The Mercy Academy Box Set: A Complete High School Bully Romance Series

by Lane Hart

  Chapter 5

  Hannah

  One second my heart is dropping to my stomach, seeing Royal so carelessly leaning out the window, and the next the organ is back in my chest where it belongs, thumping along so hard and fast that I fear it may give out.

  Except, my concern over my heart begins to fade as soon as other parts of my body begin to suddenly wake up for what feels like the very first time.

  I never knew kissing would feel like this, like all of my skin is burning up with a fever and I’m overheating.

  Royal’s lips are warm and damp, but they’re nothing compared to his tongue when it slides over mine. I hear myself make some sort of involuntary whimpering sound that’s muffled because he strokes my tongue with his again and again until my legs are so wobbly and weak, I’m not entirely sure they can keep holding me up.

  The rough way Royal is pulling on my braid may be all that is keeping me upright. My scalp stings a little with pain, but it’s drowned out by the ache in my lower belly that I’ve never experienced before.

  It’s not until I feel the pressure of cool denim against my bare stomach that I realize I’ve dropped my towel again. And the worst part about that? I don’t even care at this moment, because I like kissing Royal too much to stop.

  Besides, it’s not like things will go any further and I’ll have sex with him or anything.

  At least I thought we were only kissing before Royal lets go of my hand and then I feel his warm palm close around one of my breasts, making me gasp and freeze.

  “Stop. We should stop,” I whisper against Royal’s mouth while tugging on his hand. He lets me pull it away from my breast, but then he rubs it down my side and over my hip before it finally quits touching me, causing goosebumps to spread because his fingers were so close to another part of my body that’s never been touched by anyone before.

  I’m still trying to catch my breath when Royal picks up my towel and drapes it around my back and shoulders, leaving it gaping open at the front until I’m able to wrestle the cotton down and underneath my armpits to tuck the top down the front.

  And then I can’t even lift my eyes to his when my self-consciousness finally catches up to me.

  “See you tomorrow,” Royal simply says before he strolls casually over to the door and lets himself out.

  Once he’s gone, I finally take a deep breath and lower myself down on the foot of my bed, replaying everything that just happened from the beginning and trying to figure out what it all means.

  Royal was mean to me, throwing away my sketches that I had worked hours and weeks on, and then he tried to make me feel better about the girls here not liking me before he…he threatened to fall backward out the window. Was he serious? Would he have really done it, or was it all just a ploy to get me to drop my towel so he could see me naked?

  My mind spins for the next several hours, making it impossible to fall asleep once I put my pajamas on and get into bed.

  Royal

  Last night when I got back to my dorm it was almost time for lights out. Which was perfect because it meant I had the showers to myself so I could relieve the pressure from my dick.

  I don’t feel an ounce of shame for tricking Hannah into losing her towel; but for some reason, I sort of hate myself for kissing her even though I’m not sure why. It just felt like a pussy thing to do, like something a girl would do, and yet it was my first instinct when I should’ve gone straight for her tits; or, if I had the balls, I could’ve gone for her cunt. But no, I kissed her first.

  And the worst part? I want to kiss her again just as much as I want to see her naked and touch her boobs again.

  But before I get a chance to do either again, I have to do what I agreed and pull my weight through whatever hell she has planned for today’s community service even though it’s a Saturday and we should be cooling off in the lake like everyone else.

  Titties are a powerful motivator. I’m starting to realize that whenever there’s a possibility a man can see his woman naked, he’ll do pretty much anything she wants. Guess that finally explains why my asshole father puts up with my mom’s nagging.

  So, for the chance to get Hannah out of her towel again, I’m up at the crack of dawn heading to her dorm on a Saturday morning when I could’ve been sleeping in. She comes out right at six-thirty, her brown hair in a braid hanging over her shoulder like usual. Instead of the camp tee, today’s she’s got on a yellow spaghetti strap tank top that’s snug against her rack and a pair of cutoff jean shorts that are frayed at the bottom. And, boy, are they short. Just the outfit alone is worth losing sleep over. Not to mention Hannah looks so alive and happy when she sees me waiting. Smiling brightly, she looks like a goddamn ray of sunshine.

