by L A Cotton
With a playful groan, she grabbed my hand and dipped it underneath her skirt. Heat radiated from her center, but it wasn’t enough. I needed more. I dragged the material up her thighs until I could slip my fingers inside her panties. Macey’s body clenched around me as she cried out, “Oh god.”
“No, Princess, just me.” Pulling my fingers out of her, I brought them to my lips and tasted them.
“Devon,” she gasped.
“What,” I grinned. “You liked it before.”
She’d tried to act disgusted, but I’d seen the way her breath hitched. How her eyes darkened.
“I was drunk.”
A smirk lifted the corner of my mouth. “Lie back on the bed.”
“Are you always this demanding?”
“Only with you,” I replied. “Now get on the bed before I throw you on it.”
Macey’s eyes widened to saucers, and I smirked again. Even though she held my heart in her hands, I held the power right now, and I wanted to enjoy every second of it.
She fell back with an oomph, her skirt riding even higher. I hooked my fingers into her panties and slid them down her legs, tucking them into my back pocket.
Macey tried to protest, but her words quickly became moans as I dipped my head and ran my tongue along her inner thigh right up to her sweet spot. Grazing her clit once, twice. Her body arched into me and I steadied her with my hand, flattening it against her toned stomach.
“Devon,” it came out a breathy sigh. “Don’t stop.”
“Say it.” Although she couldn’t see me, I smirked. It would never get old; her, me, the heat between us. Sex with Macey was always good, but being sober, aware of every touch and look and sigh, it was something else.
It was everything.
Her hand found its way into my hair, trying to push my head down to where she needed me most, but I resisted, waiting for the magic words.
“Say it, Princess.”
“Please, Devon... please.”
Who was I to deny her?
I pushed two fingers inside her, exploring her with my tongue, and reminded her exactly how good I was with my hands.
“FRIENDS?” I ASKED MACEY later as we lay in bed.
“Friends.” She sighed contentedly, wiggling closer, causing her perfect ass to graze my dick. I brushed my nose along her shoulder never wanting this moment to end.
“Can I ask you something without you getting mad?”
“I did not get mad.” Macey glanced over her shoulder at me, but I gave her a pointed look. “Fine,” she grumbled. “Maybe I got a little mad.”
“What did you mean when you said you’ve never done this before? You must have dated guys, I mean look at you.”
She tensed in my arms. I didn’t want to ruin the moment, but I wanted to know her story; to know what made Macey Prince tick.
“You really want to know this stuff?”
“Well I don’t want a play-by-play account of your past hook ups, but yeah, I want to know.”
“One.”
“One?”
Macey turned in my arms until she was facing me. “One guy. When I was fifteen.”
“I’m sorry,” I shook my head unsure I’d heard her right. “It sounded like you just said you’ve been with one guy. How is that even possible? I mean look at you, you’re gorgeous. Way out of my league. I’m definitely punching above my weight.”
“Devon.” Her lip quirked up, but I saw the doubt in her eyes.
“You know I’m right.” I leaned down brushing my lips over hers.
“Nathan. His name was Nathan.”
Fuck, I hated that name. Hated that he’d got to have her first. And I had a feeling hearing about Nathan was going to kill me, but I’d asked.
“Are you sure you want to know this? You look a little angry.” Macey asked, grimacing.
“Nathan who?” I managed to force a smile. “Okay, I’m listening.”
Macey nodded.
“Growing up in the shadow of Maverick was intense. It was obvious from a young age he had a gift on the court. Put a basketball in his hands and magic happened. Everyone loved him. Teachers. Our classmates. Their parents. But Maverick was angry at the world.
“He’s dyslexic. It caused problems with him and my father. He wasn’t... supportive, and Maverick thought it made him weak. So he hid it, but it was hard. Because of that, he didn’t trust easily. But that didn’t stop kids trying to worm their way in. As long as they stayed out of his way, Maverick didn’t care. I found it harder.”
