9. Ivy
Chapter 9
Ivy
Night fell hours ago but I wanted to stay out as long as possible to hide myself from my new tormentor.
I’m nearly back at the dorm.
Glancing cautiously around my surroundings, I make my way down the path.
There’s no one around but I keep thinking Thorne is going to jump out from the shadows, or I’ll turn the corner and crash right into him.
It’s been two days since I last saw him. Two full days as of one hour ago.
That should be good. It might even suggest that he’s had his fill of me and I might not have to worry about him anymore.
But I made the mistake of thinking that before and look what happened to me. I was so wrong.
After our last encounter, I know there’s no way I’m off his radar. And Thorne said he wasn’t done with me.
As today was the first day of classes I managed to stretch out my practice time with Francois, my music tutor.
I had a great day making more friends, pairing up with two other students with a similar style to me, and I got my schedule nailed for the week.
Dare I say it, things felt like they were coming together here at Raventhorn. I even felt that sense of comfort you experience when you’re exactly where you should be.
When Francois and I got talking after class to set up my sessions with him, I instantly became wildly fascinated when I learned he’d trained under the great Martha Argerich, one of the best classical pianists of all time.
He went on to tell me about his musical career where he traveled worldwide, and he even set up a meeting for me with a contact from the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
If he thinks I’m good enough by the end of freshman year he promised to put my name forward for the spring internship in my sophomore year. That is the kind of benefit you receive when you attend a college like this.
Francois already likes my music, so I can only hope to earn such an opportunity when the time comes.
We stayed in the auditorium for five hours. I was so engrossed by what he was teaching me that I hardly noticed the time pass.
More importantly, during that time I wasn’t thinking about Thorne.
It wasn’t until I left that he reentered my mind like a ghost, so I went to the ice cream parlor—a place he hasn’t seen me before. I stayed there until they were closing.
Twigs crunch beneath my feet when I take the shortcut across the garden.
The wind rustles through the trees. It’s subtle but my senses are so heightened that to me it sounds like banshees howling through the clouds as they sweep across the sky.
Any moment now I expect the gargoyles sitting on top of Raventhorn Hall to come to life and join my host of mythical creatures.
God… I must be more tired than I thought.
My wild imagination is totally spurred on by lack of sleep, stress on stress, and the worry over keeping my sanity.
I don’t know what I’m going to do about Thorne but I have to do something. I just don’t know what yet. It would be easier if he weren't an Ivanov.
No one is exactly going to come to my aid if I tell them he’s harassing me. I thought of talking to Eilish but that idea died in the water when I remembered how Lucian caught me with Thorne in the labyrinth.
He would have heard my stupid moans of pleasure, which didn’t exactly sound like I wasn’t having a good time.
You can’t explain natural bodily reactions to guys like that. Especially when I’m not entirely sure if it really was a natural bodily reaction or just me.
I allowed Thorne to touch me. I can’t lie about that.
I actually allowed him to touch me. And I kissed him. Twice.
Shit. I didn’t even remember that.
Surely, if I didn’t want his touch or his lips anywhere near mine I would have kicked and screamed and tried to save myself.
It bothers me that I didn’t.
It bothers me more because I know I can’t get involved with this boy— man .
Thorne is not a boy.
Boys are the male creatures I left back in high school who pulled pranks and got up to all sorts of immature shit. I don’t think Thorne was ever anything like them. He seems to have been a man for a long time.
I cross the bridge, and my steps quicken when I see Myrrdin House ahead.
I can’t get inside quickly enough, then I rush up the stairs to my room just as fast. I’m not in the mood to socialize tonight and I’m not in the mood to deal with Tiffany or her lackeys.
I make it to my room safe and unseen, then I set my bag down, feeling the weight of the day drain from my shoulders.
I grab a quick bite to eat and check my messages. Mom and Levgen always message at this time. Sure enough, there’s a message from each of them.
I update them on my day, telling them all the good things that happened with Francois. They text back with encouragement and excitement, making me miss them so much more than I already did.
I’d love a little slice of home right about now, so I can bury my head in the sand and come up with a way to deal with Thorne.
Since I can’t have that I settle for the next best thing—a hot bath.
I do the whole scented oils and muscle soak ritual that usually calms me.
It works to some degree but when I head back into the bedroom, there’s a weird feeling about the place. A strange presence.
The air is thick with it.
It’s as if…someone else is in here with me.
Thorne?
No.
But what if he is?
I didn’t hear him. Really, Ivy? The man has snuck up on me twice in the same week without me knowing. He was sitting right in front of me at the café and I didn’t even know.
A shiver runs down my spine at the unsettling thought that he could be here and I stop in the middle of the bedroom to look around.
The tension wrapping itself around my nerves is so tight I’m forced to walk around the apartment to check out everything.
I search the apartment from top to bottom and find nothing. I’m alone, paranoid, and frustrated at myself.
