by Sofia Daniel
Silence stretched out between us, filled by the pounding beat of my heart. Calculations whizzed through my mind, and I put together the puzzle pieces of Corrine’s death with the strange and murderous attempts on my life. Corrine had confided in Miss Claymore.
I gulped. One of the accusations she had made was that the kings had gang-raped her. What if the former deputy had headmistress struck out at Corrine to protect Sebastian?
Blinking away those thoughts, I squeezed Cormac’s shoulder. Now wasn’t the time to race ahead with speculations. “What are you saying?”
Cormac blew out a long breath. “The police didn’t mention you directly. But they said there was possibly a copycat out there targeting another girl. I immediately knew they were talking about you.”
My fingers around his shoulders loosened, and my hand slid down Cormac’s arm. I leaned back and stared at the roll of paper towels hanging on the wall. “So, they didn’t think I was paranoid.”
Cormac shook his head.
I placed both hands over my face and scrubbed them over my eyes. Right now, I didn’t know whether to feel petrified or relieved. All this time, I had thought the police reports had sat on a database only to be opened whenever I made another complaint. That the sheer number of times I had reported someone to the police had counted against me.
“Bloody hell,” I muttered.
Cormac gave me an absent nod. “The police said another girl had been abducted and dumped in the same location where Corrine’s body had been found.”
My brows drew together. “The cave by the blasted oak? I told Miss Claymore that’s where I’d awoken, and she gave me the oddest reaction.”
“That explains a lot,” said Cormac.
“You don’t think she—”
“I admired that woman completely until I found out why she’d been sacked.” Bitterness laced his voice. “Now, I don’t know anything.”
“Right,” I said.
“They took another look at the cave and found clues they’d missed the first time.”
“Like what?”
Cormac shook his head. “They wouldn’t say.”
I placed a hand on his knee. “How do you feel?”
He grimaced. “I don’t know. It’s taken a while to get to the point where I’m not breaking down every half-hour about Corrine. Now this whole can of shit has been reopened, and I resent being dragged back to how I was. Does that sound callous?”
“Your sister would want you to be happy.” I leaned my head against his.
Cormac placed his hand on top of mine. “Would she be disappointed in me if she knew I’d found someone to fill the hole she left in my life?”
“That’s not true.” I gave his knee a gentle squeeze. “I’m just warming your heart until the day you get to see her again.”
“That’s the sort of sweet thing she would say.” He chuckled. “It’s so uncanny how similar you both are. Not looks-wise. She had the same coloring as me, but you’re both so big-hearted, you know?”
“I think so.”
Cormac’s words made a peculiar sort of sense. While I’d never had a brother and never had a loyal and protective sibling, having Cormac had eased the pain of Ashley’s betrayal. I had barely thought about Ashley since she had left the academy.
My phone buzzed. It was probably Leopold, asking me where I was. Now that the police had reopened the investigation into Corrine’s death, we needed to find where Ashley had hidden her so-called evidence against Prakash more than ever.
“I-it’s time for me to go,” I murmured. “But I’ll come and see you as soon as I get back.”
Cormac dipped his head. “Thanks for being here when I need you most.”
Hours later, Leopold parked Sebastian’s jeep outside our house, and I stepped out of the vehicle, still feeling like a bastard for leaving Cormac on his own after getting such earth-shattering news. A thick layer of frost covered the front garden and over the brass letterbox, leaving a few fingerprints where I hoped the postman had pushed it open.
Turning the key in the lock, I pictured the look of betrayal on Prakash’s face when Ashley had announced that I’d been collecting evidence against him.
I opened the front door of our cottage and stepped inside. The scent of stale cigarettes hung in the air, making me wrinkle my nose.
Leopold stepped in after me and shut the door. “Does Ashley smoke?”
“Not cigarettes.” I’d heard a rumor that DJ Bones smoked heroin, but I had no idea how the drug smelled.
“She’s probably been here since getting expelled.”
My stomach churned. “Or whoever broke in through the back returned.”
“Is there anything missing?” he asked.
I walked through each downstairs room. The lounge’s TV and DVD player were untouched, as was the stereo. The dining room didn’t have anything worth stealing as it only contained furniture and books, and no one had touched the kitchen’s small appliances.
My gaze caught the holes made in the doorframe by the policeman who had boarded up the door. Three feet above and below it were the new bolts I’d had a locksmith install. Hopefully, it meant that the intruder hadn’t returned.
Leopold’s arms wrapped around my middle, and one hand snaked up to squeezed Velma. “If you were Ashley, where would you hide incriminating evidence you wanted to sell for a six-figure sum?”
“DJ Bones’s squat.” I moved his hand back to my waist.
“I beg your pardon?” He drew back and tilted his head to the side.
“He’s an ex-con who runs illegal countryside raves.”
Leopold rubbed his chin. “We went to one of them last year and only stayed for an hour.” He shuddered. “The girls were ghastly and not up to my standards. Where’s his squat?”
I raised a shoulder. “Whichever building or house is empty and available. According to Ashley, he doesn’t believe in property.”
