10. Ten

Ten

Corentin

So many things to do. So little time.

The two weeks break I—if that’s what I can call it for us—put the academy on for our mission is rapidly coming to an end and at this point, it seems like my days are blurring together.

Classes will resume in a few days’ time, and the mound of things to work through on my desk is astronomical. The Summum-Master never retaliated on either the academy or Rebel Castle, so I feel confident allowing classes to start again. With extra security and protection in place, of course, but for now, Rebel Castle will remain vacant.

Running my hands down my face, I shake my head and dissect the heap of tasks that need to be taken care of by priority. It’s honestly hard to focus on anything related to the academy when my true desire and focus is everything that revolves around Willow and hunting down the Mastery.

The academy will always be one of my biggest responsibilities, but it seems so minuscule in the grand scheme of everything else. Alas, the students have no part in this war, and they rely on a safe environment to learn and grow in. So that’s what I’ll provide for them.

“Why so stressed, brother? ”

The years of practice of not being fazed by Caspian’s sudden appearance instinctively kicks in and the flinch that surely would’ve come out of anyone else merely sends a twitch across my eye. He catches the movement, though, and smugly smiles as he rounds my new desk.

“Aren’t you supposed to be doing research on Willow’s bloodline, the portals, or anything else that could help with the thousands of things we have going on?” I ask as I lace my fingers in front of me and stare him down.

Arrogant little shit.

“That’s what I’ve been doing for two days now. I wanted a break to go check on my little Primary, then come see you,” he says as he plops down in the chair across from me, knowing good and well he’s got my attention.

I asked my princess to join me both yesterday morning and today. Yesterday, she declined for some alone time, which turned into a rough day after she entered the amplifier room, and today she said she didn’t want to distract any of us from what we have going on. Opting to spend time with my mom and practice more of mingling our power. I said that was fine, when really, it took everything in me not to drag her into this office, where she’d be by my side all day.

“And what was she up to?” I ask nonchalantly.

“Discussing dresses for the Spring Ball and our bonding ceremony.” This time my flinch escapes.

“You’re kidding?”

“Afraid not, brother. Looks like we’ll be attending both.”

“You don’t seem nearly as upset about that as I figured you would be,” I say, arching my brow.

“The ball will give me an opportunity to spy on all the families and figure out who the second family betraying us is. Whichever they are, they’re doing a fucking remarkable job staying under the radar. None of Mom’s little spies are picking shit up.”

“You don’t think we’ll have it figured out sooner? There’s still plenty of time before then.”

“No, I don’t think we will. We’ve uncovered too much to their liking as it is. They’ll be more careful, more cautious of everything they do from here on out. Without the vampire to lay more runes and Franklin gone, we’ve hit them where it hurts. They won’t make anything easy from this point on,” he says confidently and I believe every word of it.

Caspian has an amazing ability to think much like the good and the bad guy. Placing himself in the villain’s shoes is an easy feat for him. Pulling him out has been the struggle in the past, but I’m pretty sure those days are behind us now.

“And our bonding ceremony. How do you feel about that?”

“If it makes the little temptress happy, so be it. Plus, I enjoy stringing her up and ripping her nice clothes off her. You three lovesick fools will enjoy it as well,” he says with a feral grin, and I snort at his bullshit.

“Three? You’re forgetting one, Caspian,” Tillman says as he suddenly walks through my door.

“Ah, Mr. I’m going to avoid my Primary until she forgets I’ve got trauma, what’s brought you here?” Caspian asks sarcastically and I don’t hide my snicker at Tillman’s deadly glare.

Yeah, we’ve all noticed it.

His head whips to me and his eyes narrow, causing me to laugh harder. It’s only a matter of time before my princess gets the truth out of him. Granted, Tillman really has handled his problems the best out of all of us, but regardless, Willow deserves the truth.

We’ve seen pretty much all of her, especially Caspian, and I’m sure there were things she would’ve rather preferred to never come to light, but they did. So the least all of us could do is share pieces of ourselves with her.

Even the dark parts.

His shoulders deflate and it’s obvious he heard those thoughts. I wipe the smile from my face while preening in victory on the inside.

“Thought you were down at the palace compound?” I ask.

“I was. I’m getting ready to escort Draken and Keeper to the prison and let Keeper remove some runes. Those prisoners don’t have shit we need, but according to Keeper, the more runes removed, the weaker the Summum-Master will get. Wanted to see if either of you cared to join?” he asks, crossing his arms all stoic and serious.

