I see you, Blayze texted. Come on in. I’m right here. I’ve got your back.
I took a deep breath and opened the door. Nobody looked at me, much to my relief. I’d dressed simply, not wanting to draw unnecessary attention to myself, with a dark flowy crop top over a tight black tank top and thick high-waisted leggings. No bling, no sparkles, just shadows covering my body. I breathed deeply in the dark, then braved the walk through the pool of yellow light.
Tension sparked in the air, growing tighter the closer I got to the house. The atmosphere was heavy with anticipation. Bright eyes focused on the front door, intent on the den of delights lying on the other side. High-strung, nervous chatter floated around me, but I didn’t hear my name in it. They didn’t care that I was there. They were all just chasing their own highs. I relaxed a little.
Eddie was right inside the door as I stepped inside, and he greeted me with an exuberant hug. “Welcome! Glad you made it. Thought you would chicken out, not gonna lie. Come on in! Let’s get you drunk.”
I glanced around and found Blayze’s eyes. He stood across the room from me, his arms draped lazily over Sam’s shoulders. She was talking animatedly about something, gesticulating and giggling. He responded accordingly, but his eyes stayed on mine. Sam must have noticed, because she snapped off mid-sentence and looked over her shoulder. When her eyes met mine, they flashed darkly and quick as a whip, she turned back to Blayze, yanked his head down and kissed him deep and aggressively. I didn’t need to see much more than that. Knowing that self-torment was the worst kind of torment, I didn’t stop myself from looking away.
The middle room, where the dance floor had been the last time, was brightly lit. The sound system squatted against one wall, glaring out at the empty space. A few people flipped through Eddie’s music catalogue, arguing over what to play. Eddie grinned, pulled his phone out of his robe pocket, and hit a few buttons. Just like that, a loud techno beat was rattling the floor and the lights turned purple. The people glared at each other for a second, then one of them nodded at Eddie. They all shrugged and started dancing.
I glanced up at him, mildly awed by the sway he held over these people. He winked at me, grinning. “It’s how I do, baby. I got the power around here. You could do that too, you know.”
I raised an eyebrow at him and coughed out a little laugh. “Oh really? How?”
He slung an arm around my shoulders and tugged me close to him. I tensed up, but didn’t pull away. I was here under his protection. Pissing him off would be a bad fucking idea, no doubt.
“You get with the king, it makes you a queen, doesn’t it? I gotta say, I was impressed by how you handled Blayze. He’s not really a one-woman guy, but I didn’t see him even look at another girl when he was with you. It made me curious.”
“Curious…in what way?” I asked, trying not to let my nervousness show.
He spun me around, pinning me against the counter. Dropping his hand lower, he lightly held onto my hips, leaving only the smallest of spaces between us. His gaze, though, it burned intensely into mine. “Curious to see what you got that holds him down,” he whispered. “If his brother hadn’t been picked up when he was, I think Blayze would have tried to marry you. Never saw him as the marrying type. Now I want to know why.”
I shook my head, opening my mouth to tell him that I didn’t know, but I didn’t get the chance. He smothered my words with his mouth, kissing me like I had the cure to his poison. I froze, stunned, which only prompted him to press himself even deeper against me. His chest was bare except for the ropes of gold and silver chains he wore around his neck, and his pants hung low around his hips. Heat spread from his throat to his groin as he kissed me, and he thrust his pelvis into mine.
I wriggled my hands between us and pushed him away, gently but firmly. But I was a butterfly and Eddie was a brick wall, there was no budge. He resisted, holding me tighter and kissing me harder. I clenched my teeth together, blocking his tongue from invading my mouth, and forced my chin down. Blocked, he pulled slightly away, breathing hard. His lips were bright red, his eyes dark and lusty. His grip on my hips was crushing now.
“You taste like heaven,” he said huskily. “No wonder Blayze couldn’t get enough.”
I smiled tightly. “You said something about a drink?”
He smacked his forehead. “I’m an idiot! Yeah, babe, no worries. I got you.”
