Page 15

Lavender

Chatter’s lips were soft against mine as he cupped my face and kissed me. It began gently, but a spark ignited, and I pressed against him.

Chatter muttered something against my mouth as he held me tight to him. My hands slid up between us and explored the contours of his chest. Chatter was muscled and amazingly so. I was one lucky girl that he wanted me, and I knew it.

“Lavender, if you don’t want this, tell me to stop,” Chatter murmured, breaking our kiss.

“I want you,” I promised and sat up, pulling my tee off. Maybe not the sexiest thing, but I often slept in shorts and tees.

Chatter’s eyes widened as he took in my bare breasts. I hated wearing bras in bed. They tended to poke you in strange places.

Chatter’s hands moved of their own accord, and he cupped my boobs and slowly kneaded them. My nipples hardened under his ministrations, and I smiled as he hauled me naked on top of him. My pussy settled over his cock, which was straining against the loose shorts he was wearing. Chatter’s hands once more cupped my breasts, and he sat up to take a nipple in his mouth. His teeth grazed it, and I released a sharp cry.

My body tingled as he repeated his action, and his mouth moved, sucking on the globe of my breast and leaving little marks before going to my nipple again. He sucked on it hard, sending shivers down my spine, and I arched my back. Chatter broke off and applied the same to my other breast while his fingers teased the one he’d just left.

Chatter hauled me close and feasted on my skin. He nipped and sucked, making me shiver, and his feather-light touches set my body on fire. My pussy was soaking wet and little spasms rolled through me as its walls clenched. I was feeling sensations I’d never experienced before, and I wasn’t a virgin.

“If I do something you don’t like, tell me,” Chatter murmured. He slapped my breasts lightly, the slaps stung and made my nipples harder.

“I’ve got some clamps that would love these,” he said and twisted them slightly before sucking one back into his mouth. Chatter lavished attention on my chest even as I rocked against his rigid cock.

With a grin, Chatter lifted me up off him and laid me down. He jack-knifed between my thighs, forcing them wider. He placed my feet on his shoulders as he gazed at my pussy before he trailed a finger between my slick folds.

I cried out and tried to move, but my legs were trapped.

Chatter slid his tongue onto my hot flesh, and I grabbed the bed covers as his tongue stabbed inside me. His fingers held my folds open, and Chatter blew on my heat before sinking his tongue back in me.

He removed it and sucked on my clit, and my pussy exploded.

I mewed as emptiness flooded inside me. I needed Chatter’s cock and wanted it now. Chatter pulled away and took his shorts off before settling at my core. He pulled on a condom as he stroked my clit, spreading my juices.

“If you don’t like it, tell me,” he said. Chatter pulled my legs up over his shoulders, so I laid on my shoulders and head, and my pussy was angled towards him. Chatter slowly fed his cock into me, and I could only accept it. In this position, I was helpless, and Chatter knew it. But I felt safe. Chatter’s dick was huge and thick, and my walls had to stretch. My body squirmed, but Chatter held me firm as he finally slid full hilt into me.

Chatter let my body adjust to his size before sliding out and back in. My pussy clenched around him as I held his eyes. Chatter watched me intently as he repeated his actions, slowly picking up the pace. My pussy fluttered as Chatter slid a hand between us and flicked my nub.

“Tell me you’re mine,” he growled out.

“I’m yours,” I promised.

Chatter dropped my legs and moved over my body as he started pounding into me. There was no control or rhythm. He was claiming me, and I loved it.

My hips moved to meet his pace as my legs wrapped around him.

Chatter’s back stiffened as he began coming, and I sensed my own orgasm not far before.

We cried out together, and I shoved against him, riding the waves of my own release. I swear I saw stars before I collapsed on the bed.

Chatter fell to the side of me, turning me as he did and hauled me in close. “Mine,” he murmured, and I couldn’t disagree at all.

Chatter

Chatter was curled around Lavender when the footsteps started again. He rolled his eyes but sat up when chains rattled. That was a new one for him.

