15
Alarie
Iarrived at the library the next day to find a stack of books with a note atop them. I recognized the high lord’s slanted masculine scrawl:
“You will continue working on your lessons while I am away for a few days. Yours, J.”
I reflected on his note. I had every intention of continuing with my studies. I still had to pass the liaison exam. I wasn’t worried about passing the test, but I did have some subjects to brush up on. At my school, they had not taught the history of the High Court in as much detail as I needed to know, and they had not gone into magical theory at all in my prior lessons.
Then I realized the note was referring to my other lessons, the ones that he so diligently helped me with most days in the library. I recalled his earlier statement: “Even when my duties take me away from the manor, you will come for me.” I set the letter aside, feeling obstinate, and thinking that maybe I wouldn’t continue with that particular lesson.
I was feeling ornery from a combination of my disappointment that the high lord would not be joining me for the day’s lesson and also remembering just how thoroughly and submissively I’d taken the high lord’s lesson the day before. But then I focused in on the “yours” at the end of his note.
If I was being honest with myself, I was his. My body was leagues ahead of my mind when it came to being truthful about how I felt about the high lord. My body was ready to give him everything, letting him tell me when and where to do whatever he wanted, and I would love every minute of it. But my mind didn’t want to let him in so completely, to give up my hard-earned independence. It’s not that I didn’t trust him. I did. I just didn’t know how to let someone in and give over any of the control I had white-knuckled for so long.
Putting aside the question of whether I would continue with my lessons as Jay had ordered, I turned to my reading for the day. My lesson focused on the strategy and tactics of warfare. Jay had explained that it was not his intent to ready me for a battlefield but that the High Court was like a battlefield, and he intended to prepare me to strike down our enemies and walk away unscathed.
I got it. In some ways, that’s how I felt about my life leading up to my time at the High Court—it had been a battle. But I had not walked away unscathed, I reflected, thinking of my reluctance to give myself to Jay. The ruthless independence I’d wielded to get to this point in my life had isolated me for years, trapping me in a safe, lonely box of ambition.
As the day wore on and I did not feel the brush of Jay’s leg against mine and there were no breaks in my studies for my other lessons, I found myself with an unsated warming gathering between my thighs. I refocused on the book before me, chastising myself for my lack of restraint.
* * * *
“How much do you want to bet that Rhett’s already there?” Luke asked as we walked into town that evening. “He avoids the High Court more than any other lord I know, the lucky bastard,” Luke ruminated.
Rhett’s father, High Lord Vincent Rein, ran the estate at the High Court, leaving Rhett free to gallivant about Vlaise doing whatever the young lord pleased. Rhett’s gallivanting usually involved many, many ladies of the Court and drinking in town with Luke, and sometimes me, at Bar Louie. Luke, on the other hand, ran the estate of House Bellamy at the High Court and had his duties as senior counselor to House Vitruvian. Between his two roles, Luke stayed busy and attended nearly every High Court function there was.
It wasn’t that Rhett was lazy—he wasn’t. He was just too damn smart, and too gorgeous, for his own good. He knew exactly when there was something he had to handle himself versus something someone else could do for him. His hands-off approach to managing the affairs of House Rein at the High Court allowed him to have a hands-on approach with the majority of the ladies at the Court. I commended, rather than judged, Rhett for his master skills of delegation.
And although I thought my friend was a devilishly handsome genius, I wasn’t interested in throwing my hat in Rhett’s ring along with all his other lady suitors. He was perfect, too perfect for my taste. Anyway, there was no way I could compete with the prominence of the ladies who threw themselves at Rhett. Whatever woman Rhett ended up with would likely have credentials sufficient to be the next queen of Valencia.
“Umm, I’ll bet you a beer he hasn’t made it out of whoever’s bed he landed in last night,” I speculated, thinking of how Rhett had departed the night before with an enchanting platinum blonde.
We arrived at Bar Louie. It was busy and the after-lunch crowd was already into their beers.
“Look who it is!” Rhett shouted almost the moment Luke crossed the threshold of the bar.
“Pay up, little girl,” Luke said, always with the short jokes, even though I was wearing my usual four-inch heels.
I walked to the bar, ordered three beers, then headed back to the table where the boys sat. The only time Luke—or Rhett, for that matter—let me pay for anything was if I lost a bet. As a result, I was rather free in making my bets with them. At first, I’d tried to fight them on the issue, insisting I pay my fair share. But Luke would always respond something to the effect of, “When you own your own castle, maybe I’ll let you start picking up a tab or two.”
