There was a pause, then some kind of silent signal had all of the hands leaving my body, making me feel bereft and alone. Cool air tickled my body, making me painfully aware of their loss. When hands parted my inner thighs and the lightest tickle of breath washed against my core, I squirmed again trying to get closer.

  Low masculine chuckles filled the air, and whoever my tormenter was apparently wasn’t in the mood to deny either of us any longer. A tongue swiped out, licking me in firm, long strokes that drove me higher and higher till I was fisting the sheets and writhing like a wild thing. Then, when I thought I could take no more, my lover started interspersing his licks with tiny nips and short, punishing sucks to the area around my clit, sending fireworks shooting behind my eyelids as I begged with my body for just a little more to send me over.

  Mercifully, they obliged, sending me screaming to the stars with a single suck directly over the aching bud. The orgasm left me a quivering, aching pile of jelly and I knew I’d feel the ache in my muscles in the morning.

  The bed jostled, and before I could prepare myself, a new mouth took over my core, the tongue drawing lava directly over my clit in a way that had me tensing all over again in a ridiculously short time. Strong hands held me down and my legs open as I bucked against the intensity of the feeling, trying to get away from an avalanche of sensation that I knew would rip me apart. But there was no mercy, no reprieve from the mouth on my core and I convulsed against the mattress as the second orgasm tore through me.

  “You win, but only by a second,” Jin announced as I lay spread eagled on the covers, wetness streaming down my thighs. “Of course, if I’d have participated, I’d have blown both of you clear out of the water.”

  The blindfold was taken off and I blinked upwards into Kain’s chocolate eyes. “Your ass is mine, Sunshine.”

  “Time for part two.” Aeron didn’t look nearly as disgruntled as I thought he would, his eyes raked over my naked body hungrily instead of glaring at Kain. “After all, our baby girl has combat tomorrow.”

  “Come here, Pet.” Jin was sat on the bed against the pillows, cock standing proudly up from his body as he watched me with eyes gone dark with passion. “I want you to ride me whilst Kain plays with your pretty ass.”

  I crawled my way up, exhausted but still craving his touch. When I grabbed his dick and pumped, feeling the velvet-covered steel of him pulse in excitement, he bit off a curse and pulled me closer. I took him slowly, trying to adjust to the size of him whilst someone started playing with my ass cheeks from behind. When I finally had all of him inside of me, our mating bond vibrating between us like a living thing, Jin latched on to one nipple, sucking, nipping and twirling it with his tongue before switching breasts.

  “God.” My head fell backwards as I pumped myself along his length, seeking out the delicious friction that my body craved.

  When a cold dollop of lube landed between my ass cheeks and Jin pulled me flush against his chest, I clenched involuntarily.

  “Relax for me, Sunshine.” Kain gently massaged the virgin rosette with his thumb, then carefully added a finger, dipping it past my clenched ass to the first knuckle. “Breathe out. You’re going to love this, I promise.”

  He coaxed me into relaxing against him as Jin pumped into me in shallow thrusts that were in counterpoint to Kain’s fingers. Jin’s familiar feel helped me relax against the strange sensations wreaking havoc on my body. Slowly, oh so slowly, I started to realise I liked what he was doing more than I’d thought I would. I’d had plugs before, and this surely couldn’t be so different, could it? When he’d stretched me enough, he withdrew, and I heard the squirt of more lube before I felt the broad crown of his cock take the place of his fingers. But he paused before continuing, waiting for me.

  “Do it.” I pushed back, but only succeeded in making the head of his dick slide over the sensitive area, making us both groan. “I want you in my ass, Kain.”

  My mating bonds buzzed beneath my skin, soothing the nerves that would have had me resist his entry. When the head popped through my tight ring of muscle, Kain rubbed my back softly. “God you’re so tight, Sunshine, your ass is hugging me just right.” He forged forward a little more. “Do you like what I’m doing to you?”

  “Yes,” I moaned, pressing back again, but Kain wouldn’t be rushed. His slow entry tortured me, the slight burn competed with the sensation of being so incredibly full and the buzz of our mating bonds for my attention. All three sensations amplifying one another and driving me crazy with want.

  Long elegant fingers on my chin guided me to Aeron’s cock, bobbing eagerly near my face.

  “Feel like taking one more, baby girl?” he asked, stroking my cheek lightly with those clever fingers, his yellow eyes hooded as I responded by lovingly tonguing the crown of his dick.

  I kissed and licked and sucked teasingly around the head, never taking him fully inside as he wanted until Kain finally bottomed out inside of me and I opened my mouth on a gasp. Aeron took advantage, forging forward with his cock.

  “You’re like a goddess,” he whispered as I worked my mouth up and down his length. “So damned sexy.”

  “So full of our cocks,” Kain added, pulling back and starting to move.

  I moaned around Aeron as Jin and Kain started thrusting in tandem, one of them sliding out as the other slid in. My body felt full to bursting point, the delicious friction of Jin and Kain moving against one another inside of me sending fire racing up my spine. A trickle of power floated over my skin as I swiped a pearly bead of pre-cum from the tip of Aeron’s dick, savouring the musky flavour of him as his eyes held mine captive.

