Darkmore Penitentiary (Supernatural Prison for Dark Fae Book 1)

by Caroline Peckham

  “I know,” I said, dragging my gaze away from her again. “It’s just the past. And I don’t want to dwell there anymore.”

  She’d said something similar to me not long ago, so I knew she’d respect my wishes. The problem was, I knew what haunted her in the night. I knew her father, Felix, had hurt her. My brother had told me about what he’d done to her that night at the Letterman farm all those years ago. I’d beaten the hell out of several Fae the day I’d heard. It had cut me up inside, made me want to tear through these walls and rip her father limb from limb.

  My gaze dropped to the tattooed rose vine running up her side and my heart twisted as I could just make out some of the scars hidden beneath it. One day, we needed to talk about it. But today was not that day.

  “How about I cheer you up?” she suggested conspiratorially before reaching into her pocket and holding out the cuff key. My heart thumped harder as she offered it to me and I quickly grabbed it and unleashed my magic. My power rushed keenly to my fingertips, purring beneath my skin like a hungry beast.

  “Fuck,” I breathed as ecstasy coiled through my blood. “I’ve gotta use it.”

  I caught Rosa’s hand as an idea occurred to me and I dropped back onto the mattress, dragging her down beside me. Her breathing hitched as I pressed against her and I knew if I turned my head, I’d find a blush lining her cheeks. I smirked as I raised a hand, feeling better already with the heat of her arm flush to mine.

  I brought ice to my fingertips and sighed as it rippled against my palm. I encouraged it towards the ceiling and let the frost grow all across it in a shimmering blue coat. The temperature dropped quickly and Rosa shivered beside me, making my pulse quicken as I continued to wield the magic. I’d graduated from Aurora Academy with flying colours and one thing I’d excelled at in particular was my Astrology classes. I’d memorised every constellation in the heavens and I urged them into existence now, painting them across the ceiling in shimmering ice that glittered like starlight.

  Rosa inhaled deeply as the night sky spread out above us and despite the cold, warmth flooded my veins.

  “Do you like it, little pup?” I asked in a deep tone.

  “It’s beautiful,” she breathed.

  I dropped my arm between us and my hand grazed hers, her fingers twitching in response to my touch. With magic racing through my limbs, I felt high, all caution abandoned as I ran my thumb across the back of her hand, painting an icy trail there. She shivered again and I kept my gaze trained on the ceiling despite how much I wanted to turn toward her and decorate more of her flesh with my magic.

  “Do you trust me, Roar?” she asked in a seductive tone that had my cock paying way too much fucking attention.

  “Of course I do,” I growled.

  I felt her magic press against the barriers of my skin and knew what she was asking of me. I wanted to power share with her so badly, it hurt. But doing that was wrong if I had even the slightest inclination towards claiming her. Her power would call to me, drive me crazy with need. But it had been so long since I’d felt anything at all and she was suddenly offering me so fucking much.

  Power sharing wasn’t an easy thing to do with just anyone, but with her it felt as natural as breathing. So I gave up fighting it and let my barriers down, welcoming her magic into my blood.

  I groaned as her power tumbled through my veins like an earthquake. She was nature itself, humming through me and making every hair on my body stand on end.

  “Rosa,” I choked out and she sighed in response as my own magic rushed under her skin.

  “You feel like a waterfall,” she said breathily.

  “You feel like a fucking landslide.” I rolled towards her, intertwining my fingers with hers, seeking more of her flesh as I lost myself to her power. Everywhere our skin touched, our power connected and thrummed with even more energy.

  I hooked one leg over hers, catching her other hand and pushing it down into the mattress. She gazed up at me through hooded eyes and her full lips parted just for me. A blush painted her cheeks the perfect colour of a rose and I groaned again as another wave of her magic washed into me.

  “Rosa,” I rasped, like saying her name could do anything to stop me. But I knew I’d made the decision before I even did it. I had to feel those lips against mine, I had to fall into this wild storm which held us in its grip.

  She tilted up to meet me, her back arching before I crushed her down into the bed and drove my tongue into her mouth. We’d kissed before, but not like this. Not like the world would stop turning if I didn’t keep going.

