Pariah (The New Covenant Series)

by Bond, Casey L.

  “No. I won’t leave until you dance with me,” he announced, stiffening his back.

  “Seriously? This isn’t exactly dance music, Wes.” I nodded toward the crowd, who was bouncing their heads and rocking their bodies to a fast-paced number the band was putting out.

  “I’d have no idea what to do,” I nervously admitted, grabbing my lower lip with my teeth. Please, Lord, don’t make me dance to this music. I’ll make a fool out of myself.

  “Come with me,” he staggered as he stepped off of his stool, grabbing one of my hands and pulling me off of mine too. He started toward the back room that Faric had led Aria into.

  “I don’t think this is such a good idea, Wes.”

  “Trust me, Solara, please,” he said, glancing back with a smile. We entered a candlelit back room that thankfully was now empty. Faric had no doubt snuck Aria out the back door to our right.

  Wes led me over to the small window, lined with overflowing cream candles much like those from the introduction earlier tonight. He looked at me with big green eyes and a drunk half smile and pulled me into him. I placed my hand on his shoulder and stuck my other out in the air, waiting for his to meet mine.

  He just laughed and put his other hand on the small of my back, pulling me in even closer to him. I sighed, gave up, and put my outstretched arm on his other shoulder as well. It took him a minute to find his rhythm in his inebriated state, but soon, we were swaying together slowly in the candlelight-filled room, paying no attention to the loud music and boisterous noise filtering in from the main room of the pub.

  Wes was surprisingly quiet. I thought how strange it was that he didn’t want to talk even though he had wanted to dance with me and wondered if he got the opportunity to dance with Lil as well. No doubt Aria had danced her way around him. He seemed very irritated after Faric took her away. The thought of Aria’s hands on Wes and his hands on her body was enough to make bile rise in my throat. But the thought of her hands now on Faric enraged me.

  I pulled away and grabbed my glass of coconut perfection and erased the acidic taste from my mouth. “Okay, Wes. We’ve had our dance, so we should really get back now. If I’m not back soon, I’m sure there’ll be trouble,” I veiled the threat as best I could. He grabbed my glass and set it back down.

  He leaned close and said, “Our dance isn’t over yet. We’ve just begun. I haven’t danced for half of the time allotted for the other men tonight.” He raised his brows in protest. I wondered where Faric was. Was he on his way back to get me? My twenty-minute limit was surely to expire soon.

  I searched for a logical response and retorted, “Well, those gentlemen tonight were appraising me as a potential wife. They needed extra time to get to know me in the event that they would like to apply for my hand. Since you aren’t applying, your dance is shorter, so let’s go.” I tried to pull him toward the back door, toward Rachel, and probably Faric by now, but he planted his feet and refused to budge. I yanked harder but to no avail. “Come on, Wes, it’s really late, and I’m going to be in such trouble. Please walk me home.” I prayed that he would listen to reason, though

  I had never attempted to reason with a drunk before. He had stopped slurring his words and staggering and was speaking and moving more naturally, so I just hoped the fogginess in his brain was clearing.

  He pulled my hand back toward him and put it on his shoulder again, wrapping his arms tightly around my waist. I craned my neck back to put a few inches between our faces. He was taller than me but not by much. He leaned down toward my face, and I could smell the sharp alcohol rising from his tongue. “Come on, Solara. Relax. It’s just a dance.”

  “Were you just dancing with Aria before I came in?” I asked, stiffening and trying to pull away from him. I was determined to get him out of the door now, even if it meant being mean. He grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him.

  “I don’t care about Aria, Solara,” he groaned.

  “It looked like you were having fun with her, Mr. Wesley. Her hands were on you, her knees between yours, and your hands on her hips, and that’s all I saw. I imagine there was more that occurred prior to my arrival.” I scoffed, finally able to break free from his gaze and grasp.

  “What?” he shook his head as if trying to remember the episode with Aria.

  “Look, it’s fine. I just wanted you to know that your job and reputation is more important with any fling she might offer you. Just wait another month, and then go for it, but don’t make a stupid mistake because she shows an interest in you now.” I sipped the coconut magic, marveling at its flavor and the fact that it seems to be making me bolder with every sip. Crap. Faric leaned against the door facing, giving me the look that indicated that my time was up.

