16. Alec

16

ALEC

Nora and I fell into a natural rhythm. That was probably the most shocking part about us working together. I was able to feed off of her logical straightforward questions, and she was able to use my erratic and raging words to her advantage.

It was amusing knowing that she was as manipulative as I was, even if one did not notice immediately. But I did. And I thrived on it.

Mentally, I was making my own notes. I never paid attention to who the members of The Hunt were. In fact, I had never cared.

Until now.

Knowing that Louis and his two friends were part of The Hunt, and that he had warned me away from her, brought more questions to my mind.

Namely: What was it about my Nora that they were interested in?

By the time that we had interviewed the rest of the professors, we’d worked over twelve hours and the end of our first day had passed. I'd come to the conclusion that The Hunt was far more involved than I realised, and I didn't like being in the dark on things such as this.

It was early Wednesday morning and neither one of us had slept well. I didn’t like the time restraints doing this put on my schedule, but at least I was suffering in company.

We were back in the same room we used to interrogate the professors. I’d decided to bring pastries I’d taken from the school kitchen today in case Nora’s stomach grumbled again. We had a few minutes before we started on students. Nora stood up and went to the only window in the room, peering through the stained glass.

She rubbed her hands together as if to warm them. I drank her in, thinking about the glove. Thinking about stroking my cock to her. I stood up slowly, going to the door and locking it. We had some time still, and maybe I was pushing my luck, but the thought of driving my cock into her made me drift towards her.

The dream I had recently came back to my mind unbidden. I let it play through my head, every image vivid, just like my memories.

Nora splayed before me in her bed, her chest rising and falling. The scent of citrus mixed with her delectable scent, my mouth watering. I wished to sink my fangs into her and taste her blood.

Blankets pooled around her waist, leaving her breasts exposed. I crept closer. Need hardened my cock as I went around her bed, reaching for her face. Claws traced over the gentle curve of her cheek. I dragged them carefully over her skin, aching for her.

I tucked a dark strand of hair behind her ear. My deadly little angel.

Her figure blurred, melting into foliage and branches. Blood dripped from my mouth, hunger unsatiated even as I ripped open the throat of a stag.

Mine, mine.

She’s mine.

She’s ours.

I blinked, my mind returning to the now. The dreams were bizarre and uncomfortable. That I would envision myself as the thing I hated the most…

I wondered if Nora knew anything about dreams, being a psychologist and all.

“Can you tell me about dreams?” I asked.

My voice startled her. She glanced up from the window in surprise. “ Dreams ?”

“Yes.”

Lavender and vanilla washed over me. I paused when I was only inches away from her. Her gaze darkened and I expected her to ask me to step away, but she didn’t.

“What about them? Clarify what you’re asking me.”

What was I asking her? “I’m just curious how the mind creates them. Especially when they feel so real.”

“I hope that in time science will be able to provide more answers. Currently dreams are thought to be a consolidation of memories. They can be fantasies as well. It’s one of the most interesting secrets of our minds, in my opinion. That and what we have labelled as instinct .”

“Instincts,” I murmured. I raised my hand and tucked a loose curl back, my fingertips lingering over her soft skin. “What about instincts intrigues you, Dr. Woulfe?”

“Why we have them in the first place and how our minds were shaped over millennia to develop them.” She swallowed hard, her lips pressing together .

“For example?”

“For example, every part of me tells me to run from you.”

My fingertips drifted down from her face to her jawline, grazing further down her throat and to her delicate collarbone. “Your instincts are right,” I whispered. “But you don’t listen to them. Why?”

“I can’t run from you now.”

My breath hitched, my cock throbbing in my pants as I breathed her in. The flutter of her heartbeat against my fingertips was a melody to me.

“Alec,” she whispered. “We can’t do this.”

“Why can’t we?”

She didn't answer, her brows drew together. Sunlight haloed her and I felt like I was touching an angel with my bloodied, filthy hands.

I liked that thought.

I liked the idea of corrupting her. Ruining her.

My mouth was dry, and the only thing that could satiate my thirst was her. I boxed her in, pressing her against the window as I hovered my mouth over hers. I wound my fingers through her hair, gripping her and pulling her head back to expose her neck.

“I said no,” she whispered. “We work together.”

“Is that all we are?” I asked. “ Colleagues ?”

Once again, no answer.

I leaned down and traced her neck with the tip of my tongue slowly. Her skin was so sweet. Tantalising. I wished to take more, to taste more.

