Page 38 of Wicked Dove (Institute Thirteen #1)

TWENTY-NINE

RION

The shower rains down on me as I tip my head back, loving the power of the spray as it prickles across my face. Masochistic, maybe, but I love it. Besides, I need something to take my mind off the visual of Elodie all hot and sweaty earlier.

It was obvious she had been in the gym with Ocean before she found her way into the garage, and it seems every time I see her, she somehow manages to get hotter.

Beads of sweat gathered at her temples, her chest had a pretty pink hue, and her eyes were bright.

Everything was perfect until Kael made an ass of himself and she made a run for it.

The second Kael went to chase after her, I slammed my hand against his chest, denying him.

He didn’t like it, I knew he wouldn’t, but he had done enough harm already.

He should have just told her what The Sanctum wants from him; she probably would have obliged, but he had to fuck it all up with his poor communication skills.

I think a toddler would have done better.

Damn, a grunt and a howl from my wolf would have been more effective, but it’s not my place to say anything.

Instead, I continue to offer her what I promised: privacy and space to breathe.

After seeing her all worked up like that, and knowing full well Kael definitely fucked her last night, I needed to find my own privacy and space to breathe. The shower is my spot. I need the temperature set to scalding and the pressure as hard as possible. It clears my mind and helps me think.

Usually.

Today, however, I can’t get Elodie out of my head, and my cock is still raging from the sight of her.

Wrapping my palm around my thick length, I groan as I tug ever so slightly, hoping to calm my need, but all it does is make me want her more.

Fuck.

Dipping my chin, I close my eyes and brace my left hand on the tiled wall as my right hand tightens around my dick.

I imagine her sweet pussy on my tongue, drenching me in her climax as that sweet pink hue spreads across her skin.

The thought of pressing the tip of my cock at her entrance and watching ecstasy dance across her features leaves me breathless, tugging relentlessly at my cock before my release burns through me and I come.

I pry my eyes open, spying the remnants of my desire on the tiles, and grin. Running my tongue over my lips, I squeeze my cock once more for good measure, running my thumb over the head as I shudder. I don’t know what she’s doing to me, but I like it.

I like it a lot.

A whoosh of cool air ghosts over my skin and I spin toward the doorway to find Thorne filling the frame.

“Fuck off,” I grunt, releasing my dick now that there’s an audience.

“Get your furry ass out here right now,” he barks, and I scoff, sticking my middle finger up at him. My pulse is still thundering in my ears and I want to bask in the afterglow of my release for a few more minutes.

“I’m busy.”

“I can see your cum on the wall, we both know you’re done,” he smarts, and I glare at him, but he doesn’t seem to care. “Get your ass out here before I make you.”

My chest clenches for half a second at his warning. Nobody wants Thorne to ever be the one to make you do something. He’s an asshole and he knows it. He’s also lethal as fuck, and I don’t stand a chance against him.

I knock the water off and step out of the shower, grabbing my navy towel to dry off, all while he remains in the doorway, completely unfazed by my lack of clothing.

As I run it through my hair, dragging it out as long as possible, he cocks a brow at me, making it clear he’s not going anywhere until I follow after him.

Reluctantly, I wrap my towel around my waist and trudge after him, following him into the lounge where Kael is sitting on the sofa with his elbows braced on his knees and his head slightly dipped.

“What’s going on?” I ask, hating the feeling in the air so much that even my wolf is at attention. My skin prickles at how alert he is, eager to rise to the surface to defend us at all costs, even from our friends.

Sometimes, it doesn’t matter how hard you work on yourself; old cracks appear from time to time, and it seems my ability to switch into the brute I was trained to be isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

“It’s an intervention,” Kael states as Thorne takes the seat beside him, waving for me to drop down in the armchair.

“For me?” I clarify, happy to stand, and Kael nods.

“For you.”

“Care to tell me why?” I ask, eyebrows raised as I wait with bated breath while Thorne sighs, running his hands over his thighs as he leans back in his seat.

“Professor Drayker.”

“Laurie? Not this again. I’m not doing this,” I grunt, running my hands through my hair as my chest tightens.

