Page 45 of Veiled

I heard a low growl and a whispered but ferocious, “mine”, but when I looked at Hudson her eyes were cool and her face was blank.

“I was thinking maybe we can do some extra training. You know, so I can make sure I’m in perfect shape.” Ugh, she came on too strongly then, and apparently, now as well. The gym was empty now except for her friends in the back, Hunter, Remi, Hudson, and me. I took her hand off of me and looked at her with a hard stare. She stepped back a little. She was pretty, with long red hair, green eyes, freckles, tall, thin with slight curves, but she wasn’t Hudson. Shit, no one was.

Before I was able to reply, Hudson jumped in and her voice sounded downright feral. I smiled internally. “Yes, that would be a great idea…” her voice trailed off and she looked at me, indicating that she needed to know her name.

“Madison,” I told her gruffly.

“Yes, well, Manuel, that sounds like a good idea. Your form could use some work. So, I’ll go ahead and volunteer to help you with extra training.” She smiled, but it looked more like a wolf ready to pounce on their meal than friendly. Jensi and Luca, who appeared out of nowhere, laughed and whispered bets. I had to hide a smile at their antics.

“It’s Madison,” she snapped at Hudson, and Hudson nodded in understanding with a small smile. “I’m good, thanks. I’d rather train with an actual professor, not a new student.”

“Yes, yes, Melinda, I can see the appeal in that. Zane is actually busy that day though, with another student he will be training.” She was no longer smiling, her eyes flaring and... wait, were they swirling in different colors? I blinked and her eyes looked normal again, trick of the light, I guess.

“Madison,” she snarled, “I didn’t say which day and I was talking to Zane, not you, new girl.”

“You owe me five, bro. Told you she was going to say something stupid in less than two minutes,” Jensi laughed.

“I was thirty seconds off, asshole,” Luca said, passing him the money. I shook my head.

Remi shook her head and couldn’t hold back her laughter anymore. “I swear, I’ll never understand huma…. the people in this school.” She tugged Hudson’s hand and pulled her away, whispering something in her ear. Hudson smiled brightly and winked at Madison.

“Hey, Madison, if it’s any consolation, I’ll take my deal off the table. But it will be a cold day in hell before I let Zane bend you over his.” She saluted and walked backward slowly before turning and walking out the gym, still in her damn sports bra. Jensi and Luca follow behind, guarding their backs. I liked those fucking kids.

“That bitch is crazy…”

“Watch your mouth, Madison,” Hunter and I snapped at the same time.

“She is right, on both accounts. We aren’t happening and I’ll be training more with younger students who need some extra help, Madison.”

“But you liked it, loved it actually, when I was bent over.” She stepped closer, her voice low, both of her hands now on my crossed arms. Hunter laughed and clapped me on the shoulder and headed out the gym after Hudson and Remi, fucker.

“I’m taken, Madison. Not happening, I’ll see you in class.” I side stepped her shocked expression and walked out of the combat zone. Fucking shit, I’m taken. I knew that, but saying out loud to someone else, it just felt right.

I walked down the corridor in my thoughts and when I reached the dining room, my eyes sought out Hudson immediately, noticing her with Remi, Jensi, Luca, and a small senior girl named Megan. That took me for a loop, Hudson isn’t really a social butterfly and the moment she did try, she ended up with a girlfriend. I rolled my eyes. So, while it was strange to see her with more people, it was nice too. I fought the urge to walk over to her and wrap my arms around her. There were no rules, technically, of teachers and students being together, as we were all of age when we started, even more so since we were all in our early twenties, but it wasn’t done, not publicly. I’m considering changing that. I settled in at the shared faculty table next to my brothers, their eyes also fixed across the room as Hudson threw her head back and laughed. She lit up the entire room when she smiled and all I could think was I wanted to wipe that smile off her face and replace it with a moan. I rubbed my face; fuck, I was so lost in her and it has only been a few days. Taking out my phone, I start texting the group text.

Hudson

“Babe,”Remi whispered in my ear as she tugged me away from possibly catching a murder case. “She’s desperate, any idiot could see how they all look at you. Now, smile and walk away. I’ll reward you later…” She trailed off and licked my ear. I smiled, winked at Missy or whatever, but not before a few parting words before I left the combat area. I was able to take a deep breath as I walked out into the corridor and Remi grabbed my hand, pulled me close and kissed me senseless. The slight copper taste in her mouth reminded me of when she licked her bloody hand after her fight, and that just made it hotter. Fuck, she was just walking sensuality. It took a second to blink the lust out of my eyes and she laughed at me. Laughed, the bitch.

I gently pushed her away. “tease,” I grumbled, throbbing with excitement and need.

“Am not,” she laughed again. “Fuck. I need some food and liquor. We need to consider that shit for tomorrow. It would make people a lot more tolerable if I didn’t actually remember them.” I laughed; I was inclined to agree. It was only the first day and we still had to go to the tactical course.

I groaned, “Yeah that sounds perfect, remind me to add that into our classroom discussions. The fucking benefits of drinking in class so I don’t punch people in the face… Do you think the Dean would appreciate that course diversion?”

Jensi and Luca tossed their arms around us and joined in, agreeing to try to come up with the best possibilities.

“Absolutely not.” I turned around to see Hunter walking in our direction. He gave me a tight hug and knuckled Remi and the boys. What the fuck? Is the dab between him and Remi like a bro code hi? A, ‘we’re all after the same girl’ consensus dab? Is it called a bro code if it’s a lesbian and a guy? We need a term coined, if not.

I shook my head and looked into his grey eyes. “You suck. The least you can do is let us get drunk the rest of the term, after the day we had.” We were almost at the dining room, so we stopped for a few.

“Most people do that at the end of the day, not during classes.” He pointed out, raised an eyebrow and ran his hand through his messy brown hair. He was such a ham, I sighed. He grinned at me.

“Most people aren’t named Remi and Hudson,” I gave a little laugh, “but I’ll consider your opinion. Maybe.” I winked as he shook his head and walked around us into the dining room. Party pooper. We walked in and grabbed a tray full of protein-filled food, needing fuel for the last part of the day. We settled down at the table we stole this morning and as we were about to tuck into our food, a small girl I remember from earlier was suddenly standing next to me.

“Hi,” she said nervously and bit her lip. “I’m Megan. I was hoping I could sit with you four.” I looked at her shuffling her feet, looking shy and super sweet. Her demeanor was very endearing, I looked at Remi and the boys, who all smiled at her and I shrugged.

“Sure, sit down.” I smiled. It was nice to have a few people actually want to get to know us. We ate for a few minutes, when I felt familiar eyes on me, and I knew it had to be the guys. And my phone buzzed. They were always so intense when they were together, like they fed off each other's energies.

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