Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
ROWAN
I can hear the water in the shower being turned off from where I lie on my bed.
It overpowers the memory of the excited hoots and cheers from earlier when we announced Everly, or rather Anastasia , had become Queen of the Court.
Being marveled at is one of my favorite things.
It’s why I became a model. People want me .
Crave me . Desire me . With Everly nestled beneath my arm, all that grew tenfold.
I was their king. Now, with a woman as fine as Everly, I’m their god.
I smile, feeling Everly’s victory of mastering the Labyrinth—faster than anyone in the past—as if it’s my own.
Too bad Braum couldn’t be as excited. Ever since I told him Purdy called for an initiation, he’s been twitchy and anxious.
I’ve never seen him so distracted or upset.
He wouldn’t tell me why, and when the initiation was over, he slipped away into the night, muttering something about the loss of The Universe.
I expected him to be waiting in our suite when I brought Everly back to shower off the dirty water clinging to her body, but he wasn’t here.
“Uh, Rowan?” Everly calls from my bathroom. Her voice is twisted with nerves. “Where do you keep the towels?”
I sit up, pushing thoughts of Braum away. It’s his loss if he doesn’t want to play with our queen this evening.
“There’s one in here,” I call back. There’s a pregnant pause. I grin. “That a problem?”
“I, ah… Can you bring it here?”
My cock, which has been semi-hard since I heard Everly turn on the hot water and I pictured her getting undressed, fully hardens with excitement.
“Come get it yourself,” I order. “I’m a king not a servant.”
“But—”
“Aren’t you supposed to be cooperative?” I cut her off. “Now get the fuck out here.”
There’s another long pause before I hear the slapping of her wet feet heading toward the bathroom door.
I watch as it opens slowly. Everly’s head pops out first. She’s wrapped her dark, wet hair up into a bun on top of her head, but a few shorter strands have already escaped, framing the sides of her face.
I grab the fluffy white towel off the bed beside me and lift it up.
“Want it? Come and get it.”
Everly sighs and opens the door the rest of the way.
She covers her chest with one arm as best she can and uses the other to try to cover the junction between her legs as she tries to hurry over.
The movement is absolutely ridiculous. I snort in amusement as she stops in front of me and realizes she’s going to have to uncover herself to grab the towel from my hand.
She looks from me to the towel then back to me. “Um, you can just drape it over my?—”
“I’ll dry you off. Drop your arms to your sides and cut the back talk, ” I add sharply as she opens her mouth in protest. Her brows scrunch up with helplessness before she heaves a tiny sigh and does as she’s told.
Like the night she arrived, I allow myself to drink in the sight of Everly’s body before me.
Her brown skin, warm with reddish undertones, is flushed from the heat of the water.
She dips her chin in shame so it covers the delicate length of her long neck.
Her torso is narrow but toned. Her legs are the same way, slim yet fit.
There’s not a blemish to be seen. From the front, she’s the epitome of perfection.
But I’ve seen Everly’s back, and it tells a different story.
Her dark nipples pucker in the cool air—demanding my attention. My eyes drop to them as I step forward with the towel.
“You look delicious,” I tell her.
Everly says nothing as I reach out with my empty hand and cup a heavy breast. When my thumb skims over her nipple, she lets out the softest, sweetest little gasp of surprise. The sound goes straight to my dick, which twitches in response.
“Absolutely beautiful…” I murmur as I let go of her breast to circle her.
My eyes travel over the skin of her shoulders, down the curve of her spine but stop at the marred skin on her lower back.
“How did you get these?” I ask.
Everly’s back tenses as my fingers reach out to caress them. Can she feel my fingertips? I’d be surprised if she could; surely there's no feeling here anymore. Maybe she just senses my attention on the scars.
“I fell.”
My laughter is cold and unamused. “Yeah, sure you did. Want to try a different lie? A more believable one, maybe?”
“I don’t need you to believe me,” she replies in a soft but cold voice. “It’s none of your business.”
I drag the towel over her back and shoulders.
I drop into a crouch and towel dry each leg.
When I’m done, I reach up and grab the side of her thigh and lean forward.
My lips brush against the thinner, raised, crisscrossed scars on the back of her left thigh.
Everly’s whole body tenses at this. She starts to pull it away with a gasp, but I hold her tight.
