Olwen shot me an icy smile. “Exactly, child. You still have so much to learn.”
I bristled, but didn’t respond.
“Has Vulthus ever visited Stanley MacGregor’s house?”
Lily’s eyelid twitched. She might be a half fae like I, but she wouldn’t dare to lie to Olwen. “Once,” she whispered.
“Tell us all about it.” Olwen remained still. The room crackled with magic.
Lily glanced nervously between Olwen, me, and Atticus, and I gave her a reassuring nod. The quicker she told Olwen what she knew, the sooner he would let her go.
“Lord Vulthus came over once. It was a few days into my contract. I was in the kitchen. This was the area I was supposed to be in. When I had time off, I was locked in my basement room so I could sleep.”
My stomach contracted, and disgust rose in me.
“My chain was long enough to reach from the kitchen into the living room. I was responsible for serving food, cleaning up, and other things…” Lily’s voice trailed off, and iciness bloomed in my veins. Had Stanley violated her? Had he forced himself onto her? If so, I wished I could resurrect the asshole only to kill him all over again, this time slowly, making him scream and howl in pain, making him feel the terror he had made her feel. He didn’t deserve the quick death I had given him.
Unaware of my dark thoughts, Olwen waved his hands at her. “Get to the point, girl. What did Stanley discuss with Vulthus?”
“He was furious about Onyx disappearing. He said that Kristen had been punished and that the whole academy is searching as are his guards, but that no one had found her.” She chewed on her lip until a bit of blood showed. “He wanted to speak to me, because he knew we were roommates.”
Olwen’s eyes narrowed, and he glared at me, clearly not thrilled I had kept this detail from him. His attention snapped back to Lily. “What did you tell him?”
Sickness rose up my throat. I used all my effort to keep my face neutral.
“N-nothing.” Tears shot into Lily’s eyes, and I could no longer bear it. I stepped in front of her, shielding her from Olwen.
“Lily has been nothing but loyal.”
Olwen’s eyes narrowed with anger. “Did you tell this Summer fae what you were planning?”
I squared my shoulders. “She knew about me practicing glamour and that I would pick Kristen as the person to turn into. That’s all.”
Olwen motioned to Atticus, who I had almost forgotten was still standing by the door of the study. Atticus gently moved me aside, so that I was no longer blocking Lily.
“Did you repeat this information?” Olwen’s voice was dangerously low.
Lily shook her head. “No, I swear I didn’t. I denied knowing anything.”
“And Vulthus believed you?”
“I don’t think so, but Stanley told him to leave. And he told Vulthus that it was up to him to punish me.” Lily lowered her head.
Olwen wasn’t done. He was determined to hear everything even if it wouldn’t help us and only retraumatize Lily. “What did Stanley do to you?”
More ice streamed into my veins, making it painful to hold it all in.
Lily gave a tiny shake of her head, but Olwen was determined to rip all her secrets from her, no matter how personal they were. “Tell us!”
Lily hugged herself. “He made me undress and then he whipped me everywhere.” Her voice broke on the final word.
“Enough!” I stepped forward. “Can’t you see? She has no loyalty to the Summer Court. She’s been working for you for weeks, doing her best. She belongs to us now, and we don’t torture our servants. Do we want them to leave us and go to the other side?” I had to say those words, had to hope that appealing to Lily’s role and not what she meant to me would pacify Olwen.
He leaned back in his chair. “I’ve heard enough. Both of you, leave. Lily, leave breakfast here and go continue your tasks. Onyx, go and train. Atticus, stay. I have something to discuss with you.”
For once, I was glad to follow Olwen’s orders. I rushed Lily out of the room and into the kitchen where I made her sit down and got her a glass of water and a box of tissues.
“I’m so sorry,” I started as she cried silently, her face buried in her hands. “I should’ve found you earlier.” I shut my eyes, feeling like a piece of shit. “I was heartless, selfish, only thinking about my own survival.”
