Here Lies a Saint: A Dark Bully Academy Romance

by C. L. Matthews

  I pull the back of his neck, forcing his ear to my mouth. "Control the situation, Lennox. They aren't here. Just your dirty slut and you."

  Something clicks in him, and he nods sheepishly, forcing away the embarrassment. Loudly, he makes sure they hear his next words. "Too bad we don't have time. My slut loves an audience."

  His words make the degradation kink inside me flare to life. With a slap to my thighs, he leans back and stares directly into my eyes.

  "Wider. They need to see your greedy cunt."

  A little noise escapes me as I stretch my thighs wider.

  "Ah, look at that. Such a good little slut, already wet for us."

  The way he emphasizes us makes my skin warm. He's insinuating they're as much a part of this as just us two, but as he comes to my body, slapping my tits, it's only him who has my focus. They bleed into the background as my mind hones in onto its current master.

  "Please," I whimper. It's not even with direction. I don't know what I'm pleading. I just know I need it.

  He lowers to his knees. The sound of them hitting the ground solidifies me to the spot. He's the rope, the bed quicksand, and our release is the only escape.

  "So greedy," he muses, leaning forward.

  I feel his nose at my ankle as his entire frame disappears from my view. It trails up, offering only featherlight chills and tingles straight to my core.

  When he reaches my exposed flesh, he sniffs loudly, obnoxiously. Heat flames my skin. No matter how many times he does this, my body isn’t prepared for the onslaught of shame I feel.

  It’s primal, something I’ve learned I’m a huge fan of, but it also ties into degradation and humiliation, something I haven't quite had the opportunity to explore.

  His nose trails up my soaked center, flicking my clit, and the fact he doesn't offer his tongue, fingers, or anything other than his nose is too hot to handle.

  He teases and taunts all while I squirm. Wanting a little bit of revenge, a bratty behavior I can't help, I squeeze my thighs as much as I can, but he's too strong, forcing them open.

  Without warning, he slaps my clit, and I see stars. "Fuck!" I hiss loudly.

  "Shouldn't be a brat, Corpse."

  I don't speak, knowing it'll end me up with more spankings, and I don't want to wait that long for pleasure.

  "Good girl. you know your place."

  God, do I want to stick out my tongue and make faces, but shit, the lack of orgasms I'd feel would fuck me up.

  Finally, after I've behaved for several minutes as he teases and I hold still, he licks a slow and languid line up my center, once again avoiding my clit.

  "Fuck me," I groan.

  Slap.

  Slap.

  Slap.

  "You're wanting orgasm denial, aren't you, slut?"

  "No, no, no," I beg, hearing the tears in my voice and feeling their hot trails down my cheeks. "Make me come."

  "Ah, ah, ah, slut. You don't call the shots here," he taunts, standing above me like the king he is.

  The tears come hard, and I literally start to cry, but he reassures me with a few little words. "What's your safe word, Corpse?"

  "Green," I answer immediately.

  "Ever the rebel," he muses, and I simply nod.

  He lowers once again, a place he doesn't offer many. He's too regal for that. It's something I respect the hell out of him for.

  "I'm going to eat my dinner since we were so rudely interrupted from that task, and then when I finish, you'll say thank you by sitting on my lap until I come. Won't you, little slut?"

  "Yes, yes, yes, please, please, please," I whimper like the slut I am, needing anything he'll offer. Scraps are enough when he's not even offering crumbs.

  "Not a peep, Corpse, or I'll fuck you raw and not give you release."

  I nod vehemently, needing him to know I'll be good. I'll behave. I’ll do anything to come.

  He smiles proudly, and I can tell everything he worried about earlier is gone. It's just him and I. The rest of the world doesn't exist.

  As a reward, Lux laps at my leaking juices, and I bow off the bed with a silent scream. He holds me down, using his veiny arms to bind my hips to the bed. His teeth gnash at me, digging into my sensitive flesh with cruelty, but fuck, does it feel good. Masochism goes hand in hand with many of my kinks, and he knows that better than anyone else. When he slides two wet fingers into me, I literally bite my tongue to keep from screaming in pleasure.