“I’m in,” Caspian says, immediately hopping out of his chair .

“I’ve got to stay and take care of things. Let me know if anything of value does come up. Did you invite Willow to join?”

“I did. She’s staying back. Coming to see you in a few, actually,” he says with a twitch of his lip, no doubt sensing the instant spike in my pulse and the excited thoughts running through my mind.

Caspian was teasing earlier, calling us lovesick fools without referring to himself, but I don’t have a leg to stand on if I attempted to deny that claim. Willow’s got me wrapped around her finger. The guys know it, she knows, and I for damn sure know it.

“I’ll see you all for dinner,” I say, dismissing them condescendingly, mostly teasing, with a wave of my hand.

My office falls back into silence as their laughs follow them out my door and I lean myself back in my chair as I gaze around the space. It’s perfect. Really, it is, and it provides me a kind of comfort I no longer feel in the office in my room back at the mansion. And a comfort I’ve never felt at the academy.

In here, I feel peaceful, more focused, and more motivated while working. Like every turn of a page or stroke of my pen is meaningful, calculated, and precise in a way that sets my anxiety at ease. My uncle did a phenomenal job setting up a space that is so entirely me but also encompasses a side of me that I didn’t even realize I’d locked away.

My point’s proven as I mindlessly fall into work and the time passes me by.

Quicker than I realize, I’m signing off on the last form that needed my attention from the academy. I gaze at the literal stack of things I needed to get done over the next few days and gawk in shock as if it’s all completed.

Grabbing a handful of files, I start flipping back through them, glaring in astonishment as they all are complete in my usual perfection. Checking my timekeeper, I rapidly stand from my desk as I notice only two hours have passed by.

What the fuck?

Impossible.

“What’s impossible, your highness? ”

Whipping my head up, Willow’s leaning against the doorframe with her arms and ankles crossed, smirking at me in my panic. Just the sight of her has my heart rate slowing and the tightness in my skin loosens from the pressure of my gift.

“Something weird just happened, princess,” I tell her honestly. However I just got through that amount of work in that amount of time is impossible. Even with my keen focus, I never should’ve been able to finish it that fast.

Her face grows serious as she pushes from the entryway, shutting the door behind her with a blast of her air. In just a few strides, she’s in front of me and I’m pulling her into my chest. I breathe deeply, inhaling her sugary scent until my lungs fill like they’re on the verge of popping.

“What happened?” she asks, reaching up and cupping my cheek, looking at me with worry crossing every one of her features.

I run my thumb across her forehead, smoothing out the lines there that are forming because of me. I don’t want her to worry, nor do I think this is necessarily a bad thing, just a strange one.

“I just finished all my paperwork and caught up for the academy.”

“Oh…well, that’s a good thing, right?” she asks, confused.

“It is, but the weird thing is, that was easily two days’ worth of work, and I just finished it in two hours. I don’t even recall going through all of it, but I did. I checked. It’s all complete,” I tell her, pointing to the now finished stack of papers.

“May I?” she asks, laying her hand to the pile, and I nod.

She rummages through them and the lines in her brow become deeper the farther down the stack she goes. It’s quite a collection of work.

Request for class transfers, Geo’s correspondences, approvals for increases in lesson plans for certain advanced classes, current performance metrics for the final year students. Plus, all things Headmaster upkeep.

It all needed to be addressed prior to the students returning, and I had planned it out where I’d bust out as much as I could over the next two days while spending time with my Nexus.

“So you recall sitting here working but not actually flying through all of this?” she asks as she places the last page of my stack back in its place .

“Exactly. I don’t know where my mind went.”

She hums to herself, staring at my desk as if it’s the realm’s greatest mystery, and I run my thumb across my bottom lip to hide my smirk. I track her fingers as they run mindlessly in circles on my desk and the concentration etched into her features is the cutest fucking sight. This woman makes me melt at the simplest things.

Lovesick.

Something catches her attention, though, as her fingers stop their movement and she gently peels up the corner of my desk mat. A sudden, almost crazed laugh bursts out of her and my eyes widen with worry that she’s cracked like Caspian warned she might.

“Sneaky little shit,” she mutters as she begins clearing off my desk.

“Princess, everything okay?” I ask as she shoves my papers into my arms.

“I’ve found the cause of your hyper focus.”

“I don’t think the new desk mat made me work harder, Willow,” I say, placing the papers down, and grip her shoulders.

“Not the mat, what’s under the mat. CC left you a little surprise,” she says, flicking my hands off her and getting back to quickly clearing everything off my desk.

