16. Thorne
Chapter 16
Thorne
Ivy is mine now.
All fucking mine.
Last night I went to bed with the memory of her mouth around my dick and her perfect naked body before me on her knees.
She was better than any fantasy.
I make my way to the computer science building with the little deer in my head and all the filthy things I plan to do to her virgin body.
It’s only been one night and I’m fucking addicted to her.
I can’t wait to get my hands on her again tonight at my place, in my bed, on my time.
I wouldn’t be the first man in history to lose his head over a woman. I know I certainly won’t be the last.
Hades stole Persephone.
Ares obsessed over Aphrodite.
Eros lost himself to Psyche.
The list goes on and on and past Greek mythology.
I accept that doesn’t make my decision okay and my arrangement with Ivy is still crazy.
I’m in breach of all I vowed to uphold, but I couldn’t allow my uncle to kill her.
That motherfucker has far worse secrets than me. He has so many skeletons in his closet they’re fighting for space.
This is my little secret.
I’m aware I still need to talk to Ivy about the things I don’t know.
Last night was the verbal signing of our unwritten contract. But I need to caution her. There’s no way I’m saving her ass and putting myself at risk because I was thinking with my dick.
The only physical thing we have to worry about is that ring.
I only knew it belonged to Ivy because it was in her pouch. Discovering it led me to dig deeper and put two and two together to come up with the truth.
If I keep that ring hidden away in my closet in hell, no one will find out who it belongs to.
I’ll also look into everything Levgen did to conceal Ivy and her mother’s true identities, and make sure there are no gaping holes. I have a penchant for finding things, and you’d have to be above board genius to find whatever I choose to hide.
I don’t have to feel bad about this. Not when I’ve finally found a way to own the girl who's driven me crazy with lust and obsession.
Ivy Yegorov is a sweet distraction and payment for shit Aleksander has dumped on me.
I own her now, and I’ll have her again all to myself in a matter of hours.
I have a class in twenty minutes. I wanted to stop by my workspace to get my notes.
I’m creating a new-age antivirus software I want to patent when I graduate. It needs a lot of work and testing, but my theories are sound so far. I’m basically trying to devise an unhackable piece of technology that could take Ivanov Tech to the next level.
Everything I need to test is within my grasp here on campus, and what I don’t have here I can get from my pals at Harvard. We share the campus with them and have a lot of liaisons.
I’ve always been testy about sharing my ideas but in recent years I’ve benefited from working with other like-minded techs.
I reach my workroom and stop short at the doorway when I see Aiden Sabioni sitting on the edge of my desk looking through my stuff.
If it were possible to burn him alive with my stare, it would happen right now.
“What the fuck are you doing in here?”
Aiden lifts his head and simply smiles at me, then he runs a hand through his dark curls and stands.
“Hello, old friend,” he says with a dip of his head and makes a show of bowing as if he's on stage.
“Answer the fucking question.” I don’t know who he’s calling friend. The last time we saw each other we nearly fought to the death.
He stabbed my hand with a steak knife and I would have smashed his head to pulp and powder if Caspian hadn’t held me back. That was two years ago.
Aiden gives me a thin smile and folds his arms. “I came to say hi and check out my new space.”
I give him a narrowed stare. “What the hell are you talking about? This is my room.”
“Your uncle said I could share your room. The place looks big enough for two people.” He looks around and I see red.
Red lines of angry fire blazing before me.
This is not fucking happening. Once again my uncle has struck and delivered a blow to make me feel insignificant.
“This is my room.” I speak in a firm tone, so he understands I don’t care what my uncle says. “I’m not sharing anything with you .”
“Oh, come on, Thorne. Be a good sport. Surely you're not that pernickety.”
“It turns out I am.”
He laughs, and I wish I could rip out his throat.
“The way I hear it, it doesn't seem like you have a choice. I just thought I owed you a courtesy visit, to let you know I'd be here. My desk will be delivered by Monday morning.”
I march up to him and stare him down. He's an inch taller than me but just as wide and muscular. He always gives me a good fight but this time I wouldn't allow him to win. And there’s no one to save him from me.
