by Lily White
As for this room, I felt like I’d walked into a damn orgy, all the woman slowly losing their clothes while the five men who sat around like kings in their damn harem smoked joints and sipped from glasses of different liquors and alcohol.
No, the rest of the men sat like kings in their thrones, but not Tanner. He sat in the center of the room against a far wall, his demeanor that of a dark god.
I needed to get out of here, but as the seconds ticked by, a poisonous glare pulled me back to him, my head turning just enough to see that Tanner was still staring me down, the half dressed girl no longer dancing now that she’d crawled to straddle his lap.
Running her fingers through his hair, she leaned over to kiss the pulse point in his neck, but his attention was focused on me despite the promise of sex grinding against his crotch.
And fuck me, that man was beautiful, unlike anybody I’d seen before.
With dark hair and cold eyes, he had the face of a cover model. His cheekbones were blades that ran beneath his focused stare, his cheeks sinking in to darken with the days worth of black stubble that peppered his jaw. His lips parted just enough that I could see the bottom was full, and he had soot black hair that was shaved on the sides while longer on top.
It looked like silk running through the woman’s fingers, his arms casually relaxed on either side of her body.
When our eyes met again, his narrowed just a touch from where he was watching me over her shoulder.
Knowing better than to stare, I couldn’t seem to pull my gaze away from him a second time. It was like being stared down by a predator, cornered and shaking while he licked his chops with every intention of taking a slow leisurely bite of me to make it as painful as possible.
Where his eyes were tiny slits with a cunning soul staring out from behind them, mine were wide and anxious, my arms tightening around my center as if they could protect me from whatever it was he was thinking.
It was stupid to keep staring, but I couldn’t ignore my morbid fascination, and before I could snap out of it to do what any intelligent person would do, like turn around and haul ass, Tanner broke our locked stare to glance across the room, his chin nudging in someone’s direction just before the music suddenly stopped and the room was bathed in jarring silence.
I turned to see what happened, my gaze slowly drifting back his direction to see he was once again staring at me.
If that wasn’t bad enough, his beautiful lips parted, a deep tenor voice floating across the space that stilled me in place.
“Either join in or leave.”
Everybody in the room turned to look at whoever Tanner was talking to, my neck twisting left and right to realize that person was me.
Swallowing down the knot of apprehension clogging my throat, I looked back at him, his eyes now blazing with menace, the girl straddling him still rolling her hips as she ground against his lap.
It was then that I noticed she’d abandoned her bra to the floor at Tanner’s feet, her full breasts shamelessly displayed to the entire room.
She was oblivious to the fact he had his eyes on another woman...that his dead stare was locked directly on me.
Opening my mouth, my voice came out as a weak croak. “What?”
The corners of his lips curled, a feline smile from a cat that couldn’t wait to pluck the feathers from the bird it had trapped.
“Are we entertaining you? Getting you off while you stand there deciding whether to touch yourself just to pretend you’re on one of our laps? Why be shy? I have enough cock to go around. Strip off your clothes and climb up.”
He shoved the girl away, a cry of surprise falling from her lips when her ass hit the floor.
Shaking my head, I couldn’t find my voice to respond, not that I would have known what to say even if I had.
Desperate for help, I turned to where Everly was watching me from across the room, her expression worried. Leaning down, she whispered in Jase’s ear and he laughed softly.
Jase took a hit off the joint he held pinched between two fingers, rolled his head over the back of the couch and said, “Leave her alone, Tanner. She’s Everly’s friend.”
“I don’t give a fuck who she is,” Tanner barked in response. “She wasn’t invited here and now she’s watching everybody like we’re fucking Pornhub or some shit.”
His eyes snapped back to me.
“So, what do you say, Everly’s friend? Are you going to join in or get the fuck out? There’s space on my lap if you’re feeling neglected.”
Laughter filled the room, all eyes on me while I stood dumbfounded. Terror rolled down my spine, anger chasing after it that I couldn’t seem to grasp onto enough to defend myself against the asshole.
He smirked, his voice a dark croon. “That’s what I thought.”
Tilting his chin toward me, he demanded, “Walk your ass out of this room if you’re not willing to take part.”
Mortified, I looked to Everly again, but she shook her head, a silent plea that I do as he said without arguing.
He didn’t have to say another word for me to get the hint that I wasn’t wanted.
On unsteady legs, I fled the room, ran through the hall and downstairs, people chuckling and whispering as I passed them.
Bursting through the front door, I ran down the large half-circle steps. Reaching the bottom, I sucked in air to cool my burning lungs - fear, anger and embarrassment rolling through my veins to mix into a toxic poison.
Face flushed, I leaned against the half wall that lined the steps, a faint yellow glow beaming from an exterior gas lamp by the side of my body.
Tears pricked my eyes and I smacked them away while music filtered out from the windows of the house.
Hugging my body with trembling arms, I finally calmed down enough after several minutes to breathe evenly again.
