Crowned Crows of Thorne Point: A Dark New Adult Romantic Suspense

by Veronica Eden

  “Rowan.” Inhaling, I bring my forehead to rest against hers. Emotion tinges my words without restraint. “Just think, baby. I know how people like this work because I work like this. He might be gone, but it’s not too late for you and I’m trying to fucking keep it that way. You’re important to me and I’ll do anything to ensure you’re safe.”

  Laying my heart on the line feels monumental. It’s a risk I’ve never taken before, but it feels right to give it to her.

  I intend to step back, but she grabs onto my shirt and kisses me angrily. Sifting my fingers in her hair, I let her. The taste of her fear is plain, telling me how frightened she is that I’m right. I understand, I say with the stroke of my tongue. I know the need to shut off intimately—I give into that darkness and violent thirst when I crave the escape she’s begging for.

  Pulling back, I stare at Rowan. Her glare bounces between my eyes and my mouth. When she goes for another kiss, I shift my head back, lifting my brows in a question she needs to answer first.

  Releasing a furious growl, she shoves me away. I back up and she plants her hands on my chest, pushing until my knees hit the bed behind me. With another shove, I allow her to knock me down. She rips out of her flannel, discarding it before she climbs over me, capturing my mouth again.

  I squeeze her hips and let her take control for once. She needs this and I’ll give her anything she needs.

  Our bodies do the talking. Rowan gives me her fears to swallow whole with each ferocious kiss, each rough touch. I’ll take every burden from her she wants to be free of.

  We strip, pausing only to trade biting kisses that leave her lips swollen. She straddles me and sinks down, bracing her hands on my chest for balance as she sets a wicked pace. I close my eyes and curse at the heat of her clenching my cock. Her head tips back and her mouth parts on a ragged cry.

  Grabbing her around the waist, I flip our position and pin her to the bed. Each snap of my hips makes her beg for more. I fuck her with a savage brutality I’ve never used with her, and she gives it right back to me, clawing her anger into my skin until she draws blood while I drive into her without stopping.

  Rowan has asked for my monster before and I’ll give him to her again, shrouding her in the pitch darkness of my soul so she can hide from everything she believes taints hers.

  Thirty

  Rowan

  Thorne Point University has one of the most beautiful college campuses I’ve ever seen. At night, it’s the opposite. Terrifyingly haunting, the ominous air pervades the grounds.

  I match the guys, dressed in black clothes and a hat pulled down to hide my face. They move in a fluid synchronicity that speaks to years of doing stuff like we’re doing now—sneaking around, breaking in.

  After Wren’s confession last night I snapped. I needed the release of wildness or I would go insane. Reliving the accident converged with the angry last words my brother said to me to create a storm threatening to devastate me if I didn’t find some way to express the anger and pain.

  Wren followed me in that dive off the edge without question. He makes me face hard truths with his cruel calculative nature, but he never leaves me alone, not since the penthouse.

  When we were finished, the tears came. He held me until I cried myself to sleep. And even then, he never left my side.

  At first I was pissed at him, but when I think of how much it would have crushed me to know about the glasses before everything else that’s happened, part of me is glad he kept them from me. Maybe he understands me better than I understand myself.

  I don’t know if I’m ready to believe the logical side of my brain that turns over the possibility we’re too late to save my brother, or if I’d rather remain optimistic. For my sake, Wren has acted as if this is a rescue mission, referring to Ethan as alive.

  Tonight will give me the answer once we get inside the hidden room. My stomach is a mess of anxious knots.

  “Feeling very horror movie pansy right now,” I mutter to Colton. “Like I can only hack it during the day. This place is creepy as fuck at night.”

  He winks, eyes crinkling at the corners. A smile is hidden behind his half-mask. “I love it at night. It’s my goal in life to meet a ghost on campus.”

  “A legit one?”

  “Yup.”

  “Quiet down,” Wren orders.

