I set a timer for twenty minutes on my phone and make my way into the home office at the end of the hall. The vibrating thump of music drifts up as I head straight for the expensive computer in the center of the luxuriously furnished room—just as swanky as the rest of the house. It shouldn’t shock me after the years I’ve spent amongst the people the DuPonts associate with, but Ridgeview has this way of slapping their wealth in people’s faces.
Reaching into my back pocket, I pull out thin gloves and get to work copying the hard drive. The computer has no password set, so I don’t have to utilize the skills Colton taught me to get around it. I huff out an empty laugh. People are too fucking trusting that nothing can touch them when they’re at the top.
I finish downloading the entire drive to a USB as a backup and pocket it before my alarm goes off. Making sure I haven’t left a trace of what I’ve done, I slip out of the room and head for the staircase.
Maisy is waiting for me at the top of the steps, glaring down the hall. Damn it. She can’t blow my cover. I return her glare as I stalk toward and she lays into me as soon as I reach her.
“So you’ll talk to other girls, just not me. Right. Got it.”
Sticking to ignoring her, I pretend she’s not there as I shoulder her out of the way and head downstairs, tucking the copied hard drive deeper into my pocket. I got what I came here for, now I can get out of here.
“You can’t even look at me anymore,” Maisy accuses when we reach the first floor, gripping my elbow with an unexpected amount of strength.
I glance down at her hand. She always was strong. She used to hate it when Holden and I treated her like she couldn’t do the same things we did because she was a girl.
This close, those blue leggings are even harder to resist. The urge to take a bite out of her ass is strong. Fuck, why are they so tight?
“I’m over this,” she says, getting in my face while I hesitate. Her familiar determination and steel spine make me ache to crush her to me in a hug and push her away harder. “What have I done? Why are you so ready to throw our friendship away?”
It feels like as soon as I look down her body, everything I’ve ignored calls to me. I’ve rejected and avoided how beautiful she is—god, even more than when she had my heart ten years ago. I’ve disregarded how much my mouth has watered at her tight body for a year.
When I don’t answer, her brows pinch and she keeps pushing. “Goddamn it, Fox. If you don’t talk to me, then I don’t know what I’m apologizing for. We can’t keep going on like this. It’s killing me.”
The catch in her voice makes me ball my fists.
A thousand and one memories of when we were kids blindside me. Her hazel eyes pierce through the intricate ocean artwork inked into my bicep and chest, straight into my heart. Then every inch of me turns to ash when I remember the most important thing—she broke her promise.
If she wants my attention so bad, she’s going to fucking get it.
I slam her back against the wall. A few people look our way. The party has all but faded away, my focus narrowing down to my old friend.
“You can say you’re sorry while you choke on my cock,” I growl, face inches from hers as I cage her in.
Surprise crosses her face for a beat before it bleeds away, replaced by a look that has my dick hard in seconds. She slides her arms around my neck, watching me with as much arousal as I feel rushing through me, tempting me with her sweet scent of flowers and coconut. I bite back a groan and grasp her waist. My thumbs skate over smooth skin beneath the hem of her short crop top, exploring her bare belly. I brush the underside of her tits, unable to hold back a grin that she’s not wearing a bra.
“That gets you hot, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, it does,” she says without any shyness. She gives me a crooked smile when I stare at her. Leaning closer, she murmurs, “There’s a lot that gets me wet. Going to keep going to find out?”
Holy shit. Heat pools low in my gut at the confidence she has. I thought she was going to cower and freak out at the rough treatment and dirty words meant to make her blush.
I picture her on her knees with those pretty lips wrapped around my dick, tears streaming down her face while I fuck her lying mouth until she’s wondering whether or not I’ll pause long enough to let her breathe before I come down her throat. Want crashes over me.
Ignoring her was stupid. Hate fucking her is so much better.
