Chapter Twenty-Six - Rory
Five slaps my ass and says, “Roll over.”
I have a wild grin on my face when I obey him. Just a big, stupid smile. “Are we done?” I ask.
“Done?” He huffs out a soft laugh as he turns his head to look at me. “We haven’t even started yet.” And then he reaches for me, pulls my arm and says, “Come here,” in that rough voice that makes me instantly melt.
I scoot over, my hand automatically going around his waist, my fingertips tracing the taut muscle edging down into the waistband of his open jeans, until I find his cock. Hard. Practically throbbing.
I glance up at his face, which is filled with his joy. Maybe at what’s coming next, but maybe it’s just the fact that we’re back together again.
When he walked out on me back at the farm, I chased his ass down the stairs. “Fuck you, Five Aston. Just fuck you if you think you’re doing this alone. We. Are. Partners. In life. In death. For eternity. And you don’t get a say in it, mister. Because this is fate. I’ve been yours and you’ve been mine since the beginning of time. And it’s gonna stay that way, whether you like it or not.”
He stopped on the bottom step. His shoulders hunched a little in defeat. But not because he wanted to leave and I was stopping him. I know him better than that. He felt defeated because he knew right then, right there, that whatever was happening, we were gonna handle it together.
I know he just wants to protect me. I get it. But my daddy didn’t raise me to let a man take over. And Five Aston knows this better than anyone.
So he stopped and he listened. His back to me. His head down, eyes probably looking at the floor.
“Whatever’s happening, Five, it’s happening to both of us,” I said.
He looked over his shoulder at me, frowning. “It’s all my fault,” he said.
“No,” I said, placing a hand on his shoulder.
He reached for it. Squeezed it. Then glanced over his shoulder so I could see the worry in his eyes.
“It’s got nothing to do with us, Five,” I said. “It’s not our fault that our parents got mixed up with the wrong people when they were our age. We can’t help that. We can’t do anything but deal with the consequences. But we’re gonna be OK,” I say, leaning down to place my head on his shoulder. “We’re gonna come up with a plan and we’re gonna execute it with Aston precision, and it doesn’t even matter if it works, ya know? Because we’re smart. And we’re prepared. And we’ve got people on our side who would turn the whole world upside down to help us get through this. It’s very stupid to think you can do this alone. Very. Fucking. Stupid.”
He let out a long wave of defeat with his breath.
“Because whoever is plotting against us is going to use every resource at their disposal. And we should do the same. Every fucking resource we have.”
“It’s gonna get ugly,” he said, turning to take me in his arms. “It’s gonna get ugly and it’s gonna get people hurt.”
“People are gonna get hurt no matter what we do, Five. And it sucks, I know. But keeping me out of it won’t make that danger go away. The best we can hope for is to keep everyone else back here safe. My sisters and brother. Your sisters and brother. Sparrow and Starling and our parents. I’d do it for them, ya know? And I know you would too.”
“I’d do anything to make it go away, Rory. But—” He reached up to cup my face. We bumped foreheads as we stared into each other’s eyes. “But I can’t lose you in the process. I could live without you if I knew you were safe. But I can’t even imagine living without you if you’re… gone.”
I placed my hand on his chest and felt the wild thumping beat of his heart. He was scared, I realized. Really, really fucking scared. “Then maybe we just give it our all and if one of us goes down, we both go down.”
“Fuck that,” he said, his eyes flashing anger. “No—”
“Listen,” I said, placing my fingertips over his lips to quiet his protest. “Just listen. Whatever this is, Five, it’s more than we even think. It’s bigger than us. And we’ve got to give it our all. They will never stop. If we slip through their fingers—if I slip through, even if you don’t—they’ll keep coming. They’ll go after Belle next. Then Jasmine. Then Ariel, and Oliver, and Cindy. If I am a target, it’s not about me. It’s about where I come from. It’s about the past. And they are patient people, Five. We both know that. And if they don’t get you, they’ll get Kate eventually.”