Lavender was so tired she rolled over and buried her head in the pillows. He’d given her five orgasms tonight. She should be knackered, he thought, allowing a small grin to escape. Well, that was one way to ensure his woman slept.

Chatter covered Lavender up as he heard a knock, and this time, he ordered Jinx to wait before opening it. Jinx stood outside in shorts and a tee, but there was an expression on his face.

“I’ve seen someone on the drive,” he whispered. “A big black figure. I think it is a man. If it ain’t, then it’s the fuckin’ devil.”

Chatter nodded and grabbed a flashlight from a table next to the front doors. He and Jinx slipped out and let their eyes adjust. A few seconds later, Chatter saw a hulking figure dart into the trees, and he gave chase with Jinx at his heels. They headed into the treeline and halted. Crashing noises came from their left, so they went in that direction.

They caught sight of a shadow moving fast on their right and, changed directions, and paused. Chatter frowned when he heard two distinctive movements. One from the right and one in front of them.

“It’s two people we’re after,” he whispered.

“The on the right seems closer,” Jinx agreed, and they gave chase.

Panting came from ahead of them, and Chatter knew they were close.

Suddenly, something flew at them, and Chatter instinctively reached out his hands to catch it. He screamed in sheer horror as he glanced down at a disfigured doll that winked at him. Without a second thought, Chatter’s eyes rolled, and he hit the ground full length.

◆◆◆

“Wake up, wake the fuck up, Chatter. Lavender’s back at the house alone,” someone said, slapping his face hard.

“Jinx!” Chatter groaned, coming too and stiffening.

“I’ve got rid of it,” Jinx exclaimed, and Chatter opened his eyes.

“What happened?”

“You know what, Chatter. And we’ve been gone ages. Lavender’s alone in the Manor, and I don’t like it,” Jinx stated.

Chatter nodded and started to get to his feet when they heard a scream. It was high-pitched and female.

“Lavender!” both men cried and began rushing back. Tree branches whipped at their faces and arms as they ran headlong in the direction of the yell. A second joined the first, and it was almost eerie in the darkness.

They burst out of the trees and spotted Lavender on the front porch and ran towards her.

“Are you okay? What happened?” Chatter gasped, gathering her close.

“I’m fine. Who screamed?” Lavender demanded, shaking a little.

“You did,” Jinx said with a frown.

“No, that was not me. I heard a bang and woke up. There was a scream, so I came outside, and then there was a second. It wasn’t me,” Lavender gasped.

Footsteps pounded inside the house as Jinx shouted, “The girls!”

All five students appeared and were swapping glances.

“What happened? Why did you scream?” Harriet cried.

“I didn’t. I thought one of you had,” Lavender denied.

“No, that wasn’t us!” Emory replied.

“Then who the hell was it?” Chatter asked.

“The Lady in White!” Harriet exclaimed.

“What?” Chatter demanded, exasperated.

“One of the ghost stories Callie found was that there is the ghost of Margaret Bloodsworth, who was the wife of Thomas in seventeen fifty. A jealous sibling who wanted the Manor murdered her. Descendants have claimed seeing her whenever the true heir to the Manor is in danger,” Harriet explained.

“So, what changed tonight?” Lavender muttered.

Jinx had gone back into the house and reappeared. “I think you better see this,” he said grimly.

Chatter burst through her bedroom door with Lavender on his heels. He tried to turn her face away, but Lavender had seen it. Sticking out of her bed as a warning was a knife. It had been stabbed into the mattress and left.

Chatter growled under his breath. Whoever was behind shit happening here had just stepped up their game and sent a very threatening message.

Lavender

Somehow things were coming to a closure. I could feel it in my bones. Ravenberry was about to give up some of its secrets.

Today began with a discussion of last night’s events, and Sin showed me the passages she’d uncovered so far where Margaret had appeared to warn heirs of danger.

It was all interesting, but someone wanted to hurt me. And right now, I was looking at three of them.

