Dragon Conjurer, page 25
When he was this close, though, I realized how large he was, and it made me a little uncomfortable.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Nala added as the headmaster leaned forward to examine the tattoo. “This dragon came out of a fiery comet, and he uses his body by biting his own tail, bursting into flames, and rolling at the enemy like a demonic Hula Hoop. It’s really different from the ice dragon Ky, but Ky is still awesome, of course. Dylan’s crazy powerful!”
I gave Nala a look out of the corner of my eye and tried not to laugh at how much she sounded like a fangirl. It was cute and flattering, though, so I didn’t try to stop her.
“I believe you’re right, Ms. Jefferson.” Burkhard stood to his full height and smiled at me again. “Mr. Cooper, you have once again proven yourself to us here at AIMM.”
“Sir, before we continue with the mission report,” Steffi began as she leaned forward in her seat and crossed her ankles, “I would like to make a small request.”
“Certainly, Ms. Foster,” the headmaster said as he walked back to his desk and sat down behind it. “Please, take your seat, Mr. Cooper.”
“Thanks,” I said and quickly plopped down in my chair.
“Because Dylan has proven to be a great asset to our team,” the fairy girl next to me continued, “I would like AIMM to formally recognize him as our team leader.”
“He’s only been with us going on three days.” The Kingpin lookalike steepled his fingers and propped his thick elbows on the desk. “I know he is a Red rank, but he has limited experience.”
“And in his limited experience,” Nick interrupted, “he’s been calm, cool, and collected. Anybody would have lost their shit the moment they saw those vampire witches in the Mexican desert, but not Dylan.”
“He took the missions in stride,” Nala added and tossed her curly hair over one shoulder. “The tlahuelpuchi and yetis never knew what hit them, sir. Neither did the imps.”
“Well, Mr. Cooper,” Burkhard said as he turned toward me. “It seems your teammates have a very high opinion of you. Would you agree with them? Do you think you’re a worthy leader for this team?”
“If they think so, then yes.” I placed a hand over my heart and nodded to each of my friends. “I trust their judgement.”
“I think the matter is settled, then,” Burkhard said with a smile. “Dylan Cooper, you have officially been promoted to your team’s leader. Congratulations.”
I grinned, Steffi patted me on the shoulder, Nick gave me a thumbs up, and Nala smiled so brightly, I could’ve seen her pearly whites from the moon.
Damn, this felt good, but I knew it couldn’t last. We had more news to share with Burkhard, and said news would suck the fun out of the room faster than a tornado popping up in Kansas.
“Thank you, sir, but we have more to share with you,” I sighed as I folded my hands in my lap.
“Go ahead,” the headmaster said and gestured to me. “I’m all ears, Mr. Cooper.”
“After we got the imps under control and caged, we were sort of recovering from the adrenaline, you know?” I shrugged. “Anyway, after we set the last imp into its cage, one of them woke up and started jabbering.”
“Yes,” the fairy girl added, “and I could understand what it was saying.”
“Right, because you can speak to Fae,” Burkhard murmured with a nod. “Go on.”
“When I leaned closer to try to listen, I overhead the little devil ranting about a plan.” The golden-eyed beauty tossed her rosy hair when she popped her neck and rolled her shoulders. “It seems the monsters really are banding together to cause the most destruction possible. The imp said, ‘This is only the beginning of the end. The world will fall, and monsters will rise.’ To me, it sounds pretty clear.”
“It is pretty clear, Ms. Foster,” the headmaster murmured as he covered his mouth with his beefy hand and stared down at the desk. “My God… Monsters banding together to destroy the whole world? We’ve never seen anything like this before.”
“What can we do about this, Headmaster?” Nala asked in a quiet, almost nervous tone.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she had a little bit of a quiver on the end of her sentence.
“The best thing we can do right now, Ms. Jefferson, is keep AIMM on high alert. Dr. Hastings and her team already have the radars tuned for any unusual spikes in activity, and Japan is willing to keep open communication with us for the time being. We have no way of knowing if that situation will change, but we do know we have no choice but to remain on the edge of our seats.”
