Chapter 19
MIA
T he whiskey burns my throat. I take another fiery sip and glare at the blank canvas in front of me. I haven’t been able to paint since I got here. Every time I try, my body tenses, my heart races, and I can’t keep my hand steady enough to hold a paintbrush. My creativity is stifled. And it’s all their fault.
I turn my attention to my finished paintings instead, admiring them and fearing them at the same time. The thick swirls of black and purple paint are ominous—foreboding. And then there’s the red eyes I’ve painted on each one. Nox’s eyes. They haunt me. On some, they are small and distant, like when he used to watch me from afar. When I was a child, I’d wake up in a dark tunnel. He hid in the shadows then.
But every year I got closer to becoming a woman, he inched closer until he was so close I could feel his breath on my face. I painted that tunnel over and over again. But then I turned eighteen and woke up in another room. The one I still wake up in now. I painted that one too. And his red eyes got bigger in those paintings .
The room is as dark as the tunnel but with a bed in the center. It’s his stage and his prison. And mine. The unspeakable things I’ve let him do to me there…
I shudder and throw the paintbrush at the canvas. It leaves a splotch of black paint on the easel before it falls to the floor. “Fuck,” I rasp. I down the rest of my whiskey on my way out.
I’ll try again tomorrow .
On my way to the library, I snatch another bottle of whiskey from the cabinet in the foyer. After Aries showed me where the cellar was, I took a handful of bottles to keep up here on the main floor. The cellar is dimly lit and it gives me the creeps. Not to mention how easy it was for Bones to slip in.
The library is almost a mile away from the kitchen, so I make sure to stop there first to grab a snack. This house is so fucking big there are still some rooms and hallways I haven’t explored yet. Certain ones give me goosebumps when I pass them. But the longer I’m here, the more I’m settling in, and the less I fear the unknown. It’s like the house is finally remembering me, night after night.
The library lights flicker a few times when I flip the switch. Old wiring. If Draven hadn’t forbidden every electrician in Ever Graves from working for me, I’d call someone out to take a look at it.
Fucking Draven. Ugh.
I light a fire in the stone hearth before curling up on the overstuffed leather couch in front of it. I pour another glass of whiskey before picking up the copy of Grimm’s Fairytales I’d left on the side table. Maybe reading about fictional monsters will distract me from the real ones who stalk me.
I forget time as I read, losing myself in the pages. I sip my whiskey and munch on mini ham and cheese sandwiches, content for the first time in a while. All of this grandeur is nice, but it’s these simple comforts that ease my anxiety. It reminds me of the nights I’d scrounged up enough change to get a hot cup of tomato soup and grilled cheese at the diner in Raven’s Gate. When I was on the streets, sometimes people would pay a few dollars for one of my paintings. It fed me and kept me warm for half the night. The server would keep refilling my coffee so the owner wouldn’t think I was loitering.
I breathe in a deep sigh. Now I have more money than I know what to do with, and I’m still searching for something or someone to make me feel whole. I may never find it. But I do know that I want to help others like me. Maybe I should sell to Draven and move back to Raven’s Gate. I could buy the diner and turn it into a soup kitchen for the unhoused.
I’m so lost in my thoughts that it takes me a few minutes to realize I’m not alone. I draw in a sharp breath as the hairs on the back of my neck prickle. My eyes dart around the room, searching for something I can use as a weapon. I notice the fire poker first. Can I reach it before they reach me? Fuck.
I throw the blanket off and bounce off the couch. As I scramble toward the poker, I’m shoved hard. My feet twist underneath me, and I topple to the floor. I hit my back hard against it, knocking the breath from my lungs.
“You barricaded the back door to the wine cellar? Come on, little lamb. Where’s the fun in that?” Bones towers over me, his knuckles bloody.
I fight to catch my breath as my adrenaline races, threatening to give me a heart attack. “What… the… fuck?”
He grabs my wrists and pulls me to my feet with a smirk. “To be fair, I actually knocked this time. You should install one of those doorbells that you can hear from any room.”
Now he’s being polite? I’m getting whiplash from these boys’ mood swings. I lean back against the arm of the couch. “So because I didn’t answer, you broke in. Again. You know that’s not normal, right?”
He shrugs. “You didn’t answer your phone either.”
“It’s still not an excuse, Bones. What the fuck do you want?” I’m pissed that he’s interrupted my quiet, but more pissed about the tingling between my thighs. It’s like the three of them have mind control over my pussy.
He runs a hand over his shaved head and looks at me like I’m a glass of water in the desert. “We need to talk about this property. I, for one, am fucking sick of it, but Draven and Aries will not let it go. So what can I say or do to convince you?”
“I don’t want to talk about it. You’re bleeding by the way.” I watch as blood seeps through the gauze around his knuckles.
