by Mae Doyle
“Please stop me if I’m not getting this right,” he said, a slight smirk on his face. “But you four want me to believe that Brett didn’t really die but something called the council made his mom have a funeral and then hid him away so that we wouldn’t know he was okay? All because you,” he said, pointing at me, “didn’t leave Taylor Prep when they told you to?”
None of us answered for a moment. In fact, when he put it like that, it was easy to see how it all sounded just a little bit ridiculous. I opened my mouth to speak but Brett got to it for me.
“That’s about right, sir,” he said, nodding his head. “My mom and I were moved into a home not far from here and I was told that Rose had died. They told me that I needed to be kept away from school for a while for observation to make sure that I was really okay.”
Mr. Taylor raised an eyebrow. “Do you mind to tell me who, exactly, was in charge of you being locked away with your mom and not allowed to return to school?” He steepled his fingers in front of his face, which, if he was like any other adult that I’d dealt with before, told me that he didn’t believe a word we were saying.
Brett sighed, like he was already exhausted, even though we’d only been in the meeting for a few minutes. Mr. Taylor had wanted to cut right to the chase of why we were there, which I appreciated, but it also made me nervous.
“I know that this sounds ridiculous,” Brett said, ignoring Mr. Taylor when he scoffed, “but there’s a whole group of people called the council who are trying to run the school. It’s not that they want to be the headmaster,” he said quickly, when Mr. Taylor frowned at him, “but they want a role in admissions and who gets to graduate from Taylor Prep.”
“And you think that these people are involved enough to fake your death and your funeral? Who’s to say that it wasn’t a little publicity stunt by the Cox family?” Mr. Taylor took a sip of his coffee and leaned back in his chair while he waited for an answer.
I was sure that he wasn’t expecting one from me, but I piped up anyway. I’d been quiet long enough. “You saw his mom at the funeral! Do you really think that that was all an act? Why in the world would she pretend like that? She was distraught! We all saw it. The council made her think that her son was dead and then had a funeral. It’s fucked up.”
My whole face was heated and I realized as soon as I stopped talking that I overstepped a bit.
“Miss Bennet, I’m honestly not really sure why you’re even in this meeting except for the fact that you were off campus yesterday for longer than allowed. Please excuse yourself and wait in the halls. I’ll finish up with the boys without you.”
My face burned and I stood up, unsure of whether or not he really meant it, but when he simply pointed at the door, I left and waited outside.
All I could think was that we weren’t really in trouble, right? It was crazy for me to think that, after we had just exposed the fact that the council was freaking insane, that we would be in trouble, but that was exactly what it looked like.
I stewed.
I paced.
I glanced in the door window and hoped to catch a glimpse of my boys, but they all had their backs to me.
Finally, after about half an hour, when I was just about to go insane, the door opened. I flew off of the chair I’d finally perched on and rushed over to my rogues. “Everything okay?” I asked, trying to keep my voice low. Slipping my arm through Jackie’s, I pulled him away from the door.
Not one of them spoke until we were out of the main building and in the quad. It was still early enough on Sunday morning that a lot of the students were still in bed or eating breakfast in the dining hall, so nobody paid us much attention.
I knew that as soon as people heard that Brett was back from the dead, however, that the shit would hit the fan. That meant that we needed to figure out what to do about the council as soon as possible.
“I’m sorry,” I finally burst out, turning to look at my rogues, “but I really don’t believe that Mr. Taylor doesn’t know anything about the council. You can’t look at me and tell me that he has no idea there’s a secret group basically running what goes on at the school!”
The boys looked at each other and then Brett sighed before taking my hand and turning me back around. We wanted to get back to our dorm before someone saw us, and me having a meltdown in the middle of the quad didn’t help.
After we’d walked for a moment, he spoke. “He has to know, Rose, but that’s not what is important right now.”
“Yeah, and what is?” If Taylor knew about everything then we needed to come up with a plan as soon as possible. “I can’t see what’s more important than figuring out if Mr. Taylor’s involved with the council or not.”
“Really, Rose?” Kaleb piped up from my other side. “You can’t think of one thing that could be more important?” He sounded angry, but I could tell by the look on his face that he was just really stressed out.
“Just…being safe?”
Brett squeezed my hand and nodded. “Exactly, Rose. Now that Mr. Taylor knows that we know everything, we have to be very careful.”
“He wouldn’t hurt us.” It sounded ridiculous to me that we were even entertaining this thought. “He’s a grown adult and we can’t threaten him. He’s known that we knew about the council for a long time but it never seemed to worry him before, so why would it be a big deal now?”
“Because now my aunt knows, Rosita. Now that she knows that we know the truth then we need to be a bit more careful. You were able to get Sara and Kelly in trouble and even get Kelly kicked out, but you’re going to have to walk a line now.” Jackie shrugged a little like he was resigned to what he was saying.
“No,” I whispered. All I wanted to do this semester was bring Amelia down. If I could get her kicked out of Taylor Prep along with Kelly then that would be even more amazing, but for my rogues to tell me that I might not be able to? That was unthinkable. “No, you can’t expect me to stop now.”
