Chapter Twenty-Two

Maureen

R ight before Valentin lowers the lid of the coffin, I take a deep breath and close my eyes. The vibrator inside my pussy remains motionless, the anticipation threatening to completely unhinge me.

It's so quiet, all I can hear is my own heartbeat. I think it might explode out of my chest. Sweat pours down my naked body as the heat increases inside the coffin. I make the mistake of lifting my head and it hits the lid. Fuck . Now I know just how tight this space really is.

"Valentin,' I cry out. "I changed my mind. I can't do this." Tears stream down my cheeks.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

What if he left me here to die?

The panic spreads to my limbs, and I'm afraid I'll hyperventilate. No. I'm not ready for this. I try to get my wrists free, but the more I flail, the tighter the restraints get. If I move another inch, I risk my circulation being cut off.

Just breathe, Maur . Nice and easy.

I try to think about anything else than the fact that I'm tied up in a coffin. I try not to think about the fact that no one knows I'm here.

Another wave of panic flutters over me just as the vibrator in my pussy buzzes. I clench and thrust my hips up as it pulses and throbs inside me. Oh, fuck .

"Relax, Firecracker…" Valentin's voice somehow breaks through the steel of the tomb I'm trapped in.

It strangely brings me comfort and is the only thing tethering me to reality. I exhale slowly and unclench my muscles.

The vibrator kicks up a notch, and it sends a deep spasm to my core. "Oh, shit," I murmur.

It feels so fucking good, I forget where I am. It makes me feral as I ache for him to be in here with me. I need his hands on me. Want to feel his hot mouth sucking on my swollen nipples.

The lip on the vibrator buzzes against my clit, and I almost scream from the torture of being overstimulated in the dark. I can't see or move so these spasms in my pussy are all I can focus on. There's nothing else.

I arch my back as the speed and pressure increase. "Uhhh,' I moan. It pulses hard against my insides, flicking and grinding back against my G-spot. I want to tear my wrists out of these ropes, so I can shove it in deeper. Fuck.

"Valentin… please. I need you," I whine.

I hear him chuckle and the vibration increases yet again. I roll my hips so hard I almost tip the whole coffin over. My belly tightens as the pressure in my core climbs. Spasms spread through my pussy in waves that I can't control. I can't breathe as I clench and throw my head from side to side.

My cream gushes out, soaking my thighs. I'm drenched in my own cum as the toy inside me continues to pulse and flick against all my most sensitive spots.

"Fuck," I cry out. My chest heaves as every nerve in my body tingles. I gasp for air, whimpering while I ride out my orgasm.

I feel wild. Feral. I feel fucking alive and dead at the same time. Fearless. With every breath I take, a calm settles over me. I want to drown in the darkness, lose myself in the silence.

I lay here without any concept of time or space, escaping into the recesses of my mind. Remembrance fades like a crutch I no longer need to cling to, releasing the weight that has rested on my shoulders for too long.

My muscles twitch, aching from the onslaught of pain and pleasure. But I'm not afraid.

The lid creaks as it's thrust open. I blink my eyes a few times to adjust. Valentin hovers over me, looking like a dark angel in the muted light.

His lips quiver as he gazes down between my thighs. "Firecracker… you did so fucking good."

Heat floods my body, and I almost cum again when he pushes his fingers inside me and pulls the vibrator out. I release it with a heavy sigh. "Valentin… I've never cum like that before."

He unties me and lifts me out of the coffin. I feel his heart beating fast against me as he holds me close. "I'm going to lick every inch of cream from your cunt. And then I'm going to fill it back up with my own."

I let him carry me up the stairs to the bedroom. He sets me on the bed before taking off his clothes. I can see more of those sigils carved into his body. They sweep across his chest and down his torso, through his legs and down his shaft. They seem to pulse with energy as he nears me.

"What does this one do?" I point to the strange symbol embedded in his abdomen.

He climbs onto the bed and spreads my legs apart, nestling himself in between them. "Some of our power stems from our core. Our libido. This one is connected to that. I feel everything more intensely."

