DARE SERIES COLLECTION

by Tessier, Shantel

  “Not my place.”

  She looks at me, and I give her a big smile. “I’m a rock, baby.” I’m not telling her anything. Can’t take the chance she’ll run off and tell Becky. I don’t wanna have to deal with her more than I already do. I wanna fuck her, not listen to her bitch. And I think my warning was very clear. Demi will keep her mouth shut, and she’ll stay the hell away from me.

  Austin leans over to pick up her clothes and then storms off into the house.

  Cole turns and looks at me over his shoulder. “You got her?”

  I nod. “We’ll be fine. Won’t we, Lilly?”

  She giggles. “Let’s dive for rings.”

  He turns back to the house and goes in after her. I have no doubt they’ll be fighting it out with her on her back and him between her legs.

  _______________

  An hour later, I’m in the shower washing away the chlorine water when I hear a knock on my bathroom door. “What?” I ask.

  Cole clears his throat, and I pop my head out of the frosted door to look at him. “You have a visitor.”

  My jaw tightens. It’d better not be my father. I’m still avoiding that fucker, but I don’t put it past him to show up here in Texas to make me talk to him. “Who?”

  He gives me that Cole Reynolds smile that I know all too well. His previous argument with Austin forgotten, so I know he told her. He didn’t have to say it, and I didn’t ask. Austin can be relentless when it comes to wanting to know what’s going on. It’s better for her to know than to bother me twenty-four seven. “She’s downstairs in the living room waiting on you.” He slaps the bathroom door. “We’re on our way out. You have the house to yourself for at least three hours. Make them count.”

  DEMI

  I sit on Cole and Austin’s couch scrolling through Facebook on my phone. I’ve been waiting for over twenty minutes in silence. Cole and Austin left with Lilly. Austin looked at me strangely when she answered the door and I asked if Deke was here, but she didn’t question me. At first, I thought it was pity and then confusion. I didn’t want to get into it with her. I would prefer her to not tell my sister that I was here. Maybe she thinks my visit involves Becky. That I’m here to save her from the big bad wolf. Maybe I’m here to tell Deke to leave Becky alone.

  If only.

  “Well, well, well. I must say I’m surprised to see you here.” Deke enters the living room dressed in nothing but a pair of gray sweatpants. I look away as my face heats. I hate that after he left me lying on my bed horny last night, I finished what he had started. “Come to play some more?” He plops down across from me in a white leather recliner.

  I take a chance to look at him, and he has his muscular arms crossed over his smooth and defined bare chest. His skin tan from spending so much time out in the pool over the summer. His dark hair is wet and pushed back off his forehead. His baby blue eyes twinkle as they look me up and down. My legs tighten, and my breathing hitches when he stops on my chest. I remember his lips … my eyes drop lower, scanning over his defined abs. I’ve never seen a boy look so much like a man. It’s hard to believe he’s only eighteen and a fucking bastard.

  His eyes move to my bruised wrists. “I’m a little disappointed.” Then they return to mine. “I’d hoped your hands were still tied behind your back.”

  My heart begins to race at his words, and my body heat rises. God, it’s like I just walked into a sauna. Sweat breaks out across my forehead, and I rub my hands against my jean-clad thighs. “I came to call a truce.” The words burn my throat as if I just downed a shot of acid.

  He tilts his head to the side. “Truce?”

  “Don’t act stupid, Deke. We both know you’re not.” I roll my eyes, ignoring the throbbing between my legs.

  I’m testing him. And myself. I’ve always been a competitive person by nature. I have to win. And that is exactly why I’m going to take Deke away from my sister. He doesn’t know it yet, but she wants him back. They’re playing this little cat and mouse game right now, but she has no idea she’s got competition. Neither one of them will ever see me coming. Not until it’s too late.

  He smirks and stands. My head falls back to rest on the cushion in order to look up at him, towering over me. His stomach muscles flex when he lifts his hands, running them through his wet hair. A smirk plays on his lips while he watches me take him all in. My eyes drop to his sweatpants and the fabric leaves nothing to the imagination—the outline of his impressive dick clearly visible—and he’s not even hard. My mouth begins to salivate. He steps forward, placing his hands on both armrests. Leaning into me, he lowers his face until it’s inches from mine. The smell of his masculine body wash hits me, and I bite my inner cheek to keep from moaning.

