Harem academy 1, p.1
Harem Academy 1, page 1
Harem Academy
The Reluctant Hero
Written by J. R. Hogan
Copyright © 2022 Locksmith Books
All rights reserved
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Legal Notes
Sign up for a free ebook and a notification when the next part is released!
Chapter One
TOC
I didn’t want this.
But life can be an asshole sometimes. And an asshole was exactly what stood in front of me.
I was walking back to my dorm after a six-hour lab, looking forward to some hot pot ramen and six hours of sleep. The campus was almost entirely empty at this time of night.
Almost.
Two other students were in the quad. Even from a distance, I could tell that the woman was immaculately beautiful. Shoulder-length jet-black hair contrasted with her pale skin beneath the buzzing lamp. She was staring in wide-eyed terror at the man next to her.
And with good reason. He was triple her size and gazing down in hunger. I had seen his posture at several frat parties: one arm was raised high and pressed against the wall, appearing casual from far while masking the fact that he was keeping her pinned.
She stepped back.
He leaned forward.
Whatever was about to happen was going to be unpleasant. Now, I don’t like getting involved in other people’s unpleasantness without absolute certainty that refraining from doing so would cause more harm than intervention would.
But we were one step away from being in that exact situation.
The woman darted away, but he was faster. A beefy hand caught her elegant, slender arm and held her in place.
“Let the fuck go of me!” she hissed, smacking his hand. He just laughed while watching her struggle; she might as well have been slapping the building for all the effect it had.
“Come on, Kristen, don’t be a bitch,” he cooed, pulling her close.
She hit him harder and faster. It was a valiant effort, given how inevitable the outcome was. He just laughed and wrapped his other arm around her tiny waist while pressing his crotch against her stomach.
That was the moment where refraining from intervention would have caused harm.
“Hey pal, tough break, but I don’t think she’s interested,” I called out. “Take the rejection with some class, okay?”
He stopped grinding on Kristen, but still held her close, as he turned around to face me. “Fuck you, you fucking fuck. I – Cooper, is that you?”
My stomach turned. I recognized him as Bert Nuggles, a lineman from the football team that only got into college because he was the size of a refrigerator and very useful on the gridiron. What few brain cells nature allowed him had been lost after one too many helmet-to-helmet collisions.
“Shit, Cooper! I haven’t seen you since your stupid ass threw away that football scholarship!” He squeezed Kristen tighter, eliciting an angry scream from her. “Why are you so fucking dumb?”
I stepped closer, glancing in every direction for unseen threats. I wished it wasn’t so dark. “If I were ‘fucking dumb,’ I wouldn’t have had that science grant to fall back on,” I answered in a smooth tone. “Back to the matter at hand: why don’t you let her go, while you and I have a little talk about appropriate boundaries?”
Bert smiled, revealing three missing front teeth. “Fuck off,” he retorted. The look on his face made it clear that he thought his response was quite clever.
“No,” I sighed. “I’m not going to fuck off, or fuck on, or anything that comes in that unique little mind of yours. In fact, no one is going to be doing any fucking of any kind tonight – least of all you.” I had crossed the short distance to where the two of them stood, and was now only a few feet away. I took the opportunity to scan my surroundings once more.
I didn’t like what I saw. A sidewalk led away from this corner of the quad and headed past several dark trees near a brick building. We stood between two buildings and beneath a single lamp, but no other light was nearby. Any of several bushes, trees, or dark corners could be hiding one of Bert’s idiot friends. If several linemen jumped me at once, it was going to be a painful fight.
But it was a risk I had to take. “Last chance, Bert,” I warned. “An early season injury can erase a year’s worth of work.”
He narrowed his eyes at me, spit on the ground, and then squeezed Kristen. Her eyes went wide as her mouth stayed silent.
She couldn’t breathe. Bert was squeezing her too tight. I couldn’t tell if he knew this or not, but it was clear that he wouldn’t change his behavior either way.
I sighed and shook my head. “I gave you every opportunity, Bert. This is on you.”
