by Sofia Daniel
He groaned and unbuckled his belt, making sure to pop the button of his pants. Lifting his hips off the leather seat, he reached into his back pocket and set his phone aside. “Don’t awaken the great bear unless you’re prepared to feed it.”
Sebastian snickered. Probably because that was another name for the constellation Leopold used to refer to his erection.
Licking my lips, I unzipped the fly of his pants and ran my fingers along his hot, cotton-covered length. “Actually, I was thinking of introducing your bear to my honeypot.”
Leopold froze. “Really?”
“In the back of the jeep?” Sebastian blurted. “I can get you a room at the club—”
“Here is fine.” I pulled down Leopold’s briefs and freed a long, thick erection with an angry head. “Do you have a con—”
The tearing of a foil wrapper was my answer. A second later, Leopold presented me with a condom. He held the teat as I rolled the latex over his straining erection.
Leopold raised his hips and shoved his pants and boxers further down his legs. Holding himself at the base, he said, “Hop aboard for a hard and bumpy ride.”
“At this rate, you two will get me arrested for driving without due care and attention,” Sebastian muttered.
I pulled off my panties, slid my leg over Leopold, and straddled his hips. He ran the tip of his erection over my wet slit, making us both moan.
“Do you want my cock?” He rubbed circles around my clit.
The muscles of my core clenched, needing to be stretched and filled. Needing to be pounded.
“More than anything,” I whispered.
He lined his erection up to my opening, placed both hands on my hips, and guided me down his shaft. “Then take it!”
The stretch was so intense, bolts of pleasure shot through my body, making me cry out. Leopold’s erection thickened and pulsed as I slid down his entire length. Somewhere in the periphery of my attention, Sebastian moaned, but my whole world had coalesced into my hungry core fluttering around Leopold’s thick erection.
While I adjusted to his girth, Leopold hissed through his teeth and curled his fingers around my ass. “You’re wickedly tight.”
“Fuck,” muttered Sebastian from the front seat.
A thin sheen of sweat broke out across my skin, and I threw my head back and panted. I almost wished I faced the other way, so I could meet Sebastian’s eyes in the rear-view mirror.
Leopold’s hips jerked and deepened the penetration. “Are you alright?”
Biting down on my bottom lip, I gave him a sharp nod. “I think I’m ready to move.”
He slid his hands up to my waist. “Take it nice and easy, so you don’t hurt yourself.”
With a smile, I rested my forearms on his broad shoulders and raised my hips. On any other person, this would have sounded like a boast, but my stretched muscles pulsed around his girth, seeming to want to keep him inside me. When his bulbous cock-head stretched my entrance, Leopold guided me back down his shaft.
He clenched his teeth, and his eyes rolled to the back of his head. With his hands on my waist and hips guiding my movements, I continued riding his thick length. Groans filled the jeep, not just from Leopold and me, but from Sebastian, who decelerated and moved to the slow lane. A few vehicles honked as they passed, but I didn’t care. Leopold rocked his hips in time with my up and down movement on his gorgeous prick, giving me all the pleasure I needed.
One hand threaded through my hair, and he pulled me down into a dizzying kiss. This time, he devoured me with deep, urgent strokes that matched his hard, upward thrust. The most intense sensations swirled through my insides like tongues of fire and lapped at my nerve endings until I cried out.
The car stopped. Sebastian opened his door and stepped out. I raised my head to find us no longer on the highway but on the side of a road bordered by hills. He opened the door and scooted next to us on the back seat.
“Finally decided to join the fun?” said Leopold.
“Just getting a closer look.” His gaze flicked down to my breasts, which bounced every time I rose and fell.
I arched my back, giving him a better view, and Sebastian raised his hand to enclose my nipple between his thumb and forefinger. He stretched and rolled and tweaked my needy flesh with one hand and unleashed his huge dick with the other.
