20. Ally
CHAPTER TWENTY
ALLY
A flurry of cameras flash as my photo is taken. I stand from the piano and soak up the praise, loving the high that fills me every time I perform. Guests are scattered through the garden in tuxedos and gowns, all applauding me. The night has a whimsical feeling, like we’re in a scene from a fairytale. The garden is lit up with string lights draped from trees and floating lanterns in the fountains.
My mother has always taken great pride in the beach house and its land. There are several gardens within the property that she hires full time staff to maintain year-round. Tonight, she’s hosting in what she calls her French Provincial Garden. The design was inspired from a visit to Versailles on her honeymoon with Josh. It’s constructed of low hedges planted in symmetrical patterns, along with water fountains and statues.
To the right of this garden, a tall hedge maze looms over the guests. It’s been here since before Mom met Josh. She’s never liked the maze and often talks about demolishing it, but Felix, for some reason, has always insisted it remains. Dan knows its layout like the back of his hand. The few times I’ve entered the maze, I found it eerie and lost my way, and have since made it a habit to stay clear of.
My applause fades. The hum of voices grows louder as the benefit carries on, now with a string quartet playing background music.
“Incredible performance.”
I turn to the sound of Violet’s voice, finding her with Principal Sinclair. I didn’t know my boss had been invited. They both greet me with a smile, though the principal’s is less welcoming. From the desperate look in Violet’s eyes, I’ll take a guess that she’s been stuck socializing with Principal Sinclair longer than comfortable and has come to me for an escape.
“Beautifully played, Alexandra. Mozart is perhaps the most incredible composer to have ever lived.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” I smile, pleased that for once I’m having a conversation with my boss that isn’t about curriculum and where I don’t feel like a student myself. “His Rondo Alla Turca is what made me fall in love with classical music.”
“Ah, yes, his Turkish March . An incredible piece of music history. Alexandra, this evening is delightful. I’m pleased to see the fine image you and your family are bringing to Sacred Heart. Enjoy the rest of your night.”
Violet pulls a cringy face and laughs as soon as the principal leaves us. “Glad she’s gone. I was stuck in conversation with her for ten minutes and it was dry as anything. So, no Liam tonight? I was hoping to meet this guy.”
“I invited him but he’s seeing someone else tonight.”
Her eyebrows lift, creasing her forehead. “You’re okay with that?”
“I’m fine.” I shrug, not wanting to talk about Liam or even think about him after the awkward sexual encounter last night.
He asked the same question. It seems as though I’m supposed to be upset about his dating habits.
“Hey.” Something else comes to mind, an important question I’ve been meaning to ask Violet. Nerves get the best of me, and I stutter through the question. “Have you g-got plans for this upcoming five-day weekend?”
Violet and I have grown friendlier over the last few weeks with work interactions, our morning jogs with Killian, and the occasional times she helped me pick outfits for my dates, but I’ve never asked her something of this magnitude, and I keep thinking she’ll laugh in my face. It’s an irrational fear, I try to convince myself. She’s nice. I’ve had so many bad experiences with girls in the past, but I’m pushing myself to attempt more of a friendship between us.
“No plans except catching up on sleep,” she says. “You want to do something together?”
“Yeah, if you’re interested. My uncle bought ballet tickets for him and his fiancée, but they can’t attend anymore due to work commitments. They offered them to me for this Thursday night. It’s a New York City Ballet production of Sleeping Beauty . Would you like to come with me? I know you used to dance with that ballet company, so I understand if you’d rather not attend.”
Violet’s face lights up. “That sounds like so much fun. I’d love to go to the ballet with you.”
I sigh a breath of relief. “Great. It’s showing in the city. I’m staying at my uncle’s place for the long weekend. He owns this incredible penthouse on the Upper East Side. I’m sure you’d be welcome to stay the night.”
“Oh, fun. I love that.”
My attention catches in the distance behind Violet, and I barely hear her response, surprised by the sight of Dan. I can’t help but smile, my chest suddenly warm, wondering if he came tonight for me.
He looks so sleek and handsome in his tuxedo. His dark hair is slicked back and he’s holding a flute glass, grinning and talking to someone. I want to pull him aside to a private area in the garden and tell him he’s right about everything, that no one has what we do, I won’t find anything close, and that I’m tired of being ashamed of myself for the way I feel about him.
The smile drops from my face when I realize the person he’s talking to is a woman. She’s a brunette in a short, black dress. Dan told me not to doubt his attraction to me, but I can’t help this ugly feeling that’s creeping up my throat. Women are always so eager to drop their panties for Dan and I hate witnessing it even if there’s no sexual intention on his behalf.
“What’s got you so heated all of a sudden?” Violet glances over her shoulder, searching for the source.
“Nothing,” I say too fast, panicked that she’ll see who I’m glaring at and piece everything together.
“Wow.” She laughs, turning back to me. “Is it a guy?”
“No. It’s nothing.”
“Doesn’t seem like nothing. Who is he?”
“No one. Just…” I sigh, feeding her the least amount of information possible in the hopes that she’ll drop this conversation. “I saw him talking to a woman.”
