37. Izabella
IZABELLA
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. My chest feels tight as I watch my mother walk away from me, climb into her car, and leave. It’s what I wanted, but now that it’s happening, there’s this odd sense of horror at knowing she’s leaving and that I’m not going with her.
“Let’s go, Ghost,” Gulliver coaxes softly, guiding me from the top of the stairs down to where the limo is waiting for us. As soon as he sees us, the driver hops out and opens the door, and I climb in, holding down the back of my skirt as I shuffle along the bench seat to the far corner. Pulling my backpack into my chest, I hug it tightly as a strange numbness settles over me.
My mom just left. She tried to get me to leave with her and when I refused, she walked away and left. I don’t have to go back to my parent’s house. I think a part of me thought they’d figure out a way to make me fall back in line, and maybe they still will. But for right this minute, they’ve backed down, and I’ve won.
“Are you okay?” Gulliver asks, pressing himself into my side and draping a comforting arm around my shoulders.
“I don’t really know,” I tell him honestly.
“Round one goes to Izzy.” Thorn grins. “To the victor goes the spoils. Let’s celebrate tonight.”
Slightly shell-shocked, I nod. “Where are we tonight?”
All eyes turn to Kip, and I follow suit, smiling a little when he huffs and pulls his cell from his pants.
“Tonight, we’re at a charity auction,” he says, his eyes fixed on the screen. “Then tomorrow, we have an informal dinner with our families. Wednesday and Thursday are free, then we have parties Friday and Saturday night.”
“I thought we had dinner with your dad tonight?” I ask, turning to look at Gulliver.
“We do; the auction is a cocktail event, not a dinner,” he says. “But we can cancel if you’re not up for it.”
“No, I’m fine,” I lie. “I’m just glad I’m ahead with all my classes, because there’s not going to be any time to do homework this week.” I laugh dryly, forcing a smile onto my lips.
His eyes narrow a little, but he doesn’t call me out on my lie. “Come on,” he says, the moment we slow to a stop outside his house. Pulling me through the front door, not sparing Beth a glance, he drags me up to his bedroom and closes the door behind us.
“Gulliver, what are you doing?” I ask as he pulls my blazer from my shoulders, letting it drop to the floor. Loosening my tie, he slides it from beneath my collar, not pausing as it flutters from his fingers.
He removes my pinafore and blouse, dropping each item of clothing to the floor until I’m wearing nothing but my bra, panties, black-heeled pumps, and my thigh-high socks.
A part of me thinks I should tell him no or try to get him to understand why we should be keeping our relationship platonic, but I want him to touch me. My mom’s appearance at school has rocked me more than I’m willing to admit to, and his touch grounds me.
I don’t utter a single word of complaint as he drops to his knees and peels my panties down my legs. Resting my hand on his shoulder, I lift first one foot, then the other, free of the black lace, before he pushes them into his back pocket and tips his head back to look at me.
Dark eyes stare back at me, not releasing my gaze as he presses a wet kiss against my inner thigh. His fingers curl around my hips as he licks a path along my skin, the cool air making goose bumps rise to follow the path of his tongue.
His eyes stay on mine, unblinking as his mouth touches my pussy, licking and sucking at my sex and clit. My legs tremble and my breathing gets short, and I fight the urge to hold his head between my legs, wanting more.
“Spread your legs,” he growls, and I comply without thought, parting my legs, one hand resting on his shoulder, the other buried in his hair.
“Oh fuck,” I gasp as a thick finger slides into me and his tongue laps across my clit.
A second finger follows, and he pumps in and out, fucking me with his fingers and tonguing my clit until I’m barreled over the cliff into an orgasm so strong that I fold at the waist, yanking at his hair as shudders assault me. My eyes are still squeezed tightly shut as he lifts me off the ground and lowers me to sit in his lap. My legs are straddling him as he slides his fingers back into me, pumping once, then pulling them out and replacing them with his cock.
“Ride me, Izzy,” he demands, freeing my breasts and immediately pulling one into his mouth.
Experimentally, I roll my hips, sucking in a sharp gasp as his cock hits a spot inside of me that makes a pulse of warmth burst to life. I do it again, grinding my hips as his hand moves to my ass, lifting me as I roll, then forcing me down hard onto his cock.
“Oh,” I moan when his dick is forced into me, hitting that spot again and making a fresh surge of warmth pulse through me.
“That’s it, Little Ghost, make yourself come,” he taunts, biting down on my nipple as he encourages me to move faster, lifting me then pulling me back down hard as I roll and grind, finding a rhythm that makes moans and pants fall from my lips.
