Captured (Highgate Preparatory Academy #1)

by Rosa Lee

“You have a soul of pure light, Lilly Darling. It’s why we’re all drawn to you, we are desperate to bathe in your goodness and cover ourselves from head to toe in your brilliance.” He looks intently into my eyes as he says this, his own eyes full of need. “I would give it all to you to take the pain away,” I whisper. “My soul is yours, Kai. Every part of me belongs to you, the light and the dark. I love you.”

I mean every word, I would give my very soul if it would help to free them from the binds that their families have wrapped around them. I know that it sounds insane, but I feel like they are it for me. We were made for each other, all five of us, and it’s crazy and unconventional, but it’s also as natural as breathing.

“Lilly,” he replies, his voice choking. “I was lost until you walked into our lives like a spring breeze after the harshest winter. From that first night, I knew my life would never be the same again. You make all of the shit, everything we’ve been through, worth it. And I’d go through it all again, just to get to this point and have you here in my arms.” My heart feels so full, I don’t know how my body is still containing it. “We’ve belonged to each other since the moment of our conception, Lilly Darling. And we are never letting you go.”

“He's my unofficial trainer,” Jax says, his voice a delicious rumble that always makes me a little wet between the thighs and leaves me breathless. “Trainer?” I question. “Trainer for what?” “Didn't you know, Pretty Girl?” Loki says from the back, and I glance over my shoulder to see an evil smirk on his face that tells me he's stirring shit somehow. “Big guy here is an underground MMA champion.” My brows raise at this. “How am I only just finding out about this? Jax?” I turn to glare daggers at the man in question, who looks a little sheepish. “Why do you think he’s so, well, ripped?” Loki asks, and I shrug. “I dunno...to pin me down real good?” I tease, and I jump in my seat when Jax roars out a laugh that startles us all. “Oh, Baby Girl,” he says, his voice dropping an octave and becoming husky, looking over to me. “That's just an added bonus.”

We go to pass Enzo, who stops me with a hand on my arm, then pulls me into a tight embrace. “You were made for them, cara mia, lo credo veramente,” he whispers, before kissing both cheeks, giving me a slightly quizzical, considering type of look, then letting me go.

Arriving in our dorm, I quickly shower, then help Kai prepare a delicious ramen for lunch, whilst Loki then Jax wash up. I love cooking with him, he makes it so fun, and his passion is intoxicating. Not to mention the small teasing touches that leave me panting and breathless.

“I love you, Jax Griffiths,” I say softly, willing him to believe me. “And I will help you to get through this. You’ve got me now, and I’m not going anywhere.”

His hands tighten on my waist before he wraps his massive arms around me, pulling me even closer to him. I love his fresh warm lemon scent, I don’t think that I’ll ever get enough of it.

“I love you too, Lilly Darling. And I’d give up the world for you,” Jax confesses in a rumble above me, my head tucked tightly under his chin.

Jax has a way with words, he says things so simply, but with such a depth of feeling that I can feel their truth in my bones. In my very soul, like he brands me with each word that falls from his lips.

“Oh, Jax,” I murmur, my heart bleeding out for him, and what he’s done to himself in order to keep those he loves safe.

“I’m scared that I won’t be able to protect everyone if I stop,” he admits, voice barely above a whisper, and my heart shatters.

“You’re too good for us, Baby Girl,” he sighs out as his hands come up around me, pulling me close and placing a kiss over my heart. “But we’re too selfish to let you go.”

There’s a fine tremor in my limbs, exhaustion washing over me. I can’t show it to him, though. He can’t know how fucking tired I am. Tired of it all.

They’re bleeding, but are not too deep, and it’s then that I notice that underneath so much of his beautiful ink, are the raised lines of hundreds of scars. They're all over his body, he's covered in them, and I can't believe that I haven't noticed before now. I can hardly breathe through the pain that these marks, his scars, cause me. He must have felt so alone, and full of so much hurt for years.

“Please, don’t cry, Princess,” he asks in a pained voice, his hand reaching out and lifting my chin. His grip pulls me up so that I’m raised up on my knees, our faces close together. Both hands come up to cup my face, bringing us closer still. “I’m not worth your tears.” I pull back slightly so that I can look deep into his stunning grey eyes, which are full of darkness and shadows tonight. “Ash, you are worth every tear, every smile, every fucking thing, and if I need to spend my entire life making you believe that, I will do so gladly.” I will him to believe the words, to see what he means to me. “You are too good, too pure, for the likes of me, Lilly Darling,” he says back, his voice husky, and I can see the glint of tears in his own eyes, making the steel swim. “I am exactly right for you as you are for me, Asher Vanderbilt,” I whisper back vehemently as I place a gentle kiss on his luscious lips.