She’s a sensitive subject. They don’t understand. They never will. It doesn’t matter how many times we have this conversation, I can’t get them to see how twisted the situation is.

Turning for my room, I don’t care if Thorne flashes his fucking magic. I’m done.

“Why does Elodie think Drayker has it out for her?” Thorne asks, his voice cutting through the air, and I freeze, peering over my shoulder at them in confusion.

“She doesn’t,” I breathe, confusion knitting my eyebrows together as Kael grimaces.

“Why are you searching for Elodie’s dad?” the vampire asks, and I turn to face him slowly.

“How do you know about that?” He cocks a brow at me like I should know the answer, and I know I do, I just need to hear it. “How do you know?” I repeat, and he sighs, lacing his fingers together as he keeps his gaze fixed on mine.

“Drayker pulled Elodie aside when you took off in class the other day,” he explains, and this time, my wolf feels like he’s about to break free. Protectively, but not for me. For Elodie.

“Why?”

Kael shrugs, trying to downplay it, but I see in his eyes the conclusion he’s come to. “Maybe because you calmed down for Elodie and not the prissy bitch for a change.”

Fuck.

Wiping a hand down my face, I try to take a deep breath to settle my wolf, but it’s impossible. “How do you know all of this? Did Elodie say something? Why didn’t she tell me?” I rattle off, my mind spinning a mile a minute.

“I was there when she called Elodie into her office,” Kael offers, and my blood turns to ice.

“Tell me what she fucking said. Right. Now.”

It’s funny how I hate the tendrils of Thorne’s shadows, but when I sit in darkness on my own accord, it’s grounding. Any other time I’d get lost in my thoughts, but not now, not tonight. Not when I’m waiting like the predator I know I am. Especially when my prey won’t even see me coming.

Seconds pass into minutes, and just before I reach the hour mark, I hear the turning of a key in the lock and it takes everything in me not to stretch out in anticipation.

As the door opens, a soft glow slips into the room from the hallway and I tilt my head. Once, I would have believed that look made her angelic, now it only paints her in her true light. She shuts the door behind her and turns the lamp on. Only then does she see me waiting in her armchair.

Her eyes crinkle in surprise as she places her purse on the side table. “Rion,” she breathes, the corner of her lip turning up at the sight of me, but I don’t return the sentiment.

“Laurie.”

She toys with her keys in her hand as she eyes me from across the room. “I expected to see you before now,” she states, cocking a brow at me, one that makes it clear I’ve disappointed her.

“I’m sure you did,” I breathe, curling my fingers around the arm of the chair.

“Why haven’t I?” she asks, popping her hip a little, and I shrug.

“Because I had other things to deal with.” It’s the truth. I hadn’t even considered her. Even after my meltdown, I didn’t think to seek her out like I usually would, and it was Thorne and Kael bringing it to my attention that made me realize I was too eager to bask in Elodie’s presence instead.

“More important things than me?” she asks, her eyebrows rising an inch more. I can practically feel her concocting an elaborate plan as my punishment.

“Yes,” I answer, unfazed by her irritation.

She doesn’t like it. I can see it in her eyes.

I never show dominance or stubbornness toward her; that’s never been our dynamic, and she’s not ready for the changes that are coming.

Discarding her keys, she saunters toward me, stopping when she’s between my splayed thighs, and it takes everything in me to remain composed and not slam them shut.

I’m so focused on remaining calm and collected that I don’t realize she’s in my lap until it’s too late. With one knee pressed on either side of my inner thighs, she leans in close.

“Rion—”

“Get the fuck off me before I remove you myself,” I snarl, my hands balling into fists as I try to contain the fury that burns inside of me.

To my surprise, she quickly climbs off me with a glare. I was expecting more of a fight, but there’s still time yet.

“You’ll do well to remember who you’re talking to,” she bites, straightening her tank top as her nostrils flare.

“Who, you?” I push, desperate to get under her skin in retaliation for what she said to Elodie.

“Your guardian,” she retorts, and I snicker.

“About that…” I start, watching as she frowns down at me.

“What did you do, Rion?”

