Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Wren
Trouble - Camylio
M y gaze drops to my phone on my lap as I check for another message from Peach.
Nothing. The little Vixen.
The door to Duval's office opens, and he walks in, nodding at his security guard. I've been waiting for half an hour, but I say nothing, standing from my seat because that's just how it works within the Circle. If Zeus enters a room, everyone in it shows respect.
He waves at me to sit down, and he leans against his desk rather than sit behind it.
"Long day," he huffs, then shows me the book he's holding.
Great.
I smile, tilting my head to the side. "Aw, did someone bully you at work? Now his name is on the list?"
He chuckles to himself, certainly not hurt by my comment. If anything, I think he likes it.
"Actually, a Hera cheated on her Shadow. This is the man she cheated with."
I can't suppress my surprise. "She did?" I do try to hide my eagerness to know more, though. "So, I kill him. What about her?"
He shrugs. "That's up to her Shadow. But she's in the dungeons right now, hence nothing romantic, I assume. And she'll know she cost a man his life. That's not something everyone can live with."
His accusing stare doesn't leave me as I grab the book.
"What do you want me to say? I can live with it. That's why you forced me to join, isn't it?"
He snorts. "Forced you. You asked for a favor, Wren. We gave it to you. Then you paid back your debt. No one here was forced to do anything."
I keep my anger well hidden, but it still burns my lungs. "I was a teen."
He cocks an eyebrow in a silent, so what?
"A lucky teen who didn't go to prison for what he did, so know what's good for you."
I look away, attempting to contain the buzzing in my body. "You know…" I chuckle. "For someone who’s perfectly aware of what I'm capable of, you think yourself very safe in a room alone with me."
He pales instantly. The difference in his behavior is stark when he straightens up and decides to round his desk to hide behind it. I smile at him, and I don't need to wonder if he understands it's not the charming smile most people think it is. Oh, he knows it's not.
"All I'm saying..." His voice is quieter, so he clears his throat and tries again. "All I'm saying is, your dad had connections, and I'm glad we were able to help you."
"Talking about my dad. What does he want with Penelope?"
"That I don't know."
"For god's sake, Duval. You're such a pathetic man. Look at you, barely able to hold it together. What are you thinking? How I'd do it?"
"I don't know what your dad wants with her, Wren."
I readjust myself in my seat, and he startles, tearing a low laugh out of me.
"I'll tell you what the other side of me has already noticed. The letter opener that I could push into your jugular. The corner of your desk, where I could hit your head so many times you'd be unrecognizable. And I quite like that little tie of yours. I'll just tighten it very slowly until your eyes bulge out of your head."
"Joe!" he shouts, and his guard is in the room a split second later.
Duval is sweating so much he has to dab his forehead with the handkerchief he keeps in the breast pocket of his suite.
"Yes, sir?"
"Escort Mr. Hunter out of the building, please. We're done for tonight."
I nod as I stand, waving the book at him. "I got what I needed."
"Wren," he calls out as I'm about to cross the door.
I stop, but I don't turn to him. Who knows if I'll be able to hold back from ending his life.
"Your dad is a titan. He doesn't have to get the board's approval to invite a woman to initiate, and he doesn't have to give a reason. I promise you, I don't know what he wants with Penelope."
"My fucking misery," I mumble. "That's what he's always wanted."
I leave before he can say anything else. I could already hear his response. After what you did, surely you can understand him.
I'm grinding my teeth to dust as I follow Joe down the stairs. Before we cross the hallway to the exit, we hear a commotion from our right. It's behind the door that leads to the Aphrodites’ rooms. Technically, they're dungeons the Shadows can use whenever they want. Sometimes with the Aphrodites, sometimes with their Hera if they feel like it.
"Probably that cheating Hera being punished," Joe says, sounding disgusted.
"Keep your comments to yourself," I answer, voice low.
I have every intention to leave the temple, but something stops me. I can't explain what, exactly. An instinct that makes the hair at the back of my neck stand to attention.
I realize what it is when I turn toward the door, listening more closely. There was a scream. Barely audible, because the rooms are soundproof, but I heard the faint call for help.
And something deep inside me recognized that voice.
The second I hear it again, I'm ripping the door open and running down the stairs two at a time.
"Fuck you, fuck you !" I hear Peach shout.
I can't see her yet, only two men's backs as they try to push someone into a dungeon, but I have no doubt it's her small body holding them back.
I stop right behind them, seeing her red hair flash between them.
"I've seen you suck a cock, Peach. You love that shit so much, you'd die to have two in you at the same time."
That's Miles. My lacrosse teammate, who I already taught a lesson to when it comes to her.
"If you're going to disobey and come to the dungeons unsupervised, you should know there are consequences to pay, Hera."
And that's his dad, Paul, who somehow got his useless son into the Circle this year.
"Touch me with your pencil dicks, and I will bite them off," she hisses.
God, I love this woman. Her bravery is truly unmatchable.
"Did you know she once threw a chair at a coffee shop barista who told her to ‘give him a smile’? He said it once, and she warned him not to say it again. And he did. Always listen to her warning," I say.
