Barely resisting an eye roll, I stalk from the room. The teacher calls after me, but I’m done. I make it halfway down the hall before the sound of footsteps reaches my ears. I angle my head back and find Maisy following me. My brows lift.
Cutting class? That’s a first.
“You’re not even going to say anything, asshole?”
She grabs my arm once she’s close enough and pulls hard to yank me around. It only works because I wasn’t expecting it. As soon as I plant my feet, I become an immovable wall.
Cheeks pink, she takes a step into my space. “How’d you do it?” When I don’t offer up an answer, air hisses between her teeth. “My research project that took me two months to do isn’t on my cloud drive anymore. At lunch I found it—” She breaks off with a disgusted sound and glares at me. “How the hell did you do it, Fox? Why did you do it?”
I ignore her, staring over her head. Growing more frustrated by the minute, she pushes at my chest and releases an agitated little grunt when I don’t move.
“Which is it?” Maisy demands. “I just want to know so I can stop getting whiplash. Cold shoulder and ignoring me again, or all your damn focus on me to toy with me in these demented mind games?”
That catches my attention. Smirking, I crowd her against the lockers, enjoying the startled but challenging look on her face.
“You want my attention again, daisy?” It comes out as a deep, threatening rasp. “Is that what you really want?”
Her mouth sets in a firm line. “Don’t call me daisy.”
I grab her waist tight, shoving a knee between hers to keep her pinned in place. Her legs clench together around my thigh and she buries her teeth in her lip, holding herself as far away from me as she can. A dark chuckle rolls through me. I trace my bottom lip with my tongue as I study her face for every reaction.
“Are you sure? Because the way you’re squirming on my leg suggests otherwise. You like it when I pay attention to you, even if I make it hurt.” Her face flushes and I edge closer, pinning her whole body with mine. A faint sound escapes her, but she lifts her chin stubbornly. The feel of her soft chest is familiar and draws a growl from me. “People say I’m a bad boy. Shouldn’t that make you want to run instead of rub your pussy on me hoping I’ll get you all dirty again?”
This close, her intoxicating floral and coconut scent tempts me to repeat what happened at the party a few weeks ago. Make fresh marks on her to remind her of me long after. Fuck, as soon as I allow the memories in, I’m drowning in her all over again.
“Fox,” she whispers hoarsely.
Watching her face closely, my grasp flexes on her waist and I move my leg so it connects with the apex of her thighs. Her breath catches and she shudders. She digs her fingers into my shirt and manages to shove away from me by bucking her hips and twisting out of the hold I had on her. The only reason she gets away is because I’m momentarily impressed she handled herself so well when I had her cornered against the lockers.
The door to the bathroom a few feet away slams shut once she flies through it and a bark of laughter bursts from me at how easy she is to predict. But she doesn’t get to run from me. I’m not done with her yet.
Not after she looked at me with all that forbidden want in her hazel eyes.
Stalking down the hall like a nightmare come to life, I follow her into the bathroom. It’s straight out of a swanky hotel instead of a high school, with wood paneled stalls and granite countertops. Nothing like the grimy public schools I was bounced through in the system before the DuPonts came along.
“You finally figured out you should run when I’m around. Too bad I wasn’t finished,” I say as the door shuts ominously behind me.
Maisy jumps in surprise by the row of sinks. “Dude, this is the girls’ room. You can’t—”
“Well isn’t this a familiar scene for us.”
While she’s caught up, I move, herding her. It cuts off her protest. She backs up twice for every one of my long strides. The edge of my mouth curls up when I have her where I want her, trapped in the far stall.
“I go wherever the hell I want.”
Maisy’s throat works on a swallow. She keeps a wary eye on me as I advance on her until her back hits the wall, my chest brushing hers. I can feel the rise and fall with each of her breaths. She’s not backing down still. Interesting.
“You should get out of here. It’s almost the end of the period. Someone will see you.”
“Yeah?” I grab her throat, enjoying the flash in her eyes. There’s something dark and depraved deep inside her that likes it when I’m controlling, dominant, and demanding. “You should be trying harder to get away from me right now.” Leaning in, I brush my lips against the corner of her mouth. “I dare you to scream.”