I don’t question her frantic insistence anymore and allow her to continue stripping my desk bare until there’s nothing left but the dark smooth wood and the navy rectangular leather mat that stretches across its surface.

“Would you like the honors? I’m fidgeting I’m so excited, so make your decision quickly.” She cheers, tapping her nails on the desk.

“The honors of what?” I ask. Still confused and a tad bit more concerned with her behavior.

She huffs and rolls her eyes before pointing to the mat as if I should already know what she’s so worked up about. “Remove the mat. You’ll see. Come on, just trust me, please.”

She shoves my chair out of the way, then grips onto my arm and pulls me until I’m standing center of my desk. The excitement that’s thrumming through her bleeds into my chest and I look down at her with a million questions running through my mind, but I settle on believing if she’s this excited and wonderstruck, there’s something to be seen.

Probably faster and more anticlimactic than she would’ve made it, I snatch the mat off the desk.

The leather slips from my fingers and hits the ground with an audible slap as I stare with my mouth gaping open at the surface of my desk. It’s not wood as I would’ve sworn, but glass. Underneath the thick clear layer are green, red, marbled, and purple stone shards laid out in the shape of the sun on a large slab of blue crystal.

Placing my palm in the center, a wave of calm focus spirals its way through me, and my mental to-do list begins to organize itself clearer than I’ve ever seen it before. It’s as though all distractions have fled and left behind an unwavering mindset.

“I just learned about these,” Willow whispers, trailing her fingers down my hand.

“What is this, princess?” I ask as I remove my hand from the glass and suck in a sharp breath as the power releases me.

She begins explaining her amplifier room in quiet detail as her fingernail traces the outline of the sun. Yesterday, she was shaken up by whatever she saw and didn’t want to talk much about the room other than it’s a room full of crystals. Now, I listen with keen fascination as she describes the rare, powerful stones that represent the many strengths we as individuals and a Nexus, have.

It’s intriguing, to say the least.

My uncle thought things down to damn stones.

Crazy.

“They’ll enhance your gifts more and more with time, from what I understand. You’ll start being able to control this boost rather than it controlling you. Or at least I hope that’s the case.”

The slight waver in her voice that she tries to hide has my hand reaching out to pull her closer to me without any thought. Her sight has given us more advantages than we’d have any other way, but I hate it. I’m grateful for all the things my uncle gave her but not that .

“Gift, princess. I only have one.” I chuckle as she rolls her eyes, then as I run my fingers down her spine, I say softly, “Plus, it didn’t enhance my gift just now. It…I don’t know. Enhanced me.”

“Your hard work, dedication, focus, drive. They’re all key parts of your personality. I believe they’re gifts. In their own right. The crystals enhanced all your natural strengths.”

The pride shining in her piercing silver eyes makes a hum vibrate in the back of my throat. Even if I couldn’t feel the truth of her words in my chest, where our bond seems to sing, the devotion and surety skirting across her features would tell me everything I need to know.

My lip tilts up when her face darkens in a blush, and she turns from my hungry gaze. I don’t bother to hide it from her. There’s nothing quite as sexy as your woman looking at you like she has unwavering confidence in all you do.

“Corentin,” she whispers as her body flinches.

The surprise in her tone instantly doses that rising desire. It’s as if she’s seen a ghost and I immediately tighten my arms around her.

“What’s wrong?”

“Look,” she says, pointing her finger down to the ground.

My gaze follows her direction, as does my body’s reaction when I flinch as well.

Corentin.

The wind gets knocked out of me as I glare at my name written across a letter that’s taped to the back of my leather mat. The two of us know exactly who it’s from by the handwriting alone.

All I can do is stare at it for what feels like an eternity. I don’t have the control not to read it like my brother, though. It’s already a festering need to know what’s inked across that parchment.

“I can give you a minute,” Willow says softly as I bend down and pull the letter free.

“No. Stay,” I command, lacing my fingers through hers and pulling her down into my lap as I sink into my chair.

I position her until she’s laid back on my chest, where she can read the letter with me. There’s nothing he could say that I wouldn’t want her to know. She’s aware of all my failures, plus the many embarrassing stories my mom has decided to share since we’ve been here.

Releasing a breath harsh enough to ruffle Willow’s hair, I allow the laugh that leaves her to soak into my heart and calm its frantic rhythm. The weight of this thin parchment feels as though it’s a thousand pounds, yet so fragile as I easily tear through its seal.

Now or never.

