Echoes (Dance with My Demons #2)

22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Avery

Grey drops to his knees in front of me, running his hands up the front of my legs. When he reaches the hem of my skirt, he fiddles with it, pleased.

"I'm glad you wore a skirt today," he murmurs, dipping his hands underneath to find my underwear.

The feel of his fingers on my body sends a rush of heat through me, but I'm still conflicted and torn.

Hooking the sides of my underwear, he drags them down my legs, tapping my calves to direct me to step out of them. I comply, resting my hands on his shoulders for balance.

"Where's Theo?" I ask again.

No one left the library with him, so I'm worried that a guard will find him or that he won't be able to get back into the locked rooms.

Grey pushes my legs apart, trailing his fingers up my inner thigh. Pausing over his engraving, he looks up at me.

"Do you remember what this says?" he asks, demand in his voice.

"Mine," I whisper.

He nods, satisfied with my answer. "Exactly."

I gasp quietly when he slides a finger inside of me, pumping it slowly in and out. I can barely focus, and my legs shake slightly when he adds another digit.

"Look at how wet you are," he breathes out. "Who made you wet?"

"You," I answer with a small whimper.

"Good," he says. "You better remember that."

Grey circles my clit with his thumb while curling his other fingers. I lean forward, gripping his shoulders tighter.

"I want you to look at me," he growls, and when I find his eyes, I gasp at how much darker they look now. The usual gray orbs look cloudy, like there's a beast behind them fighting to get out.

He removes his fingers, wiping my arousal over his mark. Suddenly, I feel something behind me. It startles me, but before I can process it or move, my pussy is filled with something hard.

It hits me instantly that I'm pushed against the glory hole, someone's cock buried inside of me. I look at Grey in panic, expecting him to explode, but he just nods at me.

"Feel that, little killer? It should be familiar. You've taken that dick before."

My eyes widen in shock, a moan spilling from my lips as I'm slammed into from behind. "Theo?" I ask with a breathy broken voice.

Grey nods sternly. "He's in your cunt right now. But remember who made you wet. Remember who made you drip down your legs."

"Fuck," I hiss, shoving my ass against the wall as the force of Theo's thrusts threatens to send me spiraling forward.

"Look. At. Me ," Grey says darkly. "I want you to watch me as he takes you."

I lock eyes with him, a pained expression on my face as I fight the urge to automatically close them. When Theo slams into me and my eyes roll back, a hand grips my throat.

"Focus, little killer. Pay attention."

"I'm trying," I murmur weakly, digging my nails into his skin.

Grey growls, tapping his fingers rhythmically against my neck as he squeezes. "I'm not going to let you forget me."

"I would never forget you," I breathe out. "I couldn't. I wouldn't. Not now, not ever."

His eyes flash before he leans forward, pressing his lips to mine. I kiss him back, moving my hips in motion with Theo's movements.

It's powerful, soul-breaking. Even though there's a wall between us, they are both here—touching me.

And suddenly, it all makes sense.

Grey organized this.

The question is… why?

I know how hard this is for him. Having to share me is unnatural for him—torturous.

Then bringing Theo into the society, practically announcing our strange relationship to the world. It's expert level, one that we should have walked into slowly. But I guess slow has never been a setting that Grey has been good with.

Except with me…

All those times he waited patiently, ensuring that I was comfortable. And now this .

"You're still mine," Grey growls into my mouth. "Every single part of you."

"I'm yours," I reply. "And you're mine too."

He nods, resting his forehead against mine. "When you go to heaven one day, I'll drag you back down to hell to join me. Because I'm never leaving you, Avery."

My pussy clenches around Theo's cock, my arousal coating my inner thighs. "Promise?"

"Promise. Now, I want you to explode on your other boyfriend's cock while looking at me."

His hand reaches to the apex of my thighs, fingers rubbing my clit. Knowing that they are working together to throw me over the edge is too much.

My mouth opens, a scream starting to slip out until Grey presses his lips to mine, silencing me. I tremble around Theo's cock, the vibrations shooting through him as his movements suddenly get frantic. He slams into me a few more times, jarring me forward. There's a bang on the wall as his hand hits the barrier between us and I feel his orgasm fill me.

I don't stop kissing Grey, too drunk on the taste of him and the feel of Theo. It makes me feel like I'm on fire—ironic since that's how I ended up here.

I guess the reality is fires are powerful, but not necessarily evil. They keep us warm and alive, just as much as they can torture and kill us.

Burning with the aesthetic of them, I'd happily die a million times.

Slowly, I feel Theo slip out of me, back to the other side of the wall. I drop forward, landing on my knees with a bang. My tongue flails against Grey's, the feeling of wetness rolling down my thighs and onto the newly cleaned floor.

Throwing my arms around Grey's neck, I curl my hand around, trailing my thumb across his scar.

"We're not them, Grey," I mutter softly. "We'll never be our parents."

His eyes falter slightly, scanning my face. "I know," he whispers. "We're better than that."

I nod. "We make the rules. And in some weird turn of fucked-up events, our life here is better than our childhoods."

Grey smiles. "It's better because of you."

The curtain behind him opens, my body tensing for a second until I spot Theo. I gesture for him to come in, Grey not bothering to turn around to look.