“I always bleed.” He sits in my spot on the couch and pats the spot next to him. “Come sit.”
I swallow the lump in my throat. “You need new bandages and ointment.” Why do I care?
He smirks. “Aw, are you worried about me, baby girl?”
“I just don’t want you getting blood on my floors,” I bite back. But the heat in my body is rising by the second. The way he looks at me like I’m some puzzle to solve. The way his chiseled arm is draped across the back of my couch. It’s all I can do not to give in, to nuzzle up next to his hard body and let him do vile things to me again.
“Well, go get them then.” He settles back against the couch and props his feet up on the coffee table.
I could fucking slap him. I ball my fists at my sides. “I don’t know where they are,” I grit out.
His eyes light up with amusement. He’s enjoying every second of my discomfort. “Most of the old houses in Ever Graves have an infirmary. Back in the Poison War Era, they needed to have their own medical supplies and equipment on hand. If I remember correctly, yours is on the third floor. At the end of the first hall. They kept those rooms away from windows and entrances. They didn’t want their sick or wounded being too vulnerable.”
My mouth gapes open. “How do you know where my family’s old-timey infirmary is located?”
He shrugs again in that way that he does where he acts like he doesn’t care or is bored but he’s actually enjoying pushing my buttons. “We are trying to buy this house, Mia. Of course, we have the blueprints to it.”
I feel my cheeks flame. I ball my fists tighter. I might actually take a swing at him. “We can discuss how that’s an invasion of privacy on the way up there.” I shove his feet off my table. “Come on. Up. I’m not your fucking servant.”
He laughs and springs up, nearly knocking me over as he steps into me. He thumbs my lip as he gazes down. “I like it when you’re bossy.”
A breath catches in my throat. A vision of him pinning me to my breakfast table flashes in my mind. The way he fingered the edges of my panties, teasing my entrance and edging the fuck out of me. “I’m just trying to get you patched up and out of my house as quickly as possible.”
I spin on my heel before he can dish out another smart-ass response. My pulse seems to echo in my ears, throbbing violently with every step I take. He follows close behind on the stairs. Too fucking close. The scent of musk and motor oil waft up my nose. Fucking pheromones .
When I reach the top of the stairs, my knees wobble, and I misjudge the last step. I stumble back into his chest.
“Easy, little lamb. You’re supposed to be patching me up, remember?” He chuckles in my ear. “Do you need me to carry you?” He grips my waist firmly, holding me upright.
I blow out a deep breath and wrangle free. “I’m fine. I’ve had too much coffee.” I don’t dare turn around yet. I know my cheeks must be bright red. I can feel the heat emanating off them, spreading to my neck and chest.
The third floor is as dark and musty as I remember it. I’ve been avoiding coming up here ever since I found that invoice from Absentia Asylum in the office.
He breezes past me and leads us the rest of the way to the infirmary. I was picturing some creepy, sterile operating room straight out of a horror movie, so I’m surprised to find a cozy room resembling a kitchen instead.
The light flickers on to reveal a few cots, a sink and cabinets surrounding it, and a rolling caddy. There are three trays with medical implements that look like they’ve never been touched. And along the wall, bottles of alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, and iodine line the shelves.
Bones plops down on the edge of a cot. “You gonna fix me up now, Nurse Harker?”
His gaze is unnerving. Fuck. I roll my eyes at him. “Everything’s a joke to you, isn’t it?” I rifle through the drawers in the cabinet until I find some cotton pads, gauze, and tape. I set those on the rolling caddy before grabbing a bottle of hydrogen peroxide.
I have no fucking clue what I’m doing, but I saw someone clean a wound on a TV show once. It’s not like I have to sew a stitch or take a bullet out. How hard can it be?
I sigh as I wash my hands in the sink. The only challenge will be keeping my legs closed while I’m doing it. This man makes me fucking feral.
“All right. Give me your hands,” I demand.
He smirks as he studies my face, watching me as I unravel his bloody gauze. I wince when I see his marred flesh. “Fucking hell, Bones. Were you punching a meat grinder?”
He clucks his tongue. “Glass, baby girl. That window had it coming.”
Fuck. I pause for a second, contemplating on what to say next. I shake my head and continue, pouring the peroxide onto a cotton pad. “You wanna talk about it?”
He doesn’t even flinch when I press the pad to his first knuckle. “You want my sob story. Is that it?” He snickers.
I swallow hard as I make my way down the line of bloody knuckles. “I didn’t think assholes had sob stories. ”
He bursts out laughing. “Damn. I really fucking like you. You don’t bullshit. My abuela would love you.”
I shrug and feel the tiny hint of a smile pulling at the corners of my lips. “She’s a smart woman then.”
