The Mercy Academy Box Set: A Complete High School Bully Romance Series

by Lane Hart

  When he pulls back, he says, “I want to spend the whole day with you.”

  “Okay, but I’ll have to get online for work for a few hours.”

  “Can I watch?” he asks with a grin.

  “You make it sound like what I do is dirty.”

  “Isn’t it?”

  “Not really, no. At least not for me. Mostly it’s just the same words that I type over and over again. They don’t even have any significance.”

  “How about you pretend like all of the messages are from me today while I’m sitting right there with you?”

  Thinking about Aric reading the perverted things guys say is both scary and a little…hot.

  “As long as you won’t freak out or anything,” I tell him. “Just because you and I are seeing each other or whatever, I still have to do this every day to earn money.”

  “I know that, and I won’t ever tell you that you need to stop doing it. I think it’s sort of sexy.”

  “Sexy, really?”

  “Hell yes.”

  Our conversation is temporarily halted when Matt comes into the living room. “Is that Aric? Can he sign my football?”

  “Um, I dunno. Can you?” I ask him as he finally steps inside, taking up more space than an average human being, and I shut the door behind him.

  “Yeah, definitely,” Aric agrees, sending Matt running back to his room no doubt to find a marker. “But I’m not really anyone important…”

  “Not yet,” I point out. “But maybe one day, right?”

  “Ah, yeah,” he says. “If I get a scholarship.” Then, he turns the topic back around to me. “What about you?”

  “What about me?” I ask when I go back to the sink to get back to the dishes.

  “Well, aren’t you going to college?” he asks. “Isn’t that why being at the top of our class is so important to you?”

  “I-I don’t know anymore,” I tell him honestly while I scrub a plate with the dishrag. “I’m starting to think it may have been wishful thinking. Even with a full scholarship to a local school, there are still costs that I can’t afford right now. Maybe after Matt and Mandy graduate…”

  “So, then what are you going to do if you’re not going to college?”

  “I’ll probably need to get a boring, pain in the ass day job, one with insurance and benefits or whatever.”

  “That sounds…horrifying,” Aric says when he comes up beside me and picks up the towel to start drying dishes even though I didn’t ask him to.

  “Why?” I ask. “Isn’t that what every adult eventually has to do?”

  “Damn, I guess so.”

  “What about you? If football doesn’t pan out, do you have a backup plan?”

  “Ah, yeah, sort of. Maybe.”

  “So? What is it?” I prod.

  “You’re gonna think it’s stupid,” he says, propping a hip up against the counter to face me.

  “No, I won’t. Just tell me.”

  “Okay,” he says. “When I was a kid, I wanted to be a firefighter, you know, to do something that’s important.”

  I wait for him to get to the part he’s embarrassed about like he wants to be a circus clown firefighter or something, but it never comes. He just wants to be a normal firefighter.

  “What’s stupid about that?” I ask, noticing that he didn’t say he’s thought about it recently but as a kid, like it’s some silly childish dream. “Firefighters risk their lives every day to save people. It’s one of the bravest professions.”

  “It doesn’t pay much,” Aric points out like money is all that matters in the world. “My parents would think I’ve lost my mind if I told them I don’t want to go to college and play football but that I want to run into burning buildings.”

  “So you don’t want to play football?” I ask in confusion because I thought it was the most important thing in the world to him.

  “Not particularly,” he says. “I’m good at it, but that doesn’t mean I enjoy it. Going pro is my dad’s dream, not mine. He doesn’t have to put in the effort, all the hot summer practices and getting the shit knocked out of him over and over again in games. Football is fun, but it’s just a game. Fighting fires would be exciting and dangerous, but it has worth, you know?”

  “Yeah,” I mutter since I’m not sure how else to respond. I’m starting to think that what he just shared with me isn’t something that he’s ever told many people because he’s ashamed of it, for whatever reason, like not wanting to play football is some sort of taboo topic that’s completely unheard of in his world.

