First round.
When I slip inside her she moans. Her legs wrapped around my middle. Her arms tight around my neck. Her head bowed into my shoulder.
And then I fuck her slow.
I fuck her until her breaths are ragged and short.
I fuck her until her legs are quivering.
I fuck her until she comes.
And I enjoy every minute of it.
When we get out of the shower Isabella is sitting on the bed unwrapping one of Cadee’s gifts. She is also freshly showered and changed. Her make-up is perfect, her hair is straight, long, and glossy, and her outfit is a long, tight-fitting, steel-gray dress that flares out near her calves kinda like a mermaid’s tail. Her shoes are black and the heels are high. Like she’s going somewhere fancy today.
“I thought you left?”
She smiles at me. “I did. But when I went downstairs, I ran into a…” She hesitates. Clicks her tongue. Bobs her head a little. “A development.”
“What kind of development?” Cadee is wrapped up in a fluffy cream-colored towel with another on her head to keep her hair out of the way. She’s looking through her new closet, trying to decide what to wear.
Isabella peels back some tissue paper in the box and holds up a silver necklace, peering at it intently, before announcing, “This is platinum. Well done, Cades.”
Cadee turns around to look at Isabella, then makes a face at the necklace. “Nice. Did you get gifts, Isabella?”
“Yes. But not this many. You’re the favorite.” Cadee has turned back to the closet. She pulls a dress off a hanger and is about to go into the bathroom to change when Isabella says, “Not that one. Pick something… formal.”
“Why?” I ask.
“You’ll see when we go downstairs.” Then she looks up at the picture of Cadee and I over the bed. She points at it. “That’s actually quite pretty.”
“I think so too,” Cadee says. “How about this?” She places a dress on a hanger in front of her body and waits for Isabella’s opinion. It’s similar to Isabella’s, but it’s got a flare skirt instead of a mermaid one.
“That will do. Cooper? You need to put on something nice as well.”
“Why, Isabella?”
“It’s not a bad surprise. At least I don’t think it is. Try for business casual. Do you need my help?”
“No.” I take one more look at Cadee, then sigh and leave to get dressed.
On the other side of the roof I discover that my room has gifts in it as well. They weren’t here earlier. My bed has been made up, the throw pillows all neatly arranged, and there are four boxes on top of the comforter.
That’s not creepy. Not at all.
But isn’t everything about this place creepy?
The boxes are all small and blue with silky yellow ribbons on them. I start opening them—curiosity getting the better of me—and discover a key fob for a BMW, a Breguet watch, a light gray silk tie with the High Court King crest on it, and a pair of Fang and Claw cufflinks.
I ignore all of it, except the cufflinks.
I hold those up to get a better look at them. They are lions, of course. Both the Fang and the Claw represent the lion just like the Wing and Feather represent the swan. But they are circular and have a ringed edge with writing all the way around.
It’s in Latin, but I know what it says. Not because I took Latin for five years while in Prep—I slept through most of that shit and made Lars help me cheat my way through our senior-year final—but because these cufflinks are my father’s. I turn them over, just to make sure. And yes, his initials are engraved on the back of both.
Then I look at the writing around the outer circle again. Divide et impera.
Divide and conquer.
Sounds very familiar.
I put everything back in their boxes and go to my closet where five new suits are inside garment bags and seven new button-down shirts in various colors hang next to them.
Slacks and jeans too. And ties. Lots of ties.
I look back at the tie box on my bed and wonder why that one is special.
But I can think about that later.
I want to know what Isabella is talking about.
I pull on a pair of dark gray slacks and pair it with a light gray shirt. Then, even though Isabella said business casual, I decide to wear a jacket.
I skip the tie.
I run my fingers through my dark hair and then leave my room and find Isabella and Cadee already waiting for me near the elevator.
Cadee’s hair is still a little wet, but I like it. Because when I get closer, I can smell her shampoo.
“OK, I’m ready. Are you gonna tell us what this is about?”
“Jesus. You’re so bad at surprises, Cooper.”
Cadee chuckles. “He really is.”
“Whatever.”
We get into the elevator and take it down to the ground floor. And as soon as we step out, I see Isabella’s surprise.
There is a picture of me hanging on the wall opposite the open doors.
I squint my eyes, trying to convince myself it’s not real. “What the hell is that?”
“Oh, I like it,” Cadee says. She walks up to the huge portrait and studies it.
“Yes.” Isabella beams up at me. “That suit you were wearing last night was very nice, Coop.”
“Jesus Christ. Did my father do this?”
“Oh, you haven’t seen anything yet.” Isabella hooks her hand over my arm, then Cadee does the same. We walk into the great room where pretty much everyone who lives in this building is standing in front of the stone fireplace, looking up at—
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” I rub my temple, because I suddenly have a headache.
“Wow. Were you wearing a crown last night?”
I shoot Cadee a look. “Did you see a crown on my head last night?”
“Oh, look,” Cadee exclaims. “I have a tiara. So do you, Isabella.”
We are looking at a trio of gigantic—I’m talking fucking huge—portraits of the three of us. Hanging above the fireplace in the main room.
I glance around nervously. Everyone who lives in this dorm has now turned to look at us.
The crowd pulls apart. Like they are the Red Sea. And then there is a straight path for us so we can walk up to the fireplace and get a better look at our royal portraits.
My picture is the biggest. I’m standing in front of a palace that doesn’t exist, wearing my fancy suit from last night covered in medals and ribbons and epaulettes I didn’t earn, and of course that crown on my head.
“Whoever is doing this,” Cadee muses, “is very good with the photomanipulation.”
“I have to agree.” Isabella chuckles. “Do you think that’s a real King Charles spaniel in my lap?”
She’s looking at Cadee, who laughs. “Do you think that’s a real Persian cat in mine?”
They are pictures of us, but we are in poses that never happened in front of places that are not the High Court College campus.
“Someone is putting a lot of effort into you three.”
I turn and see Lars. Valentina and Selina are behind him.
“Yeah,” I agree, looking back up at my portrait. “They sure are.”
Lars suddenly turns to the crowd and says, “All hail the fucking King, you stupid plebs. Bow! Now!”