A Hurt So Sweet: Complete Dark Bully Romance Series Box Set: Elite of Eden Falls Prep

by Isabella Starling

  On an impulse, I decide to check on my toy to distract myself from the shitshow that is my life. I walk into my study, clicking the computer to life. I bring up the camera feed from Pandora’s room, and the screen crackles to life. The camera is yet to be discovered, and I have an unobstructed view of Pandora lying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling.

  Without stopping to think about what I’m doing, I reach for my phone, sending off a quick text to the girl in question. I look back at the screen, hungrily watching her make a grab for the phone the second it pings with an incoming text.

  Had a fun time at Prep today, little toy?

  Her brows furrow, then she bites her full bottom lip. Little fingers with that ridiculous manicure tap at the screen. She keeps deleting, then adding more text. Finally, my phone sounds off as her reply comes through.

  Fuck you, Dexter! Where the hell were you?

  Busy. Believe it or not, my life doesn’t revolve around you. I have other things to attend to.

  Or other girls, I add in my mind, wincing at the thought of my captive. On the screen, Pandora rolls her eyes at my reply and quickly fires one back. It hasn’t escaped me that her dress has ridden up, exposing an expanse of her bare thigh. I wonder whether she’s wearing panties as an evil plan to fuck with her more grows in my mind.

  I don’t even care. I met a new guy. Heard you guys were great friends.

  I fight the urge to smash my phone’s screen. Instead, I force myself to type back a calm reply.

  Don’t confuse my absence as a reason to misbehave, toy. The guys are watching. P.S. Easton Brantley is NOT a fucking friend.

  I watch her read the text, then roll on her front. She doesn’t send a reply and my gut is telling me she’s fucking testing me, seeing how far she can push me before I really lose my freaking mind. I’m going to punish her for all the shit she’s done while I’ve been away. Starting right the fuck now.

  I call her.

  I watch her stare at her ringing phone with a confused expression, then finally pick up the call. And when she does, she’s already lying on her back, her dress pulled up around her hips and her tiny little navy panties pushed to the side. I smirk to myself, knowing what she wants, even if she fucking denies it on the phone.

  “Hi, toy,” I tell her. “Eager for my call?”

  “Never,” she grits out. “What do you want now?”

  “What I want,” I begin. “Is for you to touch that greedy hole between your legs. I know it’s been waiting for me.”

  “You have no idea,” she rolls her eyes. “Like I’ve been sitting around waiting for you to abuse me. You really do think highly of yourself, don’t you, Dexter?”

  On the screen, I watch her touch her fingertips to that pussy I fucked only days ago. I briefly wonder how often she’s thought of me. If she’s touched that needy cunt without permission. The thought makes me enraged.

  “Listen to me,” I say sharply. “I don’t want you touching yourself without me.”

  “What?” she barks. “Why not? You don’t own me, Dexter.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. I do. Because I know your secret, don’t I?”

  An uncomfortable silence lays on the room, and I watch her chew her bottom lip as the nerves settle in. Fucking good. She should be worried, because I have eyes freaking everywhere, and she’s the center of my attention right now.

  “I haven’t told anyone I’ve fucked you,” I go on. “Yet. But I can ruin you anytime I want. So, you better do as I say, toy. Or do you want to lose your Firstborn status?”

  She remains stubbornly quiet, her fingers fiddling with the hem of her dress on my computer screen.

  “I didn’t think so,” I tell her. “Now first, I have a word of advice for you. And by advice, I mean you’re going to do exactly as I say, or fucking else.”

  “What is it?” she asks.

  “Promise you’re going to be a good girl and do as I say.”

  “Already?” She rolls her eyes on my computer screen. “You haven’t even told me what the advice is.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” I hiss. “If your fiancé tells you not to do something, you fucking do as you’re told.”

  “Great, more rules to follow. More limitations. I’m sick of it, Dexter. But sure, tell me what the newest thing is that’s bothering you so much.”

  “Brantley,” I grind out. “Easton Brantley.”

