Escaped Daughter (Morrigan University #1)

21

After my date with Kelton ended in a lot of hot kissing and touches when he dropped me off, I was wanting more of him. And all the good stuff I was now addicted to.

Instead, I showered and got to work practicing what Sergey had taught me. It was going well, but I still had work to get to Tracey and homework. So I picked up dinner to go and got right back to it.

But still, I was wanting. As I changed for bed, I put on something sexy, knowing I would have fun taking care of my own needs. Otherwise, there was no chance I’d be sleeping anytime soon. I sighed as I stepped out of my closet. It was really a shame Professor Wyatt was such an asshole otherwise I would totally enjoy some hot, casual sex.

I gasped as magic flared and suddenly I wasn’t in my room. I growled, knowing this shtick and not surprised when I glanced around and saw I was in Professor Wyatt’s classroom. I met his amused gaze with a scoff. “You moved the spell circle.”

His lips twitched. “It was a nice sticky note circle to avoid, but that’s not fun for me.” His eyes raked over me. “You look delicious.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and frowned at him. “You changed the circle too. I wasn’t thinking about coming here or… That .” Well, sort of.

“Did I? Maybe you were thinking it subconsciously,” he challenged as he pushed to his feet. “I told you that I’d see you soon.”

“Yeah, I have your class in the morning,” I snapped, taking a step back when he moved closer. He frowned at that, but I was barely dressed and I wasn’t letting him touch me. “I thought I made myself clear. You promised to be a gentleman and behave.”

“I am. I brought you to me without starting trouble or anyone knowing.”

I raised an eyebrow at that. “And what if you weren’t here? How mortifying I would come here and—”

He rolled his eyes at me. “It only activates if I’m here or in my office alone . Have more faith in me than that, goddess.”

I flinched at the nickname, hating it even more now that I knew he’d played me after he’d talked me out of my thinking he played me. “I’m done with these games.”

“I’m not sending you back unless we talk.”

I sneered at him. “Is that code for fucking your students? Don’t pretend that’s all you want and think you’ll get me to do what else you want if you give me good orgasms instead of a cookie. You made it clear I was just cheap sex with an agenda last time.” I snapped my mouth shut when his eyes filled with something dangerous. I shouldn’t have said that much and poked him when I’d kept things calm.

But seriously, who could blame me? This was ridiculous .

“You’re going too far, Bevin,” he warned.

“No, you are, and I’m not doing this anymore.” I spun on my heel and headed for the door. Fuck him. He wanted to hold me there with the threat he wouldn’t send me back?

I wasn’t anyone’s prisoner anymore. I’d rather walk my ass across campus and tell the dorm manager that someone pulled a prank so I didn’t have my keys than let him keep controlling everything.

And me.

He called after me, but I hurried off so he couldn’t catch me, going the long way out of the building from a different exit. I might have to circle around a few other buildings to get back to my dorm, but he wouldn’t look on that path.

I ducked behind another building and kept jogging, moving my arm across my chest to have some sort of support since my pajamas really didn’t. I flinched when I heard voices and turned to see where they were coming from.

An arm snagged me around the waist and the hand that moved over my mouth kept in the yelp I let out. I was pulled against a firm body that I instantly struggled against.

“Stop, I’m helping,” a deep voice murmured in my ear. “Settle down and don’t move.”

I froze, not feeling any malice or bad intentions from the guy. I nodded and he pulled us closer to the building behind some bushes.

“Where did she go?” a guy asked as he came into partial view through the branches. “She was just here.”

“Yeah, sure she was,” another guy chuckled. I could see four of them in total and my heart raced in fear.

“I’m telling you, I saw her. She was wearing next to nothing and hurrying along. She was clearly going for a hookup or something fun.”

“Or she was sleepwalking?” a third guy drawled. “Sounds like you were daydreaming, so she probably was. That freshman princess isn’t just wandering around naked at night.”

“I didn’t say naked,” the first guy snapped.

The man holding me took his hand from my mouth but kept his arm secured around me. He moved that hand lower on my stomach almost to the apex of my thighs. “If you don’t stop squirming and rubbing the pert ass against my cock, I’m gonna put it in there.”

I flinched, freezing and not having realized I’d been moving.

“Come on, let’s just go,” one of the guys yelled at the first.

“Fine, but let’s loop this way. I know I saw her,” he replied, leading them right to us.

The arm secured around me tighter and his other hand pressed me closer. I was about to try and get away so I could run, but then I felt his magic over us. He was cloaking us.

