BULLY KING

by Huss, JA

  And then he turns and walks out.

  The next thing I know I’m over at the bar cart pouring myself a drink of whatever my father keeps in the crystal decanter. I gulp it down, then pour another and take it over to the large, wingback chair near the window and sit, rolling Michael’s words around in my head. Trying to make sense of them.

  Did he just threaten me?

  If so, I will give mad props to Michael for not only having balls, but also wording that entire conversation so carefully.

  He wants Sophie out.

  I have a secret I’m hiding from everyone, including my two best friends, who probably should’ve been included in this little plan of mine three fucking years ago.

  “What are you doing?”

  I look up and see Cadee in the doorway. “Come here.”

  “What?”

  “Come here.”

  She smirks at me. But she comes. I pull her into my lap and put my arms around her.

  “What’s going on, Cooper? What did Michael say?”

  “Did he leave?”

  “No, he’s still here. Elexa and Ivan are playing a drinking game with Ax and Isabella.”

  “Fuck.”

  “Don’t worry. Lars is looking after Isabella.”

  I glance up at her. “He is?”

  “Yeah. It seems like Lars is always looking after somebody.”

  “Yeah.”

  “So… why are you sitting in here all by yourself?”

  I sigh. “Michael came to…” I squint for a moment, choosing my words. “He came to threaten me, I think.”

  “About what?”

  “Sophie. He wants her out. I don’t have that kind of power. I mean, I could kick her out, but someone would drag her back in. So what’s the point?”

  “How is that a threat?”

  I hold her a little closer. And then decide I’m not going to tell her the rest. She has put up with so much shit these past two weeks, this news needs to wait. “Oh, hell! You know what?”

  She sits up in my lap a little. “What?”

  “I almost forgot. I put you in a new bedroom.”

  “What? What’s wrong with my old one?”

  And here, this moment right here, this is the time to be honest tonight. This is what she needs to hear. “It was too far away from mine.”

  She giggles. “Hmm. I don’t know what to make of new Cooper. I don’t see you for three years, then suddenly I’m living in your house.”

  “I didn’t do that.”

  “Agreed. But then I have to move out of your house for two weeks to stand in for Mona at Dante’s, and you’re suddenly… what? In love with me again?”

  “Again? Did I love you?”

  “You tell me.”

  I look up at her. I want to kiss those plump, sexy lips so bad. And then I want to kiss so many other places on her body. But I need her to hear me first. “Cadee Hunter, I have been dreaming about you since I first saw you running through the woods when I was ten.”

  “Ten, huh? It took you seven years to notice me?” She laughs.

  “I was a pretty dumb kid, wasn’t I?”

  “Sooo stupid.”

  “I’m smart now.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Mmm. And I did love you.” Both our smiles drop and she stares into my eyes. “I did love you, Cadee. It took me a while to figure that out that year. In fact, I’m just gonna be honest here and say I just figured it out like a week ago.”

  She smiles again.

  “I was wrong.”

  “No, Cooper. You weren’t. You were right. Because if you didn’t take me to the clinic that day, I would be living a lie right now. Or something much, much worse.”

  I know I should tell her that Lars might be on to us. At least some of it. But I’ve been waiting my whole life to feel this way about someone, and I’m tired of sharing.

  I stand up, still holding onto her. And then I set her down, take her hand, and lead her out of the library.

  She doesn’t ask where we’re going. I hope she doesn’t need to.

  I pull her down the long hallway until we get to the foyer, then I take her up the stairs to my apartment. I debate stopping at the door. Ask her lots of things. Make her admit things too. But there’s another part of me that just wants to step up and take control. Be the hero.

  And if this were Isabella, I’d do that. Because Isabella is the kind of girl who needs a hero.

  But Cadee Hunter is no Isabella.

  “Cadee,” I whisper, my hand on the door knob, ready to open it. “You can always say no.” I glance over my shoulder to check her expression for any hidden clues about what she’s thinking.

  “I know that, Cooper. I have always known that.”

  There is a lot more to be said, but if we go there, we won’t come back any time soon. So maybe taking control and being her hero is a selfish act, but I can’t seem to stop myself.

  And she doesn’t protest.

  I kick the door closed with my foot, then we just stand there in the dark, barely able to see each other. And then, before I can question my own motives any further, she takes the first step, pressing her body up against mine, gripping my shoulders as she leans up on her tiptoes and kisses me on the mouth.

  I try to keep it slow, but my desire for her—the passion between us that we’ve been denying for so long—overtakes everything else. And I kiss her back hard. And forcefully. And unapologetically.

  Her fingertips find the edge of my shirt and she starts pushing it up my chest. I whip it over my head and toss it aside, looking down as she studies my tattoo, the tip of her nail slowly tracing the K in the center of the High Court coat of arms.

  “King,” she whispers.

  “So they tell me.”

  She lifts her eyes up to mine and we’re suddenly on pause. “Why?”

  If she were any other girl, I’d push play so fast. Get on with what’s about to happen next.

  But Cadee Hunter has never been just any other girl.

  “Why what?”

