“That’s still illegal for another week,” he reminds her.
“Six days actually.” She takes another drag from it. “Where’s your whip?”
“Busy.” He holds the swiped beer out to her. “If the Hunter General asks, you stole this from table twelve.”
She swings her legs back over onto the safe side of the balcony and takes the beer from him. “I thought your mission in life was to get me out of trouble, not to put me deeper into it?”
“It’s a confusing juxtaposition, I know, but try to keep up.”
He puts a cigarette between his lips and delves into his pockets, searching for a lighter. When he comes up empty, Ella offers him her cigarette.
“Thanks.” He lights his from hers and passes it back to her. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Ella cracks a smile behind her cigarette. “You’d probably get more sleep.”
“Maybe.”
He takes a step closer to her. He’s so close she can feel the warmth from his body radiating against her. She leans back against one of the stone support pillars that’s propping up the balcony above them, and tries to remain casual, as if she doesn’t notice the heat of his proximity.
She lets one leg dangle on the safe side of the balcony and crooks the other in front of her, resting her left arm upon it, the cigarette between her fingers. She nurses the beer in her lap with her other hand, the condensation slowly gliding down the edge of it, soaking her fingertips.
“You never told me how it went today,” Alex says finally.
Ella takes a sip of the beer. “Pryor confessed.”
“Really?”
She tries to gauge whether or not the surprise in his voice is genuine, but all her thoughts are drowned out by the pounding of her heart inside her chest.
“Yeah. She took the fall for it ‘cause she didn’t want Tipper Jynx and her stupid boyfriend to succeed in having me kicked out of the Academy.”
“Ahh, so she is capable of doing the right thing.”
“Hardly.” Ella locks eyes with him. “A Hunter paid her off.”
He holds her gaze tight. “Do you know who?”
Silence.
Ella doesn’t look away. “Why are you doing this?”
“Doing what?”
“Messing in my business.”
“Protecting you, you mean.”
“Whatever you want to call it. Why are you getting so involved?”
Alex shrugs. “I don’t want to see anything bad happen to you, that’s all.”
“I can manage my own affairs.”
“Really? By my count, I’ve saved you from expulsion twice in the last week.”
“I didn’t ask you to.”
“You didn’t have to.”
More silence.
He hasn’t broken eye contact yet, and Ella is desperately trying to read his mind. She takes a few gulps of her drink, summoning courage.
“Do you like me?”
“Of course I like you.” He doesn’t even hesitate.
“No, I mean … do you really like me?”
This time, he hesitates.
Finally, “I wish I didn’t.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s wrong.”
“I’m nearly legal.”
“That’s not the point.” He looks down at his beer and sighs. “I know better than this, that’s all.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You’re the most important Cadet in the Academy, and I’m a Hunter Division Commander. I’ll soon be your superior.” He shakes his head. “Besides which, you’re the Hunter General’s only child and I shouldn’t be anywhere near you.”
He leans against the support pillar next to her, and she can smell the alcohol on his breath. Not just beer, but hard liquor, too. Most Sentinel District residents have a secret stash of illegal high proof booze in their homes, and she’s guessing he might’ve taken a few shots of whiskey before the party.
He’s probably not his usual level-headed self.
“How much have you had to drink tonight?” she wonders.
“Not nearly enough.”
“Not enough for what?”
He finishes the last of his beer and drops the bottle down into a bucket of sand that’s meant for minor fire emergencies. His skin, still cool from the bottle, makes her shiver as he strokes his palm against her cheek, gently caressing her face.
“To be able to forget who you are.” His eyes drop to her lips, then back up to her eyes, betraying his innermost thoughts.
Ella can’t breathe. Her chest feels tight, and her stomach feels like it’s been turned upside down and inside out. “I’m just a girl.”
Alex shakes his head. “You’ll never be just a girl. You’re my boss’s underage daughter.” The sadness in his eyes is inescapable. “And I can’t … we can’t …”
Hoping she can get him to change his mind about that, Ella swings herself around so that their bodies are parallel. Perched on the balcony railing, she parts her legs and invites him closer.
Alex closes his eyes and tries to suppress his arousal. “Please, don’t do this.”
“Don’t do what?”
“Offer yourself up to me so freely. It’s not fair.”
“Why? Because you have a girlfriend?”
“Because I’d be arrested for touching you, and you know I can’t put myself in that position.” Alex pinches the bridge of his nose, forcing his drunken brain to think clearly. “Besides, you can do much better than me. You think I don’t know the games Cadets play? Not so long ago, I was one.”
“Games?”
“I didn’t get laid at all in my senior year. Do you know why? Because all the female Cadets were too busy trying to bed the Hunter with the highest rank and seniority. It’s an Academy tradition, and while I’m sure most other Hunters would leap at the chance to break you in, I … I can’t be the one. I’m sorry.”
Ella shakes her head, tears forming in her eyes. “This isn’t a game.”
Alex really wants to believe her, but he can’t quite get his mind to take that leap of faith. “Don’t make this any more difficult than it already is.”
A tear escapes from her eye and he catches it, brushing it away and stroking his thumb over her lips.