  I glanced at him and said, “Excuse me for a minute, Wes.” I exited into the main room, dragging Faric behind me. He said he’d taken Aria back to her room and instructed her guard to make sure she stayed there, found Rachel and took her back to Wesley’s room, checked to make sure Annette was still asleep— which she was—and came back to get me.

  He asked what tactics I’d used to coax him to leave. I explained that I’d talked with him and begged him to walk me back and danced with him because he refused to leave until we did and even insulted him over his taste in Aria.

  “Look, I will leave the decision to you, but we can do one of two things. We can, number one, drag him out of here against his will, or two, you can go in there and turn him on and lead him home by his tongue.” He raised his brows, awaiting my response.

  My jaw dropped. I didn’t want him to drag Wes anywhere, but I was no longer Sultry Solara. My tiredness and the events with Altair had squashed that fake side of me like a pesky bug.

  “Fine. I’m not feeling particularly sexy anymore, but he’s drunk, so maybe he won’t notice.” I sighed, turning to re-enter the back room and put on a show. Maybe I should act like Aria. Her charms apparently worked on him.

  Faric grabbed my hand as I got ready to enter the room and pulled me backward against his chest. He leaned in, his breath warm on my ear and neck, and said, “You don’t have to feel sexy, Solara. You are sexy, and he would be a fool not to want to leave with you tonight.” He loosened his grip, and I remembered to breathe. I didn’t look back, afraid that those words were simply a pep talk and not actually the truth spoken by his beautiful lips.

  I grabbed my glass and downed the rest of the coconut bravery and stepped back to Wesley, who was looking out the window. I stepped in front of him and looked out into the darkness, trying to psych myself up for what I was about to do. “See anything interesting?” I purred, turning to look at Wes over my bare shoulder. I licked my lips once again, reminding myself of the coconut and the way his eyes followed that same motion back at the bar.

  He stepped closer and ran his finger over my shoulder, causing my skin to pebble at his gentle touch. I offered a silent prayer that Faric had stepped back outside and wasn’t watching me in case I failed miserably. I also prayed that I could become a goddess that Wesley would want to worship all the way back to the fortress and soon. “You smell so amazing,” he said, inhaling my hair, pushing himself against my back. I reached back and took his hands and put them on my hips. His breath hitched, and I could feel his heart pounding against my back. I began to sway back and forth to a silent sensual rhythm, which he must have heard as well because we were moving as one.

  His breath was hot against my cheek and ear. I turned my face toward him and parted my lips. His stare was dark and intense. I bit my bottom lip and moved his hands from my hips to crisscross my stomach, pulling him tighter against me. His muscles walled around me, ebbing and flowing with me to the imaginary beat.

  He exhaled loudly and squeezed me tighter, moving his mouth to my bare shoulder. I tingled in spots I didn’t know were there. Focus. This was just an act. Wasn’t it? He brushed his lips against my skin, moving across my shoulder and up my neck toward my ear, finally stopping to whisper, “You are so beautiful, Solara.
I can’t believe I’m here with you. I’ve watched you all night.” Then he planted soft kisses down my neck and onto my shoulder and across upper back. Mmmmm. I groaned, leaning back and grabbing the back of his hair with my fingers.

  He let loose a growl and quickly spun me around to face him. He pulled me close to him and guided my lips toward his own.

  “You smell of coconut and lavender.” He breathed. I smiled, keeping hold of his gaze. He brushed my lips with his thumb, and I parted them in response, gathering a large breath in my lungs.

  “Wes,” I started gently, “I really need to get back to my room. I’m going to get in trouble if someone realizes I haven’t returned. Would you please see me back safely?” I whispered.

  “On one condition.” He breathed.

  “What’s the condition?” I purred, winding my fingers through his soft brown hair.

  He groaned again and said, “Kiss me. Kiss me, and I promise to take you back immediately.”

