Chapter 4
I set my car keys on the hook by the garage door and walked into Covenant House. The second the door opened, I was blasted with a wall of noise from the living room. I glanced in to see a few of the second and third year boys in a gaming war. From the looks of things, it was a split screen shooter, and I felt the familiar itch to muscle my way in and show all those losers who was number one. Not that they needed showing, you didn't become Regent for any of the houses by being a mediocre son of a bitch. It didn't mean I didn't like reminding them though.
But that would have to wait. I knew Logan and Cole were waiting for me to report back about our little private project. I didn't even try to keep the smirk off my face as I remembered the trapped in the headlights look that sweet Cadence sported when I pulled up at the train station earlier. That look alone sent signals straight to my dick, and I'd been hard the whole time, fighting my own urges to pull the car over and peel off the skin tight black jeans that she was wearing and fuck her right there and then. I knew the moment that she had mouthed off to Logan that I was in trouble, and a summer of digging up what I could on our sweet little poisonous project only confirmed my very willing descent into hell. I wasn't saying I was the devil in this story, that was Logan's role, but I stood proud as his right-hand man, and I would reap my rewards for it.
I headed into the study where the devil man in question was waiting, along with our other brother Cole. These men were my lifeblood. We may have all started out in very different backgrounds, but life had pushed us together, and we had certainly had enough trials. Now there was no doubt in my mind that I would do anything for these two.
Cole looked up from the textbook he was already working through and grinned at me as I opened the door.
"How'd it go?" he asked. His mismatched eyes shone with weariness. Logan nodded briefly at me as he continued the phone conversation he was having. From the look on his face, it was likely his father with one of his belittling lectures. I didn't need to know that the infamous Nicholas Bale had gone particularly hard on Logan this summer, the haunted shadows in Logan's eyes rivalled Cole's and we all knew the shit that Cole had to deal with. I headed to the bar and poured myself a glass of whisky before downing it and pouring a second one before joining the guys. By that point Logan had finished his phone call and was also waiting for me.
"What did daddy Bale want this time?" I asked as Logan shook his head before taking a drink from his own glass.
"Don't worry about that now," he said, his tone dismissive. "Tell us how she reacted." I smirked and downed my whisky before setting my glass on the coffee table.
"She didn't know what to make of it," I said. "I don't think it has sunk in yet. She was trying to argue with Melody when I left the Courts."
"She better not give her any shit," Logan growled and I shook my head dismissively.
"Nah, Melody was handling her just fine," I said quickly. We were all protective over the former Covenant Consort, especially after the shit that went down with the Archive House and their Consort. I knew that hit Melody hard, and I was surprised that she came back this year to finish her studies. I know Molly, the former Syndicate's Consort, had opted for online learning to finish out. But Melody would be fine with our new girl and if anything, Cadence would be a distraction for her. She was certainly proving a distraction for me. I already wanted to go to my room and see how she was settling in.
"I'll keep an eye on her over the next few days, just to make sure she doesn't try undoing any of our plans," I said. The last thing I needed was for all my hard work to go to waste.
"We all will," Logan said. "I don't want this blowing up in our faces, my dad is already on my ass about the Ivory Crest developments. I don't wanna give him anything else to jump on me for." I nodded, and so did Cole.
"You okay buddy?" I asked Cole and he grinned in response.
"Yeah, I'm good," he replied. I could tell that there was some tension in him though. Of the three of us, Cole was the most cautious. He had expressed his concerns about what we were doing more than once. It was understandable since if this did fuck us over, Cole would be the one that would suffer the most. Logan might face some shit with his dad, but he didn't even want to be at Regents, the guy would rather be cracking skulls than cracking books, and I was the heir to the Purcell Group regardless of what happened. But Cole, he had no wealthy parents, or remotely decent parents for that matter. He had fought for his survival through childhood and had earned his place to stand beside us. It was a mix of Logan’s father bankrolling his fees and the fact that the guy was a bonafide genius that he was at the university in the first place.
"Don't worry brother," Logan reassured him. "We have this planned to the smallest detail. Ryder assured me that it won’t trace back to us at all." Cole nodded, seemingly satisfied. I knew he wasn't, but there wasn't anything I could do about it, plus it was too late to back out now.
I clapped Cole on the back and nodded to Logan, before standing up and stretching.
"Well, I think I am gonna call it a night," I said and turned to head towards the door.
"Yeah, enjoy your entertainment," Cole called after me and Logan chuckled. I flipped a middle finger at them without even turning back to face them, which only caused more laughter. I couldn't do much else, it wasn't like they were wrong.
I left the study and headed up the two flights of stairs to the top floor of the house. This floor was reserved for the three Regents and their Consort. It was set out with four bedrooms with en-suites as well as a private living room and kitchen. None of the other guys could enter the top floor without explicit permission from one of us. I walked down the hallway to my room which was opposite Cole's. Logan's room was next to Cole's, and at the very end was the room that would remain empty until the end of the week when our Consort would be chosen.