  He fingers me like it's his mission, and he tongue-fucks me like it's his only form of communication, and when his hands release my hips, he trails his fingers down to my asshole, moistening it.

  He presses in with one finger, two still inside me and his tongue dancing across my clit. Before I know it, I'm coming. I forget his warning but can't seem to care as my orgasm racks my frame with waves of pleasure.

  This time, I do scream.

  This time, I thrust into him.

  This time, I pull his hair and ride his face.

  And he doesn't even punish me.

  Once my high comes down, my eyes feel foggy, and I see stars. When he's climbing over me, the hazy sound of his voice has me smiling.

  "What's your safe word, wife?"

  Wife.

  He called me wife.

  Green.

  "Green."

  "Do you need to use it?"

  "No."

  That's all he needs as an answer to thrust inside me and make me cry out in pleasure. I feel my eyes moisten with tears as he fucks me with precision hip movements.

  I can't feel anything but bliss as we rut together, and my mouth won't stop making these noises as he grunts and grips my hips harshly.

  "What's your safe word, Corpse?"

  "Green," I repeat.

  "You good? I think you're hovering in subspace."

  I nod, reassuring him the best I could. "Now finish me before one of them do it."

  That's the only time I acknowledge them, and it seems to be the domino I needed for him to fuck me until I'm screaming his name.

  When we finish, I pass out.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Bridger

  I didn't think I could possibly hate DeLeon more, but in this moment, watching them fuck where she pays no attention to any of us, I feel the hatred turn into pure abhorrence. Everything I've sacrificed, the life I've lives for the past year, and the secrets I've kept have made me a person I can't stand more than Colt.

  The disgust in her eyes for me mirrors my own.

  As she falls apart for another guy, the jealousy pounds at my chest, rearing its ugly head.

  They say love is the most dangerous of creatures, and that's why our ribcages are prisons.

  They're not wrong.

  After he releases inside her and pulls out, his cum leaking all over like a messy faucet, I turn and leave. Elijah forced me in here. He thinks he has me right where he needs me, that he's flipped me and made me his little pet, but the best chess games are the ones played where the opposing player thinks they're about to win.

  He will lose.

  They'll all lose.

  I head down the corridor and the winding stairs. My blood pumps far too fast, and the only thing that keeps me from beating every fucking person here into a pulp is solving this maddening mystery revolving this shitty excuse for a secret society.

  What's the point of being elite when the only thing they cared about was power and money? What about changing the world? Having true power?

  That's probably why the Grims have always intrigued me. My family name is worthless. They don't come from what the others do.

  Yeah, we pretty much took care of the Grims’ old jobs in this society. The cleanup. We kill. We erase, and we fix if that's what's expected.

  Before, though, when the Grims held the title the Clemontes now hold, we were in the acquiring business. Nothing promising, and when we had to fill the shoes of the Grims, we became even sadder.

  The only peace I get is from the dead. />
  Maybe that's why Corpse offers me so much peace. She's practically dead.

  When I reach the office, I know Midas will be in, he doesn't say a word, but his expression tells me everything I need to know.

  "They fucked,” I announce. “She's been off birth control for months. I have no doubt she'll be pregnant soon, if not tonight."

  "Good."

  "Can I ask what the whole fucking point is?"

  He smirks in a devilish way. "The whole fucking point is that their heir will destroy everything the Edgingtons hold dear."

  Shaking my head, I stare at the man who created Lux. He's nothing like the guy upstairs with a kink problem and a tendency to be a baby when he loses.

  This man is skilled.

  Deadly.

  This man is evil packaged without a bow.

  It's a lie in disguise of a blessing, and much like his enemy, Elijah, he won't see me coming.

  "Will you make sure Mel doesn't leave?” he asks. “She's been acting out of character."

  The vomit-inducing visual of her only brings me distaste, but I nod. "What's a character for a spoiled wannabe princess? She got the guy. She'll have the crown come February, and she's beating Colt. She has everything she's ever wanted."

