by Beck, J. L.
And I will. I’ll make sure Nate and Brett get what’s coming to them. Justice will be served. On shaky legs, I walk forward and place the flowers on her grave. I hold back the tears and take a step back.
“You may be gone big sister, but you will not be forgotten,” I whisper. Parker’s strong arm wraps around my middle, and he pulls me back into his chest. The warmth of his body seeps into mine, and I start to shiver.
What happens next? I’m so lost now. I have nothing, nowhere to go, nothing to look forward to.
“It’s getting cold,” Parker whispers softly into the shell of my ear.
“What...what do I do now?” The tears start to fall, staining my cheeks.
“Let’s talk about it,” he says, and I start to sob as I walk back toward the car, each cry a silent scream for help. I’m drowning in misery and sadness, and the water keeps rising. How will I survive? Parker opens the car door and helps me in. I wipe at my tired eyes, wanting the tears and pain to stop. Entering the car, he turns it on and blasts the heat. Then as if I weigh nothing more than a small child, he tugs me across the center console and into his lap.
I don’t fight him, needing his warmth, his support. Placing my head against his chest, I focus on the familiar beat of his heart.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Running his fingers through my hair, Parker speaks low, “I know it’s going to be hard for you, but I want you to come back to Blackthorn with me. I want you, really want you. Not in a revenge kind of way, or even obsession…though I am obsessed with you.” The last part comes out in a whisper. His confession should make me smile, and it would if I could manage to smile right now.
“I can’t. I can’t afford the tuition there, and the only way my father will pay for it is if I act as his pawn, and I refuse to have anything to do with him. I don’t want to be caged anymore. I want to be free.”
“I…” the tremble in his voice causes me to pull back, and I stare up at him through teary eyes. He looks conflicted, pained. “I… I love you, Willow, and I’m trying so hard to give you a choice, even though I want to tell you that you’re going to stay with me. The thought of losing you. It kills me. It makes me manic. In my mind, you’re mine, always have been, since the moment I laid eyes on you.”
He… he loves me? My gaze widens, and I feel his words. I feel them moving through me. But is his love enough?
“I can’t go back, Parker,” I confess.
“You can. I’ll pay for your tuition. You can live with me in my house. I’ll take care of you. If you let me. If you want me.”
If I want him? Doesn’t he understand that the only reason I haven’t fallen completely off the wagon is because he’s holding me in place, keeping me grounded?
“I’m going to give you a choice. If you don’t want this, then I’ll help you go somewhere else. If you don’t want me, I’ll pay for you to go to another school, find you somewhere to live. You won’t have to worry about money or your father. You won’t have to worry about me either.”
He isn’t saying what I think he is, is he? He’s not giving me up?
“You would really do that for me?” It almost sounds too good to be true. Like a trick, but what would he get from it?
“Yes, I would do anything for you. If you chose to come home with me, things will be different, I promise. No more games, no more using each other. It’s just going to be us, you and me, trying to make it work. So, what do you say?”
His offer is so tempting, and everything I’ve ever wanted to hear him say. But I’m still scared, still afraid.
Grabbing my face, he pulls me to him, forcing me to look in his eyes.
“I love you, Willow, and if you come with me, I will treat you like my queen. I will never let anyone hurt you. You have always been mine, but now, I will be yours too. You will be my equal. Please…” He pleads, and that’s enough to shatter the fear surrounding my heart.
“I want you, Parker, and I love you. I’ll come with you.”
With a huge smile on his lips, he kisses me, squeezing me to his chest, making me feel that nothing can touch us. Not his parents. Not our past. Together we’re invincible.
Hate turned to love, and my bully became my salvation.
