Page 6 of Cleansed By Water (The Nature Hunters Academy 3)

“No one uses a paddle on you but me,Mery,” Ra said, his tone deadly serious.

Tara was shaking with laughter by the time they reached the headmaster’s office. She turned to Shelly, tugging on Elias’s hand to make him stop. He glanced at her, his brow drawn low. “Shell, maybe try and put a filter on while we’re in this meeting, yeah?”

“Sure, sure,” Shelly said with a dismissive wave. “ I can totally do a filter.”

Tara watched as her BFFF followed Ra into the room. “Shelly totallycan’tdo a filter,” she said to Elias. “This might get awkward fast.”

“Awkward keeps things interesting,” Elias pointed out as he led her through the door.

“Yes, because keeping things interesting is more important than preserving one's dignity and not offending people,” she replied, rolling her eyes at him.

“Dignity is for those who’ve lost the ability to laugh at themselves. And ‘easily offended’ is just another term for ‘the stick up my ass is shoved too far,’” Liam interjected. “Once you start taking life too seriously, Tara, it’s all downhill from there.”

“And what’s at the bottom of the hill?” Tara asked as they stepped up next to Ra and Shelly.

“An empty bed.”

Tara furrowed her brow. “Not sure I follow.”

Liam inclined his head. “Allow me to elucidate. A woman doesn’t want a man who can’t make her laugh, and a man doesn’t want a woman who won’t laugh, well, because she has that stick thing I mentioned earlier. We like our women to be stick free. Sticks are a huge turn off to a man.”

“And I thought he was the idiot of the bunch,” Shelly butted in. “With wisdom like that, I think I may have judged him too quickly.”

Liam turned to her, his lips tilting up in a sinfully wicked smile. “Sweetheart, I’ll be happy to share all kinds of wisdom with you.”

Shelly narrowedher eyes and pointed a finger at him, “I’m giving you three passes today because it’s obvious you’re lacking in self-control, wisdom or not. After those three are up, your junk is free game. It’s your choice if you want to be able to have children.”

Liam sighed. “It’s so satisfying to be around chicks who don’t just giggle and bounce around.”

Tara frowned. “Why would they bounce?”

“Don’t answer that,” Elias warned Liam.

Shelly covered her mouth to keep from laughing, and Ra and Aston both smiled widely.

“I don’t get it,” Tara said.

“You don’t need to,” Elias told her and then pointed behind her. “The room’s almost full. They’ll be starting the meeting any minute.”

Tara held up her hands. “Fine, but you will tell me about the bouncing thing later.”

“And then after you explain it, E, she can give you a practical demonstration,” Liam said with a wicked gleam in his eyes. “And now I’m jealous again. Damn.”

Chapter 2

Gabby stepped out into the corridor and shut her dorm room door behind her. She’d received a message via the student app from Professor Frost to head to her office immediately.

“Probably about to get my butt chewed out for being out on the training fields in the middle of the night,” she grumbled out loud, despite the fact there was no one around to hear her. Not that she would have talked to them if they had been.

Her thoughts were still a jumbled mess. The little bit of sleep she’d managed to get hadn’t helped. The need to see Liam was like an itch under her skin that she couldn’t satisfy, no matter how much she scratched.

When she reached the professor's door, Gabby knocked and tried not to fidget. The last thing she needed was her teachers thinking she was taking drugs or having withdrawals, which she imagined was how she probably appeared to outsiders.

“Enter,” Professor Frost's voice came out loud and clear through the door.

Gabby twisted the knob and stepped into the professor’s office. She’d been inside the room a few times in the three years she’d been at Crimson Academy, but she was still in awe of it every time she saw it.

The ceiling was dome-shaped and filled with fire that burned upside down. No lie. The flames literally danced and swayed like a fire in a fireplace, but they were pointed toward the ground. There were floor-to-ceiling windows, adorned with long curtains, on the two exterior walls. The draperies were ombre, with yellow at the top that faded into orange and finally red at the bottom.

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