School of Broken Dreams: Academy of Souls Book 3 Read online

  He helps me take his shirt off, and I touch the planes of his chest for the first time, sliding my palms down the perfect muscles that he hides behind his clothes. My heart is beating so hard it feels like it’s going to burst out of my chest. I continue my exploration down his body, and when I get to his jeans, he doesn’t stop me.

  My fingers are shaking as I work to unbutton Braxton’s jeans. The bulge under my hand is making them a little hard to manage and every time my fingers brush against him, I hear his breathing change. I didn’t know his reaction to my hands on him could cause such a corresponding reaction in me. My body is throbbing and I’m desperate to have him naked.

  He’s letting me take the lead, but I’m so nervous that I hope he takes over soon before I chicken out. Still shaking, I finally release the last button revealing his tight briefs. Instinctively, I slide my hand inside and curl it around his length. Braxton hisses out a shuddery breath and grabs my wrist.

  “I want to touch you.” I pout with a small smile over my nerves.

  “You will. You can. Whenever you want after this. But I promise you I don’t need any help right now. I’m so fucking turned on; I can hardly see straight.”

  His words set me on fire.

  It’s hard to understand, in this moment, that I can hold so much power. I hurriedly push his jeans down his thighs, and before he can move to assist me, I shove his briefs down, too. There’s something written in Latin in dark swirling script across his left hip bone, but I don’t stop to pay attention to it. I’m more interested in what else I’m seeing.

  Braxton immediately pushes me back on the bed and kisses me hungrily. I gasp into his mouth at the amazing feel of his skin against mine, his weight settling on me and between my legs. He pushes down my bra and his tongue finds my breast. Within moments I’m literally writhing under him. I arch up, whimpering more as the movement causes his erection to press against my damp underwear. He rocks against me slowly and it feels so good that I’m worried I may be dreaming.

  Then he begins to make his way south, kissing down my stomach, stopping to dip his tongue into my belly button. My nerves ratchet up. Dead focused, Braxton slowly peels my panties down my legs. The look on his face sends my pulse into overdrive. I’m panting and completely not in control of my body’s reactions. I still as he unhooks the last foot from my underwear and slowly runs his hands up my legs, parting them firmly as he goes, his eyes, and then his mouth following the movement. His touch is a trail of fire up the inside of my thigh. Shifting, Braxton settles himself more firmly between my legs. And now my nerves are through the roof.

  “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” Braxton groans, and in this moment, I believe him. Before I can have second thoughts, his mouth is on me, a place where no one else has been like this. I cry out, thrashing against the sensation because it feels better than anything I’ve ever experienced. He grips my thighs more firmly to keep me in place as his tongue flicks over me.

  I let out a moan and it comes out much more high-pitched than I intended.

  I squeeze my eyes shut as if that will help me to contain my reaction. It just serves to focus all my senses on the magic he’s performing on my body right now.

  I’m practically paralyzed with pleasure and sensation, my body tight and prickly as if my skin can’t hold the feelings inside me. His mouth is hot and wet, and his tongue seems to know just what to do to my body. His hands join his mouth, and he eases a finger inside me. I grab fistfuls of the sheets. I want him to stop but I also don’t. I want to watch him, but I can’t.

  I’m heading to a precipice that I have little experience with and all I can hope is that he will be there to catch me when I fall. I’m completely lost to sensation as he loves me with his tongue and his fingers. He seems to touch some deep and magical place inside me, because suddenly I’m there, and I’m crying out as I fall apart, arching my hips up into his mouth.

  “Fuck,” Braxton moans, his voice rough and gravely, his breath labored, matching mine. He places a lingering kiss on my thigh before he makes his way up my body until he’s holding himself above me, his green eyes cutting me open. For a moment, four other faces flash in front of me, but I push thoughts of them away. Braxton deserves this to be just us.