“You had to.” Lily blew her nose. “You already helped when you switched majors with me and then you helped Virgie at the hunt. Both times it didn’t lead anywhere.” She wiped at her eyes. “I was hurt by you abandoning me, but I understood.”
I swallowed hard. “I’m sorry.” My apologies were useless, yet I couldn’t stop myself from uttering them.
Lily reached out and took my hand. I wanted to pull back, hide from more pain, yet my desire for this friendship overpowered my fear, so I squeezed her hand gently. “I’m so grateful for everything you did, Onyx.” Lily’s gray eyes shone with sincerity. “You got me away from MacGregor. You convinced your father to let me stay here.”
I sighed. “We can never be friends openly. Olwen can never know how much you mean to me.”
She nodded. “I know.”
“And you’re alright with that?” I hated how Virgie had only been friends with us when Peony wasn’t watching.
Lily nodded. “Yes. You have no other choice. I’ll gladly take what you can offer.” She gave me a weak smile. “A hidden friendship is better than no friendship.”
I returned her smile, even as my gut twisted. I didn’t want to live in a world where I couldn’t admit my friendships openly. I shouldn’t have to fear what my father would do to Lily, how he would use her to keep me in line. This was all so messed up. “How many chores do you have left?” I asked.
Lily blinked. “A few.”
I nodded. “I’ll get another servant down here to do them, so that you can rest.”
She shook her head. “No, your father will find out.”
I sighed, realizing she was right. “I’ll send someone down to help you. Please rest afterward.”
Lily gave me another smile. “Thank you, Onyx.”
I rose. “I’m sorry, but I have to go.”
“I understand.” She threw away her used tissues and started on the dishes in the sink.
I hesitated at the door, but I knew that openly disobeying Olwen’s orders would do me no good. So, I went to the gym and trained harder than I ever had until my toned muscles ached and sweat covered my body. Atticus joined me a while later, and we did different maneuvers—me chasing and attacking him while he defended and vice versa.
By the time dinner rolled around, my muscles had turned to rubber and my stomach roared with hunger. Thankfully, Olwen was out and no one made a fuss when I asked for my food to be brought upstairs. No one questioned me when I also asked for the servants to leave me alone after.
I had just finished my cheesecake, which normally tasted like a divine slice of heaven, but today reminded me of dry earth, when someone knocked. I glanced at the door. “Come in.” I wasn’t really in the mood for company, but what if it was Atticus with news of Petra?
I waited, but the door didn’t open. The knock came again. It sounded strange.
My heart leapt and my body tensed. What if Petra had gotten in? No, that was impossible. I tiptoed to the door and opened it, but no one stood in the corridor.
Was I hallucinating? Shaking my head, I closed the door. I turned around and clasped a hand across my mouth to keep in the scream of surprise at the person levitating outside my window, his knuckles pressed against the frame. I hurried toward the window and forced it open.
“Thorsten. What are you doing here?” Not wanting the guards to discover and capture him, I added, “Come in.”
He slipped through my window and landed on his feet. Lifting an eyebrow, he studied me. “You invited me in.” Wonderment and relief filled his voice. “That was all I needed to enter the house.”
That made sense. How
else had I been able to bring Lily into the fortress?
“I wasn’t in the mood for an execution,” I said wryly.
The corner of his mouth twitched upward. “You do know that if you invite a vampire in, he can come and go as he pleases. That applies to any dwelling, not just those under magical protection.”
I had heard that one before, but more importantly, there was something I needed to share with him. “I figured out why the fae barrier magic doesn’t affect you. It works against Olwen’s enemies, those who wish him or anyone in this mansion harm.” I know you don’t wish me any harm, I added silently. I wish trust wasn’t something we had to work at so hard.
“I figured it was something like that,” Thorsten said softly, his words meaningless, while the genuineness in his face was everything.
My gaze slid down his sexy as hell lips to the shirt that clung to his broad shoulders, chest and torso that ended in a V. The perfect man stood in front of me, and all we did was talk. I was done talking. I wanted to live. Petra or Vulthus could attack at any time. I didn’t want to die as a virgin. So, I stepped forward and grabbed Thorsten’s T-shirt, pulling him in for a deep kiss.