“You don’t like him talking to another woman?”
“It’s complicated.”
She presses her lips together, watching me with a knowing look in her eyes. “It doesn’t seem complicated at all. You don’t give two shits about Liam sleeping with other people, yet here you are, glaring at a guy for merely talking to another woman.”
It does sound ridiculous when she states it like that. I should be thinking about Liam non-stop, eager to see him again after we became more intimate. Yet Dan is still the only one on my mind. I tried to convince myself that last night with Liam was awkward because it was our first time doing anything sexual. In all honesty, I really like Liam, but I think he might only be a friend.
After last night didn’t go to plan with Liam, I’ve decided to stop hating myself for the things I like and want. It doesn’t mean Dan and I can be together in the long run. People would eventually find out about us and we’d never be accepted as a couple. We’d be a scandal that would impact too many people around us. But I’m going to stop worrying about the future and enjoy what I have now.
“Ally, honey,” my mother calls. She’s standing by the maze with Josh and a bunch of photographers, waving me over. “Family photo.”
I excuse myself from Violet’s side and weave through the crowded garden, arriving for the photo at the same time as Dan does.
“Sis,” he greets, stepping alongside me into the shot with our parents. I’m right in the middle, with my mother and Josh to my right and Dan on my left.
Ignoring his smug greeting, I smile for the cameras. On the inside, I’m purring over the tone he used with me. Thankfully, no one else heard him over the noise of the reporters calling out to us and the cameras flashing.
“Beautiful, as always.” Dan looks me over in my champagne satin dress. The hem is short, sitting mid-thigh length. To keep warm, I have a faux fur white jacket on. My hair is pulled back from my face with a pink ribbon .
“I’m glad you could make it tonight, son,” Josh says from the far right of the group.
“Got to make an appearance at these things every once in a while.”
“No Felix, Tyler, or Killian tonight?”
“Just me,” Dan answers him, leaning in a little closer and placing his hand on my ass.
I stiffen from his touch, knowing I should pull away, but I don’t see how I can in such a public setting. The hedge wall offers protection so no one can see us from behind. I just hope no one gets a side view.
“You okay?” Dan asks, his voice concerned but the look in his eyes amused. “Smile for the cameras. Happy family, right?”
His hand slips beneath my dress, to my bare ass in my thong. I maintain my cool exterior, though I’m panicking and… throbbing . A rush of arousal soaks my panties. Jesus. He’s touching my ass right beside our parents and in front of the press. I even spot Principal Sinclair in the crowd, watching us.
“Ally, incredible performance tonight,” a reporter calls out to me. “Tell us about your studies at the Paris Conservatoire.”
“It was—” My words cut short as Dan pulls my thong to the side and strokes my clit. “Um…” My voice wavers and I’m trembling. My legs clamp, trying to ward off his hand, both loving and panicking over every second of this torture. He leaves my clit alone but pushes a finger inside my pussy. I bite my tongue to prevent a moan, working hard to keep the smile on my face. “I had a... good year.”
“Dan, your father says you were the one who sent an audition tape on Ally’s behalf.”
He starts thrusting in slow strokes. “What can I say, we’re a tight family. I’d do anything to make my little sister happy.”
My pussy grips Dan’s finger, seeking out an orgasm when I hear his label for me.
The focus shifts to my mother as a reporter asks her a question. Dan leans down and whispers in my ear. “Fuck, you’re actually getting off on this.”
I nod, knowing if I speak, I won’t be able to maintain my composure. I squeeze his finger again.
He groans, his eyes dark upon me. “You’re mine in the maze. Now. ”
Dan pulls his hand out of my panties and leaves my side, slipping by guests unnoticed, disappearing into the maze entrance. I’m in such a state of shock and arousal that I remain in place for the next few minutes, smiling on cue for the cameras before leaving my parents and following Dan.
As soon as I step past the hedge opening, the mood of the night shifts from a whimsical party to an eerie, lifeless night. All is dead still in the maze. Visibility is low other than scarce specks of moonlight. The tall hedge walls absorb all sound of the benefit, blocking it out and creating silence in here. A breeze rustles through the leaves, bringing gooseflesh to my skin.
“Dan?” I cling to myself for warmth and glance around.
When I don’t receive an answer, I step deeper into the maze, my heart pounding with nerves. I’m not one to easily spook, but when I’m alone in a dark and caged in place like this, it’s easy to let my mind wander.
“Dan, come on, this isn’t funny.”
Something brushes past my foot and I scream, jumping back and bumping into someone’s chest. I spin around, barely able to make out Dan’s features in the dark .
“Relax,” he says. “It’s only a cat.”
“You know I don’t like it in here, especially at night.”
“You sure about that? There’s a whole lot of people out there. In here, it’s just you and me. You can scream as loud as you want from the orgasm I’m about to give you, and no one will hear.” He steps forward, cocooning me between the hedge wall and him, resting a hand high above my head and leaning into me. His free hand finds my thigh, tracing patterns over my skin. “You never stop surprising me, Queen. The things you let me do to you. The fact that you like them.”
