While the subterranean vault grew increasingly heated, the luxury suites on the 23rd floor were plagued by insomnia.
Even when the heavy, soothing enchantnts of the Spire started to lull most of the female students to sleep, there were two girls who were completely wide awake.
Alicia Raven was one of them.
Clack.
She slamd a heavy crystal glass down onto the mahogany nightstand, wincing as the amber liquid burned a path down her throat.
Prettya. It was a highly expensive, high-proof liquor manufactured and distributed exclusively by the Raven Duchy. It was technically contraband for a first-year student, but Alicia had smuggled a silver flask in her luggage for ergencies. Tonight definitely qualified as an ergency.
"Sigh..." Alicia ran a hand through her silver twin-tails, pacing aggressively across the plush carpet of her suite.
She was incredibly frustrated. Her heart was beating entirely out of rhythm, and a strange, heavy heat was pooling in her lower stomach.
Ever since the courtyard incident where Alex had aggressively pinned her against the heavy wooden door, invading her space and completely shattering her pride, she hadn’t been able to think straight. She had finally taken a liking to the arrogant, infuriating boy. She had acknowledged his strength. They were finally building a dynamic.
And then, out of absolutely nowhere, that psychotic, overly-endowed blonde bimbo had shown up.
Emma Arlon.
"Fiancée?" Alicia muttered bitterly, pouring herself another half-asure of the liquor. "He didn’t even ntion her once. She just waltzes in and acts like she owns him!"
Alicia took another sip, her crimson eyes narrowing at her own reflection in the vanity mirror. She rembered the way Emma had clung to Alex’s arm in the lounge, looking at the rest of them like they were dirt. She rembered the way Alex had casually, dominantly squeezed Emma’s thigh to keep her in check.
A sharp pang of intense, possessive jealousy pierced Alicia’s chest.
"I won’t lose," Alicia whispered to the empty room, her hands curling into tight fists. "The Raven family always gets what they want. If she thinks a simple political engagent ring is going to stop from taking what’s mine, she has another thing coming."
***
Two doors down, another girl was awake, though her frustration manifested in a completely different way.
Emily von Frits was sitting perfectly straight in the center of her large, luxurious bed. She wasn’t drinking, and she wasn’t pacing. She was sitting in a ditative posture, staring blankly at the far wall, her brilliant analytical mind caught in a devastating infinite loop.
"Work on your charm."
The words echoed in her ears over and over again.
Emily had never heard such a critique in her entire life. Since the day she was born, she had been heavily burdened with complints. Beautiful. Flawless. Genius. The Pride of the Tower. The list of praises was endless.
She had never craved attention. In fact, she found the obsessive stares of her male peers highly annoying and inefficient.
But tonight, when she had approached Alex to formally acknowledge his skill and declare him her primary rival... he had looked at her like she was the most boring creature on the planet. He had completely dismissed her.
"Increase my charm, huh," Emily murmured to herself in the quiet room.
What did that even an? Did she lack the necessary ’charm’ required to operate as a high-tier Mage? Was ’charm’ a new, hidden variable in kinetic resonance casting that she hadn’t found in the archives?
That was the only way her deeply logical, magic-obsessed brain could interpret the rejection. Alex’s attitude had been so firm and arrogant; he clearly wasn’t lying. He truly believed she lacked sothing fundantal.
"Ugh."
Emily let out a rare, highly uncharacteristic groan of frustration. She looked down at herself. She was wearing a simple, practical silk nightgown. Her figure was slender, her chest modest but perfectly shaped.
She thought about Maya, the brash delinquent Alex had seed so comfortable joking with. Maya was loud, overly physical, and completely lacked aristocratic grace. Was that charm?
"How does one... mathematically calculate charm?" Emily whispered into the dark, her icy blue eyes furrowing in deep, genuine distress.
For the first ti in her life, the Ice Princess was facing an equation she had absolutely no idea how to solve.
*****
The silence of the Spire’s 24th floor was heavy, punctuated only by the low hum of the magical wards embedded in the walls. I wasn’t sleeping. My body was still vibrating from the kinetic energy I’d absorbed earlier, and my mind was too sharp to shut down.
I was sitting on the edge of the bed, stripped down to my trousers, watching the moonlight cut across the floor.
Tap. Tap.
The sound ca from the balcony glass. I didn’t reach for my sword; I knew that specific, impatient rhythm. I walked over and slid the heavy glass door open.
Maya tumbled inside, shivering slightly. She was wearing her Academy blouse, but it was unbuttoned halfway, and she’d ditched her skirt for a pair of tight black athletic shorts. Her blonde hair was a ss, wind-blown from whatever stunt she’d pulled to bypass the 23rd-floor security.
"You’re late," I said, looking her up and down.
"Shut up," she hissed, her blue eyes flashing with a mix of exhaustion and irritation. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to scale the outside of the Magic Tower while avoiding sentry golems? My fingers are frozen."
