Chapter 19
By the time we left the diner, we were late into the night hours. Except, I left feeling full of warmth, calm for the first time in a long time. And that was due to being in a safe place like Haven, in being with two people who showed me genuine care.
I’d never gotten that from family growing up, only from the staff members I’d formed attachments to, ones my father had inevitably ripped away.
The brisk night air curled around me, the burnt sugar scent accompanying as we headed down the walkway.
Tonight had started out terribly at the club, but it had ended in the best way.
“Thank you,” I said as we reached Ursuline’s car. They crooked a brow at me, so I continued. “For the rescue. For bringing Jason out. I missed him.”
“I know,” they said, an enigmatic smile on their face. “He missed you too.”
They tugged open their car door and got into the expansive driver’s seat, built to accommodate a monster.
The prices for anything monster-modified were always jacked up by the larger companies, which seemed unfair, that human-based products were the status quo.
However, the more and more I learned about monsterkind and their struggles, the more I realized how much unfairness they’d weathered the moment they stepped into human-dominated spaces.
I hopped into the car alongside them and settled into the seat.
They turned on the ignition, rolled down the windows, and set off through Peregrine City.
The scent of asphalt, diesel, and the night swept in, and I basked in it.
I’d always been more of a sunshine person until meeting Ursuline.
Now, I savored the night more than ever.
“Will Frederick be upset that I left Arielle?” I asked, the thought occurring now that we were heading back.
“Frederick’s not around tonight, and Arielle’s bodyguards were relieved to not have an extra body to watch,” Ursuline stated. “I covered my bases.”
Relief settled through me. My time there had almost been easier when none of the family cared what I did.
Now that Frederick wanted me paying attention to Arielle, the concern of what might happen if I stepped out of line had begun a marching drum beat of fears.
The idea Jacques had disappeared lingered stronger than ever since Ursuline had filled me in.
My mind had been concocting worse and worse scenarios with all the unknowns.
“Are you heading home after?” I asked. “Where do you even live?”
Ursuline’s lips twitched into a smile. “So, now you’re asking me.”
Heat flushed my cheeks. I’d wondered, but when I was with them, coherent thought tended to escape me.
“I live in an apartment not far from the Tritons’ manor,” they said. “But when I first came to the surface, I lived in the manor, which is why I’m so familiar with it. Frederick doesn’t like to let his possessions stray far.” Disgust rang clear in their voice.
“Is that why you can’t visit New Atlantis?” I asked. Fuck, had that been too intrusive a question?
Ursuline’s shoulders tightened, their expression granite. Then they let out a sigh, one heavy enough to contain years of anguish.
“You don’t have to answer,” I rushed to say, not wanting to push them.
Their grip on the wheel tightened. “I can,” they said. “The reminder is with me all the time, though, so speaking it aloud is painful.”
My throat tightened, but I didn’t dare interrupt them.
“If you live in New Atlantis, you’re either one of the few elite who can enjoy the city, or you’re the poorest of the poor, working in the mines. It’s nothing like Peregrine City. And the poor have no rights, no protections. If you can guess, I wasn’t born with a silver spoon.”
Shame flushed through me. I’d been born into high society, and I’d had issues for years with how we operated, with how we hoarded money that could help others. Yet even I was aware of how much more of a disparity there was in other areas of Westia, let alone the other continents.
Their eyebrow lifted. “Not a censure on you, sunshine. You’re rare.”
My eyes burned at their comment, and my chest squeezed tight, but I remained quiet, wanting to give them the space to talk. Still, the way they read me was incomprehensible sometimes. They understood me better than people who’d known me my entire life.
“My family was struggling, and I was the oldest of three siblings. The middle had a particularly…rough time.” They swallowed hard, a stormy look back in their gaze.
“I was adept with language, with contracts. I took courses, got ahead, and I offered Frederick a deal. My family’s safety.
In exchange, I’d come to the surface and work for him on retainer. ”
“How old were you?” I asked, my heart twisting.
