My heartbeat pounded loudly, louder than her screams ripping through the forest. Her body crested the peak, and his name exploded from her lips, jolting me from the trance of watching him fucking her with the object.
“Fuck me harder, Tor! Yes!” her squeal echoed through me, forcing me to snap to attention. Turning on my heel, I rushed away from them, allowing them privacy to finish whatever strange fetish was unfolding without an audience.
Entering the tavern, I ignored the eyes that moved over me from the staff that was just waking up. Inside the bedroom, I pushed a heavy chair in front of the door and climbed into bed, staring at the flames that danced in the large, open-faced fireplace.
My mind replayed what I’d witnessed, and my body tightened with need. Ignoring the pang of unease, I pushed it away as my eyes flicked to the large, rounded moon, knowing that within two days, I’d be writhing in pain instead of lust—because fuck him.
I’d watched him with another woman. I hated him for doing it with her; even if he hadn’t been fucking her, it was the same thing. He’d known I was there, and instead of stopping, he’d held my stare and made me want to take her place, which was insane! I was in dire need of a reality check. I’d thought he wanted me, but apparently, he wanted whatever was easy to get. That wasn’t me.
I hated him.
I hated her more because I’d wanted to be her.
The man drove me insane, and obviously, he wanted to seduce me to keep me in check. I wasn’t stupid. I’d let my guard down, which was absolutely stupid to have done around a rogue with a reputation for leaving women weeping and obsessing after him once he’d finished with them. How could I have done something so stupid when it was obvious he wouldn’t want someone like me?
Men like him didn’t crave skinny, tiny women like me. I knew that, and yet I’d thought maybe he was different. I wasn’t this girl who lost her shit over a male. I was a leader who led forces into battle, yet at the first tidbit of attention, I’d caved like some tavern bitch who took any form of affection they could get. I’d always hated those women because I’d thought they deserved better. But I wasn’t any better than they were. I was so starved for the touch of a male that I’d become just like them. How could I allow that to happen?
Easy.
I was close to the moon phase, which lowered my expectations of what I needed and wanted. At least that was my excuse. Obviously, I’d made a mistake. I wouldn’t make it again.
I awoke to something sending off warning bells in my head. Prying my heavy eyes open, I stared into the wintery eyes of the male who I’d barred entrance into the room. He sat in the very chair I’d used to secure the door, smiling coldly at me.
“Did you enjoy watching me with her?” he asked, and I snorted, turning over to dismiss him coldly.
Torrin ripped the blanket from the bed, and before I could turn over, he slammed his body down on top of me. His hands captured mine, pinning them above my head as I bucked my ass up to unseat him from my back. His cock pushed against my ass, alerting me to the fact that I was in a very precarious position. Teeth skimmed over my shoulder, and then his hand landed against my exposed ass cheek. The sound cracked through the room loudly, and I whimpered against the red-hot pain his hand had created.
“That’s for making me wish it was you tied up, being fucked by me.”
“Get off of me,” I growled, hating that even knowing he’d just been with her, my body still responded to his touch.
“You told me you sucking my cock changed nothing, woman.”
“Because it didn’t!” I snapped, fighting the angry tears pricking my eyes.
“Then why are you so fucking angry that I was with her?” he asked, rubbing my ass. His hand slid around my body, finding the wound in my side before he pushed against it, growling. I gasped, crying out as he chuckled huskily against my ear. “You enjoy pain, and you enjoyed watching me use the glass cock on her, didn’t you?”
“No.” I swallowed, hating that both had turned me on.
“Liar,” Torrin laughed darkly, spinning me onto my back in a swift move. His hand pushed against my throat, and he watched my eyes darkening with desire. “I turned you on, admit it. You wanted to be her, and I wanted her to be you.”
“You’re sick,” I whispered, staring into his hooded gaze.