  Great, I may as well just cut off my balls and hand them to her, because I’m turning into a pussy after getting my hands on her for one time that may or may not ever be repeated. That’s the problem. I would consider being castrated if it meant getting another round with her.

  “Good morning,” Hannah says cheerfully when she skips up to me.

  “Morning,” I greet her perky tits that are winking at me. Oh yeah, I remember them well.

  “Royal?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Stop staring at my boobs!” she whispers in a hiss.

  “Tell them to stop staring at me,” I reply when I finally look at her face again with a smirk. “You look cold. Do you need me to put my hands on them to warm them up a little?”

  “Maybe later,” Hannah says before she turns and walks away.

  “Wait. Did you really just say…” I ask when I jog to catch up to her.

  Smiling cunningly, she says, “Yes, but it depends entirely on your effort today.”

  “Now I know why the first caveman invented the wheel and where all the other major inventions and ideas came from – women using their bodies to bribe men into putting in a little hard work.”

  “A little hard work to make the world a better place goes a long way with us,” Hannah tells me.

  “So? What are we doing today to make the world a better fucking place?” I ask curiously. Not that it matters. She could tell me we’re going to shovel pig shit for the next eight hours, and I would be the first to grab a shovel.

  “First, we need to have breakfast,” she says. “Have you been down yet?”

  “No,” I answer. “And now that you mention it, I haven’t seen you in the dining hall all week.”

  “I go and eat early,” she tells me with a shrug as we start walking.

  “All meals?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why do you do that?” I ask.

  Sighing, she says, “If you must know, it’s because nobody ever wants to sit with me, so I would rather eat alone without an audience.”

  Again, it’s obvious that she hates being an outcast. And honestly, I don’t get it. Female jealousy is a powerful thing. Good to know. This summer may prove more educational at this hellhole camp than I expected.

  “Well, what are we going to do after breakfast?” I ask.

  “No clue. I’ll have to check with Pastor Hyde to see where he needs us.”

  It turned out that Garrett’s asshole father needed us to go to the grocery store for the camp to pick up about three buggies worth of food because of some issue with their vendor. We spent hours in the grocery store, loaded up one of the vans, and then unpacked and put away all that shit in the kitchen and pantries.

  As if that wasn’t enough work for one day, he then asked Hannah and I to pick up litter across the entire campus, under the scorching hot midday sun.

  At this rate, I’m going to be too exhausted to try and make out with Hannah.

  Nah, that’s a lie. I would find the energy to tongue fuck her even on my death bed.

  Which is exactly where it feels like I end up by five p.m. that afternoon when I’m the color of a lobster on every inch of skin that wasn’t covered by clothing.

  “Does it hurt? It looks like it hurts,” Hannah says
softly.

  “Yes, it fucking hurts!”

  I’m lying completely still on her bed, arms out by my sides, legs spread wide in nothing but my shorts because it hurt too much to have shirtsleeves touch my arms or throat.

  She pokes one finger into my forearm and says, “This is bad, really bad, Royal. Maybe you should go see the nurse.”

  “No way,” I groan. “Bending my legs hurts too much to walk.”

  “If you had just put on the sunscreen like I offered, you wouldn’t be in pain right now.”

  “I’ll be fine by tomorrow.”

  “I’m not so sure,” she disagrees. “Let me go try to find you some aloe. I’ll be right back.”

  “Okay,” I agree as I stare up at the ceiling, refusing to move a muscle.

  A moment later, I hear her door open and shut, leaving the room in silence. It doesn’t help that the air is stuffy in here. I would give anything for some air conditioning right about now.

  At least this should give me the day off tomorrow.