I gaze up at him for just a second, and it sends butterflies to my stomach. Fuck.
“I like your eyes. They’re different,” he murmurs.
His hand flexes around mine as I press a fresh piece of gauze around it. “Yeah? Well, it’s another reason why people think I’m strange. At least that’s what they told me back at the orphanage.”
As soon as I tape his hand, he presses it to my cheek. “You are strange, but that’s not a bad thing. It makes you more beautiful.”
My breath catches in my throat. I’m not good with compliments. “Thanks.” I look down and get to work on his other hand. “Are you and your abuela close? I… I’ve never had family.”
Bones spreads his legs and shifts forward, closing more of the gap between us. “We used to be closer. Before my brother died. It’s hard to go back to normal after something like that.”
I look up to meet his gaze. “I’m sorry. Lettie never mentioned another brother.”
Bones’s eyes darken. “She was too young to remember Sonny. And it’s a sore subject.”
I nod. “What happened to him?”
His fingers tremble. “It doesn’t matter. Next subject.”
Fuck. “I’m sorry. It’s not my business.” I feel my cheeks burning. I sometimes forget I have zero social skills. Why can’t I just keep my mouth shut?
He strokes my cheek again. “It’s okay. I brought it up. So, what’s your sob story, little lamb?”
Great. My turn. The subject I’ve been avoiding at dinner parties since I was first able to even attend one. I blow out a deep breath. “It’s pretty basic. My parents died when I was a baby, but I think you already know that part. I was sent away before that. No clue why. They were rich as fuck and could have easily raised me. Anyway, I grew up in Wickford Hollow Orphanage. On my eighteenth birthday, they handed me a bus ticket and kicked me out. I went to Raven’s Gate, slept on the streets for a while until I met my ex-fiancé, got dumped for being strange, and then rich granny died. And now I’m here.”
“You left out a lot, baby girl.” His gaze burns a hole in my face.
I shrug. “So did you. We all have our secrets. Our shame. I don’t care to talk about mine either.”
“Fair enough.” His hand falls to my shoulder.
His touch is electric. Fiery. It ignites sparks in every nerve in my body. I finish wrapping his hand and stand up. “Done. Now at least you won’t get an infection.”
“You’re sweet. I don’t think most people know that about you.” He leans back on the cot. The edge of his ripped T-shirt shifts up, revealing the V shape of his abs. Fucking hell. Don’t fucking look, Mia.
“I could say the same thing about you. When you’re not breaking into people’s houses like a psycho.” My belly flutters at the memory.
“Yours is the only house I ever want to break into. I like the way your fear turns into something else. Something… visceral.” He slides his gauze-wrapped hand over his belly, inching his shirt up even more.
I don’t want to look, but I can’t help myself. “What are you doing?”
He undoes the top button of his jeans. “Watching you play nurse is a fucking kink I didn’t know I had. Indulge me, Mia. Let’s keep this game going.”
Tingles spread like wildfire through my core. It’s like having chills and heat stroke at the same time. I could leave. I could turn around and walk away. But I inch forward instead. Fuck me.
He unzips his jeans. “Come here, baby girl. Lie next to me.”
My limbs are shaking. I can’t resist him. The memory of his fist inside my pussy has me so fucking wet… I sit down on the edge of the cot. “We shouldn’t…” I murmur.
He pulls his jeans down and off. “Look how hard you make me.”
I turn toward him, and my lips salivate. His cock is fully erect, hard and veiny with a barbell pierced through the tip. It’s fucking beautiful. “Fuck,” I say on a breath.
He rolls his thumb over the barbell, and a little precum oozes out. “Your turn.” He rolls on his side, wraps an arm around my waist and scoots me forward until I’m fully lying next to him. “I want to play with your pussy again.”
I bite my lip to stifle a whimper. I let my eyes wander his body, admiring black and gray ink that swirls over every inch of him. He’s hot as fuck, and I have no willpower against him. With trembling fingers, I unzip my pants and shove them off.
He sucks in a sharp breath as he traces his finger around the edges of my white cotton panties. “Mmm… fuck.”
I gasp as he pulls them to the side. “ Bones …”
“Relax, baby girl.”
I clench my thighs, my juices trickling out before he’s even touched me. I’m about to cum already.
He pulls my panties slowly down my legs and tosses them to the floor. “Such a pretty pussy. Fucking glistening.”
I arch my back. “Fuck. The things you make me do…”
He gets on top of me, spreading my legs wider to accommodate his large, muscled frame. He rolls his barbell over my clit. “Mmm, you’re shivering. Don’t play shy now…”
I let out an eager whine, ready to let this man do whatever he wants to me. I tear off his shirt in my frenzy. “Get inside me.”
