Claimed by the Dark Souls of VHA

Chapter Twenty

FIVE YEARS LATER

AVA

FIVE YEARS AGO

"Please don't hate me Ava. You and Emma need this. This is a chance to start anew and to finally free yourself of your dark past. What kind of mother would I be if I allowed you to continuously be haunted by your demons, even though they are long gone and buried by now? I need to know that you will both be okay. I need to be the mother that you so rightfully deserve." My mother says, kissing my on my forehead, and placing my duffel bag into the car that she was given by my aunt who was never in any real danger with Victor. At least I know my heart isn't as black as I thought it was because I was relieved she was unharmed. Victor chose to blame everyone else for his psychotic possessiveness over me. I decide to finally rid myself of that horrible nightmare and go with Emma and my mother. I stare back at the Academy that holds three human beings that mean the world to me, but would rather be selfless than selfish. They chose to let me go and try to live a normal, happy life. I will forever love them for that.

Maybe, just maybe, I will see them again...

*************************************************

PRESENT

"Emma! Come on! You got class and I got work! How damn long were you riding your fiance into the mattress last night?" I yell out while almost choking on my coffee. All the sounds that came from her room drove me almost insane that I had to blast my music in my ears to drown it out and finally get some sleep.

I really could use a night like that.

These past five years have been something. My mom took us away from Valley High Academy and brought us to New York City. We both continued our academics via online and graduated with flying colors. Emma went off to attend NYU while I went off to take part time classes through the CUNY system and got myself two jobs.

Emma and I eventually wound up scoring ourselves a place to live together since she hated dorming with a stuck up b!tch, basically another Regina George, while mom is living it up in the Village. Our lives have manifested into something I never thought could, or even would come true.

I have been happy, healthy, and not as shattered as I used to be. Are there times that I begin to feel my past creeping up on me? Of course, but, knowing that I am safe and sound is all I need to get through my days.

"Emma!!" I yell out again because I am about two seconds away from leaving and having her fiance rush her to school since it was his fault she is waking up late this morning. She decided to take her Master's Degree in Psychology so she needs to stop having late nights with her future husbands nights she knows he has early class the next morning.

Him and his d!ck, is her only fascination nowadays.

Yes, Emma has a fiance, Julian McMahon. They both met in one of her classes and fell madly in love with each other. Their love is something to aspire to. He worships the ground she walks on and it melts my heart to know she found her soul mate.

"Calm down, sh!t. It's too early for shouting." Emma says as she comes out of her room looking a hot mess.

"Sorry babe but I got work and I can't be late again. They'll can me and then how will I pay rent?" I raise an eyebrow while she just shakes her head. I down the last of my coffee, waiting for the response I know she will give.

"By taking the money that is rightfully yours and stop being a pigheaded a*s about it. No matter what, you are still a Sinclair. Take the money Ava. You deserve it." She eyes me with the ultimate "you know I am right" face.

B!tch.

"I'll think about it, okay? Look, your future hubby is responsible for taking you to campus. I need to get out of here like yesterday." I kiss the side of her head and rush out of the giant loft I share with her. I run down the stairs and hop onto my motorcycle (yes, motorcycle. Harley to be exact), and speed to my first job at Vaughn Enterprises.

I may be only a secretary, but, I love the fact that I am working in the music industry. I still love anything music and I still belt my heart out and play the piano in the confidence of my bedroom, but, it's something that I will never change about myself. It brings me serenity and for that I am grateful.

"Cutting it close there Ms. Townsend." Justin Vaughn, millionaire playboy and future CEO of Vaughn Enterprises, and my boss says to me. He has it all. Body, brains, wealth, and from what I hear around the office, major stamina in the bedroom.

Must think professionally!

"Yes, sorry Mr. Vaughn. Do you need anything?" He surveys the outfit I am wearing, lingering a little too long with my top half and I need to clear my throat to catch his attention again.

"No, no. I am good for the time being. Just, please finish the analytical report I gave to you yesterday and email me it back when you are done. Also, hold my calls for about an hour or so." He walks away and I can't help but watch him, biting my lower lip.

He does have a nice a*s.

God, I need to get laid.

I do as he says, finishing the report, emailing it, holding his calls and by the time that is all done, I am off to lunch with my favorite person, Tyler. He is such a tool and is definitely the number one office gossip. He can talk your ear off about pretty much anyone here. I love it.

"There's my girl." He shrieks, wearing his Dolce outfit and looking better than any other person in the room, including myself.

"Your entertainment has arrived." I say back causing him to throw his head back in laughter.