  “You’re right.” He lowers his voice and licks his lips. “I’m not stupid. And neither are you. I knew you’d fold. I don’t call you Becky for nothing.”

  “What the fuck does that mean?” I demand. My hands itch to slap him across his pretty, perfect face to see what he’d do. Instead, I clasp them together. Don’t show all your crazy at once, Demi. You gotta leave a little surprise.

  His blue eyes drop to my chest. I suck in a breath when they linger. Is he thinking what I am? Did he like what he felt last night as much as I did? My boobs aren’t small, but they’re not as big as my sister’s. Did he like mine more or less?

  He smirks to himself before pushing off the chair and walking out of the living room and down the hall, ignoring me. His back muscles on full display. I stay transfixed on the way they ripple at his movements. His gray sweatpants sit low on his hips, and my mouth waters at the way the fabric pulls against his round ass. I know he came down here to see me only half-dressed on purpose. He knows how to play the game. It’s also the same reason I dressed up for him. He dated Becky, after all. He likes girls who look a certain way. Even if it’s not the real me, I can pretend.

  “Deke?”

  “I’m guessing you can see yourself out,” he calls over his shoulder before he turns and walks up the stairs.

  “Deke?” I growl, only to hear the door to his room slam, and my fists tighten. Don’t follow him. That’s what he wants you to do.

  That’s what Becky would do, and you’re not Becky.

  But that’s why I’m doing this. That’s why I allowed him to touch me in the first place. To make him look like a fool. Walking out the front door means he wins, and I’m not about to give in.

  “Nature of The Beast” by My Darkest Days begins to play loudly from upstairs, and I grind my teeth at his choice of song.

  I take the stairs two at a time and open the first door to my left. A black wooden framed king-size bed sits up against the wall with a deep red comforter. Black glittery pillows decorate the bed along with a couple of others that match the bedding. A large picture hangs above the headboard of Cole and Austin. She’s wearing a beautiful red dress, and he’s dressed in a black tux with a bow tie that matches her. Nope. Definitely not Deke’s room. The moment I open the next door, I don’t even get a chance to look around because I’m yanked inside, and my back is slammed into a wall.

  “Curiosity killed the cat.” Deke chuckles.

  He was expecting me. “Are you gonna kill me?” I almost smile.

  He tilts his head to the side and bites his bottom lip as he contemplates that idea. My body heat rises like it seems to do when I’m around him. “Is that what you want?” he asks, reaching out and taking a lock of my hair. He rubs it between his fingers. “Want me to hurt you, Demi?” I swallow nervously ’cause I know this man would do exactly that. I’d have to give him a reason, but once I pushed him to that limit, he wouldn’t think twice. “Is that why you keep coming around me?” He chuckles, and I don’t miss the innuendo.

  “No.” My answer is nothing more than a whisper. Not true, but not totally wrong.

  I come around you because I hate you. And I want my sister to smell my perfume on you. I want her to know I’ve been near you. Touched you. I wanna watch her go crazy k
nowing I have taken something from her. Something she was so sure would be there when she decided to quit being a fucking whore and come back.

  The corners of his lips turn up. “Liar.” My heart begins to pound, and he leans forward, his lips now inches from mine. “You’re more fucked up than I originally thought,” he whispers.

  “Excuse me?” This coming from a monster. We’re more alike than you could ever imagine, Deke.

  “I stood outside your room while you watched that documentary. Into murder, are you?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about …”

  “You lie as bad as your sister does.”

  I hate that—the way he compares us—more than anything.

  “Is that why I turn you on?” he asks, and his eyes leave mine to admire my lips.

