Page 20

AVA

I gasped, but the sound barely escaped around the material shoved into my mouth.

I tasted my familiar musk and sweetness and knew this was the ruined panties that Scáth had cut off me earlier. What sick fuck—?

Before I could spit it out, a strip of tape was slapped roughly over my lips, sealing my scream in my throat.

My heart jackhammered as the weight of a body loomed over my naked body, a figure shrouded in shadows and a mask.

Scáth?

No… My head snapped to the side. Scáth was lying beside me, still and unresponsive.

Unmoving.

Fuck. This wasn’t Scáth waking me for sex games. This was an intruder trying to take me. The Sochai had sent him.

Panic exploded in my chest, and I thrashed instinctively, my fists flying toward the intruder .

“Scáth!” I tried to scream, but his name came out as a muffled cry.

He didn’t wake.

A jolt of terror shot through me, my body going cold even as I swung again, connecting with Scáth’s arm. No reaction.

“Scáth!” I tried again, screaming against the gag, even as the intruder grabbed my wrists and taped them up in front of me, binding me with brutal efficiency.

“Shut up, Ava,” he growled, his voice low and menacing. “He’s not waking up anytime soon.”

The words hit me like a punch to the gut. My mind reeled. Had he drugged Scáth? Or was Scáth dead ? Did this bastard kill him?

No.

No .

And Ty. Oh God, Ty. Where was Ty?

I glanced to the door and screamed again, hoping, praying that Ty would hear me and come running.

But the door remained closed.

I struggled, trying to clear the fog of fear and think. Ty had taught me what to do in situations like this—how to fight, how to escape.

But my thoughts were a tangled mess, grief and terror crushing down on me until I could hardly breathe.

I kicked out wildly, managing to connect once with the intruder’s side, but his weight bore down on me, pinning my legs. The tape came next, wrapping around my ankles in tight, unforgiving loops.

I screamed again, muffled and useless, as he manhandled me like I was nothing more than a rag doll. His strength was overwhelming, and no amount of twisting or writhing could shake him.

The world tilted as he hefted me over his shoulder, his muscled shoulder digging into my stomach. My vision swam, and my muffled cries turned desperate, frantic as he stole me from the apartment, jolting with every step down the stairs.

The dorm apartment was dark, eerily quiet, the stillness mocking my struggle. Where the fuck was everyone? Shouldn’t there be students still up partying? Studying late?

Outside, the air was cold against my naked skin, but it did nothing to shock me back to reality. The only sound was his heavy boots against the pavement and my muffled sobs.

I screamed again, a pitiful, hollow sound against the gag, as he stopped beside a sleek black sedan. The soft beep of the car unlocking made my stomach drop.

The trunk popped open with a quiet hiss, and I renewed my fight, thrashing against him with everything I had left. My legs kicked uselessly, my taped wrists digging into my back, but he didn’t even falter.

He shoved me into the trunk, the hard metal biting into my back as I hit it with a thud.

“Scream all you want, hummingbird. You’re mine , now.”

My muffled screams were drowned out by the sound of the lid slamming shut, locking me in darkness.

I don’t know how long we rode in the car. It could have been two minutes. It could have been two hours.

Finally, the car rolled to a stop.

My ears strained as I heard the door open, gravel crunching beneath boots. The trunk popped open with a mechanical click, the sudden flood of light making me blink rapidly.

And there he was.

Those blue eyes stared down at me, glinting over the edge of his skeleton half-mask. The corners of his eyes crinkled, as if he were laughing at some private joke.

Ty.

Anger flared hot and wild in my chest. This time, I didn’t just thrash—I fought .

My muffled screams tore from my throat as I cursed him through the gag, words twisted into incoherent mumbles, but the message was clear.

What the fuck was Ty doing?

What was this game he was playing?

He smirked, the kind of infuriating expression that only stoked my rage. With no effort at all, he grabbed me again, throwing me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing.

I slammed my fists into his back, over and over, but he didn’t so much as flinch.

The world tilted as he carried me, the sound of gravel crunching giving way to the distinct click of his heels on polished marble, the blurred lines of ornate flooring passing under me.

I frowned. This flooring looked familiar. Where had he taken me?

Finally, he stopped, setting me down on my feet .

My legs wobbled beneath me, but before I could gather my balance, he spun me and pushed me back over something solid—angled.

The realization hit just as his hands worked quickly, efficiently. He hooked my bound wrists over something high above my head, forcing me to stretch out.

Rage and confusion warred within me, but beneath it all, an unwelcome heat began to build. My nipples tightened traitorously, sensitive peaks straining against the air as this position forced my back to arch, thrusting my breasts forward. I hated my body’s response, hated how it betrayed me even as my mind reeled.

