RULING CLASS

by Huss, JA

  “I think,” Cooper says, “I’m gonna like the way you wrap them around my cock the next time I have you on your knees.”

  Fuck. He turns me on when he’s this way. All powerful and domineering. Commanding, and, if I’m being honest, a little bit rude. Cooper is driven by guilt right now. He’s sorry for the way he acted after Dane raped me. So he’s careful with me.

  But part of the reason I got so caught up in him all those years ago was because I’m kinda in to his dark side.

  So I go to him and drop to my knees. I tip my head up, meet his gaze, then drop down into a deep bow, until my head is pressed against his feet.

  He taps my shoulder and I rise up and look him in the eyes. “You’re getting good at this.”

  I keep my expression flat. No emotion at all. And say nothing back.

  “Stand up, Cadee.”

  “I thought you wanted to see my plump lips around your fat cock?”

  He smiles, then stops. “I said stand the fuck up.”

  I get to my feet, but keep my head bowed.

  He lifts my chin up with the side of his finger, but I don’t meet his eyes.

  “Look at me.”

  I look at him.

  He points to the bed. “Lie down on your back.”

  My heart thumps a little. We’ve been doing this a lot. Practicing. Me, mostly. Learning to be obedient without smirking at him. Or smiling. Or narrowing my eyes. Cooper didn’t really need any pointers on how to be a bully. A simple refresher course was enough.

  I walk to the bed, climb up on it, and then lie on my back.

  He walks over to me, grabs my ankles, and then pulls me down the bed until my feet are propped up on the foot railing.

  Cooper just stands there for a moment. Like he’s trying to decide what he’d like to do with me. Then he reaches for the waistband of my leggings and slowly pulls them down my legs.

  Not all the way down. Just enough to get access.

  Leela was the one who told me to stop wearing underwear. Her exact words: “Make it easy for Cooper, Cadee. Things go much smoother when you don’t have to waste time with undergarments.” Which was ironic, because we were in the classy lingerie shop in Monrovia when this advice showed up.

  But good news for Cooper right now. I don’t have any underwear on to mess up the delivery of his sexy lesson in submission.

  Cooper lifts my knees up to my chest and says, “Hold them up.”

  I do as I’m commanded. But I’m focused on the way he looks at my pussy. He’s going to lick me. I just know it.

  Leela wasn’t the only one with advice. After I told Cooper about Leela’s opinion on this whole Maiden thing, he shared the advice Jack gave him. Give her opportunities to rise to the challenge.

  Fang and Feather seems to be obsessed with this notion of rising to the challenge. I didn’t ask anyone for clarification, but in my mind, this means, Be mean to her and see how she reacts. See how submissive she is.

  Cooper agreed.

  When I get mouthy or frustrated, it’s his job to find his inner bully king and push me harder to see how I will react.

  So. We’re practicing.

  “Are you just gonna look at it all day? Or do you plan on licking it sometime this century?”

  Cooper’s eyes lock on mine. He narrows them. “What the fuck did you just say?”

  “You heard me.”

  He flips me over and before I can even squeal, his hand comes down so hard on my ass, I literally gasp in pain. “Cooper!”

  He does it again. Then again. Then again.

  I’m squealing. Then screaming for him to stop.

  Our bedroom door crashes open and Ax stands under the door frame, breathing hard, eyes darting around trying to figure out what the fuck is happening. “What the fuck are you doing, Cooper?”

  “Get out, Ax. This is none of your business.”

  “Cadee,” Ax says, ignoring Cooper. “Are you OK?”

  I take a deep breath, but before I can say anything, Cooper says, “If you say one fucking word, Fugling, I will punish you later when we get home.”

  I keep my mouth shut.

  “I’m not fucking talking to you, Cooper. I’m talking to her. And if I don’t get an answer, I’m gonna assume she’s not OK and then I’m gonna kick your ass.”

  Cooper chuckles. He’s not looking at Ax. His eyes are locked with mine. “Tell him you’re fine, Cadee.”

  “I’m fine, Ax.”

