Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

ROMAIN

I can only stare at the cat. She’s so tiny in that large hand, black with white flecks and big, green eyes. “I—” She stretches, yawning, then blinks and looks my way. “You’re so precious,” I whisper. I can’t help it. I want her, safely tucked inside my palm, pressed tightly against my chest. I want to caress its soft fur and nuzzle his tiny head.

“I think we have a winner,” one of the two guys says, the triumph followed by chuckles from everywhere around us. Flicking up my gaze, I allow myself to gaze around the room. Terrifying, is the first word that comes to mind. With too many cloaked brothers , as they call them, guys who might even be in my class, lingering about. Watching me. It’s absurd. And yet…“Would they be my brothers?” I ask.

“ Oui .”

I flush at the sound, immediately recognizing the guy from before. My dick remembers too, lengthening with blood as my ass clenches.

I never had any siblings. It was always just me and Maman , whom everyone knew because she was the town’s junkie.

I turn to face Edouard, who hasn’t moved and still stands by my side, his dark, brooding glare already focused on mine. Whatever it is my mind is formulating, my throat won’t let me speak. It feels thick and dry and part of me wants to run forward and grab that little bundle of mine, mine, mine and the other one wants to throw himself in Edouard’s strong arms. I have never owned anything.

But I was owned. It was Edouard who bought my clothes. Edouard who did my homework with me. Edouard who chained me to his bed and used my mouth when his friends were around. Edouard, who tucked me in his bed and kept me warm, licked away the blood from my neck after he’d carved his mark on my skin. The mark I had chosen. It had hurt so badly. But shortly after, a deep, thrumming sensation had run through my veins, and I had never felt so loved before.

We belonged.

I snort at my own memory. I’m fucked up. Which is why I should never, ever, give in to him again. My knees tremble at the thought.

Jamais?

Never.

“It’s not good,” I whisper, and I think of the way Father Beno?t had looked at me. Despise, thick and destructive. “You will see. And I can’t. I?—” ”

“Romain.” His voice is as gentle as his appearance is, as Olivier walks toward me, leaving his lover’s chest. His hands come up and he surprises the hell out of me when he sweeps his mask from his head in one, smooth movement, revealing a messy mop of auburn strands. He smiles sweetly, then looks around, clearly seeking approval, which he gets with a curt jerk of Alexandre’s chin. He swirls his head back to me, and I clench my hand around my knife, eyes darting around to see if anyone is watching. For some strange reason, they’re not. The piano is still playing through the incense-foggy room, and when I see the blindfolded player, my heart rattles in my throat.

I know that song… ”Moonlight Sonata” by Beethoven. I’ve listened to him play it countless times in the woods, when he didn’t think anyone was listening. Mourning over his brother who died here, in the woods of Monterrey Castle. Dominique Devallée is a member of this secret brotherhood?

Who isn’t? There were rumours, sure. Like any toxic, imprisoned environment gossip is its own form of currency. I just never thought them to be…I let out a despised grunt, then lift my knife in panic when Olivier takes another step forward.

“Stay back,” I snarl. The kitten mewls and the sound pulls on the strings of my heart. Olivier just smiles at me, watching the way my hands tremble.

“So Edouard didn’t really explain, did he?”

“Explain what?” I make another faint movement with the knife, but it doesn’t stop him from taking another step toward me. And another. My eyes dart to the kitten. She’s so pretty, with the black and white. I want her. And I want her to love me.

“The brotherhood gives people like you and I a second chance. We weren’t born privileged, but we can be, by becoming a brother.”

“How?” I ask, and I could bite my tongue for letting his words get to me. Edouard did tell me just yet, how he wanted me to rewrite my own future by joining the Alpha Fraternarii, but something about this guy makes me want to hear it straight from his mouth. As if it becomes more true like that.

He reaches out his hand for me to take. Behind him, his boyfriend, the horse rider, takes a step toward us.

“Alexandre,” Edouard barks, who flicks his gaze up to meet Edouard’s, grinning.

“Feels weird now that the tables are turned, right?”

“Take my hand,” Olivier says. “I’ll guide you.”

Cold sweat covers the my forehead and cheeks, the skin plastered against black velvet. “What if I want the kitten?” I ask. He smiles, but it’s Edouard who answers.

“I’ll buy you all the fucking kittens in the world.”

I ignore him. “What’s your name?”

“Olivier. Maybe you’ve seen me before? I work in the library.”

“And you are also…” I can’t say the word. The knife itches in my palm.