“What can we do?” Nick questioned as he propped his ankle on the opposite knee. “We’re ready to go--”
“No, we’re not,” I interrupted. “Sorry, Nick, but there’s no way we’re ready to get this ball rolling. We all need proper sleep. I haven’t slept a full night since I’ve been here, and I for damn sure need some.”
“Get some rest,” the headmaster agreed with a bobblehead-esque nod, “then start training. Now that you’re an established team, logging time in the training rooms is doubly important. You must develop your strategies, and Mr. Cooper, you have a new dragon to train. Forgive me, for I have no other way to say this, but there is no reason, not to test your new dragon in a trial of fire. One, it’s already sort of happened, and two, we will need all of our teams to be at their best.”
“Couldn’t agree more, sir,” Steffi said and grinned at the headmaster.
“While we here at AIMM have never ordered the cadets to report to training rooms at a certain time or frequency, I feel it’s important you four start drilling yourselves after you catch up on a few hours of sleep.” Burkhard then stood up from his desk, looked at his watch, and braced his hands on the smooth top. “I know it’s only seven in the morning, so perhaps you can get some sleep before lunch. I’d recommend training for several hours between meals, both as a team and as individuals.”
“What about classes?” I asked, even though I was ready to leave his office and get some real sleep. “I haven’t seen a classroom since I got here.”
“Things have certainly been strange around here,” the headmaster chuckled breathily. “But I can assure you, once this danger has passed, you will be allowed to take advantage of the variety of classes AIMM has to offer. Now, please, cadets, go relax.”
“We will, sir,” I promised with a sharp jerk of my head. “I don’t want to let you down.”
“Good man.” Then the Kingpin lookalike gestured behind us toward the door. “You’re dismissed. Thank you for your diligence and cooperation. We’ll keep you posted on any further developments.”
“Thank you, sir,” Steffi said as the four of us got out of our chairs and headed for the door.
Once we were out of the office and in the hall, Nick and Nala started walking at a faster pace than Steffi and me, which gave me the perfect opportunity to talk to her privately.
“So…” I whispered and leaned close to her ear, “what are we going to do when we get back to the room?”
“Oh, I think you know,” she purred as she placed an arm around my back and traced her nails along my waist. “You might be the team leader now, but when we get back to the dorm, I’m going to be calling the shots.”
“Oh, fuck, yeah.” I grinned. “I like the sound of that.”
Chapter Sixteen
I had no idea what Steffi had in mind for our evening of fun, but I knew she’d have to find a solution for our roommate problem.
As the other two walked further ahead of us, I leaned over and whispered into Steffi’s ear. “Hey, how are we going to get rid of those two?”
“I could always sneak into your room,” she purred right into my ear. “Or you can sneak into mine.”
“That sounds great, but I don’t want them to overhear us.” I said.
“They already know we like each other,” the fairy goddess next to me piped up, though her tone was still soft and low. “They probably think we’ve done it already.”
“And they’d be right,” I added and bit my lip at the thought of the pink-haired beauty’s naked skin against mine.
“True, so why don’t we just… do it?” Then the gorgeous woman licked the shell of my ear, and any blood I had in my body rushed straight to my crotch.
Holy shit, I thought she was so sweet and innocent, but apparently, my fairy lover was a total freak.
“You don’t have to keep convincing me,” I murmured as we reached the dorm complex. While Nick and Nala went into their own rooms, Steffi and I stood in the hall and stared into each other’s eyes for a moment.
“I didn’t think it would take much,” she admitted as she traced her hands across my chest. “I’ve seen the way you look at me out in the field.”
“I hope you know I think you’re more than just a pretty face,” I whispered while my hands traced over her exposed lower back and midriff. “You’re amazing, inside and out.”
“And you’re trying to sweet talk me while I’m trying to dirty talk you,” she giggled and kissed my chin. “Nick takes, like, two-minute showers, right? Maybe we can do something in there after he leaves?”