I didn't even bother with the lights as I entered my room. I just went straight over to my workstation. I flicked on the screens and video footage of various parts of the university lit up the room. I surveyed each of the screens briefly. It was only 9pm so there was still plenty of activity in the public areas as students came and went, unaware that every single one of their actions and interactions was not only being watched, but also recorded. The whole university was. All set up as a direct result of our esteemed university headmaster Angus Williams being a former Archive Regent. Those bastards were obsessed with knowledge and information, and not just as a way to enrich their minds, but to manipulate and blackmail those that posed a threat or a potential benefit. I had found the feeds back in my first year, and took it upon myself to splice into it so that I also had access. After all, knowledge was power.
So far it hadn't proven to be needed. Or not until Logan had decided on our vengeance project. I had managed to gain direct access to Cadence's dorm room at the end of last year, as well as document her routines. And now that our girl was in the Courts, I was already able to pull up the feed to the girls house. A quick flip through the available views and I found her in her new room. She was sitting on the bed looking around the room, while Melody talked to her. I couldn't tell what they were talking about, due to the sound being shit quality, but Cadence looked like she was holding everything together pretty well, despite the curveball she had been thrown.
It was just like Melody to offer comfort to the new girl. But watching her leave the room, I knew it was showtime. The moment the door closed behind her, Cadence's demeanour shifted. The armour she'd worn like a second skin since arriving at the Courts seemed to crumble, and there she was, laid bare in more ways than one. I watched, transfixed, as she peeled off her clothes, each layer revealing more of her creamy skin. Her movements were weary, the kind of tiredness that came from a day packed with surprises and stress. She didn't know she was giving me a show, and the thought of her uninhibited innocence made my blood roar in my ears.
My cock was already straining against the confines of my jeans, eager for release. I freed it, the cool air of my room making my skin prickle as I wrapped my hand around my shaft. Her black jeans hit the floor, and my breath caught. Her arse was a work of art, the kind of thing poets wrote sonnets about. The only thing that was missing from her creamy skin was the reddened imprint of my hand. I imagined gripping her hips, driving into her until she screamed my name in a mix of pain and pleasure. My hand moved faster, enraptured by the thought of her writhing beneath me, begging me to stop and keep going all in the same breathy moan.
She reached into her suitcase for a t-shirt, presumably her pyjama top, and pulled it over her head. It was too big for her, hanging off one shoulder, revealing the delicate line of her collarbone. I wanted to trace that line with my tongue, to mark her as mine with my teeth. My strokes became more frenzied, the fantasies playing out in my mind making it harder to hold back. The sight of her long legs as she apprehensively slid under her covers sent a jolt through me, and I knew I was close as I watched her settle in, her eyes heavy, her breathing slow and even. My release was imminent, my balls tightening as I pictured Cadence's face flushed with pleasure, her eyes locked onto mine as I made her come around my cock. With a final, desperate stroke and a squeeze, I came hard, ropes of cum spilling over my hand as I bit back a groan.
Spent and satisfied, I grabbed a tissue from the box on my desk and cleaned myself up, taking a moment to compose myself before tucking my cock back into my trousers. My gaze never left the screen, even as Cadence turned off the bedside lamp, plunging the room into darkness. I leaned back in my chair, my gaze lingering on the darkened screen that just moments before had shown me the object of my newest obsession. Cadence Turner. Even her name was a song to my ears, a tune I could listen to on repeat without ever growing tired of it. I could still see the curve of her waist, the swell of her hips. She had no idea I was watching, no clue that her every move had become the most captivating performance I'd ever had the pleasure of witnessing.
Logan, Cole, and I had always shared everything, our victories, our secrets, and our women. But Cadence was different. From the moment Logan had set his sights on her, declaring her our new project, I knew I was in deep. The way she'd stood up to him, fearless and fiery, had ignited something within me. A new obsession. A need so deep and primal that it threatened to consume me whole. It had been a while since I had found someone so worthy of my attention. Not since high school when I was less refined in my skills, less knowledgeable about what I wanted. I had been stupid then, made some fatal errors in my desire for what belonged to me. And I had paid the price for it. But this time, I wouldn't need my father to bail me out of any mess. I had done my research already. I had always been the one who could find any information, hack into any system, and uncover the deepest, darkest secrets. But with Cadence, I wanted to learn more than just what was in her files. I wanted to know her fears, her dreams, what made her tick. And I already had a growing collection.
I moved my mouse over to an icon on my desktop and clicked. Instantly that screen filled with a recording of Cadence's old dorm room. It had been late at night, and she wasn't alone. I felt myself getting hard again as the guy, who looked vaguely familiar, made a move on her, pushing her to her bed and climbing on top of her. A surge of possessive jealousy swept through me, and I watched him rut into her. My obsession with Cadence was already all-consuming, a fire that burned hotter with each passing second and I knew that once we had her under our control, I would have to punish her for daring to think she could be with anyone else, even if she didn't know who she belonged to yet. Cadence Turner had worked her way into my blood, and I was planning to ensure that I would consume her in full.