Chapter 8
Lucan
Sadie’s storm-gray eyes are hypnotic.
She came alone to Altar to face me, believing I’m a murderer and a stalker.
Brave girl.
What will she say when she discovers I’m both?
“I didn’t kill Parker,” I say. “I want to find out who did.”
I’m a murderer, yes. But the person I killed wasn’t a relative.
Sadie’s eyes narrow, as if she might read me like one of her books.
Fuck, she’s so fucking beautiful. It’s driving me to distraction.
She’s dressed like my dirtiest dreams. Short plaid skirt, sweater off her shoulder, socks ending over her knees. The creamy skin between the socks and her skirt begs to be stroked.
She smells edible, like vanilla and honey.
I could do anything to her, here and now. Tug up her skirt and drill my fingers into her pussy. Flip her over and eat her from behind while she moans.
The thought makes my blood run hot.
“I’m not saying I believe you,” she says stiffly. “But who do you think killed him?”
“I don’t know yet,” I say. “But half the school was in the forest that night. The killer is brazen as fuck.”
She nods slowly. “Meaning?”
“You’re in danger. Everyone knows you talked to the police. At best, they’ll try to learn what you told them.”
“At worst?”
“Like I said. Broken neck.”
Harsh but true. She needs to hear it.
She takes another draw of whiskey before answering.
“So you want to use me as bait? To catch your cousin’s killer? That’s why you asked me here tonight?”
“No,” I say patiently. “I want to protect you. Make sure you’re not next. Catching the killer is a nice bonus.”
There’s a confused flicker in her eyes, like the idea of being protected is completely foreign to her.
“Why would you care about protecting me?” she asks.
I shrug. “Do I need a reason?”
“I need one. You’re pretty unsettling. Full offense.”
I bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing. She’s funnier than I thought she’d be.
Nobody talks to me like that either. Maybe that’s why I find it endearing.
“Okay. Here’s a reason.” I clear my throat. “Parker and Hannah were the closest thing I had to siblings. I failed to protect them both. But I see the danger coming this time. I’m going to stop it. Also—”
“What?” she presses.
God, look at me spilling my guts.
“I’m the reason you were so close to the murder. I chased you there. I heard Parker’s voice and went looking for him, leaving you alone.”
Her brows raise. “That’s what you heard? I thought you found more prey.”
“You’re the only prey I want.”
She rolls her eyes in apparent disgust, but the briefest smile skates over her pouty mouth too.
Busted, Sadie.
“If you stumbled any closer to the scene,” I say, “you could’ve died because of me.”
She still might, but not if I can help it.
Sadie’s voice comes out small. “Do you believe Hannah was murdered too? Someone made her fall on that icy path?”
“I do now, yes. Back when it happened, only Parker was sure it was murder. He said he just knew. So we hired the best investigators, but they turned up nothing concrete. Parker kept searching for proof or a motive. He was hellbent. My uncle begged him to stop, to let Hannah rest. All Parker found was the bottom of a bottle. He just kept getting worse.”
Sadie leans slightly nearer to me. “Is that what you argued about before the Founder’s Run?”
I nod. “The last thing I said to him was an ultimatum. Either he agrees to rehab or he listens to Uncle Gareth and lets Hannah go.” The memory is bitter on my tongue. “Imagine telling someone they need to let their dead sister go.”
Sadie’s eyes cloud. “That’s horrible.”
She leans away, erasing the space she’d closed between us.
Shame jackknifes inside me. “Yeah. Well.”
Fucking hell. This is what I get for sharing.
She shakes her head. “I’m not judging. I meant that I have sympathy for both you and Parker. But I bet he knew you cared about him.”
Debatable.
It does make me feel better that she’s understanding though, and it surprises me to care. I don’t typically give a fuck what people think.
“In the forest, it sounded like Parker was trying to get someone to admit to something,” she says.
My voice is dull. “Hannah’s murder, I bet.”
I should’ve been there for my cousins. I fucked up so badly.
“I wish I heard more,” she says. “Saw more.”
“It’s okay,” I say. “We’re going to find the bastard who did this.”
