Page 17 of Fortune Academy: Year Three
Then I remembered, this room was reserved for royalty and my mother had multiple partners, just like me. She had been the Champion of the First Echo of Calamity and had once faced a similar plight. I wondered if it had been like this for her. If all her mates had been so… difficult.
Scanning the room, I found a delicate orb garnishment sitting on the desk.
Bingo.
I grabbed it and hauled it back to slam it to the ground. I wanted to break something, watch an object shatter into a thousand little pieces so I didn’t have to think about what was happening to my heart.
My arm jerked back as somebody grabbed my wrist from behind and I would have screamed, but another hand clamped around my mouth.
Fear surged, then the aroma of blood and roses wound all around me, followed by a familiar chill as fog curled around my ankles.
Well, it seemed that my Dark Mage had invited himself in.
Hendrik leaned into my neck and took in a deep breath, inhaling my scent. “I wouldn’t break that orb, my pet. You don’t want to unleash the spirits within, now do you?”
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing here?” I snapped as I wriggled free of him. A dark portal where he’d entered my room shimmered in the air, then vanished. That was a new trick.
Hendrik reclaimed the orb from me and handled it as if it was an explosive device. He gently set it back onto the divot in the desk. “Saving you from witch spirits, it seems.” He flashed me a smug grin. “You really should pay more attention in class. This is a witch orb, pet. You know what that means, don’t you?” When I blankly stared at him, he sighed and explained. “Demons make deals with witches and when the witch dies, her soul goes to Hell. Those demons like to trap multiple souls within objects and use them to scry, or cast powerful spells.”
“Then what’s it doing here?” I asked, hugging my arms as I sank onto the edge of the bed. I didn’t have the fight to put up with Hendrik right now. Maybe I was losing my mind, or maybe I just didn’t want to be alone. Either way, I just felttired.
He shrugged as he patted the orb then came and joined me on the bed. He didn’t touch me, just smiled at me with a look of adoration that would have been sweet, had he not looked so damn smug about himself. “You’re a princess of Hell, or has that not fully sunk in yet?” His dark gaze swept over me and even with all my clothes on, I felt suddenly very naked. My poor uniform had endured a rough go of it. My shirt suffered holes from hellfire and frayed threads made it practically see-through. My skirt ran up my long legs, always a bit too short because of my height. No uniform seemed to properly fit me. And then I’d given up on underwear after my latest session with Kaito.
And Logan… and Dante.
Damn, yeah. I need a shower.
I sighed. “I don’t feel like a princess, and really, I don’t care. I just want to wash up and then go to bed.”
Hendrik smiled. “Your wish is my command.” He tapped my nose. “We’ll get to work on both of those—in that order.”
Without another word, he threaded his fingers through mine and guided me to the bathroom. The floor transitioned into porcelain tiles and I gasped as we turned the corner into the rest of the suite. The room opened up into a gorgeous layout boasting a long tub—more like a pool—that sank into the floor. Ruby gems glittered, making the thin layer of water at the bottom look like glittering blood.
Hendrik surveyed the room, then went to a panel on the wall. He hummed with thought, then pressed one of the larger buttons. A hiss sounded through the walls and then water trickled from the ceiling over rocks. It steamed on its way down until it slowly began filling the basin.
Hendrik whistled. “Well, I guess this beats hot springs. Hellfire-warmed waters sounds damn good right about now.” He peeled off his robe, and then began working at his pants zipper.
My eyes widened. “What do you think you’re doing?”
He continued to remove his clothes, never taking his gaze off of mine as he revealed lean muscles and gorgeous, biteable skin that made me lick my lips. “You said you wanted a bath, then bed.” He grinned, those eerie black eyes reflecting my warmed face. “I’m one of your Virtues, am I not? Surely that includes me.”
He didn’t wait for me to reply. Instead he slipped into the pool that was already halfway full. He hissed in a breath. “Oh sweet flames, this is amazing.” He swept in a circle, sending gentle ripples around him in the red glittering waters. “Come, pet. Don’t fight it. Just enjoy this with me.”
Unable to resist, I took off my clothes and folded them neatly in the corner. I tried not to pay attention to Hendrik who shamelessly watched me, but he was right about one thing. He was one of my Virtues and I should feel comfortable getting naked in front of him.
Except, excitement ran through me as I slipped into the warm water. It slid up my legs like velvet and encased me in warmth as I approached the mage. I couldn’t help but relax as the waters broke down my defenses.
Hendrik wrapped his arms around my middle and guided me to one of the edges that acted as a seat in the bath. He wrapped my legs around his waist and pulled me over him. Even though his cock was already hard and pressed on my delicate flesh, he didn’t move to penetrate me. Instead, he took one of the bars of soap—red, of course—and lathered it over my shoulders, my chest, and smiled up at me as I watched him. “You said you wanted to be clean, so I’m helping you, pet.”
“Hmm,” I said, leaning against him as my eyelids drooped. “You still think of me as a pet, huh? Even after everything we’ve been through?” My claws came out as I trailed a sharp talon across his neck. “Maybe you’re really my pet, my handsome mage.”
His dark eyes glanced up at me as a deep red aura blossomed from within, giving him a soft iris so that I could finally feel like I could match his gaze. It pained me how empty and void his eyes always were, a result of being a soulless creature, but Hendrik had more spirit in him than most supernaturals I knew. Maybe, one day, I could give him his soul back like I had for Olivia.
“Maybe,” he agreed, replying to my tease. He still held the soap as he ran it down my spine, reaching my ass and pulling me closer to him. With nothing to impede our bodies, his cock pressed hard against my clit, making me gasp. Hendrik grinned. “But that doesn’t change anything. I still own you, Lily.”
Hendrik rarely used my name, and right now he was driving me absolutely crazy. My body hummed with renewed need. Not just him, but for all of my Virtues. Kaito was right that our mate-bond was becoming insufferably tighter and it clamped around my body like a vice. I needed a release from this building pressure and I was tired of my Virtues calling the shots.
“Don’t get so full of yourself,” I said as I lifted my hips and positioned myself on top of him. I slipped him inside of me, deciding to claim what wasmine,not his. I released a short gasp as I slid down, filling myself with his girth. “I take you when I want to take you,” I told him, pleasuring myself on his cock as his muscles flexed against me. I rested both hands on his shoulders, demonstrating my claim as I grazed my claws over his skin, drawing blood. “And you’re my pet now, Hendrik. One who needs to be trained.”