Ty stepped back, tilting his head like he was admiring his handiwork.

“What the fuck?” I tried to shout, but the gag muffled my words, reducing them to furious noise.

My breath hitched as my eyes darted around the room.

I knew this place.

The space was vast, almost cathedral-like, a few scattered wall sconces giving off a dim light. Overhead, the massive domed ceiling loomed, its metal beams curving into shadowed heights, the arched windows letting in fractured shards of moonlight across the walls.

Bookshelves lined the walls, crammed with ancient tomes and celestial charts, while the air was thick with the smell of aged paper, brass, and faint hints of dust. And a spiral staircase wound up to a shadowy platform above, disappearing into the darkness.

I was in the old Darkmoor observatory.

And I lay stretched out and naked on the monstrous telescope in the center .

I pulled at the bindings. But Ty had wrapped enough tape around them so that I couldn’t tear them off.

Ty’s eyes raked over my exposed body. His gaze wasn’t cold like it usually was. It was wild and tormented with a touch of madness.

His glare burned into my skin, contrasting with the cold metal of the telescope pressed against my back.

“You only have yourself to blame for this, Ava,” he said, his voice bitter and hateful.

He kneeled and sliced through the tape binding my ankles in one swift motion.

The moment I felt the tape fall away, I lashed out. My leg snapped up, aiming for his face, but Ty was faster. He caught my ankle mid-kick, his grip like iron. A low chuckle rumbled from his chest, the sound sending an unwelcome shiver down my spine.

“Nice try,” he said, his hand like an iron band around my leg. “But I know all your moves. I taught them to you.”

He yanked my leg to the side, stretching it out painfully wide.

I tried to twist away, but he held firm, cuffing my ankle out on the telescope mount. Panic surged through me anew.

Fuck. He’d set up handcuffs here already. He’d planned this. Of course, he planned it. It was Ty.

What else did he have planned?

I thrashed wildly, my free leg kicking out, but Ty grabbed that too and secured it to the other side, forcing my legs open wide so that I was fully exposed to him.

“Ty, goddammit…” I yelled around the panties stuffed into my mouth, trying to work my lips to get the tape off. “Let me go right now, asshole. ”

Ty stepped right up against me. “Bad girls don’t get to make demands,” he growled into my face. “Bad girls get punished.”

Ty cupped my pussy with his hand, his fingers sliding between my folds, his touch rough and possessive. I tried to jerk away, but there was nowhere to go—the cuffs held me spread open and helpless.

“You’re dripping all over my hand, hummingbird,” he said on a growl, his voice dark with satisfaction. “Maybe I should change my punishment if you’re enjoying this too much.”

I shook my head frantically, denying his words even as heat pooled traitorously between my thighs. His fingers rubbed my clit, sending jolts of unwanted pleasure through me. I bit down on the gag, fighting the moan that tried to escape.

Ty leaned in close, his breath hot against my ear. “God, Ava, even when you’re with him—fucking him —you’re in my head. Under my skin. All the fucking time.”

He pushed three fingers inside me and my eyes rolled back into my head at the way he filled me.

“You. You. You,” he said with every hateful thrust into my pussy. “You’ve got me wrapped around your fucking fingers.”

I fought against the rising tide of dark need, desperately trying to focus on my anger instead of the pleasure building low in my belly.

He pulled his fingers out and slapped my clit with his palm.

“You’ve got me in the palm of your fucking hand.”

His hands went to his belt, unfastening it with quick, precise movements. The sound of his zipper sliding down sent a shiver through me—part fear, part anticipation.

His cock sprang free. It jutted out proudly, thick and hard, the head already glistening with pre-cum.

I was stunned at the sight of him, looking obscene standing there in the middle of this beautiful old observatory with his button-up shirt, the sleeves rolled up, and dress pants, just his long thick cock hanging out.

Ty gripped himself, stroking his length as he looked at me, his eyes glittering with madness.

“You think you can let him fuck you, loudly , force me to listen to you screaming on his cock without making me lose my fucking mind. Huh?”

His gaze swept over my naked body as he stepped in close, my nipples tightening under his gaze, my pussy clenching around nothing.

“I’m going to punish you for making me so damn crazy.”

He thrust into me without warning. Splitting me open. Filling me to fullness.

He didn’t even wait for me to get used to his size as he began to thrust, fucking me hard like he was trying to hurt me.

Each thrust sent shock waves through my body, the telescope creaking behind me. His hands gripped my hips, fingers digging in hard enough to bruise as he used the leverage to pull me onto his cock again and again.

