Chapter 7 Shea

I listened quietly to my phone as Arya recounted everything that had happened to her in the past few days. Some of it was cool, like her finding out she was part harpy—what was the term? Chimera. Super cool.

Apparently, Letti, the comatose girl I'd been smuggled in to awaken with magic, had come through just fine right after the attack. I ached to tell Arya about that—and what happened after with Caesar in his room. God, that had been incredible!

But I knew I couldn't share that secret with anyone. Arya would never be able to look at Caesar the same way, and she needed to see him as an authority figure she could trust—not one who was sleeping with her best friend.

There had been no news of Hadrian and his vampire army after the attack. I had seen Julian the day before. Was he involved with Hadrian? Had he been part of the attack?

I had messed around with both men two days in a row. What the hell was I doing?

"So now I'm staying in the avian prime— "

"Wait, what?" I said, my mind catching up to Arya's current drama. I sprang from where I sat on my bed, not sure I could take more news sitting down.

Arya sighed. "I forgot I haven't told you. The mer kicked me out of my room, so I bunked with Ashlyn. But now that I'm part harpy, they're letting me stay in the avian wing permanently."

"Oh." I paced the room, then sunk back onto my bed.

I looked at the rose I'd revived where it sat on the nightstand. It was in front of the only window in the room, still in the plastic bag I'd brought it home in. Yeah, Gram hadn't been too thrilled when she saw that. She gave me a bowl to set the bag in, but that's as far as I'd gotten with the thing.

"Are you okay?" Arya asked.

I snorted. "I should be asking you that." Shea let out a long breath, flopping onto my back. "I'm fine. I just hate that I haven't been there for you. I should've been there to help you fight the vampires."

Instead, I was fucking your school director while you were fighting for your life…

"You couldn't have known," Arya reassured me. "And it's not your fault they're not letting you into the school. But it was nice that Caesar let you stay with me the other night. Actually…"

I could practically hear the cogs turning in Arya's brain over the phone, and my stomach twisted with dread for her churning suspicion.

"You showed up at the same time as Caesar," Arya continued in a pensive tone. "Were you with him when Niko called him? "

I bit hard on my lip as I debated coming up with some lie. But I was already hiding so much from my best friend. I could share this one little thing with her, especially as my helping Caesar would eventually be common knowledge.

"So, the truth is, Caesar snuck me into the school," I confessed. "He remembered I was a witch and wanted to see if magic could wake Letti since harpy healing wasn't cutting it. That's what we were doing when you guys were attacked." And nothing else. Not a damn thing else…

"Omigod, seriously?" Arya gushed at such a high pitch that I had to pull the phone away from my ear for a second. "That's—that's—wow, and it worked! You're the reason Letti woke up! Why didn't you tell me before?"

Guilt settled like a lead weight in my belly. "Caesar needed us to keep it secret for now, until he can warm up the other teachers to trusting witches, or at least me."

Definitely not keeping other secrets…

"Wait, so, is he hoping to get you into the school after all?" Arya asked, her voice high with excitement.

"That's the goal." I nodded even though she couldn't see.

"Yay! That's amazing, Shea!"

My phone vibrated against my ear, and when I pulled it away to look at the screen, I saw a message from Caesar hanging at the top.

"Are you free to talk?"

My core flared with giddy heat, and I pressed the phone back to my head.

"Hey, I gotta go, but let's hang out soon."

"Definitely," Arya said, and I waited for her to be the one to hang up before I responded to Caesar .

"Sure. Call me."

Only two heartbeats after I tapped the send button, my phone began ringing. My heart pounded against my ribcage, and I forced myself to wait three rings before answering.

One. Two. Three— "Hey, what's up?"

"Hey, just figured we should talk about…certain things." Even though there was hesitation in his tone that made me internally cringe with preemptive rejection, the deep vibrato of his sexy voice intensified the yearning between my legs.

The memory of his breathy alto moaning my name against my neck flashed in my mind, making my insides feel like needy jello.

"Okay," I said, chewing the inside of my cheek. "What things?"

"You gonna make me spell it out?" he asked, a devious note to his words that made me breathe a little heavier.

"Absolutely," I purred impishly.

"Ugh, Shea," he groaned, his own need evident in the gruffness of his voice. "Fuck, you drive me crazy!"

I grinned ear-to-ear, sinking against my pillow as I remembered the feel of his hands on my body. "Mission accomplished, then."

He groaned one more time. "Look, we need to talk about what happened, about whatever this is between us. I don't even know what this is, but I didn't want to leave it just hanging between us."

"Okay, so talk," I invited because I damn sure wasn't going to be the one to start. Whatever he said would dictate where this conversation would go .

He let out a heavy sigh. "Look, I know I shouldn't go any further with you, that I should end this thing here and now."

