Temper Him: A Dark High School Romance (Rebels at Sterling Prep Book 6)

by Caitlyn Dare

  When Conner’s eyes snap open, they’re completely black. “Kenny, tell me what’s going on. I’m begging you.”

  “I... he...” I don’t want to say the words, but one of Conner’s hands winds around the side of my neck, stroking my pulse point as if he’s coaxing them right out of me.

  “Did he touch you?” It’s a low growl, and Conner’s body begins to tremble. His fingers splay around my throat as he pins me to the trunk. “Kennedy, answer me. Did you let him touch you?”

  “You think I could stop him?” Tears leak from my eyes. “He took me to the fight night last Sunday.”

  “You… you were there?” His eyes go wide.

  I nod, trying to smother the pain bleeding from my pores. “He...” I inhale a shuddering breath.

  “What, Kenny?” he grits out. “What did that motherfucker do?”

  “H-he made me watch you fight while he...” I can’t say it. The words die on my tongue right along with my heart.

  “He fucked you there? At the fight?”

  A whimper spills from my lips as Conner tears away from me and buries his face in his hands. My knees buckle and I reach out for the tree, holding myself up.

  “That’s why I didn’t reply... I couldn’t...”

  “I’ll kill him.” Conner’s eyes burn into mine, his expression deadly. “I’ll fucking kill him.”

  “No, no, you can’t.” I throw myself at him, wrapping my body around him like a blanket. At first Conner doesn’t respond, just stands deadly still, his chest heaving between us.

  “I’m sorry,” I cry into the crook of his neck. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

  His arms wind around me for a second, but then he untangles me from his body. The dark expression on his face sends shivers down my spine. “You need to go,” he breathes.

  “W-what?” Pain lances my chest.

  “I can’t even fucking look at you right now.”

  “C-Conner? It’s me. It’s Kennedy.”

  The words sound so stupid. He knows it’s me. He just sees me differently now, like I knew he would.

  A girl’s moans pierce the air and he flinches, cussing under his breath.

  “He’s out there right now, balls deep in some other girl and you’re just what... going to go home with him and let him fuck you with her cum still on his dick?”

  I try to smother another whimper, but it escapes my lips as I clutch my throat, trembling.

  “Are you just a whore now, K?” Conner stalks toward me, contempt burning in his eyes. “Do you like it? Do you like letting him take what he wants from you? Is that why you left me, babe? Because I didn’t treat you like a whore?”

  He trails a finger down my cheek, dragging it through my salty tears.

  “Conner, don’t...”

  “Don’t what, babe? Don’t treat you like that?” He leans in closer, brushing the shell of my ear with his tongue. “But it gets you wet, doesn’t it?”

  My fingers twist into his t-shirt. “N-no, that’s not true.”

  “Are you sure, babe? Because I can feel your heat from here. I bet if I slide my fingers inside your pussy.” His hand dips between us and he hikes up my skirt, tearing my panties aside and lazily sliding his fingers through my pussy.

  “Jesus, K, you’re fucking soaked.” He doesn’t sound pleased about it, he sounds disgusted. “You lied, babe. You do like it.” He nips my earlobe, sending a bolt of pleasure through me. “You like being treated like a whore. Is that what you want? Do you want me to go fuck some other girl and then come back here and fuck you? See how it makes you feel, knowing my dick was inside some other pussy first?”

  “Fuck you, Conner.” The palm of my hand collides with his face. “Fuck you.”

  The world stops, and we stare at each other for a moment. Disbelief shines in his eyes, but then his lips twist with wicked intent.

  Conner’s body knocks me back against the tree as he wraps a hand around my throat and kisses me hard. I gasp around his tongue as he plunges it into my mouth until I can’t breathe. I claw at his back, at his shoulders, trying to get him to let up. But then he pushes two of his thick fingers inside me and I go lax in his arms.

  “God, Conner,” I cry, as he works me with his fingers, spearing them inside my pussy and stretching me.

