Chapter 33: Sleep
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Selina’s weight pressed harder against me, her thighs clamping tighter around my hips as she loomed overhead, a predator savoring her catch.
Her hands slid from my collar to my chest, nails raking down just enough to leave a faint sting through my shirt. She tilted her head, green eyes blazing, pupils narrowing into thin slits, like a cat ready to pounce.
A rough, guttural purr tore from her throat, loud and jagged, vibrating through her frame and into mine.
“Look at you,” she rasped, her voice thick with a hunger that made my skin prickle. “Spreading those strong pheromones around like a naughty incubus who doesn’t know his place.”
She leaned down, her lips brushing my neck, softly grazing it, as her tongue flicked out to slather the edge of my skin. “No inhibitor? A slut like you is begging to be taught a lesson, put down where you belong.”
Her words slammed into me, confusion tangling with the heat flooding my veins. I shoved at her chest, my palms meeting the firm curve of her body, but she only arched into it, her purr deepening into a lewd growl.
“What the hell are you talking about?” I snapped, my voice rougher than I meant it to be. “I’ve got a working inhibitor,” I was sure of it, the faint hum of the still buzzed against my chest.
“Is that so Markus?” She purred, grinding her hips down against me, slow and shameless, the edges of her shorts riding up just enough to bare more of her thighs. “If it’s working, why’s my blood burning like this?”
Her hands roamed lower, fingers hooking into the elastic band of my shorts, digging in, tunnelling in hard enough to make me jolt beneath her at the sudden sensation of her bare touch down there. “Why’s every inch of me screaming to rip you apart and eat you alive?”
Her pupils shrank further, almost vanishing into the green, and she shuddered atop me, her body trembling with a delight that bordered on feral.
She dragged herself closer, chest heaving as she pressed her breasts against me, her lips parting to let out a hot, ragged breath against my throat.
“You’re leaking sin,” she murmured, nipping at my skin with sharp teeth, not enough to break it but enough to make me hiss. “And I’m gonna drink it all up. Sip… by… sip.”
I bucked under her, trying to throw her off, but she rode the motion like it was a game, her thighs flexing to keep me pinned. My head spun half from her words, half from the raw, suffocating heat of her grinding against me.
The thighs exposed further under the tussling, its skin slick with sweat where it pressed into mine. “Get… off-” I growled, shoving harder, my hands sliding to her waist, fingers firmly embedding themselves into her hips.
But she moaned at the pressure, loud and unashamed, her body quaking as she rolled against me again, chasing the friction. “Not a chance,” she hissed, her voice dripping with lust and menace. “You don’t get to play innocent when you’re doing this to me.”
I twisted my head, desperate for an escape, looking for any means to get out of where. My gaze darted toward the chaos beyond her.
My eyes caught on her. It was Kael, thrashing like a wild animal, eyes bloodshot, her arms flailing against Odhran’s immovable bulk.
The orc’s thick hands clamped around her wrists, stone-faced and unyielding, while Misha darted in, her small frame deceptively strong as she hooked Kael’s elbows, pinning her back.
I scanned the crowd, my breath catching. Classmates lined the court, some with eyes cast down, guilt flickering in their hunched shoulders. Others stared openly, their faces alight with a sick thrill, lips parted like they were waiting for their shot at me.
Even the teacher was somehow missing, not a trace of her within this hellscape. And then it hit me, they were all in it. That this was something they orchestrated. My stomach lurching, feeling like it smashed against a brick wall as I let the feeling sink in.
My world felt like it was tilting again, as Selina’s hands wandered, fondling around my body like I was her little toy. The memories flooded back, reminding me of what happened with Yuki, the trauma hitting me like a 10-ton truck.
My vision blurred as hot tears welled up, spilling over before I could stop them. Selina froze above me, her hips still pressed tight against mine, her breath hitching at the sight. Her pupils flicked wider, then narrowed again, and a slow, wicked smile curled her lips.
“Oh,” she murmured as her body shifted. Her body lowering as she leaned down, her face hovering over mine. Her tongue darted out, rough and warm, almost like a cat’s but slightly softer, licking at the tears streaking my cheek.