I have never seen so much fear in Five’s eyes before. We know who Kate really is. His father, Ford, is not her biological father. Her father was a very bad guy. Very. Bad. Guy. And even though we didn’t know it for sure back then, we both knew instinctively that he was well connected to the same people who are coming after us now. All this might be about Kate when it’s all said and done.
“I’d give myself up for you, Rory.”
“I know, Five. But just like you can’t live without me, I can’t live without you, either. You cannot walk out and expect me to just sit back here and let you take care of it. You can’t. I’m an asset. I can shoot a gun better than anyone I know except for my mom. I can fight, Five. I’m a fighter. Just… trust me.”
He gave in after that. I felt a little guilty for reminding him of just how many people are in danger if he fails on his own. I didn’t want to do that. But everything I said was the truth, and he knew that.
So he took me with him. And we came up with this plan. And tomorrow night, everything we plotted will be put to the test.
It hits me then. This might be our last night together.
But I don’t want to spoil this moment with words about the past. I can’t bear to think about all the many ways this might all go sideways. I just enjoy everything about this moment as I ease my body down, kissing his bare chest as I go.
The next time I look up, he’s got his eyes closed. His fingers thread through my hair, grabbing and releasing it in a rhythm that keeps us both focused on what’s coming.
I pull his pants down a little, releasing him. His cock is long, reaching up towards his belly button. My tongue darts out, almost involuntarily, and licks him.
“Rory,” he moans, pushing my head down onto him.
I open wider and take him in my mouth, my lips slipping over his head and down his shaft.
“Jesus,” he moans.
My head bobs up and down as he encourages me with a firm grip on my hair. Guiding me, urging me to take him deeper. I flatten my tongue against his hard length, making him breathe heavy as he says, over and over, “Yes, Princess. Just… like… that.”
My hand reaches down between my legs and begins to rub my clit in small circles as I continue to give him what he wants. What he needs. Hell, what we both need. I want him to feel at peace with our decision. I want him to know I love him more than anything in this entire world.
He is my world.
I let his cock fall out of my mouth because I need to tell him this right now. “I love you, Five.” He opens his eyes to see me. “I love you more than I will ever to be able to express with words. It’s a feeling in my chest, Five. It’s an ache and a feeling of longing. An uncontrollable want that lives inside me like fire. Like I might burst from this love. I might explode like a bomb and never be the same afterward.”
“Rory,” he says, his voice nothing but a low whisper. “Come here.”
I crawl up his body, dragging my hair over his chest and lean down to kiss his lips. We taste like each other now. Like we’re one person, melded together.
He flips me over, making me squeal louder than I should, since we’re making love in my bedroom, in the house of the enemy. But that worry passes when he covers my body with his and opens my legs.
I close my eyes and arch my back as he enters me, his cock stretching me until he’s inside, filling me up. Making all that aching inside me disappear and letting satisfaction and completeness take its place.
His hips rock slowly against mine. His mouth on my nipples, his hands squeezing my breasts.
This is the embodiment of love. This togetherness with a man you cannot live without. A man who makes you want to sacrifice yourself for just one more moment with him.
“I will never let you down,” he says, taking his kisses to my face. He kisses my cheek, my nose, my forehead, and finally my lips. “I will never let anything happen to you, Rory. I will always be there.”
But I want to tell him the same thing. I will never let them take him from me. I would rather die than let go and live on alone. I’d rather die.
But then he starts to push himself deeper inside me. Like he’s reaching for my soul. And a few seconds later he’s fucking the shit out of me with a hand over my mouth to stifle my moans. His skin slaps against mine, our lovemaking becomes a soundtrack of pleasure.
Just before we come together, he kisses my mouth and swallows my scream. Moaning into me as we reach for heights of pleasure I’ve never dreamed possible.