There was no chance of me going in that party to look for Clayton. Choosing to wait outside for him instead, I glanced up at a window to see a familiar set of cold, dark eyes staring down at me.
Luca
What is it about certain men that make women lose their minds?
For the life of me, I couldn’t understand it. Perhaps it had something to do with our nature, biological programming taking over in moments when a woman should cling to her logical mind, should realize that despite a strong, hard body and a face that is chiseled from stone, there are some men who aren’t worth the days, weeks or even years of your life they suck away simply by being present.
I certainly wasn’t one of those stupid girls who lost her grip every time a handsome man looked my direction. I’d worked too hard to get where I was, my high school years spent slaving away so that I could get into Yale and make something of my future.
Yet, in this moment, I stood uncertain in my place in life, one ridiculously arrogant comment tipping me off balance to leave me flailing over questions of whether I was as strong and independent as I wanted to believe I could be.
It was stupid, really, this insecurity I felt, and while I stood waiting beneath the flicker of a gas-flame lantern at my side, I allowed that insecurity to become what it should have been all along: a deep-seated hatred for the asshole who’d believed he could yell at me, and anger at myself for having run.
Clayton had another ten minutes to arrive before I called for a ride to head home. I’d already spent fifteen minutes standing against the wall, my eyes averting every time people arrived to the party or left.
Word must have spread quickly in the house because those leaving stared at me a little too long to be comfortable as they passed, quiet laughter and whispered comments trailing back to me about how I’d been the girl kicked out.
Hating this place now that I’d finally had a taste of it, I stared down the pathway leading to the parking area and noticed the silhouette of a person walking toward me.
Relief flooded my veins to think Clayton had finally arrived, but when a cloud of smoke rose above the person’s head, that relief bled out of me.
I
’d met Clayton at the beginning of the year in a torts class where he was the professor’s assistant. Although tonight was technically our first date, I’d gotten to know him pretty well already and I knew he was too much of a health nut to be a smoker.
Trying, and failing, to keep from watching the approaching person, I ended up meeting his green gaze with mine as he walked up, blew out another cloud of smoke and leaned against the half-wall opposite me.
“Bad night?”
Not in the mood for a conversation with a stranger, especially after my run in with Tanner, I shrugged a shoulder and scanned my eyes up and down the man talking to me.
Casually dressed in a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a pair of dark jeans that hung from his tapered waist, he had solid shoulders and muscular forearms, his light green eyes glimmering with warmth as they stared back at me.
He seemed friendly enough for being as handsome as he was, and I felt rude for not answering him.
Rubbing my hands up my arms to chase away the chill still trapped beneath my skin, I answered, “You can say that.”
He smiled and stepped forward, extending an arm to offer me his smoke. “Might help.”
With a shake of my head, I said, “I don’t smoke cigarettes.”
His shoulders jumped with silent laughter. “It’s not a cigarette.”
Understanding hit me. “I don’t smoke pot either, but thanks.”
Holding my stare for another silent second, he shrugged a shoulder and took a hit of the joint before leaning back against the opposite wall.
“Want to talk about it?”
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
He tilted his head, smoke rolling over his lips.
“You sure? To me, it looks like you’re running.”
My brows tugged together, but then I assumed he misspoke. I was sure my hair was messy down my back and my cheeks were still flushed from having hauled ass out of the house a few minutes ago. “I’m just standing here.”
“But the party is inside.”
Half his face was bathed from the exterior gas lamp to his right, the dancing orange glow giving him a sinister edge before he turned just enough to let more of the light illuminate his face.
“Can’t be much fun hanging out here by yourself. Sure you don’t want to talk about it?”
Huffing out a breath, I snorted. “I’m sure if you go inside, you’ll hear all about it.”
“Why don’t you tell me?”
“I don’t even know who you are.”
“My name’s Gabriel. And yours is?”
Smiling, I answered, “Luca.”
“Luca what?”
“Luca Bailey.”
He returned the grin and relaxed even more, his shoulders rounding back and his elbows holding up his weight on the wall.
“It’s nice to meet you, Luca. But seriously,” taking another hit of the joint, he blew it out. “What happened? Is there somebody’s ass I need to kick?”
Laughing, I relaxed in response to his question. He seemed decent enough.
“I kind of wandered into the wrong room on the third floor and got chased out by Tanner. So, now I’m out here waiting for a friend because I don’t want to run the risk of going inside and pissing him off again.”
Understanding flowed behind his eyes. “Ah, well that must be why I thought you’re running. Those guys aren’t exactly the type anybody would want to mess with.”
“They’re assholes,” I pointed out, feeling more comfortable to have a person to talk to instead of standing outside by myself. However, realizing what I said, I groaned and covered my mouth as if I could somehow stuff the words back in.
“Sorry, I’m sure you’re friends with them.”
The corner of his mouth kicked up, his brow wrinkling as his green eyes twinkled with humor.
“I won’t say anything. I happen to think all nine of them are dicks.”
Laughter poured out of my mouth.