Mom, Dad, and Janice had arrived, in breach of their bail terms, no doubt. I’d called the police before going outside. With their luck, they’d escape before the officers arrived and claim I was off my head or something.

“What do you want?” I asked, with Chatter and Jinx at my back.

“To tell you to drop this ridiculous suit,” Dad said, looking at me sternly.

“And then what?”

“Then we’ll consider compensation from you for the embarrassment you’ve put us through and discuss future options,” Janice snapped.

I began laughing. “All you did was marry into a rich family. You weren’t born to this; you don’t have a blood tie, just greed in your corner!”

“Don’t talk to your grandmother like that!” Dad shouted at me, and I spun on him.

“Let me make things very clear. You had a child because Aunt Aggie lost her children. Oh yeah, I overheard that conversation, too! You did not want me, but I was a means to the end and the end being the estate and its wealth.” Bitterness rose in me as I poured out the secrets I’d been hiding.

“I was nothing more than a meal ticket. When it became clear Aunt Aggie wouldn’t have an heir, you all hatched the plan. What you didn’t realise was Aunt Aggie and I would be close. You saw me as a meal ticket to get all of this, and then when Aunt Aggie died, you kept all this hidden from me. For years, you went behind my back and tried to break the trust. The lot of you disgust me. Tell me, did you ever have any love for me?”

My voice broke on the last, but I drew myself up and held their eyes, looking for something, anything, to prove they cared.

“Why on earth would we care about you?” Janice sneered.

“Oh, shut up, you damned bitch!” I exclaimed, and the three people in front of me gasped in horror. “Honestly, what did you ever bring this family except strife and greed? Knowing you, you latched onto Grandpa Reginald and deliberately got yourself pregnant so you could have the easy life. Because God forbid you get your hands dirty doing an honest day’s work.

“Even if it is the last thing I do, I will see you locked away and everything stripped from you. You owe the estate millions, and I’ll get it back. And as for you two. Being born a Bloodsworth is a responsibility, it means something. You never learned that because of that she-devil. Being heir to this is a privilege, it’s not about what the estate and trust can do for you but what you can do for it!

“That’s something none of you ever realised or tried to understand. You’d have stripped everything of value and wasted it on stupid things like yachts and cars. None of you are worthy of the estate and what comes with it,” I snapped at them.

Dollar signs showed in their eyes. I was nothing to them. That pain stabbed deep inside me. I had hoped that they did care about me. But I was clearly wrong. The only thing I’d been to them was a means to get their greedy hands on the trust.

I drew my shoulders back as I saw a car appear in the drive.

“This is my final answer for you three. You’re lazy and self-entitled and wouldn’t know goodness if someone slapped you with it. I’ll push these charges and ensure you all see the inside of a jail cell. My lawyer has already had your assets frozen, I shall claim them back and strip you of everything you value.

“See, you had treasure in your hands. Something most parents automatically understand. A child is a blessing, not a credit card to a fortune. I am not blowing my own trumpet, not saying I’m the be-all and end-all. But I bet everything I own, Aunt Aggie would have given this up even just for one more day with her children. She knew what treasures they were and treated them as such.

“You? You all disgust me. Janice, you gave birth to Dad to get your hands on the money, and Mom did the same with me. How does it feel, Dad, knowing that? You were nothing more than a ploy for Janice’s greed to get her nasty, grubby fingers on this?”

“Shut your mouth, my mother loves me!” Dad hissed.

I snickered. “Take a look at her. I think you’re mistaken!”

Dad looked at Janice and blanched at the expression he saw. He turned to me, and for a moment, I thought he might get it, and then a sneer crossed his face.

“Nice try, Lavender. Divide and conquer,” Dad praised with huge amounts of sarcasm.

“She’s blaming you for everything, as is Mom. You’ll soon learn. When you do, remember you had a child who loved you. But you threw her away,” I said as the police car drew up.

“Ma’am, is there a problem?” the officer said, and Janice’s mouth dropped open.

