Void(77)

My chest collapsed against the top of the teacher’s desk, utterly exhausted but totally satiated. My Void had dispersed with my release, and the constant arousal and hunger I’d felt since the vampire attack was finally gone.

But we didn’t have time for post-coital bliss or even awkward detaching. Because suddenly, we heard a mass of footsteps heading our way—dozens of student voices filling the hall.

“Shit!”

Gritt straightened, slipping out of me, making his seed drip down my thighs. He yanked his boxers and pants up, and then grabbed my arm to help me stand. But when I stumbled on shaky legs, he gave up on letting me stand on my own and picked me up. He snatched up my bag and ran for the exit on the other side of the room. We barely got the door open and slipped out before we heard the professor and students enter in at the other side.

“Who the hell was having sex in my damn classroom?” the professor yelled, sounding annoyed. Clearly, he was a shifter or vampire to be able to smell it.

I had to slap a hand over my mouth the keep from laughing as Gritt rushed us down the hall. He smirked down at me. “Think that’s funny?”

I nodded, beaming. “Yep.”

“You won’t think it’s funny when I take you up against the wall while my cum is still inside of you.”

My face flamed with heat. “We...we’re fully bonded now, aren’t we?”

He slowed his steps to a stop, and then set me down on my feet. My skirt was askew, so I twisted it and pulled it down, noticing that my panties were completely missing. There was no way in hell I was going back in the classroom to get them.

“We are bonded,” Gritt finally answered, seeming unsure how he should feel about that.

All of the previous lightheartedness was gone, replaced with tricklings of dread. His expression...the way he wouldn’t quite look at me, it made the fullness of my Void churn with nausea.

“I gotta go,” he said abruptly, pushing away from the wall and walking away.

I frowned. “But—”

He rounded a corner, disappearing from view before I could even get a whole sentence out. I stared in shock at the space he’d been, my mind running a million miles an hour.

I could feel the bond in my fingertips, like little warm pinpricks. I wasn’t sure how I knew what it was, but I did. The intense pull—the attraction, it had been unstoppable. I think my Void would have lashed out with or without me if I hadn’t given in and fed from Gritt eventually, and my body would’ve snapped from its need for him. It was ludicrous, but that’s how it had felt. Like I’d needed him in every possible way. I didn’t understand any of this. My life was turned upside down.

Did I have a new shifter mate who regretted me? I thought he’d decided he was past all of that, but maybe not. We’d obviously both been driven to each other from powers outside of our control, and our lust had been off the charts, but fuck. For once, I thought I’d actually been wanted. Chosen. And now, I was left behind again.





Chapter 19





“Did you get my note?” Quade asked before sitting beside me. His tray was stacked high with food, and he started lifting up forkfuls of spaghetti and distributing it on my plate, which only had—surprise, surprise—oatmeal.

“The ominous I’m coming for you stalker letter you left on Betty? Yeah, I got it. Also got a restraining order, too.”

Quade twisted to look at me and frowned. “Yeah, okay. I deserved that. I’m sorry for the kiss. I wanted to talk, but then your Dad showed up and—”

“And you had to run away like your ass was on fire?” I supplied helpfully.

“You know he could have literally set my ass on fire, right? Your Dad is one scary motherfucker,” Quade replied while stuffing noodles into his mouth. “You forget, I saw what he did to that door-to-door salesman in third grade when he’d stopped by to visit you.”

“Oh gods, the one selling vacuums?” I snorted before tipping my head back in laughter.

“Your father set every damn vacuum he had on fire and then convinced him to join in on a risky business venture,” Quade added, making my laughter kick up a notch.

I nodded. “The guy ended up being a millionaire. Owns sex toy shops across the country.”

We both spoke at the same time, “The Fiery Suck and Blow!” We both broke out into a fit of laughter.

Quade’s muscular shoulders shook as he chuckled, and I had to use a napkin to wipe the tears escaping the corners of my eyes. This was nice, joking with an old friend. It almost felt so normal that it caught me off guard. I didn’t even care that everyone was staring at us or that the elementals looked particularly pissed off at Quade giving me nice attention. I wasn’t going to let them spoil this moment.

“Are we actually having a pleasant conversation?” I asked before picking up my fork and digging into the pile of spaghetti on my plate.

Quade calmed his laughter and gave me a warm once over, his eyes traveling over my bare shoulders, thanks to the tank top I was wearing. I hated the school uniforms, and the moment the last class for the day let out, I ran back to the cabin and changed. “I think we are,” he replied in a husky voice.

A commotion at the front of the cafeteria caught my attention, and my eyes were drawn to Gritt, who was standing in front of the shifter table, clutching his silverware so tightly that it bent. “He’s a jealous one,” Quade observed before waving over at the angry shifter with twinkling fingers.