“Rose.” Brett’s voice sounded more serious than I’d heard in a while and I widened my eyes at him. “If Amelia’s mom has told her anything then she’s going to be looking out for you. You can’t think that you can just…come at her like you did with the other two. She’s going to be waiting, and she may even have a plan in place for you.”
I shook my head. “You can’t ask me to give up on bringing her down.”
“We’re not asking, Rosita,” Jackie said, giving my arm a squeeze. “We’re telling you. For your own safety and sanity, you’re going to have to let this thing with Amelia go.”
Something squeezed my heart and I had to focus in order to keep breathing. It was impossible for me to believe that my rogues would ask me to just…give up on Amelia like that. After all that she had done to me and to them, the only option that I saw going forward was to bring her down to a level where I could beat her and then hurt her like she had hurt me.
I clenched my fist and felt the muscle in my jaw start to twitch, but I didn’t answer them. They all knew me well enough to know that asking me to give up on Amelia was out of the question.
They had to.
Right?
“No,” I whispered. It didn’t matter to me if my rogues heard me. I needed to know that I had told them no. I wasn’t going to back down from trying to get my revenge on Amelia. I couldn’t.
I hated to admit it, but it was one of the things that was keeping me going. I knew that I was going to be able to stop her and make sure that she couldn’t ever hurt another person at Taylor Prep. There was even a part of me that hoped that I would be able to teach her a lesson and ensure that she would stop tormenting people who weren’t as strong as her, even though I knew that that was probably ridiculous.
“Well, Rose, looks like you’re about to get your chance to kiss and make up with Amelia. We’re going to do everything we possibly can to keep you safe, honey, but you have to help us, okay?” Kaleb sounded so concerned that I forced myself to look at him. His gorgeous green eyes were locked on mi
ne, practically begging me to help him.
To not push this farther than I already had.
Swallowing hard, I nodded.
I could do this for him, right?
I could do this for my rogues.
Amelia sauntered up, a sick grin on her face. She let her eyes slide over me and landed her gaze directly on Brett. The way she looked at him – like she couldn’t get enough of him and wanted him all for herself – made my stomach twist.
After a moment she leaned forward and ran her finger down his arm before speaking. “You know, my mom told me yesterday that you were alive and I wasn’t sure that I believed it. It sounded almost too good to be true, you know?” She cocked her head and slowly looked him up and down before cutting her eyes over to me. “I always told your little whore over there that it should have been her in the ground, not you. Glad to see that you’re alive, Brett.”
His jaw tightened and I felt Kaleb grab my arm to hold me back.
Remembering to breathe, I closed my eyes for a moment.
I promised my rogues that I would behave.
Honestly, though?
If Amelia kept up like this, I wasn’t so sure I was going to be able to keep my promise.
Chapter 15
Brett sat on my bed watching me stalk around the room. He hadn’t said anything since the other two rogues had dropped us off, both Kaleb and Jackie giving me a kiss on the lips. My mouth still burned with their kisses but I wasn’t able to really think about that right then.
“I know that you want me to play nice, but just don’t know that I can!” I sighed exaggeratedly and dropped my hands down to my sides. Even though I was willing to do anything for my rogues, doing something was a hell of a lot easier than doing nothing.
I hated feeling so useless and like I couldn’t stand up to Amelia, but if the three of them had their way, I just had to relax and ignore her for the rest of the year.
“It’s impossible,” I added, sitting down next to him and leaning my head on his shoulder. Immediately, I was overcome with his delicious cologne and I took a deep sniff, snaking my arm through his and cuddling closer.
I didn’t really want to relax right now, and I sure as hell didn’t feel like I really could, but there was something wonderful about being that close to him and having his strong body next to mine when I hadn’t seen him for weeks.
“Rose,” he said, turning and cupping my cheek in his hand, “I don’t think you understand how terrible it was for me when I thought that you were dead. They told me you’d died and I thought that I’d been the cause of it.” He sucked in a breath and paused for a moment.
I interrupted him. “But I didn’t! They told me that you had died but I knew they were lying. Now we’re back together again, and that’s all that matters. Don’t you see? It’s all going to be okay now.”
“It’ll all be okay only if I don’t lose you for real, Rose. When I thought that I lost you…l was inconsolable. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep, nothing. Seeing you yesterday was the happiest that I have been in a long damn time, and I’m not willing to give that up.”
“What do you mean?” I had a feeling that I knew where this was going, but I didn’t like it. Brett shrugged his shoulders and kissed me on the forehead.
“I mean that I can’t lose you for real. I thought that I did lose you and it sucked, Rose. You have no idea how special you are. You’re the good in the world and the one thing that can make me feel like maybe I have a purpose on this earth. Losing you would take all of that away from me, and I don’t want that to happen.”
“It’s not going to happen.” I forced myself to look deep into his dark eyes. I wanted him to see that I was being serious and that I wasn’t going to do anything that would put him – or us – in jeopardy. “It’s not going to happen, Brett. If the council knows that we know who they are and they’re not doing anything to try to stop us or hurt us then I think we’re okay.”
