by Chloe Gunter
A few more drinks and a couple of games later the incident was tabled. Ramsey turned out to be horrible at darts which made me, and Reed, immensely happy. Hell, Reed even got him to try sticking his tongue out to the side at one point to see if it would help.
Fingers danced above the edge of my leather leggings as they had done all night. Gavin had his arm slipped inside my jacket tucking me to his side as we continued chatting with Ramsey and Reed. Back and forth his fingers continued to trail over my skin, branding me and making me shift my stance to ease the rising pressure.
His lips caressed the outer shell of my ear as he leaned in closer. "Do you want to play some more or do you want to get out of here?"
"The only thing I want to play with now is you," I said softly under my breath. Gavin smelled like whitewater and cedar, an intoxicating combination from his cologne that made me want to lick along his clavicles, till I could place hot open mouth kisses on his neck.
"I think we're going to call it a night guys," Gavin said to Reed and Ramsey as his grip on my waist tightened. We needed to get home, preferably as soon as possible before I combusted.
"Reed is staying with me, enjoy Charlotte," Ramsey said, no doubt his choice of open-ended words deliberate. I definitely would enjoy myself as Gavin is about to enjoy me.
We walked back to my apartment as fast as we could, our hands never far from one another. Once inside, I grabbed his hand and led him to my bedroom, closing the door behind me. Wasting no time at all, I lightly pushed Gavin against the door frame, taking his mouth with mine as my hands found the button of his jeans.
The drag of his zipper being forced down and the groan that left his mouth were the only sounds filling the room as his hands came to cup the back of my head. Slipping my hand under his boxer briefs I reached down to cup him, gently rolling him in my hand before trailing my fingers to the base of his cock, my palm brushing his shaft.
He bucked his hips into my hand as he pushed my jacket off my shoulders, trailing his lips over the exposed skin of my white v-neck. As he pulled me closer I slipped my hand free and used it to tug off his underwear and jeans all at once. He stepped out of them and raised my shirt above my head, quickly unfastening my bra and leaving me clad in only my leather leggings.
When he went to lower his lips to my newly exposed skin, I placed a hand on his chest stopping his movement as I dropped to my knees, making sure he was watching my every move.
His cock was dripping, the evidence of his arousal glistening at his tip. I licked my lips at the sight, looking up to meet his eyes as I slowly leaned forward and tasted him, the sweet notes hitting my tongue as I swirled it gently around his head before flicking the tip over the underside of his cock.
"Cara, please," his voice sounded from above me, ragged and airy, "don't stop."
Redoubling my efforts, I braced one hand on his thigh as the other wrapped around the base of his cock. I felt myself growing wetter as his hands gathered my hair, setting the pace as my lips glided back and forth along him. Just when I felt him start to tense, he tugged my hair up gently to get me to look at him and stop.
"I need to feel you wrapped around me."
Hauling me off my knees, he crowded me until I fell back gracelessly when my knees hit the bed behind me. His fingers found the edge of my leggings, dragging them down with my panties as I lifted my hips to help. It was clear that neither of us was in the mood to play games.
Gavin wasted no time shedding his own shirt and joining me on the bed. Rolling onto his back as he pulled me on top of him, my hair falling around us in a curtain.
I drove my hips down, dragging my wet slit along him until I couldn't stand it anymore. Reaching down between us, I placed the head of his cock at my entrance and sank down slowly.
"This. This is what I wanted all night," I groaned.
Bracing my hands on his chest, I rode Gavin until our bodies became slick with sweat and the pleasure was too much. My pace was frantic as I worked us fast and hard, reveling in the way his cock seemed to keep hitting just the right place.
Grabbing two handfuls of my ass, Gavin arched his hips and drove me down on top of him relentlessly. My thighs started to shake, signaling that I was about to fall over the edge.
"Come for me, cara. I want to feel you."
I shattered around him, milking him until he filled me completely. The feel of him pumping me full of his cum as he continued to push up into me set me off again, making me scream unexpectedly. Once the aftershocks faded and we caught our breath we showered together, taking our time washing each other before we finally made it back to bed.
Resting my head on Gavin's chest, I lay there completely at ease knowing that I was right to let him into my heart. While he had worn me out, my mind was still processing everything my heart felt. His breathing had evened out, and I mistakenly thought he had fallen asleep before I heard him let out a sigh of contentment and whispered, "I love you Charlie, more than I ever thought I could."
I kept still, unsure if I wanted him to know if I was still awake or not. I had felt nervous before, had experienced anticipation, but I never understood the phrase 'butterflies in your stomach' until that moment. The way I felt about Gavin was something that shook me to my very core, but if I let it out, let it be known, then it would be a beautiful thing.
"I love you too Gavin," I said softly, gathering my courage and knowing that he was worth it.
He tensed, indicating that he did indeed think I had been asleep, before he gently tilted my chin up to him. Even in the moonlit room I could tell that his face was full of wonder and hope.
"Say it again." His arm around me tightened, keeping me held against him, right where I wanted to be. "By God Charlie, if you just said what I think you did, I need to hear you say it again, cara."
"I love you."
"Again," he pleaded.