When he finally moved away, I blew out a huge breath, pressing my hands to my knotted stomach. Tension twisted down my body, making me feel ill. Eddie was hot and powerful. Getting with him would give me the same protection as being with Blayze had, maybe even more. I wouldn’t be betraying Blayze because he was back with Sam, and seemed to want to stay that way. Eddie was my best shot at staying safe until graduation.
But he was Eddie. He was a king, sure—a king of light criminal activity and heavy sexuality. His powerful personality and everything that went with it would twist me into someone I didn’t even recognize. I could feel it. He wasn’t used to being told no. He didn’t even seem to think it was a possibility, the way he moved in on me. My mind raced. Nobody ever told me how to deal with the pack leader when I was surrounded by hungry wolves. I closed my eyes, wishing I had never come here.
“Room spinning already, lightweight?” Sam’s voice made my eyes fly open. She’d sauntered into the kitchen with one hand tucked snugly into Blayze’s back pocket. Everything in her posture claimed him as her territory, and her eyes dared me to challenge her.
“No,” I said.
“She’s dizzy with passion,” Eddie said with a smirk.
Blayze’s mouth tightened and he shot Eddie an angry look. Eddie just grinned back at him. “What do you two lovebirds want to drink?” Eddie asked them.
“You know what I like,” Sam said, grinning like a cat. “Get me blasted.”
“One rocket launcher of doom coming up,” Eddie said. “Or two? Blayze, what do you want?” There was a double meaning in his tone. Sam heard it too. She narrowed her eyes, tilting her head up to watch Blayze’s face. He didn’t look at me. It broke something in my heart.
“Just a beer,” Blayze said.
Eddie grinned like a shark, his eyes sparking. “That’s what I thought,” he said. He passed them their drinks, then walked back around the counter to press a drink in my hand. “And a tequila sunrise for the lady,” he said in a low growl as he pressed his forehead against mine. “Call it foreshadowing.”
He put his hands on my shoulders and swept them slowly down my body, shifting closer to me. When his face was buried in my neck and his hands were on my ass, I knocked back the drink in a single swallow. I glanced at Blayze to see that his ears burned a dark, angry red, but his face was blank. Sam ground her hips against him, trailing her fingers down his spine.
“I wanna dance,” she whined.
“Then go dance,” Blayze said shortly.
She gasped, slapping him lightly. “By myself? Blayze, you bastard, come dance with me!”
I watched him go and helplessness rose in my chest. Eddie was moving to the music, dancing against me suggestively, breathing heavily against my skin. My body reacted confusedly, tight with anxiety in my chest, loose with liquor and physical sensations between my hips. I shook him off and stepped away, putting space between us which he instantly tried to close.
“Hold on,” I said. “I’m not ready for all this, Eddie. I barely know you.”
He scoffed. “Everybody knows me,” he said. “I’m the king. This is my kingdom. What more do you need to know?”
Everything. Specifics jumbled around in my head, bouncing off of anxiety and getting lost in puddles of booze, and I hesitated a second too long. Eddie nodded like he understood something.
“I see,” he said. “You’re still hung up on Blayze. That’s all right, I get it. He’s not worth your aggravation, though, trust me. I’ve watched that guy put Sam through hell for years. You’re better than that. You’re a princess by birth, destined to become queen. I have
an empire, Arlena. Don’t you want to be a part of that?”
I blinked. “I—what kind of empire?”
He grinned as though he’d won. Really, I was just keeping him talking long enough for me to figure a way out of this.
“That’s a secret,” he said. “One known only to my closest people. No girl has ever known what I do when I’m not doing them. Not a single one. But you? You’re smart. You’re connected. You ask questions and think about the answers—and you’re discreet.” He stepped toward me again and put a hand on my shoulder, running his thumb over my throat. I swallowed hard as my heart beat painfully fast.
“I know you kind of got shafted with those rumors about your dad,” he said softly. “These guys, they’re all short-sighted. They don’t get it. Punishing you for your parents might make them feel better for a little while—but they don’t see how useful those connections can be.”