“Hey,” I say, bringing him back to face me. “It’ll be okay. You have us to help with whatever you need. You’re not alone, Ash, we will get through this together.” “You don’t know that, Lilly. How can you know that?” he asks, almost angrily. His grey eyes are full of fire, a fire built of a crippling lack of confidence. “Because I love you, Ash, and I’m not leaving you,” I retort back, my own conviction matching his. “You’re mine, and I’ve claimed you, and I’ll destroy anyone who hurts any of you,” I tell him, deadly serious, my chest rapidly rising and falling with my almost panting breaths.

I love to submit to Ash, handing him complete control frees me in a way that nothing else does. I'm unshackled from the pain that lives in my heart, from the thoughts of my past that try to plague my mind. And he needs the control more than ever tonight.

His inked beauty makes my breath catch every fucking time my eyes alight on him, my heart fluttering.

“We're each going to fuck you, to claim you, and you're going to take it like the good girl I know you can be,” he instructs, his voice low and demanding and I can’t stop the full body shudder at his words. “You are ours, Lilly Darling, and will be ours until we're dragged kicking and screaming from this world into the flames. And when we're all in Hell, we will take on Lucifer himself if he dares to keep us from you.”

I'm utterly helpless, unable to move, so I give myself over to the intense sensations that he's eliciting from my body. It's euphoric, giving someone complete control over you, and just letting go.

His whole body droops with relief, and I’m treated to one of those rare smiles that light up his entire face.

“‘I love thee with a love that shall not die, till the sun grows cold and the stars grow old,’”

I look up with a watery smile, gazing into the faces of these boys who are my family now. We belong to each other so completely, nothing will ever separate us.

We all file into the carved wooden pews, facing the front, and I can see Headmaster, sorry, Principal Robertson standing up front with a group of five others. Holy shit! Is that...Pentatonix?! “Today we have some special guests, who are going to perform for us,” he informs us in a self-important tone. “They will start with Amazing Grace.” Outside I'm cool as a motherfucking cucumber, but inside, I'm fangirling so hard I'm surprised I'm not throwing my knickers at them!

He steps back, releasing me. I turn to Kai next, who gives me a sweet smile, and opens his arms for me to step into. I'm surrounded by his fresh woodsy scent as he hugs me tightly and breathes me in, kissing the top of my head, my hands fisted into the front of his shirt. I look up, offering him my lips which he takes in one of his melting kisses. It's so different from the possession of Jax's, but it's no less devastating to my heart. It's full of calmness, an acceptance, yet also a desperate need, a wish, and I kiss him back just as achingly. I hate that he's going back to his uncle, that he'll be all alone there, after everything that he suffered at his uncle’s hands.

“Rubber duck?” he asks with a slight smile, bringing a watery one to my own lips. “Any time, day or night,” I vow in a whisper, stepping closer. His hands come up into my hair, pulling me so close, there’s not an inch of space between our bodies. The rest of the students, the sounds of cars, all fade away as we stare at each other, before he lowers his lips down to mine. I gladly open for him, his tongue teasing my own and tasting me until I’m not sure whose air is whose anymore. It’s a kiss to merge two souls until they become one entity, emerging stronger than before.

“I love you, Ash,” I breathe. A fierce look takes over his face, his grip tightening in my hair. He holds me for a moment, staring into my eyes, like he would set fire to the world in my name.

“I fucking love you, Loki Thorn,” I enthuse, a deep chuckle vibrating over my body, as he walks us across the floor. “I fucking love you back, Lilly Darling,” he tells me, his voice full of warmth, as he deposits me on the counter to stand in between my spread legs.

It never gets old, never ceases to amaze me, that this beautiful man is mine, and I can have him whenever I want.

It’s like he can’t get enough of me. A feeling that I return wholeheartedly.

I’ve made them a playlist on Spotify that has all of our songs on it. The songs that we’ve danced to, played to, made love to. I was going to add them to it so that they can listen to it whenever they like.

Damn! Even singing songs sung originally by Disney Princesses, he’s still hot as fuck holding a guitar and strumming with those magical fingers of his.

