by Beck, J. L.
“It’s your fault. All your fault, and now you dare come here… to Blackthorn?” He shoves her against the brick, her head bouncing off the hard wall, and all I can do is stand there and watch in horror.
“I didn’t know…” She whimpers her entire body shaking. I want to tell her to fight, to stick up for herself, but my mouth won’t work.
“Shut up,” the guy growls, the deepness of his voice shatters the protective bubble around me, and I force myself out of the trance-like state I’m in. I know that I can’t just stand here and watch this happen. I have to do something.
“Stop!” I scream, finally finding my voice.
Drawing all the attention to me is good, but also scary as hell. Both of them look over at me, shock on the man’s face, and fear on the girl’s and for a split second, I think about just running off to get help instead of putting myself in danger, but that would be a cowardly thing to do, and I’m stronger than that.
Before I can get my legs to move an inch, the guy’s gaze narrows, and he releases the girl, taking a step back. I stare at him, taking in his dark features. He’s handsome in an I’m-a-dickhead kind of way. Our eyes remain locked as he takes another step backward, and then another before he turns and walks off like nothing happened at all.
What the hell?
“Are you okay?” I rush to the girl’s side, taking her hand into my own once he disappears out of the mouth of the alleyway. She is shaking, her face is pale, and a single tear slips down her cheek.
“Yes,” she whispers, her big cornflower blues piercing my own. She only lets me hold her hand for a moment before she pulls it out of my grasp. She takes a step back as if she is trying to get away. I don’t think she is scared of me, but I get the sense that she doesn’t like to be touched. In an instant, I’m even more alarmed. What happened to this girl?
“Who was that guy?” I ask, even though it’s not really any of my business.
“A friend.” She says, brushing a few stray strands of blonde hair from her face.
“He didn’t look very friendly to me. In fact, he looked like a grade-A asshole.”
Instead of answering she pulls further away, retreating inside of herself. “I-I.. I need to go… thanks again.”
“Wait, don’t go. We could go somewhere and hang out, do something. My name is Stella,” I introduce myself and try to reach for her, but she shakes her head and turns away from me. I watch her speed walk down the alley and disappear behind the corner, wishing I could have done more.
Bonus Epilouge
One year later
Cameron
Glancing over at Easton nervously, I listen as the front door creaks open. A second later, it slams closed. I’m giddy with both excitement and fear. I’m pretty sure she’ll say yes, but a part of me worries that she’ll say no. The last year has been beyond great, but it’s been quite a ride for our emotions, and I wouldn’t blame her if she ever felt the need to walk out on us. She handles Easton’s emotional outbursts like a pro and is there for me whenever I need her.
Figuratively, she is the backbone of our entire relationship.
“Easton, Cam? Where the hell are you guys hiding?” Stella grumbles a moment later, her footsteps coming closer. With each step she takes closer to us, my stomach twists, a boulder of anxiety forming in my gut. The bedroom door is pushed open a second later, and she takes a step forward before realizing we’re inside.
As soon as her eyes land on us, her mouth pops open, and her pretty eyes widen with shock. She blinks, taking in the rose petals and candles that litter the room.
“What is this? What’s going on?” she croaks.
For a moment, we just stand there, all looking at each other, the words I was going to say stuck in my throat, so I elbow Easton slightly, urging him to talk instead.
“Stella, for the last year, you’ve been our rock. Really, our everything. You pushed us to be so much more than we ever thought we could be. It took us almost losing you to see what we had was real, but you never gave up,” Easton says, giving her his usual devilish grin.
Things aren’t always easy between them, but then they have these tender moments when they look at each other, and everything seems to fade away. Or they just fuck the anger out of each other until there isn’t anything left.
“You are our queen, and we want you and everyone else to know that you are,” I add. Gesturing to Easton again, he rolls his eyes and pulls out the ring box from his pocket. Stella is still just standing inside the doorway, and I walk over to her, taking her hand in mine.
