He promptly slapped on another smirk, shrugging and heading across the pathway to stand on the shaded lawn that sloped down towards the shore of the lake. He tugged his shirt off one handed, his eyes on me the whole time as people started whistling in the crowd. I realised I wasn’t breathing as he gripped his belt, unbuckling it and ripping it out of the rungs so hard it cracked in the air. Unnecessary but hella hot.
I worked hard to keep my expression neutral as he dropped his jeans, but he whipped off his boxers with them too, grinning at me with a dare in his eyes as he cupped his junk with both hands.
Students grabbed their phones and started filming and heat blazed along the back of my neck as he stood there staring at me in all his muscular glory like he was winning this game.
No chance, asshole.
I turned sharply, heading back inside and grabbing the bowl of fish from the counter, taking a moment to collect myself. If he was going to try and smirk his way through this then I needed to up my game. I needed to wipe that look off of his face hard. But how..?
An idea came to mind as I recalled the few times I’d ever seen vulnerability in him. He would never admit it, but something had happened to him in his past which had changed him. Built him into the man he was. And there was a tender spot beneath all his bullshit which I was going to have a go at digging a knife into.
I fixed a dark expression onto my features like a mask then strode out of the kitchens, rounding the building to where the crowd was waiting. Kyan was on his knees, both hands firmly clasped around his package as I approached, feeling the Night Keepers watching me closely. Blake was laughing his ass off and a twinge of happiness filled me at the noise. I quickly pushed it away, knowing I shouldn’t want anything but pain for Blake. But he was so broken sometimes, it was hard not to want to see him smile again. Especially when I remembered him aiming that pearly white, panty-melting smile at me all those weeks ago.
I moved behind Kyan, placing the bowl down behind him so he couldn’t see what was in it then tugged his top knot free with a hard yank.
“If you’re trying to turn me on again, it’s working,” he murmured.
“Did you really ruin all of my nice panties?” I pouted and he chuckled.
“Naw, I wouldn’t ruin those. You think I don’t love seeing you in all that skimpy shit? I might have to wash the pillow you slept on last night though.”
I shook my head at him and leaned down, scooping two large handfuls of fish into my hands and slapping it over his head. He flinched as I smeared the cold gloop into his hair, making sure he was going to need ten showers before he got it all out, a triumphant smile on my lips as he fell quiet for once.
“You’re a pig, Kyan,” I said lightly, moving around in front of him with the bowl and dropping into a crouch. “And I’m going to make you squeal.”
I smeared another handful over his chest, rubbing it in while his eyes narrowed on me, a hunter behind his gaze which he was clearly struggling to restrain.
“Good luck with that,” he chided and I pushed away any guilt I had that was holding me back from saying the words in my head. He deserved to hear what I had to say. He deserved to hurt for hurting me.
I levelled my gaze on him and he stared at me without a care in the world. “You can’t own up to anything you do, Kyan,” I said, dipping my voice in venom. “You smirk your way through life, knocking people to the ground beneath you as you go. You couldn’t give a damn about the consequences of your actions. You damage people beyond repair and leave them in the mud.”
His smirk remained hitched in place, but his eyes darkened. “And?” he drawled.
“And I thought that was because you were an egotistical prick with a superiority complex at first.”
The crowd ooohed as I slapped on another layer of fish and Kyan yawned provocatively.
“But it isn’t that,” I continued, ignoring his lack of reaction because I had a feeling I knew how to get under his skin. And my hunches were usually worth betting on. “It’s the opposite actually. You value yourself so little that you have to push other people down to feel important. So why is that, Kyan? Did your mommy never tuck you in at night? Did your daddy never tell you he loved you?”
Kyan’s eyes flickered, giving me a glimpse of the broken boy beneath all his bullshit. My heart twisted, but I ignored the feeling, barrelling on because he deserved every slice of pain I could deliver him. He’d never flinched when hurting me. “You don’t talk about them,” I pointed out. “Even Blake and Saint mention their parents from time to time. But you?” I shook my head as I rubbed more of the fish down his arms. His muscles were rigid beneath my touch and he was no longer smirking. “You don’t mention them at all. So I’m guessing they’ve either cut you off…” I paused as I eyed his expression, sensing that guess wasn’t correct before continuing. “Or you cut them off.”