  I watch her closely for a reaction and am not disappointed when she instantly flushes a dark pink shade. She’s so fucking easy to read. I already know Easton’s fucked around with her. There will be hell to pay for this.

  “What about him?” she asks, a small edge of defiance in her voice as she juts her chin forward.

  Feisty. I kind of like it.

  “You’re not to spend any time with him,” I hiss. “Especially non-supervised without the other guys. I don’t want you around him. I don’t want you talking to him, hanging out with him or exchanging so much as a hello with him. Do you understand?”

  She lets out an incredulous laugh that makes my fucking blood boil.

  “Don’t laugh, toy.” My voice is venomous. “Do as I say.”

  “And what if I don’t want to?” she challenges me. “He’s the only one who’s actually been nice to me thus far. And I have every right to hang out with him. Who’s going to stop me? You didn’t even bother to show up today, Dex.”

  “I have people watching you,” I remind her. “And they’re going to report everything you do to me, so don’t try to pretend like you’re innocent, because I know every little detail of what happens at Prep, even when I’m not fucking there to oversee you.”

  “Well, maybe I want something in return,” she says thoughtfully.

  Despite not wanting to, the corners of my lips tug upward. The girl is learning fast.

  “What do you want?”

  “That girl,” she spits out, her face crumpled up with disgust on the camera feed. “Audra.”

  “Audra?” I repeat, furrowing my brows. “What about her?”

  “You told me I can’t be around Easton,” Pandora purrs. “Now I’m telling you that you shouldn’t be around Audra.”

  “Why the fuck not?”

  “It’s disrespectful!” The words burst from her mouth; her face adorably outraged. “I’m your freaking fiancée, Dexter, and you’re hooking up with her. It’s humiliating! And I don’t like her one bit. She’s so fucking smug. It pisses me off.”

  “I don’t see how that’s my problem,” I tell her coolly. “If you’ve got a problem with Audra, deal with it yourself. I don’t have time for your petty, childish nonsense. This isn’t kindergarten.”

  “So, you’re saying no,” she says matter-of-factly, her voice pissed off. “You’re not even going to think about it?”

  “What’s there to think about?” I argue. “Either I let you think you have any kind of control over me, or I don’t. And I think we both knew I’d say no to anything you suggested.”

  “Of course we did.” She rolls her eyes again. “Fine, whatever, Dexter. Are we done here?”

  “Are you going to stay away from Easton?”

  “No,” she snaps. “I’m going to have lunch with him tomorrow, actually. I can’t fucking wait.”

  “Don’t you dare,” I grit out.

  “I’m gonna do more than that.”

  Her eyes sparkle on the screen as she switches her position, pulling the dress up even further and stripping the panties off her shapely body.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” I demand.

  “What you’ll never get to do again,” she explains sweetly, rubbing two fingers over her clit. “Can you hear how wet I am, Dexter? You opened me up now… I don’t have to be careful anymore.”

  “Don’t you dare touch what’s mine,” I hiss at her. “Hands fucking off, I mean it.”

  “What are you gonna do?” she purrs. “You can’t come here… my father is pissed with you, he won’t let you in, and you can’t do anythin
g all the way from over there, can you?”

  She moans softly as she parts her lips. Her pussy is exposed for me on the screen and my hand forms a fist around my already hard cock. Goddamn, she’s getting too good at these games for her own good. She may think she doesn’t fit into Eden Falls, but she’s already proving to be just as bad as the rest of us.

  “Aren’t you going to give me more instructions?” she purrs sweetly. “I love them so much, Dexter… I love it when you boss me around like you own me.”

  “Stop touching.” My voice is heavy, holding a warning she refuses to heed. “Hands off right the fuck now.”

  She giggles and I hate myself for the effect her laugh has on me. I’m fucking hooked, my eyes glued to the screen where her body is writhing with pleasure. I want my hands on her. I want my tongue on her. I want my cock in her.