  “I’m going to fuck him out of you, K. When I’m done, you’ll only ever remember me.”

  “Y-yes.” I swallow as he devours me with his lips, his tongue and teeth. He scrapes and bites, kisses and sucks. It feels so good, and I don’t realize he’s jacking himself off until I feel the angry head of his cock bump against my clit.

  “I need you, Conner...” God, I need him so much.

  He tears his fingers out of me and forces them into my mouth. “Taste yourself, whore,” he demands, and I suck them clean.

  I try to reach for his cock, but Conner shoots me a wicked grin. “You think you get to touch me after you let him fuck you?”

  “C-Conner...”

  “Turn around.”

  My brows furrow.

  “You think I want to look at you?” he spits. “I said turn the fuck around.”

  Tears spill down my cheeks as I stand there, my head fuzzy from the liquor, my heart in tatters from the dark expression on Conner’s face.

  “Conner, I don’t—"

  He grabs me roughly and spins me around, pushing me up against the tree. The air whooshes from my lungs as a tremor of fear shoots through me.

  He won’t hurt me.

  Conner loves me.

  He loves me.

  But he’s hurting, and now he wants me to hurt.

  And I wish I could blame him, I wish I could make him into the monster here... but I can’t.

  His hands tug and pull at the material covering my ass. He grabs a handful of flesh, squeezing hard. Slick fingers slide between my ass cheeks, teasing the tight hole. “Has he taken you here, K?”

  I shake my head, unable to fight the tears now.

  “Maybe I should then.” One of his fingers breaches the entrance and I cry out, the sting too much.

  To my relief his fingers move, gliding around to my pussy. He spears them deep inside me a couple of times, making me moan.

  “I want you to scream, baby. When I’m fucking you, I want you to scream my name so everyone knows exactly who you belong to.”

  Conner slams inside of me so hard my breath catches in my throat. He isn’t soft or gentle, he doesn’t love me with his body. He fucks me.

  Conner fucks me like he hates me.

  And it occurs to me that maybe he does.

  He holds my hips firmly in place, leaning over my body slightly to kiss and lick the skin along my shoulder. “Did he fuck you like this, K?”

  “N-no,” I cry. Because it’s the truth. Nothing Warren can do to me will ever hurt as much as this moment.

  But despite all the pain and heartache I feel, Conner works my body into a needy, breathy mess.

  My womb clenches with every thrust, my skin vibrating and drenched in pleasure. He slides a hand around my stomach, finding my clit and rubbing so hard and fast I see stars.

  “Come, babe. Come all over my cock so later when he fucks you, he’ll know I was here first.”

  I smother another whimper, too lost to the intense sensations coursing through me. Conner folds his body over mine, pressing me painfully against the tree.

  “Mine, K. This,” he cups my pussy right where he’s fucking me, “is mine.”

  I’m boneless, hardly able to stand as he continues driving into me. My stomach coils tight but my orgasm doesn’t come. I’m too on edge, too up in my own head.

  “God, K, you feel so fucking good.” Conner ruts into me, pinching and flicking my clit with cruel abandon until I’m a writhing mess beneath him.

  “I’m close, babe. I’m so fucking close.”

  I feel him grow harder inside me, and sheer panic fills me. What if Warren knows? What if he takes me later and realizes?

 
Oh Conner, what have you done?

  I brace myself for him to come, but at the last second he grabs my hair and forces me to my knees, growling, “Open,” just in time to slide his cock into my mouth, hot jets of cum spurts down my throat.

  Conner holds me there, his fingers buried deep in my hair as he stares down at me. His hand slides to my mouth as he pulls out and tucks himself back into his shorts. “I love you Kennedy, so fucking much.” He presses his thumb against my bottom lip. “But I really hate you right now.”

  “I know.” My eyes flutter shut, tears still streaking down my cheeks.

  I want to say something, anything to fix this. But the truth of the matter is that until James handles his business, we’re stuck here.

  Conner lets out a guttural roar, his fist flying into the trunk behind me. “Fuck,” he grunts, “fuuuuuck.”