“I’ve already let this go too far and I don’t trust myself with you,” he whispers.
Ella presses her lips against his thumb.
She half expects him to draw back, but he doesn’t. She discards her beer, drops her cigarette into the neck of the bottle, and takes his hand between hers.
He doesn’t even flinch.
She kisses him again, and runs her tongue along the length of his thumb. When she gets to the tip, she bites on it gently, putting it between her lips and kissing him softly.
He doesn’t move an inch.
Still holding his hand steady, she closes her lips around his thumb and slides it completely into her mouth. Wrapping her tongue around him, she begins to move up and down, alternating between sucking on the whole digit and flicking her tongue over the tip.
She has some sexual experience, that much Alex gathers. He has to steady himself against the support pillar, suddenly feeling very lightheaded. He’s more aroused than he has been in a long time, and he closes his eyes again, trying desperately not to succumb to her.
“Stop,” he begs her. “Don’t make me want you like this.” Summoning all of his will power, he pulls his thumb out of her mouth. “We have to stop seeing each other.”
“No, we don’t. After my birthday, I—”
“No, Ella.” Forceful. “I can’t be around you. Whatever you think this is, it’s not. It can’t be.”
Tears pooling in her eyes, Ella hears the click of the balcony door.
Shit.
It’s Celia.
In a hurry to get away from the scene before her emotions start to spill out all over the place, Ella shoves Alex away from her, slides off the ledge, and runs away into th
e DDH hall.
Celia, confused and suspicious, looks from Alex to Ella and back again.
“What was all that about?”
Alex tries to compose himself, drawing air deep into his lungs and pushing back the ache in his chest, trying desperately to appear normal. He keeps his back turned to her, still leaning on the pillar, waiting for the throbbing in his trousers to subside, lest she should see his erection.
But she doesn’t need to see it.
She knows why his back is turned.
“Oh, my god … you stupid sonofabitch.” She struggles to put the words together. “Did you not listen to a single word I said?”
“It’s not what you think.”
“Do you want to explain that to the Hunter General, or shall I?”
“Don’t you fucking dare.” Alex points a finger of warning at her. “Nothing happened.”
Celia strides over to him and spins him around to face her. Her palm comes at his cheek so fast, he doesn’t have time to stop it.
“We’re leaving. Right now.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Your Father
A fight between Alex and Celia continues to spark as soon as they get back to Alex’s apartment.
“What the hell were you thinking?!” She squawks at him from the bedroom.
Alex stands in the doorway, keeping a wary distance from her as she takes off her shoes, not wanting one of them to be hurled in his direction.
He ruffles a hand through his hair. “We were just talking, and that’s no crime as far as I’m aware.”
“Just talking? Really? You were giving her a full salute out there, Alex. It was disgusting.”
“You’re freaking out over nothing right now. I had a little too much to drink, that’s all.”
“She’s underage. It’s improper for an unmarried man to be in her company without a chaperone, and you damn well know that.”
“Firstly, she’s about to turn sixteen, so stop making it sound like I’m some sort of creepy pervert. Secondly, she’s the Hunter General’s daughter and I didn’t want to be rude.”
“So you thought you’d sneak off to flirt with her on the balcony?” Celia wields one of her shoes. “Just so you know, rebuffing her advances wouldn’t be rude, Alex, it’d be fucking normal!”
“What else do you think I was doing out there? Planning the rest of our lives together?! I told her nothing was ever going to happen. Why else do you think she ran out of there like she did? She was upset.”
That seems to placate Celia slightly, but the fight isn’t over yet.
“Are you attracted to her?”
That’s a loaded question, and Alex knows he can’t possibly answer it without getting himself into further trouble. If he says no, she’ll call him a liar. If he says yes, she’ll call him a pedophile.
“That’s unfair, Celia.”
“Why? Because the answer’s yes?” She thinks about that for a moment, then smacks her palm against her forehead. “Wait. What am I saying? Of course the answer’s yes. Thirty seconds longer and she would’ve been on her knees for you.”
Alex remains silent.
Celia doesn’t stop. “Anybody could’ve walked out there, Alex. How could you be so careless? What would you have done if General Maydevine had stepped out for a cigarette and caught his fifteen-year-old daughter sucking you off?”
“Nothing happened!” Alex snaps at her.
“So you keep saying, but I can’t even remember the last time I saw you that worked up. Seriously, what do I need to do to get you to fuck me these days? Shave my pussy and tape my boobs?” Rhetorical. “God, you’re just like your father!” Celia hurls a pillow at his head.
That’s the final straw.
Alex loses it.
He’s had enough.
“Get. Out,” he snarls.
“With pleasure.” Celia snatches up her shoes and shoves past him on her way to the front door.
*************************
In her bedroom, Ella weeps quietly into her pillow. With Maydevine still at the party, she’s alone in the apartment.
Delving into her pocket, she pulls out the Chimera talons left for her by Alex and drops them into the trash can beside her bed. Utterly heartbroken, she doesn’t notice the soft tapping at her window. The tapping gets louder, though, and she stops weeping to catch her breath.
“El?” a voice calls. “Are you there?”
