.

Or she still did, but it was in Russian.

I smirked at her. There was a second spell that Father would use so he would understand it as well, but I didn’t want to understand her. Father had dealings with businesses and families in Russia—and several other countries—so it made him look impressive if he spoke the languages.

I couldn’t even blame him for not really learning them. Why waste the time when we had magic, and in theory , so much else going on? He really didn’t, but I would.

And apparently, it was useful for this.

I ended up putting it on her friends as well and beamed at them as I pulled out my phone. “According to Google, ‘I’m sorry’ in Russian is ‘ mne zhal' .’ When I hear you say that, I’ll take off the spell but not before. Have fun learning your lesson.” I got in the girl’s face. “Maybe this will finally teach you not to bite off more than you can chew, bitch.”

I wasn’t the only one who laughed when she rattled off in Russian. She shoved me away and people froze.

Because that got her points off for the Wicked Challenges. It couldn’t get physical.

“Do you have points to be deducted?” I taunted. “You probably don’t even have any yet, right?” I snorted, giving her a disgusted once-over. “You wanted my attention—you fucking got it.” I walked off, ignoring when all of them yelled after me.

In Russian.

“That was badass, little sexy,” Winter chuckled. “I’ve got it on video. I thought it would be good. I’ll send it to Derek as your advisor.”

I nodded, but then a thought hit me. “How did everyone get points before video on phones?”

“Honor system.” He snorted when I gave him a look that was stupid. “And spell circles that had truth-telling laced in them. You had to stand on them to report any points. There are still a few teachers and advisors who do it that way because they don’t trust technology or people aren’t using spells on technology.”

“They’re smart to do it that way,” I muttered, thinking that was a better system. Annoying if you did a lot of pranks, but… You shouldn’t.

You should be focused on school anyways, not harassing people.

But it felt good to fight back. I ended up using the same spell on everyone who started shit or “whispered” about me and Charles Shaw. I was done just letting it roll off me or being the bigger person.

I wasn’t the bigger person.

I’d been too passive and scared to fight back.

Fuck. That.

People were pissed because the whole campus was abuzz about it by lunch. The number was that high by then and the spell lasted twenty-four hours or until it was taken off… By me.

And I wasn’t going to take it off.

“Do you have any idea how many you’ve bespelled, Ms. Millen?” Wyatt asked me at lunch as I was walking by his table.

I stopped and sighed. Heavily. Which seemed to amuse the teachers he was sitting with. “No, not a clue. I know I’ll get points but honestly, I was spanking brats. This wasn’t just a prank since it’s everyone who was running their mouths slandering me that they were sure I murdered a familiar. And it was obvious I did it and blah, blah, blah.

“I’m so over the level of bullying and bullshit allowed at our ‘best’ school when one of our first lectures that bullying wouldn’t be allowed and was taken seriously. So fine. I will take it seriously. There are other spells and languages. I will get all of the points for the game if people won’t focus on school like they should and instead obsess over me and things they don’t understand!”

My chest was heaving at the end of it and I was seconds from bursting out crying. What Emma said breezed through my mind and I told myself that I wasn’t crying today.

Not today!

Tomorrow. I could cry tomorrow in my room. Or even tonight after the hearing. I was not going to cry in the cafeteria and give anyone the satisfaction that they hurt me. I had the mental image of slapping cement over a leak in my emotional dam and fixing that one hole.

“Ms. Millen?” Wyatt said a bit loudly and it snapped me out of my thoughts. It made me realize he’d probably already said something.

“Sorry, I have too much on my mind, Professor. I’m tired of all this petty and picking on who they all think is wounded and prey. How pathetic of the ‘best’ in our society.”

“I agree,” he muttered, studying me closely. “I’ll let all the teachers know that I want a full list of names of who is speaking Russian, and if they won’t speak at all so they’re not caught or counted for points, they’ll be added to the list still. I’ll also loop in the headmaster so he knows—”

“I heard,” the headmaster said from behind me, making me sigh. “And I’ll handle it. This should be brought up with the new Women’s Rights Advocate.” He moved up next to me and waited until I met his gaze. “Which the board didn’t have much choice of implementing after the debacle of Director Hensley and other problems.”

