BITTER PRINCE | A DARK COLLEGE BULLY ROMANCE: HEIRS OF HAVOC

by Winters, Vanessa

  It wasn’t until I opened the door to Jude’s room that I heard the voices. Very familiar voices that made my heart stop in my chest.

  “Yeah, man, just wanted to check in and see how you were feeling.”

  I saw Jude’s face first, looking absolutely black with rage. Then, sitting on his desk, I saw Merritt, cool as a damn cucumber. His arms were crossed over his chest and he was grinning. What the fuck was this asshole doing here, much less grinning about? Something like bile rose up in my throat at the sight of him.

  “Hey, girl,” he purred when he saw me.

  “Choke on something, Merritt.”

  I walked to Jude’s side and laid the tray on the side of his bed. And even though Merritt chuckled, it pleased me greatly that he chose not to rebuttal.

  Because I would’ve unleashed a hellfire fury on him the likes of which he’d never seen before.

  “So, anyway, that’s all the news you’ve missed. Preston said he’ll come by later this week to check in on you. Although, it looks like you’re being pretty well taken care of here already.” He smirked.

  “Bye, Merritt,” Jude said tightly.

  Merritt put his palms up. “Hey, man, just saying. I wish I had a hot piece tending to my every need night and day. I can’t believe you don’t have her in a little nurse outfit though. Bro, what a mistake!”

  “Get out,” Jude said.

  “I’m going. I’m going.” Merritt swaggered to the door. “Not like you could make me even if I chose not to.” He laughed.

  I glared at him. “Don’t underestimate the other person in this room. I’m just tired of and done caring enough. I’ve got no issues laying my hands on you.”

  He winked. “Trust me, I know.”

  I couldn’t believe I had ever found this asshole attractive. “Are you so desperate to win a pissing contest you came to rag on a guy who just barely survived a car accident?”

  “Oh, baby, don’t say things like that to me.” Merritt clutched his chest like I’d hurt him.

  Like he had a heart in there at all.

  But all too soon, he reached for me. He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward him while his other hand cupped my ass. I shoved him away from me at the same time Jude jumped out of bed with a roar. And before I had a chance to react, I spun around and saw nothing but righteous fury in his eyes.

  He grunted with pain. “I will kick your ass, Merritt!”

  I gasped. “Jude, your ribs!”

  I tried to grab him, but he shrugged me off. And when he did, his hand went flying into the old water glass on his bedside table. It crashed to the floor, shattering glass everywhere. And I crouched to gather up the broken shards before he could step on it in his bare feet.

  Then, the door swung open.

  20

  Lila

  The next morning, I woke up to a crash in Jude’s room. I pulled on my silk robe and crossed to his room to check on him. And when I happened upon the scenario in his bedroom, it took all I had not to claw Merritt’s eyes out.

  “Sup, bro,” I said, taking in what I was seeing.

  In sharp contrast to last night’s scene, today saw Brooklyn scrambling to clean up a tray of smashed breakfast dishes on the floor, Jude glaring, and that douchenozzle Merritt standing in the doorway, leering at me. I tightened the sash on my robe, knowing it wouldn’t make much difference. And when he approached me, I wanted to retch all over him.

  “Lila,” Merritt said, reaching for a hug.

  I leaned back. “Yeah, no. What are you doing here?”

  “Just checking in on your bro,” he said. “Heard about the accident.”

  “You look like you’re doing a great job of checking on him,” I said tightly. “Get out.”

  He pouted. “Aw, everyone here is so mean—”

  I gnashed my teeth at him. “Get out, Merritt.”

  He left, giving me one last long look as he did. Ugh, I was going to have to take an extra shower today.

  “What happened?” I asked Jude.

  Brooklyn was still on the ground cleaning up the mess.

  “Just typical Merritt bullshit,” he said, staggering a bit before he reached for the edge of his bed. Brooklyn stood back up to help, but he jerked away, and for a brief moment I wanted to tell him to cut it out and let her help.

