Chapter 29
What a disobedient little brat.
Ophelia forcing me out of the house gnawed at me.
Not enough to feel remorse for my actions.
In fact, she had wronged me by tossing me out when she needed my protection more than ever.
In light, I might have been a tad hasty when entering the house without her knowing, but only because she was a magnet drawing me closer without exception.
Darkness had since settled on Kilbride, allowing monsters and sycophants to roam the streets in unfettered droves.
Nefarious entities with malicious intent stalked the shadows, following the enticing scent of their prey.
I’d followed their trail to the party, knowing there would be apostles on site.
Trusting Ophelia to remain safely at home during my absence painted me as the fool. Because she was there inside the crowded house, swaying her hips along to the music. And there was no looking away now that I’d spotted her.
The multicolored lights flashed overhead, casting her in an array of colors.
A painting of divinity, captivating with each move.
Her body was an altar, and I wanted to drink from her.
If I had a religion, it would be her and her soul, and I would worship her on my knees.
But I was trapped in the intersection of concern and fury, horrified that the person I cared for most in the world was sitting in a den of potential danger.
God, she should have just stayed home.
The shock on her face when I caught her was almost worth it.
“What’s this?” I said. “An Ashcroft with no snarky remark?”
My inner turmoil settled a fraction with her in my grasp. Ophelia sputtered and gestured with her hands, struggling for a response. It was so endearing I wanted to bend her over on the spot and remind her who she belonged to.
The party music vibrated through the door and floorboards. Only a small table lamp in the corner illuminated the untouched guest room in soft amber lighting. The silence between us weighed heavier than the commotion of the party.
Ophelia watched me warily and crossed her arms. “What on earth are you doing here?”
A bitter scoff breached me. “I was on the trail of a particularly nasty stolas, but now I’m here looking out for you.”
“Looking out for…?” Her arms dropped, and she scoffed. Then she turned, swiping one hand across her forehead and bracing the other on her hip. “God, I can’t believe this.” Abruptly, she whirled on me, eyes blazing and frown set. “You—you can’t just follow me around and watch me all the time!”
I barely refrained from rolling my eyes at her.
“You’re too cavalier about your own safety for me to regret my actions. My aim is to protect you and keep you out of harm’s way. I would do it all again in a heartbeat.”
“Something is so fucking wrong with you!” She had the gall to attempt shoving my chest away.
I caught her wrists and used the leverage to back her into the wall. She had the audacity to pretend to struggle while glaring up at me with those fuck-me eyes of hers. My brave little vixen, biting her lip even as she thrashed against me.
“You’re mine, Ophelia. It’s my responsibility to protect you.”
“No, I am not yours!” She was breathing fast, squirming against me, face flushed with heat as her pupils dilated from desire.
How cute, she thought she could deny the truth.
“I can prove otherwise…” My head dropped to where her neck and shoulder met. I nuzzled through the curtain of her hair and pressed my lips to her fluttering pulse. Her breaths came heavier and faster when my tongue darted out to taste her. So sweet, like perfection.
“I don’t want—”
My free hand covered her mouth, silencing her. Ophelia was being willfully stubborn, but I would show her that I knew her better than she knew herself.
“We’ll see about that.” I would ruin her for anyone else.
I littered the column of her throat with my lips and tongue, drawing breathy little sighs from her. She grew warm and pliant beneath me as I kissed her collarbone and dropped my hands to her hips. My erection strained against my zipper, harder than it had been before.
“Wait!” Yet her back arched when I turned her and tossed her on the side of the bed. Her legs dangled over the edge, and she spread them in silent invitation even if she didn’t realize it.
I tugged down her leggings and underwear in one swipe.
My lungs nearly exploded at the arousal dripping from her pussy as clear as day.
Her drippy, wet little cunt was waiting for me.
Despite her protestations, her body knew what she wanted—what she needed.
I slipped two fingers into her tight hole, curling upwards to stroke that tender spot until her hips jerked from the sensation.
A reedy moan escaped her clenched jaw and filled the air.
“Feel that? How soaked you are for me. Leaking all over my fucking hand, you’re so wet, sweetheart.” With two fingers stroking her inner walls and my thumb on her clit, I worked her into a rapidly spiraling frenzy.
“N-no, I don’t—don’t…” Her words trailed off on a moan as she climaxed on my fingers.
Before Ophelia had even finished riding out her release on my hand, I’d replaced my fingers with my cock, impaling her inch by inch.
Her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped. “Oh, wait, wait… ah!”
My belt hung open, metal clinking with each thrust. Louder were the sounds of my cock slamming into her wet cunt. She was slick, and the noises echoing off the walls were lewd. Her inner walls clenched around me, pulling my erection deeper and deeper into her core.
Her eyes rolled back in her head, fists gripping the blanket, canting her hips to meet mine. A guttural groan punched free as she clenched around my shaft repeatedly. And her whimpers with each slam of my hips drove me into madness.
“That’s it,” I praised. “You can take it.” Bracing one hand on the mattress beside her head, I hooked one leg under hers and readjusted. The new position had me sliding deeper and pulled wanton moans from us both.
Deep, feral thrusts made her wild, trembling beneath me. She felt like perfection around me, fitted like a glove. I could fuck her at all hours, every day, for the rest of my life.
The little stutters in her hips told me Ophelia was getting close to a second orgasm. I picked up the pace, luxuriating in the sounds spilling from her. Pounding furiously, she quaked as the brunt of euphoria rushed upward to sweep her away. But I wasn’t done with her yet.