“Why not your bathroom?” I furrowed my brow as I set my hand on my room’s door.
“Nala takes a long time in the shower.” The fairy girl tucked herself under my chin and started pressing her lips over the exposed skin above the collar of my shirt. “I don’t want to wait for you, Dylan. I only got through the meeting with Burkhard because I was imagining what we’d do afterward. I want you, and I want you now.”
“I told you already,” I growled as I seized her by the arms and bent my head low to her ear. “You don’t have to convince me, Steff. I’m already hard for you, so don’t make it worse.”
“How can I make it worse?” She pulled away and batted her fine eyelashes at me, and then her lithe hand slid up my thigh toward my groin. “Your pants don’t make this obvious, but hello!”
“Fuck,” I grunted as her hand cupped the head of my dick. “Are you trying to make me fuck you in the hallway?”
“Just buying time.” She leaned forward, planted a kiss on my cheek, and backed away.
I immediately missed the warmth of her palm against my cock, and I started to move toward her. “You’re so cruel, you know. You get me worked up, and then you move away.”
“I just want you to want me so badly, you can’t wait any longer,” she purred while she walked away from me and toward her room’s door.
Before she could slip inside, though, Nick came out of my room, and the nymph gave us a weird look.
“What’re you doing?” I asked him as I noticed he was wearing his uniform, and his blond hair was damp and sticking to the points of his surgically altered ears. “Already done taking a shower?”
“Yeah,” he said with a nod. “I figured I’d go get breakfast, then come back here to sleep until lunch.”
“How long will you be gone?” I leaned against the wall next to the door and crossed my arms over my chest in an effort to act casual. I didn’t think it was really working, but I didn’t know what else to do.
“Probably fifteen minutes, half an hour, maybe.” Then the dude in front of me winked one green eye and flashed me a pearly smile. “If I get back before you’re done, just leave a sock hanging on the doorknob so I know not to go in.”
“Ohhh… yeah… that’s, uh, cool,” I spluttered while he stepped out of the doorway and faced me.
“Listen,” he chuckled and shook his head. “I know you’re waiting to get it on with Steffi. It’s obvious, so I won’t stand in your way.”
“And you’re okay with this?” I cocked my head to one side and moved into the doorway behind him.
“Why wouldn’t I be okay with it?” The nymph shrugged his shoulders. “As long as you’re both happy and it doesn’t affect the team, I’m cool with it. Just do one thing for me later, okay?”
“Sure.” I placed a hand on the doorframe and nodded aggressively. “Name it.”
“Teach me how to be so fucking smooth with the ladies, alright?” he laughed as he placed a bony hand on my shoulder. “I don’t have anyone in mind, but I’d like to sweep a girl off her feet when the right one comes along. You did it so well, I figured you’d have a lot of advice to pass on.”
“Not a lot of advice,” I mumbled, “but sure. I can teach you.”
“Thanks, Dyl.” He pushed away from me and gave me a mock salute with his left hand. “Thanks a lot. And hey, don’t forget about the sock thing.”
“I won’t,” I chuckled as he walked away, and I shut the door and leaned against it with a sigh. “Holy fuck, that was the closest thing I’ve ever had to the stereotypical dorm room experience.”
I quickly stripped out of my clothes, bundled them into a pile, and hung a single dirty sock on the doorknob outside. Nick hadn’t specified whether the sock had to be clean or dirty, so maybe the filthy footwear would be enough of a hint for him to occupy himself while Steffi and I got it on.
I pushed my way into the bathroom and walked to the laundry chute with my dirty clothes. Then I turned around and walked toward the shower without fog clinging to its frosty glass door, and I stepped inside.
“Already in here?” Steffi’s voice called from the other shower, and I was surprised I hadn’t seen her. “What did Nick want?”
“He was just telling me some guy stuff,” I said and opened the door. “Hey, come over here. I like this shower better.”
“Why?” she giggled as the other shower door creaked open, and the naked fairy goddess stepped into view. “What’s the difference?”
