by Hart, Stella
“I need you,” he muttered in my ear, one hand cupping my ass. “I need to fuck you. So do as I say, Doll. You know better than to deny me, don’t you?”
I shivered with anticipation and nodded before sliding out of my clothes. Then I stepped into the tub and waited on all fours, my nipples stiff in spite of the warm water they were dipping into.
Elias undressed and stepped into the other side of the tub. He stretched his long, muscular body out, luxuriating in the bubbling water as he left me there, waiting and desperate.
“Do you know how fucking good you look like that?” he asked a moment later, one hand disappearing beneath the bubbles. I knew he was stroking his cock to the sight of my arched back and dripping pussy.
“No,” I murmured, feeling as if it would sound conceited if I said anything else.
He leaned over and slapped my ass, making me yelp. “Yes you do. You love showing off this tight little body to me, don’t you?”
I bit my bottom lip. “Yes,” I admitted. “I like making you hard.”
“Why?” He trailed a finger down my spine.
“Because I’m a slut,” I said breathlessly. “Your little slut.”
I was panting and shivering now, gooseflesh appearing all over my bare skin.
“Good girl,” Elias muttered, moving closer. “Maybe you deserve my cock after all. But not yet.”
He reached forward, squeezing my breasts. My nipples were so hard they ached. One hand went lower, touching between my legs, and I gasped as a finger slid inside my soaked pussy.
“More, please!” I moaned as Elias began to pump it in and out of me.
“You want another finger?”
“Yes,” I said, my breaths coming harsh and heavy now as I rocked myself back on his hand.
“Tell me what you’ll do for it.”
“Anything!” I cried. “Please!”
He pushed a second finger in me, and I closed my eyes and let out another moan.
“Is that enough for you?” Elias asked. I couldn’t see him, but I could tell he was smirking by his tone.
“Yes,” I whispered.
“Liar.” He slapped my ass again. “Tell the truth.”
“Please…” I gasped. “I need more.”
“I don’t know if you deserve it after that lie,” he muttered, lips closing over my right ear as he leaned down. “Maybe I’ll just leave you here and keep you locked in, wet and naked like the little whore you are. Maybe I won’t let you come for another month.”
“I… I’m sorry. Please!”
I was moaning so loudly that it echoed throughout the bathroom, but I didn’t care. Who would hear me apart from Elias? There wasn’t a single other person within miles. No one could touch me ever again, except him.
He pushed a third finger inside me, up to the knuckle. I squirmed at the intensely full sensation, but it still wasn’t enough.
“Tell me what you really want,” Elias said roughly.
“I want you to fuck me,” I murmured, riding his hand as he pushed deeper into me.
He pulled his fingers out and positioned his cock at my dripping entrance. He pushed inside, and I let out a guttural moan as he filled me. I was so turned on I didn’t even need to rub my clit. It was already throbbing like mad, threatening to drag me over the edge to a heart-stopping climax.
“There you go,” Elias growled, slamming deep and hard into my pussy as his hands gripped my hips. He held me so tightly that there would be bruises there tomorrow, but I didn’t mind. I liked it. It added a sharp edge to my pleasure. “That enough for you, little slut?”
“Yes,” I gasped out.
“You really would do anything to be fucked, wouldn’t you?” he said as he rocked his hips against me, sinking into me like an anchor again and again. “Such a little whore.”
“Only for you,” I moaned. “I’d do anything. Always.”
He fucked me harder, deeper, water violently sloshing around our legs. I was reminded of the time he fucked me up against the wall in the Finishing School as the island slowly flooded around us. Wet, hot, intense. Perfect.
I let out another loud groan as a powerful pressure built deep within me, and then I screamed, crashing on the waves of an orgasm as it ripped through me.
Elias held me steady as he plunged in and out of me, and then he was overcome too, shooting his hot seed into me as he let out a deep, guttural grunt.