"Come my queen. We must discuss some urgent news. News of which that involves that delicious boss of yours. Wonder why he had you holding his calls this morning?" I give him a surprised expression because he is legit on another floor as me and still somehow manages to know what the hell is going on everywhere.

"I am guessing you will tell me regardless?" He smirks and I roll my eyes.

"I happened to use the bathroom and who might you ask was busy yanking his sh!t like a madman? Your boss. Guy wasn't even quiet about it. Think he must've exploded all over the place because it took him a while to collect himself." My eyes widen and he laughs at my expression.

"I know you are imagining it right now." He winks at me and I forget that we are on a line to get food and he shoves me back into reality.

"You asshole." He laughs again and I manage to grab some food and we head to the nearest table and bullsh!t the rest of the time. By the end of the day, I am exhausted, but, job number two awaits.

"Good work today Ava." My boss says behind me, leaning against the frame of his door, his tie undone, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, showing off the ink on each arm. I gather my things and shut down my computer trying so hard not to stare at him, and think of pushing him into his office, locking the door, and having my way with him.

"Thank you sir." I give him a slight smile and can't help but remember the story Tyler told me. I gulp down the horniness residing in me and turn to look elsewhere.

"Any plans tonight?" He asks as if we were besties, with hunger swirling in his eyes.

God, stop tempting me.

"Yeah, my next job, unfortunately." I say and he nods.

"Have a good night Ava." He smiles and walks back into his office, closing the door behind him. I head on out, flying back to my apartment, and leap off my ride. I run inside in order to change and freshen up. I switch outfits in record time and make my way to the dive bar a couple of blocks away. At this job, I am a bartender. Tips are really awesome here.

"Hey Mitch!" I call out to my partner in crime over here and he winks at me. Yes, I am surrounded on the daily by extremely attractive guys, yet do nothing but daydream about being above and below them.

I am a sad, sad individual.

I honestly haven't had mind blowing s*x with anyone, anyone since, them. I refuse to think about them because if I do, I'll go crazy wondering where they are now. They were once mine, but since life likes to throw me curveballs, they probably have new loves of their lives, balls deep in them every damn night.

Lucky b!tches.

I shake the thoughts from my head and begin serving drink after drink, pretending to take shots with the numerous guys who think their sh!t don't stink, and flirting with Mitch. He flashes wink after wink my way before serving the women who constantly gape at him, their boobs on full display while leaning against the counter. I roll my eyes at them, but Mitch finds it hysterical.

"Care to make this an interesting night?" He whispers into my ear. I eye him and his eyes shimmer with excitement.

"I'll bite. What do you have in mind?" He becomes even more eager knowing he has captured my attention.

"Let's make a little wager. If you make more tips tonight, I'll do whatever you desire. If I win, you do whatever I desire, and we both know that we desire a lot from one another." He whispers then nips my ear causing shivers to run down my spine. Before I can even answer, I catch the eye of someone at the end of the bar.

"Hold that thought Casanova." He chuckles and works his way to another group of women that fight for his attention. I myself walk on over to the man at the end of the bar. Once closer, I feel the hairs on the back of my neck begin to stand, that only feeling that someone I once knew is lurking around.

"What will you have?" I say to the man waiting but I don't see his face until he turns back around to stare deep into my soul. That penetrating feeling captivates me and I feel a rush of excitement course through me.

"You." He says and my breath hitches.

"Christian?" The one name I remember calling to, almost pleading, but he decided to just say goodbye and left my hospital room without another look or word.

"Hey baby." He says, looking as handsome as ever. He is dressed in a suit, the first few buttons undone, ink crawling up his neck. He is the picture of hotness but I can't fall in that hole again.

Not again.

"Everything okay over here?" Mitch says while touching the small of my back, warranting Christian to narrow his eyes and grip the bar counter tightly. I move away from Mitch, causing him to look at me questioningly.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I'm going to take a five minute break. Cover for me?" He winks and nods. I see myself to the back and shove myself outside, inviting the crisp air to smack me in the face.

Looking into his eyes was more than I could take. He no longer looks like the Dark Prince from high school. He's more like the Dark King now. Of all the things that could possibly happen to me tonight, I was not expecting this.

Deciding to bite back my unfortunate fate that is standing right in that bar, I take a deep breath and head back inside to try and finish my shift. I begin to believe that he is here with someone and that his attention will be on her, not me. It suffices for the mean time.

Mitch eyes me warily but I brave a smile and he seems to relax. I don't see Christian for the remainder of my shift and thank the heavens above. A blast from my past is not what I need tonight.

