Lawless Kingdom: A Dark Romance (Reign & Ruin Book 1)

by Natalie Bennett

  And that promise he’d just left me with…

  I could picture it, exactly how he’d do it. How he’d done it the first time. With an internal groan, I mentally flopped my head onto my desk. It was too early in the day to be worried about this bullshit.

  I did my best to pay attention, but it was pointless. Judas had temporarily evicted all thoughts to do with anything but him from my head and taken up sole residence.

  I didn’t understand why he was doing this now and why he’d never reached out to me before. Our only real interaction was hooking up a year ago. We hadn’t spoken a word to one another since, up until that damn party. What had Dax called it? A lure?

  When the bell chimed to signal that we could go, people scattered like honorable roaches, eager to leave but too afraid of Miss Hardass to make it obvious. I slipped my half-assed notes into my satchel, slow to stand, realizing Judas had my freaking schedule. He was the worst chaperone ever; he hadn’t even shown me around.

  Screw it. I’d figure it out.

  Exiting the class, I paused in the doorway when I spotted the devil himself waiting for me across the hall.

  While some people milled about, rushing off to their next class, the majority surrounded him like a desperate fan club.

  A pretty redhead was speaking to him and seemed to be the only person around that could hold his attention. And he was looking at her…kindly?

  Huh. Maybe hell had frozen over.

  Brenda 2 said my name, but I ignored her. Never one to waste an opportunity, I darted past the small gathering and began walking back in the direction we’d come from. Thinking of Dax had me subconsciously looking for him in the throes of students passing me by.

  As big as this damn school was, it wasn’t likely I’d find him, but I looked anyway. I wasn’t entirely sure why. Maybe it was the tiny part of me that felt like I owed him something combined with the guilt I felt for having been with his cousin.

  Not that I knew then what I knew now, still I wasn’t a homie-hopper.

  I would never knowingly go from one friend or family member to another. I was a slut that would’ve gone back to the first one. There had to be an unwritten girl code against this stuff somewhere. Thou shall not have sexual relations with boyfriends’ kin or friends.

  “Hey, Riri! Wait up!”

  I glanced over my shoulder to see Brenda making a beeline for me. I cast my eyes to the ceiling and prayed to fucking god to get me out of this. I wasn’t too sure he appreciated being sworn at, though. Guess that left me on my own. Impatiently, I waited for this adorably short chick to reach me.

  “Girl, you do not have to ignore me. I just wanna say hi,” she huffed. “I’m Brianna, or Bri.”

  “Rhiannon. Always Rhiannon,” I enunciated slowly.

  She grinned, showing an impeccable grill that I was instantly envious of. My dental work wasn’t bad, but I had the tiniest gap between my front two teeth.

  “Okay, always Rhiannon. I’m also a Rook.”

  I raised a brow. “Am I supposed to be impressed by that?”

  “I wanted to get that out of the way early. But to answer your question, nope. I’m glad you’re not. Not to sound like an ungrateful bitch, but it’s annoying being fawned over because of my last name.”

  What was I supposed to do with this information? I glanced down the halls, purposely avoiding all the curious gazes.

  “I’m only telling you this because you’re with us now. I wanted to introduce myself personally,” she explained.

  “I’m so tired of hearing that. I’m not with anyone,” I refuted, speed walking away.

  “If that lie makes you sleep easier,” she called after me with a laugh.

  I was halfway back down the stairs when a hand clamped around my upper arm—not hard enough to bruise, but hard enough to make sure I stopped moving. I smelled his cologne before I turned my head to glare at him.

  “Get off,” I stated as calmly and firmly as I could.

  “You don’t know where you’re going. It’s not safe to wander the halls or property like that. Let me show you around.”

  “Wandering them with you somehow changes that?” I scoffed. “Just give me what I need, and I’ll go.”

  His eyes dropped to my lips. “I can give you more than you need, principessa. But you won’t be going anywhere. You’ll be coming blindingly hard all over my cock, fingers, and tongue.”