“You called the cops on us?”

“Yup,” I answered and quickly explained as they tried to reach their car. They all ended up arrested, as they were indeed in breach of bail conditions.

I watched as they were carted away, making empty threats, and I planned to press even further charges. I was done with them. None of them were family.

“Babe?” Chatter murmured.

“I’m okay,” I whispered.

“We can make a family, sweetness. One that is full of love.”

“Wow, from six months to long term and a family,” I teased, and Chatter laughed.

“Are you complaining?”

“No. But you know you are going to have to tell me what happened to Hallie?” I replied, and Chatter sobered.

“One day, babe.”

“When you do, then I’ll know you’re genuinely ready to commit,” I said and headed indoors.

Chatter

He was talking to Jinx when Lavender appeared. She had her bottom lip caught between her teeth and a look of confusion on her face.

“Someone’s been in my room. They left gifts again.”

Chatter stiffened. “What?”

“A bunch of flowers and a stone…” Lavender’s voice trailed off as a memory hit her.

Chatter leaned forward, concerned. “Babe?”

“Someone used to give me stones. I had…” Lavender whirled around and headed into the gardens. Chatter gave chase and followed her to where the fountain was. Lavender walked around it three times and frowned.

As Chatter watched, Lavender bent and began yanking some weeds out.

“What are you doing?” he asked, bemused.

“Help me,” she called, and Chatter crouched down and pulled out the weeds for her. Lavender felt around the base of the fountain and froze as her fingers hit something.

“No freaking way,” Lavender murmured and hauled out several loose bricks. She reached inside and pulled out a jar. She wiped the dirt away, and Chatter frowned as he saw it was half full of pretty or unusual-looking stones and pebbles.

“Whose is it?” Chatter asked, arrested by the look on Lavender’s face.

“Mine and Ronnie's. Ronnie existed,” she murmured, stunned.

“Who is he?”

“I’m not sure. I can’t recall him. There’s nothing there when I think of him,” she admitted.

“We need Sin to hurry up and scan that book,” Chatter announced.

“No, because I don’t want the page’s damaged. Sin’s checking for that, signs of mould and whatever else might harm the journal. That’s important,” Lavender said.

“We could skip to the end and then let Sin go back,” Chatter suggested, and Lavender laughed.

“You’re more impatient than I am for an answer,” Lavender teased.

She had no idea, Chatter thought. He wanted this done so he could move on to the next stage in his plan. And that was putting a ring on her finger.

Lavender

I sat staring at the pebbles in the jar. I remembered running around the gardens, playing and calling for Ronnie. But where Ronnie should have been was darkness. There was nothing. Why? Had something bad happened to him? I stared at the dress still hanging on my door and the two bunches of wildflowers. I picked up the pebble and studied it. A memory surfaced.

There was a creek at the end of the estate, and I paddled in it and found a stone and held it up.

“Look, Ronnie!” I cried in triumph.

“Pretty, Lavender, pretty,” Ronnie called back.

I frowned at the memory. Was that an adult’s voice or a young man? I couldn’t tell. Who was he to me?

Maybe I ought to let Sin skip ahead to the Aggie years and get my answers. I was so engrossed in my thoughts I didn’t hear the whisper behind me, and the someone stabbed something into my back.

“Get up. You and I have a date,” Rik hissed in my ear.

I froze in fear. That was a knife. If I struggled, then he’d be able to stab me quite easily.

“You won’t get away with this, Rik!” I said calmly.

“Bitch, I already have,” he muttered, and I felt the pointed end of the blade pierce my skin a little. “I’m going to get what I am entitled to.”

“Which is nothing!” I yelled. Rik hit me in the side of the head and dragged me towards an open panel in the woodwork. Shit. I’d no idea there was a secret passageway here. And neither did anyone else.

I hoped that someone would come, but that thought was dashed as the panel slid shut and I was trapped in a narrow corridor with a lunatic. My fucking luck was dreadful!