Tarnished Crown (Gravestone Elite #2)

by Caitlyn Dare

  "What the fuck did you call her?" he growls in my face.

  "A fucking whore. The only cock around here that hasn’t been inside her is yours, but I even wonder about that at times."

  He cocks his arm back to hit me but not before his name is barked across the parking lot, and, like a good little puppy dog, he lets go of me.

  "That's it, Ash. Be a good little boy for your master,” I taunt.

  "What's going on?" Cade barks, joining us in the parking lot.

  "Just having a little fun with the new boy." Ashton smirks.

  "Keep your fists in check, Moore." The friends stare at each other for a few minutes as some silent conversation passes between them.

  I'm just about to turn my back on them and fuck off when Cade turns his evil eyes on me. "You ready for tonight?"

  "No," I deadpan, ripping my driver's door open. "And if you even try anything, I'm going to fucking end you."

  He holds his hands up in defense. "We're just gonna party, man. No ulterior motive."

  I raise a brow at him. Like fuck do I believe that. Motherfucker is always up to something.

  "Whatever. I'm not interested." Climbing into my car, I rev the engine and gun it out of the parking lot.

  The house is a hive of activity when I walk through to the kitchen as Cade's staff get it ready for tonight's party. The kitchen counters are already lined with alcohol, and, after grabbing myself a soda from the fridge, I swipe a couple of bottles of vodka so I can have myself a little party for one while the rest of them do whatever the fuck it is they want to do down here.

  Swinging the door open the second I get to it, I blow into my room, slamming it behind me, wishing like fuck the lock actually worked.

  Part of me wants to get the hell in my car and disappear for the weekend, but the knowledge that I'd be leaving Mia here with the devil won’t let me.

  "Dude, what the fuck are you doing hiding in here?" Alex crashes through my bedroom door a few hours later. "Pity party for one, really?" he asks, taking in the bottle of vodka in my hand.

  "I'm not in the mood."

  "Nuh-uh. I'm not having that. The party is fucking hopping."

  I stare at him as he comes closer, taking in his blown pupils. "What the hell have they given you?"

  "Nah, it's not like that. Sasha gave me some pills. Everything is fucking epic, man. I feel so good. You gotta come down. The girls are fucking insane."

  "I don't want girls, Alex. I'm not fucking interested."

  "Wellll then," he says, falling down onto my bed and grinning up at me, "you should come down and see Mia. She's wearing this little dre—"

  "Enough," I bark, not needing any more visuals than I already have floating around in my head about what could be happening downstairs.

  "Come on, Easton. Don't be so fucking boring."

  I narrow my eyes at him. "What's going on with you?" He’s even starting to sound like one of them.

  "What?" he slurs. "I'm just enjoying this shitshow we landed ourselves in. What's the alternative? Be a miserable fuck like you?"

  I stare at him, my jaw popping with frustration.

  "Brook's looking for you."

  I can't help but laugh. If he thinks that's going to get me down there, then he really has popped too many pills.

  "Apparently," he says, leaning in as if he's got a secret, "she's looking for someone to distract Mia so she can get to Cade. He must be better than you, man. She doesn't seem to be begging for your cock." He bursts out laughing.

  "You need to get a grip of yourself, Alex. Haven't they already pulled enough shit on us?"

  "Why do you think I'm letting go, bro?” He shrugs. “I'm just enjoying myself."

  "Yeah," I mutter, dumping my bottle on the nightstand and pushing from the bed. "A little too much, by the looks of it."

  Dragging my shirt over my head, I dump it into the laundry basket before pulling on a clean one and shoving my feet into my sneakers. "What the fuck are you waiting for then?" I bark at Alex when I'm at the door with my fingers wrapped around the handle and he's still pissing around on my bed.

  "Knew I'd get you to come and join the fun." He leaps up, swaying a little.

  Fuck. He’s as high as a kite.

  "Whatever,” I murmur, storming from my room.

