“Saint!” she cried out and though it was a warning and not encouragement, I couldn’t help but enjoy the way my name sounded as it echoed off of the walls in the dark.
“There’s a way out down here, you know?” I said in a low voice. “Though there are so many tunnels and passages that it’s not easy to find it. But if you tried really hard, you’d come to a second gate. And beyond that, there’s a cave which opens up down by the lake.”
“Why are you telling me that?” she panted beneath me, her hands pressed to my shoulders like she was going to push me off but she hadn’t tried to yet.
“Because if you ever want to take your chance at running from us then I thought you’d like to know how… Of course, monsters hunt best in the dark, so if you do attempt it, you’d better be prepared for what happens when we catch you.”
Tatum sucked in a breath and I clicked the flashlight on again, stepping back as I looked down at her.
She shoved herself upright again, her cheeks flushed beneath the scattering of freckles which lined them and her blue eyes dropped to the thick line of my cock as it pressed against my sweatpants.
“Tempted?” I teased her and her gaze snapped straight back up to meet mine.
“Fuck you,” she growled.
“Not yet, Barbie. I want you begging for it before I hate fuck you and so far you’re only panting.”
“As if I’d want to get anywhere near your-”
“Stop fucking around down here,” I snapped. “We’ve got supplies to unload.”
I turned and headed away from her with the only source of light and she soon scrambled after me rather than be left down here in the dark.
I locked the gate again and hung the key back on the hook, but I pocketed the flashlight. If Barbie wanted to try running that way, she could do it in darkness. And I had to admit that I was kind of hoping she’d try it. Because I’d really liked the way her body had felt against mine while I couldn’t see a thing down there, and I wanted to hear a lot more of her screams echoing through those tunnels too.
I stood in the kitchenette, making all of them breakfast while Saint worked out, Kyan went for a run with Blake then all of them showered. I’d spent nearly an hour building a freaking throne out of the toilet paper in the centre of the church on Saint’s command. And though it admittedly looked pretty good thank you very much, it was also fucking ridiculous.
By the time the Night Keepers were dropping into seats on one side of the dining table in their uniforms, I already had their food plated up. Dad had taught me and Jessica to cook when we were younger. He always had to work long and peculiar hours so sharing mealtimes had been pretty rare. And apparently I’d bitched about more than one nanny’s cooking when I was a kid.
I wasn’t a snob or anything, I just knew how I liked my food. And I’d been more than happy to get in the kitchen and learn to make it for me and my sister. Apart from anything else, it was a survival skill too. In the wild, Saint Memphis and his pals would have lasted less than a week. I, on the other hand, would have thrived hunting out natural resources and living off of the land. That was true power when it came down to it. Something none of them could claim if they were ever thrown into the wilderness with nothing but their two hands to fend for themselves. I must remember to make that my next birthday wish.
Even though I had my plan to take them down, I still had to play along with their rules in the meantime. Kyan liked to flirt, but I didn’t think I was making much headway with getting under his skin. I didn’t really understand why Monroe thought I could get to him when he clearly kept his heart in an iron cage. It probably took part in its own illegal fighting games while it was in there too. But I was still determined to try and crack him. I just didn’t know how I was going to manage it.
One good thing had come out of the four am madness; that little mission to fetch food and toilet paper had shown me just how Saint reacted when the ground got shaky beneath his feet. At the slightest whiff of a supply shortage, he’d taken nearly everything for himself. The school was going to be living on tinned soup, potatoes and beans for the foreseeable future until another delivery came in. And when they ran out of toilet paper in their rooms and the school bathrooms, there was gonna be a flood of followers showing up here to offer god only knew what in exchange for some.
Saint had ensured he remained a king while the rest of the world fell to ruin around him. It was people like that who thrived in world-wide disasters. He’d no doubt come out the other end of this richer and more powerful than he’d been before. And that was the sad truth about life. The rich got richer and the poor got poorer.
