Page 46 of Stormbringer (Tracthesian Academy #1)

W ave managed to make Jarred come two more times before the Powerhouse mansion ran out of hot water. By the time she released Jarred from her ropes, he was almost feral, and Wave found herself tossed on the bed in the blink of an eye.

Jarred attacked her pussy with the determination of a dying man, not asking for permission or needing any instructions as he licked and sucked her clit. He drove her from one orgasm to another with his fingers, until they all blended together and Wave floated in a sea of endless pleasure.

Only once she was boneless and chanting his praises, did Jarred roll them over. Hazily, Wave blinked at the man lying beneath her, his cock, once again hard as a rock, prodding at her entrance.

“Please, precious. I need to be inside of you,” Jarred growled.

Wave didn’t hesitate. She needed him inside of her too.

Jarred held himself in place as Wave lifted up and then, with a groan deep from her gut, slammed down, taking him in all at once.

Her tissues were swollen, and the stretch of his thick cock burned, but all she could feel was yet another orgasm breaking her apart.

Jarred’s roar proved that he was right there with her. Wave slumped over Jarred’s chest and nuzzled his neck. The sound of his heartbeat racing for her lulled her to sleep.

It was morning by the time they roused enough to stumble back into the shower.

Jarred hissed, his cock way too sensitive, and Wave used her skills to wash him with almost icy water.

When he complained, she pointedly reminded him of the ice packs.

That shut him up enough that they managed to crawl back to bed and sleep some more.

Wave’s growling stomach forced them awake, and as soon as Jarred’s stomach heard the rumble, it started its own concert. She tried not to laugh, but Jarred’s cranky expression proved to be too much.

“I got something for you,” Jarred said suddenly.

Wave blinked and lifted her head from the pillow to look. Jarred was rummaging through his nightstand, then turned back with something held inside his fist.

“A butt plug,” Wave joked and then stretched her body.

Jarred snorted. “No.”

“Then what?” Wave got curious and rolled over to face him. Jarred’s expression turned a bit sheepish and he hesitated.

“It’s nothing special…”

“Show me, pet!” Wave growled playfully. Jarred blushed, honest to god blushed, and then turned his fist open. A delicate bracelet hung from his fingers, and dangling from the chain was a jaguar charm with a tiny diamond as its eye.

Stunned, Wave stared at the bracelet for so long that Jarred began fidgeting.

“Say something,” he finally blurted out. “You always wear that dagger sheath around your neck, so I didn’t want to presume, but I thought maybe you could wear a bracelet. You hate it! You don’t have to wear it—baby, please don’t cry!”

“I’m—I’m not crying,” Wave choked out. He had gotten her a gift. A thoughtful gift. “It’s beautiful,” she whispered and hesitantly reached out to touch the charm. It felt warm against her fingertip.

Hurriedly, she scrambled up to her knees and threw herself against Jarred’s chest, kissing him everywhere she could reach.

“You shouldn’t have,” she mumbled between kisses.

Jarred relaxed, and the smile that spread over his face warmed all the dark corners of her heart.

It made her wish for things she shouldn’t.

“You like it then?”

“Yes!” Okay, that came out a little too loudly. Wave bit her lip and then glanced at Jarred under her lashes. “Put it on me?”

“Lift your arm for me, beautiful.”

Wave obliged, and Jarred carefully fastened the delicate chain around her wrist. The jaguar charm hung perfectly, catching the light. Wave clutched the charm in her other hand and then lifted her arm up to marvel at all the details it held.

“You really shouldn’t have,” she murmured. It was the first piece of jewelry anyone had ever given her. Accepting it felt like she was agreeing to something more, but the idea of taking the charm off shot pain through her heart. Wave tried not to think about the meaning of that feeling too closely.

“I wanted to give you something…” Jarred trailed off when he noticed the tears rolling down her cheeks. Hastily, Wave dashed a hand over her cheeks and then lifted her gaze to meet Jarred’s.