  Kain whispered dirty words in my ear, playing with my imagination till I shook like a wild thing between them. Some hidden signal passed between the men, and all three of them sped up. Moving with unapologetically powerful thrusts that drove me to my third orgasm of the evening, my body clenching on all three of them, demanding what they had to give me.

  Aeron came first, and I managed to ride out the influx of power from him, only to be knocked out as Jin and Kain finally fell over the edge with matching roars of pleasure. The last thing I remembered feeling was feather-light kisses on my skin and whispered goodnights.

  When I woke in the morning, Kain and Aeron had gone, leaving me cuddled up with Jin. My Sloth mate was so warm, and I pressed myself further into his body, trying to absorb some of that heat.

  My alarm went off before I could wake up properly, and Jin turned over, sleepy eyes giving me an adorable soft look. “Good morning.” He stretched against the bed.

  “I want to go back to sleep.” I snuggled into him, pulling the covers over my head as I recalled what awaited me today.

  But Jin was in an uncommonly chipper mood, pulling the covers away and lifting me up. “Come on, Pet, there’s still time to enjoy a nice quick shower before breakfast.”

  Jin’s definition of a quick shower ended up making us twenty minutes late for breakfast. For the lesson, we were required to wear black tank tops and tracksuit bottoms with trainers, and it was the only time we were permitted to not wear uniform on the school grounds. Jin had braided my hair tightly before we left, and Onyx and Ivory used the long rope of it to swing on as we made our way into Hadrian’s gym in the centre of the castle. Rina, Bane, Daron and I were all quiet, likely all wondering what the hell we’d gotten ourselves in for, but Kain, Jin and Aeron were smack talking one another looking pumped and ready.

  Hadrian’s class was held inside a tall gym that I wasn’t even aware existed until Bane led the group through the double doors. There wasn’t a safety mat in sight, or a punching bag nor any other equipment I might expect from a combat gym. Instead, the Olympic swimming pool sized room was glaringly empty, with only white painted rings and suspicious dark stains painting the worn wooden floor. There was a second door propped open on the left, but the room beyond was so dark I couldn’t make out what was in there. The rest of the class were lined up along one wall like military recruits, standing in front of dull, grey, dented lockers. As we approached the line I saw names had been scrawled on the front of each locker in rough black marker.

  Aeron, Jin and Kain split off from Bane, Daron and I, heading up the line to different spots. I saw them pack their bags into the lockers, before adopting the same pose as the others. Rina all but dragged me over to my locker, which happened to be the end one, and I crammed my stuff in before trying to blend. Onyx and Ivory seemed to sense my tension and were standing alert on my shoulders, surveying the room for whatever was causing me unease.

  Hadrian sat in a meditative pose on the floor in the centre, his eyes lingering on all of us. When the last locker closed, his eyes flicked to the door, and I heard a click.

  “Fifty circuits.” Hadrian didn’t need to speak loudly to command all the attention in the room; he wielded the respect of us all just by breathing.

  The fourth-years at the front started to jog around the outside of the room, keeping together in a tight knit group at the front. They didn’t speak, and neither did anyone else as we started running laps. I was immediately grateful for Hadrian’s insistence on me doing laps of the arena on my Saturday lessons last year, because Rina and several others looked out of breath by the fifth lap. Daron, Bane and I managed to keep pace with the third years for the first twenty-five before Hadrian switched things up a bit.

  “CHANGE!”

  Everyone in the years above instantly turned on their heels and started jogging the other way, barging through some of the stunned looking second-years without mercy. I managed to turn before I was crashed into by a particularly angry looking Pride girl, and we ran another two laps before Hadrian startled me again.

  “SKY!”

  All the older years jumped on both feet, touching the beams above us.

  There was no way I could reach that high. The beams must have been seven feet in the air and I didn’t think I could have reached them if I’d been standing on Rina’s shoulders. Still, we both tried, looking in envy at Daron who just had to reach up to touch them. At that point, Onyx and Ivory became sick of the ordeal and swooped across the room towards the lockers, where they busied themselves playing with the locks. I watched them as we continued our lap, smiling slightly at their antics.

  “GROUND!” Hadrian yanked me from my daydreams.

  Everyone around me dropped to the floor, did a burpee, then jumped back up and continued jogging.

  “SKY!”

  “CHANGE!”

  “GROUND! GROUND! CHANGE!”

  At the end of the fifty laps my lungs were burning and I felt like collapsing, but I trudged into line with the rest of the class anyway. The older years were fine, bouncing on the balls of their feet, ready to keep going, but my year looked almost completely wiped out. A few were even staring at the door as though it held their salvation behind it.

  “Fourth-years, three on one sparring with bladed weapons of your choice, five-minute turns, north-east corner. Go!”