Chapter 15
Thorsten’s tongue intertwined with mine, and his hands caressed my back while I found the hem of his T-shirt and tugged it over his head. Keeping my lips on his, I walked backward until I felt the bed frame behind my knees and toppled down, taking him with me.
Thorsten softened the fall by putting his weight on his elbows. I locked my legs around his waist, and ground my hips into his. Electricity surged through my body. My palms roamed his muscled back and circled around to his chest. I traced my finger first down his breastbone, then down the center valley of his rock-hard abs. Lower...lower...I grabbed his belt buckle and undid it.
Suddenly, Thorsten stopped kissing me and pulled away.
I froze, heat rising into my cheeks.
“Onyx,” he breathed, his labored voice the sexiest thing I’d ever heard. “What are you doing?”
“Living in the moment.”
He shook his head and rolled away from me. “We can’t.”
“Why? I’m no longer at the academy, and I…we can’t get...it’s safe.” I didn’t exactly want to say that I couldn’t get pregnant because I was fae and he was a vampire and that this also made diseases impossible. But given the way Thorsten’s face froze for a second, he knew exactly what I was insinuating.
He sat up, distancing himself even further from me. I tried to pull him back down, but he scooted away further. “This isn’t right.”
I sat up as well, disappointment tugging at my heart. “Why? I thought you wanted to be with me.”
“Yes.” He paused, and every second that passed felt like an eternity. “But not like this. I don’t want to take advantage of you.”
What was he saying? “You aren’t.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Really? Are you trying to say that this has nothing to do with you being afraid? You all but admitted it.”
I sighed. I didn’t want to lie to him. He must’ve heard about Petra’s escape. He knew what I was worried about. “I’m no longer helpless.”
He nodded. “That doesn’t mean you’re immune to bad news.”
“I don’t want to have sex with you because I’m afraid.”
He gave me a long look, then scooted toward the headboard, sitting upright and tugging me into his arms, the gesture not being passionate, but rather comforting and sweet. “Talk to me.”
I breathed out, but the embers in my body continued to burn, refusing to die. Nestling myself into Thorsten’s arms, I told him about Lily, what MacGregor had put her through, and how I had to hide everything. “I might be a princess of the Winter Court, but it doesn’t change anything. I’m still a pawn. I can’t choose how to live my life.” As I spoke, tension left my chest.
He smiled, amusement shining in his eyes. How was it allowed that one man could be so sexy? “So, you decide to jump me as an act of rebellion?”
I chuckled and shoved my elbow into his ribs, but then all the playfulness left me as I thought about my life so far and the horrific fate I had barely escaped. “If I hadn’t fled Nocturnal Academy, my body would’ve never belonged to me. At the academy, all sexuality was disgusting. And the twins—” I didn’t finish.
Thorsten tensed underneath me, probably remembering that one time judgment had left me and I had made the stupid decision to tease the twins while sharing a bottle of wine with them.
“Anyhow, my sexuality wasn’t my own, but now I have this part of myself back. Finally. And we’re both out of the academy. Lady Cardinal can’t punish us.”
Thorsten sighed. “True, but that’s not a good reason to sleep with each other.”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s not the only reason. I want to.” I trailed my fingers over his hard chest, and he inhaled sharply.
“Onyx,” he said with a note of warning in his voice, but I had already straddled him and torn off my shirt. His pupils dilated as his gaze fell on my chest, now only covered in a black bra.
“I want you, Thorsten.” Before he could protest and pretend he didn’t need me as desperately as I needed him, I crushed my mouth against his.
He didn’t resist. His hands roamed up and down my body, and I lost myself to his kisses, moaning and circling my hips against his crotch. His hands found the clasp of my bra, but instead of opening it, he pulled briefly back, asking my permission. I nodded. Yes. I wanted this.
