Reader Beware

Chapter 41

        Rika’s mind went blank. Not the cold whiteness of shock, but a kind of…fluffy blank. She could feel her cheeks heat up as warmth replaced panic in her stomach, the feeling spreading out through the rest of her body, which for some reason made her fingers and toes tingle slightly. All this from the feeling of Ahisu’s cool, smooth lips against hers.

This…this was definitely new. The last time Rika had kissed a boy it’d been alright. She hadn’t gotten what the big deal was. And the boy certainly hadn’t been interesting enough to keep her from her books so she dumped him within two weeks. But this feeling, she could get used.

Rika leaned in further, kissing him back, pressing herself against him. She was finally able to verify that yes, his chest and stomach were as muscled as the arms she could feel wrapped around her. She closed her eyes and surrendered herself to what she could feel.

Ahisu’s arms tightened around her, so that Rika was unable to stop a gasp from escaping her lips. He held her closer, so that their bodies were melded together. Rika used the opportunity to slide her arms around his neck, making it that much easier to kiss him deeply.

She wasn’t sure who stuck whose tongue in the other one’s mouth first, not that it mattered. One moment they were kissing with only their lips, the next, mouths were open and they were involved in a full on make-out session. Rika wasn’t about to complain. This felt even better.

Rika didn’t know how long they remained like that, arms locked around one another. It felt both longer and shorter than she thought it could have been. All she really knew, was that one moment Ahisu was kissing her, the next, he was pulling away.

The little whine that came from the back of her throat as she opened her eyes wasn’t a sound she’d ever made before, and when she thought about it later, made her blush furiously. But at the time, she didn’t care. All she wanted was to go back to what they’d been doing.

He ignored her, arms dropping away, one hand closing back around her wrist. He strode out of the alcove, towing her behind him, his head swivelling this way and that. Rika’s mind slowly broke out of its fluffy prison of feelings, enough that she was able to think. And all her thoughts seemed to come at once, leaving her brain trapped in a whirl of confusion. Part of her tried to deny what had just happened but the rest of her was still too caught in the afterglow pleasure of it all to let that happen.

Ahisu kept walking with Rika right behind him, her eyes open but not seeing anything that passed her by. She was trying to piece together the why had it happened with why had it felt so good. It wasn’t like the first time she’d been kissed at all. Of course, that time she’d barely known the boy, Tommy she thought his name was. He’d asked her out and she thought she might as well give the experience of dating a go. It wasn’t that she’d loved him, so maybe that was where the difference wa-

Rika’s mind skidded to her halt even as her body kept moving robotically. She hadn’t just thought…It wasn’t really possible, right? She could practically count the number of times they’d talked, and almost do the same with the number of actual words he’d spoken to her. You couldn’t fall in love with someone that easily, could you? She…He was her magic teacher for Christ’s sake! There had to be some rule or law about not falling in love or getting involved with your magic teacher like that.

Oh god! She thought, feeling her face turn crimson again. I actually love him. Oh god, oh god, oh god! What am I supposed to do? Should I tell him? No, he’s…there’s no way that ‘ll turn out well, not with him. He only talks when he absolutely has to and I can’t imagine he’d have any interest in me. Maybe if I was a real mage…No, not even then I don’t think. Ahisu doesn’t give the feeling of having any kind of emotional attachment. To anyone. At least I’m going home as soon as I can. If I don’t have to see him again, Rika ignored the squeezing feeling in her chest. It’ll be better. I can’t…being by him without him knowing or caring would be too much. Too hard. Best just to keep quiet about it. No one can know.

A sudden thought had her eyes widening. Rika remembered that the book that’d brought her here was recording everything she’d thought and felt. Including everything she’d just figured out. And worst of all, Ahisu was still the one carrying the book. She look up at the back of his head, face a mask of horror. She had to get the book back from him. As quickly as possible. If he read it…

She had to come up with some excuse to get it away from him. And she was going to have to carry it, even if the others suggested otherwise. None of them could see it. She could just imagine what the other two would be like if they found out. Heck, they didn’t even like Ahisu, so they certainly weren’t going to understand if she tried to explain why she loved him.

Not that she knew the answer to that herself. How had it happened? She’d found him interesting from the beginning, but that was because he was a mage. If he’d been a girl, she’d had been just as interested. And that was the same with Damek. Of course, he reminded her entirely too much of her brother, so that’s how she thought of him, but Ahisu didn’t remind her of anyone except himself. So that couldn’t be why…

Rika shook her head. It was better to leave the whys and concentrate on how she was going to keep the others from finding out. God, she could barely even look at him, even with his back to her. Magic lessons were going to be pure torture from here on out. And she couldn’t quit them, not with making the others suspicious. Blushing again, Rika resigned herself to the uncomfortable and embarrassing days ahead.