Chapter 37

Shea

"Okay, I've sent Maya to take a break," Caesar whispered to me when he finally cracked open the door of the hospital wing after leaving me standing out in the hall, vulnerable, for what felt like forever. "We'll have the space to ourselves for a while."

He opened the door enough for me to slip through before closing and locking it. The space looked like the urgent care section of a hospital, with beds sectioned off by curtains that hung from the ceiling.

On the first bed to the left lay a girl with black hair splayed haphazardly on the pillow beneath her head. I recognized her as one of the mean mer girls from the party a few weeks ago, but she looked so much paler, her cheeks sunken rather than full and rosy. Her brows were pinched with some inner struggle I couldn't fathom.

When I saw the teeth-mark scars on her neck, I faltered. Memories of Julian from the other night invaded my mind, warming me all over. His cool mouth spread over my neck, the sharp sting of his teeth coupled with the caress of his tongue as he sucked, and the way he'd ground his hips between my legs— fuck!

I cleared my throat to stifle the lust that was sparking anew and made my way to the bedside table. Reaching into my bag, I pulled out the grimoire and set it on the table, opening it to the page I had bookmarked with the spell we needed.

"Do we need to light candles or anything?" Caesar asked as I scanned the words to refresh my memory.

I glanced sideways at him. "Please. Candles are for amateurs."

He frowned, then shrugged and stepped back to give me room to work. I appreciated that. I couldn't be burdened by my resentment toward him while performing the spell. It wouldn't work if my focus wasn't trained on healing this girl.

So I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, in and out, imagining I was exhaling these negative feelings. I had to remember why I was here. It wasn't to argue with Caesar and let him know how much he'd hurt me. I'd come here to heal a broken mind that might contain clues necessary for Arya's safety.

That realization gave me the resignation I needed to let go of my issues with Caesar and any doubts I had of my own abilities, emptying my mind of everything but determined compassion.

When I was finally ready, I turned to the unconscious girl beside me and placed my hands on either side of her head.

"Ka em khenert tep," I said, willing healing magic to flow from my heart, down my arms into the troubled mind in my hands. "Nehep en aha seneb."

I could feel the magic doing its job, working through the mental blocks imprisoning her mind from the damage to her skull. But it wasn't enough yet.

I repeated the spell once more, pushing more magic through my body into hers. Little by little, the dark shroud around her mind was withering away, disintegrating into oblivion.

Finally, her body would take no more of my magic. I opened my mouth to tell him it was done, but the clicking sound of the door being unlocked made me snap my head in that direction.

Caesar wore the same look of panic on his handsome face, and before I knew what was happening, he grabbed my arm and yanked me behind a curtain and onto the bed it concealed.

The curtain had barely settled when the door opened and light footsteps carried toward us. I bit down on my lips and froze, my body pressed so tight against Caesar's behind me that my hips ached with the tension.

The footsteps passed us across the room, and I suddenly realized I'd left the grimoire on the table. What if whoever came here took it? I could not lose that book! If our intruder made any sounds that suggested they were taking it, not even Caesar would be able to stop me from blowing our cover.

"Now, where did I put my…" mumbled a soft female voice, and I assumed she must have been the lead healer Caesar had sent away for a break. So much for that.

"Ah, there's my phone!" the woman exclaimed, followed by a shuffling sound.

Caesar and I held perfectly still as she stood there beyond the curtain, the light sound of tapping suggesting she was now scrolling on the very device she'd returned to find. Dammit, lady, you've got it so go!

The woman hummed to herself and then finally traipsed down the aisle of beds and closed the door.

Caesar and I didn't exhale until we heard her footsteps disappear down the hall outside. I released all the tension in my body, collapsing onto the bed and against Caesar's firm chest behind me.

"I never thought to make sure she had her phone before she left," Caesar grumbled, then he looked down at me. "Do you think the spell worked?"

I swallowed. "I think so. I could feel it working away at whatever was blocking her mind, until it just stopped taking any magic. I think it'll take a few minutes for her to rouse."

He nodded, his chestnut eyes lingering on mine. As I looked up into his warming gaze, my body began to stiffen again for entirely different reasons.

We were pressed against each other on a small bed, his arm still wrapped around my waist, and I could feel the unmistakable bulge of his desire thickening against my ass.

"Um, Caesar…" I began, but my voice trailed off as I stared up at him.

We were in dangerous territory. I knew that I should get off the bed and distance myself asap, but my body had no desire to create any such removal from this seductive creature. His body felt so good against mine, the proof of his desire fueling my own. His arm around me felt too heavy to resist, especially when his hand flattened possessively against my stomach.

"I know I shouldn't want you," he murmured softly. "There are a thousand rules that say I shouldn't. But…I'm tired of fighting it. I want you, Shea."

Those words were like a battering ram, completely obliterating every wall I'd struggled to maintain. With unbridled passion, I grabbed his face and pulled it down to mine. Our open mouths fit together like two perfect pieces of a puzzle, and I melted at how incredible it felt to be kissing him again.

I was tired of fighting it, too. This man was made for me, shifter or not. If we weren't meant to feed this fire, why did we burn for each other so brightly? I wanted to burn with him. I needed him to scorch me.

His hand slid heavily down my belly and between my thighs, making me whimper in pained relief as he pressed it over my aching pussy. I squirmed against his hard touch, urging him to do more with the sway of my hips as they ground back against his pelvis.