My hands drag down her sides to palm her ass. These yoga pants are sinful as fuck, skintight and leaving nothing to the imagination. I trace my tongue over my lower lip and picture peeling them off her with my teeth.
“Fuck, little daisy,” I rasp in a smoky tone as my hands roam her body, claiming every inch with my touch. “You’ve grown up.”
Maisy presses up on her toes, tilting her head. She wants to kiss me. Through the haze of lust, I shut down the way my heart thumps at an old dream coming true.
I stop her before her lips touch mine, holding her neck and jaw. Disappointment flashes in her golden eyes, but this isn’t a romantic reunion of long lost friends. This is all physical, that’s fucking it. Smirking, I direct her head to the side and close my mouth around her pulse point. I torture her neck until she’s melting against the wall, releasing these soft sounds that drive me insane.
A few people have already seen us tangled together, but we’re too wrapped up in an overwhelming flood of need to stop. The broken dam that held us back from this drowns us. Anger colliding with lust is a heady mix. The only thing I’m vaguely aware of is that we can’t do this in the hallway at some house party, but I can’t tear myself away long enough to take her somewhere private. Releasing a growl, I pick her up. She yelps, clutching at my shoulders as I grab her ass in a possessive grip.
Someone howls like a coyote, whatever the fuck that’s supposed to mean.
I walk into the first room I find—a bathroom. Compared to the rest of the house, it’s not that big, but I don’t care. The enticing little monster in my arms digs her nails into my skin and it pulls all my focus back to her.
We knock over a decorative basket of hand towels as we get lost in the storm of each other. It’s violent and passionate and fucking addictive. I drop her, pinning her hips against the counter as I return to biting and sucking at her neck. She arches against me, proving what those hours of yoga are good for. The thought of how my marks will be all over her neck make me grind my erection into her stomach.
Maisy pulls on my hair and wraps a leg around mine as she buries a cry into my chest. “I need you to—”
Before she can finish, I push a hand down the front of her leggings, finding her folds slick as my fingers glide across her pussy. I don’t waste any time on teasing her, sinking a finger inside and leaning back to watch my fingers flex through the thin fabric of her pants and the way it makes her mouth opens on a breathy moan.
“Oh god!” Maisy moves against my hand and slides hers under my shirt to brush against my abs. She moves down to my black jeans, over my hard cock. When she rubs it, my eyes hood as I press into her. “We could’ve been doing this all year, you stubborn jerk. If you’d just talked to me. We’ve wasted so much time.”
“Shut up,” I command harshly, thrusting my fingers in with enough force to make her suck in a breath. “No talking.”
“You’re talking,” she taunts with a gleam in her eyes.
I slow down for a second, gaze flicking up and down her body before I meet her eyes. “You want me to make you be quiet, or are you just hoping I’ll punish that mouth by making you choke on my cock?”
“Promises, promises,” Maisy snarks.
Sassy little brat.
I wish we had more time to explore. Breaking her until she submits would be something I’d want to do over and over.
The side of my mouth tips up. It’s the only warning she gets before I push another finger in her pussy and fuck her hard with my fingers. She fists my shirt and grabs the edge of the counter, only able to hold on, head
hanging back and small cries escaping her when I hook my fingers up. I’m relentless, not stopping until her eyes fly to mine, pupils blown wide from arousal.
“Fuck, right there, I’m—” She breaks off with a strangled sound and her pussy clenches down on my fingers.
I used to think I knew all of my favorite sounds and faces she made. Watching her come easily slots into the top favorite spot and it pisses me off even more that we can never have this again. We were made for each other, but she ruined that.
“Turn around.”
Maisy’s eyes flash. With a smug smile, I grab her chin with the same fingers I had buried in her pussy a minute ago. I touch her lips with my thumb and she licks it. The fact she likes it rough, likes my demanding nature makes me groan.
“Turn the fuck around.”