  And if I close my eyes and just try to sleep for a few hours, it’ll probably be better the next time I wake up.

  Chapter 6

  Hannah

  I feel so bad for Royal. Since he had a pretty good tan, I didn’t expect for him to burn so badly in the sun. If I had known this was going to happen, I would’ve insisted on lotioning him up.

  When I get back to my room with a bottle of aloe vera, Royal doesn’t even blink an eye. He’s sound asleep, either from the fatigue of the work we did today or because of the burning. I don’t want to wait for him to wake up to get a little relief, though, so I squeeze a glob of the green goo into my palm and then use my fingers to dab it onto his red face first. Once every inch is covered, I start on his arms, then move down to each of his toned legs, getting the front and back of his calves that are strong from years of football. In fact, while my hands rub in the lotion, I sneak a look at his entire body that is hard and cut with muscles from working out. I’ve always thought Royal was hot, but without a shirt on, showing off his flat stomach and trail of reddish-brown hair leading down into his shorts, he’s breathtakingly gorgeous.

  “Thank you,” Royal says gruffly, startling me. I had been so focused on the task at hand and gawking at him that I didn’t notice he was awake and watching me.

  “Hey. Does it feel any better?” I ask him, taking a seat on the tiny edge of the bed he’s not occupying.

  “A little, yeah.”

  “Good. I can put another coat on in a few hours.”

  “What are we gonna do until then?” he asks.

  “Ah, I don’t know. I didn’t think you would want to move.”

  “I don’t,” he agrees.

  “Okay, so what is there for us to do?”

  “I want to kiss you,” he says, causing that same ache from yesterday to clench in my stomach.

  “A little hard to do that without you moving,” I tell him.

  “Not if you climb on top of me.”

  “I don’t know…” I start because it sounds too naughty.

  “Come on, Hannah. Distract me from the burning.”

  Oh, great. When he puts it like that, how can I not help him even if what he’s asking of me is so bad? I also feel guilty because it’s my fault Royal got sunburnt.

  When I stand up and look down at him on the bed, I ask him, “How can I do this without touching the burnt areas?”

  Royal pulls his legs together a little and pats the mattress on either side of him, barely lifting his palms. “Put your knees here and each of your palms next to my head.”

  “Okay,” I agree as I maneuver myself into position above him, being careful not to touch his arms, face or lower legs. When I’m on my hands and knees, Royal lifts his neck enough so that his lips brush over mine.

  “Aren’t your lips burning too?” I whisper.

  “Yes. Lick them and kiss them better,” he says with a small grin before our mouths meet again and again.

  Eventually, Royal’s head is back on the pillow as our tongues mingle together. This kiss is just as good if not better than last night’s, and I never want it to end.

  At some point in time, while we’re lost in our make out session, my hips lower and I freeze when I feel something long and stiff poking me in my belly.

  “That’s my dick,” Royal says against my lips.

  “Right, yeah,” I say as if I’ve felt a lot of them when I haven’t. In fact, I’ve never even seen one unless you count the illustrations in the health class book or the drawings on lockers and bathroom stalls at school.

  “Are you wet?” he asks me.

  “What do you mean?” My heart is racing, and my head is spinning so fast I’m dizzy. Although, now that he mentions it, there is a noticeable dampness in my panties that I haven’t ever felt before.

  “Your tight, little pussy gets dripping wet when you’re horny so that my dick will slide inside easier. It’s a good thing — the wetter the better, baby.”

  “Oh,” I say as my face blushes a shade of red similar to Royal’s sunburn.

  “So? Are you wet?” he asks with an arched eyebrow before he winces from the burn on his face probably caused by the movement.

  I nod, and then swallow down my embarrassment to answer. “Yes.”

  “Fuck, yes,” Royal groans. “One day soon I’m gonna reach down in your panties and see just how wet you are. If you’re nice and slick, I’ll slide a finger right on in…”

  “Royal,” I gasp at his dirty talk.

