Page 164 of Fractured Fate

Gripping his shaft through his athletic shorts, he willed himself to calm down. She didn’t need to wake and find him in this state. He needed sleep or he wouldn’t be able to protect her like he should.

When she murmured something soft and breathy in her sleep, he groaned.

It was going to be a long night.

33

THE ORACLE

Waking with the intense urge to empty her bladder, Charlotte climbed out of the bed on wobbly legs. She felt so tired. All the stress with the recent changes to her life had steamrolled her brain. She worried everything would finally catch up to her, and the depression that had receded to manageable levels upon her return to Rosebrook Valley would return with a vengeance.

After finishing her business, she stepped back into the moonlit room, her gaze drifting to Aiden lying tangled in his covers.

She didn’t fully understand what had happened earlier.

The antagonistic way she spoke to him made her feel terrible. She didn’t mean to sound like she didn’t trust him. She did. Fear had taken over, and she freaked. Not only because her stalker lived, but also because he’d found his way onto Blackthorn Academy’s campus like he did at UGA.

Aiden’s frustration was justified. She didn’t hold it against him.

It hurt her heart to put him in danger by having a stalker. From her understanding, rogues weren’t an everyday part of their lives. One so focused on her, who had attacked her, put a target on Aiden as much as it did her mothers. Even if they were both Vasirian, it still didn’t change the reality that her being at the academy put Aiden and her friends at risk.

She banded her arms around herself.

No one had ever made her feel the way Aiden did in her entire life. She had never felt for anyone the way she did him.

Walking across the dorm room, she lowered herself onto the edge of his bed, trying not to wake him. Her gaze moved across his face, studying his features.

She wondered if agreeing to stay at Blackthorn was the best thing for him.

Reaching out, she traced his cheekbone and stubbled jaw with her fingers. He groaned, turning into her touch, his brows flexing.

With everything that happened to Blaire since that fateful day where the headmistress came to the diner and offered her an escape, and how out-of-the-loop Charlotte had been through it all, she didn’t truly feel like she belonged in their world.

Her presence brought more danger, and she was an inconvenience for being naïve to their ways.

Lowering her hand to her lap, she went to stand, but paused when she saw an open letter on his bedside table that hadn’t been there earlier.

She wasn’t a nosy person, and wouldn’t touch it in normal circumstances, but seeing the cursive “Sweetest Cherry” at the top had all her senses on high alert. Snatching up the paper, she began reading.

Blaire? Blaire was the only blonde friend she had. It made sense. They wanted to hurt Blaire for her role in the prophecy. What did this have to do with her stalker, though? Never had he said anything about love. Who is J?

Placing the paper back on the table, she stood and crawled into her own bed.

Why did Aiden keep the letter from her?

A sick, oily feeling settled in her stomach.

Even with the stalker being a Vasirian, and his ultimate goal getting to Blaire, his obvious sick fascination with Charlotte made one thing clear to her: if she stayed, she put them all in danger.

She needed a break. A break from feeling like the walls were closing in. Away from the gnawing need to crawl into bed with Aiden just because he made her feel safe.

Not wanting to wake him, she decided not to change clothes. No one walked around the campus this late from what she noticed from the window, and with the heat, her sleep shorts and his T-shirt would suffice.

She crept over to the closet and pulled out a pair of flip-flops, carrying them to the door. She wouldn’t put them on inside the dorm to avoid the noise.

Leaving the room, she wandered out of the dorm building and across the campus until she found herself at the back of the main building, looking at the dark forest looming in front of her.

Did they have fences somewhere in the forest or on the other side? She sure didn’t see any keeping her out of the forest, so maybe someone could get on campus that way. Nope. Not going in there. She shook her head and stepped back from the forest, ready to go back the way she came.