Chapter 18
18
VIOLET
W hen I open my eyes, there’s a soft light cascading through the space between the curtains. I stretch my arms and legs, enjoying the warm and familiar scent of Alaric’s bed.
Alaric’s house is comfortable. After only a day here, I suddenly find myself wanting to never leave. Birdie is happy here. I can hear her laughter coming from somewhere in the living room, and it makes me smile as I roll off the side of his large bed, my bare feet landing against the hardwood floor.
I’m still naked from the bath last night, so I tighten my towel around me. It’s bigger than I remember, swallowing me whole and nearly touching the floor. It’s heavier, too.
As I walk down the never-ending hallway of Alaric’s house, a familiar but cruel voice replaces Birdie’s comforting laughter.
Realizing my mother is here, I pick up my speed, trying to run down the long hall, but this stupid towel is making it hard to sprint as fast as I want to.
She’s here to hurt Birdie. She wants to take her from me.
Birdie screams, and I kick my feet harder, begging them to carry me faster.
When I finally reach the living room, I stop in the entryway and open my mouth to scream, but nothing comes out.
Birdie is on the floor, crying over the dead body of her father. His lifeless eyes stare at the ceiling, and she’s weeping with grief. My mother stands over her with a blank expression on her face.
“Oh, get up,” she mutters at Birdie. “He deserved it.” Then my mother looks up at me. “Didn’t he, Violet?”
When her eyes meet my face, I realize they are sunken and hollow. How have I never noticed before how dead she is inside? My body is trembling now, but when I try to pull the towel around me to keep me warm, I realize it’s gone. I’m standing in the living room naked, and the woman I love is in pain, but I can’t move.
“I-I—” I stammer, unable to form any coherent words.
“Tell her how much he deserved it,” my mother barks at me. Her voice is lower than normal and has a weird deadly tone, like she’s speaking from beyond the grave. It sends a chill down my spine. I need to get the fuck out of here.
“What did you do, Violet?” Birdie screams. “What did you do?”
My eyes scan back down to where she’s lying on the floor, holding her dead father in her arms.
But it’s not her father anymore. It’s Alaric.
“He’s not dead,” I mumble, although my lips will hardly move. “I didn’t kill him.”
“Yes, you did!” Birdie shrieks. “You killed him!”
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “No, no, no, no, no.”
Grief and pain swarm my heart, and it hurts so much I can hardly stand. Alaric can’t be dead. He can’t. It hurts too much.
“Violet,” a deep voice growls in my ear. Spinning around, I look for Alaric, desperate to know he’s still alive, but he’s not there. It’s just a dark, empty room, and it looks like the auction room back at the mansion.
Turning back toward Birdie, I realize she’s naked now too. And Reaper is there, trying to drag her back on the auction block.
“Violet.” The deep voice bellows louder this time.
A large hand grasps the side of my face, and Alaric’s voice sounds so close now, I swear it’s in my mind. “Violet!”
I let out a scream, and my eyes fly open. Instead of a bright sunlit living room or the dark hall of the mansion, I’m lying in Alaric’s dark bedroom, staring at his face only inches from mine.
“You’re alive,” I whisper, relief pouring through me like warm, calming water.
“You had a nightmare,” he replies.
I cover my face with my hands and stifle the urge to cry. His hand is on my hip, and he massages my side, pulling me closer. Without thinking about what I’m doing, I nestle so close to him, my face is in the crook of his neck.
“Shh…” he says, comforting me. “Birdie is still sleeping.”
“Good,” I mumble.
His scent is familiar and arousing. Spice, musk, and rose from the bubble bath fill my nostrils as I put my body as close to him as I can.
“Did you have a dream I was dead?” he asks. His voice is quiet, but the question is deafening.
I nod.
“You sounded pretty upset about it,” he whispers, and I can hear the humor in his voice.
“Shut up,” I reply.
When he chuckles, the deep vibration of his voice engulfs me. My fingers brush through the tuft of hair on his chest, and I press my hips closer, feeling the shape of his cock against my naked stomach, noticing the way it’s hardening between us.
I don’t know why I do it. Maybe it’s because a moment ago, I thought he was dead. I saw his lifeless eyes, and I can’t get the image out of my head.
So perhaps that is why I part my lips and kiss the tender skin of his neck. He freezes.
My tongue darts out and licks the spot where his pulse beats against my mouth. He hums softly, and his hands tighten their grip on my hips.
