Magic Academy (A Fantasy New Adult Romance) (21 page)

She tried to call out but instead she
found herself calling out “Mae’lin!” into her own
bedroom, the shimmering light show of her familiar as bright as ever
as she stood alone.

The tears in her eyes made the glitter
even brighter and she fell to the bed, frustrated. Tossing her books
aside she lay back at the mattress, staring at the ceiling as she
sobbed herself to sleep.

The sound of thunder reverberated all
around her, the heavy pelting of rain beating upon Firia’s form
as she pressed on through the rocky hills. She knew the place, knew
it well. She’d explored the hills to the west many times
growing up, the lonesome treks through the woods up into the hills to
see the valley below were another lonely experience of her time
growing up.

She’d had good times doing it,
discovered curious wildlife, played with magic. However, it was dark
and the storm was biting through her, the thin clothes she wore not
enough to keep the chilly fangs of ice from biting through her.

She cowered from the first two strikes
of lightning, but on the third she managed to keep her head up, and
in the dark of the night she saw the outline of something ahead.

“Something” was about as
specific as she could get, for it could’ve been a person, a
monster, or merely a pile of rocks. The flash of light was too brief.

What wasn’t too brief for her,
however, was the sense of terror. She was alone. Abandoned.

With desperation in her veins she took
off as fast as she could, but the way was rough going. The stones
jagged and uneven, though as the lightning flashed again and she
looked behind and saw it closer, gaining ground!

All her friends had abandoned her; she
was on her own. Even if she got away from that thing she’d
probably freeze to death, the realization sank into her deeply.

The panic of that thought made her
trip, her ankle twisted and she fell, a rock gouging into her leg as
she landed.

While over her it looked. It’s
silhouette large, ominous. Terrifying.

She tried to remain still and quiet,
hoping that it couldn’t see her shivering form. There was no
fleeing or escaping, not with the sharp pains that traveled her ankle
and calf. There was nothing left, nothing she could do to escape the
thing that threatened her.

As he bent towards her, its great
visage blocked out the rain, and she was able to see clearer. The
ruddy-dark flesh of Varuj as she’d first encountered him
entered her view as he picked her up in his mighty arms. The heat of
his body was so prominent and soothing as he cradled her against the
storm.

“I won’t abandon you,”
he said in his deep, rumbling voice.

Her arms went around him and she wasn’t
sure if it was the rain or tears that streamed down her face. She
couldn’t recall ever feeling such relief, such warmth flood
over her. He saved her from the rain, but also that crushing
loneliness and her fingers clutched him almost painfully tight.

Cradled against that massive, broad
chest, only the heat radiating off his hard muscles to warm her, she
was carried through the storm by the giant demon. The pelting rain
was blocked from her by his form, and the more she saw his broad,
masculine face, the less terrifying it seemed.

The prominent horns in his head and
chin, so pitch black, were less and less intimidating as he brought
her to the shelter of a cave, the howling of the wind behind them.
“You’re safe now,” he said in that gravelly voice,
a warm little smile formed on those thick lips of his, the fiery eyes
less like pits of hell and more like warming flames.

She just wanted to be close to him, to
feel not only the physical heat but the emotional as well. She hadn’t
realized how frail she felt, how lonely she was. She’d managed
for so long on her own, with her friends, but they couldn’t
understand her.

Not like he could.

With tender care, the giant fiend knelt
down, holding her in his arms as he sat back, sheltering her even
from the cold draft that emanated from the cave entrance. With a soft
kiss to her forehead, he nuzzled against her clammy face, the
unearthly heat so pleasant as he rubbed his hands along the length of
her calf and thigh, her forearm and bicep.

“All might leave you, but I
wouldn’t. The world might fall apart, but I would snatch you up
from it and save you, Firi,” he husked to her lowly in such a
loving voice, so ill-fitted to his demonic rumble.

Just the reverberations of his words
soothed her and she nodded against his body. It felt so right, so
natural. So peaceful.

