Page 210 of Castings & Curses

I breathed out a sigh and exited his office. He was always proud of me for figuring things out on my own. It was part of the curriculum and as a student, that made sense. It was the part of the class I loved the most. As the one teaching it, I wasn’t sure how to instill that kind of motivation in a handful of students who were not getting that fundamentals of magic meant exploring, not just waiting for me to tell them what to do and step by step. It was the most basic of courses and even I was able to master a few spells by the end of it. These witches already knew some spells and they still weren’t picking up on the fact that they had to do work to get better at their craft.

I stood two steps away from Professor Roark’s door and tried my best to push air out of my nose, my lungs, and in some reverse holding of breath, I attempted not to inhale rather than exhale. I stepped forward and into the doorway. He was standing at the bookcase near the window. One book in hand, another floating nearby, two more on the desk in front of him.

“Are you going to stand there, or do you have a question you think I am unable to answer over e-mail?” He didn’t even look up from the book.

Mistake one, I inhaled air to take a breath and speak. This close with nothing obstructing or mingling with the aura, I got hit with his…essence and already felt the tinges of desire rushing through me.

Stronger this time. Different because it wasn’t just feeding urges. The sensations crawling up my legs, around my knees, spreading through the inner muscles of my thighs and higher had me gasping. What. The. Actual. Fuck. Was happening to me?

“Are you all right?” he asked. Dark brow quirked, he waited for my answer.

“Fine. A little lightheaded from the stairs.” I lied and took a seat in one of the chairs that faced his desk. I needed to sit down before I fell down.

“What can I do for you?” he asked and went back to looking through the book in his hand. The floating book and the ones on his desk also seemed to be turning pages like he was reading them all at the same time.

“Motivation.” I focused on the pencil cup on his desk and counted how many pens and pencils were in it. Four. Just four? I kept looking at the cup. Looking at him was too much. Too risky. I already wanted to eat his energy. Pull it into my body and….damn, not the way to get control.

“What about it?” he asked. Still barely interested.

“I need help motivating a handful of students.” I was aching in places I didn’t know existed. My hands began to shake from the need to touch, to feel.

“Professor Roark.” A student popped in and I was grateful for the distraction. The dilution of the energy in the room tempting me to consume it. “May I speak with you in private?”

The student looked at me and then at him. Professor Roark was about to speak when the student said, “I need to show you something. Out here, Professor.”

He stepped back into the hall and the warlock looked at me and glared. He nodded to the student and said to me, “I’ll be right back.”

Once he stepped past the threshold of the door, I looked for anything to help me ease the aches. I picked up one of the pens from the cup and squeezed it, pulling his touch from the device. Inhaling his scent left in the room. I focused on just the remnants of his magic and found it difficult to stop feeding off old prints.

Still, I was feeling better. Less achy in some places. More in others. I squirmed around in the seat, trying to not feel any friction, but also seeking the release of something I hadn’t actually experienced before. Until this man landed on this campus, I had been oblivious to any sexual urges. I thought it was because there was no other succubus for me to even consider mating with, but that was not the case. I simply hadn’t found the right magic to turn that switch on.

Now, I needed to find a way to turn it off.

“Of course.” Professor Roark entered the room again and asked, “So where were we?” Before I could answer he asked, “Where is my pen?”

Dammit. “This pen?”

“Put it back.” He indicated the cup. Why was the whole room cast in a shade of violet? This was weird. Very strange indeed.

I held onto it a moment longer and then put it back where I got it from.

“Hmmm.” He seemed to be thinking about something. “Are you hungry?”

Was this a trick question? Where he was concerned, I was not hungry. I was ravenous. Dangerous. I nodded.

“Let’s grab lunch then, shall we? We can discuss this motivation problem and eat at the same time.” He snapped his fingers and the books all closed and went back to the shelves on their own accord. I did my best not to stick my tongue out of my mouth in an effort to taste the magic on the air.

Magic uses energy and there is always a little bit of residual. His magic, even when doing something as simple and innocuous as closing a book, still had that tinge of darkness.

“After you.” He indicated the door. I nodded. His brow went up. I exhaled deeply and then stood up without inhaling. As I passed him he asked, “Are you afraid of the woods?”

“No,” I answered honestly.

As a succubus, I had few things around here I needed to be afraid of and top of that list was a grade. I had no known predators and by nature was the most dangerous predator on this campus to everyone else.

“Excellent. Foraging it is.” He led the way out of the building and to the edge of the woods.

I was still high from his presence, but with so much activity and energy from the forest, I was able to dilute his scent with that of trees and grass, birds and other creatures, even the air was cleaner, and my focus of breathing could sort, sift a bit and take in less of him.

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