Chapter 14: Sneaking Out to My Walk of Shame

A guttural groan ripped from his chest. In a blur of motion too fast for Blair’s hazy mind to track, the world spun. He grabbed her wrists, flipped her onto her back, and pinned her firmly against the plush mattress.

He caged her in, his large frame hovering over her. His broad chest was heaving, his heart hammering an erratic rhythm against her soft, naked breasts. He was a hair’s breadth away from giving in to his primal instincts and claiming her right then and there.

The sudden movement jostled something loose in Blair’s brain. A fleeting sliver of clarity pierced through the sweltering heat. She blinked up at him, her eyes locking onto his for one, crystal-clear second.

And then, Blair’s eyes rolled back, and she passed out cold against the pillows.

At that same second, the bedroom door was thrown open so hard it cracked against the wall.

"Daemus, I swear to the Goddess, if you’re in here—!"

A furious, beautiful Wolf beastwoman stood in the doorway, her fangs bared in a snarl as she took in the highly compromising scene on the bed.

But Blair didn’t hear the yelling. She was already drifting away into a deep, mercifully silent darkness.

Blair woke up feeling like a carriage pulled by a team of rhinos had run over her skull.

She groaned, burying her face into the soft pillow as a stab of pain shot through her temples. Her mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton, and her limbs weighed a thousand pounds each.

What time is it? her sluggish brain supplied.

She bolted upright in a panic, but the sudden movement made the room spin violently. She clutched her head, her memory fragmented. Wait. Today was Saturday. There were no classes.

She forced her eyes open, squinting against the sunlight filtering through the sheer curtains.

She wasn’t in her lumpy bed in Dormitory G. The room was massive, decorated in dark woods and rich, emerald greens. It was spotlessly clean.

And she was completely naked.

Blair gasped, frantically pulling the duvet up to her chin. Her heart began to race as she desperately tried to piece the previous night together. The party. The cup. Falling into the pool.

Whining like a needy animal and begging a total stranger to take her clothes off.

"Oh my god," Blair whispered into the silent room, her face burning with humiliation.

She looked around the room frantically, but her clothes were nowhere to be found. Instead, resting at the foot of the bed, was a neatly folded piece of clothing.

Blair crawled down the mattress, keeping the duvet wrapped around her, and picked it up. It was a sports jersey. Woven across the front was the Apex Academy crest, and printed across the back in bold, white letters was a name: DAEMUS.

The name rang a bell, but her brain couldn’t quite connect the dots.

Did I sleep with a Wolf beastman?

Holding her breath, Blair did a quick physical assessment. Her muscles ached, but it was a dull, exhausted ache. There was no sharp pain between her legs. She was a virgin; she knew with certainty that if a beastman had actually had his way with her, she would be in agony right now.

She let out a shaky sigh of relief. She hadn’t crossed the line. The bed itself was slightly rumpled, but it wasn’t the disaster zone that would indicate wild beastman sex.

"Okay. Virginity intact. Dignity destroyed. Time to go," Blair muttered to herself.

She dropped the duvet and quickly pulled the jersey over her head. It was large. It easily swallowed her smaller frame entirely, the hem falling all the way down to her mid-thigh like a dress, and the sleeves hanging several inches past her fingertips.

It smelled of cedarwood.

Blair tiptoed across the carpet, wincing with every step she took toward the door. She just needed to slip out, navigate the campus without being seen, and crawl back into her own bed to die of embarrassment in peace.

She reached the door, her fingers wrapping around the cold handle. She cracked it open just an inch. The hallway outside was clean and eerily quiet, devoid of the disaster from the night before. The coast was clear.

She pulled the door open a little wider, letting out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. She took one step toward freedom.

"Are you leaving without saying goodbye?"

The voice was deep, a rich baritone.

Blair froze dead in her tracks. Her blood turned to ice.

The voice had come from behind her.

"I’m so sorry! Goodbye!" Blair yelled frantically to the door and was about to dash out of the room.

She didn’t make it a single step.

A hand clamped onto the back of the hockey jersey. With an effortless pull, she was hoisted straight off her feet. Blair gasped, her breath hitching in her throat, her heart skipping beats of fear as she was held up with just one hand, her toes dangling inches above the floor.

How was he that fast? her panicked brain screamed.

She was spun around, her wide eyes finally landing on the source of the voice.

Daemus was breathtakingly handsome. His thick, dark hair was wet, water droplets tracking down the corded muscles of his incredibly broad chest and a stomach that looked like it was carved from solid stone. His body glistened with water, radiating a sweltering heat. The only thing preserving whatever was left of her sanity was a white towel hanging dangerously low on his waist.

I didn’t even hear the water running, Blair realized.

Her face flushed a brilliant, burning crimson.

Daemus lifted her a few inches higher and hooked the collar of the jersey right over a coat hook on the back of the door. Blair was left suspended against the wood, her feet kicking uselessly at the air.

Daemus didn’t say a word. He only looked up at her, his dark eyes heavy and unreadable, and allowed the towel to drop to his ankles.

Blair slapped both hands over her eyes, but it was a fraction of a second too late. The image was burned into her retinas.

It’s so big.

Tears of overwhelmed panic pricked the corners of her eyes behind her hands. She wanted to cry. She just wanted to go home and pretend none of this had ever happened. Was this beastman going to have his way with her right here against the door?

And worse, why was a treacherous part of her actually getting excited about it?

Daemus stepped closer, the heat of his naked body washing over her like a furnace.

"If I fucked you," his deep voice started, "would you be able to handle it?"