The corner of his lips tilted upwards, and his eyes darkened from a pure silver to a dark grey. “You want my cock to be hard and fill your tight little pussy, don’t you?” The fingers playing with her nipple finally resumed their downward course, down the curve of her waist, over the red suspender, on top of the bone marking her hips, directly aiming to the apex of her thighs.
One of his fingers slid through one opening of her thong, and he traced her core from the opening to her clit, making her legs shake when he claimed the nerves there to react. Jake then took his finger out and put it straight into his mouth, licking it slowly, closing his eyes as he savored her taste.
“So wet and so sweet, molten honey. Just like I remember.”
She was speechless, her lust overriding all her verbal capacities. She needed more. She needed a lot more. She needed his touch, his feeling, his skin—she needed him.Allof him.
“I will allow you to be my guest until you conduct your research, Brachyan. Consider it a kindness for a past that we lost and will never recover.” He held the sides of her coat together, opening a hand to replace the missing button by Giving it a new one, and then he tied the belt around her waist, giving it a last pull to tighten it further around her body. “Who knows, perhaps we could become lovers who just fuck and don’t feel.”
Shattered. Fucked. Shattered. Fucked.
It’s this or nothing, she reminded herself.
17
Hope
“Blessed post meridiem to you both and welcome to the South House, Organ Mandor,” the Ruler of the House greeted Hope before adding, “Ciaran Castel, always a pleasure.”
Gabrielle Heliba's head shone under the bright sun, illuminating the South House's hall through countless four-petal-shaped windows of different sizes. Her complete lack of hair suited her ivory facial features, her soft oval face framed by multiple violet hoops in both her ears. A long, v-shaped tunic in the same color revealed the shape of her breasts, exposed her back and the sides of her long legs as the material cut neatly from the belt around her waist down to the ground.
Gabrielle hadn't stopped smiling since they had entered her House, and to Hope's surprise, hers seemed like an honest smile. In a world that demanded blood and endurance, kindness became its own form of resistance—soft-spoken, luminous, and unyielding.
“Thank you for inviting us despite the very short notice, Gabrielle. It's much appreciated,” Hope said. The very short notice being less than 5 minutes, after they had already moured to the East Petal and Ciaran suggested it was good manners to inform the Ruler before arriving at their House unannounced, which is precisely what Hope would have done.
“My niece, Arabella D'Arcy, told me about you, Hope Nevada of the Organ House.”
The image of a blond woman that Lenna hated with a passion flashed through her mind. A woman who had been part of Jake’s life many, many years ago. Perhaps Lenna didn’t hate her that much anymore, since Arabella had accompanied them on the Fifth Crusade with the sole purpose of teaching Lenna the synchronized use of panom powers. However, the ins and outs of the Fifth Crusade were not to be common knowledge—knowledge not even privy to the Rulers of the Houses.
“Did she?” Hope didn’t mean for her voice to be as sharp as it came out, nor for her teeth to clench as tight, but keeping impassive facial expressions was not her forte when she was caught off guard.
Gabrielle nodded slowly. “Don't worry, she didn't disclose her whereabouts or her mission. Even though I must admit my curiosity about her absence right before the former Organ Mandor was defeated has kept me theorizing, to say the least.”
“The Cardinals guide us in our paths and fates,” Hope replied.
Gabrielle’s dark eyes widened slightly, despite the sun striking directly at them. She looked at Hope, then Ciaran, then Hope again. Ciaran looked absolutely handsome and lethallydevastating as always, even without the metal ring in his bottom lip. Hope hadn’t even noticed him removing it. He stood one step behind Hope, far enough from her that no one would suspect they were one and the same, that their hearts and lives were intricately connected—intricately united.
For now, it was better this way. It wassaferthis way. Panom society should know about Hope’s role as their new leader, so she had informed them, but not about the fact that another leader and his army were in Thyria too.
Courtrade business was no one else’s business. At least, not yet.
Hope had a feeling that no panom, and most definitely no Ruler, would take well to knowing their Houses and history had been researched by strangers infiltrating their homes for decades. Strangers with a magic that wasn’t panom, nonetheless. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise her if only a few beings knew about courtrades at all, about their shadow magic, and their god of whispers and night.
“Are the Cardinals what bring your presence to my humble House, Mandor?”
Calling theTakingHouse ahumbleHouse seemed laughable, but the Ruler’s expression and relaxed, apparently comfortable body posture, appeared to be modest indeed. Why had such a panom earned the right to rule this House? Why had the South Cardinal deemed a respectful, kindhearted soul to rule her House?
“I’m afraid I can’t disclose the reason for this visit,” Hope replied. “I appreciate your understanding in respecting our privacy, and your cooperation would be much valued.”
“What do you need from my House, Mandor?”
Hope refrained from replying, “Nothing out of the ordinary: a part of the Cardinal Queen’s heart.” It would be interesting to see if she could say something that made Gabrielle drop hercontinuous smile and subtle, unfaltering nod. Instead, Hope said all she had wanted to request from the moment they stepped a foot in this House.
“I need the utmost confidentiality. No one is to know Ciaran and I are here.” Or they would find themselves giving excuses to her nation as to why she was parading around the Houses instead of fighting for her throne, like her ink had promised them. Or worse, the Queen would find them, and they would have to fight against her before they got rid of all the spare pieces of her heart.
“Ciaran is well known around Thyria, as he’s been the heir of the West House for centuries, so my people will recognize him.” If she only knew he was no longer the heir, as he was no longer panom. “You, however… Everyone is talking about you, but no one knows what you look like, Hope Nevada. As long as you take the appropriate measures, no one will know the Organ Mandor is in this House.”
“Please do not call me Organ Mandor or Mandor while I’m here. Nor Hope,” she said, remembering the explanation Ciaran had given her about her new nickname, bloodrose, and nodding to herself as her suggestion fitted her perfectly. “Call me Blood instead.”
