Page 33 of Nothing to Fear (Wicked Games #1)

SILAS

“ S ilas Edgar Blackwood.” My father, President Blackwood, calls my name through the microphone, and I step forward like I’m walking through a dream.

The tassel of my cap swings back and forth like a pendulum as I walk across the large stage.

The applause is thundering, like a storm crashing along the shore.

Everything blurs around me while I look at the students back in their seats, sitting behind my dad, the professors, and the staff.

My eyes find him right away, just as they always have.

Asher is standing, his smile wide and full, as he cheers and claps for me, just as I did for him. I blow him a kiss, his face heating to a pretty crimson that makes my heart beat rapidly in my chest.

I accept my diploma from my father, shaking his hand firmly and smiling for the camera.

The leather feels foreign in my hand, a small piece of paper awarding me the degree I’ve worked hard to receive.

It shows that I completed my required coursework, but it doesn’t know the sweat, tears, and heart I had to put into it to get here.

A place I wouldn’t be standing if it weren’t for Asher.

He stood behind me every step through our senior year, pushing me, challenging me, never letting failure become an option. I wanted this for both of us. To prove to both of us that I could catch up, that I could be better than the slacker jock he once thought I was. Even if my nickname has stayed.

After the ceremony, I rush through the crowd of students and families, looking for a head of the deepest black I’ve ever seen. I’m pulled farther and farther away, ravens croaking overhead as the warm spring air makes my skin balmy underneath the heavy weight of my velvet robe.

I enter the library, my dress shoes clapping against the old stone floors until I reach the theology wing. I move on autopilot, my body knowing exactly where my man is. I take my last trip down the narrow spiral staircase, winding deeper under the school as I go.

Just as expected, I find Asher in the archway of the archives, leaning against the old stone wall, his arms crossed over his chest, feet crossed at his ankles. He’s the epitome of calm and collected. My opposite in most things.

“I always imagined this day. Graduating at the top of my class from the prestigious Corvus College. For so long, I believed nothing was going to top this feeling. Standing there in front of my peers, knowing that I did it.”

“I’m proud of you, Asher. You’ve worked so hard.”

His resulting smile is soft, his lips curving up on one side.

“I was wrong.”

My eyes meet his in confusion, waiting with my breath caught in my lungs.

“What do you mean?”

“Watching you walk across that stage after seeing you work so hard for it, watching you grow and embrace yourself . . . that is the best feeling in the world. Being with you, Si? It tops everything.”

My throat closes around the words I want to say as tears spring to my eyes.

“I had the best tutor. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.”

Asher shakes his head slowly. “No. You earned this. I just lit the path.”

I step closer, grabbing his face between my hands, “You did more than light the path; you pulled me from the darkness, you walked it with me.” Then my lips crash against his in a kiss that I put every bit of feeling into, showing him how much I love him, how thankful I am for him.

His mouth melds with mine as my hands cup his face, holding him exactly where I want him. My tongue delves into his mouth, tangling with his in a deep, passionate kiss that I feel down to the marrow of my bones.

“People will be waiting,” I remind him as he pulls my velvet robe off of me, laying it down on the hard stone floor.

“Let them.”

As quickly as we started, Asher has us both naked, lying on top of our robes, my legs spread as he notches his cock at my core, slowly pushing in. He didn’t prep me for long, but I’m still fairly open from this morning.

He fills me completely with his thick length, my gasps swallowed down with his open-mouthed kiss.

Asher starts to pump, a slow, steady stroke that makes me whine and buck.

I feel every glorious inch, every ridge of his cock, the huge mushroom head as it drags against my prostate.

Being filled by him is an otherworldly experience.

“Such a good boy, you feel so good wrapped around me, Si. I love being inside your body.”

“Don’t stop, Asher. Never stop. ”

“Never, baby. This is it for me.”

Asher continues to make love to me in the place where we fell in love.

In the dark depths of the school, surrounded by books, under the flickering flames of candles, we found each other.

He loved the beautifully broken boy I am and gave me the confidence to be who I am, fear be damned. The bookworm and the jock.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”