She drew in a deep breath, and I expected her to shove me back. Instead, she went very still.

Fuck.

The taste of her was enough to drive me insane. I came to the base of her neck, my cock throbbing. Just like in my dreams, she was irresistible.

I wanted her so entirely that it scared me.

Nothing scared me.

“There are students waiting to see us.”

“They can wait,” I whispered. “I need to touch you. I need to taste you.”

Her whimper went straight to my cock.

I licked back up her neck and then her jawline, my mouth hovering over hers.

“If you kiss me, I’ll bite you.”

“Make me bleed, belladonna,” I whispered. “I think you’d like it more than you realise.”

She growled at me, her eyes snapping with fury. I fucking loved it. “Fuck you, Alec.”

I slid my palm up her stomach, over the curve of her breasts, until I was curling my fingers around her neck. She swallowed hard, but didn’t protest.

“Tell me to stop,” I whispered.

“No,” she said.

I brushed my thumb over her pulse, letting out a dark hum as I searched her searing gaze.

“You’re a curse,” I murmured.

“I thought we were too logical to believe in curses.”

I smiled. “I’m not sure. You’ve made me a believer.”

A knock at the door interrupted us.

Fuck. I wanted to murder someone just for stealing the moment from us.

Nora placed her hand on my chest and shoved me back, her cheeks crimson. Her eyes flickered down to my pants, to the outline of my erection.

“You have five seconds to get yourself together,” she snapped.

I breathed out, the tip of my tongue buzzing. I closed my eyes for a moment, willing my cock to calm down. It was no use though. I growled and undid my belt quickly.

“What are you doing?” she hissed.

The knock sounded again. “Professor?”

I reached into my pants, grabbing my cock and adjusting it so it wouldn’t be as apparent. Her cheeks flushed even more red when she caught a glimpse and I raised a brow. “You better open the door before someone suspects something untoward between us.”

“You bloody bastard,” she whispered harshly. “I hate you so much.”

I snorted as I buckled and zipped my pants. She marched across the room and opened the door.

“Professor Woulfe,” a young lady said as she came in. “I heard what happened…”

“Bianca,” Nora sighed. “Come take a seat. Alec and I just have a few questions.”

She gave me a nervous glance. “Can we speak alone?”

Nora hesitated for a moment. “No. I’m sorry, but the Dean has appointed us both to speak to everyone. What do you have to say?”

My belladonna was doing her best not to let her voice waver. Bianca gave me another nervous glance and I had half a mind to say ‘boo!’, but that would probably send her running.

“There were rumours about how John wanted to hurt you,” Bianca said. “After class. Are you okay? Did anything happen?”

That wasn’t good.

“I’m fine,” Nora lied. “Nothing happened to me.”

Bianca breathed out and nodded. “Okay. Good.”

I cleared my throat. “What did you hear, Miss…?”

“Graham. I heard…” She trailed off again, hesitating.

It was getting on my nerves. I slipped my hands into my pockets so I could curl them into fists, trying not to show my frustration. Not to mention, my cock was still hard from my interaction with Nora.

“You can tell us,” I said. “John is dead. It’s not like he’ll get in trouble for whatever he said.”

Nora shot me a dark look. The more I got to know her, the easier she was to read. When she was anxious, she had a tendency to tap her thumb to each finger absentmindedly over and over, an action that I doubted she even noticed at this point.

Such delicate fingers.

Bianca crossed her arms, her cheeks pale. “Well, he was furious and embarrassed that he was kicked out of class by the two of you. And you forcing him to his knees humiliated him. He told one of the guys in philosophy that he was going to hurt Nora.”

“I see,” I said. “What a disgusting bastard.”

Bianca’s mouth fell open and Nora’s stress seemed to grow exponentially.

“Well, nothing happened,” Nora said tightly. “But, I am afraid we’ll have to postpone our meeting for now. I think it’ll take us a few days to interview students.”

Bianca nodded. “That’s okay. And well… I can tell you now, because others have mentioned it too so I know I’m not hallucinating. There’s been a monster or creature or something in the woods.”

“What were you doing in the woods?” I asked.

“Well… I can’t say.”

For the love of all things unholy and foul.

“Tell us,” Nora said. “We need to know what you’re talking about. How many have seen him? And what happened?”

I raised a brow. This was the first time she hadn’t outright denied the existence of monsters to another person.