  Aeron and the three others in his year headed off to the dark room, returning with wickedly sharp looking swords that they proceeded to use against him. I watched, awestruck as Aeron defended himself with ease, a grin on his face that told me he was honestly enjoying himself. Under the thin fabric of his shirt, his muscles tensed and released with his movements, the sight of it entrancing me slightly.

  “Third-years, pair off, MMA drills, ten minutes then switch, north-west corner. Get a move on!”

  Kain and Jin paired up, sparring with a fluidity that scared me even as it aroused me. Something about the ease with which they moved reminded me of the way they were so attuned last night, and my cheeks warmed at the memory.

  When only the second-years were left, Hadrian finally addressed us. “The door is locked for one reason. Nobody quits during my class, you want to quit afterwards, fine, but you do it with a clear head rather than in the heat of the moment.” He looked up and down the line again. “First term you will learn basic combat, defence, stance and if any of you have martial gifts.” He paused and looked sternly at me. “You will train those as well. Second term, mixed martial arts. Third term, if you get that far, will be weaponry where I will assign each one of you a weapon that suits your stature and ability. I have the power to remove anyone from this class the instant I feel that they will never have the discipline and temperament necessary for what I teach. There is no disobedience in my gym, if I say something then you will do it. Is that clear?”

  “Yes Sir,” we echoed.

  “Good.”

  Chapter 8

  What followed was a gruelling hour-long self-defence tutorial before Hadrian called the rest of the class back over. “Five-minute water break,” he announced.

  My mouth felt like the desert but gulping my water didn’t seem to do anything to help. If anything, it only made me feel slightly ill. I had no time to recover before Hadrian had us pulled back into line.

  “If anyone wishes to declare the rite of privilege, now is the time,” he declared.

  The room was silent, and I thanked the Strange God that I didn’t have to watch one of the older years beat us to dust.

  “Good, I don’t have time for that shit,” Hadrian muttered darkly. “Gifted students to the east with me. Non-gifted doing sparring on the west with fourth-years in charge.”

  Most of the class split off, leaving only me, my mates and five others on the east hand side with Hadrian.

  “Pair up for duels, using gifted powers ONLY. No one goes beyond first blood or submission.” The gifted looked for partners, and I started toward Rina before Hadrian caught my arm. “Carazor, you are with me until you’ve got a handle on your gift.”

  Hadrian’s order left me standing awkwardly beside him on the side-lines, the rest of the class casting glances at me as they started duelling.

  “I want you to use your gift to make me feel as though I’ve pricked my finger.” Hadrian instructed, eying me warily. “Nothing more than that. You won’t be allowed to join this session till you have managed it.”

  I hesitated, wringing my hands. “I don’t know how to use my gift, Sir.” Aside from causing Abrosiax days of writhing pain I hadn’t tried to use it all summer. “Shouldn’t I just go and join the west?”

  “No. And you’ve earned yourself two laps for questioning orders.” Hadrian glared at me. “When you return, I expect to feel progress.”

  I set off on the extra laps, aware that I was being watched by the rest of the class. When I returned, I sat on the ground, trying to figure out how to shape PK into odynokinesis. Searching for that dark place inside of me that I knew held the key to it, and then skittering away when I got close enough to feel it. It took ten minutes for Hadrian to get sick of my inaction.

  “Carazor, every ten minutes you go without results I want thirty press-ups and thirty sit-ups, am I clear?”

  I bit back the curse I wanted to let loose. “Perfectly, Sir.”

  And by the time lunch came I’d done over two hundred press-ups and sit-ups. Loose strands of my hair were clinging to my sweaty face and I still hadn’t managed to make Hadrian feel remotely injured.

  “Class dismissed,” Hadrian called, holding the gym door open. When I went to pass him, he stopped me with a hand on my arm. “Carazor, if I don’t see improvement by next lesson, I’m taking you out of this class,” he informed me once everyone was gone. “You have a gift made for combat, but it means nothing if you don’t have the guts to wield it. I don’t care if I’m twitching for weeks, I just need to see that you can do something.”

  With that threat hanging over me, I trudged back to the tower, changed and showered and then sulked through lunch.

  Healing class was held in a side room from the infirmary and I entered with my muscles feeling like butter. Rezinax was already there, sitting behind a desk with only four chairs in front of her. Three of which were occupied with older years in white medical coats, who were looking through files of some kind.

  “Tyro Carazor, how nice of you to finally join us.” Her face was coolly impassive, as though she was trying her best not to let her opinion of me show on her face. “Have a seat.” She turned to the others. “You have your files, go and meet your patients and diagnose. I want your treatment proposals by the end of the class.”

  The three students, one woman and two men, stood and headed out of the door.

  “You are my only new student this year,” Rezinax informed me, eyes roaming over me as though she was cataloguing every detail of my appearance. “Have you read your books?”

  I shook my head. “Not all of them.”

  She tutted in disapproval. “Healing is assessed by a theoretical exam in June, and two practical cases, patients who you must heal over the course of the year.” She passed me two manila folders. “The patients have been chosen based on your gifts. Follow me and I will introduce you, and get you started, but next year – if you pass – you’ll be expected to take a much more independent approach.”