“Are you… are you asking me to marry you?” Stella looks between the two of us, and I guide her over to Easton.
“Legally, we both can’t marry you, but we want you to know that we care about you enough to show our love for you to the world. We want everyone to know that you belong to us and that you’re ours,” I explain, and Easton pops the box open, revealing a three-stone diamond ring resembling our love story.
“I…” Stella swallows and tucks a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. “I’m just surprised… it’s beautiful,” she finally says.
“Is that a yes, no, or maybe?” Easton asks impatiently.
“Oh, my god, yes,” she squeals, and I damn near sigh out loud.
“Let’s see what it looks like on you.” Easton takes the ring from the box and places it on Stella’s already outstretched finger.
The ring slides on easily, and I admire how beautiful it looks on her. It screams mine and makes my beast, the part of me chained to her, howl at the moon. Ours. Always and forever. My cock starts to harden, but I push the sinful thoughts I’m having away.
“It’s… it’s heavy and big, so big.” Her soft eyes widen as she looks up from the ring and at us.
“I can show you something else that’s heavy and big.” Easton wiggles his eyebrows and the sides of Stella’s pink lips tilt up.
“Way to ruin the moment, dude.” I want to smack Easton upside the head, but Stella just giggles.
“Can you now?” She lifts a brow, “Turns out after the day of classes I’ve had, I need to be shown how much my two men love me.”
“What happened?” I question, worried I may have to kill someone. Again. Though James’ death was never our fault.
“Let’s not talk about that. I want you to do things to my body that will make me forget my name. Using your tongue,” she takes a step forward and flicks the button on Easton’s jeans, before moving onto mine. “And fingers.” She licks her lips, “And the big and heavy things you were talking about, god, don’t forget about those. One in my ass and one in my pussy.”
She blushes as she says the dirty words. Even after a year of dirtying her up, she somehow kept a piece of her innocence in that.
“Who do you want in your ass?” I ask, my gaze sweeping over her body as she grabs the hem of her shirt and tugs if off and over her head.
“You, of course,” she snickers and then hooks her thumbs into the sides of her yoga pants before shoving them down her legs. Reaching back, she undoes her bra and lets it fall to the floor with the rest of her clothes. Last, but not least, she dips her fingers into the waistband of her satin panties and shoves them down her legs impatiently. My tongue almost falls out of my mouth at the image of her before us. My mouth waters and the head of my cock peeks out of my jeans. Perks of going commando.
Creamy smooth skin, perky tits, and a flat stomach that leads to a land that I want to get lost in, that I want and need to worship a hundred times over.
Easton is an eager fucker and already has his pants and shirt off. I drag my gaze away from Stella’s silky-smooth legs for one second to pull my shirt off. Then I shove my hands down over my thighs and kick them away once they reach my ankles.
Easton grabs Stella by the hips, pulling her into his chest. He kisses her with such force, she whimpers, but she’s not whimpering with pain. No, our girl wants more, needs more from us.
“What do you want, baby? Sweet and gentle or hard an
d rough?”
“Everything…” She pants, crazed with need. “Yes, this is what I need right now… Everything. Hard, slow, gentle, rough. I need you both. However I can have you.”
“We can arrange that,” I’m the one smirking now. Lifting her off her feet, she lets out a gasp when I carry her to the bed and throw her onto the mattress.
Before her body stops bouncing, we are on her. Both of our mouths on her skin. All four of our hands all over her body, not leaving an inch of flesh untouched, unkissed, and unravished. She squirms beneath us like she is trying to get away, but her tiny hands are pulling us closer, her legs wrapping around us, anchoring us together.
Easton lays back on the bed and pulls Stella onto his lap. She mewls into the air as I come up behind her, my lips moving along her shoulders. I know the instant Easton’s cock enters her because her entire body shivers, and the softest gasp I’ve ever heard slips from her lips. I suck on the tender flesh as he starts to fuck her, thrusting deep and hard.