His lips twitched, confirming it and I smiled victoriously.
I grabbed some more fish from the bowl then dropped down to eye level with him, my words low enough so they were just for us. The crowd was for the humiliation, but my words weren’t for them. They were for this man who played with me like a wolf with an old bone. I was convenient, mildly interesting but not delicious enough to give his full attention to. Yesterday’s meal. Already digested and forgotten.
“I guess you hoped cutting them off would empower you then, and make whatever they did to you go away. But you can’t fill the void a lack of love leaves behind with hate. The only thing that would heal your empty heart is love itself. But who would ever love you, Kyan? When you hate the world so fully that everything you touch falls to ruin.”
His lips tightened and emotion danced behind his eyes that made guilt squeeze my chest. I tried to drink in his pain like he and his friends always drank in mine, but this revenge didn’t taste so sweet. It was bitter on my tongue, but necessary all the same. He’d watched me break before, now I wanted the same in return. Even if I bled along with him.
“And you know that, don’t you?” I asked coldly, but he didn’t respond, his jaw locked and his brow pinched. “That’s why you don’t kiss girls. You’re quietly waiting for the right girl, the one who cares enough about you to make it worth it. But that’s just a sad dream that will never be fulfilled. Because no one will ever meet the standards of King Kyan with his hollow heart. You may think you’re worthless, but you still hold onto the hope that someone could maybe want you as you are. A monster with a black soul who takes bites out of people and expects them to love him in return.” I inched closer so my breath danced against his cheeks and I was all he could see. “That hope is as foolish as you look right now.”
His throat bobbed and hurt twisted his features just long enough for me to know my work was done. I’d driven pins into his flesh with my words and finally hit a nerve.
I continued to pack the sickly smelling mixture against his body, running my hand down his stomach before rubbing it over his hands which were holding his dick. He grunted as I continued lower, wiping it over his thighs before moving around to his back and making sure every inch of him was covered, butt crack included.
“You satisfied yet?” he gritted out and I scooped the last handful out of the bowl, trying not to heave as the smell nearly overwhelmed me.
I fisted his sticky hair in my free hand, yanking his head back to look up at me as I grinned down at him. Then I clapped the final handful to his mouth, rubbing it all over his face as he winced against the powerful odour.
My heart was singing, my veins buzzing. Deep down, I knew I didn’t mean the words I’d spoken. But Kyan never felt bad for what he did to me, so why should I feel bad for what I did to him? And as my guilt gave way to relief at getting back at him, a sense of pride filled me. This felt like true power. Another blade cast deep into my enemy’s gut.
Revenge is a bitch and I am her.
I stepped away from him, bending down to wipe my hands off on the grass before taking out my phone and snapping a picture for me to
look at a thousand times in the future.
The crowd were laughing their assess off, but I could barely hear them as I focused on the beast kneeling before me, paying for his crimes, his face fixed into a scowl.
“You can get up now,” I said at last and he rose to his feet, striding towards me and releasing his junk, earning a collective gasp from the crowd and me. I tried to leap away, seeing the danger in his eyes far too late as he whipped me up into his arms, tossed my phone on the ground and started striding toward the lake.
“Kyan!” I screamed as he strode into the water and dove under the surface with me locked in his arms.
The freezing water enveloped me and I spluttered as he released me, coming up for air.
He stayed under for several seconds before breaking the surface, scrubbing the fish out of his hair and fixing me with an intense look.