Sadie wrings her hands in her lap. She’s working up the courage to ask me something else, and I have my suspicions about what it is.
“Did you—” She inhales through her nose and meets my gaze. “Did you send me—”
“Roses, a switchblade, your locket?” I finish for her.
Her mouth gently hangs open. “You did.”
It’s like she didn’t expect me to admit it.
“Sure,” I say. “Not a big deal.”
She lowers her voice to a whisper, glancing around like cops are about to crash in and arrest her.
“Where did you get the locket?” she asks.
Pleasure trickles through my blood. I’m enjoying her bewilderment way more than I should.
“I found it in Briarvale while passing through,” I say. “Where you dropped it, I guess. In the woods.”
“What were you doing in the woods?” she asks.
“Clearing my head.”
Sadie’s eyes are glued to me, her brow furrowed in concentration.
She’s trying to figure out how much I know. Whether I saw what she did, or merely found the locket and assumed it was hers because of the initials. Briarvale’s a tiny town. There aren’t many residents with the initials S.M. who’d wear a pretty silver locket.
Toying with the end of her braid, she tries to understand. “But how did you find me? How did you know where to send it?”
“I go through Briarvale a lot. One time, I saw your name on a flyer for a local poetry reading, so I asked around. People were happy to tell me you work at Ink & Ivy Books.”
Such a fucking lie.
I didn’t need to ask around. I saw what she did, the night she did it. I spotted the glint of the locket as it fell from her neck while she fled the blaze.
I discovered her name via cyber-sleuthing, and this beautiful, intriguing girl became an ongoing interest of mine. She’d been my favorite pastime for months before she ever received a package from me.
I did attend Sadie’s poetry reading, but that’s a whole other story.
“Okay,” she says slowly, convincing herself that’s all I know. “Thank you for returning it. Why send me a switchblade knife though?”
“For protection.” In truth, I was concerned about the dismal lack of security at Ink & Ivy Books, but I keep that part to myself. “You still have it, right?”
“No! I’d get stabbed if I tried to use it.”
I groan. “You’re just walking around unprotected? Fuck. You really do need me.”
“I’m not convinced I need protection.” She eyes me warily. “Least of all from you.”
“Too bad.”
She doesn’t actually have a say in whether I watch over her. It’s already happening, and this conversation is more of a courtesy.
Before she can protest, I continue to the other reason I asked her here.
“Are you ready to kneel for me?”
Sadie’s eyes turn to slits. “What is wrong with you?”
“Several key things, I’d say. Answer my question.”
“Kneel for you?” she asks. “Why would I, especially when you just admitted to stalking me?”
“Because you have to.”
“Says who though?”
Her disgusted reaction only encourages me, sadly for her. I want to fuck the revulsion right out of her.
“Benedict Darkbloom and the other founders,” I say. “I claimed your pennant at the Run. Therefore you must kneel and obey one order I give you.”
“It doesn’t count though,” she says. “There was a murder.”
“I caught you fair and square. Rules are rules.”
“Not a chance.”
I sweep my gaze over her body. “Kneel.”
“I refuse,” she says.
“You can’t refuse.”
She sniffs. “Watch me.”
I lean closer. “Oh, I intend to. I’ll watch you try very hard to convince yourself you don’t enjoy obeying my command. I’m going to make you beg me to take things further.”
That shuts her up.
Sadie’s cheeks redden and she looks away, as if she can’t believe she came here.
But she doesn’t know me yet. She doesn’t know I’d say or do fucking anything to get her worked up. I’ve waited a long time to play with her like this.
I take aim at her greatest insecurity. The one she thinks she’s so good at hiding.
“You want to belong somewhere,” I say. “You feel all alone in the world.”
I pause, giving her a chance to say no.
She doesn’t, because we both know it’s true.
I continue. “You could belong here, with us. Ask your roommates if they kneeled. They did it, they obeyed. Because they know what it means to be part of something private and special. Are you going to stay on the outside? Does that feel safe to you? Because I promise, it’s safer on the inside. Far more fun too.”
Sadie gives a tiny shake of her head. “I’ll never belong here. Not truly.”
I frown. She’s so wrong.