Epilogue
Parker
Sitting in the cafeteria with Willow and Warren, I think back on the last six months. How much my life has changed, how much I, as a person, have changed. The anger I had before is gone now, replaced with a violent love for Willow. She completes me in every way, and I’m thankful every fucking day that I wake up and see her beside me in bed. It’s why I can’t regret the path that led us here, even though I hate what my brother made me become, I hate that I fought so hard for him and did some questionable things all to make Willow pay. How she forgave me, I don’t know. After all, she wasn’t the liar, I was, by default.
I press a kiss into her hair and inhale her scent, mine, all mine.
“I have to get going. I have an early class.” Willow starts to pull away, and all I want to do is tell her no and pull her into my chest and take us home so I can ravage every inch of her.
“I can walk you,” I tell her as she stands, grabbing her tray.
“No, stay and finish your lunch. I’ll meet you at home later. Bring dinner, please.” Her eyes lighten, and I can see the happiness in them. Before Nate was caught, I wouldn’t let her out of my sight, but two months ago, they finally got him. He is currently rotting in jail where he belongs.
My Brett’s freedom was short-lived, he was thrown back in jail the same day he tried to attack Willow. I haven’t talked to him since, and I’m not planning to do so anytime soon, maybe not ever again.
Willow’s father tried for weeks to contact her, to weasel his way back into her life, especially after he found out we were dating and moved in together. After I gave Willow the letter that Ashton left for her—I’d made her father hand it over the day of the funeral—that he tried to conceal, she cut all ties, thank God! It took her a while to get over the contents of the letter, knowing what had happened and how much she’d kept to herself was tough on Willow, but it did give her some much-needed closure, and she now has a reminder of her sister’s love for her. The one good thing is that it could be used as evidence against both Brett and Nate, those sick fucks should be locked up for quite some time. I made sure her father got the message to leave her alone.
I haven’t talked to my own father either, and I’m not planning on doing so ever again. He is partly to blame for all of this and I hope that one day he gets what he deserves too. My mother however comes around once a week. She swears up and down that she didn’t know, and I believe her, so I don’t mind having her be a part of my life.
I’m still working on grasping the extent of Brett’s actions. It’s hard to understand what Brett had done, and it’s even harder to admit the things I have done. I’ve apologized to Willow a thousand time for treading her the way I did, and yet, it doesn’t seem enough. I don’t know if it will ever be enough.
Leaning down, Willow kisses me, her lips lingering on mine, and the alpha in me bursts to the surface. I grip onto her hips and pull her into my body.
“I’m going to devour you later, every inch,” I whisper against her lips, my cock growing hard when I see the twinkle of excitement in her emerald gaze.
“I look forward to it,” she replies and then starts to pull away. I let her go, even though I don’t want to. Watching as she walks away, I know I’m the luckiest son of a bitch at this school. After everything we went through, everything I did, how I hurt her, she still wants me. I make it up to her every day, showing her body pleasure, cherishing her, and loving her in a way she deserves to be loved. Like a queen. My queen.
“Tell me again, how an asshole like you managed to snag a girl like her?” Warren’s piss and vinegar attitude is starting to get on my last nerve. Lately, he’s become less and less of the carefree, funny guy I’ve known him to be. It’s like he has been replaced with a huge grumpy a
ss.
“Dude, I don’t know what the fuck your problem is.” I clench my hand into a closed fist and press it against my knee. I really want to slug him, but I promised Willow I would try to be more civilized.
In an instant, Warren’s demeanor goes from asshole to pure devil. His gaze darkens, turning to ice, and his jaw clenches so tightly, the edges become sharp enough to cut. I watch as his death stare tracks something off in the distance. He reminds me of a hunter, waiting for its prey to pop back out of the brush.
“What the fuck?” I ask under my breath, following his line of sight. My gaze catches on a petite girl about our age. Even from this distance, I can see that she’s pretty, like an angel, with delicate features. She stands talking to one of the professors. She must be new because I’ve never seen her before. It doesn’t make much sense, though, because, with the way Warren is looking at her, I get the impression he knows her.
“Who is she?” I ask him.