"I told you the wards on the stairs were absolute."
"Wards don’t stop soone who’s willing to drop twenty stories if they slip." She stepped closer, the cold air still clinging to her skin. She slled like the night wind and that sharp, icy mana she always radiated. "I’ve been stuck in that room for hours listening to those noble girls gossip about their ’flower arrangents’. And then there’s your little fiancée."
Maya poked hard in the chest, her finger trembling slightly.
"I haven’t been able to have alone ti with you as she keeps eyeing . I’m the first who ca. I even gave you your virginity. It’s who has been satisfying your thirst... in class... in rooms, everything. And then she shows up and acts like I’m just so ’unrefined commoner’?"
"You’re rambling, Maya."
"I’m frustrated, Alex," she snapped, her voice dropping to a low growl. She grabbed the waistband of my trousers and yanked toward her. "I’ve been holding it in for weeks. I can’t hold back anymore. I want you to fuck . Fuck my brains out so I won’t need it for another few days."
She didn’t wait for an answer. She shoved back toward the bed. I hit the mattress, and she was on top of in a second, straddling my waist.
Her hands were still ice-cold as she pressed them against my bare chest. The contrast against my overheated skin made hiss, but she didn’t care. She leaned down, her mouth crashing against mine. It wasn’t a soft kiss; it was a desperate, ssy collision of teeth and tongue. She tasted like adrenaline.
Maya pulled back for a second, her breath hitching. "Don’t be gentle. I’m sick of everyone acting like everything is fragile. Just... hurt a little. Make forget that blonde bitch exists."
I reached up, my fingers tangling in her ssy blonde hair, and yanked her head back to expose her throat. She let out a sharp, needy gasp, her back arching as my other hand slid down her spine, gripping her ass over those tight shorts.
"You’ve got a big mouth for soone who almost fell off a tower," I murmured against her ear, biting down on the lobe.
"Prove it then," she challenged, her voice breaking. "Show I’m still the one who matters."
I didn’t say anything. I flipped her over in one fluid motion, pinning her face-down against the pillows. She let out a muffled grunt, her hips kicking up instinctively. I grabbed both of her wrists, pinning them behind her back with one hand, and used my weight to press her into the mattress.
"Is this what you wanted?" I asked, my voice dropping an octave.
"Yes," she whimpered into the pillow, her body shivering with a mix of cold and anticipation. "Harder. Press harder."
I obliged, leaning my full weight into her. My chest was burning with stored kinetic mana, and as I pressed against her, she could feel the unnatural heat radiating off . I reached for the buttons of her blouse, ripping the remaining ones open and shoving the fabric off her shoulders.
Her back was pale and toned, a map of muscles from years of combat training. I leaned down and bit her shoulder blade, hard enough to leave a mark. She let out a sharp, muffled shriek, her legs twitching beneath .
"You’re so desperate, Maya," I muttered, my hand sliding under the waistband of her shorts.
She was already soaked. The friction of her thighs rubbing together during the climb and the sheer frustration of the last few days had left her completely ready. As my fingers brushed against her center, she let out a long, shuddering moan that vibrated through the mattress.
"Shut up and just do it," she begged, her head thrashing against the pillow. "I don’t care about the rules. I don’t care about the tower. Just take ."
I reached down and yanked her shorts and panties off in one go, tossing them onto the floor. She was completely exposed now, her pale ass trembling as I let go of her wrists. She imdiately reached back, grabbing my hand and guiding it back to her throat.
"Don’t stop," she hissed. "I want to feel every bit of it."
I knelt between her legs, my eyes taking in the sight of her. She wasn’t petite like Emma; she had the body of a warrior—long legs, a firm waist, and a fire that never seed to go out. I gripped her hips, my fingers digging into the skin, and pulled her toward .
I guided my hard length to her entrance. She was so wet I didn’t even need to prep her. I drove into her in one deep, brutal thrust.
"AGH!"
Maya’s back arched into a perfect bow, her head snapping back as she let out a loud, raw scream that was only partially muffled by her biting her own lip. Her internal walls clamped down on like a vice, pulsing with a violent, needy rhythm.
"God... fuck..." she wheezed, her fingernails digging into the bedsheets. "More... give more."
I didn’t give her a second to breathe. I started to move, my thrusts heavy and relentless. Every ti I hit her, the kinetic energy in my body seed to discharge slightly, sending ripples of heat through both of us.
Maya was a ss. She was sobbing and cursing, her body taking every hit with a masochistic hunger. She wanted the intensity; she wanted to be dominated until the only thing left in her head was the sensation of breaking into her.
"Whose are you?" I grunted, grabbing her hair again and forcing her to look back at . Her face was flushed, her eyes glazed with pure, unadulterated lust.
"Yours..." she gasped, her voice raw. "Only yours... fuck the rest of them... just keep going..."
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