  As we get closer to the stairs, the music begins to get louder and the scent of weed and whatever else is being smoked down there gets stronger. I almost change my mind, but Alex stumbles on the top step and I end up damn near carrying him down to stop him from breaking his fucking neck.

  "You need to lay off whatever it is you've had."

  "Chill, Bexy," he slurs, slapping my chest. "S'all good, man."

  My hackles rise immediately at his little nickname for me. "You been hanging out with Moore?"

  "Yeah, so? It's not like you want to hang out anymore. You just sulk in your room."

  Guilt washes through me. I've been so consumed with my own bullshit life this week that I've forgotten about him. I assumed that while I was hiding in my room, he was doing the same, not that he was making fast friends with those assholes.

  "Rexford, my man," Brandon shouts, stumbling into the room. "I've got these two chicks in the study. One of them really wants to meet you." He nods at me, but he looks less than excited to discover that I've finally decided to join them.

  Alex disappears a few seconds later, the promise of pussy apparently enough to make him forget me.

  Standing in the middle of the chaos, I wonder what the hell happened to my life. Wondering at what point my best friend decided that if you can't beat them, join them, because he's turning into one of them faster than I can cope with.

  I scan the crowd of people loitering in the hallway. Most are just chatting, but there are a few dancing and there's a couple bumping up against the old grandfather clock who are about five seconds from fucking in front of everyone in the room.

  "Bexley," a sickly-sweet voice says from behind me, making my skin crawl.

  I take off in the hope she might get distracted, but she chases after me, her killer heels clattering against the polished marble tiles as she goes.

  "What do you want, Brook?"

  She darts around me, forcing me to stop. Although I must admit that mowing her down does seem like a good option. "I've been looking for you," she purrs, batting her fake lashes at me.

  "Great. Well, you found me. Now, do you mind?" I forcefully move her aside and march toward the kitchen. I need more alcohol now I'm down here.

  "Mia and Cade are on the dancefloor." I hate that her words make my steps falter. "Yeah, grinding it all up against each other without a care in the world."

  "That's their prerogative, I guess."

  "And you're happy to let that happen?"

  "What the fuck do you want me to do about it, Brook? She's been promised to him. That's it. Done."

  "Oh, come on, Bexy. You’re not very clever, are you?"

  What is it with that fucking nickname all of a sudden? My teeth grind so hard I wonder if I'm about to crack one.

  "I didn't have you down as someone who gives in so easily. Let's go and have some fun, show them what they're really missing." She winks at me and runs her hand down my arm.

  "I don't play games, Brook,” I growl.

  "No? Seems to be that your entire life is one big game right now."

  She's got that fucking right.

  It's one big joke as well.

  "You're a boring fuck when you're not tripping, you know that?"

  I stare at her, my lips parting to argue, but quite frankly, she's got a point.

  "Fuck it. Lead the way."

  She guides me through the kitchen so I can grab a very strong drink before we head toward the dining room which has been turned into tonight's dancefloor. I spot Mia and Cade immediately, right in the middle of the large crowd, and my stomach turns over when I take in their closeness and just how tightly he's gripping onto her ass.

  If he so much as hurts a hai
r on her head, I'll fucking kill him.

  As if she can feel my stare, Mia turns, but not before Brook presses herself up against me and latches her lips onto my neck. I feel nothing. Absolutely nothing, apart from the pain of watching my girl dance with another guy.

  Ripping her eyes from mine, I see a similar agony in her depths as she watches Brook run her hands down my chest and around to my ass.

  "If you'd have agreed to my offer last week,” she drawls, “then all of this might not have been necessary."

  8

  Mia

  Cade grips my waist in a vise-like hold, grinding against my ass as I roll and pop my hips. I don’t want to be here, dancing intimately with him, but if I’m going to get the answers I need, I have to play the game.

  “Fuck, Mia,” he rasps against the side of my neck, dragging his tongue along my salty skin. It’s a billion degrees in the house—that or it’s the liquor coursing through my veins. I almost accepted the pill Sasha tried to give me again, but I don’t want to resort to drugs. Not if I don’t have to.