  “Are you going to stay away from Audra?” she whispers, and I groan out loud. “Just say it, Dexter, tell me you won’t go near her, and I’ll let you have everything you want.”

  Her body arches on the screen and I struggle with myself.

  “God, I can feel where you ripped me open,” she moans. “It feels so fucking good to touch it… To feel it… To fuck it.”

  “Stop,” I demand. “I’m leaving if you keep this up, toy.”

  “As if,” she laughs melodically. “Tell me you won’t speak to her again, and I’ll stay away from Easton, too. Or else… I’ll just have to give myself the orgasms you’ve been refusing me.”

  “Fuck you,” I grit out, then end the call.

  I toss my phone to the desk, my eyes stuck to the screen. She repeats my name several times before glancing at the phone’s screen, sighing in frustration when she sees I’ve actually ended the call. Her fingers linger over her pussy, as if she’s undecided whether she should make herself come or stop now that I’m gone.

  I close my eyes tightly, then click out of the screen. I don’t even want to fucking know.

  My next move is telling the guys to make sure she’s nowhere near Brantley. That guy has an agenda, and I’m not letting him fuck up the toy I’ve spent weeks training. She’s not done serving me.

  I only notice how badly my hands are shaking hours later, as I bring myself to an explosive orgasm and spray the shower walls with ropes of cum meant for the girl I don’t intend on keeping.

  Sweet, stupid Pandora.

  She still thinks she’s the queen of our match…

  Too bad she’s just a goddamn pawn.

  Chapter Seven

  Pandora

  I doodle absent-mindedly in my notebook, trying to forget the fact that my heart is still pounding in my chest. Dexter was a no-show again. The school feels different without him here. It makes me nervous as hell.

  There's the sound of the door opening and closing, and I look up, my eyes widening when I take in the scene before me. Easton Brantley stands in front of the class, his eyes slowly scanning the room until they zero in on me. Then, he smirks, never looking away as the professor strides up to him, addressing him in an annoyed tone.

  "You're not in this class, Mr. Brantley," the professor says. "We'd appreciate if you didn't interrupt the lesson."

  "I'll interrupt all I want," Easton says confidently. "And besides, I fancy a lesson in modern art, anyway."

  "This is a class about Greek antiquity," the teacher interrupts sounding scandalized. "Not modern-"

  "Whatever," Easton waves his hand dismissively. "I'm staying."

  The teacher huffs and puffs but Easton gives him a long, meaningful look that seems to be enough to convince him. He makes his way back to his desk, muttering something under his breath while Easton comfortably strides to the desk behind mine, flopping down on the seat. My skin prickles when I feel his gaze on me. He knows my secret... Though he's done nothing to give it away. I'm so grateful for it, but still questioning his agenda.

  I try to listen to the teacher, Mr. Rogers, drone on, but my thoughts are anywhere but on the Acropolis in Athens. I'm preoccupied with thoughts of Dexter and the other Firstborns, absent-mindedly turning my engagement ring this way and that on my finger. I'm biting my lower lip, nearly digging my teeth in deep enough to draw blood when someone taps me on the shoulder.

  I look over my shoulder to find Easton staring at me intently.

  "What's on your mind?" he whisper-asks, and I shrug, pointing to the blackboard in front of us where Mr. Rogers is drawing the three types of Greek columns.

  "Pay attention," I tell him. "You don't want to get in trouble with him again, do you?"

  "Mr. Rogers?" Easton laughs easily. "Oh, I won't get in trouble with him.”

  I narrow my eyes at him, wondering out loud, "How so?"

  "Let's just say I have some dirt on him," Easton winks at me, his jaw setting and making him look even more devastatingly handsome. "You know that girl that got expelled last week?"

  I vaguely remember a lower-ranking girl leaving the school for reasons that weren't quite explained, so I give him a short nod.

  "He slept with her," Easton grins. "Knocked her up. And since he's part of Julian's family, he got to stay. She wasn't quite as lucky."

  I blanche at the thought. God, this town is really messed up. To pick a man like Mr. Rogers over an innocent girl... Then again, who here is really innocent? Even I've fallen prey to their evil schemes.