  We reach Withermore Hall and I shake my hands out. It seems like a lifetime ago I was existing as a normal college senior. I’m not sure I could go back when this is over. The thought is worrying, but I push it away to focus on the plan.

  “Ready?” Colton nudges me.

  I nod and follow their lead. Jude picks the lock with practiced ease. When we passed the security booth, Levi pulled some kind of martial arts sleeper move to knock out the guard. The gadget Colton carries is meant to scramble anything on the WiFi and cellular networks.

  It occurs to me that they all trust me to show me the full extent of their gray morality. They don’t abide by any laws but their own.

  Inside the dark building, we locate the hall with the bust. Colton counts the wood panels to the one we need and marks it while Levi locates the trigger we found—one of the keys carved into the lacquered wood can be pressed. The craftsmanship is masterful, almost invisible to someone who wouldn’t know what to look for. Fox admitted he missed it the first time when he and Penn came to check this out.

  I hold my breath as the wall gives way, granting us access to a darker hallway.

  “Moment of truth,” Jude murmurs.

  Every inch of me is wound tight, ears strained for any sound, eyes wide as we step into the unknown. I jump when Wren’s big hand clamps the back of my neck. He traces his thumb on my skin with soothing pressure.

  “Easy, kitten. I’m right here. You’re with us.”

  “I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m not as criminally inclined as you are.”

  “Aren’t you?” he teases. “Penchant for trespassing and snooping around. You fit right in.”

  The short hallway is musty, but the room at the end is brightly lit. A long cherry wood table takes up most of the room surrounded by matching high-back chairs. The room itself is austere, not much more than stone walls. At the other end of the room, there’s a different wooden chair, one rough hewn with alarming restraints for arms and legs.

  What the hell did we stumble into?

  “Um,” I say.

  “I see it.” Wren passes me, holding out an arm to silently tell me to stay where I am while they spread out to search the room.

  Levi and Wren check out the chair while Jude runs his fingers along the wall seeking other triggers that might lead off from this room and Colton records everything with a drone. He told me in the car he planned to create a digital 3D map of what we found to overlay with the blueprints of the college.

  I survey the long table. “This looks like something to have a conference at.”

  Someone grunts in acknowledgement of my observation. Each seat has the crossed keys carved into them. Beneath them are the words clavis ad regnum. Keys to the kingdom, just like the plaque on the statue outside. I snap a photo.

  Levi kneels down and touches the floor. “Blood.”

  My heart stops and I spin to him. “No.”

  Wren darts an uncharacteristically somber look from the floor to me. Levi moves back when I stumble over, pulse rushing in my ears.

  It’s not a lot of blood, but it turns my stomach. The stain is a dark brown, spattered in a line away from the chair. Like someone was hit across the mouth, maybe.

  I can feel the way the guys exchange glances, silently communicating with each other while I struggle to hold it together. The blood doesn’t have to be Ethan’s, but my mind already makes the decision, imagining him strapped to a chair while men seated at the table watch him fight for his life.

  Focusing on anything else going on around me is impossible.

  “There’s nothing else here.” Jude’s words cut through the fog my mind is caught in.
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br />   I’m frozen in the center of the room by the wooden chair and the dried blood staining the floor. There’s no other concrete sign of Ethan. I thought there would be something, anything to give us answers. It’s another dead end.

  Defeat chokes me as I cover my face. Wren’s arms circle me and I lean into his comforting rich scent as I battle the fatal crack in what’s left of my hope.

  “He’s not here,” I say hoarsely.

  Wren holds me tight, lips pressed to the top of my head. His words from before sink in, shaking me to the core with a likelihood I can’t deny anymore.

  “I’m sorry, Rowan.”

  Colton, Levi, and Jude echo Wren’s sentiment. I can’t stop trembling in his arms. The adrenaline that kept me going tonight drains. All that’s left is an unrelenting ache.

  Ethan might be beyond my reach. I’ll never be able to hear his laugh, or have him edit what I’ve written, or be able to right things between us.