  “Why do people want to be king? I don’t understand. Why do they want to control everyone? Why can’t they just be happy controlling themselves?”

  “Ha,” I huff. “I think you just answered your own question. They don’t know how to control themselves, Cadee. We both know that.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Do you want to stop?”

  “No.” She smiles. “No. Not at all. Sorry to break the mood. I just have always wondered that. Because you’re right. Just being responsible for me is hard enough. There’s no room left over to even think about being anyone’s king.”

  I place my hands on her cheeks and stare into her eyes, letting her know I see her. “That’s because you’re good, Cades. And most of the people around you aren’t.”

  “You’re good.”

  “Right.”

  “And Ax is good.”

  “I think everyone would disagree with that.”

  “And Lars too.”

  “Hmm. Now that one, I do agree with. You and Lars are a lot alike. Always patient. Never letting the anger and resentment steal too much of your souls.”

  She leans up and kisses me again. Only this time I don’t hurry it up or try to turn it into something else. I just accept what she gives me.

  “It’s a nice balance, isn’t it?”

  She’s still kissing me, so I whisper, “What’s that?” past her lips.

  “You and Ax. Me and Lars. Us.”

  I stop kissing her, suddenly confused. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  “Why do you keep asking me that?”

  “Because… Ax and Lars.”

  She shrugs. “I guess if they wanted in on this, they’d be here. Wouldn’t they?”

  I laugh. I can’t help it. “You did not just say that.”

  “Oh, I did.” She winks at me. Then she takes my hand and starts leading me across the room. She stops in the middle, looking around. I didn’t turn any lights on
when we came in, but the moon is bright outside and I have a huge window that looks out across the lake, so we can see well enough.

  “Where’s the bed?”

  I chuckle. “This is the living room, Cadee.”

  “You have a living room in your bedroom? Jesus. Maybe there’s something to that King thing after all?”

  Then I remember the real reason I was bringing her up here. Not that I wasn’t bringing her up to mess around with her, because I was. I lead her over to one of the other rooms and flick the light on.

  “Oh, so this is your bedroom. Hmm. It’s nice. Kinda sparse.”

  It is kinda sparse. It’s not a place for girls. Just a queen-size bed, and a couple of nightstands. Ax and Isabella are really the only people who ever use this room.

  “It’s not my bedroom, Cades. It’s yours.”

  “What?” She turns to look at me and I swear to God, I barely recognize the girl before me. She is golden from all the sun these past two weeks. Her eyes are bright with possibilities instead of dull with defeat. And her surprise is innocent and real.

  This change in her causes a litany of questions to run through my mind. Because her mother died—died—a month ago. And aside from that one bout of sniffling in the boat after her second day at the Glass House, as far as I know, she still hasn’t cried.

  Not tonight, Cooper. There’s time for that later. “It’s my guest suite. I’m putting you up in here. I don’t like that your bedroom has a door that leads outside.”

  She tsks her tongue playfully. “Worried I might get away?”

  That’s not what I’m worried about. At all. But I agree anyway. Because all of tomorrow’s problems can wait. “Yeah. I am.”

  “Well, you don’t have to worry about that.” Then she sucks in a deep breath. “I’ve missed you, Cooper. And not just these two weeks, either. I don’t even think I knew I missed you until you knocked me over that day on the steps. But ever since then…” She shakes her head. “You’re it, Coop. You’re my it.”

  I want to do things to this girl. So many things. And I want to do all those things right now. I reach for the light to flick it off, but she grabs my arm and says, “No. Leave it on.”

  Then she reaches for the hem of her t-shirt and pulls it over her head. Just stands there in her pretty yellow bra and looks at me. Not at my body, like most girls when we get to this part of a night. But me. My eyes. She pops the clasp between her breasts and then her bra falls open, baring her to me.

  I reach for the lacy edges of it and slide it down her arms. She’s already moved on to the button of my shorts, hastily pulling the zipper down and reaching inside to pull my cock out.

  My eyes close involuntarily, but I open them again just as quickly because I don’t want to miss a single moment of Cadee Hunter dropping to her knees in front of me.

  I think I hold my breath when she begins sliding her hand up and down my shaft and when those perfect lips part and the tip of my cock slides past her lips, I have serious doubts about my ability to stay standing.

  “Fuck, Cadee.”

  Her eyes are locked on mine as she seals her lips around my head and takes me deeper. Her tongue dancing along my dick.

  I fist her hair with both hands, and enjoy the feeling of her breath tickling across my balls. And then her hand is there, cupping them.

  She knows just what to do. She knows exactly how I like it. “Fuuuck.” It just feels so good.

  I dreamed about getting Cadee on her knees in front of me for months back when we were sneaking around my senior year of Prep. And she held out for a long time too. If there’s one thing I know about Cadee Hunter, it’s that she doesn’t easily give in. She would watch me jerk off though. And it’s like she took notes. Like she paid attention to how I would get myself off. And then, when she finally did put her mouth over the top of my cock the very first time, she gave me the best blow job ever.

  And then I realize this is the first time we’ve been together without Lars or Ax. That’s why she was asking about them. It wasn’t her rule back then, it was mine.