I considered spitting in their food, but figured that wasn’t really my style and at least one of the little psychos would probably like it. I didn’t want any piece of me in their mouths anyway. Though sometimes, the darker part of me had filthy daydreams about each of them raking their tongues across her flesh. But that was just in my mind. No way in hell were those fantasies going to manifest.
I placed Blake’s pancakes down followed by Saint’s eggs and avocado on toast, then Kyan’s greasy fried everything. I’d arranged his fry-up into the shape of a smiley face with streaky bacon eyebrows and a runny egg for a nose. He seemed to like my humour, so maybe that was a way to win him over.
He barked a laugh, before grabbing his fork and digging in. I smirked as I handed them all coffees, having learned their preferences already. Blake drank his black while Kyan had his with a load of milk and three freaking sugars. Saint had a triple shot of espresso of course- he probably needed the overdose of caffeine to keep his dead heart beating.
When I was done, I headed around to the other side of the table and waited to be dismissed.
“I hope you like the broken glass topping I added to yours, Saint,” I said sweetly. “Oh sorry, I meant salt. I get those two things confused sometimes.”
Kyan laughed through a mouthful of food while Blake ignored me and Saint glared evenly at me over his plate.
“You think you’re funny, Barbie?” he asked coolly. “Because humour will only get you one place with me. Bent over my knee with my hand against your ass. Now sit down and eat your own breakfast.”
My heart lurched and heat spilled through my body at his words. I tried not to blush, but shit, that image had been kinda hot.
I frowned as I thought of his command. I hadn’t even bothered to make myself anything despite the fact that my stomach had been growling at me for it. The pasta Saint had offered me last night had turned out to be laced with vodka too so if it hadn’t been for Monroe’s protein bars, I probably would have been coping a lot worse right now. As it was, I had a fair bit of resolve left so I sashayed my way to the fridge and plucked out a crispy lettuce leaf, fighting a grin.
I walked back towards their table, running my tongue up the leaf and moaning like it was my favourite food in the world. I took large bites of it, swallowing it down as I dropped into my seat, making a show of how much I was enjoying it.
When I was done, I found them all looking at me like starving men and I was surprised the table hadn’t risen a few inches, propped up on their boners. Holy shit, those crazy assholes seriously enjoyed that.
“Delicious.” I smacked my lips together and Kyan snorted as he drank his coffee.
“You’re one crazy bitch,” Blake commented and I offered him a blank look.
“Takes one to know one, huh Blake?”
“You’ll start calling each of us master as of now,” Saint cut in icily, a cruel flare in his eyes.
I breathed out slowly, trying to keep my anger in check before nodding. Blake sniggered, leaning back in his seat and sipping his coffee with victory in his eyes.
“Of course, master,” I put too much emphasis on the word, mocking Saint, but he clearly liked it anyway. Dammit.
“By the way, Cinderella, your Fairy God Mother showed up here last night,” Blake said offhandedly, taking a long drink of his coffee as he smirked. “She was a real fighter but I
managed to stuff her in a bag and drown her in the lake.”
“Damn, I’ve been tending to my pumpkin patch all week waiting for her to arrive,” I played along instead of rising to his shit.
He leaned his elbows on the table, making his muscles flex beneath his school shirt in a way that I couldn’t ignore. “Guess there’ll be no royal ball for you to attend, Cinders.”
“I’ve got a couple of royal balls you can tend to,” Kyan chipped in and a laugh escaped me. Even Blake’s mouth pulled up at the corner for half a second before he vanquished it from his face. For a moment, I’d seen a glimmer of the guy I’d been addicted to at the initiation party. His eyes locked on mine and his throat bobbed before he drained his coffee and took out his phone, giving his full attention to the screen. My heart tugged and I realised I actually missed the fun, golden boy I’d known for half a second.
“Enough chit chat. Go and fetch a banana,” Saint instructed me sharply and I slipped out of my seat, grabbing one for him and placing it down beside his plate. Before I could escape, he caught my wrist, yanking me down to sit on his knee and dropping his hand onto my thigh.