“Listen to me, you little prick. It's bad enough you're going to work at my company. You're not coming in here, too.”
“That’s just the thing, though. None of it is yours.” He inches closer with that vile smile and shakes his head. “Nothing is yours, Thorne. Not a goddamn thing. So suck it up. If your uncle wants me in here, I’ll be in here until further notice. Speak to him if you have a problem. However, the way I hear it, things might not be as rosy as you think.”
“What did you hear?”
“That your uncle might not be opposed to me taking your spot. Imagine that. You’d end up working for me.” He laughs and steps around me. “See you later, roomie . I’m off to English class. Maybe I’ll experience a better welcome there.”
He heads to the door and I stare after him.
That was the next blow. It’s one thing to have a suspicion, but hearing your fears voiced by your nemesis is fucking low.
I’m right. Aleksander is working overtime to get rid of me.
It makes me wonder why.
And why this?
Why use the company against me?
Why would he use the only thing I have left from my father against me?
I had a fucking horrible day.
It turned sour from the moment I saw Aiden, then the guys got on my nerves.
During training only two of them proved to be ready for the Reckoning. No surprise that the two were Kade and Dmitri.
Alek came in a close third, but Logan got knocked out when he fell off the assault course.
It was a fucking shitshow.
If I only have two guys who are ready for the Reckoning, it means the rest of them are gonna die. And I can't have shit like that happening on my watch.
I’d be the only planner with dead men on his hands.
With the weight of the day on my shoulders, I walk into my apartment, eager to see Ivy.
She’s all I want right now. She was the only thing to pacify my mind.
The sweet scent of honey and roses fills my nose when I reach my living room, and I'm like the dragon tamed by the presence of precious jewels. My dick hardens when I see her little pink overnight bag on the sofa.
It’s been a while since I had a girl stay the night and I’ve never invited one to stay with me before. Ivy is the first.
I hear her in the kitchen so I make my way there. I find her standing over the stove. She turns to face me with that deer-caught-in-the-headlights expression of hers.
She straightens, putting her game face on to address me. She'd almost look like the shy wallflower, but that's not what she is. My little deer is as fierce as a fury. She's just been forced into this position because she knows if she pisses me off I'll ruin her.
“Hi,” she says in a meek, cautious voice.
“Hello.” I look her over.
Tonight she's wearing another tank top and a little mini-skirt.
Both are a baby blue color that brings out the metallic gleam of her eyes.
“I'm not really good with chicken,” she confesses, glancing over at the pieces of chicken I left out defrosting in a bowl of water. “I did oven pizza.”
“Next time, I'll teach you to make chicken.” I grin. “But the pizza works for tonight. Did you eat?”
“No, I waited for you.”
“All right, let's eat.” I point to the breakfast table.
She takes the pizza out of the oven and sets it on the table. It's a pepperoni pizza. I have a stack in the freezer for times like this when I need something quick to eat.
We sit opposite each other at the table and dive in. I'm not starving, so I eat slowly, but she eats even slower than me, looking like a little bird pecking at her food, piece by piece.
“Are you gonna watch me eat all night?” She lifts her gaze to mine.
I grin back at her again. “I have many things planned for you tonight. Watching you eat isn’t one of them.”
She'll soon learn that I always have a good comeback.
We continue eating in silence as I watch her, much to her dismay. Soon she has only one slice of pizza left on her plate. I finished eating long ago.
“Eat that and we'll go take a shower.” I tap the space near her plate.
She snaps her gaze up to me looking bewildered. “Shower together?”
“I did say we .”
“I don't bathe with other people.” She wrinkles her nose, looking more deerlike.
“You do now. And I'm not people . I'm Thorne, and you are my Ivy.”
She grinds her teeth, probably trying to bite back her next words. Good. She's not getting out of showering with me. Now that I have her here there's no way I'm going to rob myself of the privilege of having her up against the wall of my shower.
Ivy continues pecking at the pizza until it's gone. Once it is, I stand, signaling it's time to get into the shower.
“Come on, let’s go.”
