I groaned, knocking my head back against my pillow then tugged my Atlas closer. One message couldn’t hurt and if I was really lucky, it might just pay off.
Caleb:
I can’t sleep and all I keep doing is thinking of you alone in your bed... want some company? ;)
I eyed the message for a long moment, waiting to see if the red ticks would illuminate to let me know she was awake and had read it. A smirk captured my lips as the red ticks popped up.
Tory:
Come over.
Tory:
But don’t ask any questions.
Questions about what? I almost wrote out that response before realising that that was a question. I was dancing a thin line with Tory’s temper most of the time without her handing out warnings, so I wasn’t going to risk pissing her off and losing my shot at a night in her bed. I could cope with a no questions rule.
I jumped out of bed, pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie before kicking on my sneakers and heading out of my room with nothing but my Atlas and keys.
I shot out of Terra House using my Vampire speed and sprinted across campus, passing The Orb and the other school buildings before tearing south towards Ignis House.
A blaze of fire lit the sky high above and I looked up just in time to see a huge Dragon silhouetted as it passed over the moon. Darius was out late. I briefly wondered what was keeping him up, but my focus was more targeted on the girl waiting for me.
I threw a handful of fire at the symbol above the door to Ignis House and shot in as it opened, racing up the stairs, through the common room and up again until I was right outside Tory’s door.
I pushed a hand into my blonde curls to tame them a little after my run and knocked on her door.
She pulled it open a moment later, catching the front of my hoodie and dragging me inside as she pushed up onto her tiptoes to kiss me. The lights were off, but the cool light of the moon shining off the snow outside gave me just enough to see her by.
She was wearing baggy sweatpants and an oversized sweatshirt and her hair was tied in a messy knot on top of her head. But Tory Vega could wear a potato sack and still look like a fucking goddess. My dick was hard before I’d even knocked on her door and as she pushed her tongue into my mouth a groan of longing escaped me.
I caught her waist and lifted her up, her legs hooking around my hips as she ground against my hard-on and she released a moan which had me practically exploding already.
I sat her on the edge of her desk and pulled back as I tugged on the hem of her sweatshirt, breaking our kiss as I yanked it over her head.
She wasn’t wearing anything beneath it and my heart beat a little faster as I took in the full swell of her breasts, dropping my mouth to capture her left nipple instantly.
She moaned again, leaning back to give me more access as I dragged my teeth over the pebbled flesh, my hand palming her other breast as I teased that nipple too.
Tory reached between us and unzipped my hoodie, pushing it back off of my shoulders in a firm demand. I stood upright as I shrugged it off of me and she dropped her gaze to my chest as she trailed her hands across my flesh.
My blood was pumping hot and fast, urging me to take more from her. My fangs snapped free as the bloodlust rose but I held back, wanting to take pleasure from her body before savouring her blood.
I caught her chin, tipping her head back so that I could look at her. I longed to see the desire in her eyes and taste her full lips against mine again.
Tory resisted my demand for a moment before looking up at me, her long eyelashes sweeping up until she met my eye.
Two black rings surrounded her irises and I jerked back on instinct, my hand falling from her chin and my lips parted in shock as I just stared at her.
“What the fuck Tory?” I breathed. “You’re Star Crossed. How...who?”
“I told you no questions,” she growled, reaching for me again. “I just want to forget about it.”
“Are you insane?” I demanded, shaking my head as I tried to process this, to understand it on any level. Who the hell would say no to their destiny like that? Who would be insane enough to turn their back on their one true love. “What have you done? Who did this to you? I-”
“It’s done, Caleb,” she snapped and for a moment it looked like the black rings around her irises grew and flared until her whole eyes seemed black with shadows. “I can’t go back and change it and I don’t want to talk about it.”
She took a shuddering breath and closed her eyes as her fingers curled around the edge of the desk she sat on.
I stepped closer, my chest aching with the need to do something about this, to change the stars, fix her fate, any number of impossible things that could alleviate some of the pain I could see consuming her.
I took her hand in mine, her fingers burning hot as her fire magic blazed beneath her skin, making me call on my own power to avoid getting burned. She opened her eyes and that darkness I’d imagined was gone, only the two black rings left there now but somehow that was worse.
“But, Tory...” I was just staring at her, my mind wheeling as I tried to come to terms with the fact that some other asshole had been selected by the stars to be hers. Her perfect match. One true love... Except he’d said no. Or she had. And I just couldn’t understand it. I’d seen her earlier and she hadn’t had the black rings in her eyes then, so this must have only just happened.
“Make me forget, Caleb,” Tory breathed, her voice cracking with the plea.
I could feel the pain coming from her now, the desperation. She was breaking, broken...someone had done this to her. Someone had chosen to do this to her and I just couldn’t understand it. If the stars had chosen her for me, I’d have grabbed hold of her in a heartbeat and never let go.
I was staring into her big, green eyes, the black rings surrounding them taking every inch of my attention. It didn’t make sense, I couldn’t understand it...nobody chose to be Star Crossed. If the stars gave you the chance to pick your Elysian Mate you did it. No question. No matter what. Hell, if I found myself standing opposite that fucking hat boy I’d say yes.
“I’m so sorry, Tory,” I whispered. My flesh was burning with desire for her and it felt like the stars themselves had guided me here, driving me towards her to help heal her of this pain.
“I don’t want you to be sorry,” she replied, her gaze hardening. “I just want to forget.”
The fire in her eyes was enough to snap me back into action. There wasn’t anything I could do to fix what had happened to her, but I sure as hell could do what she’d asked.
I kissed her again and she pulled me closer, her hands gripping my hair and tugging just enough to let me know she didn’t want me to go easy on her.
She bit my lip and I growled as my grip on her hips tightened, my fingers pushing against the material of her sweatpants. I fisted my hands around her waistband and tugged on them, forcing her to raise her hips so that I could pull them off of her.
I dropped to my knees as I tugged them over her ankles and stayed there, pushing her legs apart as I moved forward to devour her.
I hooked her left knee over my shoulder and ran my mouth up the inside of her thigh as she gripped the edge of the desk, her head tipping back as her breathing grew heavier, more demanding.
As I made it to the centre of her, I pressed forward hungrily, running my tongue over her, my skin tingling as she moaned in encouragement, her hips bucking against me.