"Wait," he said breathlessly, breaking away from my hungry mouth.

My heart fell, the certainty that he was going to end this once and for all tearing me up inside. Not now. Not when we were so close. Please, no.

"You said Letti should wake up any minute," he said. "We should leave before she does. Come with me to my room. No one will find us there."

My lips split into a grin so wide it hurt my face, excitement and promise swirling my need into a potent cocktail. We slipped off the bed, and I stuffed the grimoire back into my bag before following him to the door, both of us taking one last look at Letti over our shoulders. Her complexion looked much better.

"Oh, do you, er, have protection?" he asked, stopping before opening the door.

My cheeks heated. "Yeah, I'm on something. We're good."

Just not in the way he expected. After what had happened with Julian, so suddenly and without warning, I'd taken precautions in case something like that happened again. One of the only spells Gram had been eager to teach me as soon as I entered puberty was a contraceptive spell. I'd never used it because, well, I wasn't that kinda girl. At least not until now, apparently.

As Caesar led me by the hand down a narrow winding stairwell to the teachers' quarters, I was for once eager to be his dirty little secret. There was something darkly thrilling about sneaking around, especially in this mystical place. The fear of getting spotted by anyone we might pass by only made it more decadent.

He stopped at the first door in the hallway, fumbling with a key card to unlock the door. I bounced on my heels beside him, peering anxiously down the hall and up the stairs for any sign of oncoming passersby. Finally, he swiped the card correctly, shoving the door open and dragging me inside.

I didn't have time to take in any of the details of his room as our lips clashed together. We tore at each other's clothes, yanking them off with claws and teeth like rabid beasts in between sloppy, frenzied kisses.

When I was down to only my panties, he scooped me off the floor and tossed me down onto the bed. I bounced slightly off the plush comforter, giggling as he climbed on top of me. He nestled himself between my spread thighs, his weight crushing me in the most delicious way. I wanted him so powerfully that my lust for him was all I could feel, hear or see.

He jerked my panties down at the same time that I tugged at the hem of his boxers, and we flailed wildly as we kicked the last remaining barriers off our feet. Without ceremony, he plunged his cock inside me, and I moaned loudly, gripping his ass to pull him in deeper.

His thrusts were fast and hard, his breath falling hot and heavy on my neck with each groan of pleasure. I scraped my fingers across the broad expanse of his back, down his waist, loving the firmness of his muscles and the smoothness of his flesh under my fingertips. And that ass! It was chiseled perfection that I couldn't resist squeezing as he fucked me.

Some part of me wanted to savor this, to slow it down and let it last forever. But the deeper, more overriding part of me wanted all of him immediately. After all the teasing and waiting and resisting due to what the rest of the world might think, I was done with holding back.

And apparently, so was he. He was pure carnal lust as he assaulted my body. I'd never seen a side of him that wasn't restrained by duty or propriety, and it thrilled me to no end to see him give in to me so primally, so greedily, taking what he craved from me and giving me so much more.

"Cum, Shea," he pleaded through a tight throat. "I—I can't hold back much longer."

Holy shit, why is that so hot!

Need flared in my core, pulsating through my torso and limbs and driving my pleasure ever closer to its pinnacle.

I raked my fingers up his spine and neck to pull his head down so his ear was next to my mouth and demanded, "Then don't hold back. Give it all to me."

"Oh God, Shea!" he grunted, gripping my ass with one hand to fuck me even more mercilessly.

With one final slam of his hips, his cock sank into my deepest spot, colliding with my center and pushing my pleasure over the edge. Bliss exploded within me, my inner muscles convulsing around his cock as he spilled into me. We moaned against each other's ears, our sounds a song of satisfaction we chorused in harmony.

And when the waves of ecstasy subsided, he collapsed on top of me, panting as he placed kisses along my neck and jaw. I didn't care that his weight was making it hard for me to catch my breath, or that our sweat was a thick film between our hot, spent bodies. I was exactly where I wanted to be, and no matter what happened after this, I knew he was mine.

Caesar, the powerful gryphon and leader of the shifter school, was mine.

"Do you think we should—" I began to ask but got interrupted by the loud shriek of Caesar's phone ringing on the floor.

We both groaned at the sound that meant the end of our time together.

"Every time," I complained, pressing my forehead against his in bittersweet resignation.

"Hold that thought," he said, pecking my lips one last time before climbing off me and searching through his discarded garments for his phone.

He picked it up, frowning at the screen before accepting the call and pressing the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

I propped myself on my elbows to look at him, waiting as he listened in hopes that it was unimportant. But the fear that widened his eyes said the opposite.

"Omigod," he gasped. "I'll be right there."

He hung up the phone and began tossing my clothes at me before hurriedly pulling on his own. "Arya and her friends were attacked by vampires."

"What?!" I shrieked, now just as rushed to get dressed as he was.

"They didn't make it back before curfew and got ambushed in an alley near the subway entrance," he said, rifling with his belt buckle at his waist.

"Holy shit, is she okay?" I asked, panic and dread flooding through my veins like liquid fire.

"She is, but Tobias is badly wounded." He shoved his foot into one of his shoes. "We have to get to them immediately."

Sloppily dressed and jittery with anxiety, we both rushed out the door, no longer caring who might see us or what they'd think. Arya needed us. Nothing else mattered .