Nephew,

I’ll admit completing your room was the most difficult. I asked myself countless times, “What do you do for someone who does it all for himself? Someone who dedicates so much of their life to the needs of others that they’ve neglected to allow themselves their own enjoyment.” Then it dawned on me. This is just you, my boy. You find enjoyment and happiness in the prosperity of others. Despite the cost to yourself.

You’ve been the first of many things, Corentin. First born, first to wake in the morning, first to emerge, first to get their work done, first to have a plan, first to make a decision, youngest to become Headmaster.

You’ve also been last so many times.

Last to call it a day, last to relax, last to the dinner table, last to eat his food, last to finally lay his head down at night.

So many firsts. So many lasts. So many responsibilities.

I wanted nothing more than to alleviate some of those obligations for you, but in reality, I gave you more. It was a brutal pill for me to swallow because although I knew you could handle it, I didn’t want you to have to. I didn’t want any of you to face what I have, but unfortunately, you all will face more.

So my only solution to this was to give you the tools you needed to continue to be yourself but also find and embrace the side of you that will seem so foreign, it will feel wrong at times.

The purpose of each crystal you’ve now found embedded in your desk has been explained to you and I can confirm that you will gain control over their abilities with continued practice. Soon enough, you’ll recall everything you fly through. There is no magic or enchantment making the work complete itself. It’s all you and your know-how, just at an accelerated rate due to the untiring concentration.

This is my gift to you, nephew.

Time.

There’s far too much for you to miss out on now. Grasp the moments given to you and never let them go.

I’m so proud of you, Corentin. What all you’ve done. Who you’ve become and who you will continue to grow to be.

Take care, my boy.

Uncle Orien xoxo.

My hands tremble as I read the letter repeatedly. He’s given me something that here lately has felt so fleeting in my life. The race against an imaginary clock that never seems to stop ticking.

Willow feels it too, as have my brothers. We’ve all felt the pressure that we’re now on a time crunch. We’ve made moves in the realm against our enemy that has upped the ante in this war. It’s a silent companion every day as we slowly unravel the remaining mysteries. Despite the lack of retaliation, we know we set something in motion.

Leaning forward, I place the letter in my top drawer where I can easily pull it out and read it anytime I find myself lost to my work. It’ll stay there as a reminder that I have people who care about me. The work can wait.

This is my gift to you, nephew.

Time.

“Tell me, princess, what would you like to do with the rest of your afternoon?” I ask quietly and lay a kiss on the side of her neck.

“You don’t have other things to do?” she asks, craning around to look at me.

“I can take care of that later. For now, a large chunk of my day’s opened up.”

The breathtaking smile that takes over her face has my heart once again pounding wildly in my chest. Just like when I told her I’d ride with her in her dragon form, she’s looking at me now as though I’ve handed her the realm’s greatest gift.

Little does she know, being able to spend my day with her means more to me than anything.

“Have you worked on your newest ability boost any more?” she asks .

“I have,” I say confidently, grinning at the gasp that leaves her when two more of me surround her.

I’ve managed to teach myself how to command my replicates to do more than mimic me. With enough concentration, I can make them pose differently, move independently, and hold a more solid form like she and Caspian have learned to do with their shadows.

I can’t hold on to that long, but I have every intention of mastering it. Especially when I command one of them to tilt her chin up and a heady little whimper falls from her lips.

“That’s quite the nifty gift,” she says breathlessly, and my dick immediately responds to her husky tone.

“Why is that, princess? Is four men not enough for you?” I ask as I lay kisses across the erratic pulse in her neck.

“Four is plenty enough, but…”

Her shaky breath brings a sly smile to my lips, and I gently bite her shoulder before ordering, “Finish your sentence.”

“There’re multiples of you. It’s intimidatingly sexy.”

I hum approvingly as her legs part automatically for my hand as I trail my fingers on the inside of her thighs. I can feel the heat coming off her pussy and I know she’s already soaking wet for me.

“What’s so intimidating, princess?”

“They have a commanding presence just like you. I’m torn between being freaked out and so fucking turned on,” she admits honestly.

“Let’s see which it is,” I say before growling low when my fingers caress her slick pussy. “Why are you wearing a dress with no underwear?”

“Wishful thinking.” She moans as I start circling her clit.

“So you came in here with the intention of getting fucked, huh?”

“Yes.”

Music to my ears.

Commanding my reflections to merge into one, I mentally picture myself undressing, and like my gift is actually mine to control, it follows the directions.