Ella wipes away her tears and opens the window to Luka, inviting him inside.
“What’re you doing here?”
“I know it’s late, but I just came to get my stuff.” He senses her sadness. “What’s wrong?”
Ella shakes her head, trying to hide her puffy eyes from him. “Nothing. I just had a shitty night, that’s all.”
He cups her face in his hands and tilts her up to look him. “You’ve been crying.”
“Thank you, Captain Obvious.” She sniffs. “Tell me something new.”
“Classes go back to normal on Monday.”
She appreciates his attempt to change the subject, but what she really needs is company, and despite their earlier split, he wants to give it.
A moment passes.
Still cupping her face, Luka decides to take a chance and leans in for a kiss. This time, he’s not rejected.
Another kiss.
Ella welcomes his lips against hers, and she soon lets him lie her down against the bed. Placing himself between her legs, he pushes his erection against her, their lips still locked. Even through all the layers of clothing, Ella can feel him.
Sensing her readiness, he unbuttons her pants and slips his hand down inside her underwear. He runs his fingers over her clit, then travels further down to feel how moist she’s become already, and makes her gasp as he pushes a finger inside her.
“Are you ready?” he whispers, breaking his lips away from hers, just for a moment.
“Uh-huh.” She nods, trying hard to seem self-assured.
She lets him pull off her shirt and pants, and then he strips completely, letting her see him absolutely raw for the first time. Leaning back over her, he fumbles clumsily with her breasts. He’s too overeager to make it feel good, though she does her best to pretend otherwise.
She closes her eyes and tenses, ever so slightly, at the sensation of his bare cock between her legs. She feels him pull down her underwear and part her legs, and she mentally prepares herself for what will follow … but it doesn’t happen.
Not like that anyway.
All of a sudden, there’s a gentle kiss upon her skin and his wandering tongue slides down lower. As he moves his face between her legs, she finally begins to relax, and after a while, a shiver ripples through her. And another. And another. And … Luka’s face comes up to meet hers.
“Hi.” He smirks.
She smiles weakly back at him from the pillow.
“Now it’s my turn,” he whispers, kissing her neck, preparing to take her.
Instead …
“Ella!”
Maydevine.
In the hallway.
“You’d better be in here!”
His footsteps storm toward her bedroom door and he thrusts it open without knocking. Luka tumbles off the bed, tangled up in the bed sheets, while Ella dives behind her pillows and curls herself up into a tiny ball.
“Papa!” she cries. “Get the fuck out!”
He does no such thing.
Luka just about has his pants back on by the time Maydevine makes it over to the other side of the bed and hauls him up off the floor by his arm.
“Say goodnight, Casanova.”
Luka scrambles for the rest of his clothes, missing a shoe in the swiftness of his dismissal. Maydevine marches him down the hallway and tosses him outside into the street like a misbehaving cat.
“Go home,” he moans, slamming the door shut on him.
Ella, quickly clothed, opens her bedroom window as Luka scurries down the driveway.
“Hey!” she calls. �
�You forgot this!”
She tosses him his other shoe, laughing as he tries to keep his pants up while he fetches it. Before he can shout something back at her, Maydevine appears at Ella’s shoulder and abruptly closes the window, quickly drawing the drapes on her young suitor.
“I didn’t know where the fuck you were,” he scolds her. “If I’d have known you were here with him, I would’ve—”
“Come home sooner?” she cuts him off.
He accepts her assessment of the facts with a slight nod. “Cocoa before bed?”
She lets him wrap his arm over her shoulder and lead her toward the kitchen. Settling herself down in her favorite chair, she watches him make their drinks.
“You’re not mad at me?” she hopes.
“In six days, you’ll be an adult and there’ll not be much I can do about it. So just let me have this one night. Okay, kid? Then you can do whatever the hell it was that you were about to do in there. Which was wrestle, by the looks of it. Am I right? Tell me I’m right.”
Ella laughs. “You’re right. That’s all it was.”
“Good kid, well done.” He places a mug of cocoa in front of her and sits across from her with his. “Luka’s a good one. You could do a lot worse.”
Ella stares down into her drink. “Yeah, I know.”
“His is a good, strong family.”
“Uh-huh.”
She seems withdrawn and Maydevine senses it.
“What’s the matter? Is there something else going on?”
Ella shakes her head, but doesn’t really put the effort into it. “No, not anymore.”
Silence falls upon them, but not for long.
Maydevine breaks it. “It had to be this way, you know.”
Ella looks up at him, not sure if they’re on the same wavelength or not.
“I know who you’ve been seeing,” he continues. “I’ve tolerated it thus far because I trust that the boy knows how to do the right thing. If he’s finally done that tonight, then all the better.” He takes a sip of his cocoa. “He means well, and I know what he’s done for you.”
“How do you … ?”
“I’m the Hunter fucking General and you’re my daughter. Do you really think there’s any place you’ve been since you became a teenager that I didn’t know about? Plus, there are hospital records and you’re still a minor. I’m your next of kin, and they’re legally obligated to tell me when you’ve been admitted.”
Inamorato Page 12
