Battling the Enemy

by M. E. Clayton

  “Are you threatening me?” she asked, and I had to give the girl credit. She was a lot braver than I ever imagined she’d be. Quiet, demure Delaney Martin was showing me her hidden sides, and by the time I was done with her, I’d know them all.

  I rubbed the sting on my face, and she had the grace to flush a bit at the action. I knew she surprised herself with such a violent reaction to my kiss, but all that did was show me that she wasn’t fragile. She wasn’t delicate. And all that meant was that I didn’t have to treat her with kid gloves once I got her naked.

  I was going to ruin this girl.

  I was going to ruin her for every other man on the planet. She was mine, and once I tell Ramsey, Liam, Emerson, and Roselyn, there’d be nowhere for her to hide.

  The third, and final, bell for class rang, and I knew no one would go to class as long as this little drama was still playing out. So, I leaned down-risking another slap to the face-placed a kiss on her cheek and winked at her before taking off to my first period.

  The teacher didn’t question me when I arrived to class late. Mr. Stevens just continued on as if my arrival hadn’t been a disruption. I noticed a couple of other kids had followed behind me, being late themselves because they had stuck around to watch the drama, but again, Mr. Stevens hadn’t chastised anyone.

  After I sat down and got situated, Meghan Swiftly leaned over towards me, and whispered, “So, you and Delaney Martin, huh?”

  I barked out a laugh because I had no doubt there was a video on someone’s phone of that epic slap that was now circulating the classroom. That fact was confirmed a second later when my phone chimed with a text from Liam with a laughing emoji, a text from Ramsey asking if I was okay, a text from Emerson that just read ‘wow’, and a text from Linnie using the same laughing emoji Liam had sent.

  Fucking assholes.

  Instead of texting back those insensitive assholes, I looked over at Meghan and answered, “Yeah, me and Delaney Martin.”

  Meghan didn’t shy away from getting into my business. “That slap looked pretty vicious,” she pointed out.

  Yeah, it had been. “Does it matter?” I asked, not really expecting an answer. Meghan knew what I was getting at, and it’d be all over school within minutes.

  She shook her head. “I suppose not.”

  Chapter 6

  Delaney~

  First period had been horrible, and knowing that Deke was in my second, third, and seventh periods, I was confident the rest of the day was going to be worse.

  And, Christ, did I really slap Deke Marlow in front of everyone?

  Why, yes. Yes, I did, if the video along with a ‘WTF?’ text from Ava was any indication. I didn’t have Ava in any classes until fourth period, but we usually saw each other in passing on our way to class. I looked down at my phone as it vibrated with another text from her. As entitled as we were, most of us respected the classroom rules of phones on silent. When the administration finally realized they couldn’t fight the battle of no phones at all, they had compromised. And as long as our phones were on silent, the teachers didn’t fight us. The only time phones were not allowed out was during testing.

  Ava: WTF?

  Ava: Is this real, Delaney?

  Oh, how I wish I could text her back no.

  Me: Unfortunately

  Her reply came immediately.

  Ava: Holy Moly!

  I stifled my laugh. The girl was as wild as they came, and she texted that. Before I could text back, another one from her came through.

  Ava: U bttr tell W about D! Or D about W!

  I didn’t think it was necessary to tell Winston about Deke or the other way around. Winston didn’t have a leg to stand on regarding if I messed around with other guys or not. And Deke…well, Winston wasn’t any of Deke’s business.

  Me: Explain ltr.

  I sat through class ignoring the only other text that had come through a few minutes later.

  Unknown: B waiting by ur locker aftr class or else.

  I hadn’t even bothered myself with wondering how Deke got my number. Even if he couldn’t get it, everyone in town knew Ramsey Reed had connections the CIA would envy. I had no doubt that whatever information Deke couldn’t find about me on his own, Ramsey would have gotten it for him.