Wrapping my hand into her hair, I tug her head back and snake an arm around her body, pinching one of her perky nipples.
She rides Easton’s cock while her back is pressed against my chest, my cock caught between our bodies.
“How does it feel, baby? How does his huge cock feel inside your tight pussy?” I nip at her earlobe.
“Good, so good.” She moans the words, and Easton starts to thrust faster and faster, the only thing keeping her body in place are my hands.
“Fall apart, Stella, fall, and we’ll catch you just as we always do.”
“Fuck, you’re so tight, so perfect, so fucking mine,” Easton roars. I release my hand on Stella’s hair and force her to bend forward, giving me access to her puckered little asshole. Grabbing the lube from the nightstand, I pour a generous amount into my hand and stroke my cock in it.
Then I situate myself behind Stella, placing my hand against the small of her back.
“You want my cock in your ass?”
“Oh, yes, please… I need to come…” Stella cries out as Easton holds her in place with a steel grip. Guiding my cock to her ass, I see stars as I ease into the tight puckered hole, pure euphoric pleasure washes over me, and it’s like I’ve died and gone to heaven.
“Shit, fuck, shit….”
“Fuck me,” Stella pleads, and I do. Sinking balls deep inside her ass, I give her a moment before I start thrusting my hips, zings of intense pleasure zip up my spine.
“I’m coming… oh, god. I’m coming.”
Like a rocket, Stella goes off, and there isn’t any holding back our own releases. It doesn’t take but a couple more strokes for Easton to explode inside her. As they both come down from their high, Stella resting her face against his sweaty chest, I up my pace, fucking her ass with deep hard thrusts.
“You want my come? You want me to fill your ass with my seed? You want to be my slut? Tell me now… tell me…” I order, my chest heaving. I’m on the edge of my release, and I need to hear her say it.
“Please. Please, fill my ass up with your come. Dirty me up, Cam… make me yours.”
Rutting harder than I ever have before, I explode inside her, an animalistic roar escaping my lips and filling the room. Sweaty and completely spent, I pull out of her and sag to the spot beside Easton. Stella remains still for a long moment before she slides between our bodies, and like a missing puzzle piece, we come together, going from two to three.
“You’re mine, and I’m yours,” she whispers sleepily, her hand resting against my chest, the ring catching in the dim lighting, reminding me of the promise we made to her. Though marriage may never be able to happen for us, tonight we took our relationship to a level that will ensure everyone knows who she is to us, and who we are to her.
Forever. For always. Ours.
* * *
Thank You for Reading Hurting You.
Next in this series is Regretting You.
Once upon a time, she was my sister’s best friend.
I’d always wanted her to be mine, that is until the night everything changed, and my love morphed into pure hatred.
Now I’m a vile bastard with a chip on his shoulder. Cruel black hate is all I know. My only focus *ucking my way through Blackthorn’s elite women and partying.
Then she shows up at Blackthorn. She’s different now, quiet and reserved, but just as beautiful as she was the day she disappeared.
One look and my focus changes. I decided then that my time for revenge is now. No way does she get to enjoy herself. No, I’m going to make her life hell. Destroy her from the inside out.
I’m going to make her regret ever walking my way, because if it wasn’t for her…my sister would still be alive.
Prologue
Kennedy
What happened? Pain consumes my entire body, my limbs are hard to move, and all I want to do is close my eyes and drift away. My heavy eyelids close with ease.
Wake up. A voice calls, echoing loudly through my mind. Sucking air into my lungs, I gasp at the pungent smell of gasoline that fills my nostrils. My mind is hazy, my thoughts swirling, and nothing makes sense.
Twisting, I realize I can’t move. The seat belt digging into my flesh painfully, holding me in place. Though my gaze is blurry, I can make out the form of my best friend. Her slender body sprawled through the shattered windshield, partially lying on the hood of the car. No! Her face is covered in blood, coming from large gashes on her forehead.
Bile rises in my throat, making me gag.
