Bound: Highgate Preparatory Academy, Book 2

For the first time in a long time, longer than I can remember, I sleep soundly, with no night terrors to plague my dreams. Perhaps my sleep these past few months would have been more restful if I’d slept in the same bed as Lilly sooner. But she was haunted by her own nighttime demons, I didn’t want to add mine as well.

I wake up slowly, beautiful hazel eyes gazing at me, soft with love and acceptance. My heart tightens painfully in my chest, but it’s not an unwelcome sensation.

“Good morning, Kai love,” she whispers, a smile teasing those lush lips of hers as she continues to drink me in as I do her.

“Good morning, darling,” I manage to choke out, realizing that my hand is still on her stomach, over where her baby grows.

Our baby grows.

That is going to take some getting used to.

But a fierce surge of protectiveness floods my body, settling in my soul as we lie there, my hand flexing on her stomach. I will defend this innocent until my last breath if need be.

“How are you feeling?” she asks, a cute as fuck frown line appearing between her brows as she brings her hand up to stroke my face. Shivers run over my body at her touch, as they always do.

I pause before answering, really taking stock of how I’m feeling after everything that happened last night.

“Raw,” I reply with complete honesty. “But lighter now that it’s out in the open. Like a weight has been lifted.” She gives me a smile so bright, I’m surprised I’m not blinded forever more.

“I’m glad you’re not having to carry it alone anymore, my love,” she whispers, her voice thick and the shine of tears sparkling in her eyes.

“Me too,” I murmur in response, closing my eyes and rubbing my face into her hand with a sigh.

“Kai?” she asks, her voice tentative and a little unsure. I open my eyes to see her biting her lip, my morning wood twitching at the sight.

“Yes, darling?” I reply, my temperature rising as heat enters her hazel eyes.

“Make love to me. Please?”

Fuck.

This girl. She’s something rare. Something precious. And she’s asking me to make love to her as if it would be a chore?

Her cheeks heat in that adorable way of hers, and she opens her mouth as if to say something more, but I don’t let her. I pounce, loving the small shriek that leaves her lips as I land on top of her, sliding my aching hard length inside her, the noise she makes turning into a husky moan. There’s no resistance, she’s already lubricated. It’s something I’ve noticed about her recently and apparently is quite common in pregnancy. Her legs come up, wrapping around me on instinct.

“Shit…” I rasp out. “You feel incredible without a condom.” And she does, her wet heat surrounding me and warming me to my very soul.

“Kai,” she moans, her fingers tangling in my hair as she pulls our mouths together. She kisses me like I’m the very air that she breathes, and I do the same, trying to inhale everything about her as I begin to move my hips in a slow, teasing rhythm.

My hands take hold of hers, bringing them up above her and pinning them there, our fingers intertwined as I do as she asked me. Make love to her. Normally, I’d want, need to give her some pain in order to find my own release. But something about this morning is different. I don’t need it. Oh, I still undoubtedly will punish her in all kinds of delicious ways, hearing her cries of pain as I’m buried deep inside her. But today, I just want her cries of pleasure, which she gives me with abandon as I rock my pelvis, stroking her inner walls, and sending lightning bolts across my skin at the same time.

“I love you so so much, Lilly Darling,” I growl in her ear, hitting that sweet spot just inside her if her pussy flutters are anything to go by. “You make me a better man. You complete me, make me whole, and I’m.” Thrust. “Never.” Thrust. “Letting.” Thrust. “You.” Thrust. “Go.”

Her cries grow louder until her nails dig into the backs of my hands where I’m still holding her down, and her cunt ripples around my dick. I can feel the heat pooling in my own core, racing up my spine as I head towards the pinnacle of release.

“Kai, oh shit, Kai!” she yells, and warm liquid coats me as she comes, her pussy clamping down hard until I’m fighting for every thrust, grunting with the effort to push through.

My movements become frenzied, our hips snapping together with loud wet sounds as I move faster, impaling her over and over again. With an almost agonized roar, I climax, shooting my seed deep inside her with one final, hard thrust. Stars flash behind my closed eyes, my breaths panting and my whole body alight as I bask in the glow of her. Of us.