He pulled me closer into the arc of his powerful body and my heart thrashed wildly against my chest as he brought his face near to mine. He reached out to brush a lock of hair behind my ear, but it wasn’t tender. He was trying to perfect my imperfections, tidying back the stray hairs and eyeing my makeup for blemishes. Seemingly satisfied, he jerked his chin at the banana.
“Peel it,” he demanded.
I picked it up, clearing my throat as I caught Kyan’s eye and saw the flash of jealousy in his gaze. I realised I could use this to my advantage despite the fact that being this close to Saint made my skin prickle and my blood burn with hate. But he was a sinful temptation I could pretend to want easily enough, and maybe it wasn’t all a pretence, because as I met his inky gaze, heat gathered between my thighs.
I peeled the banana, placing the skin down on the table, expecting to feed him like I had the other day. Instead, he took it from my hands and pressed it to my lips, his hand inching up my thigh at the same moment.
I inhaled sharply and he pushed the banana between my lips, leaning in close to my ear. “Eat,” he commanded and it wasn’t like when Monroe had said it. This was as much of a threat as it was a command. I closed my mouth around the fruit and Kyan continued to glance this way. Apparently he liked what I was doing so I even let out a little moan of delight at how good it tasted. And in fairness, it did taste fucking good. I wasn’t normally a noisy eater, but it was worth the overreaction as Kyan’s expression grew fiercer.
Saint’s hand slipped beneath my skirt and my legs parted for him instinctively as he pushed the banana deeper into my mouth. Oh shit.
I was losing my cool, my heart fluttering and my breathing quickening. But maybe that was a good thing because it looked like Kyan was losing his cool too. His fists were balling and the simmering shades of gold in his eyes said he wanted to drag me out of Saint’s lap into his.
“You need to stay healthy, Barbie. You eat when we eat. And you eat proper food.” Saint spoke as if I’d been the one to decide I wanted to eat nothing but three lettuce leaves yesterday and that pissed me off to my core. I closed my legs, trapping his hand between them and his gaze darkened to midnight.
I finished the banana and swallowed it down, keeping him in my gaze. “Thanks for breakfast, your assholiness.”
He tugged his fingers free from between my thighs then whipped me over in his lap before I could do a thing to stop him. My heart soared into my throat as he flipped my skirt up so my ass was pointed right at Kyan and he spanked me hard enough to make me yelp.
I looked up at Blake through a curtain of hair and even he looked fucking surprised. The sting of Saint’s hand resounded right through to my core but it was nothing to the second time his hand slammed against my flesh. The bite of pain made me gasp but a burning sweetness followed, driving up between my legs and hell it felt so good, I started panting.
Saint flipped my skirt back down to cover my no doubt reddened ass cheeks then pulled me upright. I scrambled back onto my feet, pushing my hair back out of my face, unsure what the fuck to do with myself. I was flustered and hot, humiliated and turned on all at once.
What the hell just happened? And why did I like it?
Saint stood from his chair so suddenly that it clattered down onto the floor. I fell into his shadow and he gazed down his nose at me, his eyes hardening like frost. “You talk to me like that again and you’re gonna get spanked. Every. Time. Until you learn. Do you understand me?”
My lips parted wordlessly. My ass was still burning from the clap of his palm and my body was starting to ache with need.
“Got it,” I breathed, faking a lip quiver so he’d think I was scared. But I was sure I was going to misbehave again. Like soon. Real soon. Because shit, apparently I liked being spanked. But I wasn’t gonna let him know it, or he’d make sure to never do it again. And if that was how he decided to punish me going forward, then I was gonna be bad more often.
“Saint Memphis!” a booming voice made my heart lurch and I turned towards the front door as Headmaster Brown threw it open and strode into The Temple. Which, from the furious look on Saint’s face, was not acceptable. Brown pointed an accusing finger at him, striding forward at a fierce pace. “You’ve gone too far this time, boy!”