  A soft gasp slipped from my mouth and resounded between us.

  “You need to stop.”

  “I’d rather keep going.”

  I shook my head. “You’re a horny bastard, aren’t you?”

  “No. I’m just a guy ready to rip apart the girl in front of him and fill every fuckable hole she has as she bleeds.”

  My upper lip curled even as the space between my legs pulsed and my chest tightened. “You’re sick.”

  He let go of my arm and moved further down the stairs so that he was on the one beneath mine. His hand came up and cupped the side of my face. “If I’m sick, so are you.”

  “Leave me alone.” I jerked away from him, my tone defensive.

  “Can’t do that.” He moved with me.

  “Judas,” I said his name sweetly. “If you don’t stop, you might find yourself without those balls you seem so fond of.”

  He laughed lowly, and the sound sent chills rolling over my spine.

  “You’re a habitual line stepper. You really wanna take me on that way?”

  “Take you on?” I didn’t want to do anything but get him to leave me alone.

  “What do you want?” I practically yelled, catching the attention of everyone around us. He remained unruffled, amusement rising in his eyes.

  Great. Now I looked like a raving psycho. I was surprised some bimbo didn’t step up to defend him. I could feel daggers aimed at me from a few already.

  “Right this moment? I want you to lower your voice and pretend we’re at an elite prep school. Later?” He gave me a slow perusal. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Rhiannon

  Caution.

  It’s not something I’ve ever had to use around anyone. No one’s ever given me reason to. Judas, on the other hand…he had my defenses heightened.

  Fear. Anger. Desire.

  Following him around campus may not have been the best idea, but I didn’t know what else to do other than run to the front office and cry wolf. No pun intended.

  We’d left the first building behind about six minutes ago. Outside, the sun was warm, shining down on the green grass, making it sparkle a bit.

  “That building over there has gym A, the pool, the guidance counselor, and a small tech workshop.” He pointed off to the right.

  I nodded, adding that to my mental map.

  “Hey, what did you mean when you said, ‘pretend we’re at a prep school.’ Because, aren’t we actually at a prep school?”

  He thumbed his chin, nudging me so I would take a path going left instead of right. “You don’t belong here.”

  I didn’t object. That was true. When I remained silent, he kept going.

  “This school is full of spoiled rich kids with fake ass friends, chicks with major daddy issues, and guys who think too much with their dicks.”

  “Excluding Audrey,” I cut in quickly.

  “Audrey has a shitload of daddy issues.”

  She did, but he wouldn’t be getting that confirmed from me.

  “So, we’re pretending?” I fished.

  “Something like that, but you’re much more committed to the act.”

  “No idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Cuz I haven’t told you yet.”

  I side-eyed him. “Told me what?”

  “Anything. The truth.”

  I didn’t pry any further after that, didn’t even ask him about Dax. I let him show me around, and surprisingly, he didn’t talk too much shit in the process or bring up a certain night again.

  My classes consi
sted of British Literature, AP Chemistry—still couldn’t understand how that had happened—Theology, Lunch—the most important one—and Pre-Calculus. Thank god I’d knocked out World Language at my old school.

  We were approaching the main building again, where my locker supposedly was. He’d been quiet for the past couple minutes, his eyes trained on some distant thought. Quiet Judas was nice. And with the sun hitting all his angles, I had peeked at him more times than what was socially acceptable.

  I wished he wasn’t wearing a jacket. I wanted to study his tats.

  If I were being honest, I wished he wasn’t wearing anything at all. Up until his lips twitched as if he were fighting back a smile.

  “Can’t help it, huh?”

  I wasn’t even about to pretend I wasn’t looking at him. “You know you look good, Jude. You’re probably the best-looking guy around until you open that mouth of yours.”

  “I can remember a specific time when you couldn’t get enough of the things coming from my mouth, or what I was doing with it.”