I held my breath as the four guys walked not ten feet from us. It was a full minute until they were out of sight before I let it out, sinking against my savior. Then I mentally winced, realizing I had to handle that now. I cleared my throat even as I kept my voice low. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to—the mulch is cutting my bare feet. I didn’t mean to—” I swallowed a yelp as he swooped me up in his arms.

Well, that was one way to handle my sore feet. I guess?

My breath stuttered in my chest as I stared up into the lightest ice-blue eyes I’d ever seen. They were stunning and so alluring that I couldn’t look away.

“My help isn’t free, little freshman princess,” he murmured, making me snap out of it.

I flinched. “What do you want?”

His face was seriously handsome now that I looked, even in the little light we had. He smirked at me before turning his head so his cheek was right in front of me.

“A kiss on the cheek? That’s it?”

“Isn’t that what the knight in shining armor gets from the princess?” he teased.

I mentally flinched, thinking of Wyatt; this guy was much sweeter. I leaned in and gave him a lingering kiss against his smooth cheek, his slight scruff scratching my chin. “Thanks, sir knight.”

“Winter.”

I almost commented that I thought Winter was a girl’s name, but it suited him with those eyes. “Thank you, Sir Winter.”

He chuckled. “I deserve that after teasing you about being a princess. For the record, I don’t think you are, and you certainly aren’t what the rumors are saying given you were near panic at my comment about wanting anal sex for teasing me.”

I cleared my throat as my face flushed lava hot. I’d felt what he had, and it was scary even if it had been fully hard. I wasn’t sure it had been though, and I’d gotten a good feel given he was in running shorts. “How often are the rumors accurate around here?”

“Maybe half the time. Normally, never about the women on campus, so I knew it was shit, especially since I’ve seen you around.”

“Oh, do we have classes together? I’m Bevin by the way.”

“Yes, the campus is all a flutter talking about you, Bevin. And no, I’m a first-year master’s student.”

I blinked up at him. “How have—the cafeteria?”

“Yeah, there too.” He smiled when I frowned. “You’re kind of hard to miss, and that was before I saw you running in this… Very wonderful outfit you’re wearing.”

Right, that. Shit. I didn’t think I could flush any hotter, but I did, actually rubbing my cheeks. “Um, so, I can explain about—”

“You’re not the first someone has pulled this shit on. I just wanted to make sure you were okay after I heard those dickheads and made sure to intercept you first.”

“Thanks for that.” I leaned up and kissed his cheek again. “That would have been really bad for me.”

“And who you were running from? Do I need to handle that?”

“Um, no, it’s fine, but I do need to get back to my dorm. Aren’t you tired of holding me?”

“No, not at all.” He smirked at me. “You have your keys?” He nodded when I snorted. “So would you like help getting back to your room without having to talk to your dorm manager or being seen?”

I searched his eyes. “You can do that?”

“I can, but it won’t be cheap,” he teased me.

“What do you want?” I worried.

“Lunch? No, a few lunches. Yeah, we have lunch a few days this week in the cafeteria.”

“Why?”

He snorted. “Have you looked in the mirror?” He chuckled when I went right back to flushing. “Damn, that blushing is fucking sexy. I’m having a hard time being a gentleman here considering I can see your tits almost to your nips.”

I flinched and quickly tried to fix my shirt, but it was a crop top, so really all I did was show him my flat, toned stomach.

“Well, that’s lovely. I love a good midsection. If I admit your naked ass is against my arm, will you show me your pu—”

“Please stop,” I hissed, trying to get down from his arms. “You were being sweet and a gentleman and that was nice. Please don’t—you’re teasing me, right?”

“I am. You don’t have your purity, but you are very innocent. That’s dangerous on this campus.”

I snorted. “That’s dangerous everywhere. I’m not an idiot.”

“No, but I’m sorry I made you uncomfortable. I meant to poke a bit since you’re already in my arms, not upset you.”

“It’s okay,” I promised before considering his deal. “Okay, sure, lunch.”

He gave a swift nod but then snickered. “I’m dying to make a comment that it better be in your room because I want you on the menu and to gobble you up since you smell so delicious, but I should refrain.”

I smothered a giggle. “Except you just said it now.”

“Oh, did I?”

Uh-huh. Nice.

He glanced around and moved us out of our hiding spot. My breath caught when I got to see him better in the light from the solar lamps that were all over campus. Winter wasn’t just a man with great eyes and a handsome face… He was hot.

Like hawt and a walking dirty dream.

Shit.

He was like the adult, totally man version of Jack Frost from that cartoon movie except also seriously tall and built. He even had grayish-blue hair that was dyed—I was pretty sure—but in that longer, disheveled style.

“So is your last name Frost?”

