The Enemy Series

by M. E. Clayton

  “I think Deke took exception to me…seeing it happen,” I hedged.

  Ava let out a laugh as she dropped onto her back. She laughed up at the ceiling as she said, “Oh, please, Delaney. Deke Marlow does not care about someone watching him get a blowjob.” I could feel the blush rush my face at her casualness. “I’ve been to countless parties where that dude got his dick sucked in public. I mean, he didn’t drop his pants in the middle of a living room or anything like that, but there have been plenty of times he was huddled up in a corner somewhere with a girl on her knees in front of him.” Jesus. “Trust me, Delaney, whatever was bothering him last night, that was not it.”

  “Then I don’t know what his problem was,” I told her half-ass honestly. “Maybe he was just funnin’ about.”

  This time she snorted. “Deke Marlow doesn’t fun about, Delaney. The guy’s Satan.”

  “I thought Ramsey Reed was Satan?”

  “Good point,” she quipped. A few seconds of silence went by before she said, “What are you going to tell Winston?”

  Huh?

  “Nothing,” I replied. “There’s nothing to tell him. Besides, if I were to ride Deke Marlow in the middle of the eatery pavilion at school Monday, Winston would hardly have any room to complain, don’tcha think?”

  Ava sat up and side-eyed me. “I still can’t believe you have an arranged marriage with that tool.”

  I shrugged a shoulder. “Families with money do it all the time, Ava. How many people with money ever really marry for love? Most females from our class marry for more money and most males from our class marry for more power. It’s not that unrealistic.”

  “But you couldn’t care less about money or power, Delaney,” she murmured softly. “Don’t tie yourself to a fool for life just because you haven’t experienced anything worthwhile yet.”

  I looked over at my friend and wondered, not for the first time, if she had been sexually abused as a child. I couldn’t reconcile this sweet, tender girl with the sexually wild party girl. “I still have four years to either go through with this or bow out, Ava,” I reminded her. “It’s not forever, yet.”

  The corner of her lip lifted in a mischievous grin. “If you’re going to go through with this ridiculous betrothal, I say you take Deke Marlow for a ride first before committing to Winston for life.”

  I wanted to scoff at how ridiculous that suggestion was, but I couldn’t when her statement held a grain of truth to it. It had crossed my mind. Watching Deke and Melissa had turned me on. Getting caught had really lit a fire between my legs. But when Deke chased me down and wrapped his hand around my neck, all kinds of things I never imagined crossed through my mind. For the first time in all my life, I had wanted to have sex with someone.

  No-not someone; Deke.

  During those early puberty years, I had let Winston kiss me, but I never felt anything, and so, I put a stop to those kisses.

  But Deke wasn’t Winston.

  Chapter 5

  Deke~

  I watched Delaney and Ava walk past our little group, like I have for the past four years, but this time was different. This time I saw them walking past our group.

  Every morning for the past four years, Ramsey, Liam, and I had always congregated around our cars in the parking lot in front of the school before classes began. We were always surrounded by random stragglers, but for the most part, it was me, Ram, and Liam. Emerson and Roselyn would often loiter with us too, but there were rare days where Liam and Ramsey let them do their own thing. And now sitting on the hood of my Lexus, I appeared casual, but I’d been looking to spot Delaney since I got here.

  I spent all day yesterday straight up stalking her social media, and all my stalking accomplished was confirming that the girl didn’t have a life. It appeared as if she lived vicariously through Ava’s antics, because all her pictures were either of school stuff or girl time with Ava. There were random pictures of her posted with other people who I presumed might be family, but since I didn’t know much about Delaney, I really had no idea who those people were.

  I did note a couple of family-looking pictures with Winston Reynolds, and that had surprised me a bit because I had never seen them act chummy at all. Granted, I wasn’t friends with Winston, and I never really paid any attention to Delaney before Friday night, but I just never imagined they were friends.

  Delaney and I had second, third, and seventh periods together, so I was going to have to let her be during first period, but she’d be all mine during second. I’d have to share her with Linnie during third, but Delaney would be all mine again during seventh. It’s not that I thought Linnie wouldn’t back my play, but girls were funny sometimes. And don’t get me started on when it’s that time of the month. Talk about dealing with the devil you don’t know.

  Sweet Baby Jesus.