"Time to count our tips." Mitch says while walking behind me to the back room where we keep our belongings. I almost forgot about the little wager we had going.

"You're on big guy." We sit down on the bench and we each count out our tips.

"253." He says with a smirk.

"277." I say cooly while fanning the cash to my overheated body.

"I'm not surprised. You can make any guy drop to their knees. You're the victor here babe. What would you like?" He moves closer to me and my breath hitches. He brushes his lips to mine while his hands rise up my thighs. I soft moan releases from my mouth and his lips descend on mine. He pulls me into him and grabs my a*s to make me sit on his lap. I don't stop him because right now, he is my escape into oblivion. I begin to straddle him when my eyes open and I see Christian standing there with a murderous gaze. I pull away leaving Mitch there to wonder what the hell is going on.

"Babe, what..." He turns to see Christian standing there, but he second thinks even stepping up to him.

"You can't be back here." Mitch says and I watch in slow motion as Christian strides over to him and the way he presents himself, like he doesn't have a care in the world, only makes him scarier.

"Guess you aren't familiar with who owns this place then are you?" My mind is currently blown at this point.

"Oh, but.." Mitch tries to speak but can't usher a single word that can be considered comprehensible.

"In other words, you should get out. Now." Christian says through gritted teeth and I just stand there dumbfounded.

"Come on babe." Mitch extends his hand out to me and Christian eyes me on what my next move will be.

"She stays." Christian says making Mitch turn to me but I give him a smile.

"It's ok. I'll see you tomorrow." Mitch looks back to Christian then to me and nods. Guess his ego took a nice hit tonight. I kind of feel bad but when it comes to choosing, Christian will always be the one I choose. He walks out of the room and Christian closes the door and leans against it.

"So you own this place, huh?" Is all I can ask him at the moment.

"I do." He says, watching me carefully. I gather my belongings and walk to the door, expecting him to step aside to let me go.

Naive thinking.

"I see you have been making yourself well acquainted with the staff." He says in a d!ckish way and I narrow my eyes at him.

How f!cking dare he insinuate that I have been f!cking around.

"And what if I had? Who are you to tell me who I can and cannot f!ck?" He leans into me, and every single cell in my body ignites. I forgot how his presence affects me in such a good way.

"I am the one that gave you f!cking five years away from me. I curse the day I let you go, you know that right? Now that I have you in my grasp, there's no f!cking way in hell that I'll let you go again." He pulls me to him and slams his lips onto mine. It is full of pent up wanting, longing passion and his tongue doesn't miss a chance to evade my mouth. He turns us so that my body is against the wall while his lips never leave mine. By the time we part, we are both a panting, raging mess. He cups my cheek and his eyes are pitch black.

"Let's go." He says pulling me away from the door and gripping my hand in his.

"Where are we going?" I say breathless from his kiss.

"My place." We go out the back way and his ride is right there as if he had known this was going to happen from the moment his eyes landed on me. He opens the door for me and I hop in and I watch as he unbuttons his suit jacket before he hops into the drivers side.

He ignites the engine and peels out like a bat out of hell. He zooms in and out of lanes before we come to a stop by a giant a*s mansion. I get out of the car and stand there in shock and awe of the house in front of me. He grips my hand and pulls me forward.

"This....this is yours?" I say as he rushes inside the house and pulls me along to his bedroom.

"Kitchen, living room, upstairs, downstairs, patio, pool, my room." He points in every which direction making my head spin, giving me his version of a tour, until we are in his room and he is slamming me against the door much like in the room at the bar and is grinding himself against me. He rips off my shirt which I scowl at him because it was one of my favorite shirts.

"Sorry baby but I need you naked." He drives his tongue down my neck, latching onto my pulse point, making my knees shake. I tear at his shirt like he did mine and the buttons fly all over. He smirks at me and I just admire his toned chest.

"Like what you see baby?" I nod because that's all I can do at this point. He grabs my a*s and I leap into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist, feeling the huge bulge waiting to be released. He walks to his bed, plopping me down making me bounce and strips whatever clothing he has left on and then works at mine.

Before we know it, we are both n***d and fighting for dominance over one another. He pins my arms above my head, l*****g and kissing every inch of me while tugging on himself. I get the better of him and flip us over where now I am straddling him. I grab his length making him moan and run my hand up and down, feeling the pre-c*m on the tip of him. I lick my lips and guide his length through my wet as f!ck folds and continue the t*****e until I decide that I am torturing myself at this point.