  “Bullshit. What the hell is going on in here? Did you hit her?”

  Cooper laughs. “It’s… training, Ax. Not hitting.”

  “So, you did hit her?” Ax is not gonna let this go. But this is typical behavior for him. He’s always up for a fight. And so far this semester, he’s had precious few of them. I don’t even know what he does all day. I don’t even know if he’s still in school. I have never seen him on campus. And we don’t come to the inn very often. We’re only here this week because of fall break. Well, and we really need to have a group discussion about what the fuck we’re all doing. No one seems to be playing the same game. When we all heard Dante out last summer, we were on the same page. But everything kinda went to shit on move-in day and we never had a chance to regroup.

  I’m hoping this dinner party will be a chance to regroup.

  Because Cooper, Isabella, and I have all gone very much off course, and I think we need some direction.

  “I just told you,” Cooper snarls. “It’s training, Ax. Get the fuck out of my room.”

  “This isn’t your room. It’s hers,” Ax says. “It’s her house.”

  “Yeah, and you’re lucky I’m letting her let you stay here. So if I were you, I’d do whatever the fuck I say.”

  Cooper’s eyes are still locked on mine. So even though I want to look over at Ax and see how he’s taking this, I don’t dare break that stare.

  “I don’t give a fuck what you say,” Ax growls back. “I want to hear it from Cadee.”

  “Cadee,” Cooper says. “Tell Ax you’re fine.”

  “No,” Ax says. “You leave the fucking room, Cooper. Then she and I will have a little conversation.”

  “Not gonna happen.”

  “Oh, it is.”

  Cooper lets go of my legs, but he points to me, eyes so narrow now, I can barely make out the disturbing blue that swirls behind his lowered lids. “Do not let go of your legs. Do you understand me?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Then Cooper turns to Ax and pulls his shirt over his head. “I’m about to lick my bitch’s pussy. If you’d like to watch, you’re welcome to it. If not, then get the fuck out.”

  Damn, Cooper is in rare form today.

  I let my eyes slide over to Ax. He’s glaring at Cooper and then his shirt comes off too. But it is immediately clear that Ax has no intention of taking Cooper up on his offer. Because he says, “I’m gonna take Option C. Kick your ass and then get to the bottom of what’s really going on here.”

  “Ax.” I let go of my legs and sit up. “Get. Out. I don’t need you here. I’m in training. You’re fucking it all up.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me. Leave!”

  Cooper is shaking his head. “I didn’t give you permission to speak.”

  “I’m sorry, my king.” And then I jump off the bed and bow down at his feet.

  Ax laughs a little. “Wow. I guess the rumors are true then. You two really have bought in to this shit, haven’t you? Is this what you want, Cooper? You want her bowing at your feet? And by the way, that’s a nice car out there in the driveway. What’s next? A lakeside mansion? Maybe your father will give you Mona’s house to live in? Then you and your women will be nice and close to do Daddy’s bidding when he snaps his fingers.”

  “You have no idea what’s going on,” Cooper says. “So mind your fucking business and get the fuck out of my room, or you’re gonna be homeless, Ax. Living in that pathetic boathouse, too afraid of your own father to do anything but hide here at the old inn.”


  Then Cooper yanks me to my feet, throws me on the bed, spreads my legs back open, and without even waiting for Ax to leave, he starts licking my pussy.

  Our bedroom door slams. And Cooper just keeps going, pushing his fingers inside me, then reaching up with his other hand to twist my nipples until I squirm, and wiggle, and finally come all over his tongue.

  Thanksgiving at the Valcourts’ is predictable because Leela warned me. She told me not to tell Isabella anything, though. So I didn’t. At this point, I am fully aware of who is buttering my bread.

  I don’t feel bad about this because all Isabella has to do is smile and look pretty. Me, on the other hand? Well, my Maiden training is out in full force this afternoon.

  Only immediate family is present. The Valcourts might be missing a brother this year, but they’ve gained a set of Huntingtons.

  Isabella and her mother and father are all present.

  So is Elizabeth.