She jerks against me, whipping her head to the side. She speaks to the wall. “You’re so messed up.”
“Only because you made me this way,” I mutter as I bury my nose against her temple, inhaling her sweet floral scent.
I shouldn’t want you at all…but part of me still does.
My heart thumps and I cover the ragged breath that knocks out of me by pressing into her, taking her wrists and wrestling them over her head. I hold them in one hand and put my lips to the shell of her ear as she struggles and wriggles.
“Is that fight real or fake, baby?” I nip at her lobe and plant a hand next to her hip, tracing the edge of her plaid skirt. “Funny how you aren’t screaming for me to stop. So either you want me to take whatever I want from you, or…”
I trail off and her expression says it all when I peer down at her. Defiant, but underneath it there’s a hunger burning in her pretty eyes. One that calls to the same insatiable lust brimming inside me, making my dick hard.
It shouldn’t. This girl destroyed me once.
I let her in that night at the party and used her body because it was a good cover. A moment of weakness I allowed because hating her in person rather than from afar was its own form of agony.
Yet my cock stiffens and I’m filled with the desire to taste her mouth, to swallow those breathy sounds she makes when she’s close to coming. It’s the one line I haven’t crossed.
“If you were really going to hurt me, you would’ve done it by now.” She’s only half confident, but she stares me down. “I’m not afraid, so do your worst.”
She’s right.
This time I can’t blame needing extra cover. I just want to take from her.
As I stare at those full lips, drawn inch by inch to close the small gap between us, the door clangs open. I still, remembering where we are. Maisy goes rigid, eyes wide as someone turns on water at the sinks. I release her wrists and grab the back of her thighs, lifting her. She manages to muffle a squeak, dangling until she realizes what I want her to do.
A smirk tilts my mouth when she’s forced to wrap her legs around my waist rather than hanging there off balance. Adjusting so I can support her more easily, I mime a finger to my lips to tell her she better be quiet. She grants me the tiniest nod and the wicked sensation spiraling through me shouldn’t excite me as much as it does.
Dirty, dirty girl.
No one at this school gets to see this version—the wild child. As I skim a hand down her side and bring my mouth back to her neck, I almost laugh, giving us away. She hides the vindictive little promise breaker well. Just like she hid the hickey I gave her. I’ll just have to mark her all over again. I look forward to catching hints of my secret claim on her.
I bite her neck and hold her tight to absorb the force of her response, her back arching and her thighs squeezing tighter around my waist. Shit, she likes it rough. My cock throbs in my jeans and I send up a silent prayer of thanks for uniform skirts alongside the skintight yoga pants she favors outside of school.
Licking a trail up her neck, I stop at her ear, speaking in a smoky whisper. “If they catch you right now, they’ll know you’re not the good girl you pretend to be. I’ll ruin that pretty reputation and show them who you really are.”
She rests her forehead on my shoulder, whimpering as she places her hands on my chest. Sweeping her hair aside for better access, I nibble on her pulse point. Her nails dig into me hard and I grunt, reaching down to squeeze her ass through the skirt in retaliation. I find a new spot of her throat to torture, one that makes her writhe and mash her face into the muscled juncture between my shoulder and neck. Her lips brush over my skin inside the collar of my leather jacket and I falter from sucking on her skin at how good it feels.
Damn, I’m getting caught up in this, like last time. The line is blurring further and I need to bring everything back under my control.
Distantly, I’m aware of the running water stopping and footsteps leaving the bathroom. Thank fuck.
Once the person is gone, a wicked grin settles on my face. “You managed to stay quiet enough.” I pin her back to the wall and slide my fingers up her leg, beneath her skirt while grinding my erection against her ass. “You must really hate yourself as much as I do to let me do whatever I fucking want to you. Does the thought of getting caught like this make you wet?”
“If you hate me that much, then why are you hard?” Maisy accuses, spitting like an angry viper. “That makes you a liar, too. You said this wouldn’t happen again.”