Nothing else mattered except for this
moment.

The radiance of his hard, muscular
body, the tender friction of his strong hands. The sweet kiss of his
lips as they pressed to her forehead, her nose. Her lips. It all
warmed her so deeply, and he squeezed her a little tighter. “I
love you,” came his words.

She awoke then to a loud snap, a
terrifying crack, her familiar battling the wards at a greater
intensity than she had seen it ever before. It was almost frightening
to behold, if not for what she knew it portended.

Her breath was so much faster and she
pulled back on her bed, curling into the corner. She still managed to
feel so loved, despite the alarm she felt. She tried to slow her
pulse, to calm her mind, but her entire body screamed with desire.

With a near blinding flash of light she
heard the last of the wards give way and cave in. The burst of
magical energy made the little hairs on the back of her arms stand on
end.

It was done. The wards were gone…

Her familiar swirled faster, and she
felt it subsuming the excess energy in the air before reforming back
into the familiar fox she was so used to. It lay down immediately,
looking weary. Exhausted.

The darkness that took over the room
then was so complete. The room had been so excessively bright since
she’d started assaulting those wards, but…

She heard something move. A small
little flicker of light from the corner of the room lit up, and shed
just a smidgen of light upon a man’s visage.

The orb of reddish light grew, and as
he stepped closer she saw the familiar sight of Varuj. Not as he had
been in her dream, but youthful, lean. His smooth chest on display
from beneath his robe as he smiled at her lightly. “I’ve
missed you so badly, Firi.”

How could she have forgotten how much
she enjoyed his presence? His company?

She swiftly jumped from the bed and
leapt to his arms, hugging him tight. The first day, when she
realized she hadn’t felt him, she’d been so afraid but
she pushed it down. Hoped for the best.

Now that he was back with her, though,
she was surprised by how badly she needed his comfort.

Varuj released the orb to float by
itself and put his own two arms around her, holding her up off the
floor as he squeezed her tight. His natural heat radiated through
her, though only a fraction of what it was when he cradled her in his
original form in her dream.

“It’s okay,” he
muttered to her in that charming accent, kissing the side of her
head, her hair. His one hand stroked over her black strands down her
back and he took her back to the bed, lowering themselves both down
to it, but not parting from her. “It has been too long, sweet
Firi,” he murmured.

“Are you hungry?” Her voice
was still hoarse from sleep, but it was the first thing that occurred
to her. He’d been lost so long, within her body. Within her
soul? She didn’t quite understand it but she knew that he was
trapped inside her.

He pulled back from her just enough to
rub his hand over her cheek and smile at her longingly. “Yes,”
he said, “but it can wait. I am just so glad to be back with
you. I long to hear about all your trials and tribulations without
me. To know all I have missed about you, sweet Firi.” He leaned
in and kissed her gently upon her cheek, just lightly touching the
corner of her lips.

The touch of his mouth was so sweet,
not like Bran’s. It was so warm, loving, and… invited.
Not like that young wizard’s had been.

Yet it still made her breath hitch and
her cheeks turn pinkish as her face dropped. “I didn’t
realize how much I didn’t know until I got here. I’ve
been… struggling.”

With a smooth motion Varuj moved back
to the corner where her bed met the wall and cradled her against him
so comfortably. Her head rested to his chest and he stroked her hair
with loving repetition. “If only we had more time for me to
show you the things I know. But we shall… sweet Firi, I shall
show you.”

“Now that you’re back.”
It felt like she was at home now. At peace. Like she was somehow
complete once more, and she clung to him like a child as she began
telling him about her studies. Her issues with the professors, how
dire it was for her to pass.

Yet she never mentioned the vivid
dreams, nor her experience the day before with Bran and Mae’lin.

She just couldn’t bring herself
to express what she was feeling about all of it. She could barely
make sense of it in her own mind, let alone verbalize it to him.

To Varuj.

Her demon.