  Thirty-One

  Rowan

  Without Wren’s strong arms around me, his murmurs in my ear keeping me going, I might have stayed in the hidden room.

  What we discovered left us unable to move forward for a few days until Colton finishes his 3D map rendering. I skipped midterms. Emails from three of my professors sit unopened in my inbox. A missed text from Mom asks if I’m feeling better—my feeble excuse the last couple of weeks to get out of our weekly dinner calls. If I talk to her, she’ll know how wrong things are and I can’t lie to her anymore about Ethan traveling for work.

  Apprehension plagues me. The ominous sense of knowing what must be coming hangs in the air.

  Wren stands before the partially fogged mirror in the bathroom connected to his room at the Nest taking care of the blond scruff shadowing his jaw. He’s shirtless, sweatpants hanging low on his hips. Heat pulses between my legs as he drags the old fashioned razor over his skin, shivering at each audible scrape.

  It ignites a tingling ember in my chest that he allows me to see him so unkempt. Despite the feeling of running from the inevitable, being with him keeps me from spiraling.

  Rising from the bed, I go lean in the doorway to watch him shave, eating up the steady concentration, the ripple of his broad shoulders, the methodical way he rinses the blade after each pass beneath the warm water running in the sink. It’s erotic, the tantalizing show tightening my nipples to hard pebbles that poke through the t-shirt I stole from him to wear.

  I just want to feel good and forget, like when he helped me before.

  Slipping behind him, I take my time tracing random patterns on his skin, running my fingertips over his shoulders. He stills, angling his head back to peer at me, then resumes shaving.

  His powerful body is a work of art. While he’s occupied, I take my time exploring the expanse of his skin.

  The tension builds in each short breath I take, each brush of my breasts against his hard body, each inch of his skin I lavish with attention. My lips press to his back, tongue sneaking out to taste him. I hum in pleasure, enjoying the way his abs contract beneath my hands.

  “You know I have a straight razor pressed to my throat, right? You’re playing with fire.”

  “So play me back.” I bite his shoulder to entice him to fall into oblivion together. “Live dangerously with me.”

  “Kitten,” he rumbles as my touch delves into his waistband to stroke him. “Fuck, you drive me crazy.”

  The razor clatters into the sink. It’s my only warning before he grabs me and spins to lift me on the counter. He barges into the space between my spread legs and pulls me in for a scraping, messy kiss. I trace the contrasting rose tattoos on his arms from memory. Shaving cream smears on our cheeks and a laugh bubbles out of me. He swallows it, along with the gasp I make when he glides his fingers over my bare folds.

  “Always so ready for me,” he rasps against my lips.

  “Yes,” I breathe. “I need you.”

  “I like the way that sounds on your perfect lips.” He grasps my jaw in one hand, watching the arousal dance across my face as he sinks a finger in my pussy, hooking it right where I need. I gasp. “That right there. Heaven on earth, baby.”

  Pulling his finger free, he licks it before kissing me. I can taste myself as his tongue pushes into my mouth. He lifts the hem of the t-shirt to expose me and lowers the waistband of his sweatpants far enough for his hard cock to bob free.

  “Spit,” he demands, clamping the back of my neck and directing me to bend.

  I follow his order, working my saliva and letting it fall to his cock. He groans, slathering it over himself. My lips part when his cock nudges my entrance and I tip my head back.

  His mouth grazes the column of my throat and with a sharp thrust, he enters me. It chases away the terrifying thoughts looming in every corner of my mind.

  “Feels so good.” I wrap my arms around his neck, smearing what’s left of the shaving cream.

  “This what you needed?” Wren speaks into my neck, the remaining stubble creating a delicious burn where he nuzzles.

  “Yes. Always.”

  “Mm, damn right. I like the sound of that. You’re mine and you’re not going anywhere.”

  “Yours,” I echo on a moan.

  Wren fucks me like he wants the world with me. He drives his cock into my pussy like he’s trying to put a baby in me despite my birth control. Holds me like he never intends to let me go.