  The sight of Braxton above me, his eyes staring at me with so much love that it’s impossible to doubt him, is almost too much for me to handle. I try to swallow over the lump in my throat as I reach up and run a hand across his beautiful cheekbones. He lets out a long breath. “Where did you go just then?” he asks hesitantly, as if he knows already.

  “Nowhere. I don’t want to be anywhere else but here,” I tell him. And it’s the truth. He swallows hard at my words as if he’s trying to tamper down his emotions. He holds my gaze as his body rocks forward and I feel him sliding against my wetness.

  “I’m scared I’ll hurt you,” he says gruffly.

  I open my legs wider and wrap them around him. “For the first time in my life it will be pain that I want. I need you inside of me. I want you now,” I assure him in a choked voice. He told me he wasn’t an angel, but I don’t believe him in this moment. Hovering above me with a piece of his dark hair falling across his face, his piercing eyes watching me as if I’m everything, he looks like a fallen angel and I want him to drag me down with him wherever he goes.

  He lowers his mouth to mine and at the same time he rocks back and then forward as he eases himself into me, stretching me, filling me, completing me. I forget to breathe; I forget who I am. It feels amazing, like I’m where I belong, and I want more.

  He’s trying to go slow, but I’m so desperate for him, I don’t care if it hurts. I rock up against him. He gives in, groaning and plunging his tongue into my mouth in a searing kiss that reaches into my soul. At the same time his hips move forward, taking me completely.

  A sharp pain wrenches my mouth from his. For a moment I lose my breath, but I don’t let him pull away from me. I don’t want him to stop.

  “Baby…,” he says.

  I open my eyes and see him with an anguished look on his beautiful face.

  I can’t speak at the moment. Not because it still hurts, but because it’s too much. Too much of him, too much emotion, too much...of everything.

  I squeeze my eyes shut to stop the emotion I know is about to spill out. A drop of moisture leaks out the side of my lashes despite my attempts. I turn my head. I need to say something quickly before he thinks I don’t want this. Instead of talking, I turn back and grasp his neck pulling him back down to me and kissing him deeply.

  Braxton kisses me back and I slowly move my hips against his until he finally responds. He pulls his mouth away from me and his tongue licks the place my tear had escaped. “Open your eyes, baby” he whispers. After a second, when I’ve gotten a bit more control over myself, I do, meeting his deep and searching gaze.

  “You okay?” His breathing is fast, and I can feel the tension in his body as he tries to hold himself still.

  “Yes,” I assure him. “It feels ...” I’m not sure how to put into words what he’s doing to me.

  “Perfect,” he finishes for me with a sexy grin, finally starting to move, hard this time. I gasp at his movements and nod. He holds my gaze, moving in and out as I stare back at him. I know I’m looking at him like he’s the eighth wonder of the world, but I can see the same feeling reflected back at me in his eyes.

  I match his strokes as pleasure starts to build inside of me. I’m aware of all the small changes in his facial expressions as what he is feeling plays across his face like I’m watching a movie. His face is flushed, and his breathing is heavy as he moves. His arms and body quiver with tension and restraint as he braces himself above me.

  I see the moment that his restraint snaps, when his movements pick up speed and become slightly erratic.

  Watching him lose control is a sight to behold and I try to savor the look on his face, but I can’t keep my eyes open as that feeling inside of me continues t
o build. I gasp under the onslaught, squeezing my eyes shut and writhing up to meet his thrusts.

  “Look at me,” Braxton rasps out. I snap my eyes open as he plays my body perfectly. He shifts up slightly and I feel as his hand slides between us, touching me perfectly, sending me spiraling into what feels like space as I come hard.

  Braxton is no longer holding back as I ride out the waves, gasping and clenching around him as he slams into me several more times before letting go, his face contorted in harsh and beautiful pleasure. “Fuck, Adi.”

  I draw him down to me, holding his shuddering body tightly as I struggle to get my breath back. I knew the vision of Braxton’s face above me as he came undone would be embedded in my mind forever. After a few moments, he relaxes and wraps his arms around me, letting out a deep sigh.

