Page 26 of Too Many Beds

Because Asher hadn’t believed he could do it. He’dnevercast magic that well before, and had aimed for an ice shard with the expectation of getting a puff of snow.

Had it been Xem’s presence…hissoulmate’spresence, that had allowed his magic to flourish?

“I-” was all Asher got out before Xem’s delicate, pale hands flashed in movement and something struck out at Asher with impossible speed.

He had just enough time to recognise it as a vine—thick and gnarly, like the roots he used to hack through to prepare new soil back on his family’s farm—before it lashed across his stomach, sending him staggering backwards. Winded, Asher raised his hands to defend himself, only for the vine to split in two and lunge at his wrists. They looped around his hands and forced them apart.

Xem moved closer with slow, deliberate steps, using his mastery over earth to thread smaller vines between each of Asher’s fingers and render his magic helpless. It showed impressive control over the element, skill that Asher could appreciate even as he struggled against the restraints that now held his arms outstretched.

He was also incredibly turned on.

He’d thought the magical traces Xem left in his wake were addictive, but being touched by his magic itself was a whole other high: an erotic combination of pain and pleasure, as though Asher had been edged for hours and was only now being promised release. His skin tingled where it was wrapped in the vines, hot and achy. He fought the urge to moan.

Xem, violet eyes glittering, touched his thumb to the little finger of his other hand and Asher found himself dragged backwards by the vines around his wrists. His back slammed hard into the classroom wall and he grunted, trying to flex his fingers but discovering them entirely immobilised.

Fuck.

He was now so hard beneath his breeches, it was painful. He was grateful for the duel as an excuse for why his breathingwas so ragged, but being pinned to the wall like a butterfly in a collector’s case was not helping to hide his obvious erection. All attention in the classroom had been drawn their way, the other duels quickly discarded in favour of watching someone else’s suffering, and Asher saw more than one person glance down between his legs. Their snickers made his blushing return in full force, and this time he couldn’t even hide his face, for another vine slithered across his neck to hold his head firmly in place against the wall.

Xem, entirely predictably, hadannihilatedhim.

And the price of Asher getting to feel the mage’s magic directly on his skin would be his very imminent, very public, humiliation.

“You surpassed all my expectations, Asher. That was even more pathetic than I could have imagined.” Xem offered him a dangerous smirk. He didn’t need to raise his voice to be heard; all activity in the classroom had ceased but for the eager way the other students’ heads were flickering between the pair of them.

Professor Allarie made no attempt to intervene, showing sudden and undivided interest in wiping her glasses.

“What was it, two seconds? Maybe a grand total of three?” taunted Xem. “Tell me you at least last longer than that in bed.”

Asher choked on a breath. Hearing the wordbedin Xem’s enticing accent, the consonants morphed to make it sound like there was anrin there, had stolen all thoughts from his head. He tucked it safely into the back of his mind so he could examine it later, play with it and caress it and bring himself to release to the sound of it, and instead tried to match Xem’s casual attitude.

“Why? You looking for tips on how to keep it up?”

Someone laughed. It was abruptly cut off when they realisedwhothey were laughing at, but it was enough to make Xem’s pale face flash with fury.

“Says the mage sporting a hard-on from having his arse kicked,” Xem shot back, because really, it had been too much to hope that he hadn’t noticed. There were braver chuckles from the crowd this time, and he bared his teeth at Asher. “Although that contemptible performance makes me question if you deserve the title ofmageat all. Perhaps you should just trot on home to daddy’s farm, hmm?”

Wait. How did Xem know Asher had grown up on a farm? A lucky guess? Or…had he been askingaround about him? Had he not been as disinterested in Asher as he’d pretended?

Asher swallowed. “I’m not going anywhere.”

His body—and his mind—would never let him leave, not while Xem remained at Gannon Academy. Asher had already figured out that no one else could sense the intoxicating magnetism of the other mage, or they’d have been plastered to Xem’s side all hours of the day and night. It seemed it was just him who lived in torment.

The world had a strange sense of humour, assigning Xem Whitlock to be his soulmate.

Not that Asher resented it. Xem was clever and quick, ridiculously talented, and had a body that made even the school uniform look attractive. He was just…not fond of Asher. At all.

“Then if you think you deserve your place at this Academy,” the other mage said cuttingly, “prove it to us, recruit. Get yourself free.”

Xem waved a hand and the vines around Asher’s left wrist disintegrated, releasing his arm and allowing his fingers to move freely. But his right hand remained trapped, bound to the wall with the strength of mortar.

Prick.They all knew students weren’t taught one-handed magic until their third year, so no one could seriously expect Asher to pull it off. And maybe if he’d had a knife he could have tried sawing through the vines, but blunt fingernails weren’tgoing to do shit against the strength of the elemental magic that Xem wielded.

The man just wanted everyone to see him fail.

Summoning up a smirk of his own, Asher shook out his left wrist and then manoeuvred his hand. It formed a one-handed gesture, but one Asher was far more familiar with than advanced third-year magic, and it made Xem’s expression drop into a stony glare while the other students tried to hide their appreciative snorts.

The mage formed a somatic spell with careless annoyance. Vines instantly materialised back around Asher’s left hand, encasing the rude gesture it had sent Xem’s way, and more sprang into existence to wrap around his legs and chest.

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