"I'll give you a moment to talk," he says, kissing my forehead and standing up. "Then, you better come out and get some food or else."

I laugh softly, watching as he heads to the end of the aisle, pausing to give Theo a curt nod. When he's gone out of sight, I smile brightly up at Theo from my knees.

"That was very cheeky of you," I muse.

He laughs, sitting down on the floor in front of me. "It wasn't my idea. But it seemed stupid not to go along with it."

I shake my head with a smile, cheeks turning pink. "There were definitely some benefits for you."

"I think that was his way of trying ," Theo says. "Don't be fooled though—there were still threats involved."

Rolling my eyes, I sigh. "Of course there was. Interesting way to try though."

Theo lifts an eyebrow at me, pressing his back against the bookshelf. "It makes sense though. He doesn't like to share, so he picked the most secluded way to do it. He didn't have to see me and judging from what I could hear through the wall, he's still a possessive shit."

"You're possessive too," I shoot back. "Leaving fingers on my bed."

He shrugs. "I gave you a flower. Girls like that shit."

"Oh, that's the part you are focusing on," I scold playfully. " Here's the finger of your enemy… it's in a rose though. "

"I'm nothing if not unique," he smiles.

I shuffle forward on my knees, positioning myself so I can take a seat next to him on the ground. He reaches for my hand at the same time as I offer it, clutching it in his hold.

"Are you really okay with this?" I ask wearily. "We haven't had a chance to discuss it."

Theo hums in agreement. "Yes, speaking of discussing things. What's the fucking deal with these punishments? Why didn't you tell me?"

I shrug. "I thought I could handle it. I still think I can. I just didn't want to worry anyone. Well, worry isn't the right word. I didn't want either of you to fly off the deep-end and murder anyone."

"I'm serious, Avery. Imagine how I felt when I told you that you wouldn't avoid me any longer, just to have you disappear again."

"That was outside of my control," I whisper sadly. "It's been killing me not being able to see you lately. I was so worried that you'd hate me."

He squeezes my hand. "I don't know what this shit is," he says, nodding in the direction of the society table outside the shelves. "But whatever it is, it's obviously something big. I assume it ties into the fact that you thought you had to avoid me."

I nod, confirming it. "When I returned from that night in prison, I was warned to keep away from all of you by Mr. Whittingham. He threatened me… and you. He said he'd send you all away if I didn't comply."

"You thought you were protecting us," he points out.

"Yeah," I sigh. "And he wanted me to spy on everyone. When I wouldn't give him the information he wanted, he started assigning me to tasks. Just mediocre shit like cleaning the facility, doing paperwork. But he basically tried to starve and exhaust me with it. That's when you noticed I wasn't at meals."

Theo stays quiet and I wonder what's going through his mind. I give his hand a little squeeze, showing my appreciation.

"I'm so happy you approached them to try to help me. That would have been hard."

"Not hard," Theo replies coolly. "Just annoying. But I knew that they had some sway that I didn't have. I'm not too proud to ask for help when it comes to you."

I turn my head to look at him. "And now you're dragged into this mess."

"I've been assigned with protecting you. Therefore, who gives a shit? When are you going to realize that we're a force not to be fucked with. I'm not afraid of any of them—the staff, these morons and their society. No one. If souls exist, Avery, I don't have one."

"That's bullshit and you know it," I scold. "If that were true, you wouldn't want to protect me. You wouldn't care for me."

Theo lifts an eyebrow. "You're the exception, Avery. If I feel anything, it's because you put it there."

"Well, I'm glad," I say smugly. "So, deal with it. But I guess… that leads us to the next topic."

"Hm?"

"Grey is obviously struggling with this and he's as possessive as you are. Are you really okay with this? I've already made it clear to Grey that I won't give you up, but you should know that I feel the same about him."

Theo stares at me for a few seconds before shrugging. "You're a grown woman. You don't owe anyone anything. Don't you think we've given enough of our lives to other people? Why should you follow other people's rules? You should do what makes you happy."

I growl under my breath. "You're avoiding the question."

"What do you want me to say?" he shoots back. "That I won't share you… that I'll make you choose. Fuck that. At the end of the day, the truth is we've been through enough."

"What do you mean? What have you been through?" I ask, immediately scolding myself for being nosey. It's not a judgmental question. There's no accusation in my tone—just pure curiosity.

He's here for a reason… just like the rest of us.

I want to know him better. I want to know his story.

Theo looks away, jaw clenching as he falls into a deep thought. "It doesn't matter."

"It matters to me," I say gently, squeezing his hand.

He stays quiet for a few seconds and I nearly cave in and offer to change the subject, but he lets out a breath, leaning his head back against the shelf.

"My sister died."

Clenching his hand, I shift closer to him, trying to offer silent support. I wait to see if he offers details, knowing that there's more to it.

"She committed suicide," he finally says in a dark, low voice. "Because she fell in love with two people."

"Oh," I mutter.

I'm completely caught off-guard, torn between feeling heartbroken for him, and realizing that perhaps this is the reason I've been trying to pull out of him. "I'm so sorry."

Theo looks over at me, resting his head on a faded green book. "Don't be. They tried to make her choose and it broke her. So, I slaughtered them without an ounce of remorse."