  Overwhelmed tears prick my eyes. I don’t want to let Wren go either. Not ever.

  Our arms lock around each other and he captures my mouth for a searing kiss while he circles my clit with his sure fingers, knowing exactly how to play my body to bring me the most pleasure.

  “With me, baby,” he urges.

  A cry tears out of my throat as I feel the throb of his come filling me, tipping into my own oblivion.

  Our feverish promises ring in my ears. Always.

  It’s only two days later my world falls apart in the worst way imaginable.

  The call comes when we’re all laughing in the main lounge. The afternoon has been enjoyable, a rare one amidst the revolving door of bad news. The seven of us are hanging out with beer and pizza. It’s a much-needed moment so I don’t go insane from worrying and wondering.

  “Oh, come on.” Maisy looks to me for support. “He totally likes her.”

  “He definitely feels something.” I waggle my eyebrows and take a sip of beer. “I think it changes from hate to something else depending on the day. Didn’t know you could love anyone but the guys and your creeper knife collection, buddy.”

  Levi’s lips twitch and he rests his elbows on his knees, dangling the neck of his beer bottle from his fingers. Maisy perches on Fox’s lap at the opposite end of the couch. Wren and I are on the other with Jude, both of them enjoying their cigars. Colton sprawls on the floor making his way through another slice.

  Contentment fills me with a warm glow. Even with everything in the air right now, I feel like I’ve found a place for myself amongst this strange family of friends. I can ignore everything else wrong in my life if I can just keep this.

  “Who are we talking about again?” Jude questions. “And why are we gossiping about it?”

  “Don’t,” Levi says when I open my mouth.

  Smirking, I mime zipping my lips.

  “A secret?” Jude perks up. “One fifty.”

  “Three hundos,” Colton chimes in, waving his wallet.

  “Fuck you all,” Levi grumbles.

  I turn to Wren. “What’s happening?”

  He holds up a thick roll of cash. “Betting who will be the first to ferret out his secret.”

  “You’re betting that much?”

  “I have an advantage I intend to press.” Wren’s arm over my shoulders draws me closer.

  “Which is?”

  “You.”

  I huff out a laugh. “Nah. Good luck with that. I’m a fortress.”

  “We’ll see about that, kitten. I’m very persuasive.”

 
A bolt of excitement makes me grin in challenge. I lean into his side.

  Not long after, Wren exhales smoke through his nose and jostles me as he fishes his ringing phone from his pocket. “Yeah?” The lazy smile drops from his face and he sits up, putting out his cigar. “When? Fuck. Okay, we’re coming.”

  “What is it?”

  The expression he gives me makes my stomach clench and I scramble from the couch to follow everyone. “I’m coming with you.”

  He freezes, shoulders rigid. “That was Penn. A body washed up by the docks. It could be your brother.”

  Everything crashes into me at once—dread, fear, denial.

  “I’m coming.”

  The words are firm but my insides are a riot of anxiety. This feels important. The shoe drop I’ve been waiting for. I have to go with them.

  He’s silent for a long beat. “Alright. That’s your decision. I won’t keep you from this, but don’t leave my side.”

  “Fine.”

  In a tense parade, we leave the party atmosphere behind. The ride over is hell on my nerves. Once I recognize where we’re headed, I dig my nails into my hands.

  When we arrive at the shipyard, Penn meets us by the gate and the Crows walk in like they own the place. Penn leads us to a spot in the shadows of a large ship docked. The area is deserted except for the conspicuous lump covered by a tarp. My pulse drums in my veins at the sight of it, my mind trying to process there’s a body underneath.

  “Took care of security already,” Penn says. “They think I’m doing an OSHA inspection. Caught them before they saw.”

  “How was it found?” Wren asks.

  “A homeless guy spotted it and fished the body out. He took the shoes, but that’s it. It spooked him when I got here. If I wasn’t swinging by on my rounds to check up on their operation, things might have been different.”

  Wren looks in the direction of the SynCom warehouse I cased when I found the address in the apartment. “No other activity?”