  She and I are not allowed to eat dinner with the fam. We are presently kneeling in some room on the second floor that I’ve never seen before.

  She still has that iron collar around her neck. The same one Jack snapped on during her—whatever kind of ritual shit show that was back during homecoming. It’s very tight and her skin has open sores on it from the chafing.

  She looks nothing like the woman who stood down in the bursar’s office that day I paid for tuition. I don’t think her hair has been brushed in weeks. The dark circles under her eyes might actually be bruises, I can’t really tell. And she has no clothes on. She’s also filthy and she smells. Like the last time she saw water was when she walked into that ice-cold pool.

  We’re both kneeling on the hardwood floor and we each have one wrist handcuffed to a chair like we are dogs tied up outside a store. This is how Jack and Cooper put us before they went downstairs to eat. “Don’t move,” they said.

  And Elizabeth didn’t move. Hasn’t moved. Not one fucking centimeter.

  I have changed position like seventeen times. It’s fucking uncomfortable. Her legs have to be asleep by now. I shudder just thinking about it.

  And she won’t stop staring at the floor. I even tried to talk to her. Ask her how’s she’s doing. Are they feeding her? Bathing her?

  The answer to both is an obvious no, but I’m just trying to be polite.

  I should not be talking. Leela warned me about moving out of position or talking.

  But there’s no one here, so fuck it. And I’m hungry. This entire house smells like Thanksgiving and I’m stuck up here, sniffing the BO of Dane’s former bitch.

  Wow. That was kinda mean. I sound like one of them.

  Then I snicker.

  I’m so one of them now.

  But at least I have clothes on. And no chain around my neck.

  Suddenly the door opens. I scramble to get back into position, but Jack sees me.

  He shoots me a look of narrowed eyes, but doesn’t say anything. Just walks past me to stand in front of Elizabeth. She doesn’t even look up. I’m starting to think she’s drugged. There’s no other explanation for it.

  “Cadee!” Cooper barks at me.

  I try not to sigh loudly, but I don’t succeed. Because I’m kinda at my limit here. It’s Thanksgiving, I’m inside a gorgeous mansion, and I was sent up to this… whatever room it is, and handcuffed to a chair while everyone else got to eat. It’s been hours and I’m ready to go. Whatever the point of this display of control and submission was, I missed it. And I’m not even in the mood to pretend I didn’t.

  Cooper stands in front of me, then bends down and grabs me by the hair. “What is your fucking problem?”

  “Sorry, my king.”

  “I didn’t ask you to apologize. Get up.”

  I stand. But. It’s not exactly easy because my wrist is still cuffed to the freaking leg of the chair. So I’m sorta half-hunched over until Cooper gets the key out and releases me.

  I rub my wrist while Cooper says, “Jesus Christ, Jack. Your woman smells.”

  Yeah, I want to say. Because they don’t bathe her.

  “I left her like that on purpose.” I’m looking at my feet the way I’m supposed to, but I chance a glance up at Jack just in time to see him smile as the last of these words come out.

  He’s got a very creepy smile.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” Cooper asks.

  “I would like Isabella to wash her.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me, Cooper. Cadee?” Jack turns to me. “Be a good bitch and go fetch Isabella.”

  I look at Cooper. He nods. “Bring her up here.”

  I turn away and I’m just about through the door when Cooper adds, “And be fast about it. Don’t piss me off again, Cadee.”

  I go down the long hallway and the conversation behind me turns into muffled arguing.

  I’m not in a part of the house that I recognize, so it takes me a few minutes to go downstairs and then find my way back to the formal dining room in more familiar territory.

  Isabella is talking to her father and the Chairman when I appear in the arched doorway.

  The Chairman sees me first. I know the rules. Leela explained them in every detail during our weekend in the city. So I don’t enter the room or say anything. The Chairman taps Isabella on the shoulder, then leans in and whispers in her ear as he points to me.

  She turns and even though she’s smiling, I can see the panic in her eyes.

  “Excuse me,” she says. Then she walks over to me and I take her hand and start leading away from the front of the house.