“Maybe for a bit,” he agreed, “but it’s not going to last, Rose, if you do something to Amelia. I know you well enough. You’re thinking that you can still get away with something, aren’t you?”
I didn’t want to lie to Brett. Hell, I didn’t want to lie to any of my rogues, but what I knew and they didn’t was that if someone didn’t stop Amelia that she wasn’t ever going to back down. If we wanted to keep her from hurting us then we needed to take matters in our own hands.
I was willing to do that for them. She couldn’t hurt me, not really. Physically, sure, but I didn’t have money or prestige that she could take from me. Even though she may be able to topple my rogues and take everything their families had built, I didn’t have that.
Leaning forward, I kissed him. How could I not? This man loved me, just as much as I loved him, and he was worried that something was going to happen to me. I wasn’t scared of what the future would bring as long as I had the rogues on my side.
“Rose,” he whispered, pulling back for a moment, but he didn’t say anything else. Instead, he kissed me back, his mouth hot and crushing on mine as he forced my lips apart. His tongue slid into my mouth, coaxing a moan from deep in my core.
All of the hurt and pain that I’d experienced when I thought that he was dead came crashing through me. I wrapped my hands in his hair and pulled him to me, leaning back so he was crushing me, his strong body pinning me to the bed.
His muscles twisted and hardened under his clothes as I ran my hands over him, feeling my way along his body again.
The last time we’d been together was at his mom’s house. Had we known then that we would be forcefully torn apart, we may have taken more time. We may have slowed down a little just to enjoy the way the other felt and tasted.
But right now, neither one of us wanted to go slow.
I ached for him, a deep burning in the core of my being that would only be sated when I had him in me. I needed to feel him filling me and taking me for his own. It was like my entire body was on fire, or falling apart, and Brett was the only person on the planet who could put me back together.
When he slipped off of me to strip, I took advantage of the break to do the same, quickly stripping out of my clothes until I was in my bra and panties.
“Holy hell, Rose, you’re a sight for sore eyes,” he said, slowly climbing back on top of me. Brett flicked his tongue out and ran a line of kisses from my collarbone down the valley between my tits. I arched my back and moaned at his touch, my nipples pebbling from his warm breath and the way he set all of my nerves on fire.
Reaching down, I wrapped my hands around his thick cock, enjoying the way it felt to have him back in my hands. We never should have been apart.
It wasn’t fair that it took us so long to find each other once I came to Taylor Prep, and then for him to be taken from me was cruel.
I wasn’t going to let that happen again.
When he tugged at the lace on my panties, I lifted my hips so he could slide them off of me. Immediately he ran his fingers through my wetness, slipping them into me and stroking me from the inside.
“Shit, I’ve missed you, Rose,” he said, peppering my face with kisses. I caught his head in my hands and kissed him back, tasting him.
He had no idea how much I craved him.
“You’ve always been the one for me,” he whispered, still working magic with his fingers. When he rubbed his thumb over my clit I felt a shock of energy shoot through my body. My muscles tightened and then relaxed. He must have seen the look on my face because he did it again, this time slower.
My orgasm was building. With his free hand he pulled my bra down, freeing me and then immediately taking my nipple into his mouth. When he sucked it I cried out.
The sensations were amazing and it was almost too much for me to be able to hold back. He knew it and he didn’t stop. Every movement that he made, each flick of his tongue, each time he slid his fingers in and out of me, every fucking thing he did brought me closer to heaven.
“Come for me, Rose,” he w
hispered, leaning up to kiss me. I bit my lower lip, wanting to hang on for longer, but knowing that I couldn’t.
By now, I was too far gone. When he nibbled my ear, his breath hot enough on my skin to make me shiver, I fell apart, clawing his back as I held onto him. He groaned as my nails cut into his skin and rammed his fingers deeper into me, ripping my orgasm from me as I shook and rolled.
When I finally stopped, he leaned back and looked me in the eyes while licking his fingers. My stomach twisted and I felt the same familiar longing start to grow again as he lapped my taste off of him. Without thinking about what I was doing, I flipped him over and grabbed his cock, glancing at him once before I slid down the bed.
When I took his head into my mouth Brett immediately grabbed the back of my head and cried out. “Fuck, Rose!” His voice cut through the silence in the bedroom.
It was almost deafening, but not as loud as the pounding of my heart. I wanted him and I was going to take him.
His cock was huge but I licked it, sliding my tongue up and down his shaft before kissing his head and lapping at the tip. The entire time he moaned, calling out my name from time to time, his breath hitching as the feelings got to be too much.
When he pushed me down on his cock I didn’t fight back, but opened my mouth, wanting to take all of him in. He was just so big that I gagged and he released me.
“In me,” I gasped. “Now.”
I didn’t wait for him to respond before I straddled him and reached down to slowly guide him into me. He split me and I cried out, digging my nails into his chest.
“Rose, go slow!” He sounded worried, but I didn’t want to go slow.
I needed him. When I thought that I had lost him and wouldn’t ever see him again I’d fallen apart. Now that he was here, he was the only person who could heal me and make me whole again.
He filled me and I paused, closing my eyes and biting my lip as I became accustomed to him being in me.