  I shifted on top of her so my weight held her immobilised as her tongue met mine for every stroke. She tasted like every bad idea I’d ever had. She was so off limits, so forbidden and so, so fucking delicious.

  Her teeth grazed my lower lip, then she bit down like a wild animal and my rock hard dick throbbed between her legs.

  “Roary,” she moaned and I growled into her mouth, the sound of my name on her lips driving me crazy.

  I ran my mouth down to her throat, sucking, devouring, possessing. She tasted like a summer’s day, like the sweetness of my past, like every good thing in this world.

  Fuck, this is so wrong. I have to stop. I must fucking stop.

  I dug deep for the tiny shred of resilience I had left and released her hands, forcing my barriers up between us to block off the flow of her magic. Our heavy breaths tangled between us and I didn’t move as I pressed my hands into the pillow either side of her head. My hard on was a dead giveaway to how much further I wanted this to go, but if I crossed that line I could never go back.

  I rolled off of her with a sigh that let her know just how pissed I was at myself. My dick was gonna start a war with me if I didn’t get laid soon. But since Rosa had arrived at Darkmore, my gaze never seemed to stray to another girl.

  “Pussy,” Rosa teased and I rammed my elbow into her ribs.

  “Magic gets me hard, not you,” I lied, but with enough edge to my tone that it sounded like the truth.

  She snorted like she didn’t believe me and sat up as if to leave. I caught her waist, following her upright and dragging her back against my chest. I dropped my mouth to her ear, winding my hands around her so she couldn’t escape. “I don’t want you to go.”

  I heard her swallow and could sense that she was about to refuse so I turned and placed a kiss against her temple, tasting the sweetness of her skin once more.

  “Stay,” I urged.

  “On one condition,” she said, turning her head to gaze at me with that Alpha look which said she was in control. Her eyes swallowed me up and I nodded without question. She could have asked for a star right then and I would have found some way to knock one out of the heavens for her.

  “Admit you want me.” She raised a brow, a challenge in her eyes despite the fact that her cheeks were still red and I could see so much of the girl who’d crushed on me all those years ago shining out at me.

  My gaze fell to her lips and I wet my mouth before scraping my eyes back up to meet hers. “You’re a beautiful girl, Rosa, but I’ll never tarnish you.”

  “What if I want to be tarnished? Maybe I like a little tarnishing.” She smirked and I tossed her down onto the bed, pushing the covers down and wrapping them around us.

  “Not by me,” I said defiantly as she rolled away to face the wall and I spooned the fuck out of her, my hands winding around her waist

  My dick was still making a good effort at convincing me to change my mind, and it was sure as hell making itself known to Rosa as I held her close and was forced to own my hard on like a straight up Fae.

  “Whatever you say, Roar,” she giggled and the sound got me even fucking harder.

  By the stars…

  “Tell me about the time you and Dante broke into the crystal farm,” I asked in a strained voice, shutting my eyes and willing my blood to make a path north.

  “You mean when I accidently spilled a whole tank of melted ammonite and turned an entire road
into a rainbow lake?”

  I chuckled, winding my hands tighter around her. “That’s it,” I encouraged.

  “Aunt Bianca nearly evicted me for that one.”

  “She never would,” I chuckled. “She loves you too much.”

  “If the FIB had caught us, I might have ended up in here sooner,” she laughed then started telling the story. The familiarity of it soothed my aching heart and with her in my arms, every worry I’d had in here suddenly seemed so far away. With her, I didn’t have to be so alone anymore.

  ***

  I woke to a cold drip on my face then the sound of the bell alerting me to the morning count. I swore sharply, bolting upright and Rosa lurched up too.

  “Get back through the hole,” I hissed, lifting a hand and siphoning away the water which had dripped over us from the melted ice on the ceiling during the night. I sent it all down the sink as Rosa scrambled to put on her jumpsuit which she must have stripped out of during the night.

  She ran to the hole just as a baton tapped against the bars beyond the sheet. “Sixty Nine! Get up!” Officer Cain barked and panic swept through me.