He grabbed me by the waist, yanking me against his hard body and my heart jolted in alarm. His eyes danced with shadows and a chill took hold of me as I surveyed the droplets racing down his chiselled features. His lips were wet and enticing and I tried not to think of what Mila had said about an all-consuming kiss winning someone’s heart. I imagined a kiss from Kyan would consume me for sure. Like flames, charring everything black on my insides and making me hurt so good. But I wasn’t up to par for him. I was just a way to entertain him from time to time. I would never be able to fill the void in Kyan Roscoe even if I wanted to. It was an eternal space that grew bigger every day.
His eyes scored over my features and his upper lip pulled back in a snarl. “You see a heartless monster when you look at me,” he stated, his voice lacking any emotion and making my breathing stutter.
“What else is there to see?” I asked icily, part of me wanting him to contradict it and prove everything I’d just said was wrong. But if there was a girl out there who could save Kyan, give him what he so deeply craved, then it wasn’t me. Even if maybe, deep down in the most deplorable part of my being, I wanted it to be.
He glanced away across the lake as he released a derisive breath through his nose, his grip on my waist becoming too tight. “I guess you’re right, baby. So it’s time you found out how monstrous I can really be.” He shoved me away from him, diving under the water and resurfacing closer to the shore.
“Get your asses out here!” Saint called and I tried to swallow down the fear Kyan’s parting words had left me with. Had I just awoken an even darker part of him? The thought was enough to send goosebumps rushing across my skin. I hadn’t considered the possibility that my revenge might push these boys to new heights. But I guessed that meant my plan had worked. I’d gotten under his skin. Now I just had to face the consequences. And I didn’t think I was going to like them.
The crowd was dispersing as Blake directed them to leave, the show officially over. The Night Keepers clearly weren’t going to let me hold onto my power any longer.
I waded back out to the shore where Kyan was tugging his jeans on. When he was done, he slung his shirt over his shoulder and raked his hand through his hair to squeeze out the water, his smirk firmly back in place. Fake bastard.
“I hope you enjoyed the power trip, Barbie, because you’re mine tonight. And I expect you to be obedient,” Saint said coolly, his eyes eating into my flesh.
My throat thickened and my eyes skipped to Monroe beside him, a realisation suddenly flashing through my mind and brightening up all the dark spaces inside me. “But there’s four Night Keepers now. And the rules state I have to rotate between them. So it’s Monroe’s turn to have me.”
Monroe legit looked like I’d just grabbed his nuts and given them a good squeeze and Saint looked ready to murder the nearest victim. He opened and closed his mouth then growled something incoherent.
“You’re right. Those are the rules,” Saint said at last, but I didn’t miss the hint of disappointment in his eyes.
Torturing me will have to wait another day Saintykins. Tonight, I belong to Monroe.
Being the headmaster of the school came with certain perks. The best of those being that instead of having an apartment in Maple Lodge with all the rest of the staff, I had my own private bungalow further up the same paved track, hidden in the thick trees at the top of the hill.
It was far enough from the rest of the staff quarters to genuinely be private and was lavish enough to feel luxurious compared to what I’d been used to growing up.
The space consisted of three rooms – my bedroom, a bathroom and one wide space which served as living area, dining room and kitchen in one.
I’d cleared all of Brown’s stuff out on my first day here and lugged my own things down from my apartment to fill the space. Although fill was a bit too extreme for my meagre supplies. I’d never really been one to accumulate useless crap. I had all my workout gear at the gym and I didn’t really have any other hobbies. But I’d moved my clothes in and the three things of my mother’s which I still owned were in a box which now sat on the mantelpiece. They had no value other than sentiment but as that was all I had left of her, I kept them safe.
There was a faded photograph of her with me and my brother Michael when we were kids which she used to keep in her wallet. Her old cellphone which I’d only kept because I could charge it up and listen to her voice on the voicemail when the shadows drew too close. And her mother’s wedding ring which was inlaid with sapphires and hung from a thick silver chain. She’d always worn that necklace, I couldn’t remember a single moment when I’d seen her without it. I’d placed the necklace Tatum had asked me to look after in amongst those things, knowing it was as precious to her as my mementoes were to me.