With shaky limbs, I sat back in the water, letting the heat soothe my aching pussy. “That was unexpected,” I murmured.
Elias pulled me closer to him, strong arms wrapping around me. “Why? You know I want you all the time.”
I let my head fall back onto his chest. “I know. I just thought after the day we’ve had, you might want to wash and go to bed as soon as possible.”
“Nothing’s gonna stop me from wanting you, Doll,” Elias muttered, lips only inches from my ear. “And nothing’s gonna stop me from trying to live like we’re already free.”
I smiled serenely. “I like the sound of that. It’s nice to pretend there’s nothing wrong for a while.”
“It’ll be real soon enough. We’re gonna get out of here and get rid of anyone standing in our way. Trust me. Nothing’s gonna stop us.”
“You really think everything will be okay?” I asked softly.
“Yes. We’re not going to be stuck here forever like trapped rats,” he said, voice laced with a mixture of determination and fury. “You believe me, don’t you?”
I turned my head to look at him. His eyes were bright, blazing with intent.
Flames licked at my core at the sight, but this time, it wasn’t from lust. It was adrenaline and willpower. His bravery was seeping into me bit by bit, and I knew he was right. This beautiful place was fine for now, but not forever. We didn’t belong here. We belonged out in the real world, and we deserved to feel safe there. Free and happy. Not hunted like deer in a forest. Like every Artemis Festival hostess who came before me.
I swallowed hard at the thought. All those women died for no reason other than sick entertainment, and none of them even had a hope of escape. But I did. I was lucky enough to have Elias by my side, always fighting for me, doing anything and everything he could to ruin all those men who wanted me dead.
In the end, that’s all they were: sick, pathetic, ugly-as-sin men. Elias was miles above them in every possible way, and one day, I knew he’d fulfil his promise of destroying every single one of the putrid pricks.
And just like that, I was no longer afraid of Crown and Dagger. Instead, I was angry. Furious, in fact, my blood boiling with the kind of emotion that made me want to scream and throw things, made me want to hunt down every last one of them and gouge their eyes out with my fingernails while Elias held them down.
They were the ones who should be scared. Not us.
“Tatum?” Elias looked at me quizzically. I hadn’t replied yet.
I nodded. “I believe you,” I said. “We’re going to take all those bastards down. But for now, I just want you to kiss me, and I don’t want you to stop...”
I wasn’t tired and set on going to bed anymore. I was wide awake. Pulsing with energy. Burning bright as the sun and completely, utterly alive.
13
Tatum
I sat at a dark wooden desk, a pile of books stacked haphazardly on one side. In front of me was a large white notebook. After stretching my hands, I picked up a pen and began to write.
I’d taken the ground-floor tram to the Ark library every morning for the last week. The spacious room was laid out a little like my favorite library at Roden: high ceilings and crown moldings, row after row of dark wooden shelves, polished floorboards, comfortable leather armchairs and couches. Leaded glass windows lined the walls with screens playing outdoor scenes of an Ivy League college campus behind them. The shelves were neatly lined with thousands of books, spines facing outward and color coded with dots. There were even wooden ladders which ran along a rail halfway up them for ease of a
ccess.
It was easy to get lost in this place and pretend I was a regular college student again. A few times, I thought I heard Greer’s voice somewhere behind me, asking me to help her find a book for a student paper article she was writing. Another time I caught a whiff of Willa’s expensive floral perfume from somewhere behind me, but it vanished within seconds. I knew I was only imagining things and I should feel sad that it wasn’t real, but in truth, those fleeting seconds made me happy. They made me feel like Elias and I had already made our escape and taken down Crown and Dagger, and everything was back to normal.
Of course, nothing was normal yet, but it was nice to dream every so often.
On the far side of the library were a few large tables and several smaller desks for quiet study, and a few feet to the right of that was a row of computers with internet access. I was at one of the smaller desks right now, jotting down my thoughts in a notebook I’d found near the entrance a few days ago.