  “The things I want to do to you.” One of Cade’s hand splays on my stomach, brushing the sliver of skin on display thanks to the side panels cut out of the dress Sasha gave me to wear.

  Bexley glares at me, but I don’t meet his eyes again. It’s too hard seeing him with Brook, remembering the two of them together.

  Without warning, Cade spins me around and presses his head forcefully against mine. “Come upstairs with me,” he says, his voice cracking with lust.

  “It’s your party,” I chuckle, playing up how drunk I am. “You can’t abandon your own party.”

  “I can do whatever the fuck I want, baby. I’m Cade fucking Kingsley. These idiots would eat my shit if I told them to.”

  My brows knit. “You’re serious.”

  “As a heart attack.” He smirks. “There isn’t anything I couldn’t make these fuckers do.”

  “That is… I don’t even know what to say.”

  “That’s power, Mia. And power feels fucking great.” His pupils are blown, and it’s then I realize that Cade might not just be drunk.

  He’s high too.

  “What did you take?” I ask, surprised he’s letting his guard down.

  “Just a little G. It helps me relax. But it gets me real horny.” He cups my ass again.

  “Cade,” I hiss. “Not here.”

  “So come upstairs with me. I’ve waited long enough.”

  “Channing needs you in the den.” Sasha comes out of nowhere.

  “I’m in the middle of something,” Cade growls.

  She shrugs. “He said it was urgent.”

  “Fuck, yeah, okay. But you…” he winds his hand into the hair at the nape of my neck and brings my face to his. “I want you in my bed tonight.”

  When I don’t answer, his eyes narrow. “Watch her,” he barks at Sasha before releasing me and stalking out of the room.

  “You good?”

  “Oh yeah, peachy.” I flash her a dry smile before glancing over to where Bexley and Brook are still dancing.

  “What the hell is he doing?”

  “At a guess? Trying to make me jealous.” I let out a resigned sigh.

  “Is it working?”

  “What do you think?” I grimace.

  “If it makes you feel any better, I caught some slut on her knees for Channing in the den.”

  “No!”

  She nods. “Fucker didn’t even act surprised to see me.”

  “Maybe he wanted you to see…”

  “Maybe. It doesn’t matter. I’m going to find the hottest guy I can tonight and take him up to my room and make him help me forget all about Channing asshole Rexford. But first,” she grabs my hand, “let’s dance.”

  I follow her lead, and the two of us dance like we’re just two girls at a party.

  Not two girls who are captive in a twisted game.

  The music pumps through my body. Sasha snakes her body around mine, positioning me right in front of Bexley. Brook is vying for his attention, but he doesn’t take his eyes off me. Heat burns in his gaze as he watches my every move. It’s sweet torture having him watch me so brazenly, knowing that he wants me but can’t have me. Part of me enjoys that I’m teasing him, taunting him.

  Brook notices that she no longer has his attention and storms off. Good riddance. Bexley sinks into the shadows, leaning up against the wall. But he doesn’t take his eyes off me as Sasha and I continue dancing together. I can feel him undressing me with his eyes, his intimate stare an imitation of his lips on my skin. Heat pools in my stomach, my core throbbing with need.

  I want him.

  I want him so freaking much.

  Even after he betrayed me with Brook, I can’t help the way I feel.

  But it’s impossible.

  I force myself to turn away from him, and when I finally glance back over my shoulder, he’s gone.

  Cade doesn’t resurface from the den. Sasha warned me not to go in there, but I can’t resist. I want to know what the guy who claims to want me so badly does when I’m not around.

  I’m hardly surprised to find him fucking a girl while she sucks Ashton’s cock. They have her balanced over the back of a chair, her dress bunched around her hips as Cade pounds into her so hard it makes me wince.

  “You shouldn’t snoop,” a voice from the shadow says. “You might not like what you find.” Channing steps out of the darkness and hisses under his breath when he peeks into the room. He moves around me and closes the door, forcing me to take a step back. “He wouldn’t want you to see that.”

  “Does it matter?”

  “No, but it doesn’t change the fact that he still wouldn’t want you to see.”