“It’s beautiful. Thank you,” she finally managed to say.

“Anything to make you smile, precious,” he replied. Wave forced a feeble smile on her face, but couldn’t hold herself back from throwing herself against Jarred again and kissing him deep and hard.

“Very, very good pet.” She nipped his lower lip and soothed the ache with her tongue. “ My pet.”

“Yes, yours,” Jarred murmured back. They fell back to the bed, all tangled limbs and harsh breaths. “Thank fuck for healing and fast recovery,” Jarred growled, his eyes glowing, when he pushed inside of her.

“Not too sore?” Wave gasped and clung to his shoulders. She loved the way he yielded to her commands more than she could explain, but the way he took her now, insistent and gentle, broke down her walls. Every touch soothed and excited her. Every thrust dared her to dream.

“I’ll never be too sore to be inside of you, precious.”

Wave let the current take hold, she floated along, until the wave crested and Jarred tipped her over to an orgasm that swept her away. When she came to, the jaguar charm glimmered as the sunlight hit it.

Someone pounded the door, and then Wave heard Marc shouting.

“Practice time, Wayla. Get your ass to the basement.”

“No!” She groaned in reply, burying her face against Jarred’s chest.

“Don’t make me come in there to get you,” Marc threatened.

“You do need to get your shielding working before the Hell Moon, precious,” Jarred murmured and gave her a lazy kiss. Then he raised his voice, “We’ll be there in ten. Just give us a moment.”

“Fine,” Marc replied. “But I’m timing you.”

“Sadist,” Wave huffed, but rolled up to her feet when Jarred poked at her sides and slapped her ass. “You are no better,” she complained.

“I’ll promise to kiss it all better,” Jarred grinned.

They got dressed and made it to the basement with two minutes left to spare. Marc crossed his arms, looking like a forbidding instructor that he was. Wave sighed and shook herself before focusing.

“Okay. So, what am I trying to grasp today?” she asked and got to work.

I t was Tuesday when Wave dashed through the door and into her room. She was going to be late to work, and she needed to change, since Salis had worked earth magic with her, and her ineptitude was clear all over her in the form of dirt.

Wave brushed her hair briskly and then braided it tightly, before twisting it into a bun at the back of her head. Jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt were good enough for the evening shift. She was only doing two hours tonight anyway.

Despite her fast healing, Wave winced when she pulled up the jeans.

The bruises on her hips were a couple of days old.

Maybe she should have said something when she twisted and smashed her hip, but Marc had looked so frustrated by her lack of progress, and Jarred would have worried. She would be fine by tomorrow.

They were pushing her hard, giving her extra lessons every day she wasn’t working, and she really wanted to learn. She just wasn’t. No matter how many times Marc, Jarred, Grant, or even Hellion tried to explain, she couldn’t pull the shield into her.

Now, external shields, those she was getting pretty fucking good at, because every time it became clear she wasn’t making progress, Marc had her train her external shields. And she had been decent at them to begin with.

If she was fast enough to pull up an external shield, she could shield against a power surge. The trouble was that she might not notice one hitting until it was too late. An internal shield, however, was up all the time, but she couldn’t walk around with a giant wall of ice around her.

At least she was getting a break from training tonight.

Hurriedly, Wave double checked that she had everything she needed in her enchanted pockets.

Thank heavens Chrissy understood the importance of having them.

In fact, despite the jeans being skintight, the pockets would probably hide a wine bottle from the feel of it.

If Wave was ever again forced to rely on the fashion industry for her garments, she would cry an ocean.

She was crossing one of the small parks that littered Tracthesian’s campus when something made her slide to a stop and look around.

Warily, she reached for her phone when Tulias stepped out from behind a tree.

Ever since the Winnies party, she had avoided Wave diligently and Wave had spotted her often around Elena.

Now Tulias was looking at Wave beseechingly.

“We don’t have a lot of time,” Tulias hurried to say and looked over her shoulder. “Elena—”

“Don’t worry about it,” Wave cut her off.