I didn’t own my own castle, but I was landed. When I’d earned my role as a lady at the High Court, I’d been given a small piece of land somewhere in the south that was supposed to be big enough to build on. I’d never been there and really had no reason to go there. The land was more symbolic than anything—a bit of land to support my title as a lady, since I hadn’t earned that honor through my lineage.
Rhett would also brush off my efforts to pay, jokingly referring to his money as being “Daddy’s money,” even though I knew damn well that Rhett had his own ventures and his own money.
The truth was, I rarely had to pay for anything anymore. I was almost always with Luke or Rhett or Jay. Jay had provided me with more than I’d ever needed or wanted and insisted that I use his account, and not my personal account, any time I was out. I didn’t even know how much money I had in my personal account at the local bank, consisting of my savings from before arriving at the High Court and almost the entirety of my wages earned since coming to the High Court.
“I thought for sure you’d still be up at the Court… Perhaps still in bed,” I quipped, setting the three tall lagers down at the table.
“Nah, baby. We have that party tonight, so I’m shirking all my High Court obligations until then,” Rhett responded, reminding me of the party that night at Lord Preston’s.
I ignored his sweet talk. He was always calling me “baby” or “doll” or some droll. I hardly even noticed it anymore.
“Who do you have lined up tonight?” Rhett asked Luke.
“Al’s my date tonight. Aren’t you, Al?” Luke joked, taking a sip from his mug and then running his hand through his light-brown hair.
Luke didn’t need to say it. I was always his “date” to High Court events because our respective liaison and counselor roles for House Vitruvian landed us there. We’d spent countless days and nights together, sharing breakfast, lunch, brunch, tea, dinner, after-dinner drinks, and everything in between. Rhett had spent a fair amount of time with us at the High Court as well, although not as much because he often shirked his High Court duties.
“Al, baby, I thought you were going to be my date?” Rhett jested.
“I’ll be both of your dates if you promise to save me from having to dance with anyone else,” I retorted.
It was very common for Luke and me to dance the night away so that I could avoid awkward invitations to dance from other lords. I didn’t mind talking to, or even flirting with, the other lords. I’d gotten quite good at the casual flirting that came with the games of the High Court. But I hated dancing with anyone but Luke or Rhett. We often saved each other from unwanted invitations to dance… or to go home for the night. And then I would end up with Luke and Rhett by the end of most nights. We would migrate toward each other and any dates the boys had could join or not.
“I don’t mind sharing,” Luke said, wagging his eyebrows at me. “You have yourself a deal!” he continued, a smile spreading across his face, like this was some kind of new deal and wasn’t what we did for each other already.
“As long as you help me dodge my father,” Rhett said.
“He currently has a stick up his ass named Cassian Davante,” Rhett continued.
“What did you say?” I asked, jerking my head toward Rhett and almost spitting out my beer.
“You know, Don Davante, how the lesser fae in the north have started to unite, boycotts, shortages, not going to work, leaving their towns to join others near House Dumont. Keep up, baby,” Rhett teased like I’d hit my head and forgotten about the current events of the Court.
“Yeah, yeah. I know all of that, Rhett. But what did you say the don’s first name was?” I asked eagerly.
“Don Cassian Davante,” he repeated. “Some lesser fae with Lord Dumont’s House. A serious motherfucker built like a brick shithouse, I hear,” Rhett replied with a laugh.
I was dumbfounded. Don Davante couldn’t be Cass. He just couldn’t be. Not my Cass. There were a million Davantes in this world. It was a common surname, which was why it had never crossed my mind that Don Davante could possibly be Cassian Davante. It also seemed unfathomable that my childhood best friend was the man behind all of the High Court’s recent troubles.
“You know him?” Rhett asked, his handsome brows furrowed.
“Yeah,” I whispered in disbelief. “I think so.”
“How?” Rhett and Luke both exclaimed, mimicking each other.
“He’s… He was my best friend back home.”
* * * *
I usually fared pretty well on the short walk between the Court and downtown Vlaise, but my feet were absolutely killing me as Luke and I walked back to the High Court that evening. Rhett decided to stay back at the bar and avoid the High Court a little bit longer.
“I love these heels but, damn it if they aren’t just torture devices posing as really cute shoes,” I lamented.
“Then why did you wear them to walk into town, genius?” Luke teased.
“So, I can see past your belly button, genius,” I retorted.