Fear warred with desire in my gut, but I prodded him. "But…?"

"But I can't stop thinking about you," he finally finished. "I don't want this to end. I want to see you again, but I just don't see how I'll be able to get away now—or get you in. With all the extra security we've had to employ now that the vampires… I just don't know when I'll be able to see you again, and I didn't want you to think I was avoiding you on purpose."

"Oh…"

That wasn't what I'd expected him to say, and though it was great to know he still wanted me as much as I wanted him, it also sucked to know that I might not get that with him for circumstances out of both of our control.

"I'm sorry, I really—" he began, but my mouth ran away with me and cut him off.

"Just because we can't physically see each other doesn't mean we can't still have a little fun," I suggested in a provocative tone that surprised even me.

He paused for a moment, his breathing growing heavier on the other line.

"What are you suggesting?" His tone was playful and low, and I smiled with the thrill of this dangerous game we were playing.

"What would you do to me right now if I was with you?" I asked, my chest heaving.

He let out a low chuckle, a deep rumbling that vibrated all the way down to my toes, which curled in response. "That depends; what are you doing right now? "

I looked down at myself in bed, wearing jean shorts and the black T-shirt that had the words "Maybe Tomorrow, Satan" inside a red, yellow and pink rainbow—my favorite shirt.

"Just laying in my bed, wearing a T-shirt and shorts," I said coyly. "You know, the really short frayed kind that ends right below my ass."

"Mmm," he purred, the sound making my eyelids flutter as my eyes rolled up into my head. "Well, I'd take off your shirt and grip your perfect tits with both hands."

Panting with excitement, I closed my eyes and slipped my hand up under my shirt, fondling my boobs and pretending it was his calloused palm kneading my sensitive flesh. "And then?"

"Then I'd pull down those skimpy little shorts and bend you over my desk," he said, his voice low and intimate. "Touch yourself for me, Shea."

My heart leapt at his instruction, and I slowly slid my hand down my belly and under the hem of my shorts and panties. My pussy was wet and hot, my clit sparking with pleasure as I rubbed my middle finger over it. I moaned softly into my phone.

"Unzip your pants," I demanded as I ran my finger up and down my slick center. "I want your dick in your hands."

"Already there, beautiful," he cooed, igniting my desire with the mental image of him stroking his delicious cock.

"Mmm, I want you to bend me over, sir," I whimpered. "I've been such a bad girl."

"God, Shea!" he groaned. "Put two fingers in your pussy and fuck yourself like you want me to. "

I eagerly did as he commanded, slipping my index and middle fingers into my aching opening and pumping them in and out, imagining his cock thrusting into me from behind.

"Nothing compares to your dick," I groused, my fingers not filling me nearly as perfectly as his girth and length did. "I need you inside me. I need you to fuck me, Caesar."

"God, I wanna fuck you," he said longingly. "I want to grip your perky little ass as I bury myself inside you over and over."

I pumped my fingers harder and faster, desperate to ease the tension his filthy words were coiling inside me like the tightest spring.

"I want to feel your cum bathe my dick, want to make you orgasm again and again," he continued.

"Oh, Caesar." I plunged my fingers deeper, flicking against my G-spot as I pressed my palm rhythmically over my clit.

I wanted him so badly. This fantasy was nowhere near good enough. But hearing him say these dirty things to me, knowing what we were doing was just as wrong as it was right, pushed my desire over the edge. I came sharply, needy bliss stabbing through me.

"Ahhh," I sighed loudly, continuing to hump my palm as my pussy tightened around my fingers. "Come for me, Caesar. I need you to come."

"Oh, God," he gasped, followed by a succession of heavy grunts as he found his own climax in the grip of his fist.

For a long moment after that, there was nothing passing between us but panting as we both caught our breath. I melted into my bed, wishing so hard that he was here with me, that we could do more than touch ourselves on each other's behalf .

He spoke first. "I need to go, beautiful. But I promise I'll find a way to see you again, I just don't know when that'll be."

"Okay," I cooed into the phone even as my guts twisted with yearning. "Until then, while this can't compare to the real you, we can do this again whenever you want."

He chuckled darkly, making me giggle.

"Noted. And Shea… Please be careful out there. The city is riddled with vampires. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Okay, I promise to be careful," I said, crossing my sticky fingers. "If I get attacked by vampires, I'll be sure to call you."

"I know you're teasing me, but seriously," he said, "if you get into any kind of danger, call me and I will be right there."

"Noted," I said. "Later, handsome."

I hung up, staring up at my ceiling as my post-orgasm bliss faded and gave way to another area of concern.

Julian.

I needed to talk to him—for multiple reasons. I'd been avoiding it long enough.