My breasts swell with each shallow breath I take. Though the maze is dark, I see the exact moment Dan’s jaw tenses, along with the anger that flashes into his eyes.
His voice lowers to something smooth but dangerous. “You and I have a lot to talk about. He touched you last night. I can sense it in you.”
“You told me to let him touch me.”
“I did, and I’ve been in hell every moment since, knowing someone else has had their hands on you. But I needed to prove a point, that he can’t give you what I can.”
I well and truly learned that lesson. I open my mouth to tell him so, but remember the punishment he served me yesterday at the outdoor shower and how I’ve never experienced anything so euphoric. “I don’t know if your lesson worked,” I say. “Liam gave me an orgasm. It felt good.”
“Ally, if you’re fucking with me right now?—”
“I’m not fucking with you.”
“I think you are. I think you like being a brat and teasing me. Tell me exactly what you did with him.”
“The same things I do for you,” I say, my smile sweet and my voice innocent. “I let him watch me while I fingered myself. He asked me to bend over so he could watch me from behind. I did that. I did anything he asked. Then he took over and made me come. If we’re done here, I’m going to return to the garden.”
I turn to leave, but Dan grabs my jaw and shoves me firmly to the maze wall. His body presses to mine, his erection digging into my stomach, making me moan. He’s not delicate with me at all. This is a side to Dan I’ve recently discovered, and it makes my heart race with a kind of fear that heightens my arousal and need for him, not knowing what he’s capable of but trusting completely that he won’t harm me.
Dan’s mouth traces along my cheek before his hot breath caresses my ear, his voice a vicious whisper, “Ally, I’m not anywhere near done with you. For your sake, I hope you’re lying.” He lets go of me and steps back. “I suggest you get to the center of the maze before I catch you.”
My chest tightens with unease. “Or else what? There’s nothing you can do that I won’t want.”
“Another lie. If I catch you, I’ll get you right on the edge of an orgasm but refuse to let you come, no matter how hard you beg. You’d hate that. Such a needy girl. I’ll take your clothes too and won’t return them. You can be the one to explain to everyone why you’re naked in a maze with your brother.”
My breath shudders, uncertain if he’s playing with me. “I don’t know the way to the center.”
“I’ve taught you before.”
“I don’t remember, and I have heels on.”
“Not my problem. I’ll give you a one-minute head start.”
My God, he’s actually serious. He wants me to run through the maze in the dead of night. A maze I have no clue how to navigate .
“Fifty seconds.”
“Okay, I was lying. Liam touched me but it wasn’t like when I’m with you.”
“Doesn’t lessen the consequences. Forty seconds.”
Goddammit. I take my heels off and rush in the opposite direction from Dan, my bare feet tender on the rough gravel. Though my eyes are a little more adjusted to the night, visibility is still low. It’s almost impossible to find any distinguishing landmarks in here. I take the first left turn, vaguely remembering Dan teaching me the route.
“Wrong way, baby. Fuck, I’m going to enjoy getting you naked,” he calls.
His footsteps start leisurely, as he knows I have no chance to find the heart of the maze. Regardless, I push myself to run faster.
“He didn’t feel good at all,” I shout, already breathless, hoping the truth will make Dan call off this game. “My clothes stayed on. I didn’t bend over for him.”
Dan’s only response is an increase in pace. His footsteps grow louder, pushing me to run faster now that I know he’s chasing me. My feet ache but I ignore the pain, taking so many corners that I lose all sense of direction. The walls appear identical at every turn. Hopelessness sinks in when I pass a statue I swear I ran by not long ago. I’m going round in circles like a mouse in a cage.
“I thought of you during it,” I pant, trying to reason with Dan again. There’s still no reply, just the sound of the gravel beneath his feet. His footsteps are so close that there must be only one hedge wall separating us. “The only reason I came was because I was thinking about you. I’m going to end things with him. I’ve decided to stop feeling so ashamed for wanting you. ”
Dan’s footsteps come to a standstill. I smile to myself, catching my breath as I slow down to walk.
“You and I are wrong for each other,” I say between breaths. “But that’s what makes us so perfect, even if no one else understands. You’re my person.”
I turn a corner, arriving at a crossroad. My heart jumps when I spot Dan a few feet to the left, standing still with his gaze boring into me like he wants to fuck me this very second. To the right, by some miracle, the center lies waiting for me with a trickling water fountain sparkling in the moonlight, less than one hundred feet away.
“We are perfect, Ally,” Dan finally speaks, drawing my attention back to him.
I bite my bottom lip, grinning, and make a run for the center opening, not sparing a glance behind me but hearing Dan’s footsteps turn into a sprint, gaining heavily. I push faster, the goal so close, but not close enough, and scream as Dan’s hands tighten around my waist.
With little effort, Dan pins me against the wall with his mouth hot against mine. I cling to him, needing his kisses despite the punishment he threatened for being caught. Dan growls and lifts me off the ground, wrapping my thighs around his waist and pressing me firmer into the hedge. Twigs dig into my back, but I don’t care about the pain. All I want is for this man to devour me. Fuck me. Use my body in every way he can. I want to be completely at his mercy.