by Eden O'Neill
I wondered how it had happened.
I wondered what had happened to him to make him feel the need to have such control. He seemed to enjoy taking what he needed, power and control meaning more than everything else.
He saw my eyes. Curling a finger, he flicked my hair away from them. He bowed his head then, kissing my eyelids. His mouth moved like he was speaking words over them.
Breathless.
Gentle.
Words.
But he wasn’t gentle. He was calloused and hard like his rough football hands.
In the next seconds, he stripped himself bare down to nothing but his muscled form. Like the rest of his body, he was powerful, chiseled everywhere from his thick torso to his bulky legs. He sheathed himself with a condom before palming my legs apart and made no apologies for those tears he clearly saw. He said he wanted me to scream for him.
I did once he entered me.
I called out at that first thrust, flesh tearing, my body filled to the brink. I wasn’t casual with sex. I only did it with people I trusted or had an emotional attachment to.
Needless to say, that hadn’t been many.
Dorian Prinze was only the third boy I’d been with, and he filled me so largely it was as if he were the only one. He stretched and pulled me from the inside out, the expression of awe on his face telling me he felt the same tension in my core.
“Shit, you’re so tight,” he said, kissing my mouth open before bowing his head and tonguing my nipples. He sucked one in, and I screamed again, his thrust hard and fast between my legs. “You’re mine.”
He said the word mine as if claiming me. Like he had any right to brand me. His words heated over my moist flesh, Dorian’s warm body slick over me. We were both sweating, his body powerful and unrelenting.
“Mine,” he repeated, feral and completely maddened. Drawing back, he watched himself enter me again and again. My muscles expanded and contracted as I hugged my thighs to his hips. He faced me. “You’re mine. You hear that, Noa?”
I’d say whatever he wanted…
As long as he didn’t stop.
As long as he gave himself to me for as long as these few moments in this bed lasted. They would end. I’d get up and realize what a mistake this was. He probably would too, but would most likely still believe his words of ownership.
But I couldn’t be owned. Not by him at least.
I mean, there wasn’t a place for me anyway.
Dorian was consumed by something, and I wasn’t about to fuck with whatever it was. I had my own life, my own family and myself to take care of.
I didn’t have time for the heartbreak.
I cried out again as Dorian took me to my brink, and he roared, the bed slamming against the wall as he fucked me into submission.
“That’s it,” he coached, pumping once, then twice before his eyes rolled back. His cock spasmed inside me, emptying himself into the condom, and the fact he was ridiculously beautiful (even as he came) made me want to touch him.
He let me, my fingers dancing in that lovely blond hair. The tendrils slid through my fingers like shimmering silk, his hair sun-kissed and glowing in the moonlight. He let me play with it for longer than I thought he would before kissing my fingers. He sucked one into his mouth, biting me.
My flesh burned beneath his teeth, my body wriggling below him. I wanted to kiss him again, and I hated myself for it. I hated my draw to him.
But then, he kissed me first.
He bent that big body, crowding me in. He took my mouth like he did everything, no apologies from his full lips.
He kissed me so long I forgot where we were and, eventually, how I’d ended up in his arms. He hugged me to his big body like a teddy bear, playing with my hair as he kissed me.
It felt too good to tell him to stop.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Sloane
I woke up the next morning in a bed and a room I didn’t recognize.
Oh, yeah. Right.
I’d had sex with Dorian Prinze, then fallen asleep with Dorian Prinze.
Not that I had a choice.
His big bear hold had felt really good, and I was a girl with hormones.
Stupid big football player.
He hadn’t let go of me, so I’d stayed snuggled tucked inside his mighty embrace. At some point, I’d realized he’d fallen asleep too, and there was no escape then.
He’d held my ass all night. He’d kept me close like he didn’t want to let go. Like I was his like he said. He might have felt that way, but I didn’t belong to anyone.
He was gone.
He’d left me in this big bed by myself, and right away, I thought about Bru. The last time I’d seen him, we’d both been partying, and it wasn’t like me to just not check in.
He’s probably worried sick.
My brother and I had our problems, but we still cared about each other. I’d worry too if I hadn’t seen him at all after that first run-in we had.
Pressing soft blankets to my boobs, I whipped my bare legs off the bed. I started to look for my bra and panties, but they’d been folded and placed on the bedside table.
With my purse and cell phone.
They both literally sat on top of my folded panties, my trench coat beneath all that.
It’d been folded too.
I found this rather odd, but Dorian had obviously gotten my stuff from coat check. I was just surprised he’d even bothered.
Putting that out of my mind, I opened my phone, and naturally, I had messages from Bru. He’d wondered about me at several points in the night, but then his texts stopped at some point.
Me: I’m going to an after party. Might be out all night.
I’d sent that text at around three apparently.
What the fuck?
Bru’s return text told me to have fun and that he was glad I was doing that for once. My brother was literally happy I was staying out all night and not coming back home.
And Dorian Prinze had lied for me.
He’d covered, which was good, I guess, but a severe invasion of privacy.
Again, I wondered why he’d even bothered. The boy was callous, cold and after getting his dick wet with me, I found it very peculiar he’d actually looked out for me afterward. I mean, why would he care?