My grin turns lethal and I crush my chest to hers to feel her shake. “You think I can’t still hate you while I fuck you? Watch me.”
As she trembles, chewing on her lip, my touch travels all the way up her smooth thigh to her hip. I blink, drawing a circle with my fingertips over her skin. Her bare skin. She’s not wearing any underwear.
A brittle laugh forces out of me and I tsk, moving my hand between her legs to stroke her. She’s wet as hell. I bet if I looked, she’d be glistening. My mouth waters without my permission and I clench my teeth.
“What a pretty mess you are for me, daisy,” I murmur.
Mortification creeps into her expression. She can’t deny that no matter what I put her through, she still would beg for more if it meant I would touch her. Desperate little thing. It just makes me want to double my efforts against her.
I pinch her clit between my fingers, keeping her on a razor thin line between pleasure and pain. She gasps.
“Fox, please—”
I interrupt her strangled cry with a hard tone. “Was this for him?”
She blinks. “Who?”
“Your boyfriend. That preppy idiot you’re always with.”
“Sam? No.” She swallows and plays with the collar of my jacket, some of the fog of arousal fading. After a moment, she shakes her head. “I just…I prefer to be like this.” Her challenging gaze darts up to meet mine. “It’s not for anyone but myself. I like the freedom.”
My chest grows tight and I force out a breath. I wasn’t expecting that, or the honesty in her soft voice. This isn’t supposed to be some sweet moment between a romantic couple. We’re anything but that. We’re the opposite, brutal heartache and wild destruction. Ruinous and destined for tragedy.
We’ll never get back what we once had. I can’t trust her and she should fucking run from me, because I won’t stop trying to end all her perfect happiness, even now, with my cock hard between her toned thighs and her bare pussy dripping all over my goddamn hand.
I shake my head and rub her clit, intent on making her cry out for me. “What will he say about you allowing another man’s hands on you like this?”
Maisy’s eyes flash. “He’s not my boyfriend. He never was.” My fingers move in a circle, dipping lower. She struggles to get her words out. “We were just—hanging out. I broke up with him after…after the day at our tree.”
Another laugh punches out of me as I fight off the wave of possessiveness that rises. She stifles a moan while I tease her slick folds and I lean in, licking a stripe up the column of her throat.
“Whatever you say.” It doesn’t matter. I don’t care. She’s not mine anymore—maybe she never was to begin with. As I attack her skin with my teeth, my tone turns meaner. “I’m still not going to kiss you, no matter how bad you beg me. I’m going to break you apart, and then leave you here.”
“Fine. If you think that’s what will hurt me, you’re wrong.” Fire burns in her gaze and she tips her chin up. “Bend me all you want, I’m flexible. But I won’t break for you.”
Her nails dig into my body again, right into the ocean and crowned crow inked over my heart. She’s not going to be intimidated by me. I like it, her fight reminds me to see past her mask. As long as she understands this means nothing, then she can give me as much fire as she wants.
I shift her in my arms again, setting her ass on a bar on the wall for extra support. My hand goes to her throat, holding her while I slide my fingers through her wet folds. She releases a shaky breath, spreading her legs wider.
The determined, reckless look on her face sends me right back to ten years ago. That’s my Maisy sitting before me. The one who isn’t bound by anyone’s rules but her own.
This girl…
I rake my teeth over my lower lip and sink a finger inside her without warning. She chokes when I squeeze her throat to stop her cry.
“Look at you. Feel that? You’re soaking my hand. Getting off on the danger.”
I thrust my finger deeper, adding a second. Every sensation feels new and heady, making me want to chase her down this rabbit hole to the very end.
Maisy wraps one hand around the arm at her throat and the other grips my leather jacket as she arches, riding my fingers. Fuck, it’s a good look on her—cheeks flushed and lids heavy, she looks hedonistic. Free. Something I can’t have anymore, a girl I vowed to never want. She broke her promise, and I’m breaking mine.
