Page 42 of Group Studies
I didn’t understand what was going on until a waterfall of ice-cold water rained down on me. I gasped and wrapped my arms around my now soaked body. It didn’t make my need vanish, but it shocked my system enough that my brain could think about something other than dick.
Above me, Professor Garnet stood his hands extended. The dissipating magic of his water spell defused his gleaming red rims. A frown tugged at his mouth. Saffron and Tanwyn’s footsteps leaving the Sphérique echoed in the space.
“She told me last night, but I didn’t believe it. I’ve never heard of magic affecting someone like this,” Officer Keres said once the door closed behind Tanwyn and Saffron.
He stepped forward, but Professor Garnet put out a hand to hold him back. “She’s very likely to transfer without meaning to. The clasps trapped her magic, and without an outlet, she has no control. The buildup is how she broke the clasps, I’m positive.”
“And you know this because?” Officer Keres asked.
“Because she lost control and transferred into me,” Professor Garnet admitted. “And I’m trusting you with this, Officer Keres, and no one else. Please give me the tools to help my student. Aphy’s unique, as I’ve said over and over. She needs balance and structure.”
The cold water dripped off me in fat drops as the MA officer and metaphysics professor squared off. Officer Keres looked away first. His gaze shifted to me as I shivered.
“I need to think,” Officer Keres finally said. “I’ll escort her to GS and make sure Coach Robin knows to keep her separated from her fellow students.”
“That’s all I can ask,” Professor Garnet said. He rocked on his feet, his hands clasped behind his back.
I nodded and bit my lips together, easing myself off the ground and out of my little puddle.
With my socks squelching in my shoes, I followed Officer Keres to Coach Robin’s office. I couldn’t have stopped to change even if I wanted to. Ram still had my bookbag.
Coach Robin listened to Officer Keres with a bland expression, nodding in all the right places. The minute he went out of sight, she shook her head. “If I had magic, I’d dry you, but I don’t. You’re in no shape for GS, and I can’t babysit you.” She wrote me a quick note. “Go get warm. It’s too cold to be wet. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I hadn’t realized I’d moved forward, intending to hug Coach Robin until she put her hands between us.
“I understand,” she said. “You’re welcome, but you’re still wet. I don’t want to be wet. Go. I’ll have words with the faculty about dowsing students in water in the fall, in Alaska.”
“Thank you,” I managed to say through chattering teeth.
Grabbing the note, I bolted toward the main building, slowing once I reached the entrance.
Beryl stood with his bulky arms crossed in the doorway. My heart fluttered hopefully as I came to a halt in front of him.
“Ditching GS?” Beryl asked, a smirk curling on his lips.
I waved the note. “Apparently, if my day’s bad enough, Coach Robin will give me a pass.”
He scanned my body. “Why are you wet?”
Blood rushed to my face. “Professor Garnet doused me in ice water.”
Beryl gave me a lop-sided smile and opened his arms.
I didn’t know I could move so fast. His warmth and protection surrounded me as I burrowed myself into his hard chest. My head spun. I didn’t know if I wanted to cry, celebrate, or strip Beryl bare and ride him right here in the doorway. The tangled web of magic and nerves seemed to have fried my brain.
Beryl picked me up and hoisted me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I squeaked happily and relaxed.
“Out of the hall we go. I've found myself with some extra time for my Goddess,” Beryl said playfully.
He started walking, hopefully toward my dorm. It was hard to tell upside down.
I wiggled forward so every step gave me a little extra joy between my legs. Despite the cold water, my worked-up magic and sex drive still drove the bus.
“How’d you know to wait for me?” I asked. “I thought you were pushing me out of your life.”
Beryl’s footsteps slowed as he pressed his forehead into my hip. “I’m stalking you, Dot. And I am pushing you out. It’s very hard when you run frantically through my cafeteria with a pickle wrapped in your perfect fingers.”
I blinked. Unsure if he was being sweet, worried about me or telling me the state of his dick.