  “What about you?” Aric asks. “What kind of day job do you think you’ll get?”

  “Ah, I don’t know. Stripping does pay really well,” I say without cracking a smile. “But the hours suck.”

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  “Didn’t you once say that I was destined to either get knocked up or dance on a pole?” I remind him.

  “That’s not…I didn’t…” he stammers while running his fingers through his hair.

  “Yes, you did. The very first day we met.”

  “I was a dick.”

  “I know,” I agree with a smile. “And your assumptions are what motivated me to try harder just to prove you wrong.”

  “You wouldn’t really strip, would you?”

  “No, Aric, not unless all of my other options have been eliminated and that’s the only way to pay the bills. Never say never and all of that, because I would really hate to have to eat those words.”

  “Then what do you want to do, Maddie?” he asks. “Seriously?”

  “Hopefully I can get an office job with not just medical insurance but dental and all too.”

  “No,” Aric says with a shake of his head. “I didn’t ask what job you need to find. I meant what job would you have if you didn’t have anyone depending on you and you could do anything in the world.”

  “If I could have any job in the world, I guess I’d want to be a writer.”

  “A writer? I bet you would be really great at that,” he says with a smile. “Would you write about shit that really happens or fantasy stuff?”

  “You mean non-fiction or fiction?” I ask.

  “Yeah, that.”

  “I’m not sure,” I say as I busy myself with putting the dry dishes away in the cabinet, unable to look Aric in the eye since I’ve already started writing a story about him. “Probably fiction with pieces of real life thrown in to make it more believable.”

  “That could work,” he agrees.

  Aric

  I can’t imagine smart-as-shit Maddie Collins not going to college. It just seems wrong for her to waste all of that intelligence on a damn day job to support her family.

  Whatever it takes, I’m going to make sure that she becomes valedictorian by the end of the school year and wins my car in our bet. The first thing she would probably do is sell it, then she would squirrel away the money to take care of her brother and sister for the next few years. But even with a hundred thousand dollars in the bank, I don’t think she would go to college, preferring instead to save it for Matt and Mandy’s college fund. I’m starting to get to know the real Maddie, and she’s so…selfless. All the time. And oddly enough, it makes me want to give her everything I can. No one has ever given her anything that I know of, and that doesn’t seem fair.

  No wonder she thinks the worst of people and doesn’t trust them.

  But I want her to trust me and see that I’m not the same asshole I was the first day we met, mostly because she makes me want to be a better person.

  Watching her take care of her siblings and run the household like a fiercely devoted, loving mother also makes me want to kiss her and hold her, to make her feel good and show her that someone cares for her too.

  When Maddie finishes up with the dishes, I pin her against the counter and grab her face to taste her lips, slipping my tongue inside, kissing her hard until she melts into me and I’m pretty sure I’m the only thing holding her up.

 
; “Do you think Matt and Mandy could go play outside for a little while?” I ask her when my mouth begins to move down her neck, causing her to shiver.

  “I…what? W-why?”

  “Because there are a few things I would really like to do to you, and I have a feeling you don’t want them to overhear.”

  “I’m not…”

  “Going to fuck me,” I finish for her, removing my mouth from her skin to see her face. “I know that, Maddie. Does that mean I can’t touch you or kiss you all over either?”

  “All…all over?” she asks as her eyes widen in comprehension. I give a nod of confirmation.

  “Matt! Mandy!” she yells loud enough to blow my eardrums while pushing me away from her. “Time to go play outside so I can…vacuum your rooms!”

  “Nice cover,” I whisper.

  “Oh, it’s not a cover. We are going to vacuum,” she replies with a grin.

  “Fine. But after.”

  “Deal,” she agrees.

  “We’re gonna play catch with one of the little footballs,” Matt says when he comes down the hallway with a baseball glove on his left hand and the football in his right.

  “You don’t have a baseball?” I ask.