“Took care of business,” I state with a shrug as her eyes narrow further.

“What business?”

I wet my lips. “Kael told me what you said to Elodie.”

My words hang in the air, stretching the silence until she huffs, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

“I didn’t say anything that wasn’t fitting,” she declares, moving to her liquor cabinet to my left.

She pulls out a small tumbler and her favorite bottle of bourbon, pouring a healthy measure before downing it in one gulp.

No ice. That’s a telling sign.

“You don’t get to decide what is and isn’t fitting, and you definitely don’t get to dictate who I do and don’t spend time with,” I state, and she cackles, shaking her head before she looks over her shoulder at me.

“As your guardian, it is my right.”

“And were you speaking to her as my guardian?” I ask, giving her a pointed look this time, and she turns to face me once again, pouting as she examines me.

“As opposed to what? Your lover?” A sinister grin spreads across her face as she licks her lips, liking the sound of that word on her tongue.

“Is that what you were?”

Her smile falters. “Were? Am I not anymore?” She flutters her eyelids as if she’s a damsel in distress, and not the dominant slayer that she is.

“I think I was your easy prey,” I state, and she snickers.

“I’ve heard it all now,” she bites, placing her empty glass down before she stalks toward me, finger aimed in my face. “You wanted me then, you want me now, and you’ll want me forever.”

I can’t decide if it’s a threat or a promise. Regardless, I shrug.

“Except I don’t want you, Laurie. I was simply your toy. It’s not like we were ever exclusive, right? Not when you fucked Professor Grimm and played with Professor Morton’s pussy on a schedule.”

She snarls at me. “You don’t know what you want.”

It’s no surprise that she ignores the other facts. It never bothered me at the time, and it definitely doesn’t make me feel anything now. I was too young to understand before, but now I do. Now I know what desire feels like, and it’s not what I feel for her.

“Let me guess, you do?” I ask, and she nods.

“I know you better than you know yourself.”

“Maybe, once upon a time. Or was that because you were trying to mold me into who you wanted me to be?” I feel revolutionized. Who knew a guy chat and intervention could make me take my rose-tinted glasses off and see my life in a different color? Now it’s all purple.

“I found you when you were nothing. I gave you hope, life, a future,” she snaps, bracing her hands on the arms of the chair as she leans over me.

“And what? You think that means I owe you?”

She pushes off the chair with a huff, her shoulders bunching with tension as she throws her arms out wide. “Why are you doing this right now, Rion? When you come to me after an episode, it usually involves—”

“You. You trained me to come back to you.” My blood boils as I spit the truth at her. “But after my last episode, I realized there was only one person I wanted, and it wasn’t you.”

Her face pales. “Elodie Blackwood? You can’t mean her.”

“One and the same.” There’s no use in lying. I like her, and I don’t plan on hiding it.

“I can put a stop to that. As your guardian,” she promises, and I shake my head.

“You’re not getting it, are you?” I say with a sigh as she folds her arms over her chest.

“Enlighten me.”

“You are no longer my guardian.” I say it slowly, making sure it really sinks in.

Her eyes widen as her jaw falls slack. “You’re lying.”

Standing, I roll out my shoulders and smile at her, feeling freer than I have in a very long time. “I wanted to break the news to you myself.”

“Who authorized this?” she pushes, moving to stand in my way as I head for the door.

“The Sanctum.”

“And who is replacing me?”

I smile wider, unable to stop myself from antagonizing her further. “That’s none of your concern.” Side-stepping her, I slip the small formal letter from my pocket and place it beside her purse on the side table before turning back to her. “Whatever this was, it’s over now.”

She’s in my face a moment later, the familiar anger burning bright in her eyes. “It’s over when I say it’s over, and I’m not done with you. Look me in the eyes and tell me it’s done.”

“There’s nothing to be done with. Regardless, it won’t carry on,” I insist, and she reaches for my dick, squeezing me, desperate to feel my thick length.

“You’re always hard for me,” she bites, but understanding quickly washes over her and her hold falls slack when she realizes just how unimpressed with her I am.

“Now, I’m only hard for her.”