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This is the maiden voyage for the new format of the Chronicles of Writing Spice! I’m excited to share this journey with you. Thanks to my vacation I didn’t get quite as much time to work on this story as I’d been hoping for, but this was a fun little story to write, and you might recognize the setting.

That stupid wolf was riding the high of chasing me from the school. My blood boiled with the epiphany and I used the adrenaline to fuel my sprint. Students whizzed past in my periphery as I bolted out the exit, Ryker hot on my heels. I needed to lose this asshole, but campus was open and sprawling, the school buildings laid out across the massive plot of land the academy owned.
With a burst of speed, I reached another building, and realized with horror that I could feel the ground beneath my feet again. The hard packing of stones against the tread of my uniform shoes the first sensation to return. Less than fifteen seconds later, and I felt the wind in my face and the uncomfortable flapping of my skirt against my legs. I’d burned through too much power during class and now I didn’t have enough to even keep my body phased.
“Fuck.” I cursed, darting left at the last second.
Ryker followed with a hunter’s precision as he gained on me, running more difficult in my physical form. Urging my feet forward faster, I threw all my energy into escaping. It was stupid to try to outrun a wolf—especially one with lycan blood. In just two more steps he would reach me, but luck was on my side, and I thanked Shai for the second time that day. There was no one around to witness what was sure to be a horrific exchange as he crashed into me, knocking me to the ground.
“You should know better than to run. Predators like me always give chase.” He stared down at me with human eyes, and I huffed out a laugh.
“I hope you’re not insinuating that I’m weak. Because I will never be your prey.” I pasted a defiant smirk on my lips, not allowing him the victory he tried to claim.
His gaze dropped to my mouth, and I bucked to get out from under him, gripping his shoulders to try to roll him off me like they taught in our sparring classes. The move didn’t work then, and it sure as hell didn’t work now as tall, dark, and muscular barely even budged above me. Catching my wrists, he pushed them against the ground on either side of my head, drawing him close enough that our breaths mingled.
“You’ve been my prey since the moment I laid eyes on you, little ghost.” His irises were the palest shade of gold, though you could barely see it since his pupils were blown wide with excitement.
“Never. It’s disgusting that you’re enjoying this, you know.” I thrust my hips upward in another bid to roll him off, but instead I was met with a jolt of desire.
Horror rushed through me as I realized it wasn’t something he’d tried to plant there, but instead it was all my own. Ryker’s eyes had returned to mine in time to catch the flash of emotion I had been too surprised to hide, and his face lit with triumph. Praying he chalked it up to his attempts at rewriting my feelings, I wrangled my expression back into one of disgust.
“Now now, just because phantoms are all half-dead doesn’t mean the rest of us are. It’s not polite to shame me for my true nature.” His voice held a note of irritation, and I smiled sweetly at him.
“Would that be your lycan nature at the helm tonight? Or your incubus nature?”
“A bit of both. Always a bit of both.” His lips were close enough for me to feel the heat of them against mine as he spoke.
If I just leaned forward, my mouth would be pressed to his. Desire wasn’t something I felt often as a phantom, but when I did, it was strong. And I had the feeling Ryker wouldn’t be a huge fan of kissing me, which was an added bonus, because he was pissing me off. It would be excellent shock value, and I was sure it would buy me the time I needed to slip away. I drew in a deep, shuddering breath before lifting my head.
A moment before, anticipation, victory, and exhilaration had been swirling around me. Now, his aura had a physical pressure to it as it grew intense with hunger and a thrill that spurred my own emotions. Ryker’s lips molded to mine and his hips shifted, his body realigning with mine to fill in all the dips and curves. He was everywhere, pinning me to the ground as his mouth claimed mine in a searing kiss I couldn’t have predicted if I’d tried.
When he broke the kiss, it felt at once like it time had moved at an agonizingly slow pace, and too fast for my mind to catch up with what I’d done. My breath came in short gasps, and a wiggle of my hips gave away the evidence that he’d been as affected by the kiss as I had. The hard length of him dug into me, and he was staring at me as though he’d never seen me before.
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xo
Grace