“Oh my God, it’s good to meet someone who doesn’t worship them like everybody else.”
His laughter joined mine.
“Tell me how you really feel.”
That loosened my lips. It felt good to have someone who could understand.
“My friend is an idiot for getting involved with Jase, and Tanner is someone who deserves a good throat punch. He actually told me to climb on his lap or get out of the room, as if I was some stupid slut who sleeps with guys she doesn’t know. I don’t get why they think they can act like that.”
“Probably because they practically own this school. At least until they graduate and then they’ll own whatever area they happen to live in. Don’t you know anything about what money can buy a person?”
Shaking my head, I toed the ground.
“Not really. I’m here on scholarship. I mean, my family isn’t poor, but we’re not mansion wealthy, you know?”
He nodded. “Smart and humble. Who would have thought there are actually people like you at Yale? What does your dad do for a living?”
I thought it was an odd question, but not completely out of place. Most of the students at Yale came from established backgrounds, their parents typically wealthy and well known.
“He runs a tech firm.”
“Interesting.”
Flicking what was left of the joint onto the ground and smashing it with the toe of his black boot, Gabriel looked at me just as Clayton came strolling up the sidewalk toward us. He reached us and nodded his head at Gabriel before wrapping an arm around my waist.
“Sorry I’m late. I got caught up helping Professor Thornton grade some papers.”
Before I could answer him, a familiar voice called from the direction of the front door.
“Gabe, get the fuck in here, we have a gauntlet to announce.”
I stilled at the sound of that deep voice, my skin prickling in response, my teeth grinding together. Beside me, Clayton turned his head to nod in Tanner’s direction, a breath hissing over his lips.
“Oh, shit. Somebody’s about to get it,” Clayton murmured as Gabriel pushed away from the wall and walked in the direction of the front door.
A spike of panic shot down my spine as Gabriel ran up the steps and slapped hands with Tanner.
They were friends? I felt like a fucking idiot for telling him how I felt. There was no doubt in my mind he would pass the information along to Tanner as soon as he had the chance.
As if intuiting my thoughts, Gabriel turned and winked at me before walking completely into the house.
My eyes drifted to Tanner and he tossed me one last glare before shutting the door, the hard slam adding a touch of finality to my social life at Yale.
I knew I shouldn’t have come out here tonight. Now I would have to constantly watch my back because there was no telling what Tanner would do.
Whispering against my ear, Clayton asked, “You doing okay?”
“No,” I answered, tears stinging my eyes. “I feel like an idiot right now.”
Tightening his arm around me, Clayton hugged me to his chest.
“Why? What happened?”
I told him what happened when Everly and I arrived to the party, his brows knotting between his eyes with confusion as I finished the story.
“So wait, if you were pissed off at Tanner then why were you out here talking to Gabriel of all people?”
It felt like a thousand pound boulder had dropped into my stomach, my eyes lifting to his, practically begging him to not finish whatever it was he had to say. I didn’t need to hear the truth, didn’t need to know that the man I just poured all my thoughts out to had been-
“Gabriel is Tanner’s best friend. He’s part of the Inferno...”
Had it been possible to die right there and drift away into the afterlife, I would have happily done so just to escape the consequences of this night.
“So basically, when I told him that I think everybody in his group is an asshole, that means-“
&nb
sp; Clayton laughed, but then held me at arm’s length, his brown eyes meeting mine.
“That you called him an asshole as well.”
“But he didn’t say anything,” I argued.
Clayton’s expression softened before he reached over to rub a thumb along my jawline.
“Of course he didn’t. Gabriel’s the best liar known to man. Why do you think everybody calls him Fraud?”
Son of a bitch...
I was ready to get the hell out of there and was about to tell Clayton exactly that when the music died off in the house, replaced by a crowd of people roaring out in hoots and hollers, raucous laughter mingling within the noise.
Lifting his head to look at the front doors, Clayton grinned and grabbed my hand.
“Come on, let’s get inside. I want to see what idiot decided to run the gauntlet instead of paying the price.”
“What does any of that even mean?”
I was so frustrated with this party already. It didn’t help that Clayton was talking in code about gauntlets and paying a price.
Letting out a heavy sigh, Clayton wrapped his arm around mine and started walking me up the steps to the house.
“You know the rumors that you don’t want to mess with these guys unless you want to kiss your social life goodbye?”
I nodded, mentally adding that the rumors were exactly why I didn’t want to come here in the first place.
“Well, let’s just say that everybody who lives in this house is well connected. I mean, insanely connected. If you need something, no matter what it is, one of the Inferno members will be able to make it happen. The only thing is that when you ask them for a favor, you have to agree to pay a price. But they won’t tell you what it is at first. Not until they know what they want from you.”
Reaching the door, I grabbed his arm before he could open it.
“Why would anybody agree to that?”
Clayton ran a hand through his brown hair and blew out a breath.
“They’re desperate? But it’s all in good fun, you know? Plus, they have an out. If they won’t pay whatever price is asked of them, they can run the gauntlet.”