Crescent (Book 1)

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Breakfast rattles on a tray at the end of my bed when I finish getting dressed. There's no note with it, but I know that with Ceth's mention of a surprise yesterday, he expects me to be waiting outside his room as soon as I'm finished.

I eat from the plateful of steaming food quickly and swallow it down with a few mouthfuls of tea. As soon as I set the porcelain down, the dishes are whisked away, and I brush the crumbs from my sweater. I have no idea what Ceth has planned, but I waste no time in leaving. The guards lead the way toward his room, pausing at the end of the hall as I continue past them.

A console table full of dark pansy flowers stands just outside his door which is opened just a crack. I wait outside it, peering in. His room is built similarly to mine with a sofa in front of a fireplace closer to the door.

Someone cries out, and I jolt at the sound. It's a woman, but as I crack the door open more, I realize it isn't a cry at all. The woman lays on her back, breasts piqued against the air and hands gripping the bedsheets as Ceth stands over her. His muscled body is on full display as he bends over her and covers her moans with his tongue. She cries out as he slams into her, sheathing himself inside her. Again and again and again. They both groan, and I stumble back into the table.

The vase shatters just as Ceth's eyes meet mine. But he doesn't stop. The bastard grins when he sees me as if he knows I've been here the whole time. He continues fucking her, his hand now gripping her jaw as his thumb traces her mouth. My boots slip in the water from the vase, and I grip the wall just to keep from falling over.

"Brenna?" I hear Moira's voice as the woman moans again. Ceth's low growl follows, and I watch as confusion falls over Moira's dark eyes. Then realization. Horror. Hurt. She grips the stack of papers in her hand close to her chest.

"Moira-"

She backs into one of the guards as I move toward her. "I-I'll come back later."

"He's just-"

She disappears before I can say anything more, and the disgust in my gut solidifies into hate as I turn back toward the room.

He knew we'd both be here. He wanted us to hear them. If that was his idea of a surprise-

"Love," I hear him call from inside, and I fist my hands as the door swings open. He's miraculously found a pair of low-hanging trousers though his torso remains bare. He smirks, blonde hair falling into his eyes now. "Don't tell me you didn't want to join in. I can be quite fun when you allow me to be."

"Are you trying to prove a point or are you always just a dick?"

He snorts a laugh as he leans against the doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest. "I told you. I was having fun."

"Need an audience for that?"

Ceth cocks his head, grinning as the woman now grabs her clothes from the floor beside the bed. Her ginger hair sweeps the ground and she bends forward. Recognition lights inside me when she stands upright. I don't care that I outright glare at Saren as she dips her chin in a mocking attempt at a greeting.

They're BOTH arrogant fucking bastards.

Still naked, she strolls through the door, expertly dodging shards of glass and pansy blooms as she whispers to me: "Hope you haven't been slacking off the past few days, Princess."

White clouds my vision, but I know better than to race after her. She's my trainer afterall. One move and she can easily take me out. I shoot daggers at her back as she moseys down the marbled hall. In the corner of my vision, Ceth throws a coat my way.

"Put it on," he tells me, pulling on the rest of his own clothes.

"Like hell," I shove it back at him.

His green eyes simmer darkly, and he closes the distance between us, closing my fists around the coat. "Put. It. On. I won't say it again."

He's at the end of his tether, and I begrudgingly pull the wool coat over my clothes. It smells like him- pine wood and juniper. He reappears a moment later, fully clothed with a black coat of his own. His hair is slicked back, and though his lips are red, there's no sign he just fucked a girl while I watched.

I'm quiet as he strolls down the hall ahead of me. I follow him straight down to the cathedral doors into the snow plunging from the sky. The gate in the courtyard remains open where I'm surprised to see a black carriage sitting at the start of the bridge.

Ceth opens one of its doors for me, and I stop dead in my tracks. "Where the hell are we going?"

Ceth lips turn upwards, and he shrugs as someone comes up behind me. My neck stings, and I know as soon as my head starts swimming that they've drugged me. But this isn't like the drugs Saren has given me. My senses feel dull, and my eyes go heavy. My body collapses into someone's arms, and Ceth's voice is soft as darkness drags me under:

"It will all be worthwhile soon."