  “Of course they do,” Maddie says, but I’m not sure if I believe her.

  “Here,” Matt says, offering me the football. Once I take it, he pulls a marker out from his jean pocket.

  I scribble my name in messy cursive and return the ball to him just before Mandy joins us, hobbling along as she tries to shove her feet in her ratty shoes. “My shoes are too tight!” she exclaims.

  “What? We just bought them before school started,” Maddie groans while scrubbing a hand over her face.

  “I’ve got money left over from the boyfriend tax. Can I get a new pair this weekend?” the little girl looks up and asks Maddie with big, brown, puppy dog eyes.

  “We’ll see,” she tells her before the two kids race out the door, slamming it behind them. Turning to me, Maddie crosses her arms over her chest and says, “We need to talk about the ‘boyfriend tax’ and the games you gave Matt.”

  Guess that means he didn’t tell her about the cash I gave him to find her online.

  “Okay, we’ll talk about it,” I agree before I grab her up and throw her over my shoulder. “Just as soon as I find out how you sound when you’re coming for me.”

  “But…but…” Maddie starts and sputters out as I take us down the hallway, glancing quickly in each room we pass until we find hers. There are only two, the bathroom and the bedroom I’ve been in with Matt and Mandy’s twin beds and the walls decorated with Minecraft and Disney princesses. I keep going until I reach the last room at the end of the hallway.

  The space is so small I feel like I need to crouch down to fit. One step inside and my shins hit the foot of her small bed. I think I could hold my arms out, spin around and touch all four walls.

  “You barely fit in my room,” Maddie points out from where she’s still hanging over my shoulder.

  My response to that is to toss her down on the bed and then shut and lock the door behind me.

  Her wide green eyes watch me cautiously, as if she’s both a little terrified and thrilled.

  “I won’t do anything to you that you won’t like,” I promise her as I take a seat near the foot of the bed next to her bare, sexy, outstretched legs that I have to get my hands on. “But you can still tell me to stop and I will.”

  “I know that,” she replies. “Stop teasing me and get to it already.” She’s trying to sound tough and cool, but I know that since she’s a virgin who only had her first orgasm the other day, she probably hasn’t done much with anyone before now.

  I like being the first, but I know I have to tread carefully and go slow. So, first, I rub my palm up and down her leg, around her shin and knee a few times before venturing on toward the bottom of her dress. That’s when I get on all fours and let my lips follow the same trail, tasting her skin, easing my way up her leg.

  Since she doesn’t stop me, I keep right on going until my hands and then mouth reach the apex of her thighs. I fold the bottom of her dress up to reveal her burgundy, satin panties and have to take in the sight of her for a few moments before I run a finger down the center, outlining her slit. Leaning down, I kiss her through the satin a few times before I need to get to her flesh, to finally see her pussy and find out if she’s got a pretty, red bush.

  Instead of taking her panties off, I simply hook my finger in the crotch and tug them to the side.

  And fuck me, she’s an all-natural redhead, carefully groomed with just enough of a landing strip leading down to her slick cunt to be hot as hell.

  At the first swipe of my tongue over her slit, Maddie goes completely still. I give her two more quick licks before I lift my head to look up at her face. “This okay? You want me to keep going?”

  “Uh-huh,” is her response as her eyes stay locked on the ceiling of her room. Her hands by her sides fist the comforter in a white-knuckled grip. At least she also gives me a small nod of her head to make sure I understood, and I’m relieved she wants more because I’m starving for her.

  I dip my head back down and lap at her clit with a little more pressure from the tip of my tongue, causing her to let out a heavy sigh that’s nearly a moan. I keep at it while rubbing one fingertip gently, barely grazing over her pussy lips before prodding her tight entrance.

  Finally, Maddie gives me something to work with, something to let me know she likes what I’m doing to her. She gasps loudly while her hips begin to squirm, seeking out more contact. Her legs that had been together gradually widen to give me better access.