A cry tore from my lips, and I gripped Leopold’s shoulder as he pounded into me, seeming to become invigorated by Sebastian’s presence in the back seat. Working his hand over his length, Sebastian slammed his lips onto mine in a possessive kiss that melted me into a puddle of want and need and desire.
The first time he’d kissed me in this jeep, it had been my first kiss. Back then, I would never have imagined being stripped half-naked, kissing him with such intensity while riding his best friend’s prick. But back then, even the pad of his finger grazing my nub was enough to send me running out of the jeep. Now, those two could do anything to me, and I would love it.
“Wills,” Leopold said through panting breaths. “You look so fucking hot, kissing Sebastian while shagging me. Are you going to fuck him next?”
I couldn’t reply because my mouth was too full of Sebastian’s tongue.
Leopold’s hand slid down to my belly, and he rubbed circles over my clit with his thumb. Pleasure coiled around my core, making the muscles constrict. He continued those tight, little circles, building up the sensations until I had to break away from Sebastian’s lips and rest my head on Leopold’s shoulder. Pressure mounted, and I squeezed and spasmed around Leopold’s prick until I clenched so tight, he could no longer thrust in and out.
Still, he continued tormenting my clit with that clever thumb. I clenched my fists, clenched my teeth, squeezed my eyes shut as Leopold pushed me beyond my tolerance for pleasure, and something snapped.
Powerful convulsions sent ecstasy surging from my core in waves. I sobbed my relief on Leopold’s shoulder.
Next to me, Sebastian groaned out his climax, and Leopold shuddered out his orgasm, crying out something about my fist of fury.
My backseat interlude with Leopold and Sebastian was enough to wash away any lingering feelings I had about Ashley’s arrest. She’d had the choice to report those boys to the police, but she had decided to poison them instead, not even knowing if they would smoke that particular batch of cannabis or sell it to another unwitting student.
We arrived at the academy just as the last of the students left the dining room after breakfast.
“Willow!” shouted a familiar voice.
Cormac hopped from foot to foot, his eyes twinkling with excitement. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere!”
Sebastian placed an arm around my shoulders. “She’s busy.”
Cormac’s eyes hardened. “Is it too much to ask for a moment with my best friend?”
“If you’re going to—”
“It’s alright.” I stepped away from Sebastian and gave Cormac an apologetic smile. “What’s up?
“I’ve finished it,” said Cormac.
“What?”
“Corrine’s diary.”
My eyes bulged. “How did you manage to decipher the end?”
“You did most of the leg-work by identifying foreign words. Do you know any Japanese?”
I shook my head. “Did she?”
“We used to watch anime together and read manga on the internet. Corrine was a genius with languages. Some of the words we couldn’t understand were Romanji.”
“That’s Japanese?” My brows drew together.
“A transliteration of the Japanese language into roman characters,” he replied.
“What does the diary say?” I asked. “Are there any clues to the identity of her killer?”
Further back down the hallway, Leopold and Sebastian stiffened.
Cormac’s face twisted with anguish, and he took several deep breaths. “I couldn’t bring myself to read her last entries, so I saved them for you.”
Chapter 18
> My breath caught in the back of my throat. My knees, which ached from riding Leopold in the back seat of the jeep, buckled. I braced my arm against an oak wall panel and gaped at Cormac. With the translation complete, we would finally get to know if Corrine committed suicide. And if someone had murdered her, the diary would give us clues as to the identity of the killer.
Sebastian and Leopold strode toward us from the wall where they’d been quietly eavesdropping. Cormac’s face hardened. With the kings around, he was unlikely to want to speak further on any subject.
“What’s this about Corrine’s diary?” asked Leopold.
“If you have information that could free Kash, you have to share it,” said Sebastian.
They crowded around Cormac’s slighter frame, reminding me of the first time I’d seen him in conflict with the kings. This time, it was Sebastian and Leopold and not Leopold and Prakash. Pushing aside the pang of loss, I straightened and readied myself to intervene if things became messy.