I’m pretty sure the entire world knows we’re here having this moment of perfection together. Like there is no way to miss the fact that Princess Rory finally got her prince and they are living happily ever after, even if it only lasts this one second.
“Marry me,” he says, burying his head into my neck. “Right now.”
“What?” I laugh, breathless. “We’re hiding in my room at Palladium House, Five,”
“I don’t care. I need this, Rory. I need this right now. I need you to say yes and make promises, and never forget them. Because you are the only woman I will ever love. You are the only woman I will ever marry. So even if it’s not legal, I need it.” He sits up, holds my face in his hands as his serious gaze bores down into my soul. “Give it to me.”
“I do,” I say, kissing him on the mouth. “I do, I do, I do.”
He grins down at me. And this might be the happiest I’ve ever seen him in like… well, ever. “Mrs. Aston.”
I nod yes. “I am your Mrs. And I always have been.”
He hugs me tight and rolls off to the side, still holding me to his chest. He whispers things in my ear as we drift off.
“We’ll live the perfect fairy tale, my queen. We’ll get the castle, and the carriage, and we’ll have the most beautiful little princes and princesses. And they will never have to know what it took to get it. They will never have to grow up and fix our mistakes. We will never let this world touch them. We’ll live in our little fairy tale land, and we’ll never leave.”
I fall asleep believing that we’re starting our once upon a time.
But it’s never gonna end with, And they lived happily ever after.
Because this new day—the day to end all days—is here with a vengeance. I wake up to pounding on the door of my Palladium House room knowing that’s all it is.
“Rory!” Mia’s frantic voice penetrates my sleepy dreams and jolts Five awake beside me.
“Shit,” he whispers, already out of bed, pulling his clothes on.
“Rory!” Mia’s screams are frantic. “Open up!” She pounds her fists harder to punctuate each syllable.
“I’m coming!” I yell back. Five disappears into my closet clutching his shirt, just as I yank the belt of my robe tight around my waist.
I run over to the door, throw one last glance over my shoulder to make sure Five is hidden, and open the door just as Mia is about to pound again.
But she stops. Her eyes are red and tears are streaming down her face.
“What’s going on?”
And that’s when I notice there are people coming up the stairs. Dozens of people.
“Tera!” Mia manages through her sob.
My eyes dart to Tera’s door, which is standing wide open down the hall.
And there’s that feeling I feel like I’ve been waiting for my whole life. The sick, twisted stomach in knots so tight, it’s choking on them. The feeling that something is very, very wrong here.
“What’s going on?” I ask again. But this time my question is drowned out by Kallie’s scream as she makes it to the door and sees what I can’t.
I push past Mia, who screams, “Don’t look, Rory!” and yanks on my arm to try to keep me from seeing what I must see.
Kallie is still screaming when Edward puts his hand around her mouth to make her stop. And there’s a part of me—even as I turn away to look inside Tera’s room—that automatically thinks, He did this. Whatever it is, he did this.
Tera is hanging from a beam up in her perfect vaulted ceiling. Her neck broken. Her body slack and limp.
Dead.
I back out of the room—or try to, because everyone is there in that same moment, preventing me from leaving.
Someone grabs my shoulders and I turn, thinking I need Five to hold me. But it’s not Five. It’s Frank.
“Shhh,” he says, petting my hair. “Come with me.”
But I snap out of it before he gets me more than a few inches past the threshold of Tera’s door and break away as I run towards my room. Because I know if I go with him right now, he’s gonna say something like, This is what happens when you try to run, Rory. So don’t run. Don’t put up a fight. Don’t ever think you’ll get away. Or you’ll end up like Tera Middleton, hanging by her neck from a two-hundred-year-old beam in the most perfect eating house mansion on the Street of Princeton University.
This is the nightmare I live in now. And tonight, I have a choice. Live it, for the rest of my life. Or make it end tonight. At any cost.
That’s when a hand grabs me and pulls me to a stop.