Page 29 of Rebellious Reign

His forehead is furrowed with concentration, and I run my fingertips over his skin as he slowly stops pumping, his eyes closed. As he languidly opens them, he pins me with a dark stare, but he doesn’t say anything, just rolls to lie beside me.

I raise my head to look at the mess covering me, wetting my torso.

“I think I’m going to jump in the shower,” I say, breaking the quiet.

“Grab another condom,” Connor says. “I’m going to fuck you in there too.”

I grin up at the ceiling, then move to do exactly as he said.

9

WRYN

Iwake up, my eyes popping open in the darkness of Connor’s room. It’s still weird to be in his room and not mine, but I don’t hate it.

I lie still for a few seconds, then realize there’s a buzzing noise. That must have woken me up. I check the clock on the bedside table beside me, and it’s only three in the morning. I glance over, and through the haze of my sleepy eyes, I can see that Connor isn’t passed out beside me. The sheet is pulled down, baring the empty spot, highlighted by the moonlight streaming through the open curtains. I want him back. I want to run my palm down his taut skin, tracing the ridges of the muscles underneath.

After we did it in the shower, we were exhausted, falling into bed half wet, and we wrapped up in each other until we fell asleep.

I wonder why he is gone.

What is that noise?

I sit up, glancing around. I don’t see anything lit up. I lean over the side of the bed. It’s coming from the bedside table drawer.

What the hell?

I open it carefully, seeing a cell phone lying at the bottom. It’s not my old one, but it looks weirdly familiar.

Maybe it’s one of Connor’s? Or did Connor finally decide I needed one and this is some strange way to give it to me?

To be honest, I haven’t thought much about having a cell phone since I’ve lived here. I was never one to be addicted to a screen, and once it was gone—along with Ruby, who was the only person I ever talked to—it didn’t seem like I needed one anymore.

I stare at the buzzing phone until it goes silent. Whoever was on the other end hung up.

With my hand still on the drawer handle, I think about closing it and going back to sleep.

I jump when the phone starts to vibrate again. I grab the phone gingerly, as if it were a bomb about to go off, and see that it only saysChicagoas the caller ID. This seems important, and there’s only a few people that I think it could be in Chicago. I want to know what’s going on since whatever this phone call could be about affects my life too.

I climb out of bed and creep to the bathroom and shut the door in case Connor comes back. I sit on the side of the large whirlpool tub. I’m not sure why I’m hiding, but I want to know what is going on before any questions are asked.

It looks like a burner phone, like one of those cheap ones you can buy at big gas stations, and it flips open. I don’t think this is something Connor would buy for me, which makes this even more confusing.

I flip it open. Cringing, I wait for something to happen, but nothing does. I bring it to my ear slowly.

“Hello?” I say in a whisper.

“Hello, dear Wryn,” the voice on the other end says.

I was right to be afraid. He’s finally calling in his favor, and I’m not prepared. I want to hang up. I want to put the phone back in the drawer and pretend I never heard it. I want to do a lot of things, but I can’t. I knew this was inevitable. Viktor was always going to win when it came to our agreement.

“What … how …” I sputter, then shut my mouth.

“I have eyes everywhere,” he says.

I glance around the bathroom as if said eyes were looking at me right now. I feel violated. Someone was in Connor’s room, putting this phone in the bedside table after we went to sleep, and we had no idea. If Connor was even there at the time. Maybe he waited for me to fall asleep and left.

“What do you want?”

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