Chapter 36 Kiera
KIERA
The floorboards creaked under my bare feet, echoing through the quiet mansion.
I’d been trying to fall asleep for hours, after being put to bed by my two saviors. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get my mind to quiet.
The room was spinning, the familiarity of the house becoming too much.
So I decided a walk would be better than staring up at the ceiling and cursing my brain for not shutting off. I’d tried reading and counting sheep, but none of it had helped. So instead, I closed my book and slipped out of my room.
Not wanting to wake the sleeping beauties, I inched my way down to the kitchen. It was quiet outside too, only the sound of strong wind smacking into the old glass windows disrupting my silent vigil.
The soft, warm light of the range lit the path to the fridge. Grabbing my favorite glass from the cupboard, I held it beneath the water dispenser, watching as the liquid lapped closer and closer to the brim.
As I stood, I could feel the aching in my body starting to set in. A rough night's sleep always left me feeling like each of my joints might just slip out of their sockets and fall to the floor.
The low hum of the machine combined with the rhythmic trickle of water should have put me to sleep right there. I loved the sound of running water, but despite how tired my body was, my brain wasn’t interested in playing along.
It was peaceful out here without Dom breathing down my neck. She didn’t tell us where she was going, which was fine — I didn’t really care what kind of trouble she got into as long as it didn’t involve me.
Still, it was late. And I couldn’t help the thread of anxiety tugging in my chest: where was she staying tonight if not here?
A pang of jealousy shot through my body at the thought of her with someone else.
Childish.
I rolled my eyes at myself. Just because my other two roommates drooled on the floor every time I walked in didn’t mean that she should. I didn’t want her to, anyway.
I didn’t want Dom. I just liked the ego boost of thinking she would want me.
But she owed me nothing. And all I owed her was being a nice houseguest.
Pulling my cup away from the dispenser, the babbling water stopped, but a new noise rose in its wake.
Slight murmuring from the living room. A shuffle of clothes or couch cushions.
The hairs on my neck stood as I listened closer. Spencer and Leo had turned in hours ago, hence my own early bed time. And I would have heard Dom’s bike tear down the driveway, which meant…
Could there be an intruder?
As far as I could tell, security beyond the front gate was entirely based on locked doors and pinky promises. And as tall as those fences were, they weren’t impossible to jump. Especially if someone saw the way Dom flaunted her money.
Panicking, I searched the room for a weapon. The knife block was full of chef-grade blades that Dom would kill me for bloodying. But between my wrathful roommate and some masked murderer, I would just have to settle for the devil I knew.
As my hand wrapped around the metal handle, prepared to face her wrath, a new sound stopped me in my tracks.
A groan. Deep and guttural. An attempt at being quiet.
That… doesn’t sound like an intruder.
My chest tightened with a different kind of adrenaline.
I should go upstairs. I should pretend I didn’t hear anything.
But a second groan, deeper, beckoned me down the hall like a siren call. I needed to know who it was, what it was, or I’d be up all night wondering.
Sliding the knife back into the block, I padded down the hall, back tight to the wainscoted walls.
A soft bluish glow emanated from the living room, dancing along the hardwood floors.
Someone’s definitely awake.
The noise grew slightly louder with each step I took. But it came mostly from the TV: more moans and a rhythmic slapping of skin. It wasn’t until I reached the very edge of the doorframe that I got a view of the screen.
Porn. Two girls going at it. Mouths and dildos and hair gripped tight in strong hands.
My jaw dropped at the sight. I’d only watched stuff like this when I was first getting the urge to touch myself.
But even then, I knew it wasn’t for me. It made me feel uneasy, like I’d intruded on something.
Maybe I was just used to seeing more of it, but straight stuff felt a little bit less invasive, a little less scandalous.
Who the fuck is bold enough to watch this in the living room?
It was hard to believe that Leo would be so careless. But would Spencer risk it after the arcade, knowing that I could walk in on her at any moment?
Maybe that’s exactly what she’s hoping for.
Heat bloomed in my cheeks at the thought. For all of her restraint at the arcade, I knew she was desperate for a taste of what I was keeping from her. Both of them were.
I have to know. Need to.
Slowly, I peeked around the wood threshold, but nothing could have prepared me for what I saw.
It wasn’t Spencer or Leo. It was both of them.
