Even the thought of him—I rose on knees that trembled. He was pretty damned near irresistible, and my entire body ached for him.
I turned to meet Mari’s gaze. The ogre’s eyes slid to Matt, and then she led the way up the stairs.
24
Matt
I watched Anna head off to her session with Cara, and it was as though a part of me broke away to leave with her.
Strewth.I knew Anna was attracted to me, but I had no idea if she experienced the same kind of pull that I did. Letting her walk away was actually painful.
To be honest, I’d been in a bit of a state since that bloody dream. Since I’d sunk my teeth into her, and claimed her as my mate.
But it had only been a dream. Or had it? Many fated mates walked through each other’s dreams. I’d fallen asleep stonkered, and dreamed of the two of us having epic sex. Of me claimin’ her with a mating bite—and of her pumping enough energy to me to light me up like a supernova.
And then, I woke up feeling incredible. If it hadn’t been a living dream, how was that possible?
But unless I actually had the ballocks to up and ask her, I had no way of knowin’. Which left me in a continual state of rather stiff limbo.
Was it the moons that had my beast prowling so restlessly inside me? The excitement level of the other Dires did seem elevated today...
I moved into the personal bubble of the guy that resided a couple of rooms down from me. “Hey, mate.”
“Hey.” He eyed me doubtfully. I spent so much time with Anna, or alone thinking about her, that I hadn’t exactly endeared myself to my fellow Dires.
“You feel the pull from these moons?” I asked.
He cheered a little. “Yeah, think so. Looking forward to this run, actually. Need to move. That classroom stuff just about ended me today.”
“Yeah, me too,” I said, and moved away.
The moons. Another day, no more, and they’d be full. Strewth, I’d better be more careful. What I had with Anna was new and fragile, and it could be messed up so easily. I needed to pace this thing, take it easy.
Which was something that my beast had little patience for. It clawed at me constantly and had me in a near-perpetual state of stiffy that surely wasn’t a healthy thing. Especially as Anna’s power meant we had to keep our mitts off each other.
But I wanted her. It was a visceral, soul-deep thing. It was all I could do to not grab her, cart her into the woods, and...
Best not to finish that thought. My ballocks ached.Dammit.
Mari remained silent as we followed the other students through the front doors. The Bellati stood waiting for us. With not a hair out of place. As fresh as a bloody daisy.
Just looking at him had my lips peeling back from my teeth in annoyance. Judging by his expression, you’d never think he’d ruffled a personal feather during that obstacle course.
But he couldn’t fool my Dire nose. After that bridge crossing with Anna, he’d reeked of arousal.
Not that I blamed him, necessarily. She was doin’ the same damned thing to me. But my beast was constantly pushin’ at me to define the relationship. When Dires shared their mates, there was a hierarchy that must be obeyed. Did Sebastian fit into it? And if so, where did he belong?
Considerin’ I didn’t even know my own place with her, it was only another aggravation in an already tense situation. Because I was pretty sure the bleedin’ Dragon also had a part to play.
Talakai was like a wound that wouldn’t heal. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel a connection to him. There was something between Anna, him, and me. But if he’d had anything to do with stealin’ those children, I wanted a piece of him.
Mari loomed alongside me. “Ready to run? Because I’m ready for a nap. Although I think I did doze off during that lecture.”
“Yeah. Me too. But I need to run.” I did. My entire body buzzed.
And then Sebastian threw us a bone. “Today, I will let everyone run as a beast, if you so desire.”
My heart leaped. It wasn’t something I’d be happy about if Anna was with us. But with her safely out of the equation...
