Chapter 26

Chapter 26

The wind escaped my lungs suddenly and abruptly as Marcus shoved me against the lockers right beside the door for Advanced Structural Analysis. I covered my mouth to muffle the gasp, not wanting to get the attention of my Physics Professor who was right on the other side.

My fight or flight instincts began negotiating in my head, while Marcus held me in place with his eyes alone. Shock and confusion shook its way down my spine.

His gaze was intense, unlike anything I'd ever seen from him. The gold of his irises was barely visibly through the narrowed, cruel glare. I held my breath and pressed myself harder against the metal doors, trying to process what was happening.

"Marcus, Adrian's class is right there." I whispered harshly. "What are you doing?"

"Helping you make a decision." The corners of his lips upticked into an expression that was truly wicked. "Let's try something different, Lila." He didn't so much as glance to see if the coast was clear before he untucked my blouse in a single tug then shoved his hand up my shirt. My whole body went rigid, and my breathing hitched for longer than was safe or prudent. "I'm happy to be your friend, but I need you to know that I am absolutely not just your friend. "

"What does that mean?" Heat warmed my cheeks, while a cold sweat cooled my brow. In my head, I was terrified. In my heart, I only worried that Adrian might check on the commotion.

Marcus ignored the question as he followed the smooth fabric of my shape wear up to my rib cage, then he hooked a finger beneath the edge of the snug garment.

"Your head seems to be all over the place right now, and I think it would help for you to put all of your focus on one, single thing for the rest of the day. Maybe ease your anxiety a bit under these complicated circumstances." Not even his smooth voice was enough to distract me from the hot and cold sensation as he started dragging the body shaping waist hugger downward until it reached my skirt's waistband. He brought it to the edge, then repositioned his hand under my skirt and started pulling it down further.

"M-Marcus—" I gasped, frantically looking over his shoulders for anyone who could stumble upon this scene. My thick underwear clung to me, but that didn't deter him in the slightest as he peeled past my ass, and freed it from the much too damp spot between my legs. He never broke eye contact as he removed my undergarment from under my clothing, undressing me both secretly and in plain sight at the same time.

A mischievous grin covered his lips as he shifted his hold, then forcefully yanked my shapewear down past the thickest parts of my thighs. He dropped to his knees, then one at a time, he lifted my ankles to thread them through each leg, fully removing my decency.

The pleats of my skirt wafted back down over my now bare nethers, and my heart thumped hard. I was completely exposed to anyone looking at me at the right angle, and Marcus was very much at that angle.

"I want to clear a few things up." Nonchalantly, he tossed my underwear into the nearby trashcan, and my heart pounded ten beats faster. "I've been playing so sweet with you, I worry you've forgotten that I'm still half vampire." Back on his feet, he caged me against the locker with his body, blocking my escape routes with a forearm on each side of my head. "And all monster."

All I could do was swallow thickly in response. I was trembling as he blocked me in, having never felt more vulnerable than I did right now.

He continued. "You don't need those, you know. Your soft, natural body is so much sexier without the torture devices you wear to hide it." He leaned in and skated his lips over his mark, ghosting his cool internal temperature over my neck. I knew he could hear my pulse escalating. He was good at that. "For a matter of fact, from here on out, you're only going to be wearing underwear when I say you can." He sunk the heel of his hand into the side of my abdomen, then he pressed firm pressure down my hip, then my thigh, until he reached the bottom of my skirt. He hooked three fingers under the hem, and he very slowly started to drag it upwards.

The fabric slid along my bare thighs, while the air-conditioned hallway was a powerful reminder of exactly how naked I was beneath that loose veil.

My knees were shaking when he reached the top of my leg, fractions of an inch from exposing me. He followed along the path to the apex of my thighs, lightly skating his fingertips down between my legs to everywhere he shouldn't be. He cupped me under my skirt, with only the shortest material hiding what he was doing.

I sucked in a sharp breath as he entered me with his index finger. I did my best not to falter, while the hunger in his eyes continued to hold me captive. I sucked my lower lip into my mouth, raking my teeth over Adrian's mark, and our breathing synced through this twisted connection.