“What happened?”
“Let’s just say I protected Rick the only way I knew how.”
I wanted to ask more. To know what that meant—what she’d done to protect Rick from the leeches, but something told me if I pushed, Macey would push me out, so I shoved down the questions.
“And Nathan?”
“Nathan was the first boy who liked me for me. I was fifteen, yet I was so jaded. I’d seen how low kids would go to get one up on Rick or to use his name for their own agenda. And it made me sick. But Nathan was different. He didn’t want to use me to get to Maverick. He didn’t even know who Maverick was...” Her voice cracked. “Or so I thought.”
Rolling onto her back, she stared up at the ceiling, lost in her thoughts. I had my suspicions that whatever went down with Nathan was bad. It was the reason for her high walls and ice queen attitude. Part of me wasn’t sure I wanted to know, but the other part of me, the part that hadn’t been able to think of anything but Macey Prince since waking up beside her all those months ago, needed to know.
Gliding my fingers over her hip and along her stomach, I entwined my hand with hers and waited.
“All my firsts had been stolen under duress. My first kiss, my first date, even my first dance. Boys used Rick to get what they wanted: me. And I went along with it because it was better than the alternative. So when I met Nathan, I promised myself that I wouldn’t give away any more firsts unless I was absolutely sure he was someone I could trust.”
My heart begun to beat harder. The notes of sadness in Macey’s voice... she might as well have punched through my chest cavity and grabbed my heart in her hand.
“We spent the whole summer together. Sneaking around behind my dad’s back. Meeting up after dark at the beach. I’d always been surrounded by people, but I always felt like I couldn’t breathe. Waiting for the next person to screw Rick over or use me to get to him. It wasn’t like that with Nathan. He made me laugh and feel special. And for the first time in my life I had something of my own.” Macey sucked in a shaky breath, her eyes flicking to mine. “I’m sorry, this is probably all really boring—”
“Don’t do that, don’t play down what you went through. I’m not going anywhere, I’m right here.”
She nodded, squeezing my fingers gently. “At the end of the summer, I knew I wanted him to be my first. I was so nervous, but he was sweet and gentle, and he made me feel loved.”
My jaw locked up listening to her heart break with every word. People were so quick to judge Macey; her cool exterior and clipped words, but what everyone failed to realize was few people ended up as cold as Macey without good reason. People weren’t born that way, they were made that way. And I knew now, that whatever Macey was about to say, was the reason she was the way she was.
“It was all a lie.” Her pain rippled around us and I wanted nothing more than to comfort her. But she needed this; Macey needed to get this off her chest.
“Nathan didn’t want me because he liked me, he wanted me because he wanted to hurt Rick by hurting me.”
“What did that fucker do?” I ground out the words, a tidal wave of anger crashing over me.
“I didn’t know it at the time, but Nathan and Maverick knew each other. They’d played at a basketball camp together the summer before. I never found out exactly what happened, but it was enough for Nathan to want to hurt me.
“After we...” She choked on the words. “He got up, threw my clothes at me and told me to ge
t out. He said it’d been fun, but he was done with me. His parting words were ‘make sure you tell your brother Nathan Peters enjoyed ruining his sister’. I told him to go fuck himself, and that I’d never whisper a word of what happened to Maverick. Because I knew if Rick found out he’d kill him. I couldn’t let that happen, so I called his bluff. I told him that if he ever spoke one word of what happened to anyone, I’d tell my daddy all about how the nice boy from the mall pushed me into having sex with him and then cast me aside like I was nothing.”
“And Maverick doesn’t know any of this?”
Her eyes slid to mine. “No, and he can never find out.”
“Macey he wouldn’t want this. You’ve spent years protecting him by letting boys use you and hurt you—”
“Don’t, okay?” She averted her eyes away from me. “I know the choices I made, and I’d do it again. Maverick is my brother. I would never let anyone hurt him.”