She rises and I place my hand to the small of her back. I lead her into the ensuite and the walk-in shower.
“Take off your clothes,” I tell her.
Her back goes rigid at my command but she obeys without arguing.
She starts taking her clothes off and I do the same while watching her.
I'll never grow tired of seeing her naked body. It’s like being served my favorite drug in an IV drip.
Once I pull off my boxers her eyes go straight to my very erect, pierced dick and her mouth drops.
Despite being in training for most of the day, I wore my piercing for her, just like I promised. I have a Prince Albert-style piercing, so a little barbell goes from the opening of my dick and comes through the underside.
“Just for you, Bambi.” My fingers flex over my length, and I tap the tip of my barbell.
“Just for me?” She gives me a narrowed stare.
“I only wear it on special occasions. Like now.”
Ivy answers with a deeper frown, and the fear in her eyes triples.
“This should be fun.” I almost laugh at her discomfort and trepidation. Not only is she wondering when I'm going to fuck her, but now she’s worrying that it’s going to hurt even more with my piercing. It won’t. Piercings heighten pleasure.
I am going to fuck her, so I’ll teach her about pleasure very soon.
I open the shower door and motion for her to get in. She does, and my eyes go straight to her fully-rounded ass.
I touch it, squeezing her cheeks and she winces, looking back at me with disgust.
Ignoring the look, I step in with her and turn on the water to a light, cool spray.
Ivy keeps her back to me and I take advantage again to take in her body while the water runs through her hair, down her back and her ass.
I grab the sponge from the tray on the wall, squirt some shower gel on it and rub it across her back.
She glances over her shoulder at me, uncomfortable as fuck. “I didn't realize you were actually going to bathe me.”
“I guess I am.”
She turns back to face the wall while I rub the sponge over her shoulders.
Silence fills the space between us and I think of what to say to her. It feels like a million things are competing for attention in my mind, but I need to focus on the most important questions.
“Does your father know you're alive?” The question sounds odd outside my head.
Her back tenses again, showing me how much the subject of her father bothers her.
“He doesn't know.” Her voice is small and barely there.
“Hearing you died must have been hard for him.”
“I'm sure it was. My father loved me. I was nine when I last saw him and it was…” Her voice trails off and her fingers linger over the smooth surface of the wall, as if she's touching something that’s not really there.
“What? What was it like?”
“Emotional. It was very emotional. My mother and I came to the States after he was sentenced. I never saw him again.”
I never feel sorrow for anything but the lowliness in her tone triggers compassion I shouldn’t feel. Her father was part of a murder plot, and he might have been responsible for my family’s deaths, too.
“My father was a good man.” She sounds like she's telling herself that more than me. “He didn't mean for what happened to those people.”
“Are you saying you believe he’s innocent, little deer?”
She glances over her shoulder again, more worry in her eyes. “He didn't do any of it.”
Now I pity her. She sounds like a lost little girl holding on to a dream, so I won’t tell her that to be in the position her father is in there would have been seriously strong evidence.
“You sound sure.” I decide to humor her.
“I believe him.”
“Sorry, little deer. Hell is paved with good men who didn’t mean to do what they did.”
She winces, as if my words physically hurt her. “Are you going to give me my ring back?”
“I'm holding on to it for the moment. I don't want to risk losing it again.”
“I won't lose it. That was an accident. I just needed to feel close to my father. It's been hard coming to Raventhorn, with the burden of the secret. I didn't even want to come here in the first place.”
I run my fingers through her hair and turn her to face me. Sad eyes stare back at me and for the first time, I feel like I'm looking at the real her. The version without the barriers and the guards keeping me out.
“Which college did you want to go to?”
“Juilliard or Berklee. I got into both.”
“You can still realize your dreams by attending Raventhorn. In fact, you might get a lot more than you hoped for.”
“Yeah. Maybe.”
She stares back at me as if she’s trying to see into my mind to figure out if she can trust me.
I know she doesn’t. I can’t blame her for that when I don’t even trust myself.
The only thing I know is we need to be careful from here on out.