Realization clicked and my head spun like a top on speed. “You want to get with me because you want a smoke screen and a spy,” I blurted out. “You want a walking radio scanner.”
He grimaced and threw his head back, then touched his forehead to mine again. “No, baby, no. I want a queen. Someone who can move with me through bigger and better circles. Someone cultured and smart. A partner in the business. It’ll be so worth it, Arlena. You don’t even know. I already have more money than I could spend in ten years. With you by my side, we’ll be wealthy beyond your wildest dreams forever. We’ll be untouchable. We’ll be…we’ll be gods.”
I was trembling now. Really and truly, trembling. “Why did you wait so long to ask me this?” I asked.
“Because I knew you weren’t ready,” he said softly. “You’re still scared of my world. I can see it all over your pretty little face. But you’re more afraid of being alone in this place, surrounded by people who only see the threat you pose. Trust me, baby—once you’re with me, all of that disappears.”
No more harassment. No more stalkers. No more anxiety about going to school. But at what cost? I knew he wasn’t into anything even remotely legal, and he wasn’t just asking me to turn a blind eye. He wanted me to be a part of it.
A giggling girl stumbled into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle, then stumbled out again. Young. So damn young. If I wasn’t as on edge as I was, I probably wouldn’t have noticed. I’d have probably smashed all the faces together like I did the last time I was here and not paid attention to the details. But with the discomfort I felt in this particular situation and not being close to the only person in this place who really had my back, I noted the details. The faces that popped in and out. The voices that drew nearer before fading into the background of the music. Maybe it was my subconscious searching for Blayze. Begging him to come back and save me from all the things that were happening as well as the ones that had not happened yet. Whatever it was, it made it impossible not to note the girl. She couldn’t have been older than… fifteen.
I shook my head. “I can’t, Eddie.”
“Sure you can,” he said, his voice almost a purr.
He pushed his fingers into my hair and tilted my head back. He kissed me again with calculated tenderness, then deepened the kiss. I was backed against a wall. I didn’t want him to kiss me, but a part of me felt like I had to let it happen anyway. As his lips danced around mine, I kept my eyes slightly open. Not even a minute later, Blayze stepped into the room with Sam’s glass in hand and glared in our direction. There was hurt behind the fury in his eyes and it broke my heart to see it.
He mixed a drink and stormed off. Eddie released me, breathing deeply, and stroked my face. “You see? I’m not so bad, baby. Blayze is okay, but I’m better. Love Blayze as I do, I bet even he would admit to you that I’m better at a whole lot of things.” As he said that he slid one hand down my side and over my hips, then flattened it between my thighs. I gasped as he brushed against my crotch.
“Stop,” I choked out. “I don’t want to do this.”
He pulled away and cocked his head to one side. “Like, ever? Or do you just need a couple more drinks?” He paused, his eyes widening, and dropped his voice. “Holy shit, are you really a virgin? I thought Blayze was fucking with me.”
My face burned with humiliation. It made me sick that Blayze would have told people about that. In the moment, I think I was glad that I had never slept with him, certain that he would have told everybody about that, too.
“Well, shit. I’ll take that as a yes.” He slipped a hand through mine and pressed my fingers to his lips. “You saving yourself for marriage? Cause I can get a prenup and a preacher here in, like, ten minutes.”
I shook my head frantically. I felt like I was tied to the roof of a train, hurtling toward disaster with no way off. “I don’t want to marry you,” I said.
He shrugged. “That’s fair. But you do want to be my girlfriend, don’t you? All that power at your fingertips. All that protection. All—of this.” He gestured at himself, striking a rock idol pose. “This house would be yours. All the clothes and cars and money you could ever want. All I would need from you is your loyalty.”
My brain buzzed warnings in my head. I couldn’t tell him no, not while standing here in his house, at his party, under his protection. People already thought I was disloyal, and he had all of them in the palm of his goddamn hands. If he told them to go after me in his house, they would. He would never have to lay a hand on me. I’d be torn apart. Ripped to fucking threads.