I’d been pacing for the last ten minutes. Tatum was late. She’d text to tell me she’d be here at nine and I’d replied reminding her that this idea was fucking insane and that I was her headmaster and if she got caught here I’d end up hung from the main gate by my balls. She replied with a squid emoji. A fucking squid. What the hell did that even mean?
The front door swung open suddenly and a spike of rage swept through me as Saint Memphis strolled into my house like he thought he owned the fucking place.
Kyan, Blake and Tatum followed him in, the guys nodding at me in greeting while continuing an argument they must have been having before they arrived. It took me less than thirty seconds to realise they were arguing over the merits of wielding a flamethrower or an axe in some Xbox game and I quickly tuned them out.
“She should be yours from six pm onwards,” Saint said, pinching the bridge of his nose like he was currently enduring some kind of crisis. “But as we were unprepared, I didn’t have everything in place to deliver her on time.”
“Deliver her?” I asked, arching a brow. “I didn’t realise it was like ordering a pizza. Do I get extra sides because you’re late then?”
Tatum smirked behind him but Saint didn’t seem to find that funny. “I can only apologise and assure you it won’t happen again.”
“Whatever.” I shrugged. “A nine is an upside down six anyway so it’s basically the same thing.”
Saint’s right eye started twitching and his hands curled into fists as he turned away from me, muttering something about me being worse than Kyan as Tatum giggled.
I couldn’t help but smirk at her as I fought against the urge to keep pushing Saint’s buttons and gave him a moment to calm down.
He started looking around the neutrally decorated room like it had taken a shit on his shoes. I arched a brow at him as he moved to the bathroom door and ran a finger along the top of the door frame.
“For the love of hell,” he muttered, visibly shuddering before heading into the bathroom to wash his hands.
Kyan dumped an overnight bag on the coffee table before dropping onto a seat at the end of the couch and Blake quickly joined him, leaving me to stare across the empty space in the room at Tatum.
“Hey,” she said hesitantly, tucking a lock of golden blonde hair behind her ear. She was wearing a black wrap around dress which was just low
cut enough to draw my gaze.
“Hey,” I replied, huffing out a breath as I glanced at the others before heading to the fridge to grab out a six pack of beers.
I tossed one each into the laps of Kyan and Blake before passing one to Tatum. Her fingers brushed mine as she accepted it and my gut tightened as I imagined being left alone here with her all night. We’d done it before on lockdown in the pool house, but this felt different. There was a bed and four walls surrounding us with a door that locked and curtains that closed. Whatever we did in here would remain a secret so long as we both kept it that way. Not that I had any intention of doing anything that required secrecy. Aside from plotting the downfall of the Night Keepers of course.
“Rebecca is going to come and deal with this place in the morning while you’re out,” Saint announced as he emerged from the bathroom, tucking his cellphone into his pocket. “I told her it needs a deep clean so she will probably be here for a few hours, but in future she’ll just come and go daily to keep on top of this situation.
“Who the fuck is Rebecca?” I asked in confusion.
“The ghost who cleans The Temple,” Tatum supplied. “She’s never been seen, but rumour has it, if you leave a saucer of bleach out at night, by the morning it’ll be gone and your bathroom will be clean enough to eat off of every surface.”
Saint smiled at that, his gaze raking over her appreciatively in her dress and I had to wonder if he’d picked it. If he had then he had good taste which was pretty damn infuriating. “Good help are quiet and thorough in their work. They do the job you needed doing before you had time to request it and are seen even less frequently than they are heard. And Rebecca is the best.”
“I don’t need a cleaner,” I began but Saint waved me off, rolling his eyes.
“The fact that you believe you don’t only emphasises the dire state you’re in. But don’t worry, it’s done, you won’t even know she’s been here. Aside from the cleanliness of the place.”
My lips parted on another argument as this entitled little prick just clicked his fingers and made a decision about how I was supposed to keep my own home clean, but Tatum reached out to touch my arm, a short shake of her head telling me to drop this.
Kings of Lockdown: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep Book 2) Page 15