Bianca shook her head. “If I am the one to tell you, I have to know it will not come back to me. It’s hard enough being at this university but if they found out I told faculty about… things … then it would make my life even worse.”

“Why don’t you take a seat?” Nora said, gesturing to the table.

She nodded and went to one of the chairs, sitting down. Nora took one across from her and spared me an expectant glance.

I sighed and didn't disguise my disinterest in sitting next to them. But, I crossed the room, and took the chair next to Nora. We were close enough that the fabric of her clothing brushed against mine.

“Go on, Miss Graham, we do not have all day,” I said.

Nora pulled out her notebook and pen and turned to a fresh page. Her penmanship was significantly worse than mine, which was one of the most charming things I’d ever seen.

“There’s a group of students that like to go out into the woods and do rituals. A lot of them end in sex. They say that those who go are eventually picked to join an elite society here and that you’ll get opportunities others don’t.”

Interesting. I hadn’t heard of this before, and I’d been here for some time. “What kind of rituals?” I asked.

Her cheeks turned red.

“Sex rituals? Orgies?” I asked.

“Briar,” Nora warned.

“What? We must speak frankly. She’s an adult.”

“He’s right,” Bianca sighed. “Yes to both. There’s a spot in the forest on the east side of the village where there’s a ring of stones. People say it’s a fae trap. We go there to have rituals. Some say they feel empowered after, but I think it’s a placebo.”

“Sounds like it,” Nora murmured as she continued scrawling .

“Was John part of this group?” I asked.

“Yes,” Bianca answered. “He is— was the leader of it.”

“And so all of them believe they saw a monster?” Nora asked.

“We did,” Bianca whispered. “We saw something. It was like… it could blend in with the trees and was a strange creature. I thought it was going to kill us.”

Nora’s writing stopped for just a moment. I slid my hand under the table over her thigh, gripping her.

“I see. Did any of you ingest drugs before this? Something that might tamper with your senses?”

“Yes, but this was real. We all saw it. My ma told me stories of creatures like it growing up. Of the Sìth and how some become trapped here.”

“Those are just fairytales,” Nora said.

“I thought so too, but… it was like seeing a forest god. Someone we weren’t supposed to behold. And then it disappeared.”

“And you’ve seen him other times?” I asked.

“I think so. Just one other. I was in the maze with someone and I swear I saw it.”

“Okay,” Nora said, making the last of her notes. I could feel her trembling and squeezed her thigh again, reminding her to keep it together. “You said east of the village?”

“Yes. Please don’t tell anyone I told you about these things.”

“We won’t,” I said. “Keep your confessions to yourself as well and you’ll be fine. The last question is where were you last night?”

“I was studying in the library.”

Nora nodded. “Okay. Thank you for sharing this with us. You may leave.”

Bianca nodded and got up, practically fleeing from the room. The door slammed shut and Nora breathed out.

“One down… however many to go,” she said.

“I want to trap this monster,” I said.

Her hesitance was clear. “He’s not bad…”

“Nora,” I growled. “All monsters are dangerous. They are evil. They kill without caring and?—”

“Like you?” she snapped.

My jaw set. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me,” she said. “Because as of right now, he has helped me. He never hurt me and there’s…”

I felt her thighs squeeze together and narrowed my eyes on her.

Does she want him?

I’d never felt jealousy like this before. It reared through me, searing away all reason. I breathed out, trying to control myself.

“Ow,” she rasped. “Alec, you’re squeezing me too hard.”

I looked down at my fingers digging into her thigh. I forced myself to pull my hand away as if I’d been stung.

“I will trap him and kill him,” I decided. “And you’re going to help me. Because you’ll see how dangerous he is.”

“I don’t want to hurt him.”

“Why?” I seethed.

“I don’t know. I can’t explain it and I don’t have to. What I do is none of your business.”

“It is,” I said. “Especially if you’re telling me you want to protect a monster that could kill you.”

She pushed her chair back to get up, but I caught her hand. “I lost my mother to a monster. I found her ripped to shreds in the doorway of our cottage. I hardly recognized her body. That is why I do what I do. That is why I want to make a poison. I might be evil, but I am still trying to protect humanity. I am trying to protect you . ”

“I’m sorry that happened to you,” she said. “But, I don’t need you to protect me, Alec.”

Before I could argue, another knock came at the door, ending our conversation before we could go further. But, I wouldn’t let this go.

I wouldn’t let her go.