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  “You know,” I mused, never stilling my hand, “something about this whole thing is weirding me out.”

  Slug opened one blue eye and stared at me. I chuckled at the judgment the animal managed to put into that look.

  “Okay, what I mean is, it’s weirding me out more than it should. Why did Farkas not call the cops right away? And why was Lawson involved in this? I met him a few times, and I never got any psycho vibes off him. But I didn’t imagine it, did I? They tasered that kid for sure.”

  Slug pushed his head against my cheek as if he agreed. He probably wanted me to rub between his ears, but it made me feel better. I obliged with his demand and heaved a big sigh while tickling his skin. “Man, I wish you could talk. Right now, you’re my only friend until the boys and Beth come back. Just one more day.”

  I wondered how Lance was. Really, he’d been quite the hero, attacking those men by himself. Was he brave? Or just stupid? Either way, the way he’d thrown himself into the brawl to save that poor kid gave me all the feels. Maybe I’d misjudged him.

  Slug was becoming restless, catching my fingers with his mouth and chewing on my hand playfully.

  “Okay, let’s see what the head witch says.” I got up and kissed the obnoxious furball on the nose before grabbing my coat and leaving the room.

  The outside felt even colder than before, and I shivered in my winter clothes. My breath streamed past me as I jogged the distance to Ms. Farkas’s office. Her door was slightly ajar. I knocked and pushed the door the rest of the way open.

  “Ah, Amber. I spoke to Lawson and his team. There is a perfectly good explanation for what you saw. Apparently, the young man had suffered a psychotic break due to an unfortunate drug habit. What you witnessed was the final resort to make sure he couldn’t injure himself or others. Lawson drove him to the next town for assessment, and hopefully, they’ll be able to look after him until he’s better.”

  I stared at her, dumb-founded. Seriously? That’s not what it had looked like. But then, she’d never lied to me before. In fact, Ms. Farkas had saved my life not that long ago. My head was swimming with confusion. Lawson must have twisted his story to get her off his back. Because I’d seen him knock Lance unconscious and leave him there. No responsible person would have behaved like that, no matter how urgent the situation with Matt might have seemed. If he’d actually had a breakdown.

  But judging by Ms. Farkas’s expression, she was done with this, and I knew better than to argue with the head witch. Before I left, she thanked me, but cautioned me at the same time. “Feel free to bring anything else that bothers you to my attention, but please don’t spread any rumors. You know how small communities like our school are. People love to gossip. We need to protect the unfortunate young man, if he’s ever fit to attend here again.”

  Returning to my room, I wondered if I should check on Lance, but he was probably resting after all the excitement. I wasn’t comfortable walking into the boys’ quarters alone, either. Maybe tomorrow, when Julian and Kiernan were back, I’d ask them to find out how he was doing. For now, I needed to cuddle my cat and forget about the memory of Matt collapsing to the ground before being dragged away.

  42

  I’d woken up early in anticipation and gotten ready for my boys to return. When I emerged from my tiny bathroom, Slug was scratching against the door.

  “Stop it. You’re not a dog.”

  I blinked against the winter sunshine finding its way through the dirty glass pane. Since I’d arrived, nobody had cleaned the windows. I might ask Beth to point me to the cleaning supplies. Pushing the thought away as quickly as it had popped up, I dragged myself to the door and pulled it wide. Slug slunk through the opening, winding around the legs of the person on the other side of the threshold.

  “Hey, baby. Did you miss me?”

  I swallowed the rest of my yawn, slapping my hand on my mouth. “Julian!”

  My boyfriend stood in the doorway, all six feet of vampire chic. His eyes beamed from underneath a shock of dark hair, and his black painted lips were pulled into a huge grin. I flung myself into his arms. He had filled out a little since I’d first met him and wasn’t so painfully skinny anymore. But he smelled just the same, and as I pressed the side of my face against this chest, he wrapped me into a giant hug. His woolen coat cocooned me, offering safety and warmth.

  We stood for a few seconds, while I reveled in his presence. I hadn’t expected the last two weeks to have been so boring. I’d been counting the days for my friends to return.

  “Hey,” he whispered.

  I lifted my head and smiled. “Hey.”