  Heat bloomed in my cheeks. I was not a prude, but to hear him speak about it so casually…I hadn’t thought of my V card as a holy grail, but he was still my first. In more ways than one.

  “Are you going to keep reliving that one experience?”

  “No, I’m going to surpass it.”

  I rubbed the back of my neck, debating whether that assured statement needed a response.

  It didn’t.

  He could say whatever he wanted. A soft whir interrupted the elongated silence that had reformed between us, and I watched yet another guard zoom by on a golf-cart like buggy.

  “I get that this place is huge, but why did you say it wasn’t safe? There are security guards circling around on those cart things every fifteen minutes. Or was that just to get me outside?”

  He stopped walking and turned so that his body was facing mine. “You think they could protect you from me?”

  “Not this again,” I muttered. “Your empty threats don’t work on me.”

  In the blink of an eye he had his hand on my neck, thumb stroking the base of my throat.

  He didn’t squeeze, but the threat was there. “These aren’t threats, principessa. They’re promises. I intend to make good on every single one of them.”

  I stared up at him, feeling a very different emotion to fear. My pulse was going haywire, my internal temperature rising.

  “Making me bleed? That’s a promise?”

  “You act like that isn’t something you’d want.” With that, he stepped away and continued our path, not bothering to look back. Discomfort wrapped around my confidence. He knew more than I ever wanted someone to, and I wasn’t sure what to do about that.

  After Judas showed me my locker, he ditched me at the library and went about his merry way without an explanation.

  Not that he owed one. At least he was ‘kind’ enough to give me my things.

  This space was just as big as everywhere else on this damn campus with two floors of books half these kids wouldn’t read. It was nothing like Hermias High, my old school.

  Thinking about it made me feel a bit lonely for some reason. There I had a few friends in all my classes, and the teachers knew me. Sure, Audrey was here, but she was in all AP’s so I knew we wouldn’t have any together.

  Besides, I loved her, but I couldn’t cling onto her like a fungus to get me through the day. Even if I had zero other friends. After the spectacle Judas and I made, I wasn’t sure how successful I would be in that department. I knew how girls were. Especially this type. I had too many strikes against me before I could even get to know anyone.

  I was some new chick infringing on their delusional territory of a guy who more than likely didn’t want them. Because he’d paid me, the new girl, extra attention I’d be enemy number one.

  Didn’t help that my body was poppin, and my face was cute. This wasn’t vanity speaking, it was the hard-earned self-confidence I was still becoming acquainted with. It’d taken me a long time to learn to love who I was in my own skin, I refused to let some bitter bitch that from me.

  Thing is, I didn’t want Judas. His seductively cruel disposition drew me in like a moth to a raging inferno. The enigmatic allure behind him excited the wrong parts of me. That’s all it was. That didn’t matter much either, though. Let’s be real, most people in elite circles had a severe hierarchy complex.

  Was I poor? No.

  From the wrong side of the tracks? No.

  Did that matter to these people? Hell no.

  My parents drove a Hyundai and an Impala, both new but still unable to join the ranks of the badge whores or Mercedes.

  The credit card in my wallet had a maximum limit, and I’d never in my life get away with some of the things they did.

  I wasn’t bothered about any of this despite how it may have seemed. All I wanted was everyone to just be happy and shit, no matter what they drove or where they lived. All things that would likely happen in an alternate universe.

  I sighed and took a seat at a table in the corner, pulling out my phone.

  Monday, August 12th, 2019

  Auds: WTF? 8:45 AM

  Auds: WTF? 8:47 AM

  Auds: Bitch!! WTF? 8:49 AM

  Auds: What was THAT? 9:01 AM

  I read Audrey’s multiple messages, all along the same lines, laughing to myself.

  I sent her a quick reply and checked the time before opening my social apps.

  One of the first things I saw was that Dax had posted a picture of a lake. A tire-swing was off to the right and a canoe on the left.