  “Wes, you could get in trouble. I’m your student,” I said, closing my eyes, hoping that he wouldn’t push any further.

  “I don’t care. I want this, Solara. If you want this as well, kiss me. I want nothing more than to taste and feel your lips right now,” he said, still swaying me back and forth, holding me tighter, his hands sinking lower on my back, grazing my backside in the process. I’d never been held this way before. It was magical. The effect he was having on me was more than I could comprehend.

  “One kiss and we leave, okay?” I bargained. He nodded in agreement, inching closer to me until our lips were almost touching. He planted a soft, tender kiss on my lips and pulled back a little. Was that it? I started to pull back in preparation to leave when he grabbed my wrists, roughly pushing my back against the gritty stone wall behind me passionately and forcefully parting my lips with his. His tongue mingled with mine. He released my hands from the wall and began to curl his arms around me, searching my body with his hands. He ran his palms up my back and down my hips as he continued to pin me hard against the wall with his passion.

  He stopped when someone cleared their throat behind us. Faric’s intimidating form stood stiff in the middle of the room, hands crossed in front of his chest, brows furrowed, lips tight, and glaring at the two of us. He had told me to do what I had to do, right? Did he forget the pep talk as well? He looked angry. He ran his hand through his hair and said, “Solara, we’re leaving. Now!” Motioning toward the door.

  I straightened myself and stepped away from the wall, grabbing my swollen lips. “As for you”—he stepped forward, poking his finger in Wesley’s chest—“you can stay or go, but she is coming with me.”

  Seriously? He had just agreed to leave after kissing me. Okay. Okay. It was quite a kiss, but the details of the kiss were not discussed, and he must have interpreted the terms slightly differently than I had, but truth be told, I thoroughly enjoyed it. My first kiss. Faric stepped out the door, holding it open for me. Wes followed, and we all got back safe and sound. The tension in the early morning air was still palpable.

  Wes avoided me during all of our lessons, calling on Aria and Lillian exclusively, which didn’t hurt my feelings. I hadn’t studied anyway. The days that followed the introduction night dragged on painfully slowly. Rachel came to visit me and Lil almost daily, and all of us tried to steer clear of Aria as usual. I also avoided Miss Annette like the plague—especially since she had kept the information about my parents’ deaths and her raising me secret for basically my entire life. I was angry with her for not trusting me with that personal information.

  I did speak with her once, explaining that I felt smothered being holed up in my room after being let out of the tower for the introduction. She was sympathetic to my claustrophobia and ushered me to a small wooden door just a few down from my own. She took a key from her large ring and placed the cool metal form into my palm. I unlocked the door and swung it outward, revealing a small balcony of sorts. It was a small nook, but I appreciated the fresh air and her trust. She asked that I keep the arrangement between the two of us, and I of course, agreed. She said that I could come out after dark, provided that no one was in the hallway to see me sneak outside. Those terms were easy enough, and I found myself outside on a nightly basis even in the rain. I felt alive, feeling the elements of the earth on my skin, whether it was wind, sun, rain or any combination thereof.

  I hadn’t seen Faric since the introduction either. Our parting was certainly strange. I wanted to talk to him about his reaction to my fake seduction of Wesley but had no idea how to reach him, and I hadn’t seen him patrolling our floor. I couldn’t tell Lil either for fear that Wesley would get in trouble. The fewer people who knew, the better. Rachel knew we had convinced her brother to leave but had been given no details. I was pretty sure that Wes remembered something as evidenced by his constant avoidance of me. I was left with my own thoughts, and they were scrambled with confusion.

  Why had Faric gotten so angry with me? He was the one who made the suggestion of seduction to begin with. Why was Wesley avoiding me? Was he embarrassed of having kissed me? Did he think I really came onto him, my teacher? Why did I feel guilty about the kiss? Because Faric witnessed it and ultimately interrupted it? And why did I enjoy it so much? Had the alcohol lowered my inhibitions and heightened my pleasure? Or was it simply as good as I remembered?

  “Solara, are you okay? I’m really worried about you,” said Lil, catching me after classes before I could sink into the isolation of my holding cell, or bedroom, as they called it.