He opened his mouth to speak as I raised my fists. It was the perfect ruse; he didn’t realize that I was throwing all of my body weight into a kick until it was too late.
crack
I aimed the kick fast and low, snapping his knee sideways. He howled and tumbled to the ground, taking Kristen with him. She bounced off his generous gut and rolled away as he grabbed his leg with both hands.
“A torn meniscus or ACL will fuck up your whole season, Bert, and a man of your size puts a lot of stress on his knees. You should have listened when you still had the chance.” I walked over to where Kristen lay, gasping, on the ground.
My own breath nearly stopped when I saw her up close. Kristen’s raven hair was plastered haphazardly to her face, and the wild effect was intoxicating. She looked like the type of woman who was most at home while taking a risk that her closest friends called insane, cackling as the wind raced through her hair while she dared them to join her. Her waif-like figure betrayed a fierce aura that felt far more aggressive than anything Bert could hope to achieve.
“Here,” I offered, kneeling down and extending my hand, “try not to stand up too fast. He won’t be getting up anytime soon-”
“Fuck off,” Kristen spat, batting my hand away. She stared up at me with chocolate-dark eyes that reflected the streetlamp. “I’m not a damsel in need of saving.” Shakily, she got to her feet, arms trembling as she stood. I couldn’t peel my eyes away from her figure as she rose and faced me.
“Look,” I responded, gesturing toward where Bert lay moaning on the ground, “guys like that can’t be reasoned with. It’s much better to-”
“I said that I don’t need saving,” she snapped, eyes blazing as she stared me down.
I threw up my hands in exasperation. “Whatever. Look, just promise me that you’ll get out of here, dicks like him tend to travel in packs-”
“Nuggles?!” A nearby voice shouted. “Who did this to you?”
My blood froze as I recognized one of several interchangeable fat goons that orbited Bert. I initially couldn’t tell where the footsteps were coming from, but I quickly figured it out: they were headed toward us from two different directions. The two buildings on either side meant we couldn’t escape.
We were surrounded.
Chapter Two
TOC
I’d been forced into quarterbacking because I was damn good at it, and my athletic instincts kicked in without conscious thought.
At least two were passing under the street lamp where Nuggles lay whimpering. I only pulled my eyes away from them to check behind me; another two approached from our rear.
If your offensive line can’t hold back the other team, you have to know when it’s time to expect a painful hit while protecting the ball above all else. “Look, Kristen, I can keep their attention for a few seconds – hide behind that tree and start sprinting when-”
“Why are you telling me what to do?” she hissed. Despite her aggression, she drew closer to me, pressing her bare shoulder against my arm. My already heightened pulse quickened.
“Because,” I snapped back, “despite what action movies may have taught you, these assholes are not going to line up to fight me one at a time. And when four guys gang up on one-”
“Shut up!” she squeaked. “Damn it, you really fucked up, kid,” she growled before grabbing my elbow.
“Y
“Well I’m a sophomore, so-”
“Hey fuckwads, what’d you do to Bert? Grab them both!” a booming voice shouted before four sets of footsteps broke into a run.
“Behind this tree!” Kristen yelled at me, pulling my arm like she wanted to rip it out.
“Stop!” I shot back, easily yanking my elbow from her grip, my heart racing. “We can’t hide, we’re just going to have to face – where are you going?” I shouted, following her around the tree. “There’s no point in distracting them unless you run aw-”
I looked in every direction.
Kristen was gone.
I spun around, fists raised. These assholes planned to gang up on me regardless of whether their intended target had disappeared, and I was going to be ready. I took in the layout once more.
It was dark behind this tree, which would diminish their numerical advantage – though only slightly. Nuggles was sitting up beneath the nearest lamp, but was in no condition to walk. The light from that lamp revealed four silhouettes approaching me – two from the left, and two from the right.
Nothing about this was good. Most people underestimate my physical strength, which was useful when I had to avoid a tackle, but no unarmed person can can reasonably expect to fight off four collegiate football players.