“Eyes open and spread your legs as far as you can baby. Let me see your pussy. ”

“But—”

My hand swats the inside of her thigh, silencing her argument, and she arches into me as her gasp echoes around the room.

“Good girl. Now watch me while I watch you,” I whisper in her ear as her legs loop around mine and open completely.

Undoing my pants, letting my cock spring free, I command my reflection to slowly start undoing his belt. Realistically, I could just make all the clothes vanish, but by her squirming and the soft moans falling from her mouth, my princess is enjoying the show.

“Corentin,” she groans when I fist myself.

Real me and reflection.

“Watch me. Watch how you make me, my gift, everything come undone for you.” I groan when I line my dick up and her hot core tries its damnedest to suck me in.

She’s so wet, she’s dripping down my cock, making it easy for my fist to glide up and down. I circle her clit, in sync with my own movements, and when my reflection steps closer, she clenches around my tip so tightly I nearly sink myself inside of her.

“Can…can you hold this form?” she asks through her pants.

“We’ll find out, princess.” I release my dick and wrap my hand around her hair.

I know what she wants by the thrumming desire pulsing in my bond. If she wants to suck my dick and be fucked by me at the same time, who am I to stop her?

“Fuck.” I hiss through my teeth. “Didn’t expect that.”

“What?”

“I feel it. I feel what you’re doing to my reflection.”

“Do…do you like it?”

Her nervous question makes my head fall back against my chair and a groan falls from my chest. Do I like it? What a question.

“I get to take your pussy and mouth at the same time, princess. It’s the greatest fucking feeling in the realm. ”

When she hums in the back of her throat, I slam into her in one hard thrust. The double sensation is almost unbearable and my muscles tense. Everything she does to my reflection, I feel tenfold.

It’s nearly impossible for me to hold my control over my reflection and myself, so eventually, my moves merge as one. Every brutal pump into her pussy is mimicked in her mouth. She moans and hums greedily, taking every inch of what I’m giving her.

“Come, princess. Choke my cock,” I command.

Circling her clit faster, her movements grow desperate. Her pleasure rips through her so forcefully it pierces my spine, and I lose my hold on my reflection. As it fades to nothing, the sounds of her screams echo through my office and I grip her hips, slamming her down on me until I’m coming apart inside her.

She collapses back into my chest, and I run my hands up and down her sides as we both catch our breaths. I don’t think I could even get up and walk right now if I wanted to. Never in my fucking life have I ever felt anything like that.

Two slow claps start from the corner of my office, and I meet my brothers’ stares, chuckling at Willow’s startled, “Shit.”

Draken has a hungry grin across his face, while Caspian has his head cocked to the side, trying to figure out what he just watched. I’m not sure he even notices he’s clapping with Draken. Tillman’s arms are crossed, staring in fascination.

“I don’t know if I’m fucking jealous or really impressed, boss man. And, little wanderer, you were phenomenal as always. I damn near came in my pants.”

“Seriously, Draken,” I grunt.

“Impressed, dragon, that’s the answer. Don’t be jealous that you can’t duplicate yourself and fuck me,” Willow says with a sassy tone that has us all groaning.

“Filthy mouth, little warrior,” Tillman says as he comes over and gives her forehead a kiss.

“Some privacy maybe? I’m still inside of her, for fuck’s sake,” I mentally bark.

All it gets me is a round of laughs from my brothers and Caspian takes it upon himself to come over and lift Willow off my lap. She doesn’t hesitate to cuddle into his chest, and he looks down at her, conflicted. I shake my head as I put myself away and internally laugh because I know what his ass is about to say.

“Naughty little Primary.”

“I’m naughty for craving a member of my Nexus and I just happened to get two for the price of one?” She cocks her brow and I smirk smugly at their glares.

“Logically no, but because I’m apparently a jealous asshole, yes,” he says seriously.

“Get over it, brother. There’re things you can do with your shadows that we can’t,” I tell him as I join them in my sitting area.

“I don’t need any extras to give my little wanderer everything she wants, plus some,” Draken says with full conviction as he scoots closer to Willow and Caspian. “So while we were working hard, the two of you were getting freaky. Not cool. Not cool at all,” he says as he attacks her neck with kisses.

“Corentin got plenty of work done today. He’s actually ahead of schedule,” Willow brags, preening with pride for me, and my chest swells.

As she jumps right into explaining what happened, I lean back in the lounge chair, lacing my hands behind my head and smirking at their gaping mouths.

Today was a win for me all the way around.

I’ll take every win I can get.