“This is what you wanted, isn’t it?” he snarled, his voice rough with exertion and something darker echoing around the domed space. “To drive me fucking insane with jealousy? To push me this close to killing my own fucking brother? Huh? ”

I shook my head frantically, trying to deny it even as my body betrayed me. My walls clenched around him, drawing him deeper with each punishing stroke. The friction was exquisite agony, pleasure and pain blurring together until I couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began.

“It would have been so fucking easy, Ava. To slip twice the dose into his nightly whiskey so he’d never wake up. To end him.”

I mumbled something around my gag as tears streamed down my face.

This was so wrong. So, so fucking wrong.

So why did I love it, want it, want more? Why did I crave this fucked-up shit?

“What was that?” Ty ripped the tape off my mouth.

I yelped at the sudden sting and spat out my panties.

“Fuck you, you sick fuck,” I snarled at him, snapping my teeth as I tried to bite him, even as pleasure slammed through me.

“Your insults only make my dick harder.” He leaned down and took a nipple into his mouth.

“Oh fuck.” I arched into him, my hips bucking up to meet him, begging to be destroyed.

I came, hard.

My orgasm ripped through me, intense and almost painful in its force. I cried out, the sound echoing off the observatory’s domed ceiling. My body clenched around Ty’s cock, drawing him deeper as waves of pleasure crashed over me.

But Ty didn’t stop. If anything, my climax only spurred him on. His thrusts became more frantic, more brutal. He grabbed my hair, yanking my head back as he pounded into me relentlessly.

“ My pussy,” he growled, his breath hot against my neck. “Mine. He might have claimed you first. But I will be your last .”

I was overwhelmed, overstimulated, caught between wanting to push him away and pull him closer. My legs trembled in their restraints, and I could feel another orgasm building, impossibly soon after the first.

I came again.

I screamed as the second orgasm tore through me, even more intense than the first. My body convulsed, clenching around Ty’s cock as he continued his relentless assault. It was almost too much to bear, bordering on pain.

Ty’s rhythm faltered, his thrusts becoming erratic. With a guttural groan, he buried himself deep inside me, his cock pulsing as he came. I felt the heat of his release flooding me, marking me from the inside out.

For a moment, we stayed like that, both panting heavily. The air in the observatory felt thick, heavy with the scent of sex and sweat.

Ty pulled out slowly, and I whimpered at the loss. He stepped back, tucking himself away and fastening his pants.

I half hung from my arms, my shoulders screaming in protest, the ache sharp and unrelenting. My head lolled forward, mind too bleary to make sense of anything anymore, exhaustion draining my will to fight.

I barely registered Ty stepping toward me, his presence unmistakable even in my haze. His hands worked quickly, efficiently, removing the restraints with a precision that almost felt clinical .

The sudden release sent a jolt through my body, and before I could react, he caught me. Strong arms wrapped around my naked body, cradling me as though I were fragile, breakable.

I wanted to protest, to fight, but my limbs refused to cooperate.

Instead, I found myself being carried, Ty’s grip steady and unyielding, his footsteps echoing in the vast room.

He laid me down on something soft—a blanket, warm and thick against the chill of the observatory. Something else he’d also planned.

I opened my mouth to say something, but the words died on my tongue as I glanced up, my breath catching.

Above us, the glass dome of the observatory stretched into infinity, revealing a night sky that took my breath away. The stars blazed against the inky blackness, a vast, shimmering canvas that made my chest ache with its beauty.

For a moment, it was as if the entire universe had been laid bare, infinite and overwhelming.

Ty lay down beside me, his arm pulling me close before I could muster the strength to push him away. His warmth seeped into me, his steady breaths unnervingly calm against the chaos still swirling in my chest.

He took my wrists gently, pressing soft kisses along the tender skin where the tape had been. The gesture was so at odds with the rage he just unleashed on me.

A sigh escaped me, long and shaky. The fatigue that clung to my body dulled the sharp edges of guilt already weaving its way into my mind.

For now, just for now, I let myself rest against him .

“Why did you bring me here?” I asked, the question slipping out before I could stop it.

“So we could look at the stars together,” he said simply, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

I blinked, caught off guard. Huh. That’s… kind of sweet.

“I still hate you,” I muttered, though the bite in my words had long since softened.

His lips brushed against my hair. “I still love you more.”

And as much as I wanted to push him away, to reject his words and everything they implied, I stared up at the stars instead, wondering if maybe—just maybe—he was telling the truth.