Instantly, he snaps out of whatever darkness was holding onto him. “She’s no one.” His reply is short, snappy, and completely unlike him.
“Dude, she’s obviously someone. I’ve never seen your face change so quickly. It was almost like you were seeing a ghost.”
A smile that even makes me cringe pulls at his lips. “That’s because I was. She’s no one, nothing. Forget you saw her.”
Confused, I shake my head, but Warren doesn’t give me a chance to respond. In a flash, he’s gone from the table, his tray the only evidence that he was here.
What the fuck was that?
Picking the tray up, I lift my gaze to the spot the girl was standing in just a moment ago, only to find that Warren is standing right in front of her. Nearly blocking out my entire view of her, he towers over her like a shadow. She looks uncomfortable, maybe even a little scared as he grabs her by the arm and tugs her through one of the doors that leads out to the garden.
I dump the tray and push Warren and his whiplash behavior out of my mind. Whatever is going on with him, he’s going to have to deal with it on his own.
I’m not going to get involved. I finally have my dream girl, and I’m not compromising what we have for anything.
* * *
Setting down the Chinese takeout on the kitchen counter, I move through the house, trying to find Willow. She’s in here somewhere…
“Where are you, baby?”
“Waiting for you,” she answers, her soft voice coming from the bedroom. I push the door open and find her lying on the bed…naked. Swallowing my tongue, I drink her in. “I was promised every inch of me would be devoured.”
Challenge accepted.
“Fuck, yeah,” I grin, already pulling my shirt off and unbuckling my pants. She giggles as I pounce on her, my mouth finding her hardened nipples. I close my lips around one and suck on it hard. Enjoying how it hardens even further as I run my tongue over it. Her fingers disappear into my hair, her nails raking across my scalp as she holds me to her chest. I can feel her touch in my cock.
“I want you on your back,” Willow tells me breathlessly, her pretty eyes gleaming.
“Is that so?” I ask a little surprised. She is not usually the one to take charge in the bedroom. Nevertheless, I happily oblige. Rolling over, I lie on my back and watch her as she climbs on top of me, straddling me. Her hands land flat on my stomach, holding herself steady.
“I want to ride you,” she confesses.
“You’re not going to hear any complaints out of me.” Tucking my hands behind my head, I give her all the control. Eagerly she lifts herself and fists my cock in her hand. Her touch makes my eyes roll to the back of my head.
“All afternoon, I thought about this,” she whispers as the fat head of my cock brushes against her drenched entrance. She’s going to kill me if she doesn’t put it in soon.
“Yeah, what did you think about?” I hiss through my teeth, staring up at my queen through hooded eyes.
She bites at her bottom lip, “How it would feel… you entering me, the stretch and little sting, the pleasure…” A shudder ripples through her body as well as my own as she sinks down, her pussy swallowing all eight inches of my cock. It’s a damn sight to see, one, only I will ever have the pleasure of seeing. Tossing her head back, she starts to move up and down, up and down. I grit my teeth and become enchanted under her spell as her hips swivel, and her pussy squeezes my cock.
Her tiny nails sink into my abs, and the pain and pleasure mixing together are like the perfect euphoric cocktail.
“Oh, god…” She pants, bearing down on my length. I can feel every flex, every flutter of her fucking perfect womb.
“What is it, baby? What do you need?” I question my voice clouded with carnal need.
“More, I need more.” Her big green eyes pierce mine, and I know what she’s asking. I know what she needs, but if she wants it, then she’s going to have to say it.
“Tell me, tell me what you need,” I order, my voice lower than normal. I ache to flip her over, put her on her knees, and take from her until she’s screaming for me to stop, but she has to tell me… beg me.
Like an alluring siren, she flutters her eyes at me, “I want you to fuck me. Please, fuck me.” A switch flips inside my head, and before I realize it, I’m pulling out of her and moving us around. Grabbing her by the arm, I push her into the mattress face first and secure her arms behind her. She lets out a tiny squeal of excitement that only feeds the hungry beast.
