Chapter 14
fourteen
Unknown Number
Where the fuck are you?
Me
who dis?
Unknown Number
You know who this is. Add me. And get your ass to your room. You missed class.
Me
Is this Matt?
Unknown Number
You don’t know a Matt. I swear to the gods Ashlyn. You don’t want to get this type of punishment.
Me
Ooooooh…. This is JOSH, isn’t it.
Unknown Number
baby girl… Where the fuck are you? I’m coming for you right now.
You better grab some Vaseline because that ass? It’s getting lit the fuck up.
Your little asshole is getting turned out.
Answer me. RIGHT THE FUCK NOW.
It’s only about two more minutes of me giggling and watching the dots appear and disappear in a furious strand of rants before he breaks again.
Unknown Number
ok… ok. I overreacted. I see that now.
Take your time getting back…
You come home when you think you’re ready.
I smile and enter the number as AIC into my phone.
To rid myself of all this shit scraping at my insides, I grab my clit sucker from my nightstand and sprawl over my bed, remembering the heat behind his eyes as he watched me. The thickness of his cock almost diving in. How he felt when he was buried inside me.
And how desperately I want that again.
No… How madly I want him again.
To have him look at me the way he once did.
Remembering his whispers, his kisses. Soft. Sweet. Gentle. How he held me through the first time we gave ourselves to each other in the back seat of that abandoned car near Crest. The way he told me he’d fight everyone to protect me. Like no one ever had before.
“I got you, baby girl. Hold on tight.”
What if he could fall for me again? What if this is fixable?
Instead of just wanting under his skin? Now, I want inside of him.
I come hard, sobbing through sorrows as old as the sins I buried them with.
After annoying dinners with my family all weekend, I’m looking forward to the quietness of my dorm. Even if it comes with judgmental looks from Athena.
I wonder if they’ll make us Omegas visit Mutton in the hospital. Maybe I’ll bring her flowers.
On the way from the parking lot to the freshman housing building, my phone vibrates in my pocket. A smile ghosts my lips, but when I see who it is, I sigh heavily.
Talon
U alive?
Me
Barely
Talon
Lol same. Where’d u go?
Me
Visited home. Oh and I lost a bet? And I’ll be busy paying for it the next couple of weeks.
Talon
Busy how?
Me
An omega theta thing. You know how it is.
There’s a long enough pause that my mouth goes dry. I hesitate before getting on the elevator, wondering if he’s going to know what happened…or if he even cares.
Talon
As long as it’s not going to be a problem. You know, for our future.
Me
It’s not a problem.
At least, it’s not for me.
Talon
Good. Dad’s been asking when we’re making it official. Talking about addressing the Board to approve things for us… After finals, yeah?
Me
Talon
Don’t do anything stupid. We’ve waited this long.
We have waited. But not for the same things. When the time comes, we’ll stand next to each other and play the roles we were assigned. And that’s enough for him. For now.
But he’s always felt like a whetstone around my neck. The yoke I couldn’t shake.
Maybe I’m delusionally waiting for Aiden to rescue me.
Again.
When I throw open my door, I freeze. Breath caught in my constricted chest.
There’s nothing on my side of the room… No chair. No curtain. No lamp.
My pulse pounds between my temples as I rush to the bare mattress, hurling my bag down and yanking open drawers.
Nothing.
My clothes? Gone.
Shoes in the closet? Vanished.
Who the fuck did this?
“Ashlyn?”
I scream and spin around, ready to hit whoever it is. The giant size of the man in front of me has me shrinking back. His partner is the shorter kid who was with Henry the day he handed me the Red Night invitation.
“Who the fuck are you?”
“We’re here to escort you to your new, uh…place.”
Of course… Theta pledges. Good, obedient little errand dogs.
I hold up a finger to stall them and stab at my phone.
“Hello?” Aiden answers with a voice like amber honey.
“What the fuck did you do with my stuff?”
There’s only silence as the call disconnects. I press his contact again. No answer. Third try, and it goes straight to voicemail. I blaze my thumbs over the messages, but he texts me first.
AIC
I’m not responding unless you address me properly.
Seething rage shoots through my nostrils.
Me
Give me back my stuff. Asshole.
He leaves me on read.
With a glance at the two guys clogging my doorway, I nod at them. “Let’s go! I don’t have all day!” I say and shove past them.
I’m fuming, fingers digging into the cream leather armrest in the back of a black Mercedes as we pull up to Theta Manor.
