Page 36 of Virgo Queen
The fire Draco built last night behind the old-fashioned grate is still banked and glowing gently in the silver dawn. That heat is a reliable bulwark against the relentless winter cold that seeps through the thick stone walls of our ancientdomus—the same deadly chill that froze the marrow in my bones when I flew.
Pearly light seeps through the leaded-glass panes of a tall arched window. That light chases the last shadows to hide behind the looming armoire where Draco stashes his uniforms and cross-country skis. Night still clusters in the cobwebby corners under the vaulted ceiling. More shadows skulk behind the antique study carrel with its inkpot and sloping lid.
That study nook is a fixture that’s gathering major dust and looks sadly neglected. Everyone knows Draco never turns in his homework and consequently his grades at this Academy are in the toilet. Master Aries rebukes him regularly in class for not making an effort—to no effect. Jae follows a different class schedule and he’s pretty secretive, but I’ve gathered his GPA also isn’t stellar.
Suffice it to say, neither one of my two guys is on the Dean’s List.
At least that’s one solid way I can help them, in exchange for them helping me last night. These two are about to acquire a student tutor who’s fully committed to their academic success.
Me.
But getting them through their midterms with a B average (my new goal for the coming week) is a task for later.
Right now, after last night’s excitement, I bet I’m the only person in this entiredomuswho’s even awake.
I mean, it’s Saturday, so we’re allowed to sleep in. Probably no one will even stumble into our communal medieval-era kitchen for coffee until Jae—who’s on the Saturday breakfast roster—pads downstairs to whip up a pot ofcafe au laitand a tray of freshbeignets, lavishly dusted with powdered sugar.
That’s the Saturday tradition for our residential college. And it’s a yummy one.
Speaking of yummy…
Still feeling sluggish and sleepy—which isn’t typical for my kind in the morning, the Light Fae are early risers—I squirm under the coil of Draco’s bare muscled arm, wrapped firmly around my waist from behind, like it’s been all night. Then I lay a hesitant hand on Jae’s sinewy shoulder in front of me. Fierce shifter heat radiates from the werewolf’s tawny skin. He’s curled on his side, but he’s facing me. Under a scatter of beaded braids, his predatory face is soft with sleep.
I want to trace his high cheekbones and the elegant line of his nose. I want to nuzzle his lush lips, parted in slumber to show his wolfish incisors.
As this vision of kissing him whispers through me, a delicious shiver coasts over my skin and heats my face in a toasty blush.
That werewolf was inside me last night.
My thighs are still sticky from his seed, because neither one of these guys was even remotely willing to tolerate the idea of me taking a bath that would wash their scent off me.
Just another reminder that, thanks to this guy—the only Cajun werewolf east of the Greenwich Mean Line—and the glowering Nordic bad boy breathing heavily in his sleep behind me, I’m no longer the last remaining virgin at the Icarus Academy.
Nor are they acting like two guys who plan to let me wiggle out of our temporary arrangement anytime soon.
I can still hardly wrap my head around that concept.
Get a grip, McSnicker. Is it so hard to believe you’re a novelty to them? Just enjoy it while it lasts. Probably won’t be long. Now is not the time to freak out.
Right. First things first.
I need to get up before someone finds me. Mistress Aggie’s a stickler for old-fashioned standards, so our house rules are a little Victorian.
That means I’m definitely not supposed to be here in the guys’ wing.
I pull in a careful breath and start the process of extracting my body—swimming in my panties and another of Draco’s borrowed tee shirts that exudes his bracing bergamot-and-juniper fragrance—out from under the plushy bearskin and the weight of my host’s brawny arm
“Don’t even think of moving,” Draco growls into the back of my neck.
I suck in a gasp and freeze. Feeling sheepish and guilty as heck, because Iwasjust in the process of ghosting him. And his boyfriend.
I gaze apologetically at Jae’s still sleeping face.
“I need to sneak out of here before the house wakes up,” I whisper.
Instead, Draco’s arm tightens around my waist and drags me back against his massive body with a sexy growl of protest.
Geez Louise.