“A brother? Your brother? I hope so.” I let him take my hand and lead me further inside the room. The one named Elder Jacques and two identically cloaked men have taken their position on what appears to be a self-made altar. Right in front of the sex swing. It’s not swinging now, but its lush, soft leather calls out to me, those golden cuffs, so brilliant, so expensive, so Edouard, fill my stomach with flutters. It makes me hard just to look at them and to hear the whisper of their promise as the room quietens around me. I swallow hard. Around me, cloaked brothers are coming forward, peering right at me through the empty eyes of their masks, and they know me …I realize…but I don’t know them.

I can’t do this , I want to scream. Because they will know. They will all know how depraved I am.

“Romain.” His warm hand lands on my head, on where my messy, dark strands now feel drenched with perspiration. His tips sear through my flesh, making every nerve ending aware of Edouard’s presence. We are no teenagers anymore, but he still has that same effect on me. When I turn, I’m surprised to see that he has removed his cloak and stands behind me in nothing but a black tank top, that emphasizes his toned, developed build and a pair of boxer briefs. “Sit down, please.” He pushes me down onto the seat and I nearly fall off because the material is featherlight and starts swinging immediately. We look at each other, and a giggle escapes my mouth, I can’t help it. Edouard rolls his eyes, making me laugh even louder.

“Romain…” Elder Jacques barks. I look up at the altar, to where he stands, flanked by the two other strangers, who are staring me down. “Welcome to the Alpha Fraternarii. I see you accepted the claiming?—”

My eyes widen. “I haven’t decided?—”

“Let’s begin the Initiations.” The cane pounds on wooden flooring, effectively shutting me up as I eye how the string of red cloaks starts walking into the crowd, where they get scooped up one by one by cloaked brothers. I guess this is really beginning. But…

The kitten. I want the kitten.

Oh, fuck. My hand clenches so tight around the knife that it tears open skin. I want to be the kitten. I want it so badly that it hurts.

“What are you doing, hurting yourself?” Edouard surprises me by straddling my thighs, and the drop of weight causes the leather seat to stop swinging. He clicks his tongue when he sees the blood in my hand. “You’ve been running around with that knife the entire night, and for what, mon chat ?” He swipes up the blood from my palm and brings it to my lips. We stare at it, our bubble of silence thickening with arousal and anticipation. “Lick it up, kitten. You know you want it.”

My stomach explodes with butterflies, and my shoulders deflate. My lips part and he slides his finger in, only to slowly swirl it inside my mouth, making my tongue dart around it, licking and sucking the metal explosion of my own blood. Lifting his free hand, he scratches my head, making me groan in pleasure.

“You’re good, Romain. You’ve always been good.” He keeps his finger inside my mouth, his other hand tangled in my hair. Someone takes hold of my wrist, but I don’t have the energy anymore to fight. I feel tired. Exhausted even. Tonight is a lot. This room, these people, being united with Edouard. Stretching backwards, I allow the stranger to restrain my other wrist and suddenly I am laying horizontal, gazing at the sublime example of Victorian architecture.

When Edouard takes out his finger and moves off of me, I panic. My head is spinning and my body spasms as I realize that have now cuffed both my hands, rendering the earlier protection of the knife useless.

“Hey.” Edouard returns, his own golden knife glistening between his long digits. His smirk is dangerous, the hunger in his gaze undeniable. “Sshh, it’s all good, I’m here.” I recognize the guy named Alexandre as the one grabbing my ankle, and in a fit of panic I kick out my foot, hitting him in the chest. While he growls in pain, Olivier giggles, then winks at me. I smile back, but that transforms into a grimace when I realize that he has taken hold of my ankle and closes the cuff around it. Tight. “There.” Olivier sends me a flying kiss, then goes for my other foot. Before I can defend myself, Edouard has taken over, squeezing my calf until I’m a yelping, powerless mess.

“Now, let’s continue what we started before. I wouldn’t move if I were you.” He wiggles his brows at me, then traces the tip of the knife on the waistband of my school pants and starts sliding down toward my knee, then further, to my foot. The material rips immediately, no match for the sharp intrusion. He shreds the other side as well, until I am left a shuddering, panting mess. I’m naked once more, and as if he wants to make a statement, Edouard rips every remaining strip of fabric from my overheated skin.

“ Bien .” He pulls on two of the ropes and my legs fold in two, ankles moving up until I’m left swinging with my ass at full display, legs in the air. Edouard nestles in between and rubs my thighs with those long, ringed digits, humming as he lets them slide further up. My dick throbs with need and I try my best to swallow the moans that threaten to spill past my throat. It’s a lost cause. I’m so hungry for him. So desperate.