“And you?” I coaxed her back to me, laying my hand gently against her cheek. “What about you, Princess? Who protects you?”
“I’m a big girl, I can look out for myself.”
Her words carved space between us like a canyon. She truly believed every word coming out of her mouth. But I knew better than most that if you kept lying to yourself for long enough, eventually the lies became truths.
“That’s why you were so against us? You thought I was the same as all those guys.”
“That’s part of it, yes.”
“The other part being Maverick?”
Macey nodded, offering me a weak smile. “He’ll never forgive me for this.”
“You’re scared that if it comes down to it, he’ll make you choose. Him or me?”
“I’m not sure it matters anymore.” Her voice was so small I almost missed it. “I think I already lost him.”
Chapter 17
MACEY
Telling Devon about Nathan felt like a weight had been lifted. The scars were still there, but slowly Devon was fading them away.
The rest of the week passed without a hitch. Devon and I avoided each other at school but made up for it at night. Since his dad worked long hours and usually hit a bar after, we went to Devon’s a lot. But it was okay. I liked being in his space; listening to him play his guitar and tell me about his inspirations.
“What is this?” I stared at Devon, confused at the grin splitting his face. I’d thought I was coming to his house to hang out. I didn’t expect to find him standing by his car, waiting for me.
“This is you, me, and nothing but the open road.” He tapped the roof of the car.
My brows quirked up. “The open road?”
“Okay, so not quite the open road. But I do have tickets to see Death by Desire, they’re playing in Vista and I thought we could go.”
“Vista, that’s like two hours away.”
Devon pushed off his car and stalked toward me. His arms looped around my waist, drawing me into him. “Which is why I thought we could stay the night, get a motel.”
“You want to spend the night in Vista, with me?”
“Well, yeah.” Dipping his head, he brushed his nose across my mine. “If you want to?”
“I want.” I curled my fingers into his hoodie. “I really want.”
“Thank fuck for that because I already made the reservation.” He captured my lips in a slow kiss, dragging his tongue over mine, stealing my breath.
“We should probably go,” I sighed, breaking the kiss, knowing if I didn’t there was every chance we would never make it to the concert.
“Yeah.” We remained wrapped in each other for another second before he pressed a kiss on the end of my nose. “Come on.”
Devon opened the door for me and I slipped inside, shoving my backpack down by my feet. He’d texted earlier telling me to pack a spare change of clothes, but I assumed he planned on stealing me away for the night and cooking me breakfast in the morning.
I never expected this.
The ride to Vista was nice. Devon talked about his childhood; what it was like growing up a single child, and I told him some of my happier memories of growing up with Rick, Kyle, and Summer. But even though things were good between us, a black cloud lingered like a storm on the horizon.
“You okay?” He asked about ten miles out.
“Yeah,” I replied. “Just thinking.”
“Penny for your thoughts?”
I shifted, twisting my body so I was facing him. Devon’s eyes were set firmly on the road ahead, but I liked watching him. “Do you ever wish you hadn’t woken up next to me that day?”
“Macey, come on. What kind of question is that?”
“I’m serious. This, us... after everything that went down between you, Lo, and Caitlin. I’d have thought you knew better by now.”
“Do you wish you hadn’t?” His eyes slid to mine, and I saw only warmth in his gaze.
“I wish...” I hesitated, immediately hating myself for it. “Sometimes I wish life was simpler. That I was someone other than Macey Prince.”
A girl who didn’t have to worry about people’s intentions, or who had trust issues by the bucket load. The kind of girl who gave people the benefit of the doubt because she saw only good in them and didn’t automatically assume the worst.
“I don’t regret it, Macey.” He slipped his hand into my lap, tangling our fingers together. “Not for one second. Do I wish I could show you off at school and not have to worry about looking too long at you in the hall? Sure. But I’ll take you anyway I can get you.”
“You really mean that?”
Devon nodded, his eyes lingering a little too long on my face.