  “You don’t—”

  He chuckles, cutting me off. “Another lie. I bet you’re wet right now, baby.” His knee pushes between my legs, easily spreading them apart. I’m panting at his closeness. His free hand comes up and cups the side of my face. His touch so soft, it has to be fake. There’s nothing tender about this man. I know he’s fucking with me, but my body isn’t getting the memo. I lean into him, wanting more. Wetness pools between my legs when he lowers his lips to my neck and kisses the sensitive skin there, sending a shiver up my spine. But I feel it’s a threat. He’s pretending to be gentle just to get close to me. He can strike easier from here. Rip my throat out with his teeth. Too bad I don’t care.

  I reach out and grip the waistband of his sweatpants as his lips trail up my neck to my ear. He laughs when I moan.

  My hands fist the material. My knuckles skimming the smoothness of his defined V. I have a thought of pulling them down just to see what he’ll do from there. I doubt he’ll be laughing then. “You are such a fucking …”

  My words are cut short when his lips slam on mine. He doesn’t ask for permission, and I don’t push him away. His hands hold my face in place as his tongue enters my mouth. He tastes just as good as the other night at Silence. Like sin and cinnamon. It stirs something in my stomach, and I pull him closer to me. A moan escapes me as I open my lips, wanting him to take my breath away.

  But he draws back and runs his knuckles over my cheek. His blue eyes hold a hint of amusement, reminding me this is just a game to him. I’m panting and so goddamn wet. And losing.

  “Go home, Becky.”

  My teeth grind and I snap. “Quit fucking calling me that!”

  He laughs. “That’s what you want, right? To be like her?” His hands grab mine, ripping them from his sweatpants, and before I can stop him, he pins them above my head to the wall. He presses his body into mine once again. Fuck, he’s hard. My body begins to shake with need, but he ignores it. “You want me to want you like I wanted her.”

  “Deke,” I warn, but my knees threaten to buckle. Every time I’m around him, he overpowers me in some way.

  I like it.

  Throw me on the bed, rip off my clothes, and pin me down. I’ll be your good little whore.

  That’s obviously what he’s into— a girl who’s easy and stupid.

  “You want me to fuck you like I did her?” His brows pull together as if he can’t quite understand the thought of that. Allowing himself to want me would be beneath him. He thinks she’s so much better than me.

  And fuck, I can’t understand it either. I hate him as much as I do her, yet here I am, panting and wet all because he is touching me. Silently begging him to fuck me. “Stop,” I growl as though it’s his fault I came here. What the hell did I expect? Deke Biggs is ready and willing to play. He made that crystal clear when he showed up at my mother’s house last night. And I couldn’t stay away. I’m literally using myself as bait. And men like him, the GWS, don’t ever pass up a chance to draw blood—to eat you alive.

  He lowers his head to the crook of my neck, and he kisses me softly just like before. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up at his tenderness. It’s another trap. He has figured out that’s my spot—my weakness—so why am I falling for it?

  I moan loudly and then bite my lip to keep from begging for more.

  “You want me to treat you how I do her?” he whispers.

  I fight to free my hands from his hold, but it doesn’t work. I know he still sees her. He proved that when he thought I was her at Silence.

  “Tell me, baby. Did it turn you on when I ordered her to her knees to fuck her mouth?”

  My breath hitches.

  “Did you listen to her suck my cock like the desperate woman she was?” he asks amused.

  “Yes,” I answer shamelessly.

  I thought she was as weak and pathetic as he did. Now I understand why she so willingly fell to her knees to try to convince him to stay. But unlike my sister, I know, no matter how much time you spend staying on your knees, you don’t win Deke Biggs over. There are too many other girls out there willing to do the same thing.

  His lips trail over my collarbone, and he bites it through my shirt. I whimper as the feel of his teeth makes my pussy throb.

  “Do you want to be useful to me?” he asks. “Take her place?”

  “Stop!” I growl, getting pissy. “I’m nothing like her.” I want you to want me for me. Fuck Becky and what he felt for her!

  He steps back and drops my arms. They fall to my sides like dead weight, and I hate the distance he’s put between us now.

  “You’re exactly like her.” He looks me up and down, his blue eyes full of hatred, his lips pulled back with disgust.