His motions started subtle, just tracing the shallow entrance of my pussy. He added in a thumb to rub my clit, managing well placed and uninterrupted circles, while he sank into my center until his forefinger was pressing perfectly against my g-spot.

I bit harder into my lip, in my best attempt to hide the whimpering and short, stifled huffs. Adrian was teaching a full classroom right there , and if what Marcus said was true, he could feel this through our shared bond. Doing this right here, right now, was beyond volatile, and I couldn't afford to make it obvious I was unraveling in his hallway.

The worst part was that I was bargaining in my mind, determining how I could remain discreet enough to not get in trouble, when I should have been demanding he stop.

I was supposed to want him to stop.

But fuck, I don't.

The way his expression darkened, I had a feeling he'd just heard every one of those thoughts.

"I don't think it's fair to you that you only get to have sex during the full moon. Look how tense and pent up you are." He pressed his whole body against me more firmly, like he wanted more contact himself. I was thankful that I had both his strength and the lockers at my back to hold me up. "But then again, maybe that's what makes it so explosive." He was still rubbing me, and I was practically panting in his grasp. "This is one of the things I like about you, Lila. Instead of running, you're happy to be a play thing for men you should be so, so afraid of." He was a master of movement as his fingertips put just the right pressure on every sensitive nerve. I was buckling while clinging to my soul. "You like being wanted that badly, don't you,

Baby.

Doll."

He slipped out of me, then plunged back in with a second digit. At some point I'd grabbed hold of his sleeves, and shoved my face into his shoulder, using the material of his uniform coat to muffle my inappropriate sounds.

Marcus must have noticed, because he responded by shoving me back against the metal. He shook his head and wagged the finger on his free hand between us, never skipping a beat with his less free one. I covered my mouth with both of my palms instead.

"I realized earlier that I've been going about this all wrong. I've been so worried about protecting your innocence, when I should have been worried about warming you up for another fantastically magic fueled night." He chuckled directly in my ear, before he touched his lips to the side of my cheek. "You look forward to these nights where you can just let yourself feel, don't you." He wasn't asking me. We both already knew the answer. "This is the one night a month where you don't have to pretend that you're a good girl." He too perfectly coordinated the pressure on my clit and the maddening nudges against my inner walls.

"I'll let you in on a little secret." His breaths tickled the side of my neck where his mark was still so prominent. "Ever since I met you, I've started looking forward to them, too." He touched his lips to the back of my hand, where I was squeezing my mouth in a desperate bid for silence. He placed a soft peck on each of my knuckles. "Which is why I want you to be thinking about me all day long. Not Adrian, not your friends, and not the disappointment of spending the night alone. And when you do decide whose bed you want to hide in tonight, you won't choose wrong again."

Marcus grabbed my wrist and pried my hand from my mouth. He shoved it back against the locker at the same time that he covered my lips with his, masking my ragged breaths while I gave my body to orgasm.

My last month with Adrian seemed distant and mild compared to the vampire possessing me right now. Marcus was the only person on my mind, from the building release between my legs, to the impossibly possessive way he claimed me. He pushed me until I was shamefully convulsing on his fingers, not caring that we were in the middle of a public hallway. Not caring about our classmates seeing, or that we were feet from Adrian's door, and only one turn away from Calculus, that would be starting much too soon. Ceto was likely on the way to class. He sat a few seats behind me, and he always showed up early. He would be walking down this hallway any minute now.

And Professor Karras was likely in a cold sweat right behind that door, feeling my full loss of control as his brother had his way with me .

Marcus took my lips harder as my sharp breath slipped into a moan. I was completely consumed by the unusual temperature of his body. I was clawing at his shoulders with bruising desperation, and he was holding onto me like I was his air and his sustenance. The sharp teeth of a vampire penetrated my lip, and I tasted my own blood in the tangle of our kiss. I rocked my hips to hold onto that high until the bitter end.

The fear and danger and perfection of it all made me come so hard I forgot where I was or how I'd gotten there. My mind was a wash of ecstasy, and my arousal was soaking his hand and dripping down my thighs.