  “Here,” I said as I took a step forward, “let me help you.”

  I eased him back into the bed, listening to him groan as he sat back.

  “Grab me my pills, will you?” He pointed to the bottles on the desk.

  “You aren’t supposed to take those until later,” Brooklyn said.

  “This is your fault, you know,” he threw at her, pulling the pills from my hand.

  She scoffed. “How is it my fault?”

  “Brooklyn, take the tray downstairs and get him something easy to eat instead. Just go,” I said before the two could start arguing. But, right as she was through the door, I stopped her, changing my mind. “You know what, Brooklyn, take the whole day off. I’ll look out for him today.”

  She nodded quickly without a word and left.

  “What? All of a sudden you’re protecting her?” Jude asked. “And if you think Mom and Janey are going to be happy about you giving her the day off you’re really—”

  I pinned him with a look. “What’s your deal, Jude?”

  He pushed himself back, repositioning his cast-wrapped leg over the top his blankets. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  I sighed. “What happened in here? And don’t say Merritt again. I mean, really. What happened?”

  He looked away. “Merritt came to see how I was doing, apparently. You and I both know he came here to gloat. To see me lying down, weak and helpless and unable to kick his ass like I should.” He rubbed his jaw. “It just... set me off, I guess.”

  “Knowing that you couldn’t kick his ass?”

  “Not just that.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Because it was also about Brooklyn, wasn’t it?”

  He shot a look at me. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  I stood up and crossed the room, pulling his fleece robe on over mine. It was too cold in his room for just mine, and I had a feeling the room was about to get even colder.

  Then, I went and sat back down on the edge of his bed. “I do know what I’m talking about. First of all, we share a wall. I hear and see a lot more than you might think.”

  He shrugged. “So what? There’s nothing between me and Brooklyn.”

  “I guess you don’t remember your nightmare last night then.”

  “Nightmare?”

  I nodded. “I got here after her. She came in and comforted you back to sleep. Running her fingers through your hair. Staying until you settled down. The whole nine yards, Jude. You don’t remember that?”

  He looked away, and it made me wonder if he knew about it and didn’t want to admit it, or if he was still trying to keep his feelings under wraps. “Seeing you guys together, Jude, it’s clear that there is something between the two of you.”

  He snickered. “I was asleep. I don’t even remember that.”

  “Which just makes it more true. Because you were so much calmer, so much more relaxed, when it was her there. I’ve never seen you react to Margeaux that way.”

  His eyes whipped over to mine as his voice lowered. “Don’t be stupid, Li. You know what’s between Margeaux and me. If it weren’t for our families, I’d never see her again.”

  I took his hand. “Maybe that’s true, but that’s not the point. The point is that you react differently to Brooklyn than you do to anyone else. And I think you’re burying those feelings in being mean to her. You’re actively trying to separate the two of you, even while you see her almost every single day, in your freaking bedroom, waiting on you hand and foot.”

  “What are you, my therapist?”

  I grinned. “Worse. I’m your twin.”

  I crossed my arms, startling a laugh out of him. And I gave him some time
to think about what I’d said as I kept quiet, hoping he would take it as a chance to open up.

  Finally, he did. “You’re right, Li. Like always.” He sighed and looked out the window, avoiding my eyes. “I’ve been trying to shove down, strangle, and burn my feelings for Brooklyn. Because you’ve been right this whole time. You told me from the beginning she was up to something, and then it turned out that she was. We both caught her red-handed, not only spying on the family but also sneaking around behind my back with fucking Merritt of all people. I mean, really. Merritt!”

  He curled his hand into a fist and punched the mattress.

  “Jude—”

  “No,” he interrupted. “It doesn’t matter, okay? It doesn’t matter that every second I spend with Margeaux is torture. It doesn’t matter that, for the past few weeks, I’ve been feeling like the walls of my life are closing in around me, leaving me with no escape, no options, and no hope. It doesn’t matter that I’ve relegated myself to a life of doing what I’m told and having family fucking dinners with pervo Mr. Abbott and our freakshow of a mother. And of all of that, you know what matters the least? How I feel about Brooklyn. Because that is never going to happen.”