  Chapter 3

  (Finn)

  I walk into Alexander’s room and I am surprised to see that Braxton, Nyx, and Dante are also there. There’s an air of tension in the room, like everyone’s about to boil over from the stress of the last few days. Adeline has appeared to be making a full recovery, something I’ve never been more relieved about.

  But it’s a double-edged sword. Even when Braxton had confirmed that his tests of her blood showed it possessed the angelic ey’ compound only found in heavenly beings, I still had trouble believing it.

  Now that she has recovered from a feeding that would have killed any other human being, I can’t deny the truth. Adeline has come from an angelic bloodline, and that means that the whole world has suddenly made her their number one target...if they find out.

  That’s why Alexander had called this meeting tonight. We needed to decide how we were going to somehow protect Adeline. Braxton had already made sure to snag the blood from the school nurse before she could test it properly. Lucky for us, she didn’t have the tools necessary to detect the ey’ compound, she could only see the trace human blood that Adeline possessed...hence Adeline finding out that her parents weren’t her parents, but not anything else about her genetics.

  Braxton had switched the vial with another human student’s to throw the Council off track. But if things kept happening...like miraculous recoveries, superhuman strength randomly appearing, or god forbid actual wings appearing…

  We would be shit out of luck.

  “I can smell her all over you,” says Alexander suddenly, glaring at Braxton with disdain and seething jealousy. Braxton just smirks at him, quirking his lips but not answering him.

  I reach out my senses to see what he’s talking about and as soon as I capture the scent that’s coating Braxton, I’m hit by a mix of lust and jealousy so strong it knocks me backwards a step. Adeline’s arousal is all over Braxton. By the smell of it, somehow Mr. Professor over here made sure that our girl wasn’t quite so innocent as she was before. I try to block out the scent since it makes me want to run out of the room, go find Adeline and stake my claim over her. Over and over and over.

  The other guys must have just figured it out too because there’s yelling and pushing, and even a fist thrown by none other than Nyx. Seeing the chaos clears my head and I give a loud whistle, glad that Alexander has made this room virtually sound proof recently with some kind of device he bought from a regional warlock.

  Everyone stops what they’re doing and looks at me with surprise. I know why they all look shocked. I’m usually the one who stays behind the scenes, never interfering or taking the lead in anything. I have always been the one to go with the flow. But I can’t do that when it comes to Adeline. If these idiots can’t see past their own desires to what’s best for Adeline themselves...then I’m going to have to make them.

  “I think we can all acknowledge that we’re all pissed off and jealous about Braxton and Adeline,” I begin, instigating a low growl to erupt from Alexander towards Braxton at my understatement at the level of feelings present in the room right now. “But obviously there’s nothing we can do about that. Adeline has made it obvious that she has feelings towards all of us, seemingly deep feelings if I’m not just having wishful thinking about how I hope she feels about me.” I take a deep breath, looking at each one of them. There’s reluctance but burgeoning acceptance as they get what I’m leading up to.

  “Adeline’s going to need protection. More than just one of us can give to her. I wish I could keep her safe myself, but an angel...fuck. I can’t keep her safe from the whole supernatural world myself. I’m not even sure the five of us are enough to keep her safe.” I sigh in distress and brush a hand through my hair frustratedly.

  “You think we need to all just accept the situation and date her while we’re keeping her safe,” sums up Nyx.

  I nod my head, trying to gauge how they seem to feel about that idea.

  There’s a long, awkward silence as we all think through our options. It’s basically either one of us gets the girl and then loses her because we can’t keep her safe. Or we all get the girl and have a chance of keeping her.

  If it’s a choice between keeping a part of her or losing all of her, I know which option I would pick. I just hope the rest of them are on the same page.

  Did I dream of meeting my soul mate and then having to share her? Fuck no. But Adeline has changed a lot of things about the way I think and do things, so it’s not a surprise that she would change that as well.

