3. Thorne
Chapter 3
Thorne
Ivy Yegorov…
Her name in my head sounds like delicious temptation I want to sink my teeth into.
I wonder if she tastes as delicious as she looks.
Her with her lithe little body, full round breasts, those otherworldly eyes, and that long silver-white hair that battled with the moon.
Her hair flowed behind her like a cape in the wind as she made her escape. I watched her flee down the path until I couldn’t see her anymore.
I finish my cigarette and light up another.
The whole time she stood before me, I imagined my hands in that hair. I could almost feel my fingers laced through the silky fibers while I wrapped it around my wrist and slid my cock inside her mouth.
When I got close enough to smell her fear and arousal, it wasn’t that hard to imagine myself buried deep inside her.
The little deer with her caught-in-the-headlights Bambi eyes is fresh meat for guys like me.
She’s beautiful with that hallowed, ethereal beauty you imagine on an angel, and God would I love to have her in my bed, but she’s too sweet, too innocent, and not my type.
Virgins also aren’t my thing.
She never said anything about that, but I just knew.
Despite those details, I’m still staring into the shadows of the empty path as if I can see her. And yes, I was going to kiss her.
Then I might have shoved her up against one of those trees and taken the cherry between her legs, just to say I was the first to have her.
I would have fucked her again for the fun of it.
I only restrained myself because I like a chase. And I still like the hunt even though Ivy Yegorov might not be my type.
I’d also still like her to see my dick piercing some time. I don’t actually have it in tonight. I don’t wear it that often anymore because I outgrew it and it’s not exactly the safest thing to wear when I’m training. But I’d put it in just for her. Just so I could see that look of shock on her pretty face again.
She’s the first girl to fascinate me in a very long time. It’s been even longer since anyone managed to pull me out of the convoluted web of uncertainty surrounding my life.
After the fucked-up-as-hell conversation I had earlier with my dearly beloved uncle, I needed the break of a beautiful woman. If only for those few moments when I know I scared the shit out of her.
I was on my way back to my dorm when I spotted her pacing around like a lost little animal. I watched her, stealthily keeping my distance until it got to a point when I had to say something.
The poor little deer would have guessed within seconds of speaking to me that I was deranged and dangerous. When I gave her my name, it creeped her out even more.
I already guessed that she’s one of the students we call foreigners here. Those students either come from another state, or they’re international, so they had more normal lives. Regardless of where they come from, everyone knows the Ivanov name.
And they know me.
Now she knows me.
Ivy Yegorov was a pretty little distraction. Now that she’s gone, the shit that was on my mind has resurfaced like backed-up sewage that’s been building for weeks.
Last year when I stood before my uncle and took my vows, I knew everything would be different, but what I didn’t realize was how soon things would change. For me.
It was like the asshole couldn’t wait to start fucking with me.
I’m twenty years old and in my junior year here at Raventhorn. The year when I’m supposed to start my internship at Ivanov Tech, the family software engineering company.
I’m the only real technologically-minded person in the family, so the process of getting me started should have been easy.
But no.
That motherfucking asshole not only wants to streamline my internship with a review at the end to ensure my suitability to join the company, but he wants to lock me in a marriage contract.
Yes, I knew I’d have an arranged marriage someday. My cousin Caspian, who is the same age as me, is already married, so it was a given that I would be next.
Caspian and his wife, Willow, technically had an arranged marriage, but really it wasn’t because they’d been in love with each other since they were kids.
Their situation was completely different to what will be forced on me.
Since I’m not a direct heir there wasn’t supposed to be any talk about marriage anytime soon, so I never saw this coming.
It certainly wasn’t supposed to be a fucking contract term to getting my share of the company. That’s something new the old man threw in to piss with me.
And the shitty thing about it is, there’s nothing I can do.
I’m in a game of war, and I’ve landed on a spot where I have to play by the rules. Again.
My uncle owns the majority of shares in the company and holds all the decision-making power over my inheritance until I graduate. Meaning that asshole gets to decide every motherfucking thing.
If I didn’t stand to lose a billion-dollar fortune, I’d leave the miserable prick to it. But I can’t turn my back on a legacy my father helped create.
I also can’t turn my back on what’s rightfully mine. My father wouldn’t want me to.
Since my uncle can’t destroy me the way he wants, the asshole is trying to make use of me. I’m sure that’s still with the hope that I’ll destroy myself one day.
With a shake of my head I step back onto the pebbled path and resume my route to the dorm.
I live in Erebus House, home of the Sigma Alpha fraternity. The place where men become first-class Knights.
Of all the fraternities ours is the strictest, and you must pass all the trials we set to even be considered for initiation as a Knight.
Our freshmen pledges arrived last week, so they could get all the admin out of the way and find their feet before we got down to business with them.
Part of the finding-your-feet stage is partying, so there’s been a wild party every night for the last four days with the guys getting wasted, fucked, and shit-faced stoned.
If my mind were more settled I would be right in the midst of the indulgence.
Loud heavy metal music greets me when I approach Erebus.
As there are still some guys chugging beer on the lawn I can see the party is still going with no end in sight.