He snorted. “I lost a bet.” He winked at me. “Actually, it’s Green. Yes, I’m Winter Green, but before you pick on it, know my mom named me after she saw I had my dad’s eyes and she didn’t survive long after that.”

“I’m so sorry.” I cleared my throat. “I think it’s great. She must have been nice.”

“I’d like to think so.”

I frowned up at him. “Didn’t your dad tell you more stories?”

He cleared his throat. “No, he died before I was born in a shifter attack. I only really know that one story after meeting a friend of hers who was there. I grew up in one of the orphanages.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” I mumbled, hating when people said that to me after Grandfather died. It always seemed like not enough and some underlying meaning I never seemed to get.

“You sound like you know?” he hedged.

“Yes and no.”

“Hmmm, a woman of mystery. I like it.”

“Um, I can walk.”

“Of course, you can, but your feet are too pretty to risk hurting.”

I blinked at him. “You got a thing for feet?”

He snorted again. “I do for yours. No, no foot fetish, but yours are sexy in those shoes I’ve seen you in.” He smirked down at me. “Why? You want me to suck on your toes?” He swallowed a laugh when my eyes went bug wide. “Oh, now I want to be the one to do it to see if you like it.”

“Um, how about just a foot rub? I’ve never had one of those,” I blurted, unsure of how we got to this place. The situation was crazy, sure, but still there were limits.

“Sure. Sounds good. I’d love to massage you wherever you want.”

Oh geez, he was trouble. Luckily, I could see the freshman dorm come into view and that meant the trip was almost over.

“What room?” he asked when we got closer. He nodded when I told him, asking me to point to it from the outside. I did and he set me on my feet, frowning up at my window. “I can’t get in. There are wards on it and seriously powerful.” He glanced down at me. “How did someone get you out?”

“Um, well, that’s…”

Understanding filled his eyes. “The one who put them up is the one who called you out. So they’re not yours.”

“Um, no.” I fidgeted under his gaze, trying to cover as much of myself as I could, but I would just show something else.

“All right, let’s get you to the hallway then. We’ll see what’s what from there.”

“Thanks.”

He nodded before holding out his hand and putting a spell circle under us. He pulled me against him and activated it.

I blinked and we were outside of my room. “Um, it’ll let someone in if I invited them I think. Would you like to come in?”

“Yes, but how about I just show you how to unlock your own door,” he offered.

“Yes, please, that would be great,” I sighed.

“Great enough for a tip on payment?” he teased.

“Yes.” I didn’t even have to think about it even if he was joking. If he could teach me that, it was one more thing to get myself away from Wyatt and know how to handle what I needed to.

And this place.

He was a good teacher, quickly showing me what I needed to and giving me an impressed look when I easily managed.

I could see the question in his eyes, so I decided to give him something. “Women are supposed to be obedient, silent, and submissive in my family, not the ones who are knowledgeable.”

“Ahh, so you do come from a top-tier family.”

“I did. I got free,” I corrected. “Now I’m just mine.”

“Good for you.” He leaned in the doorway as I stepped inside. “So about this tip…”

I leaned in and kissed his cheek. “I’ll think of you when I take care of myself before bed. That should give you more than enough tip to have fun tonight too.”

His eyes went wide before filling with heat. “Oh, you play dirty, little sexy.”

I snorted, finally getting to see how tall he was as he filled up my doorway. He was at least six and a half feet. “Everyone’s little compared to you.”

“In every place.” He grinned like the cat that ate the canary at the easy lead-in.

I glanced down at his groin and took in a slow breath. “I’d like to say I look forward to confirming that, but I’m, um, well—”

“Being courted by Kelton Rose and Sergey Koval? Yeah, I noticed that at lunch yesterday. I don’t care. I caught you fair and square and now I am too unless you tell me you’re not into me.”

I opened my mouth to say… Something, but the moment I met his gaze I knew I couldn’t lie. Slowly my mouth seemed to close on its own even if I was inviting more trouble into my life.

“I thought so. Thanks for being honest, little sexy. See you at lunch tomorrow.”

“Thanks for the save.”

“Anytime. I mean that. Anytime. You need me to take care of whoever hassled you tonight, you just let me know and I will.”

“Thanks. Maybe.” I shrugged when he raised an eyebrow. “I’m going to try and handle it myself again, but I might need the backup. I won’t turn down help.”

“Glad to hear it. Night, Bevin.”

“Goodnight, Winter.” I smiled when he didn’t push, closing the door behind him as he stepped out into the hall.

I locked up behind him and gave a scathing look at the spot where I knew the new spell circle was. I also ignored my phone telling me I had messages and the new ones coming in.

Instead, I crawled in bed and did exactly what I promised Winter I would do.

Twice.