Bound (Highgate Preparatory Academy, #2)

by Rosa Lee

Fucking exhibitionist donkeycock ballbag!

I can’t bear to be parted from them again. It feels as though pieces of me have been taken away, and I won’t be whole until I get them back. We are all irrevocably bound, so intrinsic to one another that we can never be truly separated, and any physical distance hurts.

I’ve never shown anyone this; not even the guys know my love for country swing dancing.

“Looks like I’ve made you all wet again, Baby Girl,” I say, trying and failing to hold in the smirk. “Jax Griffiths,” she laugh-scolds. “Was that a dirty joke coming out of those lips of yours?” “Sure sounded like one,” I tease, releasing one hand to swat her hard on the ass for being a brat.

“Don’t give up on me,” he pleads, and his words make the breath catch in my lungs. “I will never give up on you, Kai. On any of you,” I assure him, my own fingers moving into his hair and gripping tightly, pulling him closer until I no longer know whose breath is whose. “We are bound together, you and I, Kai. And nothing in this world, or the next will be able to keep us apart.”

“So, interestingly, I managed to get the guest list from that gala,” Kai informs us, pausing to reach over and grab his iPad, bringing up a list of names. “Your uncle is on there Lilly, Adrian Ramsey, but his plus one is someone called Violet Rochester. No mention of a Laura Darling on the list at all.” I can feel my eyebrows drawing together, my stomach fluttering, as he looks up at me. “So I did some digging into Violet, and it turns out she and your uncle were engaged, and then she disappeared completely, about nineteen years ago. Never to be found again.”

“Please don’t apologise, love,” I tell him in a slightly breathy voice, and a bright smile lifts his lips at the endearment. “Talk when you’re ready, but until then, use me as you need to.”

Fucking smooth kiss ass.

She lets go of my hand, stepping forward, and as we all follow behind, I’m reminded that although we may be Knights, she’s our Queen, and we will follow her wherever she leads.

“I don’t know why I thought I could scare you off with my darkness,” he adds, looking up at me, his eyes holding equal measure of wonder, awe, and pain. “The light you have in you shines so brightly, is so strong, that you can take any amount of darkness, and burn it away. People often mistake goodness as a weakness, but you are stronger than all of us, my darling. We would truly be lost without you.”

“You are my light, Lilly. My soul. Everything that I am, or ever will be, is yours and yours alone. And when we take our final breaths on this earth, our souls will remain bound, travelling the winds together for all eternity.”

“I feel like I’ve loved you for my whole life, Lilly,” he whispers back, his own voice just as choked as mine. “I just needed to find you.”

“Jax is not a good snuggle bunny,” Loki pouts, and it’s so adorable, sexy, and ridiculous that I lean forward and plant a kiss on his lush lips. “And his morning wood should be classed as a fucking weapon of mass destruction.”

Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there. I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow. I am the diamond glints on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn rain. When you awaken in the morning’s hush I am the swift uplifting rush Of quiet birds in circled flight. I am the soft stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry; I am not there. I did not die.’”

they do say that home is where the heart is. And my heart is standing before me, kept safe in the bodies of four beautiful men.

“Don’t cry, Princess. Please. I can’t bear to see you cry over me,” he pleads huskily, leaning down and placing our foreheads together. “I told you, you are worth every tear of mine, Asher Vanderbilt. You all are. My tears are not mine anymore but yours, as the rest of me is yours.”

Fuck! When will I ever learn that their muscles are hard as fucking rock?

“Your brother is Hunter Anderson, co-leader of The Shadows crew, based in the World’s End Estate, Chelsea. And Iris Montgomery convinced her father to sponsor your senior year here.”

“Now,” he starts, stepping out from his space and coming slowly, menacingly, towards me, leering eyes holding mine. “We can’t have a slip of a girl like you, who knows nothing about the work that has gone into Black Knight Corporation to make it the great enterprise that it is today, holding us to ransom. At first, I thought that we could just...dispose of you, like we usually do to things that get in our way,” A growl sounds behind me—Jax, no doubt—but my eyes are full of the crazed grey of Julian’s, unable to look away. “But then, everything goes to your uncle, as your next of kin, and that doesn’t help us much either.”

