by Sofia Daniel
I pressed my lips together and continued down the path, flanked by Edward and Blake. Even if Charlotte left behind another invitation to a sex party, it would probably lead us into another ambush, or into the deepest dungeon of the Tower of London or somewhere equally as ridiculous.
The afternoon sun shone from the direction of the tuck shop, obscuring my view of the path leading to the fields. A lone figure with flame-red hair emerged from the building, holding a stack of papers. From his petite stature, he looked like a fourth year. I couldn’t tell because the sun lit him from the back, obscuring my view of his face.
As we continued along the path, he froze.
Edward placed his hand over his brow and squinted. “That’s Blackwell, isn’t it?”
“Who?” I asked.
“The four-eyed wanker who hoards all the newspapers,” said Blake.
“Duncan?”
“That’s him,” replied Henry.
I narrowed my eyes. “He told me Charlotte would start a new regime and said lots of other cryptic things about her plans to take over the school.”
Henry lengthened his strides. In an uncharacteristically cold voice, he said, “Did he really?”
The red-haired boy turned, dropped his bundle of papers, darted toward the tuck shop, and grabbed a bike. Then he cycled down a path leading toward the playing fields.
I ran a hand through my hair. “What on earth is he doing?”
“He knows something!” Henry picked up his pace and raced after him with Edward on his heels.
I chased after them. Each time my foot landed on the hard gravel, my bruises throbbed as though tiny fists were punching them back to life. I winced and slowed my steps, hoping to lessen the impact. Blake jogged at my side, keeping his gaze on me as though checking that I hadn’t collapsed from the effort. We rounded the tuck shop and entered the playing fields, where the ground was softer underfoot and didn’t hurt so much. Duncan cycled with the speed and proficiency of someone training for Tour de France.
I turned to Blake and offered him a smile. “Run ahead with the others if you like. I’m fine.”
“Not likely,” he replied. “It’s during situations like these that people get snatched. Henry will—”
Before Blake finished his sentence, Henry leaped through the air and tackled Duncan, bike and all, to the ground. Duncan let out a high pitched shriek.
I winced and slowed my steps. That looked like it hurt.
“See?” Blake walked at my side. “What did I tell you?”
Up ahead, Duncan wriggled out from the wreckage in a strange sort of crab walk, his glasses askew. “S-stay away!”
Edward stalked toward the retreating boy. “You know something about Charlotte Underwood’s party, don’t you?”
“I won’t tell!” he shrieked.
Blake and I caught up with them. As we passed Henry, who was righting the bicycle and checking it for damage, Blake gave him a congratulatory pat on the back. Henry beamed at his friend, but when we locked eyes, his smile faded.
A wave of regret washed over me. If I hadn’t treated him so harshly, he wouldn’t feel so uncomfortable in my presence. Whereas Blake and I had spent a few days alone in his room, sorting out our differences, I hadn’t taken the time to make the effort with Henry. At some point, after we had dealt with Charlotte and her party, Henry and I would have to kiss and make up.
I turned to Duncan. “You once said that things would be better under Charlotte’s leadership, but everyone’s gone to her party, and you’ve been left behind with your newspapers. Things haven’t worked out to your benefit at all.”
Annoyance flickered over Duncan’s face, and he opened his mouth as though to argue but schooled his expression then clicked it shut. He had to know I was right. Last term, he sat with Alice, and this term, he sat alone. Just as things had been at the very beginning when the triumvirate led the academy.
“She’s organizing an orgy, isn’t she?” I asked. Charlotte wasn’t the most original of people, and her hoax invitation had said it had been a sex party. Why else would the boys pay to attend?
“H-how did you know?” Duncan squeaked from the ground.
I folded my arms across my chest. “Do the girls know they’re being set up?”
He shook his head. “It’s not anything as sinister.” He gestured at the triumvirate. “Charlotte said she would give boys the opportunities they missed because of wankers like these.”
Edward’s brows rose. “Wankers?”
“You know what I mean,” spat Duncan. “You’re just as bad as Simpson-West, stringing along Alice and Patricia and not caring what it did to their friendship.”
