“Shiiit-tt-tt-tt,” Karl mutters, between twitches, his leg jumping slightly as he continues to work the bundle of nerves between my legs.
I suck him in until he softens in my mouth and I release him. My head angles in time to watch as he slowly pulls the handle from inside of me and sucks it into his mouth.
“Holy shit,” I whimper, turned on all over again.
“One day, I’ll have your virgin blood on this knife,” he grunts.
My body continues to jerk until it finally settles, and I’m a pool of jelly on top of him.
He carefully lifts me, positioning my body on the bed between him and August. The three of us lie languidly in varying stages of bliss, my hands resting on their arms as August plays with my hair and Karl massages circles into the inside of my wrist.
“Now that’s a way to convince me to get the implant,” I joke, and they both sigh with a contented laugh.
ROWAN
Karl and August sit like proud peacocks across from me, both their faces painted with a euphoric calmness. I’m tempted to ask them what has them looking like they just had the best nut of their lives, but I feel like I already know the answer.
Her. It’s always her- Emma Bish-Bradford.
She’s the reason every man in this room, myself included, has their emotions plastered on usually more stoic faces.
I can’t deny I was wrong about who she was, but I wasn’t wrong about the chaos her presence is causing. It’s obvious she didn’t know who she was. She never adhered to one rule since stepping foot in this town- constantly challenging me at every turn.
Now we know she’s a goddamn original bloodline.
The original bloodline. The Bradfords established this town, and while it may carry my last name, it was only named that because William Bradford willed it. Her existence raises more questions. How were they able to stay hidden so well? What happened to shift the power out of their control? I hope Liam was able to dig up more information on what happened to the Bradford line.
Staring in his direction, I take Liam in. He looks like he’s in the battle of his life. He’s focused on his computer, eyes flitting across the screen as his fingers move deftly against the keys. Whatever he sees causes his jaws to clench with enough force that it sets my teeth on edge.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I lean over and ask.
“Nothing,” he grumbles, side-eying me. “We need to iron out the details on how we plan to dig up information on Elise and how long our fathers have known of her existence.”
He’s redirecting- Liam’s favorite pastime. I scowl but let it go for the time being. If he doesn’t want to talk yet- fine.
“Are you two love birds fighting?”
“Trouble in paradise?”
Karl and August tease at the same time, their words jumbling together.
I flip them both the middle finger and wait for Liam to start us off.
The door to the room swings open, and a frustrated Sebastian storms into the room.
“Can we send a message to whoever killed the other girls and ask them how much they’d charge to get rid of my problem?” he gripes.
I wonder what she’s done now?
“Vivian still not taking the hint?” Karl asks, lifting a butterfly knife to his nose and inhaling it. His eyelids half-mast, fluttering as his lips part just enough, releasing an inaudible sigh.
This guy and his knives.
Only he would sniff metal and be turned on. “We don’t need that twisted fuck… I’ll gladly slice her in half for free,” he volunteers.
Sebastian’s scowl turns upward into a mischievous smirk, his cerulean eyes glint with the promise of being rid of Miss Taylor. “I’ll definitely let you know if it really does come down to it.”
“If you assholes are done, we have bigger problems than
Vivian Taylor,
” Liam snaps.
“What has his balls in a knot?” Sebastian inquires, surveying the room. “Or is it that no one has them in a knot that’s got you wound so tightly?”
Glaring, Liam retorts, “Fuck off, Bash. My balls aren’t your concern. I’m just trying to get us to focus on the task that could get us all in serious shit.”
Liam’s words sober the atmosphere of the room. Since our impromptu trip to his house, we’ve all been sleuthing, but Liam’s been doing the bulk of the work.
Sebastian takes his seat, and Liam instructs Geoffrey to secure the room. We’re meeting at his house because we know there’s no chance of The Council accessing this room. All of our electronic devices were left in a secure box at the entry point of this part of his house. The Tombs is not the place to be having this discussion.
“Tell me you found something on what happened to the Bradfords,” I voice, hoping to get answers to my earlier train of thought.
Liam doesn’t respond, not at first. He pulls up files to the screen at the front of the room.
I read the words and then reread them, ensuring what I’m seeing is indeed true.
“Someone was killing off the Bradfords?” Karl mumbles. I’m not sure he intended to ask his question out loud because it was barely above a whisper.
Liam clicks to another screen showing case after case of Bradfords that were killed. Some by poisoning. Others by more gruesome methods. A whole line almost wiped from existence.
“Are Emma and her dad all that are left?” I question. So many of them died. I don’t know how we kept this out of the public eye. Then I remember who we- Fraternitas is. They own everything. If they want it hidden- it never existed.
Liam brings up yet another image. “That’s the thing. I’m not sure. Until we were told who Emma and her father really were, there was no evidence of Bradfords anywhere. I had to hack into the restricted town archives to get this much,” he sighs. His face still is marred with frustration, and not just from this.
“So, there can either be a town full of unknown Bradfords or only two remaining ones left?” August chimes in.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.