Cormac pulled back his shoulders and raised his chin. “The police wouldn’t have kept Kashaayah for so long without overwhelming evidence.”
Sebastian snarled. “They tried to blame him for what happened to Ashley, and look how that turned out.”
I stepped between them and placed a palm on both Leopold and Sebastian’s chests. “Give us a bit of time to go through the diary, and I’ll update you as soon as I can, alright?”
Sebastian’s hard, green eyes snapped back to me and softened. “This information could make a huge difference for Kash.”
“That’s why I don’t want us to waste time arguing,” I murmured. “How about we meet up later?”
His gaze turned back to Cormac and hardened. “Text us when you’ve finished, and we’ll come and get you.”
I kissed him on the cheek then turned to Leopold, who also glared at Cormac with hate-filled eyes, and I kissed his cheek, too. Neither of them moved from their spot, so I turned back to Cormac and smiled. “Let’s go to your room.”
He gave me a sharp nod and spun on his heel. Leopold and Sebastian followed us all the way to the fourth floor.
Thankfully, Cormac was too anxious about the contents of Corrine’s diary to make any comments about my relationship with the kings, but when we entered his pristine bedroom, he pursed his lips and swept his gaze down my rumpled dress. There wasn’t much I could do about creased linen, but I smoothed down my hair, hoping I didn’t look like I’d been fucked in the back of someone’s car.
Cormac slid open his desk drawer. “Corrine incorporated Romanji into the diary around the time the police released Kashaayah in the summer term.”
“Right.” I sat on his armchair, wondering if Corrine had added a layer of complication in her diary to obscure her next set of plans.
He withdrew a memory stick balanced on a stack of papers. “I took the liberty of printing out the section I couldn’t bring myself to read.”
My mouth dried, and a thrill of anticipation shot through my chest. I reached out and placed the papers on my lap. “Does the stick contain the fully translated diary?”
Cormac nodded and sat at the edge of his bed. The defiant posture he’d displayed in front of the kings now sagged into one of defeat, and he lowered his gaze to his lap.
“I read the first page,” he said in a trembling voice. “It’s all about how Kashaayah. wouldn’t acknowledge her after his release from custody.”
“Okay…” I slipped the memory stick into my purse and stared at the page of text. If a whole bunch of male relatives came down from India to admonish him for not offering Corrine marriage, I could understand why Prakash would want to ignore her for lying to the police. “I’ll read ahead and let you know when I find anything interesting, alright?”
Do you know what it feels like to be invisible to the sun? It’s like having that seasonal affective disorder. Remembering the kiss of sunshine on your skin and having it cruelly snatched away.
El Sol never smiles these days and doesn’t even laugh with el Rubio and el Moreno. I probably went too far when I tried to get him into trouble for giving me what I asked for.
We’re both linked through our mirrored pain, but he’s too stubborn to come to me for solace. The royals have closed ranks around him and told me to stay away. Even Cormac says I should stop looking at them, but I would give anything to see him smile.
My brows furrowed, and I glanced up at Cormac, who sat on the edge of the mattress, staring at me with unblinking eyes.
“Have you found anything?”
“She hasn’t acknowledged doing anything wrong.”
Cormac stared into his lap. “See why I didn’t want to read it? The passages are already tarnishing my memory of her.”
“I’ll skip ahead and see who she encounters.”
“Thanks,” he whispered.
The next few pages described her failed attempts to catch Prakash’s eye. I skipped over them and stopped at one particularly interesting passage.
The Bitch shoved me down the stairs, and I sprained my ankle. She told me that everyone hates me and wants me to drop dead. I reported her to the Scarecrow, but she told me I was in danger of losing my place. All she cares about is grades.
After reading out this passage to Cormac, I asked, “Was that Mrs. Benazir?”
“Miss Claymore. Mrs. Benazir is the leech.”