“Glad they’re finally willing to do something when they seem to be getting in the way of the investigation as to how werewolves came onto campus,” one of the other teachers muttered. “Their answer is to pretend it never happened which is why I’ve moved off campus.”

“As are many of the faculty which won’t help the situation,” the headmaster grumbled. “There are going to be other changes, and the owner of Familiar Treasures strong-armed the board. It was made clear by Ms. Anderson that no studies or sponsoring of studies would happen without some changes.”

“Well done,” one of the female teachers chuckled. “And they allowed?”

“To start , there will be a new Student Equity Board made up of only students,” he said as he kept my gaze. “One male student and one female of every year and one elected representative of them will have a seat on the board of directors to speak for their interests. I believe I know who will fight for the female freshman spot.”

It took me an embarrassingly long time for me to realize he meant me. I burst out laughing when I did. I honestly laughed so hard that it was obnoxious, even patting his arm as I did.

“That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in a while. Seriously, Headmaster.”

“He’s serious, Ms. Millen,” one of the teachers warned me.

I immediately stopped laughing and glanced between them before focusing on Wyatt. “He can’t make me, right?”

“I would never force anyone, Ms. Millen. I would have thought you’d want the voice and chance to fight for your fellow classmates after how you did battle with Hensley,” the headmaster said, his tone genuinely confused.

I opened my mouth to remind him that I’d done that for survival and because I’d been forced to. I didn’t get a chance because two large, male, pissed-off students came storming over and cussing me out in Russian.

No matter the languages, people knew when they were being cussed out.

I met the headmaster’s gaze. “My plate is so full that full doesn’t even really cover it. Let someone else step up and help and take on part of the fight. Let someone else shoulder the responsibility and hate they’ll get or seriously, do the students deserve the chance for something better? I’m tired of feeling like I’m the only one fighting some days.”

“I think that more than fair given how much you’ve gone through,” Wyatt grumbled. “Though I hear six women now have cases against Gregg Haddock and are going to trial, so that gives me hope that people will step up and fight if people give them the path.”

“Good for them,” I said, truly meaning it.

“I understand your point and agree with both your sentiments. Hopefully, someone else from the freshman class will step up,” the headmaster accepted before snapping at the students to remember themselves and who else was standing there. It was clear he was on his last leg of patience as well.

Yeah, I knew the feeling.

Well.

And I had a lot more people to put the spell on. I had to remember not to do it in the cafeteria or library since those were the two places out of bounds.

But it meant people went crazy talking trash about me during lunch thinking they were safe then if I hadn’t already hit them. It pissed me off that they were so petty and relished in being brutal when I hadn’t done anything wrong.

I could be petty too.

So I pretended like I’d hit my limit and left lunch early… Only to stand outside of the cafeteria and wait for people to exit. I smirked at them as I hit whole groups of them with the spell, not caring if I got a few innocent bystanders.

I hadn’t heard anyone tell people to shut up or enough with saying shit about me or the situation. They were guilty by association and allowing that around them then. Being friends with assholes.

The only reason people escaped me was because they took too long coming out and I had to get to the rec center and changed for training. I heard more of it when I walked out of the locker room and hit a whole group to my right.

Seriously, I was so over this shit, I was going to hit the whole campus at this rate.

“At least I’ve got the spell drilled into my head for the rest of my life at this point,” I grumbled, trying to think of any bright side. I gasped when Emma was suddenly there pushing me behind her and looking ready for action.

“I suggest you calm down, Coach,” she said in a calm voice. “All faculty are fair game for the Wicked Challenges. Headmaster Kerwynn even knows about this prank and is in charge of the list and points, so you’ll have to report in on this one.”

I glanced over her shoulder to see Coach Dunham’s face bright red and about to explode… Before he shouted at us in Russian.

So he had been part of the group who had been saying shit about me? Again?

Sure enough, all of the aides besides Emma were speaking Russian too.

“Do the cameras have audio?” I asked Emma under my breath.

“All over it,” she promised.

Well, that was something. It would probably go nowhere again, but… I enjoyed it and the shit he deserved for a freshman being able to get the drop on them.

Then again, no other freshman would probably be so stupid.

Yeah, that was probably more likely the answer.