We didn’t talk much after that. Part of me wished I’d never said anything. I didn’t want Devon to doubt my feelings about him. But the other part was scared. Because eventually, this—us sneaking around behind everyone’s backs—would grow old and he’d want more.
Hell, I’d want more.
A part of me already did.
It was only a matter of time before the tiny sliver of bliss we’d carved out for ourselves would implode. Because that’s what being a Prince in a place like Wicked Bay did to you.
One way or another, it ruined you.
It ruined everything.
“WHAT DO YOU THINK?” Devon’s lips caressed my neck as we stood watching the band, eliciting a shiver up my spine.
They were good. A little heavier than I liked my music, but there was no denying their talent.
“They’re fantastic.”
His arms tightened around my waist. “I always dreamed of this, you know?”
The thud of the bass reverberated around us, but I only heard Devon’s words. “I imagined standing up there one day, looking out at the crowd. The heat of the lights blazing down on me, the rumble of the crowd in my bones, feeling the adrenaline rush through my veins.”
“So, do it.” I turned my head slightly, our lips almost touching.
“It’s not that simple, Princess.” Defeat glittered in his eyes.
“It’s your dream, Devon, and you’ll regret it if you don’t at least give it a shot.”
He searched my eyes. A few weeks ago, his intense gaze would have scared me, made me want to run in the other direction, but now it made me feel safe. It made me want things I hadn’t wanted in a long time.
Things I’m not sure I’d ever wanted.
“We’re Death by Desire and we’re going to take a short break...” the lead singer’s voice rang out, ending the moment between us. Devon released me, and I turned to face him.
“You want another drink?” he asked.
“I could take a water.” Devon had been able to get us a beer with his fake ID, but after one, I switched to water.
“You want to come with or stay here?”
“I’ll stay here.”
He gave me a quick kiss on the head and headed for the bar. I hopped up on a stool and checked my cell phone for messages.
Kyle: Where are you?
&n
bsp; Me: None of your business.
Kyle: Laurie saw the girls at The Shack, she said you weren’t there.
Rolling my eyes, I typed another reply.
Me: Getting Laurie to do your dirty work. Really, Kyle?!
Kyle: So you’re not at The Shack?
Me: Goodbye, Kyle.
I’d told Summer I was staying at Kara’s for the night, knowing she’d relay the message to Mom and Kyle. If Kyle went down there and questioned Kara—which I wouldn’t put past him—it would blow my cover, and I didn’t want to drag my one friend into my lie. But I didn’t want to give him any more reason to sniff around either.
Me: Hey, I need a favor. If you see Kyle tell him we have plans later and that I’ll be at yours for the night.
Kara: Hmm okay? Is there something you want to tell me?
Me: I’ll explain everything Monday. Just need some time.
Kara: Okay. Here if you need me xo
Kara was a good friend and I trusted her. But I still didn’t know if I could trust her with this.
“Drinking alone?” A gruff voice pulled my attention, and my gaze landed on an older guy. His crinkled eyes swept lazily down my body, lingering way too long on my chest.
“I’m Bryan.” He finally met my eyes.
“I’m just waiting for someone.” I gave him a tight smile, craning my head around him to try to spot Devon at the bar.
“No need to be rude, little girlie. I just wanted to talk.”
“And like I said, I’m waiting for someone.”
Persistent Bryan stroked his jaw. “This someone your guy?”
“He’s my boyfriend.”
“Real shame.” Bryan stepped closer and the overpowering scent of whiskey flooded my senses. “We could have had us some fun. You look like a girl who knows what she wants.” He leaned forward and inhaled, his eyes darkening.
Bile rushed up my throat, and without thinking, my hands flew to his chest and shoved hard. He staggered back, his lazy smile morphing into something more sinister. “Silly little bitch. You think you’re too good for—”
“You need to leave.” Devon appeared, stepping in between us and shielding me.