  Mr. Rogers goes on to say we'll be working in teams of three for the next segment of the class. I groan inwardly when he puts me in a team with Easton... and that girl Audra.

  We push our desks together and Audra and I stare at one another with cold gazes as Easton seems to relish in the suddenly cool room. Finally, he laughs out loud, shaking his head in disbelief.

  "Booth's really got you wrapped around his little finger," he mutters. "Two hot girls vying for him. How lucky."

  Am I imagining it or is there a note of sarcasm in his voice?

  "By the way," he mutters under his breath at me. "You're fiddling with that ring so much it's driving me crazy. Why not just take it off?"

  "I..." I knit my brows together.

  Yeah, why don't I?

  Maybe because I don't fucking want to. Because the ring is the only thing giving me any kind of power at Prep now that Dexter's disappeared God-fucking-knows where.

  "You know, I'd give you a prettier ring," Easton murmurs. "That one's just a show piece. We have family jewels at home. A sapphire or a ruby engagement ring would look so much prettier on you."

  I flush while Audra barks at us, "Are you done with your private conversation? We have work to do over here."

  "Watch your tongue," Easton snaps at her, and she instantly bows her head. "And don't forget your goddamn place when you're talking to a fucking Firstborn, Audra."

  "Yes, I'm sorry," she whispers, shooting me a pissed-off look as if this is all my fault.

  I roll my eyes and open one of the books we're supposed to be reading. I start taking notes in neat, small handwriting in my notebook. Someone's got to do some work around here, otherwise we'll get in trouble with Mr. Rogers.

  "So, where is fiancé dearest, anyway?" Easton speaks up again, making me glance up from the pages of my notebook. "MIA again?"

  "I'm sure you'll understand Dexter has other things to attend to," I tell him, trying to keep my true feelings in check.

  "Yeah, sure," Easton laughs. "As if he doesn't have a dozen people working for him like the rest of us."

  "Well, I'm sure he has a good reason," I argue. "Otherwise he'd be here now."

  "Oh, so you don't actually know where he is, do you?" Easton smirks at me. "You'd think he'd leave his fiancée in the loop... I guess you're not as important to him as you think you are, princess."

  I want to argue with him. Tell him just how much I mean to Dexter - even though it's most likely not true. But I don't want to start a fight. Instead, I just keep meticulously taking notes from one of the books. Easton starts talking to Audra, flirting with her in the same easygoing way he did with me
. It makes my blood boil. I hate that girl so much.

  I start listening in to their conversation and am shocked to find Easton's not flirting at all. Instead he's teasing, torturing Audra while she tries in vain to defend herself.

  "You think he keeps someone like you around because he's into you?" He smirks at her devastated face. "Dream on, little girl. The only reason you're still part of Dexter's circle is because he wants that hole between your legs. And you offer it up so freely, he's bound to get sick of it soon enough."

  She looks like she's about to talk back, but Easton wags a finger at her with an amused expression.

  "I told you to watch that mouth of yours, Audra. Remember who you're speaking too."

  She looks at me for backup, and for the first time ever, I see she's in the same kind of mess I've gotten myself into. Tortured by the Firstborns, being made into their plaything and messed with for their amusement. I could help her right now. I could use my power here to make her life easier.

  My mouth sets in a thin line and I look away, as if I hadn't seen her at all. I don't wait to see her reaction.

  While I'm still working on my notes, the girl gets up theatrically, knocking over her water bottle in the process. The liquid spills everywhere, soaking my notebook and making a mess of the book I'd been working on.

  "Are you fucking serious?" I cry out, looking up into her smug face as I jump up before the water can soak me as well. "You just ruined my notes!"

  "Oh, did I?" she laughs in my face. "Oops, sorry. Although it's a lesson for you. Maybe you should offer your help next time."

  "To you?" I snarl, getting up close and personal and staring into her ridiculously made up face. "I'd rather die than help a ho like you get something she wanted."