Luke was over a foot taller than me.
“If I get blisters, I’m hosed for the party tonight,” I groaned. “I’ll be lucky to be able to stand in my heels, much less dance.”
I contemplated taking off my heels and walking barefoot, a thought I knew would have horrified the prim and proper ladies of the Court.
Suddenly, Luke swept me off my feet. His strong arms under my legs, he continued walking.
“Luke, what the hell!” I cried out in surprise.
“I can’t dance by myself all night,” Luke explained, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
I giggled. I wasn’t the giggling type, but I giggled anyway.
“You’re just going to carry me all the way back to the Court?” I asked.
“Easily,” Luke grinned, looking down at me.
I smiled. And it wasn’t one of the fake smiles that I’d gotten so good at giving the lords I flirted with at the Court. He had earned a genuine smile. I considered it for a moment. It beat walking back barefoot, I decided. Luke continued walking with me in his arms like I was as light as a feather.
“Ok, yeah,” I relented. “But this position’s awkward, Luke. It’s like I’m your bride and you’re carrying me over the threshold, but for a half a mile. Let’s switch it up,” I suggested.
He threw me over his bulging, muscled shoulders like a sack of flour. I lay bent over his shoulder, Luke securing me with a single hand around both of my ankles.
“How’s this?” he asked as I started laughing again.
Slung over his shoulder, I slapped his ass.
“Luke,” I admonished.
In retaliation, Luke brought his other hand up and spanked my ass, his large hand grazing against the underside of my ass cheeks.
“Luke!” I yelped. “Just give me a piggyback ride.”
Luke wrapped a hand around each of my ankles and pulled me off his shoulder, sliding me down the front of his body until I straddled him, our faces inches apart. Luke stopped walking.
“Is this what you had in mind?” he asked, the timbre of his voice warming my insides.
I swallowed down the cool night air then gave him my best “you know damn well this is not what I had in mind,” stare.
“A piggyback ride,” I emphasized, squeezing my legs around Luke’s torso to hold myself up, which wasn’t necessary because his strong hands were already gripping my thighs and easily supporting my weight.
“You’re so light,” Luke said, tightening his hands on my thighs. “I could just throw you around all day,” he said, hefting my weight up and down against his body for emphasis.
My legs wrapped around him, and his hands wrapped around me. We looked into each other’s grinning faces until our smiles were replaced with the recognition of the closeness of our bodies.
“Get on my back then,” he said, finally breaking the tension.
I hurriedly scurried onto his back in an undignified manner. I wrapped my legs around his back, and he wrapped his arms around my legs, then hiked up my weight. I flew up, then bounced back down on his back. I placed my face near his neck so that I could speak to him.
“I’m not a sack of potatoes, you know,” I said, resuming our usual joking demeanor.
“I know,” he agreed. “A sack of potatoes would be heavier than you,” he japed.
When we arrived at the High Court, Luke ran his hands down the length of my legs, gently placing me on the ground.
“Thanks for the ride, pack mule,” I said.
“You can ride me any time you like, Al,” Luke joked unashamedly but with a heat in his voice that brought me back to the feeling of my legs wrapped around his muscular torso, his fingers digging into my thighs.
“Luke,” I warned.
“Come over for a drink before the party?” he suggested, unapologetic.
I’d intended to go back to the manor and freshen up. But I didn’t have much time. Anyway, I didn’t know if Jay was home. If he was, I really hadn’t thought out how I wanted to handle the Cass situation with Jay yet.
“Ok, but I’m walking. People already talk too much about us, as is,” I replied.
Because of our near-constant presence with each other and the roles we sometimes played, often making a show out of being a little too friendly if we thought it advanced the position of House Vitruvian in whatever High Court maneuvering we were in the middle of, the whispers flying around the Court about us were pervasive. Even though Luke dated other women, it didn’t stop the Court rumors that we were an item.
“Your loss,” Luke joked, smiling. But he reached out his hand, allowing me to hold it and balance as I slid my heels back on.
As I crawled into my bath that night, after the party, after dancing the night away with Luke, my mind once more went back to Jay’s note, and his demand. My body began to react, pulsing between my thighs at the thought of not continuing with my lesson just to see what he would do, what new lesson he may teach me. But as my need continued to build within me, I thoughtof his words of praise for me. “Good girl,” he would say, and I would melt. And then I slid a hand between my thighs until I came undone with thoughts of my next lessons with the high lord when he returned.