Page 39 of Daughter Of The Ninth Line: The Complete Book One (Lines Of Ebrus #1)

chapter thirty-nine

Avalon

I’d never been to a real party before. When Father had banquets or balls, I’d been confined to my rooms. Sometimes, I’d sneak out to watch the men drink and the women flirt.

No one danced in the North—it was a frivolity that we didn’t really ascribe to—but people knew how to get drunk and fuck in dark corners.

That seemed to be the version of partying that Boellium was fond of too, because in the short walk down the beach with Vox, Shay, Acacia, and Viana, I saw at least four couples fucking.

Well, three couples and one quad. My feet stuttered as I watched the group have sex behind a large boulder that wasn’t quite private enough, especially considering the sun had barely dipped below the horizon.

“Would you like a drink?” Vox asked, and I nodded as I dragged my eyes away. We walked to where a kid I vaguely recognized as being part of the Third Line was playing bartender. He was having a good time at least, mixing drinks and pouring them down someone’s throat with a funnel.

Shay snorted. “Fucking Lucio.”

The person drinking through the funnel was indeed Hayle’s second-in-command. I snorted a laugh, but instinctively looked for the Heir of the Third Line. There were at least a hundred people on the beach, though I couldn’t see him anywhere. Maybe he was in the shadows with someone else too?

The thought of Hayle with his body wrapped around some random Upper Sixer made my blood turn to ice in my veins, but I pushed the jealousy away. Who Hayle fucked, married, or loved had nothing to do with me. I had Vox, and he was all I needed.

Hell, he was more than I needed. And if I was honest with myself, Hayle was as out of reach to me as Vox was. No, I should be happy with what I had, and when it was all over, I’d be glad that I got to experience this freedom at all.

“What would you like?” Vox asked close to my ear so he could be heard over the band, which was playing something heavy and melodic and made me wish I really did dance.

I shrugged. “Whatever you suggest.” I knew even less about fancy Upper Six alcohol than I did about dancing.

Lucio slid close to Shay, already swaying slightly with a goofy grin on his face. “If it isn’t my favorite ball-crusher,” he teased, and she rolled her eyes.

“I stood on your balls once, Lucio. Get over it.” Her eyes shifted quickly to Acacia, then back to him, and Lucio tilted his head, his alcohol-hazed mind picking up the vibes of the group quickly.

His grin got even wider, if possible, and something nearly imperceptible passed between them. An understanding, maybe.

He slung an arm around Shay’s shoulders.

“You know, I’m okay if we make our little duo into a ménage, Shay-Shay.

” I wished I understood the dynamic between those two, because his words were more teasing than lecherous.

Almost like a performance, he seemed to be saying what he knew the people around him expected to hear, but didn’t actually want to follow through.

Shay also didn’t move his arm from her shoulder, and Acacia was watching them shrewdly.

Finally, Acacia shrugged. “You’d both be so lucky,” she said snarkily, throwing them a wink and flouncing off into the crowd. Soon after, both Shay and Lucio disappeared, and Viana and her guys left to dance.

“Then there were two,” Vox murmured softly, leading me away from the bulk of the crowd. The liquor was sweet and high quality, and strong. So fucking strong. “Fuck, you look so beautiful tonight, Avalon.”

He stepped closer to me, out here in the open where anyone could see. While he’d never outright said we should keep our rendezvous secret, he hadn’t exactly walked me into the middle of the the atrium and announced he was fucking the nobody from the Ninth Line.

Right now, though, he may as well be shouting it to the rooftops. Especially when he leaned down and kissed me softly, reverently, in front of hundreds of eyes.

It was impossible not to lean into the kiss, not to kiss him back with the burning desire in my gut. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he gripped my hips with firm hands, holding me close enough that I could feel the hardening of his cock behind the laces of his pants.

I tore myself away before I lost all good sense and moved us toward one of the rocky crevices and demanded he fuck me. “You make me crazy,” I whispered against his lips, and he chuckled low.

“Not as crazy as you make me. Giving you up is going to be the hardest thing I’ll ever have to do.” The pain in his voice reflected the ache in my chest. But that was a problem for another day. A heartache for a future Avalon.

The drink was making me brave, and I leaned back so I could look at him properly. “Do you dance?”

He snorted, dropping his hands and leading me toward the dance floor. “Do I dance? Ninth, I was waltzing around a grand ballroom with vapid nobility before I could even piss standing up.”

I laughed, even though that was a little sad. “I don’t really know…” I trailed off, because I didn’t want to admit that I was so uncultured, I couldn’t even do the casual swaying dance they were doing on the sand, let alone a waltz.

Vox grinned at me over his shoulder, and my heart stuttered in my chest. I memorized that expression, that moment, like I would one day try to recreate it in a painting.

The light of torches stuck in the sand behind him bouncing off his dark locks like a golden halo, those blue eyes darkened by the shadows, the glint of his white teeth, and his full lips stretched wide.