“This pussy is mine. You’re mine. To lick, to fuck, to taste. As often as I need to remind you of who you belong to. All mine—forever.” My hips snapped harshly against hers.
Her hands flew up, and her nails dug painfully into my straining shoulders. I groaned into the pain, fucking her with abandon.
“I’m… I’m going to—”
“Not yet.” Slowing my strokes took insurmountable effort. “Not until you admit that you belong to me. That you’re mine.”
Her pussy quivered around me.
“Say it!” I pounded into her, on the verge of punishment.
“Fuck—I’m yours!” The words were an aria sung in her throaty moans. It was almost enough to make me come on the spot.
I’m yours. I’m yours. I’m yours.
“So perfect taking my cock, sweetheart.” A litany of praise vented from me. “Say my name when you come.”
Ophelia started convulsing.
“Say my fucking name!”
“Professor—”
“My name!”
“Luther!” It was the loveliest sound in the world. “Oh… Oh my God! Luther!”
I fucked her through the orgasm seizing control of her body.
Her tight inner muscles contracted and squeezed me for all I was worth.
I held out until the aftershocks were rippling through her before I let go.
I dug my fingers in, holding on for dear life before emptying myself into her cunt.
Her pussy continued throbbing around me as if greedy for every drop of my spend.
I hovered over her for the longest time, relishing the feel of her body beneath me. The softness, the submission, the curves, the bond forged from her soul to mine. Ophelia fit against me like the missing piece of a puzzle finally slotted into its rightful place.
Heaven only lasted mere moments before the music crashed back in and the liminal delight of fucking her faded out of existence. Reality clanged like a bell in my ears, reminding me of the danger waiting outside that door.
I pulled myself up, straightening my clothes. Eventually, Ophelia whooped in a large gulp of air before sitting upright and collecting herself. I took great pleasure in seeing her freshly fucked, glowing under the wane light as she was.
A prickling at the back of my neck forced me to reconsider our location.
“Come on, I need to get you home.”
She pouted, staring up at me with narrowed eyes. But she complied, standing to take my offered arm. A connection thrummed between us, as vibrant as a lightning strike where we touched. I’d bottle and relish the sensation for eternity.
The party crowd had thinned. I scanned the room, peering into the darkest corners for signs of lurkers.
All that remained were simple drunken college students gyrating on one another and spilling their drinks on the floor.
Despite the unflappable energy of the dancers, a slimy aura had draped itself over the room.
The air stifled, and dread raked down my spine.
“We missed something…” she trailed off, clinging tighter to my arm.
“We need to leave,” I hissed. “Now.”
I hauled Ophelia through the sparse crowd toward a back door, half-carrying her. We exited into the chilly night air with the party’s music thinning the further I dragged her into the cocoon of trees behind the houses.
Something rustled in the branches.
“Hurry up, sweetheart. We need to move!”
“You’re too fast. I… I can’t… keep up,” she gasped.
“Come on.” I held her closer, stabilizing her enough to whisk her away. It might have been the only time I cursed her academic nature. A facet I adored about her, but it made her clumsy and wrong-footed on the run. If she didn’t pick up her feet soon, I’d have to sweep her up and bolt out of there.
Then a piercing hoo-hoot cut through the whistling wind.
Instinct leashed me, forcing me into rehearsed evasive maneuvers.
“Fuck!” I ducked, but with Ophelia stumbling beside me we fell into a tangled fumble. We hit the cold, damp ground, cursing—just in time to avoid the massive stolas diving from the trees. Its wide wingspan nearly clipped the hair on my head.
My heart launched into my throat and hammered at my ribs. I kept Ophelia beneath me, shielding her with my body. She whimpered as I crushed her down, away from the beak turning back to snap at my face.
“Stay down!” I yelled.
The demon bird careened past me, swooping upward before releasing another harrowing shriek. I surged to my feet, planting myself between Ophelia and the monster that wanted her. Before the stolas circled around, I’d gripped the Ashcroft dagger and tensed into a defensive stance.
Another stolas descended from the shadows, all disfigured and stretched too long with wiry feathers.
A mockery of a majestic animal, morphed into a grotesque nightmare.
Yellow eyes gleamed wickedly from the border of darkness.
Predatory figures emerged from every direction.
Monsters prowled, sweeping in from the sky, and crashing through the trees.
Fucking shit. We were surrounded.
I knew I was only a man, but I’d held my own against the creatures across the decades. If I could hold out long enough to get Ophelia away, then I’d accept that. Anything to keep her safe and unharmed. Because she was mine.
Stolas converged on us, flapping their wings and snapping teeth-lined beaks as they surged inward. I lashed out, striking and slashing with the blade. Their formation tightened no matter how fast I moved, stabbing and gutting the beasts.
Blood splattered on my hands, dappled my clothes, and sweat lined my brows. Exhaustion broke through my energy reserves. One struck out a claw-tipped wing and slashed me across the ribs. Pain lanced through my side, and I faltered, barely staying upright as blood seeped between my fingers.
A different stolas slipped through the break in my defenses, taking advantage of my injury.
It lunged for Ophelia.
Fear seized me, and I pivoted on my heel, slicing the stolas’ wing. Feathers erupted across my vision. Dozens, thousands, innumerable feathers scattered in a dizzying array, like fluffy stars spiraling across the sky.
I turned to defend her, save her.
“Ophelia—”
A blunt force cracked across the back of my skull. I dropped to my knees, vision instantly fading around the edges. The last thing I saw was Ophelia’s hand reaching for me. My eyes narrowed on her fingers nearly brushing mine—
Darkness crashed into me, and I was gone.