  My body trembles, crashing fast.

  His eyes finally lower to mine, and what I see guts me.

  Conner doesn’t only hate me.

  He hates himself.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Conner

  Our eyes hold for a beat. Every part of my body screams at me to take her in my arms and run, but I know I can't. The sounds of others enjoying themselves around us ring out, reminding me of just how fucked up this situation is. He could be mere feet away, balls deep in that whore, while I treated Kenny in exactly the same way.

  "I-I can't fucking do this," I say quietly. It's more for myself than it is for her, but she gasps as if she hears me anyway.

  Spinning on my heels, I force myself to run through the darkness before I do something that's going to cause more harm than good.

  Once I'm out of the darkest part of the woods, I pull my cell from my pocket.

  Conner: I need you to keep a close eye on her. I just left.

  Levi: What the fuck did you do?

  Guilt swamps me as I read his words. What the fuck did you do?

  The words I spat at her, the way I touched her… it comes back to me and I retch. I'm no fucking better than him.

  Bile burns up my throat as I replay it over and over in my head.

  Conner: Just look after her.

  I rip the car door open when I reach it and drop into the driver's seat.

  My roar fills the small space as my hands slam down on the wheel.

  All I want is my fucking girl in my arms, beside me, safe.

  Pulling my cell back out, I find her new number.

  Conner: I'm sorry.

  Tears burn my eyes and emotion clogs my throat, but I refuse to allow myself to succumb to it. Instead, I use it to feed my anger as I start the car and race back toward the Bay. Ellen let it slip earlier that Dad is heading back tonight, and I want to be there waiting for him.

  I'm done watching Kenny get hurt for the sake of whatever he’s hiding.

  It's time to get some answers.

  It’s time to end this fucking thing for good.

  His car isn't in the driveway when I get back, but that doesn't stop me.

  I run up the main staircase, grateful that no one intercepts me, but I shouldn't be surprised; they're all celebrating Valentine's the way it should be, not with a fucked-up encounter in the woods.

  I shut down the memories of tonight as I let myself into Dad's office.

  As always, it's tidy as fuck with not so much as an out of place piece of paper on his desk.

  What does this motherfucker actually do?

  I take a seat behind his huge mahogany desk and start pulling drawers open. If he's as shady as I’m starting to believe he might be, then I doubt he's going to leave anything incriminating around.

  I've trashed every drawer and cupboard in the room by the time the door is pushed open.

  I look up from the pile of folders I'm surrounded by, I'm sure looking as guilty as a toddler who's been caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

  "Conner," Dad growls, his eyes scanning the destruction.

  "I'm done, Dad. I'm fucking done. He's hurting her. He's fucking..." The words get stuck in my throat.

  "I know, Son. I know. I'm so sorry," he says, his face twisting with his admission.

  "You fucking know, and you're standing by and letting it happen? I fucking love her, Dad. Fucking. Love. Her."

  "I know. But you're not going to find any of the answers here." He steps over a pile of papers I'd thrown across the floor and makes his way to his chair.

  "I need something. You need to tell me something. What do you even do, Dad?" I seethe, standing to my feet and stalking toward him.

  "Take a seat," he instructs.

  "I'd rather stand." I hold his eyes, showing him that I'm not scared of whatever it is he has to say to me. Right now, I don't give a shit what he does, so long as he can get K out of this mess.

  "As you wish." He leans forward, resting his elbows on the edge of his desk and watching me as I pace back and forth. "There's a lot you don't know."

  No fucking shit.

  "The Jaggers... there's a history that goes back a long way. It's complicated, it's corrupt, and whether we like it or not, we're connected to some very dangerous men."

  My lips part, but I can't figure out what I even want to say to that.

  "One of the reasons I didn't fight to get you all out of the Heights sooner—when I should have—was for fear of dragging you into all this. Charlie had walked away, but I didn't have a choice. He always thought I was destined for all the incredible things our father handed down to me, but he didn't know the truth. He had no idea what the 'business' was, and that I never wanted anything to do with it."