  "What about my daughter-in-law? Any signs of her memories resurfacing?"

  It's only a secret to Colt that she lost the majority of her childhood, or rather, it was stolen from her. If she knew all the answers to all her problems, we would all be fucked.

  She'd win.

  She'll kill.

  She'd ruin us all.

  Shaking my head, I make sure he's aware that that means no. "Not at all. She doesn't even remember the reason why she hates Melissa and keeps being her friend."

  He leans back in his chair, twirling a pen in his fingers. "It's sad, all Tasha did to her. You'd think she'd have gone a different route."

  "What else was she supposed to do? Colt is the most powerful person in the world, and she doesn't even know it," I remind him.

  He grunts something intelligible. "She's not a fucking alien, Mr. Clemonte, but she is mine now. I own her, and all the power she isn't even slightly mentally prepared for."

  "What's the plan now?" I hesitate to ask but end up doing anyway.

  He leans forward, resting his arms on the desk, a contemplative look on his face. "Get it all and end her. It's always been the plan."

  After leaving Midas, I feel exhausted. He wants Colt dead. Noted.

  Good thing no one believes I care about her, or I'd be just as much of a liability as the rest of the guys. While they do whatever in the ceremonial suite, I decide it’s high time to see what Melissa is up to.

  Because she used me as much as I used her.

  And while I know where I spent my nights and extra hours, her whereabouts are unknown, and that makes her a danger to Colt and everything that matters to me.

  As I head toward her wing, which is far the fuck away from Colt, I see Noah along the way. "You better not fuck around with her again," she practically bites out. If she were a panther, I'm sure I'd be dead right now.

  Colt doesn't remember her.

  The guys don't remember her.

  Only I remember Noah Grim.

  "What makes you say I fucked around with her?" I ask.

  She folds her arms across her chest. "I do. I trust Colt, and Melissa bragged to her. How could you ever sleep with that bitch? You know what she did to Colt!"

  Her voice is too loud, and I grab her and muffle her yells as she kicks and screams. Dragging her into one of the random guest rooms, I allow her to go. Before she can scream, I put a finger to my mouth and lead her to the walk-in closet.

  There are two rooms to each suite that are safe from prying eyes and ears—the bathroom and the closet—mostly because they didn't think either would be found out.

  They're wrong.

  "Do you ever pressure Colt to regain her memory?" I ask.

  Her eyes widen, and she bites her barely peach bottom lip. "How do you know I know?"

  "I remember you, Noah. I have a photographic memory."

  If her gaze could grow any larger, it did. Her shock isn't surprising since many forget that tidbit about me, and I definitely don't air out the knowledge for anyone.

  "To answer your question, no." She tugs on one of her silvery blonde strands of hair, and it reminds me so much of Colt that a twinge of guilt lodges itself at the center of my heart's prison. "I've done research on regaining memories, and an aggressive pressure-filled scenario isn't always the answer."

  "She doesn't remember anything," I admit. I've watched Colt for years. She's always been my pocket elf, the goth freak I've always looked after.

  "She forgot me," she whimpers. "When we met again for the first time for her, she stares at me like she knew me, and as soon as the thought came, she let it go, and while we have a new and beautiful bond, it's nothing like what we had before."

  I nod my understanding.

  "She loves you guys and can't remember why."

  I nod again.

  "She hates Melissa, but she doesn't realize there's a reason more than your betrayal."

  I nod once more. “I’ve got to go, Noah. Stay safe, and don't prod at Colt. When her mind's ready to retrieve the snippets I'm sure she's experienced, she'll seek out the truth. Just remember she's safer without the information."

  "I hate it here," she admits.

  "I'll save you one day, Noah. I promise."

  "Your promises never stick, Bridge-boy."

  "This time, I'm stronger and smarter," I argue, "and a helluva lot deadlier."

  She scrunches her nose as if she's not impressed with me. "You're still the dumb boy who pushed me in the mud and called me a boy for my name."