When he pulled away, I fell back against the lockers, breathless and delirious, supporting myself on nothing but the strength of the red, painted metal.

"Look at you being so quiet, I suppose even when you're being bad, you're still a good girl." Marcus slipped his soaked fingers between his lips and sucked my flavor from his skin. "You're my good girl."

I had no words. I just stared at him, clenching my shaking thighs together, while holding down my skirt defensively, as if a sudden breeze might sweep through the building.

How was this the same guy who was just sitting with me at breakfast? He'd shown hints of this when feeding on me, but I assumed that was his animal instinct taking over and not his normal self.

"You've made your point." I pleaded as sanity raised its hand in my mental chambers. Undergarments or not, I definitely wasn't going to be thinking of anyone else for the rest of the day. "Let me just— "

I reached toward the trashcan, and Marcus caught my hand. He held it firmly, and he shook his head. That mischievous smirk never faltered.

"No, I don't think I have." He licked his lips slowly. The traces of my blood were bright on his tongue. "Which is why you'll be spending the whole day just like that." He told me through the fanged smirk of his inner beast. "I expect you to keep that cute little pussy hidden under that short skirt until I see you next."

My cheeks completely on fire, I shoved my skirt down as far as it would go, trying to make sure I was as covered as I could be. "Th-this skirt barely covers my ass. How am I supposed to go a whole day without underwear without flashing anyone?" I held my own trembling hands, like I could get a hold on myself if I squeezed hard enough.

"Heh." Marcus shoved me up against the locker again, this time, placing his hand on my neck to force my chin up in line with his. It was rough and vicious and not at all who he was. "You don't normally let anyone see your panties, do you, Baby Doll?" Where did this sudden shift come from? Was this because of the coming moon? He was also a fire sign, so maybe the Aries affected him more than others. To say he was acting uncharacteristically jealous would have been an understatement. That was the only explanation as to why he would be so out of his mind right now.

"N-no but, it would only take the slightest breeze or repositioning in my seat, a-and." I shifted my gaze to the side since he wouldn't let me turn my head away. His hand on my neck should have terrified me, but that forcefulness was doing things to me that I wasn't prepared to acknowledge, mentally or emotionally .

"Or a wandering hand?" The blond devil in front of me lifted my skirt before I could protest, exposing me again. He slipped two fingers between my legs, dipping into me one more time. He let my skirt waft back down, then pressed his wet fingers against my lips. He forced both digits into my mouth, until I had no choice but to taste my own arousal on his skin. "It tastes like you might be into that though, doesn't it." My eyes rounded when he whispered. "But if you're so worried about it, I suggest you keep your legs crossed like a good girl is supposed to, my sweet, innocent little Virgo."

With that, he pulled his fingers from my mouth and stepped away. I collapsed to my knees, no longer having his support to hold me up. I bit my lip, nearly wanting to cry at how conflicted and overwhelmed I felt. It didn't help that I was so annoyingly and painfully turned on, I could scream.

"You're crazy." I muttered, while I squeezed my sticky, wet thighs together, trying to hide myself.

"You're just noticing that now?" He reached down to ruffle the top of my hair. The gesture was entirely too friendly and playful for what he'd just done. "Maybe I'd seem more sane if I explained." He dropped to a squat so our eyes were level. "I'm tired of hearing the names of other men running through your thoughts. I'm not just playing with you. Yes, I want you to be my girlfriend, and no, I am absolutely not seeing any other people, man, woman, or half-beast." Marcus leaned forward, bracing my chin with his thumb and forefinger as he pecked me on the forehead. Then he stood, took one step back, gazed down at me with intense satisfaction, and turned on his heel with a casual wave .

"Anyway, I'll see you tonight. Get through the day like that without attracting too much attention, and I'll give you a wonderful reward for your discipline." He winked at me over his shoulder.

While Marcus walked away, I remained on the floor, sitting on my ankles, and processing everything that just happened.

What was I supposed to do in Calculus when the teacher called on me? What was I supposed to do in Astrology when Marcus was sitting right next to me, and Adrian was watching us? I didn't see any way at all that this was going to go well.

Full moons were the worst.