The Secrets of Roan Island

20. Ruby

20

Ruby

T he new moon party is everything Noah insinuated but nothing like I imagined. How does one imagine every conceivable depravity when never exposed to them before? It’s titillating. Women and men holding whips. Other men and women tied up. Men dressed as women and women dressed as men. Others in costume. Couples kissing, touching, fucking. Groups of people kissing, touching, fucking. I notice a woman with a man hidden under her skirts sucking another woman’s breast.

Hammish sits like a lord over it all. A king surveying his domain. Subjugating his people.

I turn away and wander through the group, taking it all in, half mesmerized, half searching for Noah. But somehow I know, if he’s here, he’ll find me. I’m still reeling from our encounter downstairs. I touched myself in the bath, trying to ease the ache left from our encounter, but the orgasm was shallow and unsatisfying. And now, surrounded by all this decadent, unfettered lust, any relief I found is vanishing.

Then I see Jafeth. He’s in a dark corner of the room fucking a woman with his fingers as he kisses her neck. No… I don’t think he’s just kissing her. It’s hard to tell with them hidden in the shadows, but I can see his throat working as he swallows. He’s feeding. It’s not garish and bloody like I would have expected, and the woman looks to be enjoying it. A lot.

A shiver skates across my skin as I picture Noah’s teeth sinking into my thigh the way he’d threatened—no, promised—earlier. I have yet to see Shemaiah or Noah, but my shock and curiosity about Jafeth feeding makes me clumsy, and I trip into a man in a mask that covers his entire face.

“What are you doing here?” The dark, foreboding voice is one I would recognize anywhere.

David. He grabs my upper arm and drags me into a dark alcove concealed by a heavy curtain.

I yank free. “I could ask the same of you.” I’m not surprised he recognizes me; my small lace demi mask does little to hide my identity.

“This isn’t a place for people like you, Ruby.”

The derision in his voice almost makes me recoil, but I fight the instinct. I’m not the girl I was when we were married. I’ve grown in the year since our divorce. I’ve worked hard and survived on my own. I’ve taken initiative. I’ve faced off with a Mavarri—a creature both mythical and dangerous. And I’ve captured the attention of a man ten times David’s superior.

“How did you sneak in here?” David continues. “What are you trying to pull?”

“I’m working, if you must know, not that you have that right. And I was invited.”

“Working? Invited?” he scoffs. His bright blue gaze scans me from head to toe. Calculating. Judgmental. It’s meant to unnerve me, make me aware of his power over me.

In the past, his look, his laugh would have. I would have trembled at his assessment, worried where his words and mood would take us. Only now, I don’t feel that trepidation. Rather, I feel… empowered. The beautiful dress Mrs. Darning laid out makes me feel bold. While a red dress might have otherwise made me feel garish, after all that’s happened, even under David’s assessing gaze, I feel strong.

“As what? A whore?” David’s mask might hide him from the rest of the people at this den of iniquity, but I would know him and his ugliness anywhere. “I heard they brought whores to this party. I just didn’t think you’d stoop so low. Getting a jump-start on your new career? You and I both know you won’t work at the university for much longer.” He crowds me, pressing me back into the corner. “Have you picked up any skills? You were never a great lay before.”

His words sting even while I tell myself it doesn’t matter what he thinks. But when he dares to touch me, gripping my shoulder and hip, the sting of his words fades in the swell of anger. I’m angry he would take such liberties. Angry at how he belittled me constantly during our marriage. Angry for all the times I made myself small, obeyed, tried fruitlessly to please him. All the times he locked me in the basement.

That anger boils into rage and action. I grab his thinning hair with one hand and pull at the same time as I knee him in the crotch.

“Bitch!” He charges toward me. I leap away, but he grabs my hair and pulls. I cry out.

The curtain hiding us yanks open.

“Take your hands off of her,” Noah growls, his voice reduced to the lowest common denominator of masculine rage. He looks… beautiful, an avenging angel. Tall, broad, strong. He wears a suit and mask like every other man in the room, but not a single man looks like he does.

My stomach flutters, then dives deep, winding around itself until I’m tied up in a way only Noah can untwist. His dark hair is wavy around his face, unkempt as if he’s raked his hands through it one too many times.

My heart jumps with relief, even knowing what he is. Even knowing what he could do to me. I trust that he won’t hurt me.

Tell me to stop.

“This doesn’t concern you. The bitch is my wife, and she wasn’t giving me what I’m due.” David tugs my hair harder, and I stumble, dropping to my knees, tears pricking my eyes.

“Ex-wife,” Noah corrects. His voice is calm but his eyes are completely black, telling me he’s not in control. And even now, I’m more scared of the man holding my hair than the monster with the dark eyes and sharp teeth. I don’t think David is aware of the danger he’s in.

David’s face slackens with surprise that Noah would know I’m divorced, or maybe in confusion and fear at the way Noah’s eyes have changed. His grip loosens just enough for me to twist, push him in the shins, and scramble away. Noah quickly pulls me into his arms.

“I’ll have you know,” David says, brushing off his pants as if I soiled them by my touch, “I’m a very powerful man, and your interference in my personal affairs will not go unnoticed. I was invited here by Noah Roan himself.”

Noah chuckles, and my heart stutters.

“You brought him here?” I look up in shock.

Noah’s hand is heavy and possessive on my hip, claws threatening the fabric and skin underneath. “I told you I would find out who hurt you.”

“What?” David sputters. “You’re…”

“Noah Roan.” Noah lets go of me and stalks forward. David’s mouth falls open. “And I didn’t bring you here for friendship, or influence, or your inflated ego. I brought you here for one reason only.” Noah moves so quickly he’s a blur. “Payment.” He grasps David from behind, pins his arms, and jerks David’s head to the side. His eyes meet mine, his fangs long. He holds for a moment like he’s trying to silently tell me something I can’t understand. Then he bites.

This isn’t the discreet feeding I saw with Jafeth and his woman, the one that looked more pleasurable than painful. Noah muffles David’s scream as fangs tear into flesh. Blood pools around Noah’s lips, his eyes on me as he drinks. David slips, but he doesn’t fall. Noah’s grip is too strong. He sucks and drinks viciously. David groans, stops struggling, and slumps.

“Noah, stop,” I cry, tugging on his arm. I care nothing for my ex-husband, but I don’t want to see Noah kill a man. “Noah, please.”

He blinks, removes his teeth from David, and drops him unceremoniously on the floor at my feet. “Do you see what I am now, Ruby? Do you understand?” He wipes the blood from his mouth with his sleeve. “Lock yourself in your room and be on the boat tomorrow.”

David groans and tries to crawl away. He only makes it a foot before he passes out.

I square my shoulders and look Noah straight in the eye. “No.”