  He chuckles and licks his lips. “That’s nothing, baby. Just wait until I shove my tongue between your legs and lick up every single drop.”

  “You-you want to do that?”

  “God, yes, I do. You could sit on my face right now and ride my tongue if you want.”

  Wow. I think my ears burn right off the sides of my head after that sort of dirty talk.

  Bracing my palms on Royal’s unburnt chest, I push myself backward until I’m sitting on my knees, and right on his dick apparently before I bounce right back up, making him laugh.

  “That’s all a little too much for right now,” I tell him.

  “You gonna send me back to my room with a boner and sunburn, aren’t you?” he asks with a smirk.

  “I’ll rub more aloe on you tomorrow.”

  “Can we take the day off to rest? It’s what god wanted on Sundays, right?”

  “Right,” I agree. “I think you’ve earned a day off, as long as you’ll put in a good effort on Monday.”

  “As long as I’ll be rewarded for my efforts.”

  “You will be,” I promise him with a smile.

  Chapter 7

  Royal

  Why am I even surprised on Monday morning when I see that my dipshit, suck up of a roommate is already at the shelter, sitting on the wall next to Hannah so close that his thigh is touching hers through their shorts.

  It’s nuts, because after spending the entire weekend with her, I forgot that no one else knows we’re together or fooling around, whatever you want to call it.

  And again, like whenever I’m around Hannah apparently, my body acts on autopilot, strutting right up to Garrett and grabbing the front of his camp t-shirt to pull him off the damn wall.

  “Royal!” Hannah exclaims while Garrett shouts, “Jeez! What’s your problem, man?”

  I ignore him, hopping right up on the bricks, taking his seat. Me and my roommate are gonna have words later, ones where I warn him to back the fuck off.

  “Why did you do that?” Hannah whispers to me softly when dozens of heads turn our way.

  “Because I could,” I tell her simply. “And because he’s like a roach that won’t die or give up.”

  “Still, you don’t have to be mean to him.”

  “Yeah, I do. How else will he learn?”

  Hannah sucks in a deep breath and lets it out, which I hope means she’s going to drop the shit for now. Thankfully, the next thing she says is, “Your sunburn looks better.
”

  “Yeah. Finally.” Fuck, it’s embarrassing being a walking, talking lobster. Not that I’m the only one who got sunburned over the weekend, but still. It sucks and hurts. Not to mention it’s a total cock block.

  Yesterday and Saturday I talked Hannah into getting on top of me while we tongued each other until we were both dizzy from a lack of oxygen. If it hadn’t hurt so bad to move my arms, I would’ve had my hands all up in her shirt.

  Today is a brand-new day, though.

  Besides, Hannah needed time to come around to the idea of taking things further. I’m pretty sure she’s on board for more based on how many times she rubbed her pussy over the bulge behind my zipper yesterday. She’ll be ready for me to get her off on my fingers soon, and I can’t fucking wait.

  But one of the best things from this weekend running a close second to kissing was having Hannah take care of me. I swear she rubbed that aloe goop on me so much her palms turned a light shade of green. Not that I’m complaining. She also went down to the dining hall and brought me back lunch and dinner while I hid out in her room.

  Then, the rest of the weekend we talked about nothing and everything, because what the fuck else is there to do around here?

  It was the first time someone has taken care of me in a long damn time. My mother used to when I was little and sick or got hurt playing football, but she stopped when I was around six after my father told her she was just “babying” me. After that, she’s always sided with him on everything because she doesn’t have a backbone.

  So, thanks to Hannah’s kindness and how much fun I had just hanging out with her all weekend, sunburn aside, I’m actually ready to get to work as promised.

  Today, we’re at a new site – cleaning up old people’s apartments, also known as a horrifying, interactive episode of the show Hoarders about people who never throw anything away. It’s so fucking gross and disgusting, but I’m pulling my weight.