“It’s meeting night tonight. I don’t think I should miss,” I tell them. But the two pledges turn the classic rock up louder to drown me out.
By the time I’m escorted to Aiden’s room, I’m nervous. His threats didn’t sound fun. Or maybe I’d learn to enjoy them. Really hoping he’ll use some lube. Maybe I should’ve taken his advice about the petroleum jelly.
The boys open the doors, and Aiden strolls out of the bathroom on the far wall, wiping his hands on a towel.
He tosses it onto this desk. His broad, tall figure makes my belly flip after not seeing him in three days.
Shaggy black hair looks disheveled for once.
Like maybe he just got done with a workout.
His white T-shirt strains across his muscles, and the gray sweatpants he wears leave nothing to the imagination about his size… and girth.
He nods at the two men behind me, dismissing them, but doesn’t even cast a glance my way. Once they shut the doors, I toss my Louis Vuitton onto the bed, but Aiden hurriedly grabs the handles and carts it into a walk-in closet.
I follow.
“Where’s my stuff?” I ask, a little unsure of his mood.
The door cracks, and I peek inside, where all my clothes hang in his closet. Like they live there. Shoes. Panties in the clear drawers. Even my jewelry box!
“Hey!”
He turns toward me and shuffles me out of the little room, then closes the door behind him. Those fierce blue eyes narrow on my face. “You have been such a bad girl. So fucking naughty, baby. Look at me.” With a finger, he tips my chin up, making me cease all movement.
“My bitch can earn her things back when she does as she’s told. Until then? You’ll sleep here.” The grip he tightens on my upper arm is not gentle. He spins me toward the middle of the room, pointing to a large, red velvet cushion with bolsters that’s sitting on the floor. “On this.”
“That’s a dog bed.”
“Yes. For my pet…”
“Aiden, this wasn’t—”
He grips my throat and squeezes. “What was that?”
“L-Lord?”
“Great. Now. You can speak when I ask you to. You’ll get your clothes returned when you obey. Otherwise, I’m in charge of what you wear. When you wear it. How you wear it. Where you go. Who you talk to.”
He walks me backward until I hit the wall, with nowhere else to go. His cut arms block me in as he leans closer. I’m surrounded by him. His scent like uncharted territory. “When you get to breathe. How deep it will be. Food? Yeah. I’ll allow that, too. But only with permission. Everything, Ashlyn…”
The muscles in his neck tighten as he swallows, pressing his thumb to my lower lip to draw it down. His eyes follow the motion, mesmerized. “Everything about you is under my control now.”
Tingles shoot down my spine until I shiver. I try to ignore the way my body wants to sink into him. To yell, Yes, please! Rip everything from me until there’s only you…
“Tell me you understand.”
It takes a moment to gather the resolve to respond without my voice shaking. “Yes, my lord.”
“Great. Your first mission? Please me as I finish my homework. Then, you can work on yours.”
His warm palm slides down my arm until he joins our hands, my fingers lacing with his. And that’s it. I’m stunned to the past. Back to the lake. Midnight breeze. Stolen kisses.
And love.
As if he remembers, too, he quickly shakes off my hold and sits at his desk.
“Kneel,” he says, nodding toward the spot between his legs. “Take me out and suck, but don’t get me off. Just hold it in your mouth while I finish this paper.”
“You want me to—” I start to smart off, but his snapped gaze makes me shiver once more and soak my thong. Instead, I do as he commanded, getting into position, then pulling down the waistband of his joggers.
The crown of his length is weeping with need. He’s already firm, and I wonder if it’s from being with me. Or dare I hope that it’s from a memory?
When I lick the tip, he grunts, low and ragged. By the time my lips seal around the head, his breathing deepens while one of his hands cups the back of my head. “Not too much. Just…pacify yourself on it.”
Shifting, I settle my weight on one hip and rest my cheek against the inside of his thigh. Eyes closed. Mouth full.
Trying to forget everything that happened.
Trying to forget who I am.
Each slow drag of my tongue heals the rot that had been festering inside of me all weekend. His fingers thread through my hair, stroking absentmindedly. Like he doesn’t remember I’m there. And for a few stolen seconds…I disappear, too. Fading into euphoria.
The heat of him throbs against my cheeks in an erratic pulse. That slight movement becomes the only thing that matters to me. When will the next wave of blood pulse through him? Can I cause it?
I slip into the rhythm—warm, wet, quiet—and I zone out.
For how long, I don’t know.
But I find myself longing to stay like that.
Silent. Useful.
Forever.