He is the epitome of intensity.

I lick my lips as the heat between my thighs sends a flush over my skin. Everything tingles. "Fuck, I want one of those."

Valentin's eyes glow as his gaze lands on my wet pussy. "You're going to have all sorts of marks when we're done with you, Firecracker."

I buck as he lashes his tongue against my swollen clit. I jerk my head back and release a guttural moan. He licks me slowly, lapping up every drop of cum I released. His urgency creates a spasm in my core, restimulating me all over again. I want to cry it feels so fucking good.

"Mmm, I love the way you taste. Knowing I did this to you gets me so fucking hard," he breathes in between licking and sucking the raw flesh of my pussy. "Open yourself wider for me."

I slide my hands down and peel back the lips of my pussy, offering myself up to him on a platter. "You've ruined me, Valentin," I clamor. "All three of you have ruined me."

He hums softly against my heated flesh. "Oh, we're just getting started, pretty girl." The force of his tongue thrusting inside makes my whole body contort.

I cry out as he burrows in deeper. He takes all of me inside his mouth, his lips stretching wide to cover every inch of my throbbing flesh. As if he wants to swallow me whole. He hums louder, rocking my core in a violent assault of vibrations so jarring that stars twinkle and pop in my vision. I scream and writhe against him as my cream bursts onto his tongue.

Valentin moans as he drinks. He digs his fingers into my flesh, bruising me with his brutality. I want his marks on me. I need them .

"Mmm," he comes up for air and angles his face toward mine. " Tastes like sin ," he purrs before he kisses me, my juices still on his tongue. Fuck . It's so hot, I can't get enough. I kiss him back hard, desperate to consume all that he gives me.

"That's my naughty little slut, tasting yourself on my tongue," he rasps. He flips me over onto my belly, yanks my hair back, and shoves his finger into my mouth. "Suck that cream off. Taste how fucking good you are for me."

A deep guttural moan wrenches from my throat as he gags me.

"I'm not just going to ruin you." He squeezes the tip of his cock inside my ass, and I buck. "I'm going to tear you the fuck apart."

I scream as he drives into me. It feels like I am being torn open. The first time he did this, I was slippery from all the blood. I was angry and on the edge of madness. This time… fuck. I can barely take it. "Valentin, wait. It hurts."

He snickers. "That's how you know it's good, Firecracker." He digs his fingers into my flesh and spreads my ass cheeks apart as he hammers his cock farther in. "Fuck, you're so warm and tight. I'm going to cum in fucking seconds."

Tears stream down my cheeks. My insides are raw, burning from being stretched by his thickness. But I don't want him to stop. I roll my hips and rub my pussy against the mattress.

He lobs a glob of spit down my entrance. "Mmm, yeah. Now you're opening up for me. Fuck. I can't hold back much longer."

As he slides in and out slowly, I can feel every ridge rubbing me raw, but the tingling in my nub increases with every inch.

"Val… fuck, it's too much."

He kneads my ass cheeks while he rides me in an achingly slow, agonizing rhythm. "It will never be enough… My. Dirty. Fucking. Girl… Fuck ."

An unkindness of ravens squawk and peck against the window just as he cries out and his hot cum fills me to the brim. He slaps my ass cheeks over and over again as he thrusts like an animal, burying himself so far in, I think he might actually destroy me.

The front of the dorms are all abuzz when Valentin roars his car in the parking lot with me in the passenger seat. The rumors of me being claimed by them were already flying but on this gray drizzly morning, all their suspicions are confirmed.

"Do Riot and Atlas know I was with you all night?" They make it no secret that I'm to be shared between them, but they had been uncharacteristically absent for a couple of days.

Ever since the night Riot opened up to me.

Valentin's jaw is back to being clenched, and it's as if last night never happened. "Of course. We don't keep secrets from each other. Besides… they were occupied with something else."

An unexpected tinge of jealousy grips me. And it suddenly dawns on me that I never asked them if I'm the only one they fuck with. "Occupied with what?" I snap.

