Beside me, Nicholas grunted. We both ignored him now. Julian smiled at me. “Thank you, Piper.” As day turned into evening, and evening into night, I could not stop thinking about Jane’s knife and how closely I had come to being skewered. If Nicholas had moved a half-second slower, and I coul

Nodding at Nicholas, I moved past him and returned to his rooms. He released me at once and fell in step behind me instead. Inside his rooms, I moved toward Lilliana, who was down on one of the ornate rugs. Her legs were kicked out of her, her nightgown drawn up to her hips. She peered up with a s

Soon, Elva got squirmy and Nicholas lowered her down. She rushed back to her toys and Nicholas came toward Charlotte and me. Charlotte immediately stood. “Please.” She offered him her seat. “I couldn’t,” he said. “I have chores that need tending to,” Charlotte said. That didn’t seem entirely t

“Oh, Nick.” “Does it feel good?” I nodded. “Good.” He continued to touch until it was nearly too much. I clutched at his upper arms with both my hands, squeezing. “Maybe we should see what else you aren’t wearing,” Nicholas said, then. He held onto one breast with one hand, while his other l

I was speechless. I didn’t want to believe Veronica could have been involved in such a dark thing as the underground organization but the evidence was clear on her ribs. She lowered her sweater, hiding the tattoo again, but it was seared into my mind now. It was exactly the same in size and placemen