Page 33 of Gemini Queen
“Thelunch bell? You have got to be kidding me.” I look deep into his rueful eyes, roughly three inches from mine. “Look, I need you to tell me you haven’t literally been waiting for—”
“Babe, we really have to go.” He lets me go and pushes firmly to his feet.
Which, at my current altitude, gives me a VIP seat for all that heat he’s packing under his pants. I’m seriously tempted to forgo this awkward convo right now in favor of just dragging down his zipper and wrapping my lips around his shaft.
Not to mention bringing to an explosive end what could possibly be a major sex famine.
Color floods into his face to rival the merlot hue of his sweater. “I can tell you’re going to be a bad influence on me, Zara Gemini. But I’m going to get you to class on time if it kills me.”
“Okay, okay, we’ll go,” I huff, smoothing out my skirt and scrambling up. “But you better believe we’re gonna finish this later. We’re just getting started here, buddy.”
That makes him smile. “Whatever you say, babe.”
And he looks so purely happy, even though I’m the only one who came, that it makes my heart all floaty and my tummy all fluttery.
I pull my mind out of the gutter and duck over to the vanity for a quick peek in the glass. I’m all flushed and dewy with that post-orgasmic glow and my hair is absolutely everywhere. I pilfer the vanity and find a black scrunchie to pull my teal waves into a loose side ponytail. There’s a ton of makeup too, all top-end brands, whole rows of oval palettes in rose and beige and violet that work with my complexion, though I really prefer the cobalt eyeliner and bubble-gum pink lipstick I usually wear.
I’m in a rush, so I end up settling for a few swipes of inky mascara and a nude lipstick that doesn’t clash with the burgundy blazer.
Neo appears in the mirror, which he pretty much fills with his big buff body, and props a hip against the wall to watch while I apply a second coat. That emerald heat is still smoldering in his eyes, but I have to focus now on getting more of the information I need rather than the toe-curling climax my body is still recovering from.
I blot my lipstick and spritz on a little perfume from the bottle on the vanity. It’s the same roses-and-vanilla fragrance I normally wear, and I wonder who’s responsible for the gesture.
It makes me feel a little better to think at least someone at Icarus isn’t out for my head.
“Don’t forget your coat and boots,” he says. “We eat lunch and have classes at the church with the other students, and that’s where we’re due right now. I’ve already packed the books and supplies you’ll need in your backpack. We’ll stop at my room on the way down.”
He’s super thoughtful and I appreciate it, especially since the prospect of a nasty hazing by all those students who hate me has my tummy tied in knots. I concentrate on finding my leather boots and woolen peacoat and bundling myself into them. I don’t feel anywhere near ready to meet the rest of the student body, but I am hungry, and I need to get the lay of the land to figure out my escape plan.
As if I needed any more motivation.
Honestly, I won’t be here long enough for anyone to haze me.
“I gotta tell you, Neo,” I say to get him talking again, “this Academy doesn’t sound like a very friendly place.”
He rakes back his hair. “Friendly isn’t how it works at the Academy. We’re not here to make friends. We’re here to learn to control our power before our power controls us. This entire setup was designed centuries ago with that end in mind.”
“You ever get to leave?” I ask casually.
“Not until we graduate, not easily—and never without the Dean’s consent.” He frowns. “Which means we’re like scorpions in a bottle. Tensions run high and survival’s uncertain. If you shake the bottle too hard? We’ll destroy each other.”
I can’t think of anything to say to that. For a sec, we’re both silent.
His gaze locks on mine. He pulls in a breath and finishes, “That’s what they’re afraid you’ll do here, Zara, with your unpredictable and undisciplined Gemini power. They’re afraid you’ll shake the bottle and destroy us.”
Chapter Twelve
Zara
By the time Neo swaps out his slept-in clothes for his uniform and hurries me out of Villa Augustus (which I’ve still barely seen) into the street, my tummy’s churning with nerves at the threat of the promised hazing.
Not to mention the threat of that pyromaniacal queen killer who’s still at large.
It’s safe to say I’m on high alert.
But right off the bat, there’s no one else around. And we haven’t been walking long through these silent streets, under a dusting of snowflakes whirling down from dove-gray skies, before I feel like I’m literally dreaming.
Last night when we landed, I was totally out of it thanks to Lucius and his whole non-con sleep spell—for which I owe him major payback. So as Neo and I rush through the flagstone streets, I’m seeing the Academy and this whole island for the first time.
