His amber eyes glowed, and the asshole was beautiful with it. “I know you hate me, Ava,” he hissed. “I know you hate me, and I know why. And, hell, I don’t blame you. Your mother is a piece of shit, just like my father. But this isn’t about them, Ava. It’s about us.”
I straightened to my full height and did my best to stare him down. “There is no us,” I hissed.
Ace’s gaze rolled down my body and back up to my face before saying, “You are in some serious denial if you think there’s nothing between us, Ava.”
Before I could tell him to fuck off, the pantry door opened, and we heard a gasp. “Oh, sorry!” Ace turned to face the door, and I tilted my head to see Marcy Glenn standing in the doorway. “Oh, Ava,” she said in a drunk chuckle. “I was just looking for more snacks.” Marcy was Christof’s girlfriend, and we got along fairly well.
“Sorry, we-”
She tapped a hand at me. “Oh, no worries. Although I’m kind of surprised,” she said chuckling. “You usually make use of the rooms in the west wing.”
I could feel Ace’s entire body still with palpable tension, and I didn’t understand why. He overheard the argument with my mother. He even commented on how I said I liked to fuck. He saw how I was dressed for the party. Did he think it was all an exaggeration?
“Thanks, Marcy,” I replied. “I’ll make myself comfortable once Ace and I clear up a little misunderstanding.” His grip tightened on my wrists, but I ignored it.
“Okay,” she said, smiling. “I’ll come back later for the snacks.” She shut the door, and once again, Ace and I were alone in the pantry.
I looked back up at him and continued where we left off. “Look, Ace, I don’t know what you’re thinking or what…” I shook my head. “There is no us and you deleting my contacts doesn’t mean shit. I have them backed up.”
I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t for him to lay his cards on the table so early. “I want you, Ava,” he confessed. “I want you and there will be no other guys as long as I have you.”
The nerve.
I tried to wrestle out of his hold, but he just held more firm. I had to put a stop to this. To him. I was already feeling out of sorts with the attraction and jealousy, I couldn’t afford anymore mixed up emotions where Ace was concerned. I needed to stay away from him. Maybe I could rent a motel for the summer. Or take a trip.
“You don’t have me, Ace,” I argued. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but you’re going to have to get your kicks with someone else.”
He looked dazed. Like…like he wasn’t exactly sure what was happening when he said, “There is no one else, Ava.”
I stared up at him, and his words sounded absolute.
I had to shut this shit down.
Chapter 10
Ace~
She was causing me so much turmoil, it was a wonder I could still function. But then, that’s what all girls did, didn’t they?
They cause turmoil.
They go about minding their own goddamn business, not realizing the havoc they’re creating with the male species. A man falls in love and everything before that moment no longer exists. A woman falls in love and she just piles it onto all the other million things she’s got going on. When a man falls in love, his entire existence shifts. When a woman falls in love, she just digs in and says, “Okay. I got this.”
Now, I wasn’t saying I was in love with Ava Hill because it’s only been two days, but I wasn’t saying I wasn’t, either, because why else would I be feeling this un-motherfucking-hinged?
“You better find someone else, Ace,” she sneered. “I’m not looking to be your summer fling.”
“You’re not?” I knew she was lying, but she’d die before admitting it. Ava’s defenses were the stuff wars were won from.
Her drugged up gaze flashed, and I knew she was pissed off, but I could also smell her in this confined room. Ava was turned on even if she didn’t want to be. Even if she denied it.
I let go of her wrists and, before she could stop me-and thanks to that ridiculously short skirt-I ran my right hand up the inside of her thigh until my fingertips were coated with the moisture on her thong, because Ava was wearing a goddamn thong underneath that short skirt.
Her small, feminine hands snaked out and latched onto my forearm, halting further movement. Her eyes were blazing with the effects of coke, lust, shame, and pure fury. Staring down at this stunning creature I had no doubt Ava Hill would carve a motherfucker up with no remorse, whatsoever, if she needed to.
Ava was…feral; violent.