“Yeah, fuck,” he rasps, moving me faster, pulling me down harder each time as his hips move up to meet me, forcing him deeper.
The heat becomes overwhelming, and I wrap my arms around his neck, holding on tightly as he takes control. Lifting me, he guides my movement as his cock plunges into my soaked core until I explode. I bury my face in his neck as a scream rips from my throat, and I see stars. His release comes almost immediately, and I hear his groan of pleasure as he lifts me one last time, then slams up into me, holding me in place as a shudder rumbles through his body.
We stay like that, wrapped in each other, just listening to the sounds of our rasping pants and feeling the racing beats of our hearts. I’m naked except for one shoe and my knee-high socks, and he’s fully dressed, his pants around his ankles.
A giggle bubbles up my throat, bursting from my lips and making me grip him a little tighter. “I still have my socks on.”
“You in the socks and heels is sexy,” he says against my neck, his hand rubbing up and down my spine.
Lifting me, he walks us into the bathroom, where he strips his clothes, then my socks, before pulling me into the shower and washing every inch of me. When we’re both clean and dry, he carries me into the bedroom, drops me onto the bed, and climbs on behind me, spooning me with his huge body.
“Feel better?”
I nod, but I’m not sure if he can see me.
“Is that a yes?”
“Yes,” I say, exhaling tiredly.
“How was it seeing your mom today?”
“I should have been expecting it, really. There was no way she was going to just let me walk away with no recourse.”
He pulls me in a little tighter, his body curling around mine. “What do you think she’ll do next?” he asks softly.
“I have no idea, maybe nothing,” I say hopefully.
“Maybe,” he says, pressing a soft, sweet kiss against my shoulder.
“How did you know I took photos after the attack?” I ask.
“I didn’t know for sure. I just knew that threatening to expose her for being the abusive monster she is to the world would make her back down. Are you mad at me? Didn’t you want her to know you have evidence of what happened?”
“The doctor made me take the pictures. I guess I always considered them my trump card. I just hadn’t expected to have to use them so early in the game.”
“I’ll do anything I have to do to protect you from them, Ghost. You’re mine. I won’t ever let them take you from me.” Flipping me to my back, he positions himself between my legs, dips his head, and presses a kiss to my lips.
By the time Hawthorn and the guys show up in his limo hours later, I’m already tired and ready to watch a movie in bed, not go out. I don’t know if Gulliver was distracting me, claiming me, or simply fucking me, but for the last two hours, he’s used me until my body is sore but satisfied in the best way possible.
Fitzy dropped off another rail of clothes while we were at school, and the heavily-beaded white wrap dress I’m wearing is classy but sexy, especially paired with my butter-soft leather jacket and spike-heeled boots.
The auction is in full swing by the time we get there, and it only takes me a few moments to realize that both my parents and Penelope are here, as well as several of the families listed on my great-grandfather’s approved husband list.
“Wow, your family just moved straight onto targets two, three, and four,” Davis remarks caustically.
“They’re equal opportunity psychos, they’ve been parading Penelope around like cattle at an auction to all of the families for years,” Gulliver snarls angrily.
“Really?” I ask.
“You didn’t know?” he says, surprised.
“They didn’t exactly tell me where they were going each night. I knew they wanted you, and I’ve heard a few other names mentioned, but I didn’t know it was this bad,” I say, seeking my sister out and finding her standing at my mom’s side. There’s a smile on her face, but even from this distance, I can see it’s hollow and empty, not reaching her eyes. “Poor Penelope,” I say quietly.
“Don’t feel sorry for her, she loves this,” Gulliver spews nastily.
“Look at her, she’s miserable,” I say, nodding in my sister’s direction. “She didn’t ask for any of this either.”
“She doesn’t have to play along,” Kip says, snagging glasses of champagne from a passing waiter and handing them out to us all.
“Doesn’t she? Maybe she hates this as much as I do,” I muse, wrinkling my nose when the champagne touches my lips. “Is there a bar anywhere? I really don’t like champagne.”
“Stay here with the guys, I’ll go and get you something else,” Gulliver murmurs, pressing a kiss to my lips as he plucks the glass from my hands and walks away.
“Want to go and look at the auction lots?” Thorn suggests.
“Sure, maybe there’s something fun we could buy.”
As I peruse the displayed lots, I feel her presence before I see my sister appear at my side. “Hello, Penelope.”