Edward ran his fingers through his hair. “If I had known they hated sharing, I would have ended things sooner.”
“Liar!”
Strangely, I believed Edward. He was more than happy to share me with Blake and Henry. Until the ultimatum, it had probably never occurred to him that Alice and Patricia had accepted crumbs of his affection because they hoped he would one day fall in love with them.
“You knew about this twisted event and kept quiet?” spat Henry.
Duncan’s brows drew together. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for the rest of us.”
“Them, you mean,” drawled Blake. “She left you behind.”
Duncan’s cheeks turned redder than his hair. His bottom lip trembled with the kind of impotent rage I knew well, and his hands curled into fists. I rubbed a hand over my brow. At the start of last term, Duncan was my ally, and I had firmly believed the triumvirate were wankers.
I shot Blake an admonishing look. He didn’t have to mock Duncan when we needed his help. “Ignore Simpson-West for a minute. If you paid to attend this party to meet a specific girl you liked, what would you expect from her?”
“Quite a lot, actually.” Duncan sat cross-legged on the ground and dusted off his long-sleeved T-shirt.
“Is Charlotte paying the girls to go to this party?” I asked.
His eyes widened. “N-no… but I expect most will be gentlemen about getting the brush-off.”
“Patterson-Bourke,” I spat.
Henry’s brows drew together. “What about him?”
I ground my teeth and snarled. So much had happened since being abducted by Mr. Carbuncle and Charlotte’s brother that I had forgotten the strange conversation I had overheard in the hallway. The squat rugby player had grabbed a fifth year girl, demanded to know why she had rejected him, and then said something ominous that had triggered me to walk into that trap.
“Emilia?” Edward tilted his head to the side, staring at me as though I’d had a seizure.
“He told a younger girl she would change her tune at Underwood’s party,” I spat.
“I don’t follow,” he replied.
“Charlotte’s going to do something to the girls to make sure they satisfy the boys who paid to attend her orgy.”
Chapter 22
For a moment, everyone went silent as the words soaked in. Even Duncan stared up at me with his jaws slackened. The sun reflected off the lenses of his thick glasses, obscuring most of his expression, but I hoped he realized the need to spill everything he knew about the girls’ whereabouts.
Henry grabbed Duncan by the collar and pulled him to his feet. “What happens to the girls targeted by those who aren’t gentlemen?”
“This wasn’t my party,” Duncan squeaked. “Don’t blame me!”
“Tell us where it is,” I said.
Duncan’s body went limp, and he stared into the lawn, pressing his lips together as though they might spill the truth. I turned to Edward, then Blake, then Henry, searching their faces for ideas as to why Duncan wouldn’t give us the location of the party. He clearly knew Charlotte’s plans.
I scratched at my temple. “Why would you be so loyal to someone who left you behind?”
“Oh, I get it!” Blake wagged his finger at Duncan. “Charlotte was your choice. You’ve already gotten your ‘quite a lot, actu
ally,’ haven’t you?
His cheeks turned even redder. “A gentleman never tells.”
“No, but an idiot does,” said Blake.
Henry punched Duncan in the stomach. I winced and wrapped my hands over my belly. “Sorry, old chap,” said Henry. “This is taking too long. Tell us the location of Charlotte’s party, or I’ll turn you into a smudge on the grass.”
“Ugh! Alright… alright.” Duncan spat on the grass. “It’s at the London apartment Charlotte’s father owns. The one involved in the expenses scandal.”
“Do you have the address?”
He shook his head. “But it will be in one of the Saturday Correspondent articles.”
“Let’s go,” I said.
Edward pulled out his phone and made his way back to Elder House. “I’ll arrange a car.”
Following him, I pulled my new smartphone out of my pocket. “I’ll visit the Correspondent’s website.”
As I clicked through the articles, Blake walked by my side, keeping a hand on the small of my back. Moments later, someone shrieked. I turned around to find Henry carrying a struggling Duncan over his shoulder. “What are you doing?”
