Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 58521 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 293(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58521 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 293(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
Speaking of, Jesus, did Cindy really have to grab my balls like that? Was my hard-on flagging that much? I tried to focus. Right. Lara Stein. She was an art chick. Not my usual type. She didn’t grab balls, but she did really like to explore with her tongue. She had this little trick where she liked to lick back and forth along my slit—
All right, there we were, back to full mast. Thank fuck.
I tried not to think about all the men in silver cloaks watching and judging our every move. It was a point of pride to be a member of the Order of the Silver Ghost. But I had to admit that a majority of the Elders were sick and twisted bastards—my father included. But regardless that I didn’t always agree with all the rituals conducted within these walls, or the fact that “breaking a belle” was the intention of each ceremonial act, I still respected the history and tradition of the secret society.
My father had lectured me often enough about how our family had been in this land since James Oglethorpe founded the first colony here. And the Order of the Silver Ghost came not much later, or so the legends said.
Georgia-born with a silver spoon in my mouth, being a member of the Order was my birthright. I either grew up with the members as peers or respected them as the fathers or grandfathers of my friends.
It was the way of my family.
It was the way of all our Southern families.
There was a plan. All I had to do was follow it. Step by step. But the first, and most important step, was to stay focused on this belle—Cindy—and make sure nothing she did would mess up my chances. She would get her payment in the end, just as I would get my membership into the Order.
This was a contract. A business deal. Nothing else.
And yet, every one of my friends who went through their Initiation before me had actually developed strong feelings for their belles during their 109-day stay. A love connection was formed between each of them. Their lives changed because of the Trials and the Order.
So I couldn’t help but wonder if something was wrong with me that I literally could barely remember my belle’s name at times. There was a disconnection so strong that no matter how hard I tried to fix it, I couldn’t. Had I chosen so poorly that night at the Midnight Ball?
But at the same time, my situation was different from my friends. I couldn’t marry a belle. My political goals meant I had to marry for image. Marry for connection. Marry the perfectly groomed Southern belle with no dark secrets or dirty reputation. I couldn’t marry a woman who every man in this room saw naked on her knees. I couldn’t marry anything but purity and perfection.
So maybe that was why I couldn’t give… Cindy… a chance. She had soiled herself the minute she agreed to become a belle to be broken.
My friends were able to overlook that with all their belles.
I couldn’t. My career in politics couldn’t.
Cindy gagged as I pushed all the way to the back of her throat. Mascara ran down her face as tears were brought to her eyes by my girth and forceful thrusts. Yes… this was the show the Elders loved the most.
Break the belle.
Let everyone watch on as the belle fell apart to a million shattered pieces.
Dirty. Dark. Depraved. But all in a setting of class.
The Oleander Manor was one of the most elegant, distinguished, and beautiful properties in Darlington County. The richest, the most powerful, and the most sinful men in the world wanted to enter these doors. Not to mention actually becoming a member of the secret society rumors and hushed secrets spoke of.
The Order of the Silver Ghost could make or break kings. They could destroy men and women, but they could also raise an empire from ashes. The power the secret society possessed was why every young man—including myself—chose to do whatever it took to become a member.
Even if it meant having a woman you didn’t care about give you a blow job in front of a room of spectators.
I couldn’t quite bring myself to look at her even as I came down her throat, though.
But I almost choked when I lifted my eyes and saw the last person in the fucking world who should be in this den of depravity.
My best friend’s barely legal sister, naked except for the pearls draped around her neck.
2
JASMINE
“Elbows off the table. And don’t slouch. Goodness, Jasmine, you’ve been hanging around that brother of yours too much.”
I looked across the formal dining room table at my mother. I wished I could say I was surprised that she referred to her own son with a tone of such disgust when she said that brother of yours. Sully’s name had become a bad word in our household because he’d failed the Trials of the super screwed-up secret society that all the blue bloods in Darlington County were part of.