Page 133 of House of Pain
“You might still get a chance to catch us in acompromisingposition,” Val said. She winked and then strode towards the door.
There was something in the Dean’s face, the way his eyes flickered as he watched Val walk out of his office, that left an uneasy feeling deep inside Alecto’s stomach.
She wasn’t sure whether it was lust or hate or something in between. But whatever that was, it couldn’t mean anything good for Val or the Snakes.
43
On a rainy Monday morning, Alecto sat at the very back of the History of the Sexuality of Witches class, Rogue dozing off by her side as Professor Fallo read an excerpt from theDiaries of Hell Galliano.
Alecto had already finished the book.
In fact, she had read it twice, the first time for the class and the second time highlighting and annotating it for her own personal use.Surely, there were tons of secrets to learn from the woman so powerful and influential in the bedroom that she managed to cause a war.
As the professor’s calm voice recited the words from the page, Alecto found her mind wandering off to places it shouldn’t have.
Like Blaze a few desks ahead of her.
He leaned back in his chair, long legs sprawled in front of him, head slightly tilted backwards. Val sat very, very close to him, her knee pressed into his thigh.
There was a sudden pressure building in Alecto’s chest, the feeling of dread and something else clawing its way out, but she couldn’t look away.
She watched as Val leaned into Blaze, whispering something in his ear, her lips brushing his skin. He then turned his head to her, and Alecto had a view of half his face, his smile as his eyes jumped from Val’s eyes to her lips.
His eyelashes were so long they brushed his cheeks when he gazed down, and the way his lips curled, soft yet cruel at the same time, should have been fucking illegal.
Alecto had to swallow bitter fire rising in her throat as Val slipped a hand under their desk, casually planting it over his thigh.
Blaze didn’t react, letting her have her way, Val’s hand moving up and down, clearly on a mission to do something rather inappropriate.
Alecto gripped her pen harder, anger surfacing, yet she couldn’t figure out why. What did she care if Val and Blaze did whatever the fuck they did?
It was not news, she knew about their affairs last year, and she knew it at the start of this year. Yet now it hit rather close to home.
Alecto cursed herself.
She was stupid enough to let herself think that whatever game they were playing, it was just between them. That having Blaze succumb to her touch the way he did back in the library meant something more.
Don’t ever do this again.
Many women misunderstood the true meaning of blow jobs. They viewed it as something degrading, something that would only please the man whose cock they had between their lips.
But that was not true.
Sometimes, surrendering your power made you more powerful. Sometimes, submitting to someone else physically meant dominating their heart.
After that night, Alecto convinced herself that there was something in Blaze that wanted her.
Hel, even after he dragged her to the forest and left her to die, she was still convinced that maybe the reason he always seemed to find ways to hurt her was because he couldn’t deal with his own desires.
She was a fucking fool. Witches couldn’t feel anything except cruel satisfaction when they tortured others.
Blaze glanced back over his shoulder, as if feeling Alecto’s gaze, and for a moment, their eyes met. Alecto turned her attention to the professor, who had stopped reading.
“So, can someone tell me what Galliano meant with this quote: ‘Our souls didn’t care for the obstacles built in their way. They’re meant to wander through time and space, knowing their direction altogether, never having to stop and doubt their way’?” she asked, scanning the class.
As per usual, no hands rose.
Alecto lowered her head, glaring at the pen clenched between her fingers so hard it hurt.