“Bringing him along for insurance.”
The five of us sat in the back seat of the limo. Duncan slouched in the seat opposite, nursing a consolation glass of champagne Edward poured for him.
I scrolled down the article and found a picture of a four-story townhouse with a bright red door behind a small monkey puzzle tree. “The address is Erasmus Road, London. But it’s a house.”
“Divided into flats?” asked Henry.
“Hold on.” I scanned the article, scrolled past a picture of the tenant, a furious-looking Asian man, and found a relevant paragraph. “It says here that it’s a ground-floor, river-front flat within the division bell, whatever that is.”
Edward pressed the limo’s intercom and repeated the location to the driver, while Henry explained that the division bell was a boundary set by the British parliament to make sure that its members could reach the building within eight minutes if the emergency bell was rung.
Then he leaned back in his seat. “We’ve got an hour and a bit to spare before we break up this party. How are we going to spend it?”
“Spin the bottle,” said Blake.
“No!” Duncan hugged his champagne glass to his chest.
Nobody took any notice of him. I glanced at Henry. Maybe a game might break the ice between us, and make things easier when we had our conversation later in the evening. “I’ve got an idea. It’s more of a contest, really?”
“I’ll win,” said Blake.
“Unlikely,” replied Edward.
“What is it?” asked Henry.
“Best kisser,” I replied. “I’ll be the judge.”
“That’s an easy enough victory.” Blake twisted in his seat and pressed his lips onto mine. For a microsecond, my mind went blank. I hadn’t expected the competition to start so soon. Then a thrill coursed through my inside, from core to nipples to the tips of my lips. His tongue swept between my parted lips, tasting of champagne.
I kissed back, my heart singing with joy. In these past weeks, I’d seen beyond Blake’s beauty and fallen for the protective, loving soul beneath the mask of flirtation and mischief. I slid my hand to his silk-covered, muscled thigh and squeezed.
Blake hummed his pleasure and deepened the kiss. The arm around my shoulder slid down to my waist and he squeezed, a taste of the delights that awaited me when we returned to Edward’s room.
When we broke apart for air, we stared into each other’s eyes, both breathing hard. My heart pounded in time with the throbbing between my legs. “That was…”
“Mediocre.” Edward pulled me onto his lap. “Here’s how to kiss Emilia.”
I wrapped an arm around his shoulder to steady myself, and pressed my hand on his chest. Edward wrapped an arm around my back, leaned into my neck and gave me a gentle nip that made me squeal.
“That’s cheating,” muttered Blake.
Edward ignored him and peppered kisses on my neck. My eyes fluttered closed, and I lost myself to the sensations of how he kissed and sucked and licked my sensitive flesh. When his fingertips skimmed my hardened nipples, I cried out. Blake was right. Edward was cheating, and as the referee of this little contest, I wasn’t complaining.
The kisses traveled up to my jaw, and I tilted my head to the side and squeezed his shoulders. I wanted him to hurry and reach my lips. I wanted him to remain kissing me like this forever. Scratch that. I wanted the three of them—together.
His lips made a slow, sensuous ascent up my jaw, and he reached the corner of my mouth. “You’re divine, Emilia.”
“S-so are you,” I said between panting breaths.
Someone to our left huffed his frustration. Blake, most probably. But he’d get his chance to top this kiss in round two.
When our lips finally met in a kiss, it was like a tiny explosion. Sparks of pleasure jolted out from where our flesh met, raced past my nipples, and down to my twitching core. Edward swiped his tongue across the seam of my mouth, and I parted my lips, allowing him entrance. I thought he would take this kiss slowly, the way he had with my neck, but his tongue delved into my mouth deep and devouring and utterly demanding. I surrendered myself to his dizzying kisses, whimpered with each sweep of his tongue.
For a moment, we weren’t in a limo. It was just Edward and me and the hardness pressing against my hip. Slickness gathered between my legs, and I shifted about, wishing I had straddled him, so his erection rubbed against my core instead.
Edward held my hips steady and broke the kiss. A flush had crept up his pale skin, and his blue eyes were blown with need. “Any more of that, and I would have come to an explosive finish.”