  I cocked my head. “Because of Merritt, or because of Margeaux’s threat?”

  He jerked up in shock. “How do you know about that?”

  This is where the conversation was going to get hard, and I knew that. I pulled the robe more tightly around me, bracing for a fight. “I got it out of Margeaux the other night. I only just found out about it. And the only reason I pulled it out of her was because I’ve been worried about you. You’ve been drinking more than usual, doing stupid shit like wrecking cars and lighting the house on fire.” I smiled a little, but he didn’t relent. “But, Jude, there’s something you should know.”

  “I swear to God, Lila, if you tell me right now some bullshit like follow your heart—”

  “I set Brooklyn up.”

  He stilled. And as the words flowed, I knew it was time. It was time for the confession. It was time for the truth. It was time for me to admit what I’d done wrong, even though I did it for his own benefit.

  I just hoped he forgave me for it.

  “Me and Margeaux did. We set the whole thing up. We took one of Mom’s recorders and slipped it into her apron pocket. We told Merritt to corner her and make it look like they were hooking up in the shed just in time for you to walk in. We planned the whole thing.”

  He glared at me with a look I’d never seen in his eyes before, and I realized I was wringing my hands. So, I folded them together in my lap in an attempt to keep calm. “I’m sorry. I had no idea you were having actual feelings for her at the time. I just figured you had a small crush, or something like that I walked in on the two of you at the library and figured you were just hooking up and having some fun, but I knew if Margeaux found you two like that, then there would be hell to pay, and Mom would kill you, and I just… I swear I thought I was doing the right thing for you.”

  “For me?” he asked quietly. “Or for you, Margeaux, and our mother?”

  I closed my mouth with a snap. And then, he took the reins.

  “I appreciate you telling me the truth, Li. Really, I do. I mean, I had my suspicions. There were parts of the video you took that made it seem like there was a chance….” He shook his head. “But, no. It doesn’t matter. None of this matters anymore. Because you know what Margeaux said and you know that every threat she makes is real. And if I do have feelings for Brooklyn, real feelings, then I can’t subject her to that. In fact, I think Margeaux’s already laid the groundwork for those threats, even though I’m playing my part. Did you know Brooklyn has been trying to change schools and getting rejected from shitty schools like Northwestern? With her GPA and her talent? Lila, It’s a message to both of us, or maybe just me. Or maybe it’s not even a message, and she did it just because she could. I stopped trying to figure out Margeaux a very long time ago.”

  “But Jude,” I said softly, “if you have real feelings for her, then—”

  “Then what? Kill her career? Ruin her chances? Run off together and try to scrape by somewhere because both of our degrees would be worthless? Mother and Margeaux would ruin our lives. And I couldn’t leave you behind like that.”

  I reached for his hand, but he pulled it away. “Enough for now. I’m tired and sore. Leave me alone.”

  So, even though I felt sick to my stomach and was ready to throw my best friend off the fucking Eiffel Tower, I left.

  Hoping, and praying, we all found a way out of this hellscape alive.

  21

  Brooklyn

  I spent the day holed up in my room. I didn’t want to risk seeing Janey and having her ask about my free time, so I kept to myself and stayed as quiet as possible. This was definitely the downside to living where you worked. And still, I relished the free time.

  At a few points throughout the day, I pressed my ear to the door, wanting to know what was going on in the room across the hall. Though, it stayed pretty quiet, which I took as a good thing. Lila came in and out a few times and I heard them talking quietly. But then, she’d leave him alone.

  And leave me wondering what they were speaking about.

  At nine that night, I decided it was late enough to get in bed. I was bored stiff, stressed out, and ready for this day to be over already. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and climbed into my pajamas. With a sigh, I crawled into bed and opened my book. I had reread the sentence about ten times when there was a quiet knock at the door.