  And then he kissed me. I’d forgotten how soft his lips were. I opened my mouth and allowed his tongue to slip inside. A deep groan vibrated from his chest as he held me tightly. Step-by-step, he pushed me backwards in such small increments, that when my knees connected with the edge of the mattress, I fell onto it with a yelp of surprise. Slug barely jumped out of the way and expressed his displeasure by hissing at us. He walked to Beth’s bed with all the grace and expression of an offended lord.

  I couldn’t have cared less. Julian laid on top of me, kissing the breath right out of me. I allowed myself to relax and sink into the mattress as his heavy body pushed me deeper. It was easy to block out the outside world, and my focus remained on where our mouths were connected.

  Julian lifted his head, amused by what I imagined was my dazed expression. “You’re so beautiful. I can’t believe how much I missed you. Kiernan’s family was fine, but I’d have preferred to stay with you.”

  “So why didn’t you?”

  “I promised to come with Kiernan. His mom—” He hesitated and started again. “I don’t want to be disloyal, but Kiernan’s home life isn’t fun. His dads are okay, but his mum is a complete bitch.”

  My eyes widened at the swear word. I’d never heard Julian lose his cool with anybody before. The way his eyes flashed and his cheeks reddened betrayed a deep anger. For a moment, he chewed on his lip, scraping off the lipstick and revealing the natural pink color of the skin. Then he smiled ruefully. “I’m sorry. They fed me and put me up for a fortnight. I shouldn’t complain.”

  I nodded, keen to move on. “Well, the last two weeks nearly killed me with boredom. I’m so glad you’re back.”

  “I would have thought you’d appreciate a little less excitement.”

  My eyebrows pulled together. “Why would you say that?”

  “After all the trouble with Strickland, didn’t you enjoy sleeping in and playing with Slug?”

  “Yeah.” I pushed my hand through his silky-soft black hair and twirled a strand around my fingers. “I did that for the first few days, but it wore off real quick. I can’t remember the last time I was so bored stiff. I even started on the reading for the next term. Can you imagine?”

  Julian moved off me and sat up. “I for one am really happy you had such a boring time. If it were up to me, I’d lock you in your room and only let you out for classes.”

  I rolled to my side, resting my head on my hand. “Good thing then it isn’t up to you.”

  I was becoming irritated. After all, I wasn’t exactly helpless. I’d proven that by beating off Strickland by myself, without any help from the outside. I wasn’t sure if Julian realized that he’d upset me, but he reached out and took my hand.

  “While I was with Kiernan’s family, I had nightmares about you. I dreamed Strickland had drained you and left you for dead. Do you have any idea how terrified I was when he abducted you through the portal? I thought we’d lost you. I don’t ever want to go through that again. So don’t get pissy with me if I worry. I only do that because I care about you.”

  I was stunned. Coming from Julian, that was a love declaration. As if he’d realized what he’d just said, his face went from intense to slightly embarrassed. He ran his hand through his hair, looking everywhere but at me. His ears were bright red, which was so adorable, I had to kiss him again.

  For a while, we were content
to explore each other’s mouth. But soon, his kisses turned more demanding. His tongue pushed harder against mine, and his hands roamed under my shirt. He slipped his hand under my bra and rolled my nipple between his fingers. I arched my chest against his palm as the sensations zinged through my belly straight between my legs.

  “You like that?” he whispered against my lips. I nodded, wanting him to touch me more, but too shy to say it out loud. Thankfully, he understood without me having to beg for it. He moved lower and opened my pants. Then his middle finger brushed against my clit, flicking and sliding across the tiny bud.

  I gasped, my legs trembling, as I felt a hand other than my own caress me for the first time. My eyes shut and my head dropped back as he lay half on top of me. There was very little space on the single bed, but we made it work.

  He moved relentlessly, never increasing the pressure, never speeding up. Behind my closed eyelids, colors bloomed as he took me higher and higher. The ache in my clit swelled and ebbed with every touch of his hand. Each wave washed over me, and my body tightened in preparation of release.

  I felt out of control, trembling and moaning. Julian pushed his tongue back into my mouth. His other hand pulled on my nipple, pinching gently. His hips bucked against me in time with his strokes, and his moans matched mine in volume and intensity. We were in this together, and suddenly I didn’t feel scared anymore.