The pair of them sat on opposite ends of the couch, eyes glued to the screen as they touched themselves beneath their boxers. The exposed skin of their stomachs writhed on the sofa, desperately trying to keep quiet.
Despite myself, I felt myself starting to salivate.
What is wrong with me?
I had my answers. I should’ve looked away, should’ve turned on my heels and snuck back up the stairs. But I couldn’t look away.
It was scandalous… two best friends touching themselves like that. Completely out in the open.
If it wasn’t for the shock, I would’ve left.
Right?
But before logic could goad me away from the door, reason spurred me on. This was an opportunity, if I was bold enough to seize it.
Spencer and Leo had all this power over me, my keepers. If I caught them like this, used their attraction to me to garner a little favor, it could help me get some more freedom.
And if I had any hope of figuring out why this house was haunting me or who these people really were, I would need all the freedom I could get.
Part of me felt a little evil for it. It was wrong to use them like this. But I was just giving them what they wanted, right? Who did it hurt if we both benefited from the exchange?
Taking in a breath, I stepped forward, awash in blue light as I strode in front of the TV. As soon as they heard my steps, Leo bolted for the remote. “Shit.”
“Fuck.” Spencer started to pull her hand from her boxers.
But before either of them could finish, I shook my head. “Quite the dirty little secret. Don’t let me interrupt you.”
They exchanged a wide-eyed look, clearly more shocked by my words than my presence.
Even from across the room, I could see their chests pounding with excitement. They’d been close, clearly.
Leo’s fingers gripped the remote, still debating whether to cave to me or not. There was no getting out of this without the two of them having to skulk away into the darkness of the mansion. And no matter what, they’d have to face me in the morning.
Spencer tried to steady her voice. “Are you serious?”
Nodding, I took a seat in the plush chair across from them and right next to the TV. “Why don’t you show me what you think I’m missing?”
A smirk washed over Leo’s face as she lifted her chin to me, setting the remote back on the arm of the couch.
Spencer’s eyes flicked over to Leo, whose hand was back at work under the fabric of her black boxers.
“Jesus Christ," Spencer mumbled as she shoved her own hand back into her underwear. My eyes explored her mismatched patchwork of tattoos, the way they flexed over the tense muscles of her forearm. The sword at her shoulder was on full display.
Licking my lips, I turned to look at the porn on the TV. The moans weren’t as animated as the lesbian stuff I'd seen in the past. And I couldn’t recognize the interface of whatever website they were on. “What is this?”
“We pay for it,” Spencer groaned through gritted teeth.
“We?” I teased. “Do you split the cost of those sex toys you wear around, too?”
Spencer threw her head back with a breathy laugh. “Not gonna feel like a toy when it's… ah!”
Her sentence was cut off by a groan, her hips bucking as an image — I had a few guesses of what — pushed her closer to the edge.
Adrenaline coursed through my chest as my eyes darted to Leo. Her abs were flexed, tensing as she moved her hand around her center.
Her skin glistened under the blue light, brightest where she was working up a sweat. Instead of her usual sports bra, she wore a nude tape over her breasts that compressed them down and toward her armpits.
I want to lick her.
The thought rose unexpectedly, unbidden. I tried to convince myself that it was because the tape obscured her chest, that it would be easy to mistake her for a man.
But in the heat of this secret moment, I didn’t want a man — I wanted Leo.
Focus, Kiera. The powerplay wouldn’t work if I lost myself in whatever foreign allure these two held over me.
Snapping back to focus, I trained my gaze on Leo’s neck and the mysterious tattoo that branded her from throat to stomach.
The tip of her sword fell just at the top of her six pack, the blade skirting right through the center of her chest tape.
Her chest was broad, her pecks visible under the cross-guard of the hilt.
The wings extended from them, up to her shoulders and traps.
Unlike Spencers, Leo’s tattoo was missing the balanced scales below the cross-guard.
I had half a mind to stand, to tower over her and run my finger along the edges of the ink. I could already picture her reaction — the desperation in her eyes, the deep groan that would rumble from her chest. Imagining her excitement was enough to hit me with a wave of my own.
Maybe I should just look and not touch.
But clearly, looking wasn’t as innocent as I thought. Leo caught my hungry gaze before I could hide it. And with each passing second, I questioned what the point in hiding it was anyway.