“What are you doing!?” she cries out. “Don’t?—”
“Hush,” I snap. “I can touch you wherever I want. And you’re going to let me because this is how you’re showing your gratitude for the kindness of two kings, got it?”
Her arms wrap around her abdomen. “But they’re gross. Why would you want to put your lips on them?”
“They’re not gross,” I reply. I drop the towel and run my other hand up her right leg, starting at her ankle and stopping on the side of her thigh.
Leaning forward, I kiss the marks on there.
I can’t tell whether her answering shudder is from revulsion or something else.
“Admittedly, when I first saw them, I thought they took something away from you. I thought they made you lesser somehow. But I’ve been thinking about them, and you, since I saw them. You know what I’ve concluded?”
Everly doesn’t reply. I let go of her legs to stand. Peeling a hand away from clutching her sides, I turn her around. Her head immediately drops, her gaze landing on the floor.
“Look at me,” I snarl, having no patience for her insecurities.
After a brief hesitation, she lifts her chin and meets my eyes. I expect to see a spark of defiance or annoyance. Instead, I see the shine of tears. There’s a deeper red coloring her cheeks now and a slight hunch in her shoulders.
“Cut it out,” I order. “You don’t get to cry or feel ashamed. These scars prove you belong with The Collection. They tell me you’ve been through hell. And the fact you’re here at Serenity Falls says you’re ready to go through it again—no matter the consequences.”
Everly blinks rapidly, the shame shifting to something else. Is it doubt? Confusion? Maybe it’s a little of both.
I push on, hoping she’ll understand. She’ll need to in order to get through what I have planned for her in just a few minutes.
“They’re physical proof of your courage, Everly.
We electrocuted you. It left no physical mark, but if it did, that would’ve been another visual representation of your courage.
” I shake my head in wonder. “You’re brave enough to have survived one hell and have the marks to prove it.
Now you’ve willingly come crawling into a new hell to save someone from their eternal punishment.
That’s not just bravery, that’s loyalty I’ve never seen before.
It makes you utterly priceless. These marks are beautiful because they tell your story.
You’re precious. Which is why,” I hold her gaze, “you belong to The Collection. I’ve never met anyone as special as you. ”
The tension in Everly’s shoulders eases and even the smallest of smiles makes a brief appearance.
“That's… ah, really nice of you, Rowan,” she mutters.
I chuckle darkly. “Remember how nice I am as you fall asleep tonight. Now I need you to climb onto the bed.”
Her eyes dart to where I’d just been lying before growing wide.
To my surprise, rather than object or fight me, she does as she’s told.
I smile at her acquiescence and wonder if she thinks it’ll earn her more of my kindness .
My dick has stayed hard the entire conversation, and now, watching her ass swing as she crawls to the middle of my bed, I can feel the front of my boxers growing damp with precum.
Fuck, is she gorgeous. The moment I decided her value was in her looks and what resides beneath the skin, something settled inside me. That itch is all but gone. It should vanish once the night is through, when I’ve finally claimed her.
When Braum mentioned Everly was a virgin, I balked. The thought of having to teach someone how to fuck was so unappealing that when Braum said he wanted that honor, I mentally gave him my blessing.
But now, with her body exposed and at my mercy, I kind of wish I’d called dibs. Just the thought of my crisp white duvet covered in evidence of her innocence has me rock hard. I’m a clean freak by nature but that ? I’d let it linger a few days.
Walking around the room to my nightstand, I pull open the single drawer and reach for two neatly folded chords of silky black rope.
“What’s that for?” she asks when she sees them.
“You.” Turning, I nudge my head toward the headboard. “Get on your knees facing the headboard and hold your wrists out and together.”
Everly’s brows fly upward in surprise. “ Excuse ?—”
“I really hate repeating myself, so I suggest you fucking do as you’re told the first time, or you’ll see how nice I’m not ,” I snap.
Any tension that leaked away seconds ago now returns tenfold. Everly does as instructed with lips pinched into a tight line and a stiffness in her movements. Climbing onto the bed, I make quick work of tying her wrists together then attaching them to the headboard.
“You don’t have to do this,” she whispers. “I’ll do whatever you want. You don’t have to tie me up.”
“I want you tied up.” I tell her. “Now bend until your elbows touch the mattress and your pretty ass is sticking up toward the ceiling.”