Releasing her hands, my own run through her hair as I hold her close to me and find her soft lips with my own. I kiss her deeply, our bodies joined in the most primal way, when a knock sounds on the door.

“Time to get up. I can’t hold Loki back for much longer,” Ash tells us, his amused voice clear through the partly opened door. “And you’ll be late for class.”

I smile against her lips.

“What?” she asks, her own lips curving up in a smile as I pull back slightly, but not out of her. Not yet.

“It’s about time Loki had to listen to someone else fuck you while he stands there with a raging boner,” I say with a chuckle and she laughs, her pussy clenching around me, turning my laugh into a groan. “Don’t laugh, darling. Otherwise, we will never leave this bed.”

“Sorry,” she murmurs softly, a wicked gleam in her eyes.

“No you’re not.”

“Not even a little bit,” she replies, trying and failing not to laugh again.

Naughty minx.

I give her a smirk, her own eyes widening as she feels me growing inside her, my hips thrusting slowly once more.

We are definitely going to be late for class.

LILLY

I’m bone weary as I walk with Kai and Loki back to our dorm at the end of the day. I crack what must be my hundredth yawn, both guys chuckling.

“Come on, Pretty Girl,” Loki says, pulling me closer and wrapping his arm around my shoulders. “Let’s get you back and I’ll run you a bubble bath while Kai makes you some ramen.”

My stomach growls, much to both boys’ amusement, as Kai unlocks our door, only to come to a standstill just inside.

“Dude!” Loki hisses, pulling us to a stop just shy of bumping into Kai’s back. “What the fuck?”

Kai steps aside, and my blood runs cold, then boiling hot at the beaming face of Julian cuntish Vanderbilt standing with a scowling Ash and Jax by our dining table.

“Ah, is that Lilly I see with you, boys?” Julian asks, just like the perfect father-in-law. His eyelid twitches as he takes note of Loki’s arm slung around my shoulder, but his smile doesn’t falter. “Come give your papa-to-be a hug.” He spreads his arms out wide, a challenge on his face as he looks at me.

Adrenaline rushes through me, chasing away any tiredness as I step out from Loki’s embrace, and walk towards him. After what he did to Jax’s mum, and the audio message, I can’t afford to antagonise the man. But I hate him with every fibre of my being. He quickly wraps his arms around me, pulling me inappropriately close when I step up to him. I hear him take a deep inhale. Did he just fucking sniff me? Gross!

I catch Ash’s gaze, which is full of suppressed rage, his cheeks flushed as Julian whispers into my ear, holding onto me for far too long.

“You didn’t heed my warning, darling. About staying away from the other boys. And now you must all learn your lesson, naughty children.” He chuckles like he is a doting father and just doing his job.

Finally, he lets go, taking a step back, but still with that fucking Cheshire cat grin on his face. God, I want to smack it off. I feel sick, a mixture of adrenaline, nerves, and revulsion churning my stomach until my hands shake. Ash steps up next to me, his hand coming around my waist and pulling me into his warm body. I heave a sigh as I snuggle into him, giving no fucks what Julian thinks. Ash plants a kiss on my hair, near my ear.

“You okay, Princess?” he asks quietly, his deep voice laced with concern. I nod.

“Yeah,” I whisper, turning my head so that I’m no longer staring into the eyes of that man. My blood boils again at the thought of what he’s done over the past week or so. Just as my tight muscles relax into Ash, Julian speaks again, obliterating any calm I possess.

“I hear congratulations are in order, son?”

Both Ash and I snap our heads up, going utterly still as we stare at Julian. I smell vanilla and Kai’s wooded scent as I feel their warmth at my back, and see Jax come up to Ash’s other side.

“How far along are you, Lilly, darling?” I hate it when he uses my last name as a term of endearment.

“Sixteen weeks,” Ash replies, my tongue unable to move as panic flutters at the edges of my vision. I feel a hand brush my back, my own coming up to my stomach in an instinctive act of protection.

“Wonderful!” Julian calls, his smile getting wider, sending shivers over my skin, the hairs at my nape standing on end. His grin gets a hard edge to it, cutting like a knife. “Although I do hope that it is yours, boy. I won’t tolerate a bastard in the family.”