"Sono innamorato di te. Sei tutto per me," I said in Italian, telling him that I was in love with him and that he was my everything.
"Dammi un bacio, cara."
Following his request, I leaned up and kissed him, smiling against his lips and knowing that I had made the right choice.
A few days later Gavin left for his mission. It had been a rather quiet week, with me buckling down on my training seminars and trying to make sure I was ready for whatever the second Rite threw at me.
My phone had been silent, and no more embossed black cards had revealed themselves in random places. I had only run into one other novitiate on campus, the outspoken female who had chosen to go by 'Thistle'. Our eyes briefly connected before we quickly looked away, not wanting to test the warnings that Ethos had given us.
It wasn't until the following weekend that I received two messages on my cell. One from Gavin, letting me know that he was on his way back and would be home soon. The other from a different unknown number, telling me to come to the same location at 2100, dressed to entice.
Looks like my weekend had just gotten infinitely more interesting.
Walking through a forest in heels is not an easy task. But that was exactly what I did as I marched in my thigh high Jimmy Choo stiletto boots all the way to the chamber. The Chamber had a nice ring to it, especially since 'Ethos's headquarters where they drug you and mindfuck you during their Rites' was too much of a mouthful.
The metal doors were already open when I reached my location. Smoothing my black bandage dress down one last time, I descended the stairs, once again lighting a torch to guide my way. I wasn't sure exactly who I was supposed to entice so I kept my outfit rather demure but close fitting, with the flash of skin between my dress and boots a subtle temptation.
A smile graced my lips when I saw Gavin, or given the setting, I should say Anorak, waiting in the chamber. He must have just gotten back and came directly here. Like me, we were both dressed in head to toe black. His dress shirt was rolled up to his elbows and he had left the top two buttons open. Paired with his slacks, leather shoes, and the stubble he was now sporting, he
looked like a wealthy Mediterranean man who could start fires with those clear blue eyes of his.
His eyes trailed down my body, branding me with his blatant perusal. I could feel my body start to flush and I wanted nothing more than to walk up to him. However, after the last time we met here, we seemed to have an unspoken agreement to keep our space while dealing with the Rites and Ethos Society business.
As before, none of us new novitiates spoke a word. Our numbers had indeed gotten smaller, with just six of us left. We were missing two females from the original eight, leaving Thistle and me as the only women. On the male side, in addition to Anorak, there were two rather built men who had frames that reminded me of Reed, and another who wore glasses and had light blonde hair that was haphazardly arranged giving him the fresh out of bed nerd-chic vibe. While I missed the two handles of the other men, I remembered the blond choosing the name Glitch, which naturally led me to believe that he was some kind of tech expert.
We didn't have to wait long before we were greeted, this time, by only six figures. Given how many of us were left, I made the assumption that these were our sponsors. They still looked identical and were all facing us, absolutely still. There were no head tilts for me to discern this time.
"Welcome novitiates, and may I say, you all look like," the distorted voice paused, "bait. Let's hope your skills will be enough for you to conquer the second Rite."
"Tonight you will be tasked with going to a club owned by Zachariah Doyle, a person of interest who deals in black market goods. Somewhere on the premises, Doyle has a vault. Our intel says that there is a hard drive located in his vault that has the secured storage locations of his most volatile goods. While this mission is nowhere near the level of case Ethos takes on, it is a good fit for you to prove your worth."
"This Rite is all about teamwork. In order to pass your second Rite, you must get in and get out of Doyle’s compound in the time allotted. And, under no circumstances, are you to reveal who you are working with. If you get caught, you will be on your own. If you reveal even a breath of our name, you will be stripped of this opportunity and everything that comes with that," another voice spoke, this one closer to me.
"Can we bring any tools? Or, do we have any blueprints?" Glitch spoke up, "I'd rather not go into this blind without any sense of strategy."
"You mean like that USB in your pocket? That holds all your best rootkits and malware?" another voice spoke up, "You all were selected for a reason. The tools that are available to you are the ones that you brought with you and nothing more. Let's go."
The figure made its way toward the stairs that ascended into the forest. A chill sank into my bones the closer I got to the stairwell. Goosebumps broke across my skin as my body involuntarily shivered to try and gain heat. Anorak was ahead of me, and I heard his breath stutter when we reached the top of the stairs.
Gone was the moon kissed forest of the GRAVITAS campus. Instead, as I stepped out of the hatch to follow, I was greeted with the unpleasant smells of a seedy alleyway. I had no idea where the fuck we were, or how the fuck we had gotten there.
I've got to be hallucinating. They must have drugged us and are running this scenario in our subconscious or something because there's no way this stairwell suddenly led to somewhere else.
"Two blocks to your east you will see a staircase leading down to a bright blue door. That is the entrance to Onyx, Doyle's private club. Remember the rules." The figure turned to head back down the stairs we just came from, leaving the lot of us still in a state of confusion.
"How are we getting back?" Thistle spoke up, asking just one of the many questions I myself had.
"That's up to you. But I'd make sure to do it within twenty-four hours or you'll fail the second Rite." They stepped down the stairs before turning and closing the hatch behind them.