He snickers as he glares at a group of students walking by who can't seem to take their eyes off us. The vein in his neck starts to twitch. "Nothing for you to worry about. Now run along. I got shit to do."

His dissonance irritates me. How can he be so sweet and charming all night and then flip his asshole switch back on by morning? Fuck that. I hop out of the car and slam the door. But before I stomp off, I stick my head in the driver's side window, causing him to flinch.

"I have shit to do too," I grumble. "Remember that the next time the three of you decide to whisk me away without asking."

I try to make a dramatic exit, but he catches my wrist and pins it to the door. "The man I was last night… I can't be him all the time. You'll be sorely disappointed if you think otherwise."

I sigh. ""Like you said last night, Valentin, there's always a choice…"

He blinks and for a second the boyish gentleman from the cabin is there, haunting the body that holds him captive. But the darkness wins out, and I'm back to gazing into his empty void.

"Not for me," he mutters.

I have to jump back to avoid getting run over when he steps on the gas without warning. What the fuck? I'm more confused and twisted than ever now. This obsession we have with each other is depraved and sick. It's born from hate and evil. But I can't help myself. I want to push them so hard they snap.

As I head toward the elevator, I hear footsteps sprinting behind me. "Hey, hold the doors," a guy calls out.

Fuck, I'm not in the mood for chit-chat.

Without looking up, I hold one hand through the doors to keep them from closing and punch the button to my floor with the other.

"Floor?" I ask.

"Aren't you gonna say hi, beautiful?"

An uneasy feeling washes over me as I look up and see Zeke staring back at me. I shudder as I remember the way he tried to manhandle me at Swallow. Until Valentin scared him off. Ugh, fucking Valentin . Why did he have to ruin our perfect night this morning?

I step sideways away from Zeke. "Hi. What floor are you on?" I ask again, curtly.

A devious grin takes hold of his lips. "Oh, I actually don't stay here. I just saw you and wanted to say what's up."

Under the bright lights of the elevator lift, I size him up, taking better stock of his build and mass. He's at least six-foot- three and made of hard solid muscle. He'd actually be kind of hot if he wasn't such a fucking creep. My stomach knots as he leers at me.

"So, you stalked me all the way into my building?"

"Well, when you say it like that, it makes me sound like a pervert. You don't really think that about me, do you, Maureen?"

There's a crazed look in his eyes. Like if I say or do the wrong thing he's going to pounce. I shake my head and try to calm my racing heart. "Of course, not. I'm just teasing."

He licks his lips and backs me into the corner. "Yeah, you are a fucking tease. We never got to finish that dance the other night. How about now?"

Fuck. I look over toward the elevator buttons and my stomach drops as I realize we're not moving. His finger is firmly pressed against the button that keeps the doors from opening. "Look, I'm sorry if you misread my intentions that night, but I'm already seeing someone."

He glowers down at me. "I heard you're seeing three dudes. One cock ain't enough for you?"

The fuck? I shove my hands against his chest, but he doesn't budge. "That's none of your business. But if any of them find out about what you're doing right now, they will murder you."

Zeke chuckles. "I think you overestimate your pussy, darling. Riot was just in the locker room the other day talking about how you let all three of them finger bang you at Nocturnus House."

My blood chills and it hurts to breathe. "What?"

Zeke presses his body against mine, boxing me into the corner of the elevator that still isn't fucking moving. "Yeah," he continues. "But I didn't need him to tell me. I was there , beautiful."

My head spins as the weight of his words threatens to suck the life out of me.

He takes a strand of my hair and twirls it around his finger. "That's right. I was there watching you get your pussy mangled. You were so eager. So fucking willing. I like that about you."

He's a fucking Nocturnus initiate? No. This can't be happening. I swallow and lick my lips to will moisture back into my mouth. "Well, then you remember when Riot warned you all what would happen if anybody touched me."

