Wintertide Read online

  As she did a new feeling emerged deep inside me. One I couldn’t name. It was as if something had been gripping my black heart and squeezing it. It wasn’t exactly unpleasant, but I wasn’t sure I liked it either.

  I moved my finger under her chin and tilted her head up to look at me. Her eyes met mine and I could see the shame she felt reflected in them. I wanted to take away every horrible thought that may have been running through her head. I wanted her to know and to feel nothing but the pleasure I knew I could bring her. “It means I want you, Eva. I don’t want or require anything in return from you. I simply want to be near you, to kiss you until you forget all of your troubles. I want to do everything in my power to give you happiness and pleasure.” I leaned forward and whispered the last part in her ear, low and seductively. The slight tremor that passed through her body told me that she had not been as unaffected as she attempted to appear.

  Gently, I brushed my lips across her soft skin, from her ear to the corner of her lips. Her breath shuddered out as I tenderly placed a small kiss on her lips. Her lips slightly parted and I kissed her again, this time tasting her sweet, heady flavor. One I knew I would never get enough of. She tasted like the sweetest honey, the coolest of waters across a parched tongue. I felt like the souls of the damned trapped in hell and I would never get enough.

  I felt my control slipping and knew I needed to hold back so I didn’t scare her off. Instead of delving deeper as I wanted, I pulled back and looked into her lust filled eyes as I spoke. I wanted her to feel, to know the truth in what I said. “I feel a pull to you, one like I have never experienced before. I know you can sense it too. I see your reaction to me. What it means I don’t know, but I want to find out,” I took her hands in mine, “Take the chance with me, Ice.”

  Her eyes searched mine for a moment, but she didn’t answer with words. Instead she closed the distance between our lips, crushing her mouth down on mine and all of her unspent passion poured into our kiss. I groaned as her mouth parted and my tongue slid out to wrap around hers. This time her flavor flooded my system and drove me wild as the scent of her arousal hit me like a ton of bricks. I backed her up until she was pressed against the wall and my wings snapped open, wrapping around us to hide us from sight. Not out of embarrassment, but out of the need to keep her all to myself.

  I cupped her face in my hands and pressed harder against her, needing to devour every bit of her. My demon demanded I draw every ounce of pleasure that I could. Her chest heaved and her breasts pushed into me, the tight nipples sending heat shooting through me as I swallowed her soft whimper.

  Her hands moved over my shoulders and back to my wings. At first, she trailed her fingers across them, stroking them lightly. I could tell she had no clue the effect it had on me as she ran her palms down the length of my feathers. As sensitive as my cock, they trembled under her touch, my dick pulsing and twitching in response. I groaned and regrettably pulled back from her lips. “Eva, if you keep touching me there, I can’t be held responsible for what I might do to you,” I warned, my voice dark and heated.

  At my words, her eyes widened, and she jerked her hand back as if it had been burnt. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

  I reached up and stroked her hair gently, “Don’t be sorry. It’s not a bad thing,” I said, the need still making my voice rough. “When you do that, let’s just say it makes it very hard not to take you where we stand. When I take your innocence, I want it to be more than a quick fuck in the hall. I want to touch every part of your delectable body, learn your every desire, and give you more pleasure than you’ve ever thought possible in your lifetime.”

  She let out a small whimper at my confession. I leaned forward and gave her one last lingering kiss, a promise to fulfill everything I had said and more later. I took her hand and straightened, tucking my wings back behind me as the bell rang for the next class. I led her down the hall as everyone surrounded us, running my thumb over the soft skin near her thumb. The contact with her filled parts of me that I hadn’t realized were empty and I didn’t want to let her go.

  As we headed to the next class I thought about the professor. Sebastian would have to be dealt with later, I just needed to figure out the best way to take care of it. I had claimed her as my own, and I intended to make sure she was exactly that. I also wanted to make sure she didn’t get hurt in the process. So, for the first time in my life I would have to tread carefully, considering I could also tell she had feelings for the professor.

  I would also be hunting down Jaxon later and letting him know exactly what I thought of this little arrangement. Though he was powerful in his own right, Jaxon Frost was no match for the son of Lucifer, and if he dared push it, he would find out exactly how true that statement was.

  Not only did I have Jaxon and the professor to deal with, I needed to speak to Blade. Out of everyone here, he was the one that I trusted the most. Yet as the one that had been taught how to twist the deepest desires of those around me, I knew that no one was immune to claiming what they desired most. And Blade, like myself, desired Eva unlike anything I had ever seen from him before.

  I saw it in the way his eyes glowed brighter than ever before when he studied her. I felt the desire and lust run through him as my demon consumed the emotions that rolled off him in waves. The only consoling fact was that I didn’t exactly feel lust or desire coming from Eva, though she was definitely interested.

  I held the door open for Eva as we entered the next classroom and as she passed under my outstretched arm. My wings shuddered in irritation at the idea of anyone taking the woman I had claimed as my own. Lust waged with anger and I fought back the feelings as she greeted everyone, her joy infectious. The thought of her desiring anyone other than myself had me on edge and I didn’t like it. Not one bit.