There was a second where no-one moved, probably too stunned for anything more. I walked to the just closed metal doors and pulled them open, flinching from the freezing metal. Bracing my hands on the frame, I peered inside and was met with a generic metal bin, no stairs in sight.
"Anything?" Anorak asked, his voice filled with a tension I hadn't heard from him before.
"Whatever the hell that was, it's gone," I said shaking my head and surveilling the area around me.
"Okay, we need to figure out a game plan before we go waltzing in there," Glitch said, taking control of the situation. "Obviously, I can try and tap into any security and surveillance they might have, what do the rest of you bring to the table?"
“I can get you a secure access point from the inside and back up whoever is running point on the inside,” Anorak said.
“That will most likely be me and one other. Profiles, languages, manipulation, that’s what I bring to the table.” I looked back to Anorak and Glitch who nodded at me.
“I guess since I’m the only other female here I’ll play eye candy tonight too. But don’t think for a second I won’t drop someone if they start getting fresh,” Thistle said begrudgingly.
Ticking time bomb Thistle. Yep, I’m filing that one away.
“I can work on our extraction if you want to try and pose as staff,” one of the muscular men whose names I forgot said to another. It was obvious from the comment that they knew each other outside this, and I wondered just how much they had talked.
“Does anyone know where the hell GRAVITAS is in the first place?” Thistle asked.
“I memorized those coordinates they sent us, we can use that. What I really want to know is what your handles are,” I said, gesturing to the two men.
“Lynx and Ryker,” the one who had spoken before offered.
“They have a substantial territory holding in the Adirondack Park right outside of Albany,” Anorak said, answering Thistle’s question, “and judging by the tops of the buildings over there we’re in New York. So if Lynx can handle finding us transport and have it ready to go we should be able to make it back with time to spare.”
Lynx gave an affirmative nod before he slipped away with promises to be back within the hour. The rest of us spent the time trying to hash out details and covers. Our covers were flimsy at best with no physical identification to back up our claims. We were fucked if someone even had the slightest suspicion.
The plan was for Ryker to head in the back first to try and blend in enough that they would think he was another hired bodyguard. At the same time, Thistle would be heading into the club from the front no doubt showcasing some lovely flashes of skin.
Glitch was going to go with Lynx when he returned and obtain a computer. Let’s just be real, he was going to steal a computer and then sit in the carefully parked getaway vehicle while he watched everything and controlled the feeds like he was some kind of god.
Anorak and I would be posing as a couple, which I’m sure we could make very, very believable. Actually, I hadn’t seen him in such dark colors with his hair swept to one side and it was definitely going on my list of date night outfits to request in the future. The plan was for us to make our way into Doyle’s private office under the guise that we were looking for a place where the two of us could ‘take care of business.’ Ah, how I love a good role play every now and again.
As soon as we made it to the office, Anorak would set up a secure link with Glitch as they worked on cracking the vault. Once we knew the exact make and model, the plan was to overload the default settings until it automatically reset and opened. It was a risky plan, with the chance that as soon as it reset that it would trigger some type of unknown failsafe, but it was the best we could come up with while going in blind.
Just as we had finished strategizing, a large black SUV rolled slowly into the alley with their lights off. Lynx stepped out looking smug and swept forward in a low bow that looked like it belonged in some regency fantasy.
“Your chariot awaits, novitiates. Glitch, you’ll find something special waiting for you in the front seat,” Lynx offered as he went around to the passenger side and opened the door.<
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Glitch stepped forward, briefly bending into the interior of the car before pulling out a sleek black laptop. Quickly opening it, his fingers flew across the keys in a blur as he drew his lip between his teeth. I filed that quirk away in my mental vault as his tell for either concentration or uncertainty.
“This will do,” Glitch said as he simultaneously nodded his head, still focused on the laptop.
“Catch.”
I turned just in time to grab a small black box from the air that Lynx had tossed at me before moving on to do the same to Anorak, Thistle, and Ryker. Inside was a small translucent earbud that would definitely help us work together while completing this Rite, giving us the ability to communicate to one another.
Slipping the small bud deep into my left ear, I drapped my hair forward over it, adding another layer of coverage. As I turned my head back, I caught a wry grin from Anorak as he was doing the same thing.
“Do I want to ask how you got these Lynx?” I questioned, thinking that this was maybe a little too helpful.
“Haven’t you heard not to look a gift horse in the mouth?” he questioned back. I had, but I also remembered that the horse had a nasty surprise inside.
Gavin offered me his arm, and I looped mine through his, resting my fingers against his arm I squeezed three times, ready to take on this second Rite.
“Let’s show them how we soar, Bird.”
Onyx was every bit of a cliché that you would expect to get from a wealthy and corrupt establishment. The lights were so dim that you wouldn’t have noticed half the activities that were going on in the club unless you were actively looking for it.
Walking up to the bar, I ordered us both scotch, neat, from a scantily clad female, who I had a strong inclination may be underaged. I leaned my back against the bar and scanned the crowd as Anorak faced me and did the same for the other side of the room. To anyone outside of us it would look like we were a breath away from a passionate embrace, instead of casing the scene.