This was all terribly confusing, but I had to pee and maybe roll something around in my mouth so it didn’t smell like death. I also had school in like an hour, so I should probably get home and get ready.
Whoever Ares’s parents were, they obviously were really lax or just not around. Considering what a wild child he was, something told me it was the latter. He seemed to be more dysfunctional than even Dorian managed to be and that was saying something.
I’m not going out there in a bra and panties.
I had my coat, but I put the shorts and top on that Dorian had given me over my underwear. I just needed to pee, then I was getting the hell out of Dodge.
I started to put my heels on but decided against that if I was trying to be stealthy. Even still, I kept my heels gripped in my hand and the rest of my stuff under my arm when I toed out of the bedroom in search of a bathroom. There was no doubt several around in this big-ass manor. Ares’s house made Bru’s and mine look like a small cottage.
I got down the hall and simply started trying doors (not smart), but I figured eventually, one would be a bathroom. I found a couple bedrooms, one of which still had several partygoers in it. Some had been in the bed while others were scattered across the floor like the discarded clothing in the room.
Apparently, people just staying over at Ares’s place was old hat after one of his parties.
I closed that door, then started to open another with gold handles.
The voices behind the door stopped me.
Actually, his voice in particular stopped me. Dorian was speaking to someone on the other side of the door.
“I just need you to cover for me today,” he said, his voice low, tense. He always sound
ed on edge, but the rough timbre of his deep voice rattled with heat. “I won’t be long. Just for the day, but my dad’s starting to get suspicious. If he or my mom, or anyone else asks, I was at school all day. I paid my butler off to call in sick for me.”
What the fuck?
I pressed my ear to the door. I probably shouldn’t be listening but…
“This is fucked, man.” Thatcher. Thatcher Reed. “I hate that you’re even telling me this. I hate that I know this.”
“Me too.” Wells was in there with them, maybe Ares too, but I hadn’t heard him. “What the fuck? This is so fucked.”
“I know, but I wouldn’t be telling you if I didn’t have a choice. I need an excuse for today, and Wolf won’t understand,” Dorian said. He sighed. “I just need you to cover for me. Say whatever you have to say, and if Wolf asks, tell him I went out of town. It’s the truth.”
Apparently, he was going somewhere and needed them to back him up. It just didn’t make sense he was keeping Ares out of the information. I mean, he was his friend. Probably his closest the way they interacted.
“Of course, he won’t fucking understand. We don’t understand,” Wells gritted. “And you’re making us an accessory.”
“And keeping shit from Wolf.” Thatcher sighed now. “We don’t lie to each other, D. We don’t keep shit from each other.”
“I think you know, in this case, it’s necessary,” Dorian continued. “You know this will all set Ares off and I… I have to protect him from that. He doesn’t need to know.”
“Charlie wouldn’t want this,” Thatcher gritted, and some shuffling sound. I didn’t know if Dorian got up or what, but for whatever reason, Thatcher stopped talking.
The room silenced.
“I’m doing this for him,” Dorian said. More silence. “Remember that.”
“So you’re a little fucking spy now?”
I whipped around, the boy his friends were just speaking about in front of me now.
He had a black eye.
Ares literally had black ringing one of his dark eyes, his expression heated on me. He wore a silk robe and matching bed pants like some kind of prince, his familiar white tank on beneath. His curls were wet too. Like he’d just gotten out of the shower and was possibly attempting to get ready for school. He stared at the door, then me. “What are you doing?”
I was too busy looking at his eye.
Someone had obviously hit him. I folded my arms. “Nothing.” I frowned. “What happened to your eye?”
Like he remembered, he touched it, wincing a little. It was definitely fresh, and since he hadn’t had that shiner last night, something had happened recently.
“Ask your brother,” he said, surprising me, and my jaw dropped. He shrugged. “It seems he didn’t like the little joke I played on you last night.” He nodded. “I have to say, I respect it. If you were my sister, I would have done the same.”
I felt like I was in an alternate universe right now. My mouth parted. “Bru hit you?”
“Yeah.” He faced me, eyeing the hallway like he didn’t want to admit it. He started to say something, but he possibly thought better of it because he closed his mouth. He eyed the door again. “Stop being a nosy little shit. It’s rude when you’re in someone else’s fucking house.”
Had he known the conversation behind that very door included him, he might have felt differently.
Ares passed me with a huff, and I cursed when something in his pocket punctured my thigh.
“What the hell?” I gazed down, seeing blood. A small dot of red expanded on my thigh. “You scratched me. What the hell is in your pocket?”
Ares appeared aloof as he turned around. He shrugged. “I’d be careful snooping around hallways, little,” he said, frowning. “Some things you hear can’t be unheard.”
Sneering at him, I studied my thigh again. I didn’t know if it was a pen he had or what, but he obviously hadn’t cared he’d stabbed me with it. It wasn’t bleeding a lot, so I just rubbed it away with my borrowed shorts.
Ares sauntered away while I tended to myself, crazy fucker.
“What are you doing?”
Dorian was coming out of that room behind me, Wells and Thatcher behind him.