  I held my breath and my whole body stiffened. Julian increased the pressure and rubbed little circles against my clit. That’s all it took to push me over the edge. My orgasm tore through me, blinding me, stealing my voice as I screamed my ecstasy soundlessly against his lips. I could have sworn I was suspended above the bed for a few moments, watching myself surrender to pleasure, tethered only by Julian’s arms wrapped around me.

  When I finally came back to reality, I was barely able to open my eyes. I felt as if my body was weighed down with rocks. Julian smiled at me with an expression on his handsome face I hadn’t seen before.

  “Damn, you are so sexy like that.”

  “Like what?” I had to ask.

  “Coming apart under my fingers.” Julian grinned as he pulled his fingers out of my pants. As I watched, he brought them to his mouth and licked. “You taste great, too. Next time, I want to use my tongue.”

  I swallowed hard. Had he really just sucked my juices off his hand? I didn’t know what to say.

  “Are you embarrassed? Don’t be. Kiernan and I talked about what we were going to do to you when we saw you again. This is only the start.”

  My eyes widened. I suppressed a moan at the images his words conjured up. Julian’s dark head between my legs, licking at my wetness. Kiernan’s mouth sucking on one nipple while he pinched the other. Holy God, the butterflies in my tummy were migrating lower for a second time.

  Squeezing my thighs together, I resisted the urge to put his hand back between my legs. I have some self-control, dammit. I fixed my clothes and sat up. Julian grinned and followed me, putting his arm over my shoulder. Neither of us spoke until the silence became uncomfortable.

  I cleared my throat and asked, “So where is Kiernan now?”

  Julian shrugged. “He’ll be back tomorrow. His mum insisted on taking him shopping. She invited me along, but honestly, I needed to get away. And I wanted to see you, of course. I reckoned Kiernan could fend for himself for twenty-four hours.”

  I glanced at him sideways. Why was he dropping hints about Kiernan’s mom? He never went into specifics—just enough info to make me want to know more. Without thinking, I blurted out, “What’s your problem with his mom?”

  Julian’s gaze dropped to his hands. He looked uncomfortable, his whole posture tightening. “She has huge expectations of Kiernan. She pushes him to graduate best of class and has already decided what career she wants him to have. Basically, she’s a complete control freak.”

  He’d spilled the words as if he couldn’t get them out fast enough. Once he was done, his face closed off. “I shouldn’t have told you. It’s disloyal to Kiernan. I’m sorry.”

  My eyebrows pulled together. Did he think I’d gossip if he told me something in confidence? His lack of trust hurt and annoyed me in equal parts.

  It wasn’t until much later that I realized I hadn’t told him about Matt. Next time, I thought. Next time I’ll ask both Kiernan and Julian what they thought about this whole sorry business.

  Ready to order Second Chance Soul?

  Also by Ella J. Smyth

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  In the Second Chance Academy Series:

  Second Chance Soul, #2

  Kidnapped. Drained. Killed.

  "On the first day of the new term, I witness a brutal kidnapping at the academy. But when I report it to the head witch, she fobs me off.

  Soon, dark powers are coming for my friends and me. I know one thing: only united can we stand against the unknown enemy.

  But with our powers still developing and my boys fighting each other, I don't know if we will survive the second term at the Second Chance Academy."

  This is book two of the Second Chance Academy series, a reverse harem, medium-burn novel with a HFN.

  Purchase on Amazon, or read for free if you have a Kindle Unlimited Subscription.

  Ella is also the author of the renowned Spirit Walker series. This is an exciting, fast-paced love story between two reluctant spirit walkers, forced into working together to save the worlds from certain destruction. Find out more on Ella’s website.

  About the Author

  Ella J. Smyth is a paranormal and urban fantasy romance writer. She makes her online home at www.ellajsmyth.com.

  You can connect with her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/EllaJSmythRH, and you should send her an email at [email protected] if the mood strikes you.

  You can follow her convoluted and fantastical flights of fancy on Pinterest at www.pinterest.com/ellajsmyth where she casts her heroes and heroines in the most amazing places on earth.

  www.ellajsmyth.com

  ella@ellajsmyth

  To the Coronitas Zoom group, a dedicated and talented bunch of writers, who cheered me on until the book popped out.

  Copyright © 2020 Ella J. Smyth

  All rights reserved.

  SECOND CHANCE FATE - BOOK ONE OF THE SECOND CHANCE ACADEMY SERIES

  by Ella J. Smyth

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.