“Unless it belongs to someone else, I wager.” Leopold walked around the kitchen and opened cupboards full of canned and dried food. “If this DJ fellow moves about, I doubt Ashley would entrust something so potentially lucrative to him.”
“True.” I stepped into the dining room and examined the bookcases for out-of-place items.
In a louder voice, I said, “Some of her friends have their own homes, but they’re more likely to ask too many questions. This is the kind of thing she’d keep to herself.”
“Hopefully, she’s hidden her stash of blackmail material in the maids’ quarters,” Leopold said from the kitchen.
“I’m sure Sebastian and Prakash will text if they find anything.”
After we had searched the downstairs for signs of Corrine’s diary and my laptop, we walked up the stairs. Ashley’s bed was still disheveled from when the intruder had lifted it, and my room appeared untouched. Mom and Dad’s room remained exactly how I had left it.
“Everything’s fine,” I muttered.
After we went through Ashley’s room, pulled Mom and Dad’s luggage out from under their beds and inspected their contents, and searched the rest of their things, grief weighed my heart with the reminder of what I had lost, and we took a break to recoup.
Leopold made a pot of mint tea from the tea bags in the cupboard and found a pack of butter biscuits he and Sebastian had brought when I’d gotten expelled. We stat around the dining table and munched on our late breakfast.
The morning light streamed in through the window, making the ends of his blond hair shine like buttercups in the sun. My gaze roved over his sparkling, aquamarine eyes, high cheekbones, and full lips. What would Mom and Dad think of me dating a boy like Leopold? Would they be pleased or worried?
Leopold reached across the table and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. “Where’s the least obvious place Ashley would put valuable blackmail material?”
I glanced up at the ceiling. “She never liked going up into the attic because of the spiders, so that’s an option. Also, I’d never search for it i
n my room.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Let’s look through your room before we brave the spiders.”
In my bedroom, we opened the drawers, searched under the bed, in the closet, and in the cabinets, but there was no sign of my laptop, Corrine’s diary, or any of the incriminating items Ashely claimed to possess.
Leopold blew out a long breath. “Did your father have a raincoat? I’m going to need it for the attic.”
“Wait a minute.” I stood over my bed, threw aside the pillows, peeled back the covers, duvet, and sheets.
“What are you doing?” asked Leopold.
“Two years ago, Mom bought us both thick toppers for our mattresses.” I yanked off the four inches of microfiber to reveal the original mattress. What if she—”
“Placed the stash in between the mattresses?” Leopold ran out into the hallway. “I’ll check her room.”
A moment later, he strolled in holding my laptop, Corrine’s diary, another leather-bound book, and a thick, manilla folder labeled BRITTAS. “Tada!”
Triumph burst through my chest. “Fantastic!”
Leopold licked his lips. “Now that we’ve gotten to the end of the treasure hunt, how about we shake the sheets before we head back to the academy?”
I glanced at the strewn sheets and pillows. “Oh, you mean tidying up?”
His lips spread into a smile. “Actually, I was referring to my hard cock, but we can put the sheets back on the bed first.”
Chapter 23
Leopold placed the items he had collected from Corrine’s room onto my little, wooden desk and advanced toward me. Butterflies took flight in my belly, awakening my slumbering core. I stepped back and lowered myself onto the edge of my bed.
My mouth dried. “I have a confession.”
“Father Leopold will grant you absolution for any sin.”
I swept my gaze down his broad, athletic body. I’d seen him in various states of undress on dozens of occasions, but none compared to that first time. He had been magnificent. A blond stallion I had thought would be unobtainable. But here he was, prowling towards me with a thick erection bulging through his pants.
Right now, I didn’t want to think about Geraldine, who had knelt in front of him and taken him in his mouth, so I skipped ahead to the second time I’d seen him naked.
I licked my lips. “That day in the swimming block changing rooms—”
“You were tempted. I saw it in your eyes.”
“I want you to show me exactly how things would have played out if I’d taken you up on your offer.”
“You want the big dipper?”
I reached out and ran the tip of my finger along the long bulge. “All of it.”
Leopold grinned. “Then you will have its full, celestial glory.”
Core thrumming with excitement, I drew back and rested my hands on the mattress. “You walked into the changing room and stripped off.”
Without revealing much flesh, Leopold unbuttoned his shirt and pulled off his tie. “Did that turn you on?”
“More than you can imagine.” I peeled off my blazer and tie, fumbled over my buttons, and stripped myself to the waist.
Leopold’s brows rose. “Eager for me, Wills?”
“Yes,” I murmured.
He pushed his shirt and blazer off his shoulders, revealing that wonderfully chiseled torso and sculpted biceps. Although his skin was nowhere as brown as Prakash’s, he still retained a little color despite the winter.
The pulse between my leg thudded, and I whispered, “More.”
Leopold stepped closer, and I parted my legs so he could settle himself between them. His apple and sunshine scent filled my nostrils and made my head spin. A thrill of apprehension rippled through my heart. For all my bravado and saucy talk, I had never in my life given a blow job. What if I was no good?
“You want my thick, hard cock?”
My eyes traveled along its length, and I croaked, “Yes, please.”
“Say it.”