  The bell rang after forty minutes of feeling like an exhibition animal at the zoo, but I knew next period would be the same. Hell, it would be worse because Deke would be in there with me. I ignored all the stares and rumblings as I made my way to my locker, and not because Deke had commanded it. I had to go get my stupid Calculus book.

  I cursed his gorgeous face as he leaned up against my locker with his arms crossed over his chest, a stupid smirk on his face. He stepped out of the way as soon as I stood in front of him and waited patiently as I unlocked my locker to get switch books. “Go away, Deke,” I muttered. Why he was still playing this game, after I had slapped him, was beyond me.

  “I already told you, Delaney. That’s not happening,” he replied.

  I shut my locker and turned around to face the asshole. “Why?” I demanded. “Why are you fucking with me?”

  He smirked, and as God as my witness, I wanted to slap the shit out of him again. “I haven’t even begun to fuck with you, Delaney.”

  I had been afraid of that.

  Deke has been bolder than most, but I knew his antics, so far, haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of what he was capable. Right now, he was just teasing me. He was a deadly cat playing with a nerdy mouse. He was just waiting for me to do that one thing that would excuse him to go in for the kill.

  “Why?” I asked again. This had to be about more than me just watching him get a blowjob. If what Ava had said was true, he shouldn’t care this much about voyeurism.

  He leaned down into my face, and I knew the people around us would kill to hear what we were saying. “Because you moaned,” he said, confirming my worst fears. “You moaned like a bitch in heat when I had my hand wrapped around your neck and I knew. I knew you’d let me fuck you, right then and there, in front of everyone had I tried.” I stayed stubbornly mute because I didn’t trust my voice to sound strong enough and convincing enough to deny it. “I thought you spent all these years saving yourself because you were a good girl, but that’s not it at all. You’re still a virgin because you’re too scared to voice what you want.”

  “Ho…how do you know I’m even a virgin?” I challenged. I couldn’t do anything about the roughness in my voice, but I wanted to know. “How do you know I haven’t slept with anyone already?”

  His green eyes were looking right through the façade I was doing my best to project. “Because you wouldn’t have looked so needy when you were watching me get my dick sucked, Delaney. And if you’re not a virgin, then the guys you’ve been with haven’t been satisfying you for shit.”

  The bell for class rang, and I thanked God. I wasn’t equipped to have a conversation with Deke Marlow about sex. He was right. I was a virgin. He was also right about why. It was probably the reason no boys had ever caught my attention here. They were all too…soft. When you’re handed everything you’ve always wanted, where was the effort?

  I decided not to comment on his observations, and I turned to head to class. Deke stepped in line with me and I was startled stupid when he reached for my hand to freakin’ hold it. Shock and sheer pride had me snatching my hand back. I didn’t know what Deke was about, but I wasn’t going to willingly be a part of whatever bet or game he was playing at.

  What happened next will stay with me forever.

  One second, I was walking to class trying to wrap my mind around Deke’s madness, and the next, my back was up against a wall with Deke looming over me. His eyes looked like green fire. “Understand something, Delaney, and it’s in your best interest to comprehend and understand this immediately,” he snarled. “I’m not Ramsey, and I’m not Liam.”

  I was terrified, but I’d be damned if I would show him any weakness. I knew I was the mouse. “
What does th…that mean?”

  Deke looked positively lethal when he said, “It means, I’m not Liam, who has been in love with Roselyn since forever. And I’m not Ramsey who gave Emerson a choice.” Holy shit. “It means, if I say you’re fucking mine, then. You. Are. Mine. Don’t ever pull away from me again.”

  “You can’t do this, Deke,” I cried. “You can’t just…just…” I was sputtering like a fool because he wasn’t making any sense. He’s ignored me for four years, and suddenly, he was claiming me and proclaiming it as law?

  “Who’s going to stop me?” he asked, and I had no answer to that.

  Who would stop him? Winston? My parents? Winston’s parents? The law? The law could stop him, right? If everyone else failed, a restraining order would surely shut this madness down, right?

