“Just a lot of new things to... experience,” I said as I swallowed nervously.
Bane’s expression did not falter.
“I see,” he said, his voice rumbling like a kitten’s purr.
My insidesthrobbedat the deep sound escaping his mouth, as if the tone of his voice alone could unravel me, bit by bit.
I am so out of my league here.
Still, I held his dark, inviting gaze.
“Okay, then... glad we cleared that up,” I said as Professor O’Connor’s voice cut through the chatter.
“Welcome to Lost Lore & Legends, my friends. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Laughlin O’Connor, and I have been studying ancient lore and legends of old longer than most of you have been alive.”
A chuckle erupted through the classroom at his words, and I fought to look away from Bane and focus on my instructor.
But even as I looked on ahead, I could feel his gaze holding, heating me like a warm fire.
“To start this shindig the right way, I’d like you all to take out the runes you were supposed to have made over the summer for this very class,” he said as he scoured the room with a telling look. There was a cannon of groans and rustling backpacks as everyone did as they were asked, except Bane and I. I looked at him, panicking.
“I didn’t get the memo. I don’t have anything, do you—” I said involuntarily as Bane pursed his lips.
“You can use mine,” a voice called from behind us.
I turned to see a male student, with deep, teal green eyes, and sandy colored hair leaning across the desk casually. He crossed his arms in front of him, his lips pulled up in a salacious grin. But that was the mostnormalthing about him. He held out a small black velvet bag to me, but he did not hold it with hands, no.
He held it with bright pinksuckers, attached to his long, thick tentacles.
I don’t know why the sight of the long, slippery appendages caused my insides to twist, but it did.
What the hell is wrong with me?
It’s like ever since I set foot on this damn island my vagina has a mind of its own! Goodness!
“Oh... don’t you need them, though?” I asked, feeling my cheeks redden again as I tried to combat the weird air that had settled around me.
“How utterly convenient,” Bane drawled, his tone conveying a darkness it hadn’t earlier. “Saved by the kraken.”
His gaze fixated on the attractive man with tentacles.
He shook his head, sandy hair falling in his eyes. “Don’t worry about it, doll, Wanda’s gotmecovered, isn’t that right, babe?” he said as he winked at the woman beside him, another one of the tall, leggy, beautiful uniformed models gracing this school. Her hair was almost the same color as the tentacle man’s eyes, a deep shade of teal that was quite otherworldly, reminding me of dark, uncharted waters. Her bronze complexion only aided in the beautiful yet edgy aesthetic she favored.
“Of course, darling,” the woman said, her voice like a bell. She shot a look at Bane that only seemed to aggravate him more, and I swear it looked like he was about ready to pour steam out the top of his gourd.
“Name’s Norman,” tentacle-man said with a grin that was positively perfect. “This here is my... little... associate, Wanda.”.
Really, Norman? That’s what they’re calling it now?” Bane bit, but Wanda just rolled her eyes.
“Labels aren’t everything, Bane, surely you know that,” she cooed.
I couldn’t take my eyes off of Norman’s tentacles, though. I’d never seen anything like it. Likehim.Half creature, half man. In a way it was like seeing my books come to life, and if I hadn’t been dealing with weird magic stuff my entire life, I might have thought I’d fallen off the deep end.
“You’re...” My words escaped me as I didn’t want to be rude. He looked like a model for toothpaste or something, his teeth were so straight, his shoulders and arms trim in contrast to his thick tentacles.
“A hentai monster?” he said with a chuckle.
A blush formed on my cheeks at his word. I wasn’t completely obtuse when it came to the availability of porn, but I’d never been into the tentacle stuff. If I was being honest, I didn’t really do porn as a whole. I preferred to read my smut rather than watch it, because at least then I could pretend I was the main character and let my mind wander.