They both turn around at the same time, but my gaze is taken hostage by Peach. Her hands are holding the wooden door frame in a white-knuckled grip, and her hair is a mess, like someone dragged her by it.
"Oh, that's bad." The lack of any emotion in my voice keeps everyone's attention on me, and the world might as well have frozen from how still they all are.
I realize that having said that while staring at Peach makes it sound like she's in trouble, and I'm proven right when she takes a few steps back, taking herself into the room.
"Wren." Her voice has gone from the fiery woman she is to a low rasp. "They-they. The things they do to women down here..."
I cock my head, and she can see it—that I've already snapped. This woman is part of me. A subtle, practically invisible shift in my behavior is clear as day to her.
"She broke into the temple. She came to an area forbidden to Heras," Paul says behind me. "Rules must be respected, Wren. Actions have consequences."
I ignore him, watching Peach's lower lip tremble as she keeps trapping herself farther into the room, trying to get away from my advancing body. Her back hits a dresser, which I know is full of all sorts of sex toys that would terrify her. I stop a hair’s breadth away, and she tilts her head all the way back so she can see my eyes.
"I know," she whispers. Not because she doesn't want to be heard, but because I don't think she can breathe properly. "I know you said not to come. I-I?—"
Her eyes are flicking between mine wildly, showing she's aware she crossed a line. That this is the kind of trouble she's not going to get away from unscathed.
"Finish your sentence," I say calmly, encouraging her to talk.
She inhales sharply, then breathes out, "I'm sorry."
She flinches when I reach my hand to her face to push wild strands of hair behind her ear.
I tut, shaking my head. "Why are you afraid of me?" I murmur.
"Because…" Her chest shakes as she tries to breathe. "You're different." Her last word is barely audible. She doesn't even want me to hear it, let alone the two clowns behind me.
"I am."
"You're scaring me."
I smile softly at her. "I think being a little scared of me can only do you good, Penelope baby. It might stop you from being so careless and putting yourself in more trouble than you can handle." I caress her cheek with my knuckles. "But I need you to remember that when I'm like this, when I'm different, you're the only one who's safe from me."
My hand drops to her neck, and then her collarbone. That's when I notice how scraped her shoulder is. It’s fresh, the blood still forming little dots all over her skin. It's big too. Her whole shoulder and upper arm.
"Tsk, this is bad too."
"I know I—" She gasps, cut off by my hands now gripping her waist.
I lift her up and put her down on the dresser behind her.
"Don't move."
"I just want to say?—"
"In a minute." I kiss her forehead and turn around.
"Mr. Ellson." I nod. "Miles."
Paul takes a step toward me. "This is completely unacceptable. And if you won't punish her, we will. Like we'd planned."
"I know, I know," I say lightly as I undo the cufflinks of my black shirt. My tone is a contrast to his tight and angry voice. "And believe me, she’ll be punished accordingly."
I put the links in my pocket, roll up my sleeves, and look at both of them again. "Okay," I say on an exhale, then smile. "Who dragged her by her beautiful hair? And who hurt her shoulder?"
Miles opens his mouth, but he's cut off by Peach.
"Wren—"
I don't turn around, too busy observing the dead men walking in front of me. "I said in a minute , Trouble. Don't add to your own punishment."
"Listen," Miles sneers. "If you didn't want us touching your Hera, maybe you shouldn't have had her suck your cock in front of me, don't you think?"
"She's mine. I do whatever the fuck I want with her. I'm pretty sure that's the whole point. And no, it's not an invite for you to touch. I own her, Miles. You don't. I could put her on all fours in front of you and fuck her until her voice is raw from screaming my name and it still wouldn't be an invite to touch."
"Her breaking into the temple is," Paul intervenes.
"Spare me, will you? She's not allowed to enter because I said so , and I told the guards about it. Not because it's a punishable offense." I walk closer, my voice getting smoother and smoother.
God, this feels so pure, so perfect.
I cock an eyebrow at them. "Now, back to my initial question. I want to know who touched my Hera's hair, and who touched her shoulder. One each? One did it all? Both of you?"
When they stay completely silent, I know I've reached the end of my patience.
"Both of you, it is."
I throw a punch so hard into Paul's face, I feel his jawbone crack under my knuckles. That'll hurt tomorrow, mainly for him.
He drops on the floor, unconscious, and I turn to a screaming Miles.
"What the fuck? What the fuck! "
I grab him in a headlock and press my forearm and biceps together. He squeaks, tapping my arm and attempting to push me away, to no avail.
"Wren!"
"One minute, Penelope baby. I'm kind of busy right now," I answer cheerily.
I keep squeezing until Miles is weak enough that I can drag him to the doorway. Holding him by the back of his collar, I place his head by the frame, and I smash the door into it.
"Wren!"
Peach's scream is a fair indication I might be going a little too far. But the violence is the only thing that’s going to calm me down. I slam again, but her little gasp of distress pierces through the fog, and suddenly, there's something more important than killing Miles. And that's giving Peach all my attention. So, like a cat not interested in playing with an unconscious mouse, I drop him, dust off my shirt, and turn back to her, facing away from the two men at my feet.
"Yes?"