  “What’s going on? Why are you down here?”

  “Jack sent me to get you. He wants to you to bathe Elizabeth.”

  “For fuck’s sake,” she growls. “What do they think? Hmm? Does Jack really think I’ll be attracted to his dirty psycho slut because I have to wash her filthy naked body? I mean, what the actual fuck, Cadee?”

  Isabella has been handling her shit in this show quite well, in my opinion. But this is the first time she’s ever admitted her sexual preferences to me out loud. I count that as major progress.

  “Yeah. I got nothing for that. She’s gross, Isabella. But she really needs a bath. I don’t think they’ve bathed her since homecoming. She smells so bad.”

  “They’re setting me up.” Isabella whispers this. Then looks around, probably for cameras or listening devices.

  “I know. But just go along. Play along.”

  “I wasn’t wet that night at the pool, Cadee. I’m not attracted to you.”

  “Way to make a girl feel special.”

  We both laugh. Which is kinda sick. There is nothing laughable about what we’re involved in.

  “Her fingers were already wet. That’s all I’m saying. If she tries that shit again, I’m gonna call her out. I’m not the Fugling. No offense.”

  “None taken.” I steer her towards the back stairs and we start climbing.

  “I’m practically a goddamned wife.”

  “I don’t know, Isabella. I think you should just go along. It’s so much easier than fighting them.”

  “That’s what they want us to think.”

  “It’s true though. Oh, holy shit. I didn’t get a chance to tell you about Ax walking in on us this afternoon—”

  But then we hear the crying from down at the end of the hall and I stop talking.

  Isabella and I shoot each other a look. Then she goes in front of me and I slip back into my submissive position and follow her through the door.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE - COOPER

  Isabella and Cadee return while Jack and I are still arguing.

  “Cooper, I’m warning you—”

  “You don’t get to warn me, Jack. I don’t know who you think you are to me, other than my brother, but I’m not taking orders from you. This is over.”

  “You’ll walk away from everything?” Jack studies me with narrowed eyes. “Just to save one of your bitches?”

  “What the
hell are we talking about?”

  Jack looks at Isabella—who has come up to stand next to me—and before I can say anything, he’s already slapped her across the face.

  He hits her so hard, Isabella stumbles sideways and Cadee has to move in to stop her from falling over.

  I don’t even know what happens next. The only thing I know is that a few minutes later my father is pulling me off of Jack and pushing me into a corner.

  I can’t see out of one eye, my lip is bleeding so much I’m swallowing blood, and my left ear is ringing.

  But Jack’s face is a bloody, purple mess. My father is right up to me. Yelling at me. Ordering me to calm down.

  But I do not calm down. I push his ass out of the way and stalk over to Jack. He’s being held up by Isabella’s father. I point my finger in Jack’s face. “Don’t ever. Ever. Fucking touch her again.” Then I whirl around and point at my father. “No.” I say loud and I say it with conviction. “No. I will not stand for it. He does not get to touch Isabella. Ever. Ever.”

  I look around and realize Isabella and Cadee are gone. So is Elizabeth.

  “Cooper.”

  I turn at my name and find Mr. Huntington staring at me. “What?”

  “Isabella isn’t yours, son. Not yet. She’s mine. And Jack has my permission to correct her if she needs it.” Then he smiles at me. “And we both know how badly she needs it.”

  If I had a gun right now, I think I would kill everyone in this room.

  Even myself.

  What the fuck are we into?

  I thought I knew. I really did. I bought into Dante’s plan. And actually, even though none of us are on the same page anymore, it was an absolutely brilliant plan. Because certain things he predicted would happen happened.

  I was just starting to get comfortable. Just starting to think it would all work out.

  But when I walked into this room earlier and saw Elizabeth—naked, filthy, drugged—I realized something very important. The kind of thing that makes all the difference when you’re in a game.

  These people aren’t playing.

  It’s not a game for them, it’s real life.

  “Are you calm now?” Mr. Huntington asks. And when I look around, I realize everyone is gone now. It’s just us two.