He chuckles. “There you go, being bossy again. I fucking love it.” He slides his cock into my pussy. We both gasp as he enters. “Oh, fuck.”
“Ooh, you’re tight. Damn. But so fucking wet. I’m sliding all the way in.” He slips in deep, caressing my walls with his ridges. He rolls his hips as he thrusts. “Mmm, I bet you’d look so good with another cock inside you.”
I let out a deep moan as he presses against my most sensitive nerve. “Yeah…”
He grinds against me. “Hmm? Will you let us fuck you together? One in that pretty mouth of yours.” Thrust . “One just like this.” Thrust . “And another in your tight little ass.”
I moan again. Sweat beads down my body as he speaks the filthiest things to me. “I don’t know… Maybe,” I rasp.
He grunts as he pulls all the way out and then thrusts back in so deep I buck. “Yeah, we’re going to do that soon. I can’t wait to see your mouth and your ass and this sweet, filthy pussy full of all our cum.”
I can barely breathe I’m so fucking turned on. I roll my hips up to meet his as we increase our pace, pumping and thrusting like wild animals. I grab his neck and yank his head closer to mine. “I’m going to cum all over you right fucking now.”
His eyes blaze with hunger. “Thatta girl. Give me every fucking drop.” He kisses me hard. I open my mouth to devour him. His tongue lashes out at mine. He tastes so fucking good. Fuck.
All the blood rushes to my clit. It’s building, spasm by spasm. I clench and then release. “Fuck,” I scream.
I feel his hot liquid burst inside my pussy as he growls in my ear, “This is my pussy now.”
I jerk my hips and rock against him, riding out a wave of ecstasy so intense my toes curl. “Don’t fucking stop.”
He rides me hard and fast, milking me for every drop. Unleashing everything he has into me. “That’s my little lamb. Letting the big bad wolf slaughter her pussy.”
I struggle to catch my breath, my chest heaving as he slows his rhythm. My thighs tremble as he slowly slides in and out, dragging our orgasms out until we are nothing but a sticky mess of cum and sweat .
He stills inside me, his shaft pulsing against my tender flesh. “I want you even more feral next time.”
My mouth is dry from moaning. “We can’t keep doing this. Not when we’re supposed to be enemies.”
That flicker of amusement returns to his eyes. “You just gave me a very naughty idea, baby girl.”
Oh, fuck. I’m falling deeper and deeper into their twisted games. “Oh, yeah, and what’s that?”
“It will be a surprise,” he whispers.
I lay on the cot, still trembling, while I watch him clean that beautiful cock of his. I’m actually sad when he puts his clothes back on. “Sorry I didn’t sign the papers. I just can’t.”
He smirks. “Don’t worry. I got exactly what I came for tonight.” He hands me a wet rag. “But I’m not leaving until I get to watch you clean yourself.”
I feel my cheeks heat again. “You’re going to make me cum again if you do that.”
He pulls up a chair and straddles it. “Even better.”
I spread my thighs back and already feel a little spark reigniting in my core. “You think anyone’s ever fucked in this room before?”
He licks his lips as I caress my thighs with the rag. “In times of war, people fucked anywhere they could. Guaranteed there’s some ghost dick energy up in this room.”
I nod and slide the rag down my slit. It tingles, and I can’t help but whimper as the rough fabric rubs against my clit.
“Thatta girl. Don’t hold back. Clean that pussy good.”
I bite my lower lip and moan as I drag the cloth from my clit down to my taint. There’s something so fucking hot about the way he watches me. “I need more.”
He stalks over to me, wedges a thick pillow under my hips, and returns to his chair. “That’s better. Now I can see deep inside. Use your fingers, baby girl. Peel that pussy open for me to see how you mop up all that cum. ”
A deep spasm rolls through me. “Fuck,” I whine. I scissor my pussy lips back with one hand and rub the wet rag in circles against my folds with my free hand. The pressure builds in my core as I thrust up and down against the pillow.
Bones hangs over the chair, his mouth watering, his eyes glazing with lust and hunger. “Yeah, just like that.”
His words torment me and send me over the edge. I scream as my orgasm bursts and explodes like fireworks through every inch of my body. I palm the rag, thrusting against it while also using it to mop up my mess. “Holy… fuck.” I gasp.
I’m a disaster. A heap of bodily fluids and trembling limbs.
He winks as he stands up and reaches behind me for his phone. “Thanks for patching me up, beautiful. Until next time.”
I don’t have enough breath to respond. So I just lay there and watch him leave. If this is how they think they’re going to torture and intimidate me into signing those papers, then they’re going to lose this game real fast.
I’m too fucking greedy for their depravity. Too sick and twisted to be afraid of masked men breaking into my house or chasing me through the woods. The only thing that scares me is how far each of us are willing to go.