But, as these gentlemen were about to learn, no collegiate football players should expect to put me in the hospital without planning to be admitted alongside me.
“This asshole just fucked up Bert’s season!” the nearest shadow yelled. “I think he needs to feel what it’s like to have a broken leg!”
The others jeered in agreement as they encircled me.
“Nuggles had to learn that he can’t force himself on any woman just because he’s three times her size,” I snarled. “If he weren’t such a piece of shit, maybe one would actually like him.” My breaths came quick and shallow; they were all within ten feet.
This was really going to hurt.
“You stupid fuck,” another shadow replied. “Didn’t you see the way she was dressed? That bitch wanted it, and we all knew it. Nuggles just called dibs on her first.”
“Wow,” I huffed. “You’ve never had consensual sex with anything other than your right hand, have you?”
They froze.
“What does that mean?” another asked. “Greg, is he trying to give you a handjob?”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I snapped, “I always forget that you dumbasses get confused when someone uses a sentence with more than seven consecutive words. Now if you’re going to do this, then let’s get on with it. Not a single one of you has the balls to take me one-on-one, right?”
A shadow flew past the tree, wrapped its arms around me, and slammed both of us into the ground.
For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. I hadn’t expected to be hit from that angle. I rolled and tried to figure out where I was.
It was… bright.
And indoors.
What the fuck?
I looked around and realized that I was in some sort of a lab. The room was dominated by a machine that defied explanation. Ten feet tall and twenty feet long, it seemed to be nothing specific and everything all at once.
I had to get to my feet; whoever attacked me must still be nearby, looking to hit me a second time from where I couldn’t see them.
Except…
The person who threw their body weight against me had seemed light as a feather. The only reason I went down was because I was preparing to leap forward but got hit from the side.
There was no way a lineman could be that light.
I turned around and saw her.
“Kristin?” I asked, confused. I lowered my fists and looked at the room. She folded her arms and glared at me with deep irritation. “Where are we?”
Chapter Three
TOC
“I am where I belong,” she answered, raising a dark eyebrow at me. “You are not.”
I turned around once more. Confused as I was, I needed to make sure that we were both safe from the attackers.
But we seemed to be the only to people in the room.
“How the hell did we end up in here?”
She dropped her arms and rolled her eyes. “I had to save your ass… wait, what’s your name?”
I lowered my gaze from the bizarre machine and looked at her once again.
Damn. She was breathtaking, even as she glared at me. I glanced away, not wanting her to know that I found her so attractive. “I’m Matt Cooper.”
She leaned forward, mouth slightly open. “The Matt Cooper? The big freshman recruit who decided to focus on school rather than becoming the starting quarterback?”
I rolled my eyes and sighed. “Yeah. That’s me.” I met her gaze. “And, like everyone else, I’m sure you have a strong opinion about what I should be doing with my life.”
I caught her gazing up and down my figure, lingering on my chest, before meeting my eyes. “I don’t care about you, Matt Cooper. I just felt obligated to save you, because you were in way over your head.”
I like to think of myself as an even-tempered guy. Hell, I’d calmly accepted facing a half-ton of linemen who wanted to break every bone in my body. But something about Kristen’s arrogance got to me. “Excuse me?” I demanded as she turned around and walked deeper into the lab. “I’m the reason that idiot Nuggles is crying about a broken knee right now!”
“And I’m the reason you’re not being crushed by a combined 80 IQ points worth of football players,” she snapped without turning around to face me. She walked just fast enough to make it easy to follow her.
“How – that doesn’t – what makes you think that-”
I’m articulate enough to have earned a Swift Grant, but somehow kept stumbling over my words. She was just so irritating.
Kirsten spun around, her hand on a door that stood slightly ajar. “No one is accusing you of being the valedictorian, Mr. Quarterback, but surely you must have noticed that you went from outside to inside without using a door?” She gave a condescending half-smile and spun around, her shoulder-length black hair spinning as she did so, and walked through the door. My eyes involuntarily fell to an ass that seemed impossibly round for how thin her hips were. I turned away and cursed myself for looking yet again.