  All those times I insisted she be shared equally between us, she liked it.

  She pulls back, lets my cock slip out of her mouth, and stands up.

  “What are you doing?”

  “You’re thinking too hard.”

  “How do you know?”

  She unbuttons and unzips her shorts, then wiggles them down her hips. It’s super sexy, but I don’t even think she’s trying to tease me. She’s just being Cadee. And then she’s standing in front of me, as naked as I am.

  She starts pushing me over to the bed.

  But I’m done living in my head and I twirl her around so fast, she squeals as she flops onto the mattress on her back.

  I grab her knees and open them up, grinning at her as I kneel down and ease my mouth up to her pussy.

  She’s already wet. And her breathing becomes ragged immediately as her fingers slide into my hair, urging me on. The other hand grasps onto my shoulder, digging her nails in as she arches her back.

  “Cooper,” she whispers.

  I pull back, my cock hard and throbbing now, eager to be inside her. And the memories of times past flood through my mind and I can’t help but wonder, as I kiss my way up her stomach, pausing briefly to squeeze her breasts and suck on her nipples, why I ever walked away from this girl.

  I push her up the bed. She smiles and giggles as she brings her knees up to her chest, inviting me to take her however I please.

  Then I’m kissing her mouth, letting her taste herself on my tongue. And I make a promise to myself that I will never let her get away again.

  Her hand slides down her belly, the back of it dragging across mine as well. And she grabs my cock and directs me to her entrance, sliding the tip of my dick back and forth across her wet clit before finally letting me slip inside her. We moan in unison as I push myself deeper inside her until she winces and sucks in a sharp gasp. I ease back, then forward again. Getting our rhythm going as she rocks her hips up to meet me. Digging her nails into my back.

  I can’t stop kissing Cadee Hunter.

  I never want to stop kissing Cadee Hunter.

  And when we climax together, the deal is sealed.

  She’s mine now. And I’m not sharing her with anyone.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT - CADEE

  Cooper and I lie in each other’s arms, my back tucked up against his chest, his face pressed against my neck, him gently kissing me while his hand cups my breast. And the sigh I let out in this moment is monumental in nature.

  It is one of tremendous relief.

  It is one of settling.

  A feeling that I haven’t experienced since my father died three years ago and then, shortly after, my mother and I moved into the attic in the inn and my life started unraveling thread by thread.

  I lose myself in the settling.

  And suddenly Cooper feels surreal. Being here in his house. The scholarship at the end of the summer. The new friends, the new clothes, the new everything.

  Then comes the guilt.

  What kind of terrible person loses her mother one month ago and just slips into a new life like this? A new life filled with privilege. Pool parties, and champagne toasts, and lakeside mansions that hold angsty bully kings inside.

  And let’s not forget that you might actually be looking forward to going to High Court College. Even though your parents lived on this campus since you were born, and they never wanted that for you.

  Is this rebellion? Do I have some secret desire to erase everything they taught me?

  I don’t think so.

  Then why?

  Why am I doing this?

  I should not be looking forward towards the future. It’s too soon. I should be stuck in the past. At least for a little bit.

  And I should not want to go to this school or get involved with their weird secrets.

  But… I do.

  I have wanted to be a part of High Court since I was a l
ittle girl. Oh, how I wanted to wear the prep-school uniform. The mustard-yellow pleated skirt and the perfectly-tailored navy-blue blazer with those fighting lions embroidered in gold on the left breast pocket. The crisp white shirt and the navy and gold striped tie. Don’t even get me started with the white knee socks and those gold tassels bouncing along their calves as the rich girls walked through the beautiful central gardens that my father created like they owned the world.

  And they did. At least in my mind.

  I do love who I am. But is it so wrong to want more? Is it so wrong to grab the golden ring when it’s in reach?

  Cooper turns over and I slip out of his arms. He’s sleeping hard. And for the first time in years, I wonder how Cooper is really doing.

  I turn too. And I study him in profile. His mouth is open a little, his breathing slow and even, but a little bit loud. Like he’s tired.

  That’s what he told me that one night we were talking in his boat. I’m tired, Cadee.

  And he is. I can tell. He wants out so bad.

  And I only want in.

  I swing my legs out of bed, put my clothes on, and leave his room. I don’t know where I’m going. Maybe Mona is outside smoking.

  But then, when I get to the bottom of the stairs, I hear noises in the kitchen.

  I silently creep down the long central hallway and enter the great room to find Ax leaning against the large soapstone island. His back is to me, and even though there are no lights on, the moon is shining through the French doors.

  His back. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before, because Ax never takes his shirt off. He hasn’t been swimming in the pool once so far this summer. And even three years ago, when we were together for months, he never took it off then, either.

  And now I know why.

  Scars. Long gashes cover his back like… claw marks. But there is almost no animal alive that can make a gash like that. Maybe a lion or a tiger, but come on. That’s just stupid.

  So how did they get there?

  He turns to the industrial-sized refrigerator, swinging the door open so I can’t see his face. Then he takes a jug of milk over to the far counter, gets a glass from the cupboard, and stares at it in his hand for a few moments too long.