I woke to the soft dawn bleeding through the glass dome above, streaking the observatory in shades of gold and pink. For a fleeting moment, everything was calm. Peaceful. Ty’s arms were wrapped around me, his steady breaths brushing against my hair.

And then it hit me.

Oh, God. We fell asleep here.

Panic gripped my chest, tightening like a vise. Ciaran. He was going to freak out when he woke up and I wasn’t there next to him.

I shoved Ty’s arm off me, scrambling upright.

“Ty,” I hissed, shaking him. “Wake up!”

He groaned, rolling over with all the urgency of someone who had nothing to lose. “Mmm. Five more minutes, wifey.”

“Five minutes? We don’t have five minutes!” I snapped, yanking the blanket out from under him and wrapping it around me. “Get up!”

He finally sat up, annoyingly calm as he stretched, like we had all the time in the world. “Relax, Ava. It’s fine.”

“It is not fine,” I shot back, practically dragging him to his feet. “Get your ass moving before Ciaran wakes up and kills us both.”

He grinned lazily, as if the idea of Ciaran’s wrath amused him, but he didn’t argue as I shoved him toward the door and out to the car.

The moment Ty pulled up to the dorm apartment, I didn’t wait for him to fully stop.

I tumbled out of the car, barefoot and still wrapped in the blanket, and bolted for the stairs.

My heart pounded as I sprinted up, taking two steps at a time. I shoved open the apartment door, nearly tripping over myself in the process.

“Ava?” Ciaran’s voice called from his bedroom, groggy but sharp with confusion.

My blood froze and I panicked, darting for the bathroom and slipping inside without being seen.

I flushed the toilet and turned on the taps, trying to make it sound convincing as I tried to calm my guilty heart.

I stepped out just as Ciaran banged open his bedroom door.

He was naked, his hair disheveled, his gaze narrowing on me as I tried to look as casual as possible.

“Morning,” I said brightly, praying my voice didn’t crack.

Ciaran’s eyes dropped to the blanket wrapped around me, his frown deepening. Something in my stomach twisted .

Before I could say anything, the front door opened, and Ty strolled in, whistling like he hadn’t just ruined my fucking life.

“What the fuck did you do to her?” Ciaran barked, his voice sharp enough to cut glass.

“Whoa.” Ty held up his hands, feigning innocence. “Someone needs his morning coffee.”

Ty pointed to Ciaran’s naked body. “But first, pants?”

I silently panicked, my heart hammering against my ribs. If Ciaran had been on the verge of killing Ty last night, he’d definitely do it now if he found out that Ty had kidnapped me last night.

What he’d done to me.

And the fact that we fell asleep together afterward.

“Scáth,” I said, stepping closer, trying to calm him. “Let’s get you dressed before—”

He whirled on me, cutting me off with a pointed finger. “Where did you get that blanket?”

“What?” I blinked, startled.

I looked down at the blanket wrapped around me, really looked at it for the first time. It was navy blue, soft, with stars sewn into it like a night sky.

“I-I don’t know,” I stammered. “I just grabbed it on my way to the bathroom.”

Ciaran’s eyes burned into mine, disbelief etched into every line of his face. “That’s Ty’s. Our mother gave that to him.”

The air left my lungs as the room suddenly felt too small.

Ciaran turned to Ty, fury sparking in his eyes. “Why is my girlfriend wearing your blanket over her naked body?”

Ty remained silent, the tension in the room pulling taut like a wire about to snap.

Ciaran took a step toward him, then faltered, stumbling slightly. He must still be shaking off the drug Ty had given him last night.

I rushed to him, grabbing his arm to steady him and guiding him to sit on the couch.

“Sit,” I murmured softly. “I’ll get you some water.”

Ty, infuriatingly unbothered as always, headed for the kitchen. “I’ll start the coffee.”

I kissed Ciaran’s temple, whispering, “Just rest,” before I made my way to the kitchen. The tension coiled in my chest like a spring as I filled a glass at the sink, Ty standing by my side near the kettle.

“Last night didn’t happen,” I whispered to him, my voice low but sharp.

Ty glanced at me, his expression unreadable. “It did happen. No matter how much you try to deny it.”

A groan from the couch made us both glance over at Ciaran. He looked pale, his head in his hands.

I hated lying to Ciaran. Hated it. But the alternative was unbearable.

“Ty,” I whispered. “If you tell him… he’ll kill you.”

Ty’s mask slipped for a fraction of a second, the cold rage from last night glittering dangerously in his eyes. “Not if I kill him first.”

The words hung in the air like a knife between us, sharp and heavy.

I swallowed hard, the tension between us thickening, suffocating. And for the first time, I let myself consider it—what if this was the only way it ended?

With one of them dead.