The grin I give her is sharp and ruthless. “What does it say about you that you’ll let someone who despises you so much I can barely breathe around you do this to you?” I twist my fingers, hooking them into a spot that makes her lips part on a silent moan, her lashes fluttering. Her pussy clenches on my fingers as I drive them deeper. “How far would you actually let me go? Are you hoping I’ll rip this skirt off and fuck you with my cock next?”
“God, just—shut up and make me come, Fox,” she bites out. “Fuck! Don’t stop, I’m really close.”
An unhinged rumble vibrates in my chest as I grind my erection against her thigh so she can feel it. She claws at me, burying her face in my neck. A sharp pain makes me jolt, sending a spark of pleasure down my spine. She bit me back. When she tenses and comes with a muffled sound of ecstasy, I stare, just as struck by it as I was that night a few weeks ago.
The satisfaction of breaking her in a new way is tinged in bitterness because this can’t keep happening—I want what I taunted her with too badly. Once is a mistake, twice is a bad habit. Fucking her is the one thing I refuse to give her, even if a thousand fantasy scenarios of making her scream by driving my dick into her tight heat rush through my head.
The bell rings as I step back, taking in how shattered she is. Her pretty features are twisted in orgasmic bliss at my hands. It drives a spike of ice into my heart. I slid too far down the slope, losing the upper hand by getting too wrapped up in this game.
Panting heavily and ignoring the throb in my hard cock, I take another step back. Her eyes finally open and she peers at me through her lashes. Another burst of possessiveness rears its ugly head and I grit my teeth, stuffing it back down to smother it before it can fully form.
I swipe the back of my hand over my mouth. My voice sounds hollow when I find my words. “Everyone here calls me a black shadow. They’re not wrong, Maisy. When you call a boy a monster enough times, it starts to stick. What I touch turns to ash. Now that includes you.”
I hold her gaze for a beat, then back out of the stall, leaving her exactly as I warned I would.
Ten
Maisy
The past several hours have left my thoughts a chaotic mess and my heart heavy.
After the bathroom door banged shut behind Fox, what happened hit me hard. I said I didn
’t care, but my bravado faded as soon as he was gone. I was disappointed in myself that I could sink so low right after he bullied me. Was it really worth it? Shame slid through me as I scrambled out of the stall, splashing cold water on my cheeks. It was no use, what we’d done was written all over my open face. I couldn’t hide it, or how much I enjoyed it.
This was the same as the night at the party, down to the way he left. At least this time I didn’t have to walk out to a gauntlet of people who knew just by looking at me.
I’ve never been someone who shies away from my desires, but it’s the fact I keep fucking around with him when he’s tormenting me that eats at me.
Today was such a shit show.
From the stinging humiliation of not being prepared for class with no explanation for how my finished assignments were gone from my bag, to the whispers and side eye looks that dug into my back as I passed. Discovering the mess in the car followed by the cruel taunting in the lunchroom. Topped off by the bathroom when I tried to face Fox head on because I wasn’t going to just let him get away with it. I was done taking his crap laying down. His tampering with my school assignments irritates me way more than what happened after, but all of it is one big pile of suck sitting on my shoulders.
It was a miracle I made it through the last class period of the day on autopilot by keeping my head down until I could escape. I went through the motions of the yoga sessions I led at the studio in the health and wellness center, glad it was a day I was allowed to use Holden’s car instead of relying on someone to give me a ride. Although if I didn’t drive today, his car wouldn’t have been the scene of one of Fox’s disgusting pranks. I stopped to have it cleaned before my first class. He’ll never know.
I’m staying behind as long as I can to work out my frustrations of the day, avoiding going home where I’m sure my parents have already heard about my detention. If they find out what else I was up to on school grounds, they’ll blow their lids.
The last of my seven to eight late class trickles out, leaving me alone with a wall of mirrors and an emptiness eating away at my insides. I feel so adrift, and while that normally wouldn’t bother me because I thrive better on the unknown, this feels different, like a heavy weight pulling me down, keeping me in the dark murkiness where it feels like I’ll never get out.
Savage Wilder: Dark New Adult High School Bully Romance (Sinners and Saints Book 4) Page 8