I had no idea what happened in her life to make her like that, but Ava’s black heart was genuine. It wasn’t for show. It wasn’t for shock value. It wasn’t fabricated.
I stepped to her, trapping our hands and arms between our bodies, and leaned down so my lips caressed her right ear. “You keep telling me what a dirty, little slut you are,” I taunted darkly. “Why don’t you spread those legs apart and prove it, Ava?”
“Fuck you,” she snarled, and I’d never heard so much emotion packed into two little words like that before.
Ava was no match for my physical strength regardless of how strong her backbone was, though. My hand traveled upward, her nails digging into my wrist, until my finger slid in between the fabric of her thong and the slickness of her center.
Ava was soaking fucking wet.
“That’s all I’m trying to do here, baby,” I continued to taunt. “I’m trying to fuck you.” I leaned back to look at her; challenge her. “But, for all your declarations of living with your legs spread open, you’re proving to be just the opposite.”
Her lip curled and the hate on her face was real. Her hate for me was pouring from her soul. “I am a slut,” she claimed. “I just don’t want to be your slut.”
I slipped a finger inside her body, and let me tell you, if Ava was a slut, she was a special sort, because her pussy was snug and swallowing my finger tightly. “Then why is your pussy leaking like a faucet?” I questioned. “Why are you so fucking wet if you don’t want me to fuck you?”
Remember when I said she was feral?
“That’s from sitting on Craig’s lap,” she spewed, razor sharp and lethal. “I was hoping to bounce on his dick tonight, but you ruined that.” I slid another finger inside her and her whimper gave her away. If I had any chance at saving my sanity, I had to ignore her words and listen to her body. Her nails dug deeper into my wrist, but now Ava’s head was thrown back, her eyes closed, and she was riding my hand.
She was riding my fucking hand.
“Look at me,” I ordered. “Open your fucking eyes and look at me, Kit.”
Her eyes flew open, and while she moaned, she didn’t disappoint. “Quit calling me that,” she snapped.
“It’s short for kitty cat. Because you are one wild, feral hellcat, baby,” I admitted. “And I’ll call you whatever the fuck I want to call you.” I inserted a third finger and her cry had me wishing my dick was out. “You’re mine to call whatever I want, Ava.”
“Ace,” she sobbed as she came all over my hand. The pulsing around my fingers held them captive, and it amazed me that, for someone who claimed that she got around, she came quickly and easily.
I pulled my fingers from her pussy and I licked them clean, desperate for the taste of her. “Don’t fucking tell me there’s nothing between us again,” I warned.
The hate was still there in her big blue eyes, but I could see the…calculations behind them, too. And before I could figure them out, Ava had her hands on my jeans, unbuttoning them. “My turn,” she said, her voice husky and lustful.
“No, Ava. I don’t need-motherfucker,” I hissed as her hand wrapped around my dick. “Goddamn it, Ava…” My hands were fists in her hair and because I was apparently a weak sonofabitch, I closed my eyes, let my head fall back, and let Ava sink to the floor and suck my dick.
I didn’t care that we were in a pantry closet where someone could walk in at any time, or that she
wasn’t sucking my dick for pleasure. I wasn’t stupid-weak, yes-but stupid, no. Ava was on her knees to prove a point. Not sure what that point was right now, but I knew it wasn’t because she wanted to please me. Ava Hill would just as soon stab me to death as make me cum, so I knew this wasn’t a sexual thing.
This was a power thing.
But I didn’t care.
Ava was on her knees with my dick in her mouth, and the feeling was so euphoric, the feeling transported me back to the first time a girl ever put her lips on my cock. I never thought anything would ever feel as good as when my dick was touched sexually for the first time by a female hand, but nothing before this moment compared to how Ava was working my cock.
“Goddamn, baby,” I groaned as I looked down at her and took in every movement of her hand, my cock disappearing in her mouth, and the vibrations dancing along my shaft with every moan from her sweet, hot mouth.
She eased up off my dick and looked up at me, eyes watery, lips swollen, cheeks flushed, and asked, “You like that?”