  "So why do you have anything to do with it?"

  He chuckles, but there's no humor in it. "I didn't have a choice. My name, the fact that I was the oldest. Since the day I was born, it was expected of me to step into my father's shoes when the time came."

  "I don't get how this ties to Kenny."

  "I work for a lot of dangerous people, Conner. I know things—I'm trusted with things—that should never see the light of day and—"

  "Warren knows them."

  "Some of them. Him knowing about what Cole did is a drop in the ocean compared to what else he's unearthed. If it were to be exposed, none of us would live long enough to even appreciate the hellfire that would be coming our way."

  My mouth opens and closes like a fucking fish as I stare at him.

  "How'd he find out?"

  "Honestly, Son, I don’t know. I'm better than that. I cover my tracks too well to allow a piece of shit like him to find it. But he knows enough to know I can't risk it. I can't risk all your lives because of one jumped-up asshole who thinks he can play us."

  "What's his deal? He can't just be so obsessed with Kenny that he's willing to do all this."

  "He's got his own secrets too, Conner."

  "Secrets that you know, I assume."

  He doesn't confirm my suspicions, but he doesn't need to.

  "So these people you work for, are they some kind of cult or gang or something?"

  "That doesn't matter right now."

  "You said that you had to take over because you were first born and all that bullshit. Does that mean Ace—"

  "It means nothing right now, Conner. What I've told you needs to stay in this room. Once this is all over, I'll talk to the three of you about our heritage and where you really come from. Because the reality is, you're all far from the Heights boys you think you are. But right now, that little cocksucker and your girl need to be our priority."

  "Tell me this is coming to an end soon. I can't sit back and watch him hurt her much longer."

  "Sit back?" he asks, one brow lifting. "Where were you tonight, Conner?"

  I blow out a breath as we stare at each other. "Clearly you already know."

  "I've got men all over the Heights, watching them. I know every single time you set even a foot on Heights soil, Son."

  "Great."

  "I've let it go, for now. But you need to know that people's lives are a
t risk every single time you feel the need to go to her. And I'm not just talking about mine and yours, I'm talking about your brothers, Sarah, Remi, Hadley, everyone. This might sound like some action thriller movie, but I can assure you it's not. The threat is very, very real, and these people will not spare a second thought at putting a bullet through all our heads."

  I nod at him, my head spinning. I feel like he's told me a lot but nothing, all at the same time. I turn to leave, knowing from the narrowing of his eyes that I'm not going to get anything else from him.

  "Kennedy's birthday," he says when my hand touches the door handle. "Her friend is going to plan a party at the bar. That's our night. That's the night you get your girl back."

  I want to ask more, but I know it's pointless. He'll tell me the details when he thinks I need to know them.

  "I hope you're right, I hope I really can trust you," I mutter before ripping the door open and storming out.

  The slam of my bedroom door echoes around the silence of my room. I fall down on my bed, trying to get my head around everything that's happened tonight, all the while trying not to let my mind wander to what might have occurred after I walked away from her.

  She went straight back into his arms, I have no doubt of that. But did he know I was there? Did he know she was with me? And if so, how exactly is he going to punish her for it?

  My stomach turns over once more, and I'm just about to run to the toilet when my cell vibrates.

  K: I know. Me too.

  "Fuuuuuuuck," I scream. I need to do something, but what can I do. What the fuck is going to make this any better?

  I jump from the bed and strip out of my clothes on my way to the bathroom. I turn the shower on as hot as it will go and stand under the stream, allowing the water to burn my skin.

  I need the pain. I just wish I could take hers away, because I already know that what I can do to myself pales in comparison to what she's going through right now.

  When I get back into my bedroom with my skin still tingling in pain, I know that there's no way I'm going to be able to wait until her birthday. I know it's selfish when I'm putting others at risk, but as far as I see it right now, Kenny getting hurt worse than she already has been is the biggest risk.