“Can I think about it?” I asked timidly.
He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Sure thing,” he said. “Just don’t think too long. This is a limited-time offer, baby, and there’s still a whole lot of school left.” He tipped his head to whisper in my ear, his breath hot and wet against my neck. “And don’t think they’ll stop tormenting you after graduation. People have long memories around here. If you’re gonna keep living here, you better fix your reputation while you still have a chance. After high school, people play for keeps.”
He winked at me, refilled my glass, then disappeared into the front of the house to play host. My heart galloped in my chest and my hands shook. Fear clouded my mind, sneaking in around every corner. I was just as terrified to say ‘yes’ as I was to say ‘no’. It very much felt like the smart thing to do would be to turn Eddie down. Somehow, though, it also felt like the idiot move. Not unless, I was tell my mother that ‘yes’ she needed to get me the hell out of this place. I needed Blayze. He said he had my back tonight—and more than anything, I needed exactly that.
Without further hesitation, I stepped out of the room and went in search of him. I found him in a small, dim room off the entryway. He was sitting on the couch as Sam straddled his lap, grinding to the music and sucking his face off. I stood awkwardly, wondering if there was a chance of him breaking away any time soon—at least before Eddie could come back and claim me like he very much wanted. There were other people in the room with Blayze, most of them engaged in a similar activity.
“Join in or get lost,” a guy hissed at me, then waved his arm as if inviting me into the embrace he shared with two other women. I took his words and ran with them, fleeing to the kitchen as I tried to fight the pounding in my head.
There was no help for me here. This was one I had to figure out for myself. Why didn’t Blayze warn me that Eddie had his eyes on me? I could have been prepared, could have weighed my options in advance. I didn’t even want to weigh a single one these damn options, I thought angrily. I didn’t want Eddie. Period. I wanted Blayze. I wanted butterflies that danced non-stop in the pit of my stomach. I wanted kisses that felt like feather around my heart. And let’s say that there was some universe out there where I’d be inclined to say ‘yes’ to Eddie, I’d still get none of those things. Eddie wouldn’t be gentle or patient with me the way Blayze had been. He wouldn’t wait for me to process things, wouldn’t try to protect my innocence. He’d touch me whenever he wanted and put me in uncomfortable situations and force me to make impossible decisions
with a drink in my hand. I scanned the door, wondering just how fucking hard it would be to make a run for it. There were so many people there, standing like guards as opposed to regular party-goers. Amongst them, the very same people who were very much okay with bullying me to my face. I decided that even walking past them was better than spending another minute here. One foot in front of the other, I tried to push through the crowds.
“Not leaving so early?” a voice came.
I lifted my head to take in a face I didn’t recognize. “Sorry.”
“The party’s just getting started.” He crossed his arms in front of himself, somehow growing in height and in width as he did so. Something about that sounded like a threat and knowing better than to stick around and find out, I retreated.
“No, I was just…Have you seen Eddie? He was supposed to come find me a while ago and-” Already I was using him as a defense. I felt like a traitor. I felt like a fool. I felt trapped.
Furious at myself and Blayze and Sam and especially Eddie, I walked my way into the kitchen and made the weakest drink known to man. I knocked that drink and made another.
In hindsight, it was stupid. Splitting large amount of alcohol into different cups will get you just as drunk as drinking it in one swoop.
20
I hadn’t seen Arlena in hours, but Eddie promised me he would keep an eye on her. Problem was, I hadn’t seen Eddie in hours either. The thought of him taking her to bed made my stomach churn. I never said she was off-limits. And, to be honest, it was my own fault he was after her. I could have said something in the kitchen, but that would have made Sam more suspicious than she already was.
Not that she was thinking much of anything right then. She was sprawled across my lap, drool dripping from the corner of her mouth, totally passed out. She’d worn herself out dancing on me, pulling out every trick she knew to get me to fuck her. Under other circumstances, she might have gotten what she wanted. But tonight, it didn’t work.
Manic: A Dark Bully Romance Page 14