Zeke laughs. "Who's gonna tell him? You? Like he's going to believe a nasty little whore over one of his own members. He doesn't fucking trust you . He said so himself."

Lies. Riot would believe me. Wouldn't he? Moments flash through my mind. That night he found me in the bathroom, the way I flirted with Zeke at Swallow, stealing Valentin's car, and taking selfies with the guy at the bar… Fuck. I haven't given Riot a single reason to trust me.

I look up at his smug face and fight the urge to cry. "I need to get ready for class. Please let me go."

Zeke places a hand on either side of me, caging me in tighter. "If you recall, he said I can't touch . He never said anything about not looking."

I start to hyperventilate. "Please, just let me out. I won't say anything."

"Shhh, it's okay. I'm going to let you go. Yeah, but first I want you to play with your pussy for me."

I shake my head and try to slip out of his grip but he's too strong. "No. I don't want to," I yell.

Zeke slams his palm against the elevator wall, barely missing my cheek. "Yeah, you do . If you don't fucking do it right now, I'll tell everyone that you seduced me to get back at them. That you came to me and begged to ride my cock all fucking night. And they'll believe it. I saw that little argument between you and Val just now. You're a feisty little bitch who wants to make her daddy jealous."

Fuck. What if he's right? I stomped off after getting possessive over their whereabouts. I'm unpredictable and Riot still isn't convinced I'm telling the truth about my past.

"You're disgusting," I snarl as I lean back against the wall. I close my eyes before reaching down and unzipping my pants. I can smell his hot breath on my face, and it makes me want to vomit.

I start to slide my hand down my panties when the elevator doors ding open. "Get the fuck away from her!"

My eyes fly open to see Libra holding a baseball bat, primed like she's ready to swing.

Oh, thank fuck.

Zeke shrinks back laughing. "Calm down, Lib, I can fuck you too after. No need to get jealous."

"Oh, fuck off, Zeke. No one wants to fuck you," she snorts.

I scurry past them both and sprint to my room, grab my knife, and hurry back. I nudge Libra out of the way and stalk toward him, waving the blade in the space between us. "If you ever come at me again like that, I will fucking gut you."

Jessamine's willowy figure appears next to him. "Do it now, Maur," she whispers. "Kill him so he can't hurt us."

"Oh, now you show up? Thanks a fucking lot!" I yell at her.

Zeke raises an eyebrow. "Who ya talking to, psycho?"

Libra shoves him hard against the elevator and smashes the down button. "Don't ever come up here again, Zeke. You might be an initiate, but Atlas is Nocturnus. And I'm his blood. So don't think for one second you have more power than me."

Zeke laughs hysterically as she sends the elevator back down.

"Are you okay, Blackwell? Fuck, that guy is a prick. Where have you been all night anyway? Villette was sick with worry when you didn't show up to meet us at Swallow."

My head pounds as I try to stave off the nausea. And then the fury settles into my bones. The fucking rage I have from what Zeke said. The fact that he was there in the altar room, that he was one of the masked hoods watching as they defiled me, makes me want to smash all their faces in. But I need a fucking shower and a stiff drink first. I don't even care that it's barely noon.

I ignore Libra and charge into the kitchen to pour myself a whiskey. She watches with arms crossed as I shoot it back. " Maureen ," she protests.

"Wow, you called me by my first name for once. You feeling okay?" I snicker.

She snatches the whiskey bottle out of my hand before I can pour another. "If you want to get drunk before breakfast, I'm all for it. Hell, I'll even join you. But you have got to start trusting someone. If not me, then at least call Villette. You're in way over your head, Blackwell ."

She's right. I hate to admit it. I actually like Libra. She's tough and confident and takes zero shit. She reminds me of how I used to be before all that shit happened in Wickford Hollow.

I hold out my glass. "Fine. Have a drink with me and I'll talk."

She smirks, satisfied with herself. We grab the bottle and head to the living room. I spend the next two hours telling her everything. I start at the beginning, all the way back to meeting Riot in the bathroom, and all that happened after. All of it .