I considered leaping over the railing, catching that slim neck in my hands, and getting right in her face before I made her body mine.
I’d warned her, hadn’t I?
Yet here she was, once again looking like a meal just asking to be devoured.
Chrom laughed. “That’s the face I was waiting for.”
I pinned him with a glare. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Ro, you’re halfway over the banister already.” I eased up as if it made a difference. “I thought you were about to jump for a minute there.”
He’d never find out how right he was, otherwise I’d never live it down.
“I thought I saw something,” I tried.
“Like what? A quarter on the floor? I didn’t know you were so frugal.”
I stared at the chandelier to keep from looking for her. “Why are you pushing this?”
“Because you want her,” he said frankly, “and I’m waiting to see you either admit it or do something about it. Whatever comes first, really.”
“I think you’ve shared a few too many blunts with Erik lately. You’re losing it.”
“Is that so?” Chrom headed towards the stairs.
Don’t react. He’s testing you. I repeat, this is a—
I caught his arm, turning him around. “Where are you going?”
His smug grin was insufferable. “To show the new girl around. Maybe see if she wants to explore some of the extra bedrooms.”
I got in his face. It wasn’t even a conscious decision. The thought of them in the dark together turned my blood to lava.
“Fine,” I growled. “I want her. Are you fucking happy now?”
Chrom made a show of tapping his chin while he thought. “Am I happy that my bro is finally ready to admit he’s got his bad for our other bro’s sister? Hmm...almost.”
I raked a hand through my hair. “What more could you possibly want?”
He pointed. “You told me, but you should probably share that information with the rest of them.”
I followed his gaze and the lava in my veins exploded, filling my chest with heat and turning my vision red.
Emily was dancing in the press of bodies, but I couldn’t appreciate the hypnotizing swing of her hips because my focus dialed in on the hands at her waist.
The body pressed against her back.
The nose buried in her hair.
Those were my spots.
And that motherfucker had signed a waiver for his life the moment he dared touch what was mine.
Chrom said something else. It vanished beneath the beat of my heart pounding in my ears.
I flew down the steps and into the crowd, shoving the people who didn’t see me coming fast enough out of the way. Protests died on tongues the moment they realized who I was.
Maybe I should’ve cared.
Maybe I should’ve apologized.
I didn’t and I wouldn’t.
I was breathing hard when I reached Emily, nostrils flaring. Whatever she saw on my face had her lips parting, eyes going wide. She let go of the hands on her hips and watched me, but Fuck Face was so lost in her he didn’t know what was happening.
He was about to.
I stomped closer and not even the awareness that everyone was watching could stop me.
I was breaking our pattern.
This wasn’t traded jabs in the car or in front of the other Tarots. This wasn’t hidden away in a classroom where no one would know.
This was public.
The whole fucking school was here.
And I just. Didn’t. Care.
I pressed my front to hers and heard her gasp above the music. Keeping my gaze locked on those wide, blue eyes, I reached out and flicked the guy’s ear.
He jumped away from her. “What the...” His voice trailed off and I knew he saw me without looking. “Oh, fuck. A-Ambrose. I swear I didn’t know, man. You know I would never—”
“Shut up,” I hissed, lifting my glare. His lip trembled and revulsion at his weakness kept me from throwing my fist into his face. I didn’t want to catch his pussy attitude. “Don’t touch her. Don’t look at her. Don’t so much as fucking think about her ever again. Do you understand me?”
He nodded.
“Lift your hands and stare at the ceiling,” I barked. He scrambled to follow my order. “Now get the fuck out of here before I change my mind.”
“I—”
“Without. Speaking.”
I was barely holding on as it was.
He bumped into a few people before a good Samaritan guided him out. No one minded. If they did, they were too busy watching things play out to speak up.
My gaze swung around, ready to explode on anyone who caught my eye when two things happened at once.
Emily poked me in the stomach, arresting my full attention.
Chrom hollered, “Enough gawking! Either party or get the fuck out!”
The music got louder, and people tried to stop staring. Well, not Renata. I hadn’t even noticed her off to the side at first, but she was watching like she’d seen the whole thing, her expression curious.
When she saw me notice her, she nodded her head, more cordial than we’d been since our early high school days when we tried to date and it went up in flames.
“If you wanted to dance,” Emily purred, throwing her arms around my neck, “you could’ve just asked. As entertaining as that was, I would’ve said yes.”
I’d never had as much trouble focusing as I did with her tits pressed against my chest.
My hands landed on her hips, reclaiming my territory. “Have you been drinking?”
Emily wasn’t programmed to shrink from me, but this touchy-feely moment was out of character.
She giggled.
I’d never heard her laugh, now she was giggling like I didn’t just threaten a guy with bodily harm for touching her.
Definitely drunk. Right when I’ve decided I’m done trying to avoid touching her. Fuck. My. Life.
“Only a little,” she said, giving me an easy smile.
“How much is a little?” It couldn’t have been much. I’d only taken my eyes off her for a few minutes.
Emily swayed in my grip. She released my neck and counted on her hands, turning her head this way and that before giving up.