“Am I? Because I’m pretty sure you get off on being hurt. You enjoy pain with your pleasure, Alexandria. I bet if I reached down between your silken thighs, I’d find you soaked with need. Should I test that theory?” he asked, lowering his mouth toward mine. I turned away from his lips and then gasped as he nipped the skin on my chin. “Pretend you’re better than me if it helps you sleep at night. Get up, get dressed, and get over yourself, woman. You’re a twisted, dirty little bitch, who can’t admit what she likes. The only difference between us is I’ve learned to accept who I am and what I like, and you’re too fucking self-absorbed and stubborn to see who and what you really want.”
I pushed Torrin away, moving to the edge of the bed to stand. When I was up and moving, he captured me, slamming me face-first into the cushion of the chair, pushing his fingers into my body. I clenched around him, moaning loudly as he worked two fingers into my pussy. Everything within me threatened to combust. My stomach coiled with need, and my hips pushed against him, taking him even deeper. He didn’t stop, not even when the orgasm built in my stomach.
Torrin released me without warning, and I slid to the floor, turning to look up at him while he slowly sucked his fingers clean.
“Thought so,” he chuckled darkly, moving toward the bag. “If you’re not downstairs in five minutes, I’ll take it as an invitation to fuck you. Move, now,” he snapped coldly, his eyes watching me with anger burning in them.
Chapter Fifteen
The ride was torture, which I was certain Torrin knew and enjoyed. I hadn’t spoken to him much and didn’t plan to either. He’d noticed my unwillingness to speak and hadn’t liked that I refused to answer his questions. I’d reminded him several times where he could stick his anger, which had only made his ire more palpable.
I’d spent a little time with the girls, everyone listening while I explained what had happened. Since it was a sacrifice, their last act to protect the rest of us from joining them in death, we would shed no tears. No funeral rites would play out for the fallen.
It would be our act of honoring their sacrifice, silently carrying them with us as we continued to fight in their honor. We’d go on so that their gift to us wouldn’t be in vain, or at least that was what the Order would command us to do.
I’d hugged Amo and Tabitha, holding in the overwhelming need to break down and just feel something other than anger for once. As assassins, we didn’t cry often. Hell, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d cried before meeting the overbearing, dominating prick behind me.
I was the leader, the one who held everything in and never lost control. I stood stronger to allow the others to lean on me in their times of need. I was the rock they sat upon, letting the water drown me so they could remain above it.
That was my role to play, and I’d agreed to do it. I had to lead by example. I couldn’t ask my team not to cry and then do it myself. I was the strength when the others were weakened and even when they weren’t. It didn’t matter that I had emotions. The Order had trained me to ignore them, to ignore my needs, to ensure theirs were met.
“You want me to take you into the woods and work out that frustration before we reach the king’s court?” Torrin asked, tightening his hold on my waist.
He’d somehow managed to secure horses, replacing the ones the wraiths had eaten, while I’d been down with fever. Of course, they weren’t of the strength or stamina of the ones lost to the wraiths, but they did get us through the few attacks that threatened us, so I wasn’t complaining.
“I think if you want to go into the woods, you better call back your tavern girl. I’m not interested in doing shit with you anymore,
Torrin. The sooner I tell your king where to shove his shit, the sooner we part ways, and we can be done with one another forever.”
“You think Aragon is going to let you go?” he asked, refusing to release his hold on me.
“I think he’ll see where I stand soon enough. I won’t help him find the library. I won’t assist him in doing anything he wants of me, and he will release my brother. You and your king have no right to hold any one of us.”
“Yeah, you should start with that when you meet the king,” he snorted before nudging his horse to move faster.
The entire night was a blur, but arriving at the Kingdom of Night was exhilarating. They hid the whole place beneath the cover of darkness, lit by stones that had once belonged to the Moon Goddess herself. Violet light covered the trails and illuminated the village. It was something I’d never imagined laying eyes upon in my life. The king had made it known that the gates were closed to the Moon Clan, and without an invitation, none would pass through the barrier he’d built to keep us out.