  His dad’s lake.

  He didn’t live in Crudele, but Dax had described the lake behind the house to me so many times I felt as if I’d actually been there before. The pic had gone up twenty minutes ago with the caption, ‘Freedom.’

  I read it twice.

  So, Dax was gone?

  What the hell?

  That made no sense. He loved it here. Why would he suddenly want to go? There were way too many variables that all screamed Judas fucking Barron had something to do with this.

  I grabbed my things and stood up, exiting the library before the librarian could look up and see that I was gone.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Rhiannon

  What was I thinking?

  I would march across Pesadilla’s campus until I found Judas, and then what? It’s not like he would tell me anything.

  As soon as clarity overcame my loss of common sense, I gave up my determined charge and wandered around for a few. No one stopped to acknowledge me or demand to know why I wasn’t in class. I thought that was rather odd. Surely, they didn’t let the students here muck about?

  Finding a girls’ bathroom, I entered, immediately grateful and impressed with how clean it was. Seriously, they had mouthwash and dental strips. I swung into the first stall, hanging my satchel on the back of the door.

  I didn’t care how damn clean a public bathroom was. My bag would never touch the floor.

  I planted my round ass on the toilet, well and prepared to go until someone else came in. They took the stall next to mine and released a soft sigh. Silence descended upon the bathroom and just as I began to wonder if we were each waiting on the other to go first, there was a zip, followed by a small tearing sound. A crinkle, the gentle ping of the sanitary bin. Each an arduously long interval apart.

  Why the hell were they moving so slow? My bladder was about to explode. I only needed to pee, but sometimes gas came out and I refused to have an audience for that.

  “Stop trying to be cute. Slap that pad on and get out!”

  There was a snort and then loud laughter. “Riri?”

  I tried to withhold my own laugh and lost the battle, relieving myself in the process. When I stepped from the stall, Brianna was already at the sink, still laughing under her breath.

  “You know we have to be cool now, right?”

  “Is that so?” I questioned jokingly, moving to one of the open basi
ns.

  “Yeah, that’s going down as one of the best, So, how did you two become friends? stories.

  I laughed as that played out in my head.

  “Look Rhiannon, I promise I’m not a stuck-up bitch.”

  I flicked my gaze towards her in the mirror’s reflection. “You’re being serious?”

  A nod.

  Since the sink was one of those sensor types, I stepped back and moved to the automatic paper towel thingy.

  There was a hand blower, but I’d seen a documentary once and was still traumatized about the germs inside those things. I took the time drying my hands to contemplate this peculiar request. I knew this girl didn’t have a shortage of friends.

  “Why do you want to be my friend so bad?”

  “Do you have something against them? Friends, I mean.” She ambled up beside me to get her own paper towels. “I know it seems suspect, but all I’ve had is the guys this whole time. You’d be the first real friend I get to have. And keep. You also have a vagina instead of a penis, which is a much-needed bonus.”

  Woah. So much to analyze with that. “And you can be friends with me because…? Does this have something to do with Judas?”

  She shrugged.

  “He’s part of it, but I can tell you’ve got a cool personality. You aren’t superficial. And you’re prettier than—”

  “Hey! No ass kissing,” I laughed, cutting her off. I studied her, not seeing anything malicious or picking up ill intent.

  She was just a girl who wanted a friend. I’d never deny a person that. We could all use someone.

  “Fine, we’re cool. K?”

  She beamed at me and I braced myself in case she tried to go in for a hug, relaxing when she didn’t.

  “So, now what?”

  A different kind of bell than the one from this morning chimed, interrupting us. She waited until it was finished and then grabbed my hand.

  “Now, we go to lunch.”

  “How do you know I have lunch this period?”

  “Judas,” we said at the same time, entering the hall now bustling with activity.

  “I don’t know what you did to that boy, but he’s so smitten. I will never let him live it down. It’s so damn cute.”