  Rosa gave me a wide-eyed look then directed her hands at the hole, closing it up before twisting the key in her cuffs. I expelled the silencing bubble around us with my heart in my throat. Holy shit!

  “Sixty Nine!” Cain shouted, reaching through to grab the sheet just as Rosa tossed me the key.

  My heart pounded wildly as I twisted it in my cuffs, blocking off my magic before doing the only thing I could think to do and placing the key in my mouth. The warm metal pressed against my tongue just as Cain ripped the sheet down and I lunged at Rosa, throwing her onto the bed and hooking her leg up around my thigh.

  Fuck fuck fuck. She isn’t supposed to be in here!

  The sheet tumbled to the ground and Cain glared in at us, his brows pinching together as he spotted us on the bunk in the compromising position. Rosa wriggled out from beneath me and I took the opportunity to turn my head and swallow that motherfucking key down. It hurt like a bitch, but it went down and I tried not to think about how I was gonna get it back out.

  “Oopsie, sorry Officer, we were a bit busy.” Rosa batted her lashes as I moved to her side in front of the bars and Cain looked between us, shaking his head in confusion.

  “No…you weren’t in there last night.” He pointed at Twelve and my gut clenched tightly, but I’d lied my way out of trickier situations than this. Maybe not many, but still.

  “What? That’s ridiculous,” I laughed and Cain’s eyes narrowed on me.

  “Are you questioning my sanity, Sixty Nine?” he snarled, a furious beast leering out from behind his eyes.

  “No sir,” I said with an innocent shrug.

  Cain growled dangerously, taking the radio from his belt. “Open cell thirteen on three.”

  A buzz sounded a few seconds later and the door slid open. We stepped back as Cain moved into my cell menacingly, his eyes roaming over our faces as he hunted for answers.

  My heart thudded in my ears as I held my ground, having no choice but to front this out and pray he’d buy it.

  “Strip,” he snapped at us both, pointing to the wall. “Then turn around and spread your legs.”

  I glanced at Rosa before dropping my boxers and moving to the wall, placing my hands flat on the surface. Rosa joined me a second later and I glanced at her as adrenaline surged through my blood.

  Cain set about destroying my room, upturning everything with his Vampire speed and hunting every crevice he could find.

  “What are you looking for?” Rosa asked sweetly.

  “You know what I’m fucking looking for.” He shot up behind her, grabbing a fistful of her hair. “Don’t play stupid with me, Twelve.” He tugged her head back sharply then growled as he spotted the hicky I’d left on her neck last night. For a moment I could have sworn a flash of jealousy entered his gaze.

  “Let go of her,” I snarled dangerously and Cain’s fury shifted onto me. He took the baton from his hip and slammed it into my back. “Motherfucker,” I hissed.

  “You question my authority again and the shock function will be switched on next time,” Cain warned.

  The sound of him trashing my room ensued then a beat of silence passed before he growled in frustration. “Get dressed!”

  I turned, grabbing my boxers and pulling them on while Rosa slipped into her underwear and tugged on her jumpsuit. Cain fixed me with a dark stare, striding forward as an innocent smile spread across my face. “If you’re hiding that key, maybe Dr Quentin can loosen your tongue down in interrogation. Either that or I’ll get Hastings in here to conduct a full cavity search.”

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Rosa said in a whisper so quiet I almost couldn’t hear it, but Cain’s Vampire hearing could definitely pick it up. He whirled toward her with a snarl, then lifted a hand, casting a silencing bubble around us in an instant.

  “Dare to threaten me again,” he said in a deadly tone.

  She pressed her shoulders back, a wild glint in her gaze. “You can’t send him anywhere or conduct any more searches because he knows all about the way you like to hunt and bite me.”

  I nearly lost my cool, my mouth dropping open but I managed to slam it shut again just as Cain glanced over his shoulder at me in a rage.

  “You little bitch-” Cain took a step toward her and I lurched after him, catching his shoulder and yanking him backwards. He shoved me off of him with a snarl, raising his baton to point at me. “Stand down or I’ll-”

  “You’ll what?” I cut over him. “Do anything and I’ll tell the Warden about your filthy little secret.”