  “I’ll share her with you assholes if it means that she’s safe,” Nyx says softly with a swear.

  “I will too,” says Dante reluctantly, pain written all over his face at the thought.

  We all turn our attention to Alexander and Braxton, the two most likely to not want to go along with this plan. They’re staring at each other and Alexander has a muscle in his cheek that’s twitching. It’s like they’re playing a game of chicken and trying to see which one of them is going to fold first.

  To my surprise, Alexander is.

  “I’ll do it,” he says stiffly. “I’ll do anything for her.”

  There’s a promise in his words and it seems to speak to Braxton. He nods his head. “I’m in as well. I don’t know how the hell this is going to work, but she’s going to need all the help she can get once this news gets out.”

  We all nod, and I feel a sense of relief at the fact that Adeline is going to have five men invested in keeping her safe no matter what she chooses...or doesn’t choose.

  “Let’s get one thing straight though,” says Nyx, capturing our attention. “I don’t want to hear any details about what the rest of you jackasses do with Adeline,” he continues.

  There’s a pause and then we all burst out laughing.

  This is going to be interesting.

  (Adeline)

  The school halls are busy today. Students everywhere, their chatter loud cicadas on hot summer evenings. It reminds me of the hot afternoons I’d sit with Mom and Dad on our back veranda, talking about everything from the myth that a red sky meant rain was coming to how we’d spend a million dollars if we ever won the lottery. Of course, we never spent money on the lottery, but it was fun to dream. They were simple times where I forgot about school, bullying, my crush on Connor, and before my dad fell sick.

  I used to think they were complicated days, but nothing could have prepared me for Raven Academy.

  My mind leaps back to Braxton in my room, his tenderness, his intoxicating words that will remain with me for an eternity, touches forever imprinted on my mind. No one has ever kissed me the way he has, and he admitted to loving me. My heart hasn’t stopped pounding in my chest since he made love to me.

  I’m smiling endlessly and can’t stop my body from humming. With each move, I feel the slight ache between my thighs that leaves me swooning at what we’d just done.

  I always imagined my first time to be clumsy. The magazines said to expect some pain, except Braxton was the opposite. Sweet, affectionate, and treating me as gentle as breakable glass. The heat from our love making sweeps through me and my knees wobble.

  I want to twirl on the spot and run back to
him. To rest my head against his strong chest, have him wrap me in his arms before he made love to me again and again.

  He’s my professor but who cares because I’ve never felt this way before. He’s not even that much older than me...I think. My skin tingles from the memory of his fingers tracing my inner thighs, his arousal, his kisses burning me up. To have such a stunning man bring me to orgasm undid me. He broke down my walls, and I gave myself to him completely.

  As I remember him buried fully inside me, my body fills with arousal, a feeling that disappears when someone knocks their shoulder into mine so hard, I teeter backward a few steps.

  “Watch it, bitch,” Clarissa snarls in my face, malice behind her gaze. Others around us stop as if waiting for me to respond, to attack, to do something.

  Blinking, I’m waiting for my fogged mind to catch up, to see Clarissa before me, sneering, but I’m in too good a mood to let her or anyone upset me today. Instead, I lower my head and stroll past her and the others.

  Someone boos, and I ignore them. Instead, I search for Mercy, hoping she’s here since she didn’t answer her dorm room when I knocked. But she’s nowhere and instead my gaze lands on Alexander who’s watching me with a smile from across the room. He’s with Finn who stands to throw their rubbish in a nearby trash can.

  I stroll toward them, the butterflies in my stomach rebellious against the new emotions crawling through me. Will they be heartbroken to know I had sex with Braxton? Sure, what I have with Alexander and the others is confusing and complicated...still I adore them, and they feel the same way… I am certain. But I’m not ready to raise that conversation with them, not yet.

  Mixed feelings twist in my chest. In a heartbeat, everything has changed, somehow making my life even more impossibly confusing.