It must have nearly been daybreak by
the time she finished her long story of life at the academy, and he
had listened to every word of it with rapt attention, combing his
fingers through her hair again and again in such a soothing manner.
Showering her head and face with soft, caring kisses from time to
time throughout.

“You have struggled so long and
hard, yet it has only just begun with your entry into the academy,”
he said with a soft sigh. “You have been brave and diligent
without me, sweet Firi. But you no longer need go it alone.”

His words filled her with gratitude and
reassured her of what she already knew.

He’d never abandon her. He’d
never misunderstand her.

He was a part of her, wasn’t he?

With gentle care he tilted her face up
towards him, showed her his dazzling, handsome smile before placing a
soft kiss on her lips. “We shall take pains not to be
‘separated’ again, no?” he remarked before pressing
his mouth to hers once more, lingering there in warmth and closeness.

Perhaps it was the drowsiness, the
excitement of having him back. Maybe it was all of the stress and
anguish that simply made her body more responsive, but she didn’t
pull away from him. It wasn’t with the shock and surprise as it
had been with Bran.

This time it was because it somehow
felt right and natural. Welcomed.

She trembled in his arms and tugged
herself closer before her lips left his and she stared at him with
lidded eyes.

What am I doing?

Varuj had the looks of a dashing
foreign prince, his sleek black hair framing such handsome, smooth
features. Yet when he smiled at her then, it made him look so caring
– no, loving – rather than suave. “Go and get me
some food, sweet Firi. I am famished after so long.” He stroked
his hand over her cheek and along her jawline, “Do hurry back,
please.”

She scrambled from his arms, and it was
only then she realized how little she was wearing. The light
nightgown was so much less proper than what she usually wore but
she’d been so excited. So desperate.

Quickly she threw on her robe and she
was grateful for a chance to get away from him, even if she longed to
be with him. She felt like she was being torn into pieces, uncertain
of what to do next. For so long she’d been alone, and now she
was being forced to choose between three men.

Well… two and a demon.

She exited her room, the night’s
curfew ended it seemed, and she confirmed why when she exited out
into the light of morning outside.

The eating hall was open, as she’d
been told it was round the clock, and she was able to go in and beat
the lines to retrieve a rather generous assortment of meaty foods to
Varuj’s liking. Only a couple people out of the whole of the
academy occupied the great dining hall, and none seemed to pay her
any mind as she made her way out, pockets and satchel stuffed with
food.

When she returned, she took a deep
breath then pushed open the door, heading back into her room. What
she saw then, stole her breath, however.

Absolutely bare, the ruddy-brown demon
stood with his robes hanging down from his elbows as he inspected
himself in the mirror. The fullness of his nude form on display in
profile, from his lean, hard chest which she’d become so
familiar with, down across the firm abs and beyond a small, neatly
trimmed tuft of pubic hair to a gorgeous piece of manhood.

He wasn’t even erect, but it
looked so large to her eyes, and rested above powerful thighs that
looked like they belonged to a long-distance runner.

She stared, dumbfounded. She knew she
should apologize, close the door. Hide her face. Maybe never even
tell him that she’d intruded.

But she couldn’t do any of that.
She was transfixed, and it felt like hours passed as she watched him
inspecting himself.

It was very nearly hypnotic, for he was
the picture of male beauty. She saw as he licked his own full lips,
ran his fingers down over his chest, across his abs and…

It twitched. That organ swelling with
life and growing so fast before her very eyes.

It distracted her, and she didn’t
notice anything else until he pulled his robe back closed, covering
the thick organ before it reached its fullness. He turned then as he
knotted his cloth belt and smiled. “Ah, welcome back,” he
said as he approached her so casually. He didn’t know she was
watching. Did he?

Certainly he could figure it out by how
red her face was, by how she refused to look him in the eyes as she
brushed past him to lay out his breakfast. “Thanks.” She
felt like slapping herself. Thanks? Thanks for what? For the welcome
back?