Kyan and Blake were on their feet in less than a second and the three of them swept forward to intercept the Headmaster.
My heart pounded excitedly in my chest. I was about to see the shady bunch get put in their box at last!
“What can I help you with, sir?” Saint asked, a dangerous edge to his tone that was almost imperceptible.
“You know exactly why I’m here,” Brown snarled.
I drifted closer, drawn by the drama while hoping Brown was about to toss them all in detention for the rest of the year.
Saint folded his arms and the three of them shared looks of confused innocence.
“No, actually,” Saint said icily. “I’m very unclear as to why you barged into my home without an invite, sir.” His tone was totally lacking in respect and as Brown glared between the three of them, I could tell who had the real power in this room. But surely they had to listen to the Headmaster even if they didn’t want to?
“Unclear huh?” Brown growled. “Well let me make this a whole lot clearer. Last night, someone or someones-” He glared between all three guys. “-broke into the storage parlour and took not only most of the food supplies, but all of the toilet paper too.”
“Well I do hope you catch the culprit, sir,” Kyan said, rubbing his thumb against the corner of his mouth to hide his smirk.
“You are the culprits!” Brown roared and not one of them flinched. In fact, Blake even yawned, heading away and leaning back against the couch, clearly done with the conversation.
Brown’s finger swung towards the huge toilet paper throne beside the stained glass window. “What is that then, huh? Are you going to accuse me of being delusional as well as stupid?”
Saint pressed his shoulders back, emphasising the inches of height he had on Brown and to his credit, the Headmaster didn’t even balk. “I’ve had that toilet paper throne for ages, haven’t I guys?”
“Ages,” Kyan and Blake agreed then Saint shot me a look over his shoulder, beckoning me closer.
Kyan circled around to herd me into the conversation, sliding his hand into mine and keeping me close. “Tatum will tell you.”
Brown was turning a nasty shade of red as his eyes swung to me and my throat thickened. Lying straight to the headmaster’s face was just another way for the Night Keepers to control me. They were gonna take me down with them if this went south. But what choice did I have?
“Ages,” I agreed and Brown shook his head with a snarl.
“You’d better put every last item back by the end of the day, or so help me Mr Memphis, I’ll-”
“You’ll what
?” Saint strode forward until he was nose to nose with Brown. My heart clenched at the danger in his tone and I instinctively squeezed Kyan’s fingers, drawing his eyes to me. But I couldn’t look away from the headmaster. I could sense Saint’s threat everywhere, my body was alive with it. But Brown didn’t seem to notice. There was a power in the Night Keepers which lingered on the air at all times but when they unleashed it in full force it was totally captivating, enthralling and damn terrifying too.
Brown lifted a finger to point in Saint’s face and a ripple of tension passed through the three of them. They were connected in that moment, unified against him. And I knew the feeling.
“I’ll call your father, how about that?” Brown hissed. “Let’s see what Governor Memphis has to say about his son acting like a spoiled brat who was never taught to share.”
Saint suddenly grabbed hold of Brown’s extended finger, bending it backwards so hard I gasped in horror. Brown roared in anger and pain, stumbling back as he tried to get free of him. “Firstly, never, ever point your grubby little fingers in my face,” Saint snarled, twisting Brown’s finger sharply so he cried out once more. “And secondly, what do you think the most powerful man in the state would do to someone who called his son a liar?”
My jaw dropped as Brown yelped once more, our headmaster sweaty and red as he tried and failed to get his finger free of Saint’s grip.
“I imagine well-paid jobs are going to become really rare soon, sir. And with my mother being on the school board, it wouldn’t be hard for her to tug on a few puppet strings,” Saint hissed. “Which side of the wall do you want to be on when society crumbles?”
“You little shit!” Brown yelled and Saint released him with a tsk.
Kings of Quarantine: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep Book 1) Page 32