Torrin was silent behind me. It was probably best he didn’t speak because nothing would have slipped through my lips. I wasn’t sure why it had pissed me off as much as it had since I was the one who kept reminding him we weren’t friends. So then why had it bothered me so much? Hadn’t I told him that sucking his dick had changed nothing between us? Yes, and I’d said it several times to reinforce the claim. I dismissed the prickling of hurt that echoed through me and focused on the allure of the kingdom.
There were no words to describe the beauty of the Kingdom of Night, glowing with life below. The palace was enormous, much larger than I’d ever dreamed it could be. Weeping willow trees that shouldn’t live without the sunlight covered the road into the kingdom. They adorned each of their massive tree limbs with glowing blue drops of luminescent paint.
People moved around the street, covered in dark capes, with their faces hidden while we neared the large silver gate that opened as we approached. My eyes bulged at the amount of silver used to build the wall surrounding the entire village situated below the dark palace. Everyone in the world hungered for silver. Its rare potency could ward against wraiths and other creatures that fed upon the living. How the king had found a mine to harness this much was beyond me.
The deeper into town we went, the more the light of the stones glowed. Only then did I realize why it shone with a life source of its own. They had used moonstones from fallen moon-touched people were used as lamps; the rocks collected and piled into glass pillars lit the eternal night with their glowing essence. Torrin tensed behind me as a guttural growl slipped from my lips.
“This is what your king does with our remains? He places us on display, ignoring our sacrifice, to light his streets?” I hissed, fighting the pricking behind my eyes as thousands of lamps came into view.
The other women echoed my sentiments with grunts. We silently took in the miles of moonstones that stretched in a circular pattern around the palace. Torrin wisely remained silent, even though I could sense the anger he felt at my words. To him and his kind, the Moon Clan were nothing more than slaves to the moon. We eradicated the threat so they could live lavish lifestyles in their protective city while the rest of the world outside fought to survive. They lived because we sacrificed our entire life to ensure their survival.
“They’re not just any moon-touched warriors, Alexandria. They’re our moon-touched citizens, who sacrificed their lives so that others here wouldn’t have to. Do you think people outside of this kingdom care about those within it? When the Kingdom of Light fell, they flooded here, and one by one, they succumbed to their end. They were the Kingdom of Light and the first to be touched by the moon. The Sun Clan’s princess was lost to the ocean, and their king and queen dead in their tomb. Their heir joined with the moon-touched to fight the darkness and abandoned their people. Now the only kingdom to stand is this one, and even though the prince was merely a child when he took his throne, he still welcomed all into his kingdom. The only thing he asked of them was that upon their deaths, they give to the pillars that prevented the evil from gaining access to his kingdom to slaughter his people.”
“Indeed,” I stated, ending the argument to escape the conversation.
Torrin moved us through the city, stopping the horses before the wide entrance of the palace. Several warriors, who nodded to Torrin in a show of respect, guarded it. Torrin handed me down to a soldier and dismounted to stand beside me silently as the others swarmed around us.
I spun in a circle with the girls, taking in the kingdom’s beauty. “We’re here,” he growled, moving away from me as light glowed above.
I lifted my face to the moon, tasting the rays that warmed my face. Gasping sounded from the girls, and I turned to see the cause, only to slow blink at the palace. What was lit from violet lights was now illuminated by the moon. It was an ethereal scene of moonlight touching the palace’s lofty towers, shooting light into it to glow fluorescently bright. Everywhere I looked, the royal residence glinted with an iridescent radiance from the moon, kissing the sides and the glass of the palace.
Torrin watched my face, smirking boyishly as my eyes grew round with awe. I opened my mouth to speak, yet no words left my lips. I couldn’t even start to explain the intense emotion that pulsed through me as my chest tightened. Tears pricked my eyes while the moon bathed the lofty towers in a glowing light. All around it, the glass with the moonstones ignited, pulsing with their essence being rekindled, fueled by the moonlight that shone throughout the kingdom in honor of those who had given their lives for its safety.
