Page 40 of The Secrets of Roan Island

Fuck! I need to get to her. Now! I’ll rip him apart. Tear out his eyes for looking at her and his tongue for speaking to her. Flay his dick and make him eat it.

I surge forward, only to be stopped by Shemaiah blocking my path.

“You need to get yourself under control first.” Even with his eyes dark, my brother is calm.

“Get out of my way, Shemaiah.”

“You’re about to do something very stupid. I’ve seen this look before, and it didn’t end well.”

“Move!”

“Noah. Shemaiah,” my father calls from the center of the room, clearly noticing my outburst. “Come join me.” He motions toward the empty space beside his seat, which may as well be a throne for the way my father uses it. There’s a woman on her knees between his legs, her hands working open his belt.

I look back at the curtain hiding Ruby and her worst nightmare. When I don’t follow Shemaiah, I’m surprised Hammish doesn’t force me, but he’s clearly distracted by the woman taking him into her mouth. My father can shove himself off a cliff for all I care. I turn my back to him and stalk toward what’s mine. I’ll pay for this insubordination later.

But it’ll be worth it to get to Ruby. Nothing will get in my way.

20

Ruby

The new moon party is everything Noah insinuated but nothing like I imagined. How does one imagine every conceivable depravity when never exposed to them before? It’s titillating. Women and men holding whips. Other men and women tied up. Men dressed as women and women dressed as men. Others in costume. Couples kissing, touching, fucking. Groups of people kissing, touching, fucking. I notice a woman with a man hidden under her skirts sucking another woman’s breast.

Hammish sits like a lord over it all. A king surveying his domain. Subjugating his people.

I turn away and wander through the group, taking it all in, half mesmerized, half searching for Noah. But somehow I know, if he’s here, he’ll find me. I’m still reeling from our encounter downstairs. I touched myself in the bath, trying to ease the ache left from our encounter, but the orgasm was shallowand unsatisfying. And now, surrounded by all this decadent, unfettered lust, any relief I found is vanishing.

Then I see Jafeth. He’s in a dark corner of the room fucking a woman with his fingers as he kisses her neck. No… I don’t think he’s just kissing her. It’s hard to tell with them hidden in the shadows, but I can see his throat working as he swallows. He’s feeding. It’s not garish and bloody like I would have expected, and the woman looks to be enjoying it. A lot.

A shiver skates across my skin as I picture Noah’s teeth sinking into my thigh the way he’d threatened—no, promised—earlier. I have yet to see Shemaiah or Noah, but my shock and curiosity about Jafeth feeding makes me clumsy, and I trip into a man in a mask that covers his entire face.

“What are you doing here?” The dark, foreboding voice is one I would recognize anywhere.

David. He grabs my upper arm and drags me into a dark alcove concealed by a heavy curtain.

I yank free. “I could ask the same of you.” I’m not surprised he recognizes me; my small lace demi mask does little to hide my identity.

“This isn’t a place for people like you, Ruby.”

The derision in his voice almost makes me recoil, but I fight the instinct. I’m not the girl I was when we were married. I’ve grown in the year since our divorce. I’ve worked hard and survived on my own. I’ve taken initiative. I’ve faced off with a Mavarri—a creature both mythical and dangerous. And I’ve captured the attention of a man ten times David’s superior.

“How did you sneak in here?” David continues. “What are you trying to pull?”

“I’m working, if you must know, not that you have that right. And I was invited.”

“Working? Invited?” he scoffs. His bright blue gaze scans me from head to toe. Calculating. Judgmental. It’s meant to unnerve me, make me aware of his power over me.

In the past, his look, his laugh would have. I would have trembled at his assessment, worried where his words and mood would take us. Only now, I don’t feel that trepidation. Rather, I feel… empowered. The beautiful dress Mrs. Darning laid out makes me feel bold. While a red dress might have otherwise made me feel garish, after all that’s happened, even under David’s assessing gaze, I feel strong.

“As what? A whore?” David’s mask might hide him from the rest of the people at this den of iniquity, but I would know him and his ugliness anywhere. “I heard they brought whores to this party. I just didn’t think you’d stoop so low. Getting a jump-start on your new career? You and I both know you won’t work at the university for much longer.” He crowds me, pressing me back into the corner. “Have you picked up any skills? You were never a great lay before.”

His words sting even while I tell myself it doesn’t matter what he thinks. But when he dares to touch me, gripping my shoulder and hip, the sting of his words fades in the swell of anger. I’m angry he would take such liberties. Angry at how he belittled me constantly during our marriage. Angry for all the times I made myself small, obeyed, tried fruitlessly to please him. All the times he locked me in the basement.

That anger boils into rage and action. I grab his thinning hair with one hand and pull at the same time as I knee him in the crotch.

“Bitch!” He charges toward me. I leap away, but he grabs my hair and pulls. I cry out.

The curtain hiding us yanks open.

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