Chapter 1 #2
I wasn’t even sure I knew who I was, to be honest. I’d spent so long crafting the persona I wanted everyone to see.
One that made me seem safe and worthy. If the whispers that followed me my whole life were to be believed, I was less ‘pillar of the community’ and more ‘villain lying in wait’.
Thus, the need to prove them wrong with all the rule following.
Except for tonight of course. Tonight was for anonymity and living in the moment.
Taking him by the hand I tugged him toward the dance floor. “Come on, professor. Live a little.”
“You should probably call me Van.”
I wrinkled my nose. “I’m pretty fond of professor.”
As we joined the crowd, someone bumped into me, making me wobble momentarily.
Van’s hand around my waist steadied me while he simultaneously pulled me against him.
He was warm, thrumming with power, and god, he smelled so good.
The scent was stronger now that I was in his arms, but I still couldn’t put my finger on what it was.
We moved together to the music, eyes locked, bodies swaying to the sensual rhythm of the song.
“Your eyes are such a beautiful color,” he said, staring into my soul so intently I had a moment of panic.
My eyes were naturally two different shades.
One a vibrant amber, the other midnight blue.
Just one more trait that set me apart when all I wanted was to fit in.
I instantly reached for my necklace and the little charm dangling at my throat.
Relief hit me hard. Nox had made it for me a few years ago when the bullying had gotten out of control.
It made both my eyes the same shade of blue.
“Thanks,” I murmured, heat creeping up my chest under his continued scrutiny.
“Where have you been hiding?” he asked.
I was thankful for the change in topic and forced myself to turn playful. I giggled. “I told, you. Colorado.”
“It seems like I’ve been spending time on the wrong continent the last few years.”
“Well, you’ve probably been busy with your…Scotch tastings and leather bound book reading.”
This time he fully laughed, and the deep raspy sound of it wrapped around me like a promise. He didn’t strike me as someone who laughed often, and I was immensely proud of myself for achieving the impossible.
I was about to ask him a little more about himself when someone bumped into me again, harder than last time.
Irritation flashed in his eyes and I worried he was going to feel the need to defend me from a drunken raver.
That was the last thing I wanted when I had barely thirty minutes left until my meeting.
I felt a little like Cinderella waiting for the clock to strike midnight.
Instead of yelling at the guy like I’d thought, he surprised me by wrapping his arm around my waist and leading me to the far side of the dance floor lined by a row of dark tables.
Most were occupied, the shadows creating a sense of privacy, though the moans made it pretty obvious what was going on.
Iniquity wasn’t your typical club. It had a bar and dance floor, of course, but it was actually better known for the special rooms in the basement.
The sex rooms. This was a BDSM club run by a millennia old succubus.
You consented to being fed on when you walked inside.
The dance club was simply window dressing, a place for the more vanilla patrons to let loose or others to build the confidence required to venture deeper into the den of sin Lilith had created.
Either way, everyone wanted to be allowed in so they could gain entry to the real thing.
“What happened to dancing?” I asked.
He tugged me by the wrist until I was as close to him as possible, then we began moving again. “Nothing. I just wanted to take you somewhere a little less crowded so I wouldn’t have to share you.”
The possessive note in his voice filled me with warmth even as I had a momentary pang of disappointment that we weren’t about to join the ranks of the moaners at the tables. But at least he was still touching me.
“Is that so? What if I like to be shared?” I asked, arching a brow and wondering where the fuck that had come from.
“Shared? Really? It doesn’t seem like you’ve even been sampled, let alone shared.”
I barely suppressed a wince. He wasn’t wrong, but it felt extremely unfair for him to point it out while I was trying to seduce him. At least, I was pretty sure that’s what I was attempting. I hadn’t gotten a chance to flex that particular muscle in my life.
“Silence is an answer, just as much as words are.” He leaned a little closer, his eyes penetrating mine. Was he searching for my truth? It sure as hell felt like it.
“No one is sampling me. Not even you.”
“Oh, I see. So you won’t even let me have a taste?”
I glanced around like I was searching for something. “Was there an attempt in there? Or am I supposed to do all the work?”
His fingers threaded in my hair at the base of my skull before he tightened his grip and tilted my face up. “I shouldn’t,” he murmured, his gaze burning as it traveled over my face and lingered on my lips before darting back up to my eyes. “But I’m going to.”
I only had the briefest of moments to suck in a sharp breath before his mouth lowered to mine and he gave me my first real kiss.
I’d never experienced anything like this before.
Instant arousal, a rush of endorphins, and the desire for more all hit me at once.
I melted into his arms, letting out a soft moan as he held me tightly to him and continued feasting on my lips.
I’d had the odd kiss here and there, little pecks stolen under the cover of trees by a boy in my pack, but nothing ever serious.
Nothing powerful. The boys I’d grown up with were far too afraid of my parents to ever attempt to claim me publicly.
Their reputation cast a very long, very impressive shadow.
Even when I’d attended Ravenscroft Academy.
I’d given up hope anything would change once I started at RU.
Not when one of my dads was the headmaster.
And an ex-priest to boot. No one in their right mind would ever come near me with a ten-foot-pole tipped in silver.
I’d be lucky if someone ever had the balls to ask for my hand in marriage.
I’d end up a virgin on my death bed unless I took matters into my own hands.
He groaned against my mouth, his tongue tracing the seam of my lips.
On instinct, I opened for him, giving him access and welcoming a part of him into a part of me.