Why the hell am I letting this guy screw with me?
It’s okay. It will be okay. I just have to get to bed.
I head back to the bedroom, lock the door and take off my robe.
As it’s hot I turn up the AC and crawl into bed just wearing my panties. I’ve been sleeping with the window open but I think it’s best if I don’t tonight.
I turn out the lights and lay my head down on the stack of pillows. A sense of safety drifts over me, lulling me to sleep.
I slip into a dream. One where I see my father. We’re in the park I used to play in when I was little.
He’s pushing me on a swing.
I go up and down, slicing through the air. Dad is laughing as he pushes me.
I go up again, higher, higher, higher, and when I come down a warm finger trails over my leg.
The sudden feeling pulls me from the dream. Dad and the playground disappear.
I expect the weird touching sensation to fade along with them but it returns, sliding down, down, down my leg.
Still half-asleep I reach out to feel what it is but when I hear a deep, low chuckle my entire body goes rigid with dread and fear.
My eyes snap open and I see him.
Thorne.
Thorne standing over me.
Thorne standing over me lying naked in the bed.
“Was this for me?” He traces his finger over the flat of my stomach and my heart wedges in my throat. “Thanks for the visual. It was driving me crazy wondering what you looked like naked.”
“What the hell are you doing in my room? Get out.”
Thorne gives me a wolfish grin that suits him. “I told you I wasn’t done with you yet.”
I try to cover myself and sit up at the same time so I can escape but he catches my leg and yanks me to the edge of the bed.
“You crazy bastard. What are you going to?—”
In one swift movement he crouches and pulls me toward him, spreading my legs wide so he can bury his face between my thighs.
The next thing I know his mouth is covering my pussy and he’s sucking down on my clit through the cotton barrier of my panties. I cry out from the impact of his hot mouth on my sensitive skin. And from the raw dose of pleasure.
Like a floundering idiot, I buck and thrash against him like I can’t make up my mind.
I hate to love what he’s doing to me and love to hate him.
Suddenly recalling my prior embarrassment from the other night of not trying hard enough to get away, I try now.
I give it my all. But damn it, when the devil moves my panties aside with his teeth and his tongue laps against my bare pussy, I arch my back and moan as if I’ve been starving for him.
I totally skip past the what the fuck is wrong with me? moment I had the other night and soak up the brutal way he thrusts his tongue into my pussy.
And those sounds… the purely erotic sounds of moaning and groaning, they belong to me.
Thorne doesn’t relent. It’s like he’s starving for me, too.
The wild thought of him, one of the most desired men on campus, wanting me makes me throw my head to loll back and yield as he eats me out.
The rhythm of his tongue thrusting in and out of me, faster and deeper, makes me wonder what his cock would feel like inside me. The forbidden thought sends me further down the rabbit hole of lust, whimpering like a wounded animal with every thrust of his tongue.
Thorne pauses for a moment to look at me. The wild smile dancing on his lips is as devilish as his touch.
Satisfied that he’s unraveled me again, he takes my hard nipples into his mouth and sucks briefly on each while his fingers play with my pussy.
He bites on my tight, taut nipples and swirls his tongue around them before returning to my pussy to feast.
Feeling the violent tug of an orgasm stirring in my soul, I grasp the sheets on either side of me and grind on his face as I come.
Shit, I come so hard my head aches from back to front.
My arousal flows into his mouth and he drinks me, lapping up my juices until they’re gone and his tongue is teasing me for more.
I close my eyes and lose myself in the sensation, feeling nothing but him and this moment.
But then he releases me and I climb down from the high.
Raw humiliation weighs down on me. Humiliation over his knowledge that I wanted him.
Thorne rises, keeping his gaze on me, and I pull up the sheets to cover myself.
He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and continues staring, watching my heaving chest.
“See why I can’t leave you alone, Bambi? We have unfinished business.” He smirks and licks his lips.
“No, we don’t.”
“Your greedy pussy says different.”
“You broke into my room and violated me.”
He laughs. “ Did I ? You didn’t sound violated to me, but maybe I should do it again. We can check this time to see just how violated you feel.”
“No.”
“You sure? You don’t look sure.”
“I’m sure.”
My skin is so hot I’m finding it difficult to breathe let alone find words to defend my dignity. And I’m watching him. Watching him to see what he’ll do next.
He leans close. Too close again.
He looms before my lips and brushes his nose over mine.
“I’m sure, too. I’m sure that I want to fuck you.” A sadistic grin creeps over his face. “But let’s play.”
He inches back, straightens, and walks out of the room through the door I closed and out of my apartment that I locked.
I stay right where I am, shaking to the core of my soul.
It hits me moments later what’s happening here.
It’s a game.
This is all a game to him. He’s mentioned playing twice now, and right from the moment I met him I felt like I’ve been in some kind of arena where I’m being hunted.
Hunted by him.
When I first thought of him as a predator, I was right.
And I’m his prey.