“This one has both of us in it,” I growled as I grabbed her by the arm and yanked her inside, and while I pinned her to the shower wall, I used my free hand to turn the hot water on and get some steam going. “Fuck, you look good enough to eat.”
“Maybe you will,” she purred and dove in for a kiss.
Our lips danced together as they came open, and our tongues darted back and forth in a battle for power inside the other person’s mouth. We sank deeper into the kiss as I pushed Steffi into the tiled shower wall, and our bare chests pressed against one another. The tiles must’ve been cold, though, because the golden-eyed fairy goddess’ nipples perked into points sharp enough to cut glass.
“Excited?” I whispered as I pulled away from the kiss and started to ravish her neck.
“Why would you ask such an obvious question?” she gasped while my lips worked across her throat and down to the top of her sternum. “Of course, I’m excited, Dylan. You always get me excited.”
“Good to know.” I moved my mouth away from the center of her chest and down to her right breast. I traced my lips over the smooth curve of the perfect teardrop shape, and then I cradled her breast in my hand to lift her stiff nipple to my mouth.
“Mmmmm…” I licked my tongue around its warm peak and sighed.
“Ohhhhhh…” she moaned and braced herself against the wall. “I thought foreplay was amazing, but foreplay in the shower is even better.”
“Hell, yeah, baby,” I whispered and moved on to her other nipple. “So, you still want to do the main thing on my bed?”
“Yessss.” Her hands came away from the wall and wrapped into my hair. “Please, Dylan. I want to have you, and I want to have you now.”
“Why not just a little in the shower?” I stood straight up and pressed my body into hers, so my erection now poked into her thigh. “You might like it.”
“I’m sure I would, Dylan. I like everything we do together.” The fairy’s pretty pink nails traced across my back and shoulders, and her lips pressed into my jaw. “What do you think we should do?”
“You were the one who said you’d be calling the shots once we got to this point,” I teased and pressed my mouth to hers, and I nibbled on her bottom lip.
“Good point.” Her lithe hands moved from my shoulders and onto my chest, and she pushed me away from her by a fraction. “Get cleaned up and meet me in your room when you’re done.”
“Ohhhh, you’re going to leave me?” I bent forward as she moved away, and I tried to grab her wrist to keep her by my side. “Don’t you need to wash your hair?”
“I will, but I’ll do it in the other shower to avoid any temptation.” Her index finger slipped under my chin, and she held my face level with hers. “Save yourself for the bedroom, Dylan. We’re going to be getting busy.”
I grumbled a little, but I decided to make the most of it and get clean. If I hurried, I’d get to have fun with Steffi much sooner, so I just needed to suck up my impatience for a couple minutes.
“Delayed gratification,” I told myself as I lathered my hair and washed the suds out.
I heard the other shower door squeak closed, and a pair of dainty feet padded across the room and through the door to my bedroom.
“I hope she’s ready,” I whispered and looked down at my already-raging erection. “Because I sure fucking am.”
Once I was clean, I grabbed a towel to dry off with, made sure I didn’t leave any puddles behind, and headed toward my bedroom.
I walked into the room and spotted the sexy fairy goddess lying with her head toward the foot of my bed. She had her ankles crossed over her bare ass, and her manicured hands framed her face.
“I’m glad you didn’t keep me waiting,” she purred as I moved around and sat down next to her. “I was wondering if you would.”
“Why in the hell would I do that?” I snorted and crawled onto the bed next to her. “You’re the one calling the shots, right? Why didn’t you just come get me?”
“I guess you’re right.” The pink-haired beauty propped herself onto her hands and knees and leaned back until she sat on her legs. “Come over here, sexy.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice.” I sat on the bed in front of her and crossed my arms. “So, what’re we doing?”
“Lie down with your head at the end of the bed.” Steffi scooted to the side to make some more room for me, and her hands trailed up my bare thighs as I moved into place.
“Sexy,” I murmured and got flat on my back just as she straddled my waist. “Oh, I like this. I like this a lot.”