Blake snickered. “Your verdict, Emilia?”
“Oh!” I held onto Edward’s shoulders to steady myself. “Very nice… but I might need another go with Blake, as I’ve forgotten—eep!”
Henry’s strong hands lifted me off Edward’s lap, and he cradled me in his huge, muscular arms. I placed my palms on his chest, which reverberated with his quickened heartbeat. For several seconds we stared into each other’s souls, luxuriating in a closeness we hadn’t experienced since our final days in that room.
Henry drew in a sharp breath, and his brows rose in a questioning gaze. He probably wondered if I would include him in this contest after I’d so harshly rejected him the day we had gone to visit his parents. My tongue darted out to moisten my lips, and his eyes tracked the movement. Then I curved my lips into a smile I hoped told him exactly how much I looked forward to this kiss.
“If this is a contest for staring into Emilia’s eyes, I’d say Henry’s already won,” drawled Blake.
Edward snorted a laugh.
“Ignore those dickheads,” muttered Henry.
I ran my hands up those glorious, hard pecs, over his collarbones, and up those bulging muscles that extended from his neck to his shoulder. Henry’s eyes blazed, and one of his hands slid up from around my waist, over my spine, and cradled the back of my neck.
My lips met his in the softest of kisses. I longed to tell him this wasn’t just part of a dumb, best-kisser competition. That I wanted him just as much as I wanted Edward and Blake. Henry’s arms tightened around me, bringing us so close, his heart beat for us both. His lips moved against mine in a movement so heartbreakingly familiar, I wanted to sob my relief. I’d missed this. Missed him.
This kiss was infinitely more loving than our encounter behind the oak tree. Infinitely more intimate. Henry’s tongue met mine in a series of sweet caresses that made my toes curl, and the throbbing between my legs developed into a pounding need. The hand at my waist slid down to cup my ass, and my core muscles clenched. Hard. And I pressed myself against his growing hardness.
“Your verdict?” asked Blake from beside us.
I broke the kiss and shook my head. “It’s escaped my mind. We’ll have to start again.”
/> Blake chuckled and leaned close, when someone cleared their throat. I twisted around to find Duncan sitting on the edge of his seat. He had placed his half-full champagne glass in its special holder, and leaned forward, hands clasped.
“H-Hobson.” Duncan’s voice was breathy, and fog coated the lens of his thick glasses. “Charlotte said I was an exemplary kisser, perhaps I can tender—”
“Stop the car,” Edward barked into the intercom.
The limo pulled over onto the side of the freeway.
Duncan’s eyes widened. “You don’t mean to dump me on the hard shoulder?”
“Take your champagne and sit in the front with the driver,” said Edward.
Duncan’s lips thinned. “This is exactly why Charlotte’s the Queen of Elder House.” He grabbed his glass and the entire bottle of champagne, shuffled to the other side of the seat, opened the door, and stepped out into the left-hand shoulder of the freeway. “She’s giving all the victims of greedy wankers like you a chance.”
Blake pulled the door closed and turned back to me. “What the hell will we find at that party?”
The thought of girls trapped in an apartment with guys who had bought tickets to get close to them sent a shudder down my spine. I climbed off Henry and settled into the seat next to him.
Henry wrapped his arm around me. “Coates might be an idiot, but he and the other members of the rugby team wouldn’t fall for a stupid scam like this, much less expect something from any of the girls. They’re more likely to intervene if anything gets out of hand.”
My mind went back to the comment that injured rugby boy had made to a girl about the party, and I glanced up at Henry, brows drawn together. “Really? They acted like her enforcers.”
“They didn’t do it for free,” said Blake. “Charlotte isn’t squeamish about paying lip service, if you catch my drift.”
“Is that what she did for you?” I snapped.
He sniffed. “I put a condom on it first.”
“I didn’t notice.”
“That’s because you were so dazzled by my cock.” He squeezed my thigh.
I nodded. “Yeah,” I said in a flat voice. “That was probably it.”