  As we took our seats, a dark thought crossed my mind. Maybe it was time the Prince of Darkness did something to remind himself of exactly who he was.

  Chapter Ten

  I stared across the cafeteria at the little sorceress. I had been ordered to give lessons to her for the first time that evening. Supervised, nonetheless. As if I needed one of the professors breathing over my shoulder any more than they already did. Carmen was babbling on about some injustice that happened in the hall that morning, and how the culprit had paid dearly for her miscalculation when she stepped on her foot.

  I rolled my eyes and tuned her out, it was classic Carmen to overreact. I couldn’t even find it in me to pretend to be interested or ask about her latest victim though, I was so stuck on watching the little show in front of me. A nod of my head was enough for her ego at the moment, so she continued on with her incessant chatter.

  I had to bite back the string of swears that threatened to escape me as I saw the ice forming on her hands for the second day in a row. Once more fucking Calex came to the rescue and she escaped without incident. He led Eva to his table and his crew readily accepted her, even making room for that purple haired abomination from the sea.

  I wondered if they realized how little control she had over her magic and if they would still be so accepting of her if they knew the truth. I scoffed to myself, there was no way they would. Not that group of dickheads.

  The bell rang and I hung back, not wanting to get tangled with her on my way to class. I was already so irritated that my hand was being forced to teach her, I knew I couldn’t hold my tongue if the occasion arose. I also wasn’t stupid enough to think that Calex would let any jibe toward her go unpunished. Not with the way he was hanging all over her. I was trying to stay off the radar as much as possible, so I could get the fuck out of here.

  I sat through class and tried to ignore her as my thoughts kept drifting back toward her and her uncontrolled power. Unconsciously, my gaze would wander back to her and I would quickly revert my attention elsewhere. I simply couldn’t help myself though as I studied her profile while she laughed with Calex. There was something about her that while I was as pissed off at her and the situation, I still f
ound her intriguingly beautiful.

  Not only did I not care to sit and watch her, I didn’t want to listen to Carmen bitch about my attention being on Eva again. I couldn’t wait until my father upheld that end of the bargain at least.

  Still, try as I might, I found myself wondering about her. Not many had the ability to channel the power of ice, not since the Snow Queen at least, and I wondered how she had come by hers. It was said that none past the Snow Queen’s line had harnessed the power of winter and ice and those powers had died out long ago. The remaining of her line had no power to be told of as far as I knew.

  I studied my fingers in an attempt to divert my attention and considered the powers she had. The only other line that had the power of winter and ice was that of my father's line. I was evidence of that. Yet from a very young age, I knew what I had been gifted with, and was made to train until I had full control of it. Made to train until we knew the full extent of the power that was given to me. Hatred rose up in me as I thought of my father’s methods and how close I had come to death by his hand until I could control the power that raged through me. There was no love between my father and I for this reason.

  After all, that was all my father was about, power and control. It made me wonder how she had avoided his radar for so long and what she had done to have herself put here. Not only that, but how had she gone so long before being sent away, considering her powers were unchecked.

  The bell signaling the end of class rang and I smirked as the professor held her back. Served her right for thinking just because she was with Calex she could do whatever the fuck she wanted. I sneered at their backs on the way out of the door, of course it went unnoticed as Calex blocked her from view, but it made me feel better, even for a moment.

  “Jaxon!” Carmen demanded as we entered the hallway making me blink my attention back to her.

  “Are you listening to a word I’m saying?” she snapped.

  “Of course I am. I was just distracted, what’s up?”

  She leaned forward and draped herself over me. “I wanted to make sure we were still good for tonight,” she pouted.

  I placed my hands on her hips and looked at her for a moment, trying to choose my words carefully. “I’m sorry, I can’t tonight,” I told her truthfully.

  “Can’t or won’t?” she demanded, her eyes darkening dangerously.

  “Can’t. The headmaster gave me an assignment, and you know I can’t refuse him,” I shrugged.

  “You know you can slip by for a quickie,” she drew my lip between her teeth and for the first time I noticed it did absolutely nothing for me.

  I reached up and pulled her arms from around my neck. “I can’t Carmen. And it looks like this assignment will keep me busy for a little while,” I feigned a frown as I moved her back a step. I knew that this would piss her off, but it was better to get it over with now.

  “Are you fucking kidding me? You’re going to let him do that to you?” she glared at me as she stomped her foot in her tantrum.

  “We both know I have no choice in the matter. We’ll still get to see each other, just the extra activities will have to be on hold for a little while,” I tried to placate her, but the small growl she let out told me it wasn’t working. Damn, I really didn’t want to deal with her drama on top of everything else.

  “It’s the fucking new girl isn’t it?” she snarled, her nostrils flaring as her anger rose. I hesitated, unsure of how exactly to answer because she was right, but for the wrong reasons. “You will regret this Jaxon,” she snapped as she spun from me, her uniform twirling around her before she stomped down the hall.

  I let out a sigh as I trailed after her, it was better I got it over with sooner rather than later. She would have found out eventually, almost nothing remained a secret in this hellhole. It was better she heard it from me than someone else, even if now I had to be on the lookout since she thought I was choosing someone else over her.