  His upper lip peeled back to reveal his fangs and I gave him a smug smile. Hell, I kinda wanted to floor him for the mere fact that he’d sunk his teeth into Rosa. But if the other guards came over here to help, there wouldn’t be much I could do to stop them throwing me in the hole.

  Cain moved to the door of my cell, his features twisting as he raised a finger to point at Rosa. “I’m going to find that key, Twelve. Mark my words.” He disbanded the silencing bubble then shot away across the walkway to Plunger’s cell who was doing a naked yoga routine while Hastings tried to scan his face.

  I turned to Rosa with a punishing look, anger unfolding in my chest. “That asshole bites you?”

  She shrugged.

  “We can go to the Warden, he’s not allowed to-”

  “And then where would my leverage be?” she asked with an eyeroll, heading out the door. She glanced back at me with a wicked smile. “Besides, maybe I like it.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder as she headed back to her cell and I was hit with a rush of jealousy so fierce, I almost went after her.

  I’d obviously noticed the way Cain looked at her, but I’d never thought Rosa was looking back. I’d dismissed the way she talked to him as an act; she was just playing him for info. But apparently I’d been wrong about that. And that fucked me off for a deep, dark reason I didn’t want to admit to. I liked the way Rosa idolised me, she made me feel like a king again. But apparently I wasn’t the only king she was making.

  I clutched onto the bars beside the open door, taking an even breath as I stared at Officer Cain across the walkway. That fucker was competition for a girl I couldn’t have. And hell if that didn’t make me want to forget the rules I’d made and claim her for my own.

  My stomach was satisfyingly full even if the taste of the plain oatmeal left a lot to be desired. I’d had a little jar of honey which should have improved the taste, but Cain had snatched it from me before I could add it to my meal. I’d considered going head to head with him over my morning sugar, but it wasn’t worth the hassle so I’d just eaten it plain. Yuck.

  But if the price for a night in Roary Night’s arms was a grumpy Vampire then I would happily pay it. The memory of his kisses still burned against my bruised lips and the heat he’d lit beneath my flesh wasn’t fading any time soon.

  And sure, he’d tried to bru
sh me off again, but I wasn’t buying it anymore. Spending a night locked in his arms while his hard on drove into my ass was a sure-fire way to convince me of his interest, and if he wanted to keep fighting what was happening between us then that was okay. I could wait. When it came to Roary Night, I’d been doing that for a hell of a long time anyway. And the idea that he was hungering for me now too was more than I’d ever even dreamed of happening before. So if he needed some time to get over his age gap issues, he could have it.

  After Cain and the other guards had done the count, I’d held Roary’s hair for him while he stuck his fingers down his throat and brought the key back up. A little clean with some of his water magic and I’d managed to hide it away again in my cell, though I had to admit that it didn’t feel so secure now that Cain was on to us.

  But it wasn’t like I had anywhere else to hide it so I just had to hope that my sway over him held him back.

  In the meantime, I had work to do.

  I sauntered out into the corridor and turned right towards the line of Fae waiting to retrieve their mail from the slot.

  Plunger’s voice rang out as I passed the queue and I frowned as Officer Hastings’ voice replied angrily. “If you don’t stop, I’ll close down the mail hatch for the day and no one will get their letters for a week!”

  Anger flushed through me at that suggestion. I was expecting another letter from Dante today with the final pieces of information I needed about the ipump500. I was already under pressure to get my plans moving with Sook acting crazier and crazier each day and I couldn’t afford a week’s delay on that damn letter.

  “I don’t know what you mean, Officer,” Plunger purred. “I’m not doing anything except airing the fairy and trying to collect my post.”

  “I won’t warn you again,” Hastings snarled, sounding a lot more like a force to be reckoned with and a lot less like my little choir boy than usual. If he kept that up, he might just become a decent guard after all.

  I made it to the front of the queue and stopped dead as I found Plunger facing off against Hastings. He’d unbuttoned the bottom of his jumpsuit and had flopped his junk out through the hole, hanging a sock over it to mostly shield his flesh but making my stomach turn all the same.