Again-I knew she was fucking with me. I knew this was a game, and she wasn’t really asking me that because she cared if I was enjoying her. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if she took me to the edge, then stood up and walked out.
And because this was a battle of the wills…
“Come on, Ava,” I coaxed. “You know I like it. Now, get back to sucking my dick, baby. Show me what a good little whore you are.” The corner of her lip lifted, and I knew I was in trouble. Ava lowered her head and went back to swallowing my dick, only this time, she did it with all the precision of a professional. She worked every inch of my cock and had me at the edge in no time. My fingers curled into her scalp, and I was there. “Ava…I’m going to cum,” I warned her.
She didn’t care.
Ava swallowed me until I was growling her name and emptying everything I had down her throat. I watched as she licked me completely clean and I knew I needed to get her home. I needed to spend all night inside this girl, and right now, I didn’t care if I made it out alive or not. Ava was a power I wanted to harness all for myself.
She stood up as I tucked myself back into my jeans. I watched, wary and waiting, as her fingertips danced across her lips and she smirked. She cocked her head and delivered her sexual blow. “Now, we’re even,” she stated, all matter of fact.
“Goddamn it, Ava-”
She threw her head back and laughed. It was dark and evil and cold; just like her. “Did you really think that meant anything?” she asked condescendingly. “You’re hardly the first guy to make me cum, and I’ve lost count of how many dicks have been in my mouth, Ace.” She threw me a fucked-up wink. “I just didn’t want to have to owe you anything.”
I reached for her to kill her, but she ducked under and was out the pantry door before I could catch her. “Ava!”
I ran out of the pantry, but she had been swallowed up by the crowd. I stood in the kitchen of a house I’ve never been to and I was surrounded by people who I didn’t know. When I finally made it outside, it was just in time to see Ava wave her fingers at me from the car window of a dude she was taking off with, and she was laughing.
I was going to fucking kill her.
Chapter 11
Ava~
I was locked inside the safety of my bedroom, but I was feeling anything but safe.
The entire night had turned into one big shitstorm, and I wasn’t so blind as to not accept some of the blame. I let my confused jealousy turn me into an exaggerated version of myself. I had no problem sleeping with a guy, but taking Ace to the edge like that, swallowing him down, and then walking away, had been calculated and deliberate.
I had been so pissed by his highhandedness, but so turned on by the sheer nearness of him, I had let him finger me to orgasm. And because I had wanted so much more, I had turned the tables and transformed one of the best orgasms of my life into a tit-for-tat. I had lumped the experience in with all the others I’ve had before him. I had made him believe he was common when I knew he was anything but.
The part I hated most was the dominance he had displayed. His controlling demeanor should have had me running the other way. I should have felt scared by his forcefulness. I should have felt wrecked over the loss of control he brought out in me. I should have frozen when he had imposed his will on me.
But I hadn’t felt any of those things.
I had felt turned on and…desperate.
I had also felt disgusted and shameful and wretched.
What Peter had done to me was wrong. It was unconscionable. He had done things to me only monsters did. Everything about it had been sick and irreparable. And the disgust at feeling turned on by Ace holding me captive, and making me take what he offered, was so stifling, I felt I was choking on it.
It was the reason I had gone down on him. There was no way I could let him have one up on me. There was no way I could walk out of that pantry without that exchange of power. Ever since Peter, I made sure I was so willing, that no guy would ever need to convince me by stronger means. And I was always on top or I let them take me from behind. I made sure to let every guy believe I was being his dirty fantasy come to life by convincing them to let me be on top or giving them the illusion that they were in control when they had their hands on my hips from behind. I’ve never let a guy screw me missionary, and I’ve never wanted to.
Until now.
Until Ace came along and brought all my sick desires to the forefront of my mind.
I’ve spent my entire life forcing myself to believe what I controlled was what I wanted, but Ace was shattering that illusion with every word and every touch, and I couldn’t understand it. His domineering ways should be triggers to my already fucked-up psyche. My mind and body were not reacting to him like they should, like I’ve convinced myself they should.