My breath stutters in my chest, my stomach dropping at his words.

“It is,” Ash says, standing a little taller, straighter. I look at him to see that he has transformed into the Ice Knight, something he does whenever Julian is around.

“Well, we can always get a paternity test when the baby is born, so not to worry,” Julian informs us, like it’s a foregone conclusion. Ash’s hand tightens on my waist, reassuring me enough that I can take a deep inhale.

A knock sounds at the door, my brows dropping.

“Ah, that’ll be Erica. Let her in Loki,” Julian says in a cheery voice.

Loki does as he’s bid, and I turn to see a young woman with short buzzed hair walk in, pulling a small suitcase along behind her.

“Mr Vanderbilt,” she greets Julian, a small forced smile on her face. It’s almost like she doesn’t like him. Interesting.

“Erica. So pleased that you could make it on such short notice,” Julian replies, stepping around us to air kiss her cheek. She shivers, but he doesn’t seem to notice, then he turns to me. “Erica will be your wedding planner, my dear.”

My eyes go wide.

“My…wedding planner?” I question, my hands dropping from my stomach, and finding Ash’s hand waiting, our fingers instantly intertwining.

“Of course.” Julian is back to beaming again. “With your wonderful news, we’ll need to speed things up so that you’re married to Asher before you start to show fully.” He chuckles again like the doting father that he is not. “And with your uncle not giving his permission for your nuptials to go ahead before you turn eighteen, I think May twenty-first would be a good date. Don’t you?”

“But that’s…” I trail off.

“Your birthday, yes. What a lovely way to spend the day,” he says, his face open and oh so sincere. “It doesn’t give us a great deal of time for planning, just over eight weeks, and to send invites etcetera, but I’m sure with Erica’s help, we’ll manage.”

I stare at him, unmoving and in shock. Ash’s grip tightens, his fingers rubbing over my knuckles in a soothing gesture.

I’m getting married on my eighteenth birthday. Shit.

“Well, I shall leave you to it. Whatever she wants, Erica. No expense spared,” he says, pausing beside me to drop a kiss on my cheek. His lips linger for a fraction of a second too long, his fingertips brushing my stomach. “Just think, you could have made me a father again instead of a grandpa,” he whispers in my ear so quietly that I know the guys don’t hear.

Bile rises in my throat as he steps away, tears springing into my eyes as I stare straight ahead. I don’t move as he leaves, my grip tight on Ash’s hand. The door shuts with a loud bang, breaking me from the trance that Julian left me in.

“Excuse me,” I rush out, bolting to the bathroom, and slamming the door behind me as I throw myself down on my knees, just managing to get my head over the toilet bowl in time as vomit spills from my lips.

Gentle hands hold my hair back as I retch and cough, a cool cloth placed on my forehead, and a glass of water pressed into my hand when I sit back on my heels, my eyes closed.

“What did he say to you, Princess?” Ash asks, stroking my hair back from my sweaty face.

I look into his face, his grey eyes swirling with concern. It takes me a couple of tries before the words will come.

“That he could have been the f–father of my baby, instead of its grandpa,” I tell him in a trembling voice, tears spilling from my eyes.

A curse sounds from my left, and I turn my head in time to see Loki punch the mirror, shattering it, shards of glass flying across the room. Luckily the door is closed so hopefully Erica didn’t hear too much.

“That fucking pervert cunt!” Loki roars, his chest heaving. I leap up, feeling a wave of dizziness that I ignore as I rush towards him, my shoes crunching over the glass.

“Hey, it’s okay, my love,” I tell him softly, taking his now bleeding hand in mine and tutting.

“None of this is fucking okay, Pretty Girl,” he whispers back, placing his forehead against my own. “None of it,”

“It will be, soon, brother,” Ash says, his tone serious as he walks towards us, placing a hand on Loki’s shoulder. “They will hurt for what they have done to us, and we’ll be the ones watching them bleed before the baby is born.”

The boys exchange an intense look, Loki nodding as they seal the vow between them.

My eyes drift down to Loki’s bleeding hand, watching the blood drip onto the shards of glass at our feet, and a shiver runs through me. There’ll be more bloodshed before this is all over.

I just wonder how much of it will be ours.