“Welcome to the Kingdom of Night, Alexandria.” Torrin smiled roguishly, taking in what I saw through fresh eyes, with a sparkle of amusement burning in his stare.
“It’s the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,” I admitted in wonder.
“It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, but not anymore,” he stated thickly, and I blushed, flicking my eyes to his.
“Flattery will get you nowhere, sir,” I warned. Also, he was a slut, but I kept that to myself. Women and men moved closer to us, and I paused as one tried to get past a guard to get a closer look at us. The moon hadn’t only lit up the palace; it had also caused my hair to change coloring, exposing the rainbow within my eyes and hair.
“You must excuse their curious stares. We rarely see people so beautiful, or who glow within the light,” he grumbled, and people rushed away from the frown creasing his brow.
“You have a way with people, Torrin. If I weren’t sure of the taste of your kiss, I’d swear you’re a nightwalker, what, with the black veins and eyes.” His eyes studied my face before a wolfish smile replaced his frown. My sweet smile turned saccharine, and I exhaled, turning to the girls.
“Careful, I hear nightwalkers lust after the light and drink it from only the most beautiful maiden possible,” he whispered. “You’re exquisite too, Lexia. If I were one of them, you’d be the maiden I came for first. I’d drain you, drinking your sweet moonlit dew until it filled me with your light, and left me satisfied that you’d succumbed to the darkness within me as well.”
“If you don’t offer him your dew, you can bet your tight ass that I will.” Amo swallowed hard, twirling a strand of her glowing, white hair while licking her full bottom lip teasingly. Unlike my hair, hers only turned white with the light of the moon.
I sucked my lip between my teeth and inhaled deeply through my nose. “If you want Torrin, you can have him because I don’t,” I stated, staring at the wicked glint burning in his icy stare. “It seems his attention isn’t held for more than a moment, and I find myself unimpressed with him now.”
Amo frowned as her focus moved between us slowly before she gave Tabitha a look that said something was up. I shrugged the moment her eyes settled back on me, telling her with mine to leave it alone.
“Follow me,” Torrin announced, glaring pointedly at me. “Do try to behave like a lady, Alexandria.”
Ch
apter Sixteen
Once we’d entered the palace, Torrin and his men asked us to wait in the largest room I’d ever stood inside. It had a massive arched entrance that mirrored the outside of the palace. More glowing moonstones filled the glass against the walls, lighting it up brightly. On the ceilings were enormous chandeliers that sparkled with crystals.
“I sorta want to touch everything, but I’m afraid if my fingers even skim over something, it would shatter into a million pieces. Then the king would lop off my head for doing it,” Amo whispered excitedly, even though her voice echoed through the room. Amo’s owl perched on her shoulder let out a loud hoot, forcing heads to turn in our direction. “Can you believe we are actually inside the Palace of Night?”
“Don’t touch anything,” I muttered beneath my breath. “I’d prefer to be outside of it since we’re not guests here. We’re prisoners, remember that.”
All around us, women in huge gowns glared at us while speaking behind their gloved hands. Most wore jewels, and some even wore moonstones from their ears or throat, turning my stomach. I doubted those were from the stones of the people willing to sacrifice their light to protect the kingdom dwellers. These were people who’d never had to work to survive. They’d been allowed into the kingdom’s sanctuary, where men like Torrin did everything to keep them safe inside their little bubble. These assholes probably hadn’t ever lived in fear for a second of their pampered lives.
“These men look—weak,” Tabitha stated, which caused several of the men to turn at her words, staring down their noses at us just like the women in the ball gowns. “They’re so skinny I could pick my teeth with their bones. Can I?” she asked, and I snickered until it came out as a laugh.
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