Tulias shook her head. “I have to. My father is from the fire clans, I can’t…”

Ah, that explained a lot. “Fire demon and fire spirit?”

“Mom’s fire demon, but dad is a fire bringer,” Tulias corrected her and once again glanced over her shoulder. “I have to do what Elena says or there’ll be trouble.”

“What did she tell you to do?”

Tulias gulped and blinked tears from her eyes. “Burn you.”

Wave just sighed. “Well, go on then.”

“What?” Tulias’s eyes rounded comically.

“Look, I’m not going to get you into trouble with Elena. You jumped me, I didn’t see who it was, you got the job done. I assume a few blisters will be enough, my clothes are spelled anyways.”

“With hellfire, Wayla. She told me to burn you with hellfire,” Tulias whispered, looking sick.

“And I was in the way,” a new voice added. Wave cursed under her breath when Irishen casually strolled into view. “You couldn’t possibly attack with me so close to Wayla and had to abort the mission.”

“Thank you,” Tulias gasped, and she was running away from the scene before Wave could get another word out.

“What the fuck, Risha?” she snarled.

He looked her over with worry and reached a hand out, but Wave slapped it away. “Are you alright? Did I make it here on time?”

“Why are you on my case all the time?”

“I heard Elena talking to her minions and hightailed it here as quickly as I could without rousing suspicion. Wayla, are you okay? Did she burn—”

“I’m fine!” A frustrated growl burst free from her throat. “Why do you care? I can take care of myself. Where were you when Elena tormented poor Diana like this?”

“I—she…” Irishen somehow managed to look even paler and ashen, with ripples of something visible in his white eyes. “Fuck,” he finally growled.

“Yeah, well?”

“Just answer the fucking question, Wayla. Are you unharmed?”

“I already told you I’m fine.”

Irishen shook his head. “For some reason, I don’t believe you, but fine. Are you going to the library?” He held out his arm for Wave, like they were at a ball and he was escorting her to the floor.

“I’m not going anywhere with you!”

“You are, if you want to keep our little secret and save Tulias’ hide. If she tells Elena that I was escorting you and then you go on alone, it won’t go over well.”

“Fine. Fuck. But hurry, I’m late to work.” Wave wrapped her hand around his arm, and they started to walk.

After a moment, Risha glanced at her and audibly swallowed. “I didn’t know… about Di and Elena.”

Wave wanted to snort, but something held her back. She looked Irishen over and then sighed, she believed him. Still, that didn’t excuse the rest of it. They didn’t speak for a moment, and then Wave couldn’t hold back anymore.

“How come a prince like you has time to hang out in the library so much?”

“You really are hung up on the prince part, considering the company you otherwise keep,” Risha shot back.

“What do you mean?”

Risha raised a brow at her, as if she was an idiot. “Your boyfriends.”

Wave just shook her head. “But they’re not…” she trailed off. Her hand automatically rose to her neck, and she played with the chain. When the silence stretched, she finally spoke quietly, “All the power that comes with a title like that—"

“It’s not like I got a choice,” Risha said.

He was so tense that Wave wondered what he’d do next.

They rounded the corner, and Wave tensed too.

Hellion was standing in front of the library, and the glare he threw at Irishen made Wave’s head hurt.

Either Risha didn’t notice, or didn’t care, because he kept walking steadily closer.

“Wayla,” Hellion said, his voice full of fire.

“Go inside, morsel,” Irishen cut in before Wave had time to respond. “He’s mad at me, not you.”

“But—”

“Get your hands off of her,” Hellion spat.

Irishen gently patted Wayla’s arm and let go. For some reason, she regretted the loss of that contact. He gently pushed her toward the stairs, and Wave wanted to argue, but Hellion snarled.

“Go.”

Whatever problems those two had, Wave couldn’t help. In fact, she was liable to make them worse.

“I’ll talk to you later,” she said to the air between the two of them. “I’m late.” And then she escaped inside the library.