I take him inch by inch until we are both moaning in unison once he is fully seated in me. I ride him like I am in a rodeo because I missed this and I need this. His grip on my hips is so tight that I know it will leave bruises but I don't give a sh!t. He pushes himself to sit more upward and grabs my breast in my mouth to suck on and devour while I continue my assault on his manhood. I throw my head back, holding onto the back of his head, screaming his name. He moves from one breast to another and sucks, licks, nips until it is too much to handle. The overwhelming euphoric feeling is taking over and I struggle to breath. He thumb is rubbing my clit and I am near to breaking, shattering really.

"Oh god, it's...it's too..too much Christian." I say, a sheen of sweat coating the both of us.

"I know baby. I feel...feel it too. I'm going to combust inside you." He says, pulling my hair to attack my neck.

"I'm on the shot still..f!ck!!!!" I scream and I feel myself exploding all over him, my body shaking in his grip. He isn't too far long and grunts when he explodes every drop of himself inside of me. He is shaking in my arms and the whole time he doesn't remove his eyes from me. The way he came staring at me has me convulse around him again, my heart beating out of my chest. I drop down to the side of him and just hold him with my head on his chest, listening to his rapid heart rate.

"I'm never letting you go Ava. Not again. You are mine." He lifts my head off of his chest and moves to pin me underneath him. He enters me again but this time, slowly. This time he is making love to me and I revel in it. I have no idea how many times we did it last night but by the time I wake up, I am a good kind of sore. I slip away from him to use the bathroom while swiping a t-shirt of his from his closet.

Once I am done, I see that he is still sleeping and he looks so at peace. I smile and slip out of the room to go downstairs. From what I remember last night, the kitchen is by the front and I make my way over there. Nothing is too extreme in here so I decide to browse through the cabinets until I find coffee and then rummage through the refrigerator in order to cook us some breakfast. The smell of the coffee and the food is delicious, probably waking Christian up because I hear footsteps approach.

"Sh!t bro, I had the most intense o****m last night that if I wasn't covered, the girl would have been definitely knocked up. It was like I could hear someones voice echo around me and I remember all too well who that voice belongs to." He laughs and I feel chills ride up and down my body.

No, it can't be.

Ryder?

FML.

I don't dare turn around. I continue to flip the bacon on the grill. He won't recognize me. I no longer have black hair. It is now brown with highlights. The length is pretty much the same though.

"Oh, my bad, I thought you were my brother. Sh!t. Sorry for the too much info about the o****m. Umm, look, I hate to break it to you, but, even though the s*x must've been grade A+, there's no need to cook for him. He won't be calling you or seeing you again. That's just how he is. How we are." He says so matter of factly that it pisses me off.

How many women have been here?

I chuck the tongs onto the counter and decide to brace my past, yet again. My hair is still covering up my face so he doesn't catch on to who I am, not yet at least.

"Then you have at it asswipe." I turn the stove off because even though I am pissed off beyond belief, I'm not going to burn their house down. I brush past him, bumping into his shoulder, while he laughs.

"Look, this is just how we operate. Don't take it so personally whoever you are." I turn around and brush the hair past my face. It is then that he realizes his mistake. The look he is sporting is like he has just seen a ghost.

"A...Ava???" He stands there in all is muscular, toned, panty dropping glory and watches as my eyes roam down his body. I lick my lips, remembering the thrill of having him inside me. I shake the thought and begin to wonder if brother number three will be popping out of the shadows next.

"Baby!!! There you are!!" A shrill shrieking voice comes down the stairs and I look up to see Ryder's almost baby mama prancing downstairs in his shirt. I roll my eyes.

"I'm just gonna see myself out. Great seeing you again." I snap my finger and click my tongue pointing at him as I rush towards Christian's room, thankfully still asleep. I gather my sh!t, quickly throwing on my pants and throwing off his shirt, only to remember that mine is ripped. I groan while I make a beeline for the front door. I slip out and for the life of me, I have no f!cking clue where I am.

I pull out my phone and press on Google Maps to guide me back to my place. Once I get there, I go straight for the coffee pot which is full and pour myself a cup, since it is on automatic timer. I make it to my room and gather my sh!t for a nice long shower.

Thank god it is the weekend.

I walk out of the bathroom and back to my room, pulling on short shorts and a tank top. Emma and Julian are away this weekend so I have the whole loft to myself. I need food so I decide to cook once again. I blast my music while I begin to cook and shake my hips to the beat. I then turn around to find three pairs of eyes staring at me like I am their prey.

And here we go again.

Alex, Ryder, and Christian, all in the same room as me.

Lord have mercy on our souls.