She hasn't moved, still sitting on the dresser, her arms wrapped around her waist, hugging herself. Her eyes are wide with shock, and she can barely keep her gaze on me.
"I wanted to say…that the, uh, the scratches on my shoulders..." She gulps and starts playing with strands of hair. "They're from when I climbed the wall to get into the temple’s gardens."
I blink at her.
Oh.
Now that's a rather unfortunate misunderstanding.
My silence has her word vomiting.
"You know, so I could sneak into the temple through the back doors? I slipped on my first try and just crashed back down. And I scratched my shoulder in the process. And it's fine, it's not even hurting that bad, and mainly, it wasn't…well, it wasn't them, you know?"
"Huh."
I look over at the two bodies on the floor and back at my beautiful yet absolutely insane girlfriend, who’s now anxiously chewing on her hair.
"Well, did they touch you?"
I need something to justify this mess, and she sees it right away.
She nods eagerly. "Oh, yes. Yes. Miles pulled me by the hair. That hurt." She's exaggerating to defend my actions, and I think I love her even more for it. "And his dad pushed me, and I hit my elbow against the door frame."
She dramatically lifts her arm to try to look at her elbow, bending it this way and that. "Yeah, I think I have a bruise," she adds with a slight wince for show.
I smile at her, feeling myself coming back from my trip to the other side. When she shows me her index finger, I laugh. It has a micro cut on the side, probably a splinter from when she was holding the door frame so hard.
"Ow," she whispers. "That's them too."
I grab her hand, kiss her finger, and then her mouth. Deeply. I show her exactly how I feel about her little act.
"You, young lady, are a serious troublemaker who can't spend more than a few days without hurting herself somehow." I kiss her again, an unstoppable need coursing through me. "And you directly went against something I said." It gets worse when she wraps her arms around my neck, keeping me close.
The kiss gets more violent, more possessive. I bite her lower lip, and she whimpers as her legs spread open to let my body closer. I only pull back to open one of the drawers to the dresser as far as I can with her legs in the way, and I grab the first thing I find in there. Metal handcuffs. That'll do.
"Put your hands behind your back," I growl against her mouth.
She doesn't need to be told twice, her wrists disappearing behind her. As I slip on the cuffs, I love the way her eyes round at the clicking sound of them closing. I do the other wrist in a rush.
"Test them," I say, voice lowering. A smile spreads on my face when she pulls at them.
"These are real handcuffs," she mumbles, hardly believing it's not the breakable furry ones from online sex shops.
I pop open the button of the black jeans she put on to come here and slide them down, pulling harshly to get them over her beautiful ass and all the way below her knees.
"Well, I have to make this fun for me, don't I?"
I smile as I undo my pants, freeing my hard dick.
She's already panting by the time I'm rubbing the tip against her wetness. As I tap her clit, her head falls back.
"Wren," she moans. "I need you."
I fist her hair, making her look at me as I grab my cock and press myself against her entrance.
"To be clear," I say as her mouth falls open. "This is not your punishment. This is because you are irre-fucking-sistible, Trouble."
I thrust inside her violently, my stomach seizing as she whimpers, and I feel her stretching around me. She was wet, but I don't doubt my size is too much to take, and her beautiful struggling sounds are making it hard not to destroy her just to hear more of them.
I pull back and push back in, filling her entirely.
"Fuck," she chokes out. "D-deep. Too deep."
"Look at me," I order through clenched teeth. "Who’s in control?"
"You."
"Who does your body belong to?"
"You," she moans.
"That's right. And I do what I want with it, don't I?"
"Y-yes," she groans as I move slowly and deeply inside her.
"So take my cock like a good little slut and scream my name when you come, baby."
After that, I don't bother holding back anymore. I thrust into her mercilessly, forcing her to look at me with her lush, long hair rolled twice around my fist. Without losing momentum, I bend my knees slightly and make sure I hit the perfect spot every time I push back in.
Her eyes start rolling to the back of her head, and the way she contracts around me is going to be the end of me.
"My. Fucking. Name," I growl as I press my forehead against hers.
"W-wren. Wren… Fuck, Wren! " she screams as she detonates around me, her entire body shuddering. And I last about one extra millisecond before I come inside her with a roar.
It takes us a few minutes to catch our breaths, and I don't pull out until she starts squirming.
"Can we take these off?" she asks as she tugs at the cuffs.
"Shit," I hiss, and I watch her face tense with worry.
"What?"
"The keys. I don't know where they are."
She twists out of my hold, and I zip up my pants as I look around. Oh, Paul and Miles are still there. That slipped my mind.
"Wren Hunter," she snaps. "Are you for real?"
I shake my head, smiling at her as I grab the keys from the drawer. "No." I laugh softly. "I just wanted to kiss the pretty angry vein on your forehead," I admit as I do exactly that.
I undo the cuffs, and she looks over my shoulder.
"Do I have to worry about those two showing up dead somewhere?" she asks.
I look at them, then back at her. "No. They got what they deserved already."
"Promise?"
"Yes." I nod. "Let's get you back where I had left you, huh?" I murmur against her lips. "In my bedroom, where you should have stayed."
"Yes, please. Get me out of this place. It's fucked up."