For the first couple of days, I’d simply relaxed and read some fiction books, grateful for the opportunity to do something so normal for the first time in what felt like forever. But then the guilt began to creep in, a dark vine twisting its way through my mind.
I might be free and safe here in the shelter, but there were still a hundred other women imprisoned at the Lodge, including my friend Pri. Every time I tried to immerse myself in a fictional world, thoughts of her and the others would slip in through the cracks, and I’d have to put the book down and hold my head in my hands, trying to stop the flow of tears.
It wasn’t fair. They were all miserable, and here I was, living it up in luxury with a man to protect me, free from the threat of rape and violence.
I knew it wasn’t my fault, but I felt terrible anyway. I couldn’t relax until they were all out safely, and so I abandoned the books and started to write instead. It was soothing and cathartic, getting all my thoughts and feelings out onto paper rather than keeping it all bottled up inside me.
I’d done a bit of writing back at the Lodge in the little nook in my room, but that was mostly out of boredom. I never felt as if I could write anything honest there, seeing as anyone could come in and read the notebooks at any time, and so all I’d really written were mundane descriptions of the place and its surrounds. Nothing deep or serious. Nothing thoughtful.
Now things were different, and I could write whatever I wanted. Yesterday, I’d written about Pri and the way we used to have hushed, secretive conversations in the gym, stealing moments when we could, treasuring each and every second. Today I was writing about Henry; all the questions I would ask him if he was still alive. All the guilt and sadness I still felt at the thought of his body sitting there on that beach.
I’d done a Google search for him on one of the computers the other day, and I found his obituary. It was just like Elias said it would be. His death had been ruled a suicide, and the obituary was filled with fawning bullshit from Garrett and Mellie Davenport about how they loved and missed him so much, and how they wished they could’ve gotten him the psychological help he needed before he took his own life.
Fucking assholes.
I finished writing down my thoughts on the matter, and then I turned the page and started a new chapter on Mellie. That vitriolic little bitch. I remembered the last words she’d spoken to me about her brother perfectly, because every word she’d ever said to me at the School or Lodge was burned into my mind like a brand. What’s he gonna do, call the New York Times and unload what sounds like a tinfoil-hat conspiracy theory that he has zero proof of? It’s literally just his word against everyone else’s. He’d be toast, and nothing would ever come of it.
Such a loving, caring sister.
I sighed and put the pen down, stretching my fingers out in front of me again as a cramp seized one of my hands. As I sat there waiting for the pain to subside, I wondered what Elias was up to right now. Probably working out at the gym, or sitting on a chair in the apartment study and staring into space as he tried to think up a plan to destroy his father.
I could tell he was stressed. He hadn’t been short or brusque with me over the last week, but I could still see it in his eyes. The strain, the worry. He felt like it was his responsibility to take down Crown and Dagger and his father all on his own, but I knew he was struggling under the pressure. It simply wasn’t possible to carry out such a monumental task alone. At least that was how I saw it. Elias clearly disagreed. He seemed to think it was his fault and therefore his job to fix it, weeding out the corruption and burning it to ash all on his own.
I wanted to try and help anyway, but for the time being, I was just as stumped as him. How the hell were two people supposed to take down an uber-rich, uber-powerful organization made up of hundreds of men with ties to law enforcement, politicians, and anyone else who might be able to help us in regular circumstances? Granted, it was only the third-level members we were really gunning for, but still, that was over a hundred men.
Last night, I was sure I’d dreamed of a way to take them down for good. But dreams had a way of fading fast, and now all I could remember was a computer and a vision of Mellie wearing a shiny silver jumpsuit as she laughed at her brother’s graveside. I had no idea what it meant. It was like my mind had constructed a hundred-piece jigsaw puzzle in my sleep, and now I was missing all but a few of the pieces.
“Need a snack?”
My eyes snapped up and to the right. Elias was next to me, holding a little plate of dried fruit and a tall glass with what appeared to be a green smoothie.