“I’m...not really sure.” She squinted at me. “Renata brought me things and I stopped keeping track.”
Jesus Fucking Christ.
I looked for Renata, wanting to strangle her. I hadn’t asked her to make sure Emily made it to the dorms alright so she could end up with fucking alcohol poisoning. Lucky for her, Renata was nowhere to be found.
“Where’s the pool?” Emily blurted. “I was promised a pool and that’s the only reason I showed up. The only reason, I say!”
She’s kind of a cute drunk.
I blinked. What the hell had this girl done to my brain?
“There is a pool.” I looped my fingers around her wrist, all too glad to change scenery.
Being in the water would sober her up, and I wouldn’t be aware of Chrom above me, grinning down like he was a matchmaker or some shit.
“That was hot you know,” she said while I pulled her down a hallway. “I knew you were kind of scary, but I didn’t know you could be so...grrrr.”
She did the noise and everything for that last bit. My bark of laughter surprised us both.
“Holy shit.” Emily tilted her head. “You do have other emotions than being a rich asshole. Somebody stop the press.”
“Rich asshole isn’t an emotion, cupcake girl.”
“Can’t you come up with another nickname? Every time you say the word cupcake, I remember the one you threw in the lake like a jerk.”
Lilith.
There was an entire host of reasons I didn’t say that
I stopped, letting her crash into me. “I’m sorry about the cupcake, alright? I wasn’t having a good day.”
She scoffed. “Find another exc
use, hotshot. You already used that one.”
I did? I thought for a moment. Oh.
That day in the hospital. I told her the truth and lied about it in the next breath.
“I lied,” I admitted. “I was having a bad day.”
The debt was fresh then, and I was still coming to terms with my penance and what it would mean for the rest of my life.
Emily didn’t look convinced. “Are you telling me all this because you think I’m going to forget in the morning?”
“Sure.” That would work since I didn’t have an explanation to give her. “Come on.”
She remained silent as I wound through the house, eventually making it to the backlit pool at the rear. Another batch of partiers were scattered around the edges while a few splashed away.
I bristled.
“Finally.” Emily tugged out of my grip and headed towards the pool. “I need to cool off.”
I didn’t have time to comment before her hands dropped to the hem of her dress and started lifting.
“Are you crazy?” I roared, jumping into action. I caught her arms and pinned them in place while she struggled against me.
“Hey!”
I ignored her and addressed the rest. “Everybody back in the house. Now.” A few people whined, but they got out of the pool and grabbed their towels. “You,” I said to one of the football players when he went to pass us. “Don’t let anyone else come out here.”
“You got it, Ambrose.”
I didn’t release her until we were completely alone. When I did, she stepped to the edge of the pool and stopped there, looking down into the water.
“What is that like?” she said softly.
I closed in, putting her within reaching distance since I didn’t know what she might do next. “What is what like?”
Her hand sliced through the air. “Being at the top of the food chain. Throwing your weight around. Knowing you can have anything you want whenever you want. How does it feel?”
Like too much responsibility.
Like there’s no way I should be trusted with the kind of power at my fingertips.
“You got part of that wrong,” I said instead. “I don’t get everything I want.” The distance between us disappeared and I buried my nose in her hair, inhaling her sweet scent and letting it chase the last remnants of my anger away. “If I did, then that day in the car? I would’ve pulled over, spread your legs, and had myself a fucking feast before we even crossed state lines.”
“Oh,” she breathed.
Emily turned, peering up at me in silence. Her gaze fell to my lips and mine to hers.
I leaned in, slowly, giving her all the time in the world to pull away. A good thing too, since she caught my chin when she whipped her dress over her head and let it form a puddle of fabric at her feet.
I barely believed in God, but I heard angels sing as I devoured the sight of all her milky skin and curves bared to me in a silver, nearly-non-existent bikini that caught the light from the pool and made her sparkle like a jewel.
Holy. Fuck.
Her hand settled on my chest. She stood on her toes, soft lips gliding against my jaw so she could whisper in my ear, “You don’t get to kiss me, Ro. That’s not in the cards.”
My voice emerged, nothing but gravel and need. “What about the rest of you?”
Emily bit her lip and winked at me. “Guess you’ll have to find out,” she said, right before letting herself fall backward into the pool with a splash.
She twirled in the water, flashing her ass in the thong bottom, and I understood why sailors of old drowned in the pursuit of sirens.
Months spent at sea fighting the elements alongside a bunch of sweaty, smelly dudes, when you look over the railing and see that beckoning you.
Nobody with a dick would give a second thought to the rocks. Sometimes, the ruin was worth it.
She’s drunk, I told myself, fists clenching. Just park your ass somewhere and make sure she doesn’t drown.
Yeah. I didn’t listen to me either.
15
Emily
The pool was the perfect temperature, and just cold enough to force some of the alcohol from my system.
That floaty, warm, invincible feeling hadn’t gone anywhere. I tingled all over, alive with sensation. But if there was anything that could dent the shield and make me question what the hell I was doing, it was being greeted by the sight of Ambrose pulling his shirt over his head when I surfaced.