“Poor little Markus,” she cooed, her lips brushing my skin as she licked again, slower this time, tracing the saltwater path to the corner of my eye. “Look at you, falling apart before I even began.”
She paused, “I’ll treat you so well, Markus. Better than that rat ever will.” My tears kept coming, silent and unstoppable, but she didn’t care. She drank them up, her tongue dragging across my face with a hunger so deep it gnawed at my bones.
“Just listen to me,” she whispered, her voice softening into a promise, dark and syrupy. “Be mine, and I’ll make it all stop. No more running, no more pain. Hey, I'll even sweeten up the deal. You'll have my money, name, fame, everything for you to play around with.” Her fingers tightened, her body pressing down harder, depraved and unyielding, as if she could mold me into submission right there on the court.
“You just have to give-” Selina’s words snapped off, drowned by the sudden thunder of footsteps pounding the court.
Her head whipped around, green eyes narrowing, but before she could react, a blur of motion crashed into her. A sharp, brutal kick slammed into her temple, sending her tumbling off me in a graceless sprawl. Her body skidded across the floor, limbs flailing, until she came to a skidding stop.
I sucked in a ragged breath, my chest still tight with tears, and blinked through the blur to see who’d saved me. Silver hair glinted under the harsh lights. Amber eyes, a pair of delicate moth wings, and a face I knew all too well.
It was Nora. My little sister.
She stood there, deadpan, her gaze locked on Selina like she was sizing up a pest. The court froze for a second. No one breathed. Nora didn’t spare them a glance. Her boots clicked against the floor as she stalked toward Selina’s crumpled form.
Selina groaned, pushing herself up on shaky arms, her hair a tangled mess over her face. “You bitch-” she started, her voice a snarl, but it died in her throat.
Nora’s foot came down hard, a visceral crunch echoing through the silence as her boot slammed into Selina’s ribs. A sharp scream followed which caused me to flinch, the sound jarring to my raw nerves, but Nora didn’t pause.
She stomped again loud, mercilessly, her heel crashing into Selina’s side, then her shoulder, then her back. Each hit landed with a wet, sickening thud, underscored by Selina’s choked gasps and the scrape of her body dragging across the floor.
Selina’s swagger crumbled before my eyes, her hands clawing at nothing as she curled into a ball, a pathetic tangle of sweat and broken pride. Nora didn’t let up, her face a blank mask, her moth wings twitching faintly with every strike.
She kept going until Selina’s fight dissolved into soft, pitiful whimpers. Blood smeared the floor where her lip had busted open, and her basketball uniform dangled off one shoulder, almost ripped at the seam.
I just couldn’t look away. Half at the pure violence and half in disbelief was Nora was capable of something like this. Her eyes flicked to me for a heartbeat, just long enough to check up on me, before locking back onto Selina.
The crowd around us was dead quiet, shock rooting them where they stood. Nora straightened up, brushing a speck of dust off her sleeve like she’d just swatted a fly. Her face stayed hard as she now paved her way, back to me.
Her lips twitched upward, twisting into something that mimicked a smile. It was something colder, sharper, something that dug into a memory in the edges of my mind. My chest tightened, tears still stinging my eyes as I stared up at her.
“How did you know?” I croaked, my voice barely holding together. “How’d you even find me?”
Nora stopped in front of me, her yellow eyes glinting with something unreadable. “I heard some thieving cat kissed someone’s older brother, not knowing whom he truly belongs to. So I figured I’d remind her where she stands.”
Her hands then reached down to me, gently cupping my face. Her fingers pressed into my skin, and suddenly I was rising, my breath hitching at the warmth of her body so close.
Then she pulled me, up until my head was close to her chest, her warmth seeping through her shirt. The faint hum of her wings buzzed in my ears, and I felt trapped, caught in her grip as if I had no choice left remaining. The court had become eerily silent, as she leaned in, closing in on my world.
“Everything’s gonna be fine, Markus.” She whispered, her finger shifting the bangs that draped over my head.
“You just need to-”
“Sleep.”