“Seventeen,” they replied.
“To have completed the education to be a lawyer?” I asked, awestruck. They weren’t just smart, they were a godsdamn prodigy.
Ursuline shrugged as they zipped down streets that were fast becoming familiar. “Like I said, I had a knack for it. I finished formalized education after I moved to the surface.”
A realization struck me. “Wait, so you haven’t seen your family since then?”
Ursuline’s lips flattened. “No. But I get letters from my family.”
“Were you close?” I asked, my heart twisting. With the amount they’d given up for their family, I imagined they had to be.
“Very.” They let out a slight breath. “But I’m made to endure. My younger siblings needed protection. Our parents suffered a lot with health complications from spending a lifetime in the mines. Injuries, gill issues are common.”
“Jason never talked much about below either,” I said. The brief bits he had were always filled with a grief that made me wonder.
“It’s not a gentle place,” Ursuline said. “I miss my family fiercely, but New Atlantis? No, I’m glad to be away from there.”
“What standing does Frederick have down there?” I asked, almost afraid to know. I was shocked how little we were educated about a place that wasn’t all that far away from us, even if the average human couldn’t exist down in New Atlantis.
“Oh, he controls the whole thing,” Ursuline said. “There’s an appointed mayor, but she has little power. Frederick pulls all the strings.”
My chest sank. Not only was I marrying into a terrible family, but they were one who’d caused suffering for so many. My own was complicit in their share of horrors, but they didn’t have the same level of power and control as the Triton family to inflict so much harm.
I needed to get out.
“Does your contract have an end date?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.
“The exchange is my servitude up here for my family’s safety down below. My parents and siblings were given positions outside of the mines, my siblings protected. If I step away, all of that is forfeit.”
Fuck. That was terrible. I couldn’t imagine what it was like carrying the weight they did. And yet, they still held such compassion, such kindness. No wonder they were remote, why they kept their feelings close to the cuff. Why they loathed the Triton family.
Did Arielle know about the underhanded things her father did? The idea she could be aware and overlook them slithered under my skin. It shaded her ignorance with complicity.
“Are you sure there isn’t some escape clause in the contract?” I asked. Even if it meant they got to leave and I didn’t, I wanted them to be free. More than anything, Ursuline deserved to live their own life.
Ursuline shook their head. “I’ve been studying ever since I came up here to find one. Frederick’s other lawyers are competent, and he only hires the best of the best for a reason.”
“So what you’re saying is, once I’m handed the prenup…”
“Your window of escape will be gone,” they said.
Fear chilled my bones.
They swallowed hard. “I won’t let that happen, Elrich.”
My heart hurt. They protected everyone but themself.
And I wanted to save them too. To take the edge off their suffering with my whole soul.
They seemed so resigned sometimes. As if they’d just accepted this was their lot in life, as if they had no hope for a future of their own, and I burned to show them differently.
They drove up the winding drive to the Triton Manor, which loomed ahead of us, the windows glowing. Yet I wasn’t ready for our time together to end.
“Did you want—” I started and then hesitated.
“What do you want, sunshine?” The tenderness in their question gave me the push to continue.
“Did you want to go for a swim?” I asked, longing pumping through my veins.
“And that’s all you want?” they teased, the underlying heat in their voice incinerating me.
I shifted in the passenger’s seat, my cock cage snug. “Depends. I’m a bit compromised at the moment.”
“Just because you can’t ejaculate doesn’t mean you can’t orgasm,” Ursuline said. “Especially when you’ve got a very responsive prostate.”
Oh. Oh. Flames coursed through me. My body was sensitized from my cock being locked up, an awareness of the area more present than ever before.
And the idea they could fuck into me over and over while my cock was trapped, that I existed there for their pleasure—my fantasies overflowed.
My balls ached, feeling fuller than ever.
My cock swelled, pressing against the confines of the cage, and I squirmed in my seat all over again.
“Let’s go swim,” Ursuline said, a wickedness in their tone. “I’ll make sure it’s one you never forget.”