  For the first time, I see how much he truly hates her. How much I must remind him of her. We both have blond hair and blue eyes, but I’m smaller than her in height and overall size. Becky has always been runway ready with her long legs, but I prefer an oversized T-shirt, no makeup, and a pint of ice cream in my lap while I stay home watching some frightening shit on Netflix. She likes to go out, get drunk or high, and show off everything she has in a tiny skintight dress with heels.

  We may look alike, but our similarities stop there. He’ll never believe me, though. And I’m not about to try to make him understand.

  But if he hates her so much, then why did he do what he did to me at Silence, thinking I was her? My only guess is a power trip. He thought she wanted him, and he was gonna take advantage of the situation. Then he realized it was me, and he was disgusted. He may hate my sister, but I’m nothing to him. Insignificant. And that’s a hard pill for me to swallow.

  The fact that I hate Deke is no longer an issue because my hatred for my sister is far greater. So I’m gonna do what I watched her do all those years and use what God gave me.

  “Get the hell out of here.” He nods to the closed bedroom door.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  DEKE

  SHE STANDS THERE, back still against the wall, looking every bit of pissed and turned on all at once. Ignoring her, I go to my walk-in closet and grab a shirt off the hanger. I feel like going out for the evening, and there’s a party on campus that I can hit up. I need to get drunk and hook up with some stranger ’cause all this pent-up aggression I have for Demi is giving me a headache. Not to mention blue balls.

  When I walk out, she’s still standing there, blue eyes glaring into mine and arms now crossed over her chest.

  “I’m better than her.”

  The bitch is convincing. I’ll give her that. A part of me wants to believe her, but I know the truth. She’s just another spoiled Holt who thinks she deserves every little fucking thing she wants.

  I snort.

  She lifts her chin. “At everything.”

  I toss my shirt onto my unmade bed and smirk, looking her up and down. Wanting to really look at her. Is there a difference? She wore a pair of skinny jeans, cuffed at the ankles with a plain black T-shirt that’s just short enough to show me a little sliver of her tan stomach and a pair of black heels, giving her every bit of an extra five inches. Just as Becky would. But it doesn’t suit her. I found her much more attractive in the o
versized shirt and underwear she had on last night. With Demi, less is better. But her words don’t match her actions. She looks identical to Becky in every way.

  Her eyes go to my shirt on my bed and then back to mine. I watch her anger toward me build in them for every second I just stand here, letting the silence linger between us. She hates me so fucking much. I wanna wrap my hand around her elegant neck and demand she tell me why she’s here in my room. Is she trying to prove to me that she isn’t Becky?

  What is it that she wants from me? Whatever it is, she isn’t going to get it.

  I walk over to her, and she squares her shoulders, preparing herself for whatever I’m about to throw at her. “How are you better?” I press my body into hers again, and of course, my cock is hard. But it’s not her, it’s the game. I get off on fucking with people. The challenge.

  Right.

  I lower my lips to her ear. She stands perfectly still with her hands hanging down by her side. “Can you lie on your back longer?” My right hand grips her hair and yanks her head back. It hits the wall with a thud. Becky was made to be loved. She may have been a whore, but she needed to feel like she meant something—cherished. She didn’t like a hand around her throat or to be spoken to like a cheap fuck. Demi is gonna be the same way.

  Little Miss Priss wants a prince to save her, but this monster will rip her apart. It’s hard to smile when you no longer have a pretty face. Ever heard of the saying beauty is only skin deep? Rip Demi of her expensive name-brand makeup and fake tan, and she’ll shatter every mirror she comes into contact with because she won’t be able to stand the sight of herself.

  Her eyes fall closed. Long, dark lashes fanning her cheeks. When they open, she looks up at me and sighs my name. “Deke …”

  I hate how it makes my hard cock twitch with longing. Just as it does when her sister says it. “Can you spread your fucking legs farther?” My left hand comes up, and I run a finger over her parted lips, and I lick my own, still tasting our kiss. She tasted sweet like honey. I wonder if her pussy tastes as good. Her breath quickens. “Can you suck my dick harder?”