I wanted him just the way he was, and it was unnatural.
It was unnatural to be attracted to the many different ways I’d let him have me, take me.
Since the pacing in my room wasn’t helping, I picked up the phone and dialed, heedless of the time. After three rings, I heard Delaney’s sweet, sweet voice. “Hey, lady.”
“Hey?” I croaked out, and I was shocked by the overwhelming emotion threatening to erupt.
“Ava?” I could hear the seriousness in her voice. “Are you okay? Where are you?”
I dropped on the bed, my head hung low at the concern in Delaney’s voice. Of course, she’d think I was in trouble somewhere. That’s who I was. That’s what I did. I drank, did drugs, and slept with whoever caught my eye.
I was wild.
And for the first time in my life, I could admit I was tired, too.
“I don’t know,” she hissed away from the phone. “Calm down, Deke.”
“Delaney?”
I could hear her sigh over the phone. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “Deke’s demanding to know where you’re at, so we can go get you.” My heart dropped at her words. The fact that Deke Marlow would care where I was, so they could come get me was…overwhelming.
“I’m home,” I told her. “I just came home from a party, but I’m home and sa…safe,” I assured her.
I could hear her faint voice relaying the message to Deke. “She’s home. She’s okay…I don’t know, Deke. Maybe let me talk to her and find out?” I could practically see Delaney rolling her eyes at the man. “Okay, what’s up, girlie?”
“Uh, is Deke okay?” I asked, half-joking.
Delaney chuckled. “He’s such a lunatic, I swear,” she laughed. “He already had a conference call going with Ramsey and Liam to go get you, wherever you were. I swear, Ava, these boys are off their privileged rockers.”
I didn’t know what to say.
If having Deke Marlow care what happened to me was overwhelming, knowing Ramsey Reed and Liam McCellan cared about what I was up to, was a bit too much to absorb.
“I’m fine,” I lied. “I’m just a little…” What could I say? How do I describe tonight t
o her?
“Is it Ace?” she asked quietly.
I took a deep breath and said the words that were going to make all this real. “I…I’m confused. I-”
“Jesus Christ, Deke,” Delaney swore, “will you calm down. She’s fine. Ace didn’t do anything to her. And quit eavesdropping on my conversation.” I couldn’t hear what Deke said, but Delaney sounded incredulous when she said, “You’re crazy, you know that, right?” Delaney didn’t keep me in suspense. “Good God, Ava. This fool just told me there are no ‘my’ conversations, just ‘we’ conversations because we aren’t a ‘my’, we’re a ‘we’.” I laughed. I couldn’t help it. “I think all those drug-fueled parties in his past have seriously damaged his intellect.”
I smiled. “It’s kind of sweet, though, don’t you think?” I loved how Deke was crazy over Delaney.
“Sweet?” she yelped. “The guy is certifiable, Ava. There’s nothing sweet about crazy. How’s it going to look when I have to drag our kids to the looney bin to visit their father? That’s not a good look, Ava.”
That made me think of our previous conversation. “Are you or Roselyn sporting rings yet?”
“No,” she said in her best whisper. “I think Liam’s going to ask Roselyn this weekend though, because Emerson called me and told me not to make any plans for this weekend.”
I felt that pang in my heart again. I knew Delaney wasn’t going to replace me, but I knew her life was headed in a different direction than mine. “That’s awesome if he does,” I told her honestly.
“So, you want to tell me about Ace,” she said, switching subjects.
“He’s different, Delaney,” I confessed. “He makes me feel different.” I snorted a hollow laugh. “Hell, he makes me feel, period.”
“And you hate that,” she surmised.
“I hate that,” I confirmed.
She was silent for a second before she surprised me with, “When can we meet him?”
“You can’t,” I blurted out. “I mean…why would you want to?”
“Oh, come on,” she whined with great exaggeration. “This is this first guy who has ever made an impression on you, Ava. Of course, I’d want to meet him.”
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