“Because you asked so nicely,” I grin, and rut into her with everything I have. She mewls against the sheets as I hold her in place, fucking her without mercy, without care. Showing her that I can be both tender and untamed. Showing her that I can be whatever she needs me to be.
“Parker,” she cries out, and I squeeze her arms tighter, pushing her into the mattress with more force. Feeling the pleasure build at the bottom of my spine, I pick up speed, thrusting into her with a ferocity that’s wild and primal.
“Be a good girl and come on my fucking cock. Squeeze me nice and tight, and I’ll fill you up with my come.”
Trying to push back against me, she sighs, and then I feel it, the distinct fluttering of her muscles. She grips me so hard, stars appear before my eyes. I don’t stop though. I continue to plow into her, my hips thrusting, my cock hitting the back of her cervix.
Mine. All fucking mine.
“You’re mine, all fucking mine. Today, tomorrow, forever…”
With one final thrust, I erupted inside her, going off like a cannon. My toes curl, and I vibrate against her sweat-soaked body. There is nothing like falling apart with her, nothing like feeling my come pulse inside of her.
Releasing her arms, I press open mouth kisses to the flesh. “Are you okay? Was I too rough?” I ask, pulling out of her and flipping her over, so we’re facing each other. Her cheeks are pink, and her eyes are sleepy, but there is a smile on her face, and that’s all that matters to me. Seeing her smile, seeing her happy.
“No, you were perfect. In fact, next time, I think you should go a little harder,” she teases, and my cock jumps to life at the thought.
“Don’t tempt me, you still have a hole I haven’t claimed yet.”
Her gaze softens, and I know she’s not ready for me to claim that part of her yet, but someday she will be, and when that time comes, I’ll own every single part of her completely, because while Willow was my retribution, she’ll always be my forever.
* * *
Thank you for reading Hating You!
Next up in this series is Breaking You.
They say there is always a calm before the storm. A time when you think you’re safe, protected from the destruction that you know is going to eventually come. Harper was that calm.
And I? I was the motherfucking storm.
As kids, we were best friends. She was the light to my darkness. I used to protect her from her bullies, now I’ll become her most feared one.
Seeing her for the first time after three years was like a bucke
t of ice water being poured on me. It chilled me to the bone, making me irrational, angry. No longer is she a little girl but a grown woman with curves and eyes that pierce my black soul.
No one knows the darkness that lingers under the surface, all they see is my smile, my charismatic charm. I’m the all American golden boy.
Having her back in my life is awakening something inside of me. She reminds me of everything good, everything I’ll never have, and I refuse to let her stay.
She has to go, and the only person dark enough, dirty enough to scare her away, is me…
Breaking Harper isn’t as easy… I thought I knew everything. Turns out others are just as good at hiding their secrets as I am.
Damaged, dark, and falling off the deep end. Will I break her? Will I break us?
22
Warren
Three years… three fucking years, I have been trying to get her out of my head. Fucking my way through the female population, trying to forget she ever existed. Three years, since I laid eyes on her beautiful face and perfect little body. Three years since I smelt the flowery scent of her hair or tasted the sweetness that always seemed to linger on her lips.
Three years, and there she stands… right in front of me, in the middle of the cafeteria, on my fucking campus. I didn’t think it was possible, but she looks even more beautiful than the last time I saw her. Even from a distance, I can see she’s grown into her body, shapely chest, curves, and legs I could’ve pictured wrapped around my waist.
Fuck that. The thought leaves my mind throbbing. That was before. Now I wouldn’t touch her if she was the last fucking girl on the planet.
She turns to me then, and our eyes lock. Like two magnets drawn to each other in a sea of polar opposites. I hate that I’m drawn to her. Her hazel eyes widen, and I know the exact second recognition sets in. The next second, she looks away, breaking the connection.