“Alright.” I skimmed through the next passages. They outlined Geraldine and Bianca’s attempts to get Corrine to stop staring at the kings, long meetings with Miss Claymore to talk about Prakash, and a few passages about Michelle fretting about her grades.
“Found anything yet?”
“Nothing worth reading out.” I turned the page and scanned for specific names, but one passage made me skip back.
I’m dying.
My garden is deflowered. Without the sun, no seeds will ever germinate. Nothing will ever grow.
Now that it’s been trampled by cruel words, vicious hands, there is nothing left to do but raze the earth.
Maybe something will grow from the ashes.
I scrubbed at my eyes. What the hell did I just read?
“You’ve found something.” Cormac shot off the edge of his mattress.
“Was she pregnant?”
Cormac shook his head. “When I escorted her to the police station for a forensic exam, a nurse came and gave her the morning-after pill. I made sure she took it, and she slept in my room in case it made her throw up in the middle of the night.”
“Oh,” I replied.
“Why?”
I read aloud that passage, and he slumped back onto the mattress. “I can see why you thought Corrine might have been pregnant, but I think it’s about suicide.”
A chill fell across my skin, making it prickle into goosebumps. “From what I’m reading, Corrine hoped to reconcile with Kash but became despondent when he didn’t acknowledge her.”
Cormac shook his head. “I don’t know what she was thinking.”
I continued reading. Apart from the background harassment from the queens, little much else happened. Miss Claymore continued to urge her to improve her grades. Mrs. Benazir threatened to have her sent back to foster care for the summer holidays if she didn’t achieve a ninety percent average.
Corrine also worried about the effect her struggles had on Cormac, who kept trying to confront the kings and kept getting slapped down by them in increasingly humiliating ways.
Cormac is threatening to follow me in the ways of Icarus. He keeps getting close to the sun, but it never works. Yesterday, the Bitch and the Whore tipped jugs of water over his head for approaching the royal table. The kings laughed, and so did everyone else. The Scarecrow watched but didn’t say a word. Even she loves the sun.
My heart twisted for Cormac. It was understandable that he had believed his sister’s lies and wanted justice. It was disappointing, though, to see this biased version of Miss Claymore. Despite everything, I still saw her as the type of teacher who didn’t tolerat
e bullies. At least those who weren’t her.
“There are lots of nasty little encounters, but nothing significant,” I said to Cormac.
“Maybe skip to the end?” he asked.
“Good idea.” We could read the other pages later.
Today will be my last day on earth.
The leech will replace me with another scholar, and I’ll be forgotten in a few months, only to be brought up as a meme or a cautionary tale. That’s fine with me. I swallowed back the lump in my throat.
My only regret is the pain I’ll cause Cormac. But in my current state, I’m dead weight.
There’s that story of the original Siamese twins, Chang and Eng. Chang’s poor health and heavy drinking meant that he died first, and the otherwise-healthy Eng had to carry the dead body of his twin for hours until he succumbed. That’s what my misery is doing to Cormac.
That’s why I have to cut away the necrotic tissue before he succumbs, too.
A tight fist squeezed my heart, and tears filled my eyes. Corrine hadn’t been driven to suicide by the bullies. She had wanted to die because of the effect she had on her brother.
“What is it?” he whispered.
“It’s horrible, and you have to remember she probably wasn’t well when she wrote this, and—”
“Tell me,” he said in a voice filled with steel.
I blinked away my tears and read out the passage.
Color leached out of Cormac’s skin, and his face slackened. “She killed herself to save me.”
Gathering the papers to my chest, I walked across the room and settled next to him on the mattress. “That’s not how I interpreted it.” I wrapped my arms around his slumped shoulders and gave him a tight squeeze. “From everything I read about you in there, you were the perfect, loving brother.”
“But not strong enough to support her,” he said through clenched teeth.
“You did your best.” I gave him a gentle shake. “There’s only so much a teenaged boy can do. Corrine needed professional help.”