I jerk her body around without waiting for her to do it. One of my hands runs up the back of her leg while my arm wraps around her shoulders to crush her back against my chest. I grab a handful of her ass in a harsh grip and dig my cock into her back. The want I feel for her is overwhelming to battle. My touch roams her body, squeezing her neck, then dropping to her waist as I pant against her temple and grind against her.
I hate Maisy, but god, I want to fuck her so badly. There’s nothing I want more in this minute than to sink my cock into her pussy and make her scream my name.
Moving to tighten my arm around her, I drop my head to her shoulder. “I could fuck you right now and you’d let me, wouldn’t you,” I rumble into her neck, enjoying the way her body shudders against mine. “That’s what I thought. Let this be a lesson, because that will never fucking happen.” She stiffens in my arms as my tone turns cruel. “This changes nothing. I still hate you.”
I don’t know if I shocked her into silence at last, or if she’s reeling from the contempt in my voice, but she stays still as I unzip my pants and take my dick out. A groan vibrates in my chest as I pump myself, pressing the tip right against her ass. It doesn’t take long for the heat in my gut to coil tight as my orgasm hits. With a hoarse sound, I come, painting her ass with it as I hold her hip hard enough to bruise.
She remains quiet as I stumble back, leaning against the wall to catch my breath. In the mirror above the counter I can see the pinkness in her cheeks, her lashes lowered to sweep against them. My gaze drifts down to her yoga pants stained with my come.
It’s a fucking beautiful sight that will remain burned in my brain long after I break her. Pushing off the wall, I leave her to figure out how to clean up, banging out of the bathroom into the party. As I move through a crowded room, I get elbows and smirks from other guys who were wary of my presence here at first.
“Get this man a beer, he just deflowered the yoga prude,” one of them says.
A round of cheers follows.
“Damn, bro, first Jenna, then Maisy Landry in the same night?” Another guy claps my shoulder, leaning in. “Jenna hasn’t come back down to the party, either. What did you do to get that kind of stamina?”
“Screw that, I want to hear about Maisy.” The first guy shoves a beer in my face that I don’t take. “That yoga shit is hot. Was she flexible?”
As he asks, Maisy comes into the room. Her cheeks flush as all eyes turn on her. She folded down her yoga pants to try to hide the stain I left. A satisfying smirk settles on my face.
“Very pliant.”
The guys in the room laugh while hurt fills her eyes. She hugs herself as they throw around more lewd comments, looking at her like she’s their next meal.
It pisses me off, but I stare her down, drinking in her pain and humiliation.
I lied to her when I said it wouldn’t change anything.
This changes everything. I’m done ignoring her.
Six
Maisy
It took the entire ride over, plus one of Thea’s magical soul-restoring hugs and her beaming smile before I was able to shake off the dark cloud of what happened at the tree. At least enough to resemble a well-adjusted, functioning person who isn’t wrapped up in berating myself for falling for another one of Fox’s tricks.
The look on his face…
Do you seriously think I’m going to kiss you?
Ugh, he needs to stop living rent free in my mind. Shoving him from my thoughts and locking the last hour away behind a mental wall of concrete, I shift my focus to painting this mural with my best friend.
Stevie Nicks’ soothing voice serenades us from my phone as we work. I hum along to the melody of Dreams and laugh when Thea pauses her section of the mural to dance with her arms overhead, swinging her auburn curls around as she’s feeling herself, no longer afraid to show off her curves. Minute by minute, I’m beginning to feel more normal, chilled out by hanging with Thea. I realize as I guide my paintbrush along the celestial mural design outline that I’ve been carrying so much negative energy in my heart ever since this situation with Fox escalated. It has me missing last spring, when Thea and I went to the yoga studio every weekend with baby goats.
Fox’s dark shadow has infected the bright light in my life, shrouding me with his damn grudge.
“Yoga this weekend?” I suggest, rubbing the smooth piece of quartz in my brass bangle. I need something positive in my life to reset myself. A fresh nightly meditation plan is already forming in my head. I will get back to a zen headspace where Fox can’t infect my bubble of happiness. “I’ve been slacking and your girl needs some serious best friend time.”