  I took my seat for the next class, and the professor took out his taser and dropped it on his desk with a sneer at all of us. It was a clear warning to not act up as that taser would temporarily remove someone’s magic and we would end up in solitary to top it off. He pulled out his magazine and kicked back in his chair, that would be the most interaction we would get from this douche bag for the next hour.

  Carmen glared at me from the opposite side of the classroom, and everyone wisely stayed clear of her. It seemed I wasn’t the only one to know how she got when she lashed out like this. It was only a matter of time until she exploded, unless my Father actually did what he said he would for once and distracted her before we all paid for his games.

  Guilt began to seep in as I thought about the reason for Carmen’s anger. The new girl had zero clue what to expect from Carmen, and I doubted she had any clue that she was even upset with her. I should probably give her some sort of heads up, so she wasn’t blindsided.

  After class was almost over, the very person that had been running through my mind came through the door under the arm of Calex. She barely glanced in my direction as he led her to a seat and my previous guilt retreated. If she wanted to put herself in with the likes of him, then she could fend for her fucking self. I sure as hell hoped she was a fast learner, because with Carmen, she was going to need every ounce of power she could pull out of that sexy little frame of hers.

  The bell rang and after that the rest of my day seemed to breeze by. Before I knew it, it was time to go meet with Eva for her first lesson. I made my way to our assigned room and entered to find her already sitting on a desk waiting and looking nervous. Great, this was going to go oh so well.

  I strolled halfway across the room and paused as I looked her over. She looked up at me with those large bright eyes of hers and it struck me hard, desire punching me in the gut like never before. Her lower lip quivered as she looked at me and I could feel her uncertainty rolling off her in waves. Her fists gripped the edge of the table and I glanced down, for a moment wishing I had given her a reason for her knuckles to turn white.

  Instead I saw the ice forming across her fingertips and it snapped me out of my lust induced stupor, filling me with irritation instead.

  “Don’t think I’m here by choice,” I shook my head and narrowed my eyes on her. “I’m here because people like you make people like me look like shit.” I knew I wasn’t being nice, but it sure as hell beat the alternative.

  “And you think I am?” she stared at me incredulously. “You think I chose to come to this fucking hellhole?” She stood up from the desk, her hands balled at her sides as she stalked toward me. Her eyes blazed, the turquoise becoming luminescent in her anger as she closed in on me. I took a step back at the show of power yet still she had my dick twitching in excitement at the same time.

  Ice shards poured from her hands to the ground at her feet and I watched, astonished as it made a trail behind her as she crossed the room. The jagged shards jutted out from the stone floor, deadly as they glinted under the light from the room. The crystals of ice reached higher the closer she came to me, the threat even more real as they slammed from her hands reaching her waist now.

  I stared at her in bewilderment, how did she go unchecked so long? Not only were her powers uncontrolled, but she had to have an enormous amount within her to be able to create so much ice and remain completely unaffected by the energy it took. How the fuck was she so stunning? I shook the last thought from my head, I didn’t need to be thinking about shit like that.

  “You think I chose to be locked up my entire life, away from everyone and everything? To have people fear me because they didn’t know when I might snap? You think I chose to never actually be able to control this?” she emphasized the last word as she flung her hands out to the side and an icy wind blasted across the room, covering the desks and walls in a sheen of frost so thick it looked like a winter wonderland that rivaled my father’s.

  The ice now crept up her arms, encasing her all the way to her elbows and she trembled as she fi
nally came to a stop in front of me, but something told me it wasn’t from the cold. Instead it came from a place of fear and anger mixed together, both forcing her to lose control of her magic.

  “Look, Eva. I’m sorry,” I attempted to soothe her. She needed to get control of this before it became too much for her. I had heard stories growing up of ice magic consuming a person and freezing their very heart. I wasn’t sure if they were true, or simply stories to scare me into controlling mine. Either way, I didn’t want to risk it. “I think we got off on the wrong foot.”

  She looked at me as a tear fell from her eye and froze to her cheek. “You think?” her shoulders sagged and a gentle snow began to fall around us. The cold had begun to make its way further up her arms, though now it wasn't shards of ice encasing her on its journey toward her shoulders. Instead, beautiful, mesmerizing snowflake crystals began to form their geometrical pattern across her skin.

  “I shouldn’t have-” I paused, not knowing exactly what to make of what was happening, or of her and I knew I needed to choose my words wisely. “I shouldn’t have assumed,” I admitted. “Let’s start over.”

  Her grief filled eyes met mine and wrenched at something buried deep in my heart. “I’m sorry,” she sobbed just as she crumpled to the ground at my feet, the snow stopping around us as she did.

  “Eva!” I jumped toward her and caught her right before she hit the jagged shards of ice around her feet. The sharp ice cut into my skin but I held her up, not wanting her to get hurt. I was of the ice fae, my wound would heal before the hour. I had no clue what she was after this little display of hers, other than someone of immense power.

  Gently I scooped her up and moved her to the far side of the room, where it was just covered in frost and laid her down. I stared at her closed eyes for a moment, wondering what the hell I should do now? I had always been taught to control my magic, not come back from the brink of it.