“You fought so hard,” Edouard traces a finger over my weeping dick and I shiver. “You tried so hard to stay away from me. To show me you don’t need me. But it’s not working, is it, mon chat ?” He lowers his fingers to crawl over my heavy balls, fondling them while his gaze burns mine. This time I can’t stop the mewl that leaves my mouth. It comes out high and desperate, and it makes Edouard’s lips tick up. “I know, amour . And I’ll give it all to you. But I need to hear you say it. Tell everyone out here how you are mine, and mine only.” His hands glide down and squeeze my cheeks apart, coaxing his dick inside my gaping hole. We stare at each other, and then Edouard leans in until our noses bump, our breaths intermingle. Sweet. So sweet. We inhale the present and exhale our mutual recollections, our lived life filled with power play and desire. And then he moans. And nods. Slowly claiming my ass once more, he pinches my cheek and flashes his teeth. I can’t help but stare at his golden tooth. The tooth he had made from the same gold as my leash. “ Toi .” My voice is soft, but clear, as I wonder. “Would you ever have given up on me?”

He smiles too, and shakes his head. “Absolutely not. Never. I’ve wanted you from the moment you stood in our house.” His hips roll forward, and the swing ripples, dangling back and forth in his grip with my helpless, frantic body on it. “You look so beautiful like this. Wrists and ankles wrapped in gold, you look like you were made to submit to my every whim. And before this night is over, I will give you everything you want.”

“...everything I want?” I moan once at the sight of his heavily ringed fingers digging into my flesh as he keeps on pounding inside me, flooding my entire core with molten desire. He feels so good. “And what is it that you want?”

He smiles crookedly. “So typically Romain to be more worried about what I want.” He licks his shiny tooth, watching me when he spits on my throbbing cock. My breath hitches. His hand reaches for my dick and he starts working it, spreading his spit onto my shaft and up, to where it intermingles with my precum. I jerk when he slides his index finger over my wet slit, moaning thickly. “I wanted to own you,” he rumbles, our eyes still locked. “I wanted to mark every single centimeter of your flesh and bones, of your thoughts and dreams. Lock you away and keep you for myself and myself alone.” He chuckles darkly. “Be the greedy, demanding boyfriend you need, amour . Fuck, baby bird, I have missed our chats. Missed hearing you tell me about the planets and about your stars and shapes and how you dream to reach them with your own fingertips.”

The memory makes my cheeks flush in embarrassment and I drop my gaze. “That was stupid, I was young.”

His fingers leave my aching dick to reach for my chin and lips, tearing my gaze back while he slips two fingers inside my mouth. I moan, unable to resist him, and lick them clean, tasting myself. “You were given nothing in life, Romain. Your dreams were the only thing you had. Now you can have it all. The Alpha Fraternarii, to secure your future, and me, to warm your heart and bed?—”

“The kitten?” I smile sheepishly.

“You have to choose,” one of those assholes mutters viciously.

Edouard turns over his shoulder and growls. “The fuck he has to choose. If he wants the kitten, he’ll have the kitten.” He looks back at me with another roll of his hips. His hand is back on my cock as he holds the sling still. He gasps. “What about the other kitten, petit amour ? The one who licked your dick so sweetly when I was fucking you?”

“I’ve never…” Oh… judging by his grin, my cheeks must heat profusely. A wave of embarrassment hits me.

“I know, amour .” Edouard dribbles some more spit onto my weeping cock and I buck my hips, grunting, ready to beg him for release. He smiles, teasing me, leaning in and brushing his lips over mine. “But I’d love to watch you,” he whispers against my mouth. “Just like my friend here. Will you let us watch when you’re with him?”

“Please,” I whine, bucking my hips for more friction.

He squeezes my dick. “Tell me.”

“Yes.” It comes out in a whisper, relief flooding through me when Edouard smiles. “I’ll let you watch.”

“Good boy.” His grip tightens, and he looks up, grinning at Alexandre, who approaches from behind me, Olivier by his side.

The old man booms his cane and the piano picks up, followed by the gong. I watch as a group of red cloaks enters the room, their hoods obscuring their heads, white masks covering their faces.

“Brothers,” Elder Jacques claps his hand. “We welcome Romain Lefèbre into the Alpha Fraternarii.” People clap, and I writhe in my restraints when Olivier leans forward, his nape held by Alexandre, and softly covers his lips with mine. With Edouard’s mouth lapping at the mark he carved into my chest and his strong hand wrapped around my dick, I moan into Olivier’s mouth. My eyes roll back, toes curling with pleasure, and then I come, my orgasm rippling through my entire system like a storm. I hear him grunting against my heart, his guttural growl causing a vibration that settles inside my chest.

Home. It hums. Home.