Thea lights up. “Yes! I’ve missed going with all the stuff on my plate to get the bakery ready to open.”
Her energy is so great right now. It’s clear to see how happy she is, and that makes me glad for her. She deserves to glow like a goddess.
Smirking, I tip my head to the side. “Sure it’s not because you get railed on the reg by that good D?”
Thea whips toward me, her cheeks pink as she fiddles with the engagement ring Connor gave her six months ago. The guy bought her a building because he wanted to support her goals, like what an incredible proposal. “Maise. Jesus.”
I fall back out of my position on the floor, cracking up. I’m the most myself around her. It always surprises people who expect me to be quiet and prudish, but I’m not like that at all. Not the real me, anyway.
“You know I fully support your wild sex life. It’s self-care. I just like living vicariously through you since it’s just me and Righty.” I wave my hand and waggle my brows when she releases a tiny shriek. “Well, and Sir Good Vibes.”
“I still can’t believe you named your vibrator that.” She shakes her head in amusement. “You’re so weird. I love it.”
“Love you back, goob.” I blow her a kiss. “Where’s your man?”
“He’s building me a desk in the office. There’s still the city inspection, and the oven delivery got moved back, and, oh my gosh, the applications. I need to get those up, but I keep forgetting.” She gets that overwhelmed look once her ramble ends, the one that happens when she takes on too much. She blows out a breath, lifting a stray curl from her face. “How am I ever going to open this bakery on time?”
All she’s ever dreamed of is opening this place.
“Say the word, girl. My offer still stands—we can run away together and live our best life in Venice Beach. A shitty one bedroom apartment and the ocean, that’s all we need.”
I’m only half-teasing. The other half is kind of serious.
“That was always your wish.” Thea purses her lips to the side. “You’ll get to go on your road trip.” She comes over and hugs me from behind. “They can’t take it away from you, or any of your other dreams. You’re going to do everything you want to with your life, and the choice is yours, not theirs. Don’t forget that.”
My breath catches and I latch onto her arms as she gives me a squeeze. Once again the truth of the words spray painted on my locker hit me.
Damn, she’s too good at reading me. We’ve always had a strong connection, ever since I first found her bawling her eyes out
on a hiking trail in the woods at the summer camp we met at. She was lost and I helped her find her way back to the campground. We’ve been inseparable friends ever since, from middle school onward. I can’t imagine my life without her friendship.
“Thanks, dude,” I mumble.
“Anytime.” She holds up her pinkie and I lock mine with it. “No matter how much I’d love to go to California with you, Ridgeview is my home. But I’m always down for a visit if that’s where you go.”
A heavy sigh leaves me. I play with the braided leather bracelet, touching the stones. “Yeah. You’re right.”
It’s not just that I have this untamed need deep inside to leave at the drop of a hat, or even that I actually want to run from my problems. It’s that the choice isn’t mine, and that’s what I crave when I fantasize about pulling onto the interstate and following it as far as it’ll take me.
“That reminds me! I found a neat thing for you on Pinterest last night. I meant to text it.” Thea grabs her phone and shows me a pin she saved on must-see cross-country road trip spots and tips for routes to take to make the most of the trip. “See? With this you can hit more places.”
“Thanks, girl. This is good.”
I haven’t gotten that far, but Thea is more of a planner. All I know is I want to go. It’s this hungry need that tugs at the inside of my chest whenever the wind moves my hair and I see a bird taking flight.
“Have you brought it up again to your parents?”
Shaking my head, I stare into my paint tray. “Not yet. Not since last time.”
If I can’t convince them to give me permission, I’m going after graduation. They can’t stop me. No one can.
“It’ll work out.” She claps her hands. “Think good thoughts!”
Savage Wilder: Dark New Adult High School Bully Romance (Sinners and Saints Book 4) Page 5
