“Good girl,” he sighed before heading back to his closet and returning with one of his school ties. He sat on the bed beside me, holding it up to my mouth. “Open.”
I did so somewhat resentfully, but swallowing down the rebel in me to give him peace of mind. I shouldn’t have done it for him, but some part of me wanted to soothe that barbaric creature in him. I opened my mouth and he slid the tie between my teeth before tying it around my head, placing the knot to one side so it didn’t dig into me.
He pulled the covers over me then moved to get into his own side, sliding under the sheets with a breath of relief. He picked up the book of Poe’s poetry and read one to me while I lay bound and gagged beside him like this was totally normal.
“So lovely was the loneliness of a wild lake, with black rock bound…and the tall pines that towered around. But when the night had thrown her pall. Upon that spot, as upon all. And the mystic wind went by, murmuring in melody. Then- ah then I would awake…to the terror of the lone lake.”
His voice crept over me as the light went off and I sensed those words hanging in the air like an echo. I rolled towards him, curling my legs to my chest and my hands rested on a pillow he’d placed between us. I felt the coolness of his body reaching toward the heat of mine like he ached to dive into the fire and never be cold again. And a part of me wanted to invite him right in.
I realised I’d desired all four of the Night Keepers tonight. Nash, Blake, Kyan, Saint. I didn’t understand the part of me who craved so many men at once. It wasn’t something I’d ever imagined for myself. But the idea of choosing one of them meant refusing another. And somehow, I didn’t want to do that. This whole thing was abnormal, I was well aware of that. I was their captive and their queen. And while it lasted, maybe it was okay to lean into my urges and explore the darkest parts of myself. Because as all-consuming as this seemed now, it wasn’t going to last forever. One day soon, this kingdom would fall.
Football practice wasn’t as much fun in a storm, but Monroe was still a fucking dictator even when the season had officially been put on hold indefinitely. Practice games were about all this was ever going to amount to this year and as we were seniors, I didn’t really see the point in practicing in all weathers. We’d never play a real game as a team again. Although, I didn’t mind the winning part of the practice sessions so much. Which my team had done. Again. As standard.
We’d skipped the showers in the sports hall for once, choosing to run back to The Temple as it was raining so damn hard. We would just end up freezing cold, dripping wet and splattered in mud again on the way back anyway and even Saint’s ritual had to bend to accommodate that. Luckily, he’d conceded that a shower at home was less of an upheaval to his routine than having to shower and change twice.
Monroe turned down our offer of hanging out with us tonight and headed back to his own place as the three of us ran home. He hadn’t hung out with all of us together since we’d baited him with that sex tape and his Moody Mandy routine was getting old fast. We’d be calling him out on it soon if he didn’t quit bitching, but tonight wasn’t the night.
We made it to the path which led up to The Temple and the pounding beat of music reached my ears from inside, loud enough to be heard over the storm.
Kyan strode right up to the door and jammed his key into it. We’d made Tatum promise to keep it locked while we weren’t here, letting her stay behind instead of coming down to stand in the rain and watch our practice. But it made me uneasy to leave her alone while we still hadn’t figured out which fucker in this school had been stalking her.
Saint had gone full psycho, pouncing on anyone who so much as glanced her way since finding out about it and Kyan had already beat up five different guys this week. But so far, we weren’t having any luck in figuring out who the hell was taking such an interest in our girl. And to make it worse, she’d had her fucking panties stolen in P.E. again and had received another creepy ass note.
So all in all, I’d be glad to get back to her and even more so because tonight she was going to be sleeping in my bed. And I was fully prepared to take whatever punishment she wanted to give me so that I could hold her safe in my arms for the night.
Kyan grunted in frustration as he shoved the door and I frowned as it barely opened an inch before jamming. He dropped his football helmet to the ground and tried pushing it again.
“What the fuck is going on?” Saint demanded.
“It’s jammed,” Kyan replied. “I think there’s something on the other side of it.”
“What?” My heart pounded as I dropped my helmet too and moved forward to help shove the door but like he’d said, the thing wouldn’t move an inch. “You don’t think the stalker-”
I didn’t even finish