  “Me too,” Rachel interjected, catching up to us. She was staying with Wesley until the reveal and had joined us in our studies.

  I rolled my eyes and groaned, turning toward my room. I nodded for them to follow me. So this was what an ambush looked like. Rachel closed my door behind us. I sat on the edge of the bed, Lil sat beside me, and Rachel bounced onto the bed on her knees. “Spill,” ordered Lil, squinting at me and trying to look authoritative.

  “Nothing’s wrong,” I tried to persuade. “I’m really dreading the whole forced, arranged marriage thing. It makes me sick. What if we get stuck with an old man or a real jerk? Aren’t you guys the least bit worried?”

  Lil exhaled and started, “I guess not. I mean, I am putting my faith in God that he will guide the council to choose the right husband for me. That’s all I can do, Lars. I could sit and worry, but it won’t do any good. It won’t change anything. The council chooses our mates, and as much as I would love to exercise my freewill in the matter, that option is not available. So I guess I’ll just accept their choice and try to make the most of the life I’ve been given.”

  Rachel nodded and said, “Yeah, but I really don’t want to get stuck with some old man either!” She giggled, and we all fell into a fit of nervous laughter. Of course, I couldn’t tell them what was really bothering me—about what had happened with Altair at the introduction, or how I’d finally made Wes agree to leave the pub that night, and Faric’s reactions to both.

  Rachel bounced and said, “Hey, have you guys heard that they are adding more guards for our security. I overheard Miss Annette speaking to Wes about it, and there has been some kind of threat made against us, well, you potentials, anyway.” What? What kind of threat?

  “What kind of threat, Rach?” asked Lil. She pursed her lips and shrugged. “Not sure, but we are going to see more guards on the floor for sure. There’s one who is tall, dark, and handsome too. He’s paired up with Faric.”

  Flabbergasted by this new revelation, I wondered how this would impact my ability to sneak out to the balcony at night. My chest tightened at the thought of being holed up in this room, squeezing the air out of my lungs. I know the balcony had been a recent blessing, but I was unwilling to relinquish even the smallest freedom at this point.

  “All the guards that escorted you that night were super-hot!” exclaimed Rachel, earning giggles from us indicating our agreement with the statement.

  “Okay, I’ve got to go. Wes
will be wondering where I went after his class. But wait, maybe if he can’t find me, he’ll send Faric and tall, dark, and handsome to come and get me! I think I’ll stay!” She laughed then bounced off the bed and headed toward the door. Lil grabbed my hand and nodded toward the door too.

  She stood, releasing my hand only when she’d walked too far for hers to reach mine. Her hazel eyes said more than she could with words. She was worried, and her eyes said to come to her if I needed to talk. She tucked her blonde locks behind her elfin ear and followed Rachel out the door.

  Nightfall. I waited until I heard Miss Annette’s door close, and things fall silent in her room. I knew she approved of my trips to the balcony but didn’t want to get her in trouble if someone found out—especially with the new security forces roaming around occasionally. I grabbed the cold iron key and padded to the door. Creak. Slightly open, I couldn’t see anyone in the area right in front of my door, but my vision was limited. It groaned again as I opened it further to scan the corridor. Thank goodness!

  The hallway was empty. I closed the door as quietly as possible and snuck down to the balcony doorway. I twisted the key in the heavy iron lock until I heard the click. The old wooden door creaked as I opened it as well but was much louder than mine, and I cringed, tensing my shoulders and prayed that no one had heard. Closing the door behind me, I felt the cool night air surround me, embracing me with its humidity.

  The smells of mud and grass mixed in the light breeze. The night sky was clear, inky with the exception of tiny dotting stars.

  The balcony was small, probably ten feet wide and five deep but boasted stone walls that stood taller than I did. Though they prevented me from looking down into the village, they couldn’t block its sounds or the smells wafting up on the breeze.

  I could hear people talking as they walked together beyond the fortress walls, dogs barking, and lively music in the distance. The unmistakable fragrance of roses rode on the breeze. I closed my eyes, painting a picture of all I could sense beyond but was unable to see.