Sofia shook her head. “I hired my favorite boundary witch to set some wards on your apartment. Until we step foot back in there, he’d have to work hard to find a way inside.”
“You’re amazing,” Ursuline said, their voice thick. “All of you.”
“Like you haven’t stuck your neck out for us before,” Theo said, in a gruff tone. “You did the paperwork pro bono when we were getting Charles out of his situation.”
Curiosity piqued in me, but I figured that was a story for another time. I chewed on a different fruit, something dark red and fleshy, and it was so sweet it melted on my tongue. Ever since I’d met Ursuline, I’d been experiencing so much more than the stale upbringing I’d grown up with, so many different cultures that existed outside of the high society I’d been trapped in.
“What’s the plan for the rest of the day?” Amelia asked us.
“I’m just here to look pretty,” I joked, and a familiar sadness wove through me. Everyone had roles to play, things they were able to do, and as usual, I was useless. Unable to help or pitch in.
“You’re far more than pretty,” Ursuline said, a dangerous edge to their voice as they caught my gaze. “And I was hoping for your help in contacting Jason, as well as reviewing a couple of photos Gretel sent over of the guys who were following us. Your attention to visual detail will be useful there.” They saw right through me, and my eyes stung. I swallowed hard. Somehow, they always made me feel more, when I’d been so used to feeling less.
“We can pitch in with research,” Beau offered.
“You were just waiting for the opportunity,” Charles teased. “In case you didn’t know, he was a librarian.”
Beau rolled his eyes, and a lightness spread in me at seeing the way these people cared for each other openly, honestly. How they showed up when it mattered, how they helped without being asked. This warmth was everything I’d always thought would exist in a family, but that had never been my experience.
However, if Ursuline and I could find a way out of Triton’s web, and if Ursuline truly wanted me…maybe I could be a part of this too.
My heart twisted with longing—for all of it.
“You started breakfast without me?” a voice called out from the doorway. Jaffar walked inside and extended a head nod at Ursuline and me. His black hair was slicked back, and he wore a pressed suit, as if he was heading to a meeting after this. “Long time no see.”
“You’re too capricious for us to wait on you,” Amelia said. “And we were hungry.”
Jaffar snorted and pulled up a seat at the other table. “As long as you saved some blood nectar for me, all is forgiven.”
“Of course,” Theo said, pushing a glass in his direction. “I made sure it was prepared.”
Ursuline wasn’t the chattiest of the group—no, they offered wan smirks and casual comments—but I didn’t miss their presence by my side for a second. Right now, their lips were pursed, their eyes dancing, and the rumpled silver hair and crooked tunic made me swoon, like I got to glimpse behind the armor. They were all sharp angles—nose, jawline, brows—but a softness emanated from them in those often haunted eyes, a tenderness that I craved. And more than ever, I longed to tell them everything I’d been clutching tight in my heart.
That I’d completely and utterly fallen in love.
Chapter 27
The tension simmered through my body, a constant awareness that had been building all day.
Body, heart, and soul, I belonged to Ursuline, and I wanted them to know that in every damn way. Except we’d been focused on poring through pictures, trying to draw correlations between the Triton family’s major holdings, as well as going through the whereabouts of his daughters, to see if any of them were involved. Cillian and the others living up in the Spires went about their business, occasionally poking in to help, but for the most part, Ursuline and I were locked in a study all day.
And they’d teased me throughout.
A brush of their tentacles along my upper thigh. A tight squeeze around my ankle. My trapped cock leaked to the point I’d caused a stain in my underwear, and I was about to have an embarrassing one on the crotch of my pants. Except we’d eaten light fare for dinner with Amelia and Charles, and then Ursuline had declared we were retiring for the night.
Eight at night. Completely normal.
Well, normal if I wanted them to fuck me for hours.
Heat rushed through me, and I squeezed their hand, a reminder that I clutched it as we walked through the hallway in the direction of our temporary abode. As much as I would’ve preferred to have my own safe spot, in reality I’d never lived in a home I’d felt…well, at home in.
It was the secret dream I’d clutched to my chest for longer than I wanted to admit.
“What do you have in mind tonight?” I asked, my voice coming out breathy and filled with need.
Ursuline cast me a wry glance, then scanned down to my crotch. My balls throbbed in response. “Well, first, I’ll be freeing you.”
My cock strained against the cage in response. As much as being in the cage had been a constant awareness in the back of my head, part of me had loved being in chastity for Ursuline, having them control my orgasms. I’d loved feeling like their plaything.
