Page 28 of Plug and Claim

“Nathaniel, nice of you to finally join us,” Victoria said, giving him the middle finger.

“Charmed, as always, Victoria,” he replied, but he held Kira’s gaze, his blue eyes drawing her in.

Before she could ask him what he wanted, his gaze drifted downwards, lingering on her legs.

On my socks, she realised, cringing as he raised his other eyebrow as well. Nathaniel had just realised she was a virgin. She didn’t know why, but it unnerved her to no end.

Well, he can join the other creeps who think that increases my value.

She was half tempted to flip him a rude gesture as well, but instead, she crossed her arms. “Yes? Got something to say?”

To the only girl in the whole school wearing white socks?

Nathaniel’s gaze flickered back up to hers. “Yes, I do, actually. That’s my seat.”

She blanched. “Pardon?”

He bent down close to her and spoke in a slow, measured tone, his warm breath tickling her ear as he enunciated every syllable. “You’re. Sitting. In. My. Chair.”

The heat rose in her face as she realised Nathaniel hadn’t been looking at her socks at all, but at the chair she was sitting on.

“She’s sitting there now,” Victoria said slyly, licking her lips as she looked between the two of them.

“That’s right,” Kira said confidently. “I’m sitting here now.”

“You would be wise to move,” Nathaniel stated. “Unless you wish to share with me. I have no qualms about you sitting on my lap…”

“I have plenty of qualms about that,” Kira said, rising abruptly and tucking the textbook against her chest. Too mortified to look at him, she took the only other desk that was free—the one that was directly in front of Nathaniel’s.

She slapped the textbook down and stared at the empty cauldron before her. She was missing a knife, but she was too embarrassed to go and ask for a new one.

What the hell do I do now?

Unable to stand the suspense, or the sound of Victoria laughing, she slowly turned in her chair. Nathaniel was looking at her, his arm outstretched as he held out the knife handle-first, offering it to her.

She eyed it suspiciously.

“Oh, believe me,” he said, “I’m fully aware that handing you any kind of weapon could be a fatal error on my part.”

Kira huffed and took the knife. “Your error is thinking I need a weapon to end your life.”

Victoria erupted into a fresh burst of cackling, but Kira didn’t so much as spare her a glance. She was too mesmerised by Nathaniel’s reaction, including the way he ran his tongue over the sharp point of a fang.

She hastily dropped her gaze, her eyes narrowing as she took in his pale green suit. He wasn’t wearing a uniform. “I thought you were the chief security officer.”

“I’m also a student—”

“He’s not,” Victoria interjected.

“I’m a postgraduate researcher,” Nathaniel insisted.

“Bullshit, no one believes you,” Victoria said.

“They might if you didn’t contradict me.” Nathaniel didn’t seem annoyed, however, and he never once took his eyes off Kira.

I should focus on making my potion…

Alarm bells were ringing, but her curiosity got the better of her, and she remained half-turned in her chair, transfixed by the vampire. What was a postgraduate researcher—or whatever—doing in a potions class for first years?