“Thanks,” I said, reaching for a shriveled slice of apricot. “I didn’t even hear you come in.”
He smiled gently and set the glass down on my desk with the plate. “You were off in your own world.” He indicated a nearby chair. “Mind if I sit, or are you busy?”
“I’m always free for you.”
He nodded toward the glass. “That smoothie has almost every vitamin and mineral you could possibly need. I found all this powdered stuff in one of the kitchens.”
“Oh, cool. Thanks.”
He scooted his chair closer. “There’s actually something I wanted to talk to you about,” he said. He eyed the smoothie again.
I puckered my brows with confusion. “Shoot.”
“I’ve been giving you space about this because I figured you needed time to process it all. But it’s been over a week now, and I really want to know how you’re feeling about it.” He motioned toward my stomach. “The baby.”
Comprehension dawned on me. That’s what the smoothie was about. Ensuring our little embryo got every nutrient it could possibly need to grow.
I sighed. “I don’t know where to begin. I’ve thought about it a lot.”
Elias grabbed one of my hands and squeezed it. “You can start anywhere, Doll,” he said softly. “Why don’t you tell me the strongest thing you feel about it?”
Guilt and shame bit at my guts. I knew a lot of women went absolutely gaga over babies, but honestly, the number one thing I felt about my pregnancy wasn’t joy or excitement. It was fear. Every time I pictured my stomach expanding, I felt like I was shriveling up instead, right into a little ball of teeth, claws, and terror.
“I’m scared,” I admitted, my cheeks turning hot.
“That’s okay. I’d be kinda worried if you weren’t scared,” Elias said, thick brows drawing together.
I looked over his shoulder, staring at one of the fake stained glass windows. “I guess I just never had to worry about this in the past. I was a virgin before I met you, so even though I had a few friends who went through pregnancy scares, I never knew what it was like. Not really. I never even thought about what I’d do if it happened to me, because what was the point? I wasn’t having sex, so…” My voice trailed off.
“I get it.”
“I always wanted to have kids one day,” I went on, still not meeting his eyes. “But I never wanted to get pregnant this early. So I guess I’m way more shocked and terrified than I am happy.”
I hesitated for a second, biting my lip. “Does that make me a monster? I mean… aren’t I supposed to be all blissful and glowing instead?”
“Of course not. Don’t feel bad.” Elias squeezed my hand again. “I understand. It’s not like this was planned, and it didn’t exactly happen under the best circumstances, did it?”
I looked at him, finally meeting his gaze. “I’m not saying I don’t want the baby. I’m just saying it scares the living shit out of me. What if we end up stuck here forever? I’ll have to give birth here, and then we’ll have to raise him or her right here as well. What kind of life would that be for a child?”
Elias squared his jaw. “That’s not going to happen.”
“But it could,” I insisted. “I don’t even know how it would work with me giving birth in the shelter. I know there’s a medical center here, but I don’t know the first thing about what to do if there’s complications. I wouldn’t even know if the pregnancy was going well before that, because I have nothing to compare it to. Like… sometimes I get cramps and a bit of nausea, but then it goes away and I feel fine. I’ve read that’s normal, but is it really?” I shook my head and sighed. “God, I just feel so overwhelmed every time I think about it.”
“I suspected you might be feeling that way,” Elias said. “So don’t be mad at me, but I’ve arranged for a doctor to come to the shelter to check you out. He’ll come every few weeks to make sure things are going okay. He’ll even be able to help you give birth if we’re still here in several months, as much as I hope not to be. Unless you decide you want to go down a different path.”
My eyes widened. “Who is it?”
He nodded. “I don’t know if you ever saw him when you were on the island, but it’s Dr. Paulson. He’s trustworthy.”
I gaped at him, stupefied. “You called a Crown and Dagger doctor to come here?”
Elias held up one hand. “It’s not what it sounds like. As I said, he can be trusted. He’s shown me that in the past.”