“Hello, Izabella,” she says quietly.
Hawthorn, Davis, and Kip surround us, but I smile at them. “I’ll be fine,” I assure them. Their glares remain unhappy, but they reluctantly fall back a few feet, at least giving us the illusion of space.
“They all seem very protective of you,” my sister says, not looking at me as she pretends to read the lot listings.
“They saw my face. I think they all feel a little responsible now.”
Her body language tenses, and she turns to look at me. “Why would they feel responsible?”
“Because they all helped Gulliver with the proposal,” I say honestly, not seeing the point of lying to her.
Her laugh is light and sweet. “It really is all fake, isn’t it?”
“Maybe, maybe not. Either way, nothing changes. I won’t sacrifice my life any longer. We should never have started it in the first place. I won’t go back into the shadows, not now that I’ve had a taste of the sunshine again.”
Her sigh is resolute. “I know. They haven’t accepted that yet, though. Mom almost lost her mind when she saw the pictures of you in that article. You looked so different, so happy with Gulliver and the others. She’s jealous, and you know that’s not going to end well.”
Dropping all pretense, I turn and lock gazes with my twin, staring at the all-too-familiar face and wishing I could see something redeemable in her reflected stare. “Do you want the money so badly that you’re happy to live like this? Do you even like any of the guys that Mom and Dad are trying to get you to marry, or is this all you just going along with them because you have no idea what else to do?”
She stays silent, her expression barely even flinching, but I see it. I see the truth, and a flash of emotion hits me like a Mack truck, and the desire to pull my sister into my arms, to hug her because she’s my twin and she’s hurting and alone, is almost overwhelming. “You hate this, don’t you?” I whisper.
Her lips press together in a hard, firm line as she stares at me, not saying a word. But her silence says more than any words she could utter would. She’s as much a prisoner in her life as I was in mine.
“Just fail,” I gasp. “All you have to do is fail, and then it’s all over. The money will be gone, and you can run. I’ll help you run.”
“It’s not that simple,” she whispers, her lips trembling.
“Yes, it is. What can they do? One little slip and that stupid grade point average rule will destroy the fragile card house that godforsaken will has made you live in for the last three-and-a-half years. One B, that’s all it’s going to take. Then you can pick your future, you can pick your own destiny, your own husband, and you can walk away from them and be whoever you want to be,” I cry, a little too loud for the quiet room, but I don’t care, this is too important.
“I can’t,” she says, her eyes haunted and lost. Then she turns and walks away. She appears at our mother’s side a minute later, just as Mom pushes a guy I recognize from school toward her.
Charging across the room to the bar, I find Gulliver and take the glass from his hand, throwing back the contents. “I want to go,” I say loud enough for him to hear.
His eyes rake over me, and he nods, taking the glass from me and placing it on the bar. Slinging his arm over my shoulders, he guides me back to where the others are standing a few feet away. “We’re leaving. Are you guys coming?”
“Yes, this is boring as fuck, and Molly’s sending me pussy pics again. She is totally DTF,” Davis says, pumping his fist in the air.
“DTF?” I ask.
“Down to fuck,” he says with a wide grin.
“You guys?” Gulliver asks Thorn and Kip, who both nod that they’re ready to leave, despite the fact that we’ve been here less than ten minutes.
The moment we’re all in the limo and the door is shut, Gulliver turns to me. “What happened?”
“Penelope came to talk to me.”
“What the fuck did she say to you?” he growls.
“She hates it,” I cry. “She hates the money, our parents, the will’s stipulations, all of it. She hates it all.”
“Did she tell you that?” Kip asks suspiciously. “Because I can’t see her admitting that to you, even if it was true.”
“No, but I saw it in her eyes. I know her, even if I don’t like her that much. She’s my twin, and I could feel how miserable she is,” I pant, patting at my chest like I can show them where I felt her pain.
“She’s the one in control, Izzy. She could easily refuse to play the game, but she doesn’t. In fact, I’m fairly sure she loves it. I think she might be playing you. Did she say anything about you going home?” Hawthorn asks, his eyes narrowing slightly.
“No, I told her I was done, that I’d sacrificed enough, and she didn’t try to persuade me to change my mind. But I felt it, she’s miserable, and as much as I hate the person she’s become, we have to help her.”
The guys all look at each other, like they’re trying to decide who gets to tell me I’m acting crazy. “I know this sounds like I’m getting played, but I saw the look in her eyes. I heard the unspoken words, and now that I know, I can’t just leave her to her fate.”