  "Did the same to Colt, and she doesn't complain."

  She rolls her eyes. "She has no memory. What did you expect?"

  Before I can help myself, I chuckle. A real one. It's been so fucking long since I'd found true amusement, but I wave at her, knowing there's someone else I really fucking need to talk to.

  Lux

  The next week leading up to New Year’s is nice. They’ve allowed Colt to stay with me in my room, and we spent that time talking and planning what we’re going to do.

  I left yesterday, and Elijah said she would be back to school today.

  I pull out my cell and text her. Where you at?

  No response.

  I message Jordan. Have you heard from Colt?

  No, but she’s supposed to be back today. Maybe she’s at her dorm?

  Possibly? I’ll check after Lit class. Don’t want to piss Salini off more.

  Want me to check? I’ve got a free period.

  Thinking about it, I figure I might as well. Maybe he can make sure she’s doing good with the whole married thing.

  After she woke up that night, all the guys were gone. She didn’t seem as bothered about what we hid about Cassidy, but she’s also kept her distance.

  I never know if that’s because she’s planning something more sinister, or if she’s finally accepting that we’re stronger together than we are divided.

  Might as well. Give her a kiss for me. I laugh out loud, thinking of the fact that Jordan and I have bonded, and that somehow now involves Tennison.

  Things are patchy with Ross and the twins, and Ridge? Fuck, I don’t even know what to say about his random ass escape that night.

  No one has seen him since. He’s not responding to the group chat, and when I asked Justice about it, he told me Ridge wasn’t his burden. Not sure what the hell he was insinuating with that, but sometimes, I really fucking hated the guy.

  I’m starting to wonder if you’re catching feelings, DeLeon. My dick that good?

  Fuck off, Walker.

  He sends a winky face back, and I head to Lit class, hoping Ross will talk to me.

  Trailing down the halls, I’m hit with a sense of dread. This school has been nothing but a fucking hellhole. Much like th
e Edgington Estate, it offers nothing and takes it all.

  As I pass the students in this place, I’m well aware of how little I care about them anymore. Before, when I first became student body president, all I wanted to do was honor Cassidy’s legacy, be hope, light, and strive for a better future. Now, all I want is for them to take all their greed and shove it up their asses.

  A shoulder hits me, nearly making me fall. If I had anything in my hands other than my phone, I’d have dropped it, but when my eyes rake the frame in front of me, I’m shocked to see Gilbert Longhorn, one of my Flankers on the team, glaring at me.

  “The fuck is your problem, Gilbert?”

  His nostrils flare as he drags his gaze down me like I’m some parasite. “You’re such a fucking sellout, Lux.”

  Not a single word he’s spit at me makes sense.

  “What are you talking about?” I demand as he squares his shoulders. We almost start doing a circle dance. “You’re confusing me.”

  “You, fucker,” he hisses, reaching for the collar of my shirt.

  I sidestep him out of reservation. If my dad heard of me starting a fight, let alone being involved in one, he’d beat me until I couldn’t breathe anymore.

  “How could you?” he growls.

  “You’ve got to be more specific. Did I fuck your girl or something?”

  He roars, coming for me, his fist barely grazing my cheek as I try moving. “No, you piece of shit. You’ve cost us the season!”

  That’s when it hits me. Our season hasn’t even started, and he’s definitely talking rugby.

  “Could you calm the fuck down and explain what it is you think I’ve done?” I run a hand through my hair, my anxiety rising with every breath. No one has ever risked their wellbeing to start a fight with me, and it shocks me that this kid decided today would be the day that changed.

  “Rimbaur didn’t specify. She just said you can thank Lennox DeLeon for why the season is canceled.”

  I stare at him and notice all the onlookers, teammates, and faculty standing here, just staring like I have an answer, which I don’t. I go to sidestep him, but he grabs my arm. I shake him off aggressively.

  “Nothing to say, DeLeon?”

  “No, I’m not sure why she said what she did, but you bet your ass I’ll figure it out.”