“Where was I? Ah, yes. I had a better idea, so here is what will happen. You will marry Asher, be the happiest of brides, radiant on your wedding day, etcetera. Ash will become your next of kin, you will name him in your Will so that if anything unfortunate were to happen to you, he will inherit your stocks, shares, and bonds. Of course, you will remain a silent partner.”

I catch Loki’s eye, the emerald blazing as he tries to suppress his anger. People think that he’s the least dangerous of us all, all smiles and flirtatious winks. But in some ways, he’s the worst of our little group. You don’t see the knife coming until it’s buried in your chest, all while he smiles at you like you’re the best of friends, and your death is a big joke.

It’s always the quiet ones you have to watch out for. They’ll dance in your blood, leaving crimson footsteps in the snow just because it looks pretty.

And as the saying goes, if you can’t beat them...then it’s time to get the knives out.

I decided that she can’t have him, I licked him and he’s mine now, so she can just fuck right off.

“Don’t mind him, Ben. He was hit with the arsehole stick on the way up from Hell,”

“You are a Queen, and we are your loyal Knights, ready to go into battle on your behalf, and bathe in the blood of our enemies,”

“The Black Knights are mine,” I declare, my war cry carrying out across the suddenly quiet room as one song finishes. “Try to take them away from me at your peril.”

I set the test to one side whilst I hitch the silk of my dress up, tucking the hem into the top so it’s completely out of the way—I know! I am the epitome of ladylike behaviour.

My darkness relishes the idea of hurting the vile monster who stole from one of my soulmates. Who took a child’s innocence, and caused such pain and doubt in his heart. We will all bathe in his blood, paint the walls red with it. And as I look around at the faces of the men I love, body and soul, I see the vow etched there like carving in stone. Kai’s uncle will die. And we shall be the ones to do it.

“I love you so, so much, Lilly Darling,” I growl in her ear, hitting that sweet spot just inside her, if her pussy flutters are anything to go by. “You make me a better man. You complete me, make me whole, and I’m.” Thrust. “Never.” Thrust. “Letting.” Thrust. “You.” Thrust. “Go.”

If anyone goes near our girl, they won’t see the sunrise.

Dear Ash, I can't fight you and dad anymore. I don't want to, and I don't want what he's offering. I just want peace, so I'm taking myself out of the game. The crown is all yours. Luc

“When will it stop, Ash?” I ask, my voice thick, suddenly so weary I lean heavily on him as my knees feel weak beneath me. “When one of them dies,” he tells me, a vicious gleam in his grey eyes. “And the others are rotting in jail.”

“These hands have brought so much death, Baby Girl,” he rasps out, and my own breathing becomes painful. “I would be honoured to bring some life into the world for once. Thank you.”

They’re not just any trainers, and I may have launched myself at him when I opened the box. They're platform high tops, covered in a crazy busy Care Bear print, with metallic rainbows on the heels, pink faux fur padded collar, and removable Care Bear plushies in front of the laces. Oh, and they light up, motherfucker!

Although, really, we’re already home, as home is where the heart is. And mine is sitting around me, cradled in four bodies, in four men, the five of us bound to each other in ways that can never be separated.

“You were made for us, Lilly Darling. Every atom belongs to the four of us, just as every part of us is yours. You make us greater than the sum of our parts, until we become more than we ever thought possible. You are as vital as the blood that pumps in our veins, as crucial as the air that we breathe. You are our beating heart, and our souls are bound together for all eternity.”

“You may be his wife, Pretty Girl,” he rasps into my ear, nuzzling my neck like he just can’t help himself. “But you’re my soulmate, the mother of my child, and I will love you for my entire goddamn life, and then some.”

“You are the greatest thing to have ever happened to me, Baby Girl,” he mumbles into my hair, his voice rough with emotion. “And I don’t care that you’re a Vanderbilt, because you will always be mine as well.”

“You and I are the stuff that dreams are made of, my darling,” he tells me, his voice strong yet there’s a rasp to it, too. “We are what the stars envy, what the moon longs for, and what the legends of old tell tales of. Our love is more than this world, Lilly. More than a piece of paper with a new surname. And it will remain long after we are gone from the earth.”

“Forever, Princess. We will always be yours,” he tells me, his deep voice strong and with no hint of hesitation. “We will always love you. Always be by your side, no matter what.”