“I'll give you your ring back when the time is right. In the meantime, you need to make sure you keep things quiet. As far as anyone is concerned I don't know anything. Do you understand me?”
“Yes. Of course, I understand. No one was supposed to find out, let alone you of all people.”
“Except I did.” I touch her face and slide my finger to her jaw to lift it. “And now we have our little arrangement.”
Her expression darkens, reminding me of the sky before a storm breaks. In her eyes I see fear, distrust, and desperation for hope warring with each other.
I'll fix that.
“Time to stop talking about business, little deer.” I lean forward and brush my nose over hers. “Time to play with you.”
A delicate flush of rose-pink tickles her cheeks. It makes me want to peel back the layers of her milky skin and take a peek at what lies beneath the smooth, silky surface.
“What are you going to do to me?”
“You know better than to ask me that.” I catch her left nipple between my thumb and forefinger and her breath catches.
I savor the staccato rise and fall of her chest and the soft swells of her breasts. The color from her cheeks flushes down her body, turning her nipples a dusty rose.
I want to seal this image of her in my mind and devour her at the same time.
Caught in my grasp, she looks fragile, like she might snap under the weight of her fear. The same fear that continues to fuel my desire.
I accepted long ago that I’m the type of fucked-up psycho who gets off on things like fear and terror. Such emotions are food for my soul and nourish my being.
I crave them from her the way a hungry wolf does meat. But there’s something I want more. Something I tasted when I kissed her the other week.
“Come here.” I guide her to my lips.
She comes to me and I brush teasing kisses along her mouth.
“Are you on the pill, little deer?”
“Yes,” she rasps.
“Good. You came prepared.”
“It’s for my skin.” Frowning, she tries to pull away but I slip my arm around her tiny waistline, holding her still.
“Skin or not, in my eyes you came prepared for me. Ready for me to corrupt you and wreck your pussy when I fuck you.”
Her lips part with another comeback but I crush my mouth to hers, stealing away her words.
I shove her up against the wall and kiss her hard and cruel, showing her exactly who I am.
Fuck. She tastes like honey and innocence and fear.
And there it is—the thing I’m looking for.
Her desire. There it is, right there in the way she kisses me back. It happens the moment she yields to me. The moment she sheds her resolve and accepts she wants the darkness. She wants me.
She hates to want me. The psycho. The vicious Knight.
She hates to submit to the thing that makes her want me and surrender to this insane chemistry between us. But no one can run away from the truth. Not even her.
I grab her leg and wrap it around my waist, then I push my fingers into her pussy. She’s so wet and so tight the walls of her pussy feel like they're about to crush my finger. I salivate at the thought of what my dick will feel like inside her.
But the instant I think that, the sweet taste of desire fades from her lips.
It’s gone and I can’t find it anywhere.
I realize it’s because fear has come back and stolen it from me.
And she’s not ready yet. I can feel it in the way her lips have slipped from mine and the tremble in her body.
I could still ram my dick into her and fuck her raw. I’ve fucked without emotion many times before on one night stands and just-because fucks.
But… that isn’t how I want her.
This is fucking crazy, but when I take her, I want everything. I want to her to want me.
I pull my fingers out of her and stop kissing her. When I set her down she stares back at me with disbelief.
Her lips part with a question but it never comes. Good. Because not even I am certain of what I’m doing. I’m just allowing my obsession to guide me.
Right now that demands something Ivy can’t give me. Yet.
“Get on your knees and stroke me.” We can still do other things from the fantasy. Everything we do works together to break her down and make her mine.
Ivy lowers to her knees and strokes my length.
“Harder,” I groan.
The good little deer obeys, rubbing my cock up and down.
The sight of her on her knees and my cock straining in her hands, makes me lose control and I come.
My cum sprays all over her chest and splashes in her face, marking her as mine once more.
I cup the back of her head and lace my fingers through her hair. “It’s going to be a long night. I hope you’re not tired.”
She swallows and gazes up at me.
“Open your mouth.” I guide my cock to her lips, and she opens her mouth, licking off the cum already on me while she makes me hard again.