All three boys stopped.
Wells and Thatcher eyed me, Dorian too. The dark prince frowned. “Well?”
I said nothing, clearly caught outside the door. I’d heard every word behind it too. At least, what I’d walked in upon. Dorian started to say something, but Thatcher placed his big hand on his shoulder.
Thatcher pounded his fist. “We got you, man,” he said, then pulled him into a hug. This surprised me. Boys hugged? I supposed close boys did.
These boys did seem close.
Wells did the same after Thatcher let go.
“Be safe,” Wells added, as if Dorian were about to go to war or something.
Dorian’s tense expression during the exchange hinted it may be something similar. He pulled away from his friend, then pounded Wells’s fist. The two juniors acknowledged me with a chin tip before heading off in the other direction down the hall. They left Dorian and me standing there.
Dorian closed that door they’d all come out of.
“How much of that did you hear?” he asked me, angling closer. He was dressed in his uniform, ready for classes unlike me.
I shrugged. “I was just passing by,” I said. “You’re going somewhere?” I mean, that was all I heard.
The uniform must have been a front.
He obviously wasn’t going to classes today. I’d heard him say the opposite.
Dorian outlined his firm jaw. “Yeah,” he said, his hands shoving into his pockets. His chin jutted in my direction. “You miss your uniform or something?”
He studied my clothing under more than an observant gaze, and seeing all my own shit in my arms, he smiled for some reason. His eyes lifted to the ceiling, then next thing I knew, he was squeezing my shoulder. He directed me right back to the room from which I’d come.
He drew open the curtains once inside, letting the light in, and his next move consisted of pointing toward the fireplace.
A school uniform hung there on a special hook for hanging garments. It wasn’t a male uniform, though. The skirt and tights gave that away.
I headed over to them and blinked when I noticed they weren’t only my size but were mine. Academy uniforms all had our initials sewn into the collar, custom made, and I’d found that laughable when I’d first discovered that little tidbit upon coming here.
Dorian also had a pair of polished pumps beneath them, also mine, and the overnight bag toward the right, really made me scratch my head.
Upon further observance, I noticed it was filled with my toiletries. Like my actual stuff from home and my makeup. I frowned. “What the fuck? Did you rob my house?”
And how in the fuck had he gotten into it?
The dark prince chuckled, lounging his big body back against the fireplace. Could this guy be more of a god? He looked as if he could break the bricks out of it one by one. He grinned. “I had Wells and Thatcher go over to your house this morning and get it,” he admitted, shocking me. He lifted a hand. “And before you ask, your brother let them in. They didn’t break inside. From what I hear, your brother even got your stuff together for you.”
My stomach soured. “Bru knows I stayed over here?” I recalled the texts, but they’d been a lie, not my actual location.
Dorian opened his hands. “I’m sure he guessed,” Dorian stated, pushing off the fireplace. He smirked. “You ashamed of me, little fighter? Our night together?”
I was shocked by him if anything. I shook my head. “Why did you do this? Get my stuff?”
“Why not?” He shrugged as if it were casual. As if what he’d done wasn’t a completely nice and normal thing. Tugging my T-shirt, he brought me forward.
I went.
He exuded heat, sex and had I not still had to go to the bathroom, I might have considered doing som
ething really stupid. Something like kiss his face off until we both couldn’t breathe and be underneath him until I didn’t know where he ended or I began.
“So cautious of me,” he said, playing with my hair. His rough fingers barely grazed my neck, and my flesh heated. He smiled. “Do you ever let your guard down?”
“Do you?” An honest question, and had either of us given each other a reason to? We fucking hated each other.
But right now, we sure weren’t acting like it.
A tense muscle feathered Dorian’s jaw after what I said. He wet his lips. “You should get dressed. If you need a bathroom, this room has one. I should know, this room’s mine.”
My mouth parted. “You have a room in Ares’s house?”
Dorian popped up his big shoulders again. “I’m over here enough.” His hands palmed up my arms until he found my neck. He tipped my chin. “Wolf’s my brother. Thatcher and Wells too.”
I almost asked a stupid question in that moment. He’d mentioned another name behind that door. I wanted to know if this Charlie person was also close to him.
His fingers flicked my hair out of my face. He pinched my shorts, summoning me to come close.
I went again.
I was stupid again, letting his finger curl beneath my jaw.
“You’re a head fuck, you know that?” He scanned my eyes. His hand covered my throat before he forced a kiss so hard on me I nearly shattered again. He’d broken me last night. He’d broken us, whatever we’d been before gone.
And he called me the head fuck.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Sloane
Dorian never told me where he was going, and I didn’t ask after he left the room. He let me get ready, and after, I went to school.
I didn’t even see him on the way out.
I did see Thatcher and Wells, though, before I left. They were in the kitchen, basically raiding Ares’s fridge. Apparently, his parents were out for the week on business, and those particular weeks were the ones where he always threw his parties. They told me all about it while shoveling frozen waffles and microwave hash browns between their lips. They offered me some, but I only took a waffle because I was hungry and didn’t have time to go home before class. I also wanted to get the fuck out of there.