“Jillian…” I call out. My voice so raspy, I barely recognize it as my own.
She doesn’t move. Her shirt is soaked in red, and my entire body starts to shake. “Jillian, wake up!” Using every ounce of strength I have, I reach for her. Stretching my body painfully, trying to get to her, but my fingers wrap around nothing but air.
Sirens sound off in the distance, someone is coming to save us. Jillian is going to be okay, she has to be. Staring at her lifeless body, I feel something warm dripping down my face.
Blood. Lifting a hand, I touch the side of my face, running my fingers along the deep gash on my cheek. I’m bleeding, but I don’t care. I’m not even scared for myself, but I am terrified for Jillian.
“Jillian! Wake up. Please, wake up. Help is coming,” I beg, my lips trembling, and my words slurring. Tears slip down my face as I wait for help to get here.
The closer the sirens get, the further I feel myself slipping away again. It’s like my entire body is being wrapped in a blanket. Suddenly, the pain in my limbs drifts away until my whole body goes numb. I can’t feel anything, can’t make sense of the noises surrounding me. I can’t see anything besides my best friend. Her lifeless eyes staring back at me, and her beautiful face ashen.
I think footsteps approach, lights, and sirens blur through the quiet night. But all I can do is stare. Watch. Wishing that it was me…
That I was the one dead.
66
Jackson
Three days have passed since I found out Kennedy was here at Blackthorn. The blood in my veins turns to ice at the mere thought of her. Her presence is a constant reminder of the night I lost my sister and how much my family has suffered.
Why is she here?
I clench my fist around air, envisioning her throat being in my grasp. The hate I feel for her is all-consuming. It should terrify me. The things I’ve thought of doing to her should rattle me to the bones, but it doesn’t.
Staring at the entrance to the bookstore, I try to act as if I’m not looking for someone. It took me hours to calm myself enough to get to this point. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. All I know is revenge, anger, and hate are burning through me, threatening to take over any rational thinking.
Grinding my teeth hard enough to crack them, I watch as she walks out of the school bookstore. It’s like seeing a ghost, but when I blink, she is still there. I’d seen her walking across campus, smiling, happy, alive. That was much more than my sister had. She was in t
he cold, dark ground. No future, no smile. She was part of the earth, and now it’s time for Kennedy to pay. She got a slap on her wrist for what happened that night, but I would make sure that she got a real punishment.
My pulse spikes, excitement coating my insides. Now’s the time to pounce. As soon as she turns the corner and starts down the alleyway between the two buildings, I move. My feet make little sound as I rush toward her.
She should be smarter, pay closer attention to her surroundings. Then again, she probably wasn’t expecting me. I wonder briefly if she knew I was here. If I was part of her choice in coming here.
The first thing to hit me as I get closer to her is her scent. It wafts into my nose, filling my head with memories of a girl I used to love, used to crave. My lip curls in disgust, and I want to punch myself in the cock for thinking about her that way. But such an emotion is impossible to turn off. Even after all this time, she still smells the same, like jasmine and vanilla.
Forget it. Forget her.
Pushing everything but the hate down, I drown myself in the anger and reach for her. My fingers digging into her shoulder. The pads of my fingers burn where I touch her. A gasp escapes her lips as I force her to turn to face me. When I push her back against the brick wall, I become mesmerized, watching as the air expels from her chest.
She’s nothing but a bug, a useless tiny bug, and I’m going to squish her.
“Either you’re incredibly stupid, or you have a death wish… tell me, which one is it?” I cock my head to the side, examining her shocked features.
Her pink lips part and her hazel eyes widen with confusion, then recognition, and finally fear. It’s been years since I saw her last, but as far as I can tell, she looks the same, everything but her hair that is. Her heart-shaped face is framed by long blonde hair. It’s a far cry from the chocolate brown she used to be, but I like it better. It makes it easier for me to see her as the killer and less like the girl I used to love. Then it hits me. Is she trying to hide?