  Looking over at Delaney, I ignored the pull that called on me to run after her, and stayed my ass planted on the hood of my car. It wasn’t a second later I abandoned that plan when Ramsey smirked at me. If anyone knew what I was feeling, it was Ramsey. Emerson just about drove him crazy those first few weeks of their fucked-up courtship. I hopped off my hood and took off in a sprint; a sprint that didn’t go unnoticed, might I add.

  Luckily, I had everything I needed for first period in my backpack, so I could skip my locker. I headed straight to where I knew Delaney’s locker was. And how did I know were her locker was? Sunday, while I was internet stalking her, I had texted Ramsey to get me all her school information, and he did. I knew the guy could get information on damn near anyone he wanted, so by Sunday evening, I had her class schedule, her locker number, her phone number, her parents’ names and professions, her address, and he even threw in her favorite book, just to show off.

  The fucker.

  I was walking up behind her, and because I was indeed a lucky guy, Ava’s locker was nowhere near Delaney’s, so there was no one to interrupt my good morning greeting.

  The locker door was opened on my side, so she couldn’t see me coming and that had my dick twitching with anticipation of her reaction. I stepped up behind her and gave her no room to escape. I brushed my body up against hers, and my dick got instantly hard when her entire body stilled. She had been in the middle of pulling a book out of her locker, and her entire body absolutely froze.

  I leaned down and let my lips brush up against the shell of her ear. “Good Morning, Delaney,” I said, my voice low for only her to hear.

  “Wh…what are you doing?” she asked, and my dick got even harder at the hitch in her voice.

  “Saying hello,” I smirked.

  She didn’t respond. She went about finishing pulling her book out of her locker. I imagined she was trying to buy herself some time to figure out how to proceed. When she finally did turn around, my dick and I were both disappointed that he was no longer nestled near her ass.

  Delaney looked up at me, and she looked irritated. I had been expecting some apprehensiveness, maybe a little fear, but I had gotten irritation instead. “Leave me alone, Deke,” she instructed, trying to sound strong and firm.

  I grinned and shook my head. “Not a chance in hell of that happening, Delaney. So, don’t waste your energy on that.”

  Her eyes darted around, taking in the crowd taking notice of our proximity, before landing back on mine. “I said I was sorry,” she hissed. “I’ll never invade your privacy again, so just leave me alone.”

  I reached up, and it was game on when my fingertips danced across her scar and she didn’t recoil. I was going to fuck this girl. I was going to use up everything she had to offer. I was going to fucking own her. If she had any clue what I was going to do to her, she run, and she’d run far.

  The second warning bell for class rang, and the students around us still didn’t scatter to get to class. Everyone was watching, and I wasn’t going to let them go without something to talk about. I cupped her jaw in my hand, and I did something I’ve never done with a girl before outside of fucking her. I leaned dow
n and kissed Delaney on her cupid-bowed lips. She gasped, and I used that shock to sweep my tongue in her mouth, tighten my hold on her face, and kiss the fuck out of her. And this first kiss gave me an answer to take back to Ramsey and Liam.

  She was the one.

  Delaney Martin was my Emerson and Roselyn, and the girl had no clue what that meant.

  All too soon, Delaney’s shock wore off, and she pushed me off her, and the slap that followed surprised her just as much as it surprised everyone else. I’m not sure what surprised her more, the slap or the force behind the slap, but when I turned back to face her, she looked equal parts shocked and pissed off.

  I wanted to fuck her right here and now in front of everyone.

  Delaney hugged her book to her chest in a white-knuckle grip. “You…you don’t…” she was so upset she couldn’t even speak. “You don’t just get to kiss me, Deke!”

  I threw my head back and let out a dark laugh. I looked back down at her, and in a voice the entire hallway could hear, I announced, “You’re mine, Delaney. I get to do whatever the fuck I want to you.”

  You could hear gasps and murmurs all around us, but they weren’t as loud as Delaney’s gasp of outrage. “I’m…I’m not yours,” she seethed. “I don’t even like you!”

  This time, in a voice low enough for only her and a few close students to hear, I growled, “You ask anyone in this school an hour from now and they will all say you belong to me, Delaney. Give in gracefully, baby, otherwise, this could get ugly.”

  “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 said ‘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 was. “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 knew 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.

  WTF?

  Is this real, Delaney?

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

  Unfortunately

  Her reply came immediately.

  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.

  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, and Deke…well, Winston wasn’t any of Deke’s business.

  Explain ltr.

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

  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 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 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 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 always want, where’s 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’s claiming me and proclaiming it as law?