I walk inside the house and see I’m right. The wildness is still going on.
There are guys and girls all over the living room. Some fully clothed, some naked. Actually, most are naked.
Some are fucking right there in the open, others are doing lines of cocaine off the tables or the topless girls waiting to be fucked.
When I turn down the hallway I find couples molded to the walls either making out or fucking. The sound of flesh slapping against flesh and moaning follows me down the marble path until I reach the end.
Public sex and open drug taking is so commonplace to me now that it seems like part of the furniture or the paint on the walls.
I head into the break room and nod to the group of guys in the corner playing pool, then I spot Caspian sitting with Lucian Sokolov on the second-floor balcony.
They’re at the table by the long French windows and seem to be mulling over paperwork. I didn’t expect either of them to still be around at this hour.
Caspian lives in one of the special houses for married students, so I thought he would have gone home to Willow, his wife.
Lucian took his vows yesterday, so I thought he’d be celebrating with Eilish, the girl he doesn’t realize yet is his girlfriend.
I guess he and Caspian are getting a head start for the week we have planned for our pledges.
All the heirs to the Knights on campus are part of the Sigma unit, but there are separate units. Caspian and I will get to lead our unit until we graduate because we’re Ivanovs. Caspian is also the new fraternity president and I am his vice president.
As Raventhorn won’t have the pleasure of any other Ivanovs in attendance until the next generation, they’re making use of us.
They also know that we’re veterans of the type of hazing trials designed to fuck with your mind. When you live through the shit we’ve seen, you’re qualified to do anything .
We enlisted Lucian as the third member of our team. He’s in the year below us but we grew up together and have been through life together. Despite any difference we had in our younger years, we’ve become close since attending Raventhorn. It seemed fitting that the three of us lead together.
The pledges we accept will stay in our unit for the rest of their lives and will be classed as an elite group. Almost like a separate brotherhood.
In time to come when the leadership changes hands, Caspian will take the lead of the Knights and become the Pakhan of the Komarovski Bratva, the Brotherhood owned by the Knights. I will be his Sovientrik—second in command—and these will be our men.
Curiosity fills Caspian’s expression when he sees me approaching. He knows I spoke with his father and the conversation went to shit.
He has his father’s blond hair and stern eyes, but the gentleness of his late mother in his face gives him that touch of humanity that makes him different from his father.
“You look like shit.” Lucian smirks, scanning my face.
“Thanks, Sokolov. Shit was the exact look I was going for.” I flip him off and grab the nearest chair. “You should try it sometime. It’s not that bad.”
He chuckles and stands. “I’ll take that as my cue to leave. We have an early start tomorrow. I need my rest to deal with these guys.”
“You’re too good.” Caspian gives him a clipped nod and smiles.
“Just want to be in top form, Lord Commander .”
Caspian’s smile widens. “That title does have a nice ring to it.”
I roll my eyes at them both but I have to agree that the title does have a good sound; so does being second in command to the Lord Commander. I’m the one who gets to come up with all the wild ideas for the men to prove their loyalty. Like the game maker in the Hunger Games .
“See you both tomorrow.” Lucian bows his head.
“Have fun with Eilish.” He hates when I tease him about her, so I try to do it as often as possible.
“You know it’s not like that with us.”
“ Yet.” I don’t know what he’s waiting for. The fuck if I could have a girl as hot as Eilish hanging on my arm and still call her my friend. I don’t believe in keeping girls as friends anyway.
“How about we cross that bridge when we get there.”
“If you say so.” I half-lunge at him.
“I do say so. Night, boys.”
Lucian leaves and Caspian gives me his undivided attention. Now his curiosity has morphed into worry.
“What did my father say?” He sits up straighter.
The viper tattooed on his neck looks like it’s ready to pounce at me. He got it after high school. I got the dragon on my neck at the same time.
The emblem was as fitting for me as the viper was for him. Both are deadly animals, but when dragons strike and breathe fire they obliterate, leaving nothing behind.
I release a heavy sigh but my lungs still feel tight with pressure.
“Your old man is putting me on an assessment for my internship, and he wants to talk about the marriage contract. He wants one in place so I can say I do come graduation day.” That doesn’t mean I have two years to find a wife. It means the wedding itself will be in two years, so that prick could sign my life away tomorrow.
Caspian’s face reddens, then he leans forward with balled fists. “What the fuck are you saying to me?”
“You heard me, cousin. Aleksander Ivanov strikes again, showing who’s boss.”
“You can’t let him fuck with you like that.”
“ Let him?” I raise my brows and give him a sharp stare. “You know I would never let anyone do shit to me. Even him.”
“But it sounds like you’re going to do what he wants.”
I inch closer to make sure that only he can hear me. “He’s getting even with me, Caspian.” We’ve had no end of run-ins with Aleksander, especially recently, as he attempted to keep his secret affairs secret from me. “It’s clear he wants to exercise more control over me to hide whatever shady shit he might be up to, again. Keeping me under his thumb will ensure my allegiance to him.”
If anyone were to hear me utter such words about my uncle it would be as bad as treason. And it would be so much worse because of who I am.
