9

Azira

The cafeteria is busy because I'm late for breakfast. My friends are already sitting at our usual table. I make my way through the crowd and grab a tray of pancakes before heading over to join them.

I sit in my usual seat, wincing as I do.

"Still hurts?" Adrianna asks, noticing my discomfort.

"Yeah." I nod, spooning a forkful of pancakes into my mouth. It's been five days since my punishment from Luigi, but the bruises he inflicted this time on my back are far worse than the ones he inflicted when I was in ninth grade and the cut is only just healing. "I guess he got a bit heavy-handed compared to the last time I got sent to him."

Eva clears her throat. "Luigi's corporal punishment is barbaric, if you ask me."

Nat shakes her head. "What do you expect from a school like this?"

"You really shouldn't have stuck up for me like that to coach."

I smile as Adrianna hates it when people get in trouble because of her, but it wasn't only that. "Isn't that what friends do?" I shrug. "After all, he was being an asshole picking on the two of us because he's butt hurt that you won't fuck him. Everyone else was talking and yet he was singling us out." I clench my jaw. "So I snapped."

Eva nods. "Yeah, Arch can be a real asshole, it seems."

"But maybe keep your mouth shut next time to avoid this." Nat nods at me as I sit forward awkwardly, making sure my back doesn't rest against the chair.

Eva arches a brow. "Unless you want to be sent to Luigi."

I swallow hard as one thing I've noticed about Eva is she's freakishly perceptive. Could she know that deep down, I enjoy being subjected to his pain? I'd always wondered about that first time in ninth grade and whether it was a fluke, but after the other day, I know it wasn't. At one point, I'm pretty sure I moaned while he whipped me, the ache between my thighs so incessant I thought I'd combust. And then I climaxed. I climaxed from nothing but my thighs rubbing together and Professor Luigi whipping me and inflicting pain. There's clearly something not quite right about how I'm wired.

He's knows I orgasmed, and it's so damn embarrassing. Perhaps my moaning and reactions spurred on his brutality and that's why he went so far that the whip cut through my skin. "I'll try not to get sent to him again," I say, despite wanting to explore this crazy, fucked up part of myself with him more.

The one thing I didn't tell my friends is that he drew blood. The whip sliced through my skin and that's when he stopped, but it all got a little crazy after that. The way he touched me and smeared the blood over my skin. He even tasted it like some kind of crazed vampire hungry to feed on me.

I shudder, as although it was arousing, I can't work out if it was a step too far. There's something very dark and tortured about Blaine Luigi, and although he excites me, he scares me, too.

"Is he really that brutal?" Eva asks.

I nod in response. "He's a sadist."

Natalya clears her throat. "Exactly why we told you that you're insane to want to pursue him."

"I don't want to pursue him," I lie, as deep down I know I wanted to get sent to Luigi to find out if my reaction to the pain in ninth grade was a one off. "It was a joke."

"Right," Adrianna says, nudging me. "You've had a crush on him since forever."

"Yeah, it doesn't mean I'm crazy enough to pursue him. As I said, he's a sadist." My cheeks are blazing with heat as I focus on my stack of pancakes, forking some into my mouth.

"Talk of the devil," Nat says, nodding toward the entrance of the cafeteria.

Luigi strides in confidently and students in his way cower before him, getting out of his way sharply. It's awe-inspiring the amount of fear he commands, especially amongst the brutal mafia heirs that attend this academy. I wonder if that's part of the allure he has on me. The power and fear that he commands.

Adrianna nudges me. "Even after he beat you, you're staring at him like he's God's gift to this earth."

I clear my throat and tear my eyes away from him. "Bullshit."

Eva laughs. "I've got to admit, Adrianna is right."

I glare at her. "You're all being a bunch of assholes."

Nat holds her hands up. "Hey, what did I do?"

"Okay, you excluded." I shake my head. "Yes, I find him attractive, but I'm not insane enough to want to actually be with someone so crazy." I fork the rest of my pancakes into my mouth, hoping that ends the discussion.

I'm not sure I even believe what I'm saying. After I climaxed from the pain, I fear I'm at more risk than ever of pursuing that monster. He's not a man, he's a beast the way he tasted my blood, and yet it makes me want him more.

A shudder skates down my spine at the memory and I steal a glance toward him, to find that he is watching me intently. Those unique hazel eyes of his burning with a fire that steals my breath away. For a moment, I'm captivated by them and him, unable to look away. A dark, twisted smirk curls onto his lips and I quickly look away, trying to focus on anything but Professor Luigi.

I clear my throat. "Has everyone got class first period?" I ask.

Eva shakes her head. "No, I've got a free period."

I smile, thankful that I'm not the only one. "Do you want to go to the library for it?"

Nat raises an eyebrow. "Since when do you voluntarily go to the library? Normally it's like pulling teeth to get you to go."

I shrug. "I've got the assignment to catch up on for Professor Jameson's class."

Eva winces. "Didn't you hear they fired her?"

"What? No!" I shake my head. "Why?"

Adrianna clears her throat. "I hear she tried to seduce a married man after having a go at him for marrying a student."

Eva nods. "Something like that."

My eyes widen. "Wow, what a bitch. Who's taking math now, then?" I ask.

"I hear Professor Luigi is standing in until they find a replacement," Nat says.

Eva nods in agreement. "Yeah, and Professor Davidson is standing in on English class."

I swallow hard. "All the more reason to get my assignment done."

Eva nods. "True. If he knows that the assignment was due in the first place."

I have no intention of turning up without it and finding out, especially not since my back isn't healed from his last punishment. A shudder races down my spine as I wonder if he'd whip me again, break open the wound healing on my back like a savage.