  Who the hell was knocking on my door and actually respecting my privacy around here? Nevertheless, I set my book down and crossed the room, shock rolling over my face when I opened the door.

  “Jude? Hey. Is something wro—?”

  He cut me off with a kiss so hard I almost fell backward. With one hand wrapping around the back of my head, the other used his crutch to press forward, pushing us both back into my room. Somehow, the door closed behind him, and his lips were still against mine. His tongue still sought mine out. My God, after so long, this felt exactly right. We crushed against each other, devouring each other and finding ourselves hungry for more. We eventually had to come up for air, though. And when we did, he looked at me with a question in his eyes. A silent question he had asked me all too many times with his eyes.

  So, I leaned around him and locked the door.

  In one astonishingly smooth move for a bedridden man, he dropped his crutches and pulled me to the bed, pushing me down on top of it. I ripped off his shirt and then my own, not caring to see where they landed. He kissed my neck, his teeth brushing the tender skin, his mouth hot against my body. I smoothed my hands across his broad chest, careful to keep my touch light around his ribs, and felt the strength of his shoulders as he explored my body.

  He moved one hand down below the waistband of my pants, stroking lightly. And while I felt his stumbling and heard his grunts of pain, I could help but I arch my back, desperate for more.

  “Please,” I whispered.

  His lips fell to my neck and I felt him smiling against my skin. He pulled down my pants and then his own and crushed his hips against mine with a groan that I recognized to be part pleasure, but part pain.

  “Jude, your ribs.”

  His lips murmured against my skin. “I need you more.”

  His words brought tears to my eyes. “Here. Lay down. Let me do the work.”

  I pulled him down softly so he laid flat on the bed. A wicked grin crossed my face as he spread out, relief clearly washing over his features. I kicked off my dangling pajama pants and climbed on top of him, trying hard not to stare at the bruises. The stitches. The gauze and bandages he was still encased in. I felt his growing girth pulsing between my lower lips. I rocked against him softly, slicking him before I raised my hips.

  And when I felt his tip catch at my entrance, I knew we were both ready.

  I lowered myself with exquisite slowness onto him and felt him fillin
g me. Finally, as electricity rocketed through my body, I felt whole again. I felt like me again. I raised up as my head fell back, my hands massaging my puckered tits. His muffled groans called to me as my hair bounced wildly around my shoulders and my head lifted back up. My eyes met his and fire sparked in my gut. I collapsed downward, pressing my hands into the mattress on either side of his head. I gazed into his eyes as his hands gripped my hips, moving me in all the ways that made his eyes sparkle with luscious delight.

  It was slow, at first. Tender. And I figured it was because of the pain I knew he was in. But soon, the pace picked up. The heat picked up. My need for him picked up. And in a passionate moment, I leaned down. I let my lips fall against his as my tongue sought his out. His cock throbbed against my walls. I felt my juices trickling down his balls. And still, our lips stayed intertwined. His hands rushed up and down my back, as if he were trying to feel every part of me at once, and damn it I’d never felt so beautiful in all my life. I loved the taste of him. The feel of him. The heady way he spun my soul and crashed into me. The smell of him was intoxicating.

  The feel of him, magical.

  We bucked faster against one another as I watched pleasure rush across his face. Squeezing those blackened eyes shut.

  I whimpered. “Jude.”

  He growled. “That’s it, Brooklyn. Just like that.”

  “Jude. I’m close. I’m so close. I—we--.”

  He fisted my hair. “Come with me, Little Rosie. Please.”

  His words plunged me into a fit of darkness I never wanted to rise up from. Our bodies moved in tandem for our mutual pleasure until I felt my walls finally cave. I did my best to hold myself up, not wanting to collapse and put Jude in anymore pain. But, as he wrapped his arms around me, I felt him pull me down against his body. Biting back grunts of pain as his cock twitched against my walls.

  “I’m coming. Brooklyn. Fucking hell, what have you done to me?”