I think I drooled. No one could’ve blamed me. He had to have bartered with the devil and won for a body like that. There was no other reasonable explanation.
Broad, defined shoulders. The brick wall of a chest I already had experience crashing into. Six abs? Think again. Eight solid blocks rolled and flexed as he unbuttoned his jeans and hooked his fingers in the waistband.
The V cut that disappeared into black, boxer briefs was made to be traced by my fingers and tongue. I dug my nails into my thighs to keep from reaching for him.
He stepped out of his jeans and lunged into the water before I could admire his meaty thighs. I hadn’t known I was into thighs.
Learning all new things about myself.
Ambrose surfaced beside me, the intensity in his dark eyes stealing my breath away.
Distantly, I could hear the thump of music coming from the sprawling house. I knew a hundred others were on the front lawn, dancing beneath these same stars. But as Ambrose swam closer, caging me against the side of the pool with his chiseled arms, it felt like we were the only people in the world.
“I gave you a chance,” he said, fitting himself between my thighs. “You could’ve stayed away instead of taunting me. But you did it anyway.” He scanned my face even as his hips rolled and my lashes fluttered in response. “Why?”
He was so close. I had to touch him.
I toyed with the wet strands of his hair. Traced my fingers over the tattooed rose on his neck. Spread my palms over his chest. The elevated beat of his heart gave me an infusion of strength. It assured me that I wasn’t the only one feeling the effects of our attraction, and maybe a little terrified of it.
“When I was a kid,” I said, carefully picking my words, “I used to be absolutely mystified by how the stove worked. Mom loved cooking everything herself even though we had housekeepers and a chef. So I always ended up in the kitchen, watching her work. With the press of a button, water boiled, cheese melted, and it blew my mind.”
He buried his face in the curve of my neck, licking a slow path over my collarbone that left me squirming.
I moaned when he bit down. “You’re distracting me.”
Huge hands engulfed my hips, squeezing deliciously. “Then you better get on with it before I really start distracting you.”
“Have I reminded you that you’re an asshole today?”
“Emily,” he growled against my skin.
Smiling, I wrapped my legs around his waist to bring him closer. “Mom warned me that it was hot, of course. She told me like, a hundred times. But I had to know for myself and my curiosity eventually got the best of me.” I grinded against him shamelessly, letting my eyes fall closed. “One day I turned the stove on. Stared at that red eye until it was glowing...and then I put my finger on it.”
He chuckled and the low sound of it went straight to my core. “What did you learn from your experiment?”
“That I would risk being burned to satisfy my own interests,” I whispered, leaning forward to nip at his jaw. “This time around, the heat source just happens to be a dark-eyed fiend with a mean streak.”
“A fiend, huh?” I opened my eyes long enough to see the curve of his lips. “Surprisingly accurate.”
I was about to ask what he meant when his grip on me tightened. Ambrose kicked off the wall and pulled me towards the shallow end. He lifted me onto the steps, leaving only my ankles in the cool water before he covered my body with his again.
His hand slid across my waist and my stomach caved in, anticipatio
n sending a current down my spine. He watched me, and I watched his long fingers disappear into my bikini bottoms, briefly playing with my curls before cupping my soft heat. Ambrose grunted and spread his hand like he wanted to hold as much of me as he could at one time.
I thought he murmured something that sounded like, “Lilith,” but his fingers slipping through my folds proved too distracting for me to care one way or another.
“Ambrose,” I breathed when he paused there. “I need more.”
His eyes flashed. “I don’t do gentle,” he warned in a whisper.
“Good thing no one fucking asked you to be.”
He unleashed a real smile for the first time, stealing the oxygen from my lungs even before three fingers found my entrance and pushed inside.
I hissed between my teeth, nails pressing into his shoulders while my walls clamped down. No two ways about it, I was soaked. But his fingers were bigger than mine and the stretch sent my back arching as my body adjusted.
True to his word, the chance for restraint had fled.
He wasted no time pumping his fingers in and out of me, stirring the water until it sounded like someone was in the pool with us, learning how to swim. His fingers curled, pressing against that spot, and lightning detonated in my core, spreading out through the rest of me until my nipples were tight and achy and I was sure my hair could stand on its own.
I pulled the cups of my top down. Before I could speak, he read my mind. Ambrose dipped his head, sucking one stiff nipple into his mouth and biting down. I cried out, core throbbing, the walls of my pussy clutching desperately at his fingers.
“Knew it,” he growled against my flesh, glancing up at me from beneath black strands of hair. “You’ve been in the pool and you still taste just like I thought. Like a fucking dessert made for my tongue.”
He thought about how I tasted?
“Tell me, cupcake girl.” His tongue swirled around my breasts and his teeth followed the hot path. “Is your pussy as sweet as the rest of you?”
Oh, the mouth on this guy when he’s not being a jerk.
My mouth opened.
Defiant Prince: An Enemies-to-Lovers Romance (Black Rose University Book 1) Page 12