He was so perfect, so mesmerizing, that it took me a moment to realize he was saying something. “Don’t worry, I’ll teach you. It’s as natural as fucking, and I can promise you, you’re perfect at that.”

I slapped his shoulder, but followed him onto the dance floor and let him pull me closer. His knee slipped between my thighs, and I was so close to his body, it would be impossible to see the firelight between us.

He bent his head down toward mine. “You let me lead, sweetheart, and just enjoy yourself. Feel the music. Feel my body. Feel how connected we are.” Then he began to sway, and my body moved with his.

It really did kind of feel like sex. The same connection, the same primal understanding of the rhythm and movement.

He pulled me even closer, and the way his hard thigh rubbed my core made me wet.

Goddess, I wasn’t going to last an entire song at this rate.

“Why the change of heart?” I mumbled against his chest, and he dipped his face low.

“Hmm?” He rubbed his cheek on mine, making me sigh at the soft scrape.

“Why are you suddenly dancing with me in public? Kissing me in public?”

“I was standing at the end of the path as you walked toward the beach, and I saw the way everyone watched you. I knew they were seeing you as I do, rather than how they think you should be.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “What does that even mean?”

“It means you walked down here looking like a wet dream, and everyone noticed you. Desired you. Wanted to be you, or just worship at your feet. I’m a petty, jealous man.

I don’t want to share you with these fuckers.

I want everyone to know that you’re mine.

” He leaned down and kissed me again, never stopping the gentle sway of our dance.

“I want them to know that you’re only mine to kiss.

To touch. To tease. To claim.” He bit my lip, dragging it through his teeth with an erotically painful scrape. “To fuck.”

“You’re a very bad influence, Vox Vylan,” I grumbled, lifting my face for more kisses. If he was claiming me, then I was going to claim him right back.

The night went on like that, with more songs, more drinks, more of… what could only be described as foreplay.

Sometime late in the night, Vox was dragged away by Shay, and I walked over to the bar again.

I needed water; my body was overly warm from the dancing and the liquor.

I watched all the Lines dancing and laughing, partying together like the divide between us and them didn’t exist. At least for tonight, anyway.

I was surprised to see Hayle beside the bar, Alucius at his feet. I reached down and scratched her ears, and she allowed it. She wasn’t so easily affectionate as her mate, but she sure was beautiful. And regal.

“Alucius. You’re looking radiant tonight,” I told her softly, and she turned her face to lick my hand softly. I tried not to melt on the spot, but I’d swear my heart grew three sizes in my chest.

“She thinks you look lovely too,” Hayle told me. His smile was soft, but something else tinged the edges. Something I couldn’t name. “I have to say, I agree. That dress is beautiful.” Pausing, his eyes meet mine. “ You look beautiful.”

I blew out a quick breath, my heart thudding hard.

It always felt like this, like something inside me was too big and was trying to break through the bones of my chest. I swallowed the lump that lodged in my throat.

“Thank you. This is a great party. You should invite all the Lines more often. It’s good for Boellium. ”

It would be good for Ebrus too, but I kept that to myself. My thoughts on the Upper Six and Lower Six divide bordered on treasonous.

“I think you’re right. Definitely better than some of the other Line parties, that’s for sure. Do you want another drink?”

For some reason, as he spoke, I was drifting closer. I couldn’t stop myself. “Just water, please. I think I’ve had enough of your expensive alcohol, though I’ve built up quite the tolerance after drinking the Twelfth Line’s moon water for a month. That stuff will melt your insides.”

Hayle laughed, grabbing me a jug of water from behind the bar. “I’ve heard of it. I should ask your friends for a sample. It’s very hard for the Third Line to get drunk, which is why we funnel-chug most of our drinks.”

I laughed. “Well, see Eliot over there?” I pointed across at a Twelfth Line conscript sipping from a secret flask he kept on his hip.

“The still in the bowels is his baby. If you ask about it, he’ll talk to you for hours about batches and vintages and all sorts of stuff I don’t understand.

Just don’t talk about his eyebrows… or lack thereof. ”

Hayle chuckled. “What happened to his eyebrows?”

I leaned toward him. I’d missed the sound of his laugh. “Word is that the alcohol percentage of the last batch was too high, and a small spark from the burner set it alight like a fireball. Blew off his eyebrows and his mustache. Well, his former mustache.”

Hayle snorted, until he looked past me and frowned. I spun to see what he was frowning at. Maybe people had stopped trying to hide their fucking in dark corners and were just screwing on the dance floor now?

Instead, it was a man in a uniform walking in our direction. I was so surprised when he stopped in front of me, I didn’t think to do anything but gape. I didn’t recognize him, and he wasn’t in the Boellium guard uniform.

The uniformed man looked me over once. “Avalon Halhed?”

I nodded. “Yes?”

He raised a gun I hadn’t even seen and pointed it at my head. “The Baron sends his regards.”