  My mind scrambled for some kind of solution to my situation. It was one thing to tease me about sex, it was another to hold my hand in the hallway on our way to class. That hinted at shit that he couldn’t possibly want with me. I knew I wasn’t a complete toad, but I wasn’t powerful like Emerson or strong like Roselyn. And Deke Marlow needed a girl with a commanding presence to walk with him in that context. His group of friends wouldn’t tolerate a weak link, and I would totally be a weak link.

  Maybe…

  “I’ll make you a deal,” I whispered. He didn’t comment. He just arched an ebony brow. “I’ll let you…” Christ, I couldn’t believe I was even contemplating this, much less saying it out loud. “…be my first. I’ll let you…have your way, but then after that, you leave me alone, yeah?” Take away the curiosity, right?

  “Oh, I’m going to be your first, alright,” he smirked. “I’m going to be your last, too. And I had better be your only, Delaney.” I stared dumbfounded as he said, “Let’s get to class.”

  Ava was right.

  I was going to have to tell him about Winston.

  Chapter 7

  Deke~

  I’ve never tried to hold a girl’s hand before, and so, Delaney’s blatant rejection had had me seeing red like a sonofabitch. I had been so pissed when we finally got to class, I had dragged her with me towards the back of the stadium seating and planted her ass next to mine.

  I could admit that this had all started out as curiosity, but that kiss had changed everything.

  I’ve kissed plenty of girls in my lifetime, but those kisses had all been part of foreplay. I have never kissed a girl who I hadn’t been about to fuck. And I sure as fuck have never kissed a girl in public for the sake of demonstrating affection. Hell, I’ve never even had a girlfriend before. I didn’t need one. And sex around here was served on goddamn tap. I didn’t need to a girlfriend to get laid.

  But Delaney Martin had changed all that with that kiss and that goddamn slap afterwards.

  Even though I wasn’t a psychopath like Ramsey, or a madman like Liam, my tastes had always run towards the darker side of things. I was fine with soft sex and missionary, if that’s what the girl preferred. But what I preferred was hard, rough fucking. I enjoyed pulling on a girl’s hair so hard, it brought tears to her eyes. I enjoyed leaving bite marks and bruises. I enjoyed the ownership. I enjoyed knowing a girl was so out of her mind with pleasure, that pain didn’t register. I loved knowing that a girl was so turned on, she’d let me do whatever the fuck I wanted to her.

  Admittedly, throughout my eighteen years of life, I’ve only experienced that a few times, and it was with one-night stands from other towns or some of the older siblings of the girls I went to school with. Not too many teenage girls will let a guy choke the shit out of her during sex.

  But I saw that…desire on Delaney’s face when she focused on my hands tightening in Melissa’s hair Friday night. I also saw that same curious need on her face when she had slapped me. And I saw it in her eyes when I had explained how I knew she was a virgin. And anticipation nearly drove me to my knees at the thought of Delaney bleeding all over me.

  I never knew why Liam had deceived Roselyn the night he had taken her virginity and had done it without a condom on. But now that I’ve…connected with Delaney, well, now, I understood. I wanted my dick covered in the proof that she’s never been with anyone else. Birth control was something we were going to have to discuss because, the way I was feeling now, I wouldn’t care if she got pregnant.

  And, right now, my future-baby-mamma was reluctantly being dragged behind me as we walked to my locker, so I could pick up Linnie for third period. It astounded me sometimes how I could have had sex with Roselyn for close to a year and still feel nothing but friendship for her. It’s only been a few months since the last time I saw her naked, but I couldn’t even picture her anymore, and not because she wasn’t memorable. My mind tricked my memories somehow the second she had become exclusive with Liam.

  We walked up to my locker, and since all our lockers were together, with the exception of Linnie’s, all my friends were standing gathered around. Liam had second period with Roselyn, so he turned her over to me during third and fourth periods, and then he got her back during fifth. Emerson and Roselyn always had one of us with them. The only exception was Roselyn’s sixth period. She was alone, but it was art, so she was allowed to wander around, taking pictures and shit, if she wanted to. Liam couldn’t get her scheduled changed so late in the year.