She would belong anywhere she wants, because she possesses rare, coveted gifts no amount of money can buy:
Pure beauty and pure talent.
The woman’s a living, breathing, priceless treasure and she has no idea.
“Kneel,” I say. “Or you may as well go to the admissions office tomorrow and tell them you’re dropping out. We commit to tradition here at Darkbloom. Kneel or leave.”
“Fuck you,” she whispers.
The sting of my words leaves her face exquisite with pain. My cock hardens at her shaking lips and unguarded eyes. I’m getting a glimpse of the real her and it’s as good as I hoped.
Better even.
“Do you want to go back to your old life?” I ask. “Or do you want to stay?”
I wait.
The silence stretches until it feels like a drumroll.
Eventually she mutters, “I want to stay.”
Satisfaction surges through me. “Good girl. Then it’s time to kneel.”
Sadie’s natural resistance kicks back in.
She clears her throat and squares her shoulders. All trace of vulnerability vanishes from her features, except for the redness of her eyes.
“That’s demeaning,” she says.
“That’s the point.”
I can’t help teasing her. The fury in her eyes is too delicious.
“Has anyone ever told you what an arrogant jerk you are?” she asks.
Standing, I point to the floor in front of me. “Right here’s good.”
If looks could kill, I’d be dead. Her nostrils whiten and flare, and her teeth grind.
She’s probably debating just how badly she wants a better life. When she dreamed of coming to Darkbloom, I doubt those dreams included blatant submission.
“Ugh. Fine.” Sadie grabs her glass of whiskey. “Let’s get this over with.”
Drinking, she winces at the burn.
She gags afterward, making me wonder if I can resist ordering her to suck my cock while she kneels before me. I’m only human.
But the order I intend to give her is more creative than that, designed to mortify and arouse her equally.
I need the wall she’s built around herself to break open. She’s the crack in my armor, so I’m going to put a crack in hers. Fair’s fair.
There’ll be plenty of future opportunities for those pouty, full lips to slide around my cock. We can take our time.
Sadie’s eyes dart nervously to the door and I can practically hear her thoughts.
“No one will come in,” I say. “And nothing is recording you in here. No microphones or cameras.”
It’s even true. I’m not a complete degenerate.
Still wary, she gets up from the seat. “You can’t order me to touch you. Or to let you touch me. I don’t care what the rules say.”
“No problem. We’ll save that for our next date.”
“This isn’t a date, you sociopath.”
“Anything else, princess?”
“I won’t hurt another person,” she says. “Or do anything mean to someone.”
“Fine.”
As if I want other people involved.
Emboldened, Sadie puts her hands on her hips. “You can order me to wash your dishes or something.”
“Oh, can I? Get on your fucking knees, freshman.”
Her arms fall to her sides in defeat.
With a labored sigh, she lowers herself to kneel before me. She crosses her ankles neatly behind her as though she might retain a shred of dignity, and looks up at me.
The dim light catches the gold hints in her long brown hair, and the delicate planes of her heart-shaped face are even more spectacular from this angle. Does she know how cute her button nose and the sprinkling of freckles across her cheeks are?
Staring down at her, I note the ragged pattern of her breath, like she’s trying hard to keep her composure.
Her eyes are lively with fear and uncertainty, her pink lips gently parted. Whisper-thin threads of silver enhance her gray irises, and our unwavering eye contact makes my cock fill with blood.
Kneeling looks so fucking good on her.
Her mouth is inches from my erection, and her breath catches as her gaze moves to my bulge, which only makes me harder.
In two swift moves, I could have my zipper down and my cock in her mouth. It’s so fucking tempting.
The same thought seems to have occurred to her, minus the tempting part. Her breathing becomes an anxious pant, her cheeks flushing.
“You agreed you wouldn’t touch me,” she says. “You have to keep your word.”
“I will.” My voice is lower than normal, filled with lust. “You doubt my self-control.”
Her trembling lips are really fucking testing me though. The urge to fuck her beautiful mouth will win out soon.
Time to give Sadie her order.
“By the power bestowed upon me by the hallowed halls of Darkbloom University,” I say, “I order you to…”