Inherited Malice: A Dark Secret Society Romance

And the craving, craving, craving for more.

6

Beau

It was fair to say that trying to run a business from a laptop, locked in a room with a woman who I was pretty sure hated me deep down, was next to impossible. We hadn’t fought. In fact, we fucked. Not only during the Trials where we had to, but a few times in the privacy of these four walls.

But what else were we going to do?

At least her hot body helped pass some of the time, and I hoped that I did the same for her. Our chemistry was off the charts, and our bodies molded together as if they were created to be as one. If it weren’t for our setting, and our fucked-up circumstances, the sex could easily be classified as the best sex of my life.

I knew I would walk away from this place and find it very hard to find a partner who could match Abilene. The girl knew how to make my body burn with desire. She was the fire that I longed for, and a part of me felt it would be a shame to see it all disappear when this Initiation was over. I could easily see myself becoming a junkie in the need of my next fix. My next fix being the heat between Abilene’s thighs.

I honestly think the hardest part of the Initiation was not the Trials themselves, but rather the house arrest. I don’t think a human being is meant to be locked in a cage, and that was exactly what we were in. We sometimes got let out of our prison to “play”, if that’s what you called the Trials. And as sick as it was, I actually looked forward to the Trials in some way. At least it meant we got to breathe new air. And that was exactly what I needed… new.

I sat in my chair by the fireplace that burned regardless of how hot it was outside. The Oleander always possessed a chill in the air. No doubt the ghosts that haunted this place.

Calling out, I asked, “Abilene? You all right in there?”

The woman spent a lot of time in the bathroom. She liked steamy showers, that was for sure. What was odd was that she had a natural beauty, and her appearance didn’t come across as high maintenance. And as hard as it was for me to admit, the real truth behind her lockdown in the bathroom was that it was the only place away from me. It was her sanctuary, and I couldn’t exactly blame her.

Rather than answering from the other side of the door like she always did, she walked into the room running her fingers through her beautiful red locks.

“Just crawling out of my skin,” she said, shooting daggers my way as I sat with my laptop on my black slacks. “I’m bored out of my freaking mind.”

I nodded. “I get it. I’m losing track of how long we’ve been here. It seems like one day is just blending in with the other.”

“At least you have work to keep you busy,” she said, plopping herself in the chair across from me with her arms across her chest.

“I’ve tried to help. I bought you every book you asked for, bought you puzzle books, notebooks— I’m trying to help.”

Her expression softened. “I know you are.” She sighed loudly and asked, “Can we go for a walk? I need to get out of here. It’s stuffy.”

“It’s nearly a hundred degrees out there with a hundred percent humidity. Stepping outside would be like stepping into the pits of Hell.”

“Regardless, it’s a different hell than we’re in right now.”

I did not agree. The last thing I wanted to do was go sweat my ass off in Georgia’s summer heat.

“What if we go for a walk around the Oleander? You haven’t seen the place other than a few rooms, and it’s really an impressive piece of history.”

Her eyes lit up and she nodded with a little too much excitement. “God, yes. Anything.”

As we walked out of the room and made our way downstairs, I said, “We’ll start with the lower level first and work our way up.”

“Are we allowed to just roam about the mansion freely?”

“Yeah, why not? I actually used to play in the halls of this place as a child. My friends and I made this manor our playground.”

“Odd place to run around in. Especially considering all the expensive antiques. I’d be afraid of knocking over a vase or tearing a rug or something.”

I chuckled. “Oh, we did. Trust me on that.”

“Life of a blueblood kid,” she murmured.

I bit back my retort but said instead, “I won’t attack your past if you don’t bash mine.” I took a deep breath, realizing that we had walked different paths in life, and she didn’t understand mine.