  And all of our possessiveness was simply due to the fact that, even as tough as our girls were, there were plenty of people still hating on them for doing the one thing they couldn’t, and that was land Ramsey and Liam. Thinking about it, I knew I was going to see what I could do about Delaney’s schedule now.

  The second we stopped in front of my friends, Liam fired the first shot. “That’s a hell of a swing,” he chuckled. “Did you have to go see the nurse?”

  I opened my locker with the one hand that held Delaney’s. No way would I let go of her hand. She’d take off running. “Fuck you, dude,” I replied, putting my book away and grabbing another.

  “Hi, Delaney,” Emerson said, greeting her. “I don’t think we’ve ever been formally introduced.”

  “Very polite, babe,” Roselyn laughed.

  Emerson side-eyed Roselyn. “What? I don’t want the girl to think we’re all crazy.”

  I rolled my eyes as Delaney addressed Emerson. “It doesn’t matter, Emerson,” she replied. “I’m not going to be around long enough for it to matter.”

  You could hear a pin drop.

  Ramsey’s and Liam’s eyes shot to mine, while the girls looked uncomfortably everywhere else, but at me or Delaney. I slammed my locker shut, letting the noise cut through the tense silence. “Keep talking that shit, Delaney, and see what happens.”

  The strength in her voice surprised me. I thought being around everyone would intimidate her, but it didn’t. “You can say whatever you want, and act like an asshole however much you want, but that changes nothing, Deke,” she announced before cutting to the heart of the issue. Most girls would kill to date me, but her next words told me everything I needed to know about her reluctance. “You’ve ignored me for four years. You can just keep on ignoring me.”

  She was right.

  I had never paid her any mind. I had never thought about her. I had never spoke to her. She had never even crossed my mind whenever I would see her passing in the hallway, or wherever. I had lumped her in with the masses, and now that she had my attention, she was throwing it back in my face, and I really couldn’t fault the girl.

  “Delaney?” Every head swiveled to see Ava standing a few feet away, clearly concerned for her friend, but not confident enough to approach us all. While Ava had a spine of steel and wasn’t timid in the least, there’s no way she was brave enough to battle me, Liam, and Ramsey. She also knew that the fact that she’s slept with both Ramsey and Liam, it’d be up to the girls if she was ever welcomed into our fold.

  Delaney yanked her hand out of mine, and without a word, turned her back on us and rushed towards her friend. I let her go because it wasn’t like I didn’t know where
to find her. We had our next class together.

  After they were out of earshot, Ramsey asked, “Trouble?”

  “She offered to let me be her first if I promised to leave her the hell alone afterwards,” I admitted. Liam let out a low whistle and the girls both visibly winced.

  “Uh, that doesn’t sound promising, Deke,” Roselyn pointed out unnecessarily.

  “Especially after that slap heard around the world,” Emerson added.

  I looked over at my two pretty girls. “Doesn’t matter,” I told them. “She’s mine.”

  “What do you need from us until she comes to terms with that?” Ramsey asked.

  “Just watch out for her if I’m not around,” I answered, even though I knew that was a given with them.

  The bell rang, and I grabbed Linnie’s hand and dragged her with me to third period. I’d miss Delaney during fourth period, but after fourth it’d be lunchtime, and I expected Delaney to be sitting with us at our table. When we got to class, I saw that Delaney was sitting in the front between two other girls. There was no room for me or Roselyn and that wasn’t acceptable.

  As Roselyn marched towards the back where we always sat, I walked over three students until I was standing next to Delaney. I grabbed her backpack and book off the desk with one hand while my other hand wrapped around the back of her neck. I squeezed and pulled her out of her seat literally dragging her struggling and cussing through the row of students.

  “What the hell, Deke?” she screeched. I ignored her as I walked her up the steps towards the back.

  “Mr. Marlow?”