  “I suppose I should feel disappointed or jealous… but I only feel relief,” I confess.

  “He knows he can’t touch you yet. Not in the way he wants.” Channing gives me a dark look. “Go back to the party, Mia.”

  “You’re not like them, are you?”

  “It’s complicated.”

  “Even more complicated now Alex is an Electi? You don’t have to be one of them now he’s here. You and Sasha can—”

  “Don’t.” The word rumbles in his chest. “You should go. And Mia?” I nod. “Try to stay out of trouble.”

  I go back to the other side of the house to find Sasha, but when I do, she’s making out with some guy, practically dry humping him against the wall. With everyone distracted, I slip out of the party and upstairs. This part of the house is off-limits unless you’re Electi or one of their guests staying here. The silence is deafening, my heart crashing in my chest as I kick off my shoes and scoop them up. My dress feels nonexistent now it’s just me and this big, unforgiving house.

  I make it to the first floor and glance down the hall to where Sasha’s room is. But I didn’t come up here to sleep, not yet. Instead, I tiptoe down the hall leading to Cade’s room. But a voice stops me in my tracks.

  “What are you doing, little mouse?”

  My eyes flutter closed at the sound of Bexley’s voice. “Go away, Bexley,” I sigh.

  “No can do, mouse. I live here now, remember.”

  I turn slowly to find his eyes hooded. “You’re drunk,” I observe, searching his face for signs that he’s more than just drunk.

  He takes a step forward, taking the air with him, and my breath catches in my throat.

  “Bexley, don’t do this. Not here. Not now.”

  But he doesn’t heed my warning, backing me into one of the doors lining the long hall. Pressing his hand against the wood beside my head, he leans in and inhales. “You smell so fucking good.”

  “Don’t.” I tremble. He’s too close. So close I can reach out and touch him, but I don’t. I can’t. I need to keep my wits about me where Bexley is concerned, especially if I’m going to make Cade believe I’m acquiescing.

  “You were dancing with him.” His warm, liquor-scented breath fans my face as Bexley reaches out and plucks a curl betwe
en his fingers.

  “I’m with him.”

  He hisses, his expression murderous. “You’re mine, mouse, or have you forgotten? Maybe you need reminding.” He presses his knee between my thighs, grazing my center.

  “Don’t,” I rasp.

  “Don’t what? Don’t touch what’s mine?”

  “You’re drunk.”

  “And you’re so fucking beautiful. I can still remember running my hands over your body that night, how you felt choking my cock, the little moans you made… I can remember all of it.”

  “You fucked her,” I snarl. “You fucked Brook and you just want me to forg—”

  His hand flies out and grabs my throat, pinning me against the door. “I thought it was you. Only ever you.”

  “It doesn’t change anything,” I say with resignation.

  “Did he touch you again? Did you give it up for him?”

  Bexley’s pupils are blown wide open, and I wonder if he’s taken something too.

  “No,” I whisper.

  “Thank fuck.” His mouth crashes down on mine as he plunges his tongue past my lips. I can barely breathe with the intrusion. The shadows cloak us, but if someone came up here, they would get a front row seat. And that wouldn’t end well for anyone.

  “Bexley.” I grip his shirt, pulling away. “We can’t.”

  “Like hell we can’t.” He leans around me and turns the door handle. It flies open behind us and we stumble inside.

  Bexley doesn’t give me time to think, slamming me against the wall and attacking my mouth again. My body remembers this, remembers how easy it is to get lost in Bexley Easton and his expert kisses. His hands trail a dangerous path over my body, igniting a wildfire inside me.

  “Fuck, Mia. I’ve missed you…” His hand slides along my neck and buries deep in my hair.

  “We can’t,” I breathe. “We can’t do this.”

  “Yes, we can. Just open up for me, mouse. Just—”

  “No.” I slam my hand against his chest and push hard. Bexley staggers back, confusion glittering in his eyes.

  “What the fuck?” he grunts.

  “I can’t do this.”

  “Because you’re his now?” He spits the words.