“He already has your fucking allegiance.”
I tilt my head and shake it. “We both know that’s not true, Caspian.”
Caspian’s chest caves and his shoulders slump. He knows full well what I’m talking about. It’s called the obvious truth . The type that no one can refute or change.
Although his father might have raised me with his sons and could be said to have raised me like his own, my allegiance is not to him.
“You have my allegiance, because I owe you my life. You got my loyalty the night my family was taken and my father’s enemies took you instead of me.” I don’t usually speak about the past, or so plainly.
The tension in Caspian’s face loosens but it’s still there. “You don’t owe me, cousin.”
“But I do.”
We were eight years old. Not old enough to be able to think so fast in the face of danger, but he did. Thinking on his feet, he told me to hide and swapped places with me so they would take him.
As close as our fathers were, it was protocol that the direct heirs to the Ivanov line mustn’t fall. Meaning priority was always given to Caspian’s father as he was the firstborn Ivanov son, and his sons.
At that young age Caspian knew that if those men had taken me, no one would come looking for me. Him, on the other hand… yes.
And that’s what happened. It took ten months for his father to find him, but he found him.
“You’re the reason I’m here today.” I will always acknowledge that. “We became brothers the moment you chose to sacrifice yourself to save me. That was when I decided I would always have your back. Your father knows that and hates me for it.”
Aleksander hasn’t allowed me to forget how lucky I was to keep my life. Every time shit happens, that motherfucker goes in hard on me.
Years ago, when Zak, Caspian’s brother, was killed, Aleksander took out his frustration on me as if it was my fault and even told me that I didn’t deserve to be alive. He’d been telling me fucked-up shit like that since I was eight, so by then I was used to it. That’s the kind of asshole he is.
“I can’t let him screw with your life, Thorne.” Caspian lands a fist on the table so hard it shakes. “I’m going to speak to him.”
“That will make it worse. And I need to take the reins on this.” I’ll never allow anyone to fight my battles.
“I have to do something. This is a serious matter. You and I will be running Ivanov Tech one day in the near future. My father can’t just suddenly pick his terms and conditions out of thin air.”
“Yet he has, and yes, he can. Don’t worry. I’ll figure it out. Right now we need to focus on the unit.” I tap the table. “That’s going to take up all our time. We don’t want to get in trouble for not doing our jobs, and this is something we’ve always wanted to do.”
With reluctance, he nods. “Promise you’ll let me know if I can do anything to help with my father.”
“Of course.” I sound like I’m truly making a promise, but I’m not. I already decided I won’t involve him.
Things are different for Caspian now that he has a wife. I can’t let him get involved in the shit with his father.
For now, I’m going to see how my dear uncle wishes to play this game he’s unleashed on me, then I’ll know what moves to make.
I straighten and rest against the back of the chair.
“So, who do you have in mind to join us?” he asks, changing the subject and glancing at the guys at the pool table. “Those three have been vying for our attention all week.”
“I know.” I plaster a cunning smile and stare at them.
Kade Gurkovsky, Dmitri Valneko, and Logan Konnikov have practically been crawling up our asses since they stepped on campus.
“I like them and Alek, Lucian’s cousin.” Caspian sounds certain.
I glance back at him. “Seems like you’ve already picked.”
“Just voicing my thoughts. They’re already top-notch with good careers in the making and they come from families who would make good business associates later down the line.”
He’s right. Kade and Dmitri are star athletes who will be joining the football team here. They have a very good prospect of playing pro in the NFL. Their fathers also own two NFL football teams and are business associates. Logan is going into business and investments. His family owns a hedge fund company. Alek’s family owns a weapons and technology company.
“They also all came out with top marks in the Reaping.” Caspian continues staring at them.
The Reaping is the rite of passage every boy of sixteen years of age must go through to join the Knights. That’s the first step.
Our forefathers who created the Brotherhood of the Knights were originally Vikings, so everything we do is based on the old Viking laws. The Bratva influences are mixed in, because of those who went to Russia and allied with the Vory when they began. That’s why the Knights own the Komarovski Bratva.
To become a full member of the Knights, men have to go through the Reckoning. This is the separation of the men from the boys, and that’s where I come in.
The group below looks as close as a wolfpack. I can imagine them preparing for this moment for years at the academy because they knew Caspian and I would be in charge.
As if Kade Gurkovsky can hear my thoughts, he glances up at me and we stare at each other, a silent conversation unfolding between us as if we’re equals.
I admire any man who can stare at me head on like that as if to challenge me.
He has some balls on him, so I give him a nod of approval. He nods back, then I look at Caspian, who seems fascinated by our exchange.
“Let them get through my challenges, then we can talk.” I give him a devious grin.
“Okay. Well, let the games begin. From here to Valhalla.”
“From here to Valhalla.”
This is all I can do to keep myself sane.
This, and fucking.
The sudden thought of fucking pulls the little deer back to my thoughts and I know I won’t forget the platinum-haired beauty as easily as I’d hoped.
Maybe sweet and innocent has become the new flavor of hot.
I’d certainly like to try it and see what she tastes like.