I drown in his emerald gaze, his husky voice caressing every inch of me. I swear, I hear the girls giggle, and then sigh dramatically, like we’re actually in a fucking Disney movie of our own. But I don’t care, I’m embracing all the warm and fuzzies that he gives me.

My gaze moves over to the girl who brings light and laughter wherever she treads, and I give thanks to whatever gods have finally smiled down on me that I found her. I know it sounds corny as fuck, but she really is like the first flush of spring, after an endlessly dark cold winter. And I, for one, will drink every drop of sunshine she offers me and bathe in her glow for however long I have left on this godforsaken earth.

I stand back, leaning against the doorframe, watching her read the story, and I think my heart might explode with how full it feels.

“I love you, Loki,” I whisper. “So much.” His smile turns beatific, and I swear I hear angels fucking weep at the sight. “I love you, Lilly. So much,” he whispers back as he sets his guitar aside and stands up.

“Never leave me, Lilly,” Loki begs in a rasping tone, his hands still cupping my face. “Promise me you’ll never leave.” He sounds so desperate, like everyone who has come before now has abandoned him without a second glance. A pang of guilt flashes through me remembering that I ran, leaving him and the others, even if only for a short time. His fingers tangle in my hair, pulling my head back and forcing me to look into his verdigris eyes, which are churning like a storm. “I promise. I’ll never leave you, Loki,” I reply fiercely. My hands reach up and slip into his flaming hair, in a grip that matches his. “Swear to me you won’t either.” “I swear, Lilly. I’ll never leave you. Your soul is mine, and you’ll never be free of me,” he promises vehemently.

“Loki,” I say softly, pulling away, and he looks at me with a question on his brow. “I love you so fucking much, and one day I would love to carry your child. Just maybe not right now.” His whole face lights up, brighter even than the lights we hung on the tree downstairs. “I fucking love you so much, Lilly,” he grins, his hand passing over my flat stomach, before he stands up and stretches, giving me an uninterrupted view of his perfect peachy arse.

Back in February, I thought that I’d never be happy again. My whole world had caved in with my mother's death, and I was so full of grief I couldn’t see straight. Yet, here I am, spending my first Christmas without Mum, but far from alone, and with someone who loves me and cares about me. I’m happier now than I think I’ve ever been, and, although I feel a stab of guilt at being happy without her, it’s less than what it once was. These guys have changed my life completely, and I think that I might be changing theirs, too.

“I never met your mom,” Loki says gently from beside me on the sofa, whilst the girls play with their new things upstairs, “but I’m sure she would have wanted you to be happy and not spend Christmas alone and sad.” He pulls me in closer, tucking me under his arm and placing a gentle kiss on my head. “I know,” I sniffle out, a single tear rolling down my cheek. “I just hate that I forget about her at some moments, you know?” my voice trembles out. “Yeah, I know,” he replies. “I used to feel the same about Luc. We were really close, more so than me and Ash were, and after he died, I thought that I’d never be happy. That I shouldn’t be happy,” he tells me, his voice gruff, and this time I wrap my arm more firmly around him. “But then a certain sexy as fuck brunette was standing naked in my bathroom, singing and shaking her ass, and I thought that I just might have found what was missing.” I look up into his eyes that are alight with emerald fire, getting drawn into their depths.

I can see his pain, like a wound that hasn’t yet fully healed. It reminds me of my own hurt, always there, yet not as sharp as it was a few months ago. There’s also love in his gaze, and it astounds me to know that it’s love for me.

My gaze drinks them in, as if we’ve been apart for months, and not just over two weeks. I search out Jax, who, to be honest, looks like shit. “Bro, you look like shit!” Loki observes, voicing my thoughts aloud. I elbow him in the gut, eliciting an oomph sound. Twat. We hear Jax’s deep, rumbling laugh come over the speaker as he rubs his hands over his face, “Yeah, I feel like shit.”

“We need to get tickets,” I begin, picking up the phone. I hear Ash’s derisive laugh, and I look at his picture on the screen. “What? You just gonna call up your private jet, Vanderbilt?” I sass him, my joke falling flat when he gives me a self-satisfied smirk. “Fuck off!” I turn to Loki, seeking confirmation. He at least has the sense to look a little sheepish, his cheeks flushing slightly, “Yeah, he has a private jet.” “You rich, entitled knobjockey!” I yell at Ash, who just smirks wider at me. “Be there at ten sharp, Princess,” he orders me, then leaves the group chat, without so much as a goodbye . Dickhead.