Releasing my waist, he brought his other hand up to join the one in my hair.
Before long he was holding my face and I wondered if this was all him or if the effect of Iniquity’s magic.
Van continued to nip and suck on my lips, drawing more ragged moans and whimpers from me. It was all I could do to keep myself upright as I clung to him and what remained of my sanity.
Eden Farrell who? Never heard of her.
I was reborn in a tidal wave of sensations I barely understood.
He pulled away with a soft groan, his forehead resting on mine as he struggled to catch his breath.
My heart sank as I realized I was losing this moment. Before I knew it, this would be over and he’d be nothing more than a beautiful memory. Unless I grabbed on and kept him.
“Should we go somewhere else? Somewhere we can have privacy?” I asked.
His eyes fluttered open and I would have sworn at a tribunal that they burned with hunger and something like longing. But just as quickly as the thought took hold, his expression shuttered and he stepped back.
The loss of his body heat was a physical ache inside me. But the chill in his eyes was a blade to my heart.
“I can’t. I shouldn’t have done this. It was a mistake.”
There was very little I could imagine him saying that would have hurt me more. Here I am floating away on a cloud ready to let his man toss my legs over my head and he just called me a mistake.
Fucking ouch.
Also…way to be that girl, Eden.
“Oh…That changes things.”
A mask of pure indifference settled into place. His jaw tight, lips a cruel slash across handsome features, eyes hard. He was finished with me. I had no idea what I’d done to deserve it, but his rejection burned.
“I have to go. Enjoy the rest of your night, Seattle.”
He turned and blended into the crowd as I muttered, “Fuck you too, Van. I hope you get an explosive case of diarrhea.” I tore off the stupid mask before I stormed out of the main club area, angrily jerking my hair back into a high pony before shoving my arms into the sleeves of my flannel.
“Mistake? The only mistake was me falling for your bullshit lines and staring into your soulful eyes, you handsome asshole.”
My steps were heavy as I clomped down the stairs instead of taking the elevator. “You probably just go around kissing unsuspecting women all the time. Making them think they’re special. I’m on to you. Kingston Farrell’s daughter isn’t easy prey for fuckboys.”
I was still grumbling by the time I rounded the corner to the hall that would take me to the meeting room where I was expected.
“What’s that about fuckboys?” My best friend’s voice surprised me. Nox was in the hall, leaning against the wall with his hair in his eyes as he fidgeted with the signet ring he always wore.
I stopped short, hands on my hips. “What are you doing here?”
He smirked. “The same as you, I imagine.”
I stomped over to him and socked him in the arm. “You could have given me a heads up.”
Nox raised a brow, not even budging under my half-assed assault. He wasn’t as built as the wolves I’d grown up with, but he was far from scrawny. I’m pretty sure my weak attempt at violence amused him. We both know if I wanted to hurt him I could have easily done so.
“Pretty sure I couldn’t for the same reason you couldn’t mention it”—he gestured to the meeting room with his head—“either.”
He wasn’t wrong. The summons had been spelled so no word of the meeting could be shared. I only went because I knew Inquity was safe.
Looping my arm through his, I beamed up at him. The guy was considerably taller than me, so it was a feat. “Well, c’mon then. Let’s get this show on the road.”
The door was already open, so we strolled in together, me with my head held high, wearing confidence I didn’t feel like a costume. Until I saw them. A dozen people, most of them vaguely familiar, others intimately so. Especially the imposing Irishman clad in black who stood as I entered.
“Da?”
“You’re late, my wee darlin’. I know I taught you how to tell time.”
“Oh, Caleb, give the girl a break. She’s never allowed to have any fun,” Lilith mused.
My da was a stickler for rules and order, something he didn’t get much of in our household with a mischievous alpha wolf and a Loki-blessed demigod sharing the space. He pretended to be hard on me, but the truth was, he was the biggest softie of them all. He just didn’t realize it.
“Sorry. I got sidetracked.”
Nox coughed and said under his breath, “By a fuckboy, apparently.”
I elbowed him hard in the ribs. Hard enough it’d bruise.
He knew better than to say anything potentially incriminating around my folks. Vampires had ridiculously good hearing. So did wolves. The only way to keep a secret was to keep your mouth shut.
The hair on the back of my neck prickled, alerting me to the presence of somebody else. Before I could turn around, Lilith pasted on a smile and waved the newcomer over.
“Evander, glad you could finally join us. Now we can get started. Everyone take a seat, if you’d please.”
Nox and I walked to the open chairs nearest us and did as we were told, but not before I caught sight of Evander. Or, as I’d recently gotten to know him, Van.
“Everyone, I know most of you are new here and haven’t a clue as to why we requested your presence,” my da said.
“I am Headmaster Gallagher, but you can call me Caleb when we aren’t at Ravenscroft.
This is Lilith Duval. And finally, the newest professor at Ravenscroft University, the angel, Evander.
He will be your advisor for your tenure at Ravenscroft. ”
You had to be fucking kidding me.
Van was an angel?
Even worse, Van was my new professor and my dad was his boss.
Fuck my entire life.
I wanted to bash my face against the table. Only I could screw up this spectacularly in the span of a single hour.
Sensing my distress, Nox leaned over and whispered, “You all good over there, wolfie?”
Not remotely. But I could hardly get into it here and now. Instead, I clenched my jaw as Evander’s emerald gaze seared into mine.
“Welcome to the Hades Society.”