against his chest. “I missed you, Cookie.” He dipped his head and slanted his mouth over mine.
His kiss was sweet, but also demanding and dominating.
I wanted to resist him and end the kiss, but it wasn’t in me to do it. This was Axel, my first crush, and he tasted like a wonder.
I inserted my fingers into his thick mane, pulling him down toward me even closer. I wanted every piece of him.
His kiss deepened and grew harder. At his urging, I opened my mouth eagerly.
He swept his tongue over my hard palate, and pleasure blossomed in me. As my tongue lashed out, ready for a mating dance, he withdrew, pried my fingers from his hair with an amused chuckle, and pulled away from me.
I glared at him. It wasn’t fair. He’d come to me first, but after just a taste, he decided he’d had enough.
“I can never get enough of you, Cookie,” he said softly, lust dancing in his eyes. “But this is hardly the place.”
Then why must he get me all heated up? I stared at him harder. Then I narrowed my eyes as something clicked.
The Demigod of War had come to stake his claim on me as well.
He traced his knuckles over my burning cheek. “See you tomorrow, Cookie.”
He strolled away with his hands in his pockets. He even hummed a tune, happy with his effect on me, especially when he knew how hard I had been trying to resist him.
Great! Just great!
They’d both made a dramatic entrance and thunder-loud statement, and then taken off as if this was normal, leaving me to deal with their hot messes.
Indeed, all eyes honed in on me, and the students bore all sorts of expressions on their faces: envy, disgust, shock, resentment, disbelief, and some confusion.
I slumped to my seat, trying to lower myself. I hoped I could vanish, too.
Yet I had my dignity to maintain. So I put on a blank mask and resumed picking on the tomatoes in my salad, as if this was any other normal day in my life.
I slanted a pleading glance at Yelena. She needed to warn me if Zak showed up, too, and I would for sure dive under the table.
Yelena nodded with sympathy, and Nat tried not to laugh.
“Mari, I had no idea this was your new style,” Circe said, widening her big eyes. And for the first time, there was true admiration for me in them. “You’ve been here for only a couple weeks, and you’ve already hooked up with the two hottest demigods?”
“It’s not my new style,” I hissed in a low voice.
“I wonder what she has that the rest of us don’t,” Rebekah murmured, studying me closely.
Jasper looked at me with an unreadable expression, but he didn’t seem happy. The others stared at me as if I had three tits.
I needed to make a quick exit before things got worse. I had a bad feeling about what was to come next. I definitely wasn’t keen on Zak showing up and me throwing myself under the table. And if Paxton, the loose canyon, also came along, a disaster would befall my friends.
“Huh, guys, very nice to meet you all,” I said, jumping off my seat. “I have to run since I...have to pick up my uniform from the dry cleaners before it closes.”
Well, that wasn’t even a decent excuse, but I couldn’t think straight after the two demigods had muddled my head. Now I was in a fleeing mood, afraid that the other two would pop out at any time.
I went to hug Jasper and Circe and said ruefully. “Good to see you. Sorry I have to go.”
Yelena murmured about it being nice to meet everyone and came to my side. Nat seemed reluctant to leave, but he rose from his seat, too.
“Come visit us whenever you can, Mari,” Jasper said. “I missed you.”
I grinned at him, punching his shoulder playfully like in the old days.
“Demigod Axel said you could bring all of us as your VIP guests to the party,” Circe said. “Can we come, please, Mari?”
All the faces at the table showed equal eagerness, and the girls’ eyes lit up in pleading.
“Yes, yes!” I said, plastering a forced, pleasant smile onto my face. “All of you are welcome.”
Then I thought of something and pulled out the envelope Axel had put in my pocket. I shoved it into Jasper’s hand.
“If there’re any invitations inside, you distribute them,” I said.
I grabbed Yelena’s and Nat’s arms from either side of me.
Teleport!