I stared up into his eyes that were the most intense mix of turquoise around widened pupils, surrounded by sky-blue fibers that coalesced into a circumference of indigo. They reminded me of clouds floating within the summer sky, and I could have lost myself in his gaze for an eternity.
But the heat from the bulge in his pants reminded me of what I wanted. What I needed. My lips parted, but no words came out, so I ran my tongue along their dry surface and thought of how I could phrase my yearning.
“Are you trying to make me cum in my pants?” he asked.
“Don’t,” I whispered. “Because I want you to cum in my mouth.”
Leopold doubled over and grabbed my shoulder. “F-fuck.”
“Are you alright?” I asked.
“J-just… stop talking for a minute,” he ground out. “Shit.”
My brows drew together, and I lowered my gaze to his crotch. It didn’t look like he’d done a Sebastian and climaxed without touching himself, but I gave him a moment to catch his breath before asking, “Are you ready to go again?”
He clapped his hands over his eyes. “Just… save the dirty talk until the next round. I’d like to last a little more than thirty seconds.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Believe me…” He unbuckled his belt. “It is.”
My hands twitched to take over the task of releasing his erection, but I kept them clenched at my side. All reservations about being bad at blow jobs disappeared with his words. If looking into his eyes and saying a sentence got him excited, I didn’t think he would be fussy about my lack of experience.
Leopold unzipped his pants and pulled out his thick and hard penis. My gaze fell onto the bead of precum seeping out from its bulbous, red head, and I swallowed hard.
“I want to kiss it,” I whispered.
His erection twitched. “It’s all yours.”
I wrapped my fingers around its girth. His dick pulsed in my grip as though it welcomed my touch. “It likes me.”
Leopold groaned. “It worships you.”
I pressed my lips on the underside, where the head bulged into two swollen mounds. Leopold let out a shuddering moan that made my core tingle. When my tongue darted out to lap at the bitter fluid gathered on his slit, he gasped out loud.
I ran my tongue around that gorgeous head, savoring the feel and taste of his smooth, hot skin. His sharp intake of breath made arousal pulse through my core, and I slipped the whole of his tip into my mouth.
“W-Willow,” he said my name like a prayer.
My chest expanded with pride. The first time we had met, Leopold hadn’t even noticed me. Instead, he had flirted with Ashley. The second time, he only spared me a second glance because Ashley had pestered him into letting her into the party. And the third… I swirled my tongue around his cock-head and relished in his low, shuddering moan.
The third time we had met, Geraldine had been sucking on him and not getting one-tenth of this response. He’d had to resort to exhibitionism to make things exciting with her.
My fingers tightened around his erection, and I slid my other hand into his boxer briefs and cupped his balls. They were heavy and round and lightly furred. I rolled them between my fingers and gave them a gentle squeeze.
“F-fuck, Willow,” he rasped.
As I continued my unhurried exploration of Leopold’s body, heat gathered in my core and wetness gathered between my folds. I opened up my jaw and lowered my head, so his length slid down my tongue toward the back of my throat.
His pubic hairs tickled my nose, making a smile curve my lips. Holding him around the base, I slid back out and zig-zagged my tongue along the underside of his erection.
Leopold’s legs trembled, and my core throbbed in time with his panting breaths. “S-slow down, or I’ll explode.”
I drew back and admired the glistening organ, which seemed to have grown a little since I’d slid it into my mouth. Gliding my gaze up his thicket of blonde pubes, past his treasure trail, his t
ightened abs, and prominent pecs, I stared into Leopold’s flushed and excited face.
With a smirk, I said, “I’ve never had a shooting star up close.”
Leopold chuckled. “You’ll be tasting it in a minute.”
I lowered my gaze back to his dick and returned to work, bobbing my head up and down his shaft. With each upward movement, I curled my tongue along his underside, and with each downstroke, I let his tip slide along the roof of my mouth.
Leopold threaded his fingers through my hair as though to keep it off my face. My gaze flicked up to meet his, but he squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his teeth as though trying to make himself last longer.
Right at that moment, I felt so powerful. Not only had this beautiful, untamed being committed himself to me, but he was willing to share me with his best friends. I hummed my approval through my mouthful of Leopold.
His hands tightened in my hair, and he cried out. “I’m going to—”
Warm jets of bitter fluid filled my mouth, and I swallowed around his pulsing organ to stop myself from gagging. Leopold made gentle thrusts with his hips as he climaxed, and my core pulsed with a longing I could no longer deny.
If Leopold refused to take my virginity, I would smother him with my boobs until he agreed.
The pulsing stopped, and he pulled out of me, dropped down to his knees, and pulled my head down for a deep, toe-curling kiss.
“I’m still hard,” he groaned.
I reached down and gripped his length. “I want you inside me.”
His eyes widened. “Are you sure? I can always—”
“No.” I let go of his erection and reached around my back. “I want you. Now.”
When I unfastened my bra and shouldered it off, his gaze roved over my breasts, and he drew in a sharp breath through his teeth. Leopold leaned forward, his hands outstretched to cup them when his phone rang.
He buried his head between my boobs and murmured, “Not even Kash will interrupt my worship at your Temple of Tits.”
“How do you know it’s him?”
