Page 14 of A Harmony of Procellarum

I pray for an undisturbed sleep, one not filled with the bad intentions of adults. Instead, I hope to relive what I did tonight, and even as I try to piece everything together, I still can’t figure out what Luciphia’s plan is. I haven’t spoken to her since she’d given me the mask and not from lack of trying, but every time I request to see her I’m refused. I’m having a hard time trusting Shereen and an even harder time separating her from the girl I grew up with. But now she’s my superior, and she’s given me my very last chance. I will acknowledge that if I fuck this up, it’s over for me.

I don’t have much to live for anyway, and the only reason I’m striving, pushing myself to keep going, is because I enjoy the kill. Or maybe it’s not me. Maybe it’s this thing that resides inside of me, because my very first kill was horrifying and I was scared beyond my wits, until he entered my body. So now I’m not continuing to ensure I live, that’s not an incentive for me. I’m doing it so that I may look Squall in the eye once more and witness the depth of his emotion for me, because he’s the only one who has shown me a love that’s unconditional.

I squeeze my eyes shut and try to even out my breathing, hoping and begging for a dreamless sleep. Once the darkness engulfs me, I can’t control the things I do or say, and with this bitch here beside me, I don’t want to risk saying things out loud and giving her ammunition.

I slowly leave behind the empty halls of Loving Beginnings Orphanage. The peeling paint and the smell of bleach slowly dissipate, and then I’m surrounded by heat. Soft warmth envelopes me, chasing the lingering chill of my dream and replacing it with the feeling of safety, of being protected. There’s only one person capable of doing that and my lips involuntarily curve upward. I’m mad at him, but I can never deny how much I need him.

I open my eyes to find a ceiling so foreign just as a leg lands over the top of my thighs and slick heat meets my skin. I don’t move. I barely breathe as I stare at the ceiling and try to work my mind around what’s happening. Every one of my muscles locks into place as I work through the lingering dream to what must be reality. I fight to get myself out of the in-between before I do something irrational, and that’s when a soft moan rolls up over me, hitting my ears and instantly hardening my cock.

The scent of her arousal permeates the surrounding space around the bed as she presses her wet pussy against my thigh, seeking the friction she’s so desperately needing. Her hand runs from the bottom of my stomach moving upward, a sensual, light touch igniting my skin and making my cock ache with the need to sink into her warmth.

She grows wetter, her movements a little faster, and then her long, pink-painted nails sink into the flesh of my left pec as she gasps on a breath. Her thrusts become jerky, telling me she’s coasting over that edge and flying into a euphoric oblivion. I lie here completely still as she slowly stops moving and her fingers relax against my chest, her palm lightly running over my nipple. When she feels the heavy ring pierced through the peak, her whole body stiffens, telling me she’s awake.

The mind is a funny thing in times of extreme trauma. It’s able to shut down and feed you memories of times where you were happy, and even though there’s a part of me that feels sorry for her, the larger part is reveling in her pain of being thrusted back into the present.

She slowly peels herself off of me, her body still naked, and as soon as her warmth is gone, a bone-chilling cold settles over me. “Well, Marigold, it’s nice to see that we’ve skipped right past pleasantries and dove headfirst into getting off on each other. I like it. Very much with the times.”

“Oh, my God!” she cries out as she scrambles away from me, grabbing up her discarded towel from the bed and frantically wrapping it around herself. She runs to the bathroom while screaming, “Oh, my fucking God!”

There’s no turning back now,I think to myself as my fingers find the wet spot on my thigh. It doesn’t take much for me to sink into the depths of obsession, and once I’m fixated, I won’t stop until I’ve taken everything I can.

I gather up her juices soaking against my skin and bring my fingers to my lips. Her scent is so heady and intoxicating. Without much thought, I’m sucking them into my mouth and letting her taste mark me from the inside out.

Maybe being trapped in a little room with Tiny isn’t so bad after all.

SQUALL

“Just leave it to me, Raiden,” I tell the man who’s staring at me from the other side of the hotel room. “They’re there together, and I don’t think Torrent will hurt her.”

“You sure about that?” His voice is low, the words barely detectable as he stares at me.

“I know what I saw, and he was holding that Vanquisher mask.” I scrub a hand down my face, willing myself to stay awake just a little longer. “He’s working for her and if his mission was to kill me, I have no doubt he would’ve.”

“Squall,” Raiden says on an exhale, dragging the syllables of my name out. “I can’t go back to Tempest and say, ‘Let’s head back to Dominica. Squall’s got it covered.’ I would be missing my balls and probably have my heart ripped from my chest.”

“I know Torrent…” I begin, only to be cut off by Raiden raising his hand.

“I know you think you know my brother, and trust me when I say I know why you do.” He gives me a pointed look that sends heat along my cheeks and makes my stomach quake with nerves. “But, Squall, he’s unpredictable, and at best, erratic. I need to ensure Tiny is rescued and that means calling a meeting with Shereen.”

“She’s Luciphia now,” I correct him, hoping to bypass his earlier statements regarding Torrent and me.

“She’s Shereen,” he repeats, his brows raising as he tips the rest of the amber liquid into his mouth, his throat working as he swallows it down. What I wouldn’t give to have a drink or two, to relax and not have to think about everything that’s happening.

“Shereen failed to exist after we left that home, just like us, Raiden.” I grab the fucking decanter of whiskey and tip it up to my mouth.Fuck this shit. “Most of us left there different people with different names. In case you’ve forgotten.” I drag my arm along my mouth, collecting the liquid resting against my lips.

“I have forgotten nothing, no matter how hard I try. If it’s not my nightmares reminding me, it’s my fucking brother and his antics.” The hard set of his jaw tells me he has more to say, but he’s holding it back. I know he’s felt the burden of Torrent and his behavior all these years, and I get what that must be like as an older brother. It’s the risk of being dragged down by someone because you share the same blood.

“He’s the Vanquisher now and Shereen is using him to do her bidding, knowing it’s causing a rift in our family.” I take another shot as Raiden continues to watch me. “And to send him after Tiny! Can you see what she’s doing? We need to find a way to take her out.”

“It is curious that she’s asked Torrent to grab Tiny, asking him to be Vanquisher.” He rubs the growth on his chin. “Almost like she knows something the rest of us don’t.”

“There’s nothing,” I spit out as I drop the decanter back to the cart. “Just stay out of this. She’s targeting me and she’s using how close I am with Torrent and my feelings for Tiny to disrupt our relationships.”

“Seems like you alone are the target. Why would that be?” Raiden asks, as he looks at me over the rim of his glass. “Why not all of us? Why hasn’t she made a move on Temp or Sky?”

“I don’t know,” I murmur as I look off out the window, watching the skyline of New York slowly light up with the last of the sunset. “I don’t know.”

I do know.

---