  I start drawing the alphabet on her clit with the tip of my tongue and when I get to D, a near circle, she finally lets out a full-blown “Oh!” moan. Her fingers dig into my hair as her back arches off the bed, so I keep forming circles, faster and faster while easing my fingertip inside of her. Once she’s wet enough, I thrust the finger in and out of her snug depths.

  Her breath quickens until she eventually cries out a chant of “Ah! Ah! Ah!” louder and louder, her thighs trembling on the sides of my head right before she screams the sound and nearly scalps me. Still, I keep tonguing her and fucking her with my finger until her body finally begins to relax into a panting puddle on the mattress.

  Chapter 24

  Maddie

  Holy shit.

  That was…amazing.

  So amazing that I don’t think I’ll ever be the same.

  For a few wonderful seconds, I left the entire world behind and soared through the clouds in the sky, so high I never wanted to come back down. A few teardrops spill down my cheeks as I lay sprawled on my back and motionless because I’ve never had anything feel that good before and I’m scared I never will.

  “Maddie? Maddie, say something,” Aric whispers softly as he pulls the hem of my dress down to cover my now damp panties. It’s as if he thinks I’m suddenly worried about my modesty after he just had his tongue and fingers inside such an intimate part of me. After I just held his face down there and nearly ripped out two handfuls of his beautiful, soft hair. If the very top of his head brushed between my legs right now, I think I would probably come again. If I asked him to do that, would he? No, I can’t ask that of him no matter how much my body craves more. So, so much more.

  “Maddie, you’re scaring me,” Aric says a little louder when he stands up and comes around to kneel down beside the head of the bed. His glassy eyes are worried, and his lips are still glistening with my juices until his tongue slips out and licks them clean, sending a jolt of desire through my core so intense it hurts.

  My body is too limp to lift my head just yet, but I can move my arm. I sink my fingers into the front fabric of his shirt and tug until he comes forward so that I can kiss his deliciously naughty mouth. For the first time, I appreciate that the slide of his tongue against mine feels so hot because it resembles the other way in which our lower bodies are meant to join.
/>   “I want you. Inside me,” I say against his lips while grabbing his shoulders to pull him on top of me. “Now, Aric. Please.”

  The asshole grunts what I’m pretty sure is a chuckle before I break our kiss to pull his shirt up his chest and over his head.

  “Oh fuck. You’re serious,” he says with his lips parted on heavy pants.

  “Do you…do you have a condom?” I ask.

  He shakes his head and wets his lips again before he can answer me. “No.”

  “You can pull out before though, right?”

  He shakes his head again. “Yes. No! I mean, yes, I have a condom, but no, I’m not gonna fuck you.”

  “Why not?” I ask, my heavenly bliss turning to indignancy in the blink of an eye.

  “Because, Maddie, you want to wait! Until after graduation. Remember?”

  Slapping my palms over my face, I groan into them as reality begins to slowly trickle back into my lust-fogged mind. Did I really just tell him he could pull out? How stupid can I get? That’s likely how about ninety percent of unwanted pregnancies happen.

  “Can you just pretend like I never said any of that?” I mutter.

  “Pretend that you weren’t begging me to fuck you? Never,” he replies when he tugs my hands down and I find his face hovering above mine with the cockiest of all grins.

  I roll to my side, facing away from him to hide my own smile and my humiliation.

  “Come on, Maddie,” Aric says, rubbing his palm down my bare arm. “At least tell me you liked it.”

  “Never,” I repeat his word back to him.

  “Tell me, or I’ll never do it again.”

  That has me pausing and reconsidering swallowing my pride. Does that mean he wants to do it again? God, if blowjobs feel even half as good as that, then no wonder guys love them so damn much.

  “I liked it,” I tell him. “You’re…really good at it.”

  “Thank you,” he replies even though I feel like I should be the one thanking him. “So, you want me to do that to you again sometime?”