We are two naked bodies pressed together, and I can’t stop myself. My kiss grows hungrier, sucking harder.
“Violet,” he groans, drawing my name out like a chant. I slide closer, creating friction against his cock. It twitches from the touch. “What are you doing?” he whispers.
I pull away from his throat and stare into his eyes. Grabbing his face in my hands, I put my lips up to his. “I don’t know.” Then I kiss him. His lips part, and he sucks tenderly on my lower lip.
We move in perfect harmony, kissing, biting, sucking. His hands move possessively over my ass and between my legs, growling into my mouth as he grinds me against his erection.
This is crazy. Birdie is sleeping right next to us.
But at the moment, I’m not thinking. I just need his touch. It feels like I’m claiming him, reminding him who touched him first.
It’s that feeling of territorial ownership that has me crawling down his body, kissing my way across his chest and stomach. When I wrap my hand around his rigid length, he gasps. And when I reach his cock, licking around the tight head, he throws his head back with a hiss.
Birdie is facing the opposite direction, but she lets out a cute little growling snore, and we both freeze. What would she even think of finding me with Alaric’s cock down my throat? Would she be mad at me? She was the one who pointed out how we’re all so connected. Part of me thinks she’d be more likely to join in than yell at us.
Which is why I don’t feel shame as I coat his cock with saliva, bobbing my head up and down fiercely. His hand grips my scalp as he pushes me down and thrusts up into my mouth. I gag and let a string of saliva stretch from my lips to his cock. Doing it again, I stroke his dick with my lips and tongue, loving the way he reacts.
“Fuck, Violet,” he whispers with a groan. “Come here.”
Reaching down, he grabs me under my arms and carefully drags me up, careful not to jostle the bed too much. With a hand in my hair, he hauls my mouth to his, kissing me ravenously as he lines up his cock with my moist core.
With a rough grip on my hips, he slams me down, filling me as we both gasp for air. His hard length stretches me, and I immediately start moving up and down.
“Tell me you missed this cock,” he whispers against my mouth. “Because it missed you.”
I have to swallow my cries of pleasure as his dirty talk makes my body sing with need. With my hands on his chest, I grind myself on him. My eyes cast sideways to Birdie’s blonde hair cascading over the pillow. She’s still fast asleep, and here I am…giving my body to someone else.
But I can’t stop now.
I am a liar and a cheater and a…
“F-fuck,” I stutter in a breathy cry as my body lights up with pleasure. Reaching down, I strum my fingers on my clit, riding the waves of ecstasy.
“That’s my girl,” Alaric mumbles. He brings my mouth to his again, claiming my lips in a bruising kiss. “Let me feel you come.”
My hips keep up their grinding through my climax, and when I’ve grown exhausted, he pulls me down, and I fall onto the pillow beside him. With my back to him, he tugs me closer, and I let out a yelp as he thrusts inside me from behind. My face is just inches from where Birdie sleeps.
His lips find my neck as he fucks me. “I know you love her,” he whispers. “You’d do anything for her.”
I bite my lip to keep from answering. Being in his arms, feeling him move inside me, his voice and his words in my ear—it all feels so good. And like a betrayal at the same time.
“Stay with me, Violet. Both of you…stay.” He thrusts harder on a groan, and I turn my head to see him. Our eyes meet as he picks up speed.
“Okay,” I whisper just before his lips crash into mine.
He groans into my mouth, and I swallow his pleasure. His hips shudder and still as he comes.
For a while, we just lie in that position, letting our hearts catch up.
“I’m serious, Violet,” he mutters.
I pull back to look into his eyes. “I know. I am too.”
His mouth quirks into a small smile, and I quickly kiss it again.
“Violet…” Birdie cries with a groan as she turns over, her hair draped over her face.
“I’m here,” I reply, quickly turning toward her. Alaric slips out of me, and I feel his cum leak between my legs. But I ignore it.
Brushing Birdie’s hair from out of her face, I kiss her forehead. “What’s wrong, Bird? You gonna be sick?”
She shakes her head. “I just want to hold you.”
“I’m right here,” I whisper, wrapping my arms around her. “I’m not going anywhere.”
She nuzzles her face in my neck, and I squeeze her tight. My eyes drift over to Alaric, who watches us, and those familiar feelings of shame and regret rise to the surface again.
Is what we just agreed to really possible? Could I stay with both of them?
Deep down, I know it is. I know we could be happy.
But if we do this, then I know what has to be done.
Birdie needs to know the truth.