The bra straps fell down my shoulders, and he discarded it. His mouth found my hard nipples, and he began to suck. I threw my head back, embers turning to flames, ecstasy overcoming me. But he wasn’t done yet. He flipped us and then put me down on my back, working a trail of hot kisses down my stomach.
“Please,” I begged as he let a hand glide over the top of my pants. I needed more.
Thorsten pulled down my pants, exposing my black thong. He paused, his gaze devouring me, taking me in.
I squirmed, but not because I was ashamed of being nearly naked in front of him, but because I needed more, so much more. Thorsten appeared above me and then his lips collided with mine, and I moaned, bucking my hips against his. Once again, he descended down my body, but this time, he didn’t stop at my lower belly. Instead, his hand caressed the spot between my legs that was pulsating with need, his fingers pressing against the thin fabric.
I fisted the sheets, my upper back rising, my legs opening wide, begging him to take me.
His teeth fastened on my thong, and he dragged it down, exposing the most intimate part of me. His light-blue eyes were hooded as he whispered, “Tonight, it’s all about you.” Then his hands held my hips as his tongue dove right into my center.
A wave of the sweetest pleasure overcame me, and I grabbed a pillow to muffle my screams.
Thorsten was an expert. His tongue drove me wild with each lick, and the heat between my legs grew more and more until it exploded. I shoved my mouth hard into my pillow, but snapped it away as he came up and kissed me on the lips, allowing me to taste myself.
“Did you like that?”
“No.” At his raised eyebrow, I chuckled. “I loved it.”
“Good. Because I have more for you.”
Once again, he went between my legs, this time adding one finger, and then a second to his tongue play.
Only minutes later, I came again, and then a third time. Gently, I pushed Thorsten’s fingers away. “I need a break.” I was shaking with sweet exhaustion.
He kissed my forehead and laid down next to me, wrapping his arms around me. I put my head on his perfect chest and closed my eyes. “Thank you.”
He smiled. “It was my pleasure.”
I shook my head. “I’m thanking you for letting me know how wonderful it feels when my sexuality belongs to me.”
He tensed and his arms tightened around me. “That’s the only way it should be.”
“But it’s not. Not in this world.” The room seemed to darken
as I spoke.
He kissed my forehead and stroked my hair. “Shh, don’t think about it now.”
I nodded, my body relaxing into the cocoon of warmth he had created as peaceful sleep overcame.
I awoke to sun rays on my face. Smiling, I rolled over only to freeze. If the sun was up, then Thorsten—
I tore my eyes open and sat up only to find that he was gone, with no traces of ashes on my bed sheets. Smart. He had probably left in the middle of the night. I searched my bedside table and then underneath my pillow, hoping he had left me a note. He hadn’t. It was probably for the best. If anyone found it, we’d get in trouble. Still, thick disappointment swirled in me, but it quickly gave way to a wave of joy as I remembered the previous night. My cheeks flamed as I recalled how expertly Thorsten had pleasured me. It had been the first time for me, but, clearly, he had done it before. Jealousy raked its ugly head, but I shushed it. It didn’t matter what Thorsten had done in the past, who he had been with. The past was the past.
But could he be my future?
My stomach growled, and I got up. These thoughts were too much on an empty stomach. I threw on a fresh pair of training pants and jacket, then headed downstairs. But instead of going to the breakfast room, I went directly into the kitchen, needing to see Lily and tell her what had happened.
I never made it that far, because half way down the hallway, the front door came open with a bang. Iciness flooded the space. Everything in me contracted at Olwen’s energy as he entered the fortress, tall and formidable in his black suit. Waves of anger, triumph, and hatred hit me straight in the chest as he trained his hard eyes on me.
“Onyx.” He gave me a smile that made me stumble backward. “I have found a new target for you. Complete this mission, and you’re ready to take down Vulthus with me.”
I should’ve felt relief, but instead, foreboding settled in my stomach, pulling me down. “Who?” I asked.
Olwen smiled and then he said the name that shattered everything inside of me.
Savage Monarchs (A New Adult Prison Academy Novel) (Nocturnal Academy Book 3) Page 11