Kings of Quarantine: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep Book 1)

by Caroline Peckham

  The second they were out of earshot, I let my tongue run wild, calling them every colourful insult I could come up with as I shed my blazer and kicked off my shoes.

  Assbaguettes, cocksnorkels, muffwaffles, twathats.

  I had to go after the cards furthest out in the lake first or I’d end up swimming to try and find them. And after the dream I’d had last night of drowning in this dark water, I was not gonna let it get to that.

  I left my shirt and skirt on the shore then stepped into the water, gasping at how fucking freezing it was.

  I growled under my breath, forcing myself to move deeper and deeper as my legs became more and more numb. I snatched cards out of the water with violent swipes, clasping them in one hand as I started counting them in my mind.

  The only thing that kept me going was my plan for tonight and I pictured being in Sneak’s mom’s car, holding the vision in my mind’s eye.

  Tomorrow they’re gonna find out I’m gone and be humiliated. The whole school will know I got away. That I was undefeated by the so-called Night Keepers.

  When I’d plucked forty three cards out of the water, I waded back to shore, shivering and frozen to the bone. I picked up the last of the cards on the beach, stacking them together and breathing a sigh of relief as I finished the task they’d set. It had taken me ages and more than one student had stopped to gawk at me or take photos. They’d all received my middle finger and as many cuss words as I could fit into a sentence before they made it out of earshot. I may not have been able to throw shit at the Night Keepers, but every other dickwad in this school was fair game.

  I pushed my feet into my shoes, shrugging on my blazer and balling up the rest of my clothes in my hands. I was dripping wet and didn’t see the point in putting it all back on. I was going straight to the shower where I’d stand under a burning hot stream until I could feel my body again.

  Tonight, Tatum. Just hold on until tonight.

  ***

  I let Mila head to dinner before me then spent the next fifteen minutes frantically packing a bag. There was no way I could bring my suitcase tonight, but I was willing to abandon clothes in favour of my freedom.

  I put the essentials into my backpack then headed out of Beech House, waiting until the coast was clear and jogging around to the back of the building. I hung my pack up in a tree out of sight then hurried back to the path with my heart in my throat.

  Luck was on my side, because no one was around and my plan was coming the hell together. I’d left a note for Mila tucked inside her English textbook to say goodbye. I didn’t wanna tell her the truth and get her in trouble with the Night Keepers if they thought she knew. And she wouldn’t open that book until third period tomorrow. By then, I’d be long gone. And that note would serve as evidence that she never knew a thing about my escape plan.

  I made it to the Redwood Dining Hall with a goddamn skip in my step, but had to school my features into downtrodden misery as I pushed my way inside.

  That’s it Tatum, keep giving them the sad eyes and they’ll think you’re just a poor little bird with a broken wing, unable to fly. But I was gonna fly bitches. And I was gonna kick a few heads on the way out too.

  I’d put on a short little black swing dress that showed off my cleavage - and my scraped up legs – and my feet were clad in white canvas shoes. Not the sort of outfit anyone would suspect me to run anywhere in. But guess what losers? I was going to run into the night like a fox in the shadows. I’d also parted my hair into pigtails to finish off the innocent yet hot look I was going for, aiming to distract hard tonight.

  I didn’t wait to be summoned, I strode on up to the Night Keepers’ table and tossed the deck of cards down in front of Saint. It was still wet from the lake and made a plap sound as it hit the surface. He didn’t like that at all.

  Saint shoved his plate away from it with a snarl, looking up at me with his teeth bared. He looked like he was actually going to take a bite out of me and some dark part of me wondered what that would be like. I bet I could bite him harder.

  “Count them,” he ordered Kyan, clearly not wanting to touch the deck.

  Kyan fished the cards up, counting them out one at a time while his eyes remained on me. On my tits to be specific. And I didn’t mind that for once. I was wearing this dress as a distraction after all. Anything to keep them from seeing a single flicker of my plan gleaming in my eyes. The push-up bra may have been a step too far. But the way Kyan wet his lips said it wasn’t. I swear he wasn’t even really counting as he finally placed the last card down and announced it was a full deck.

  I turned to walk away to join the Unspeakables but Saint banged his fist down on the table, making my heart jolt. “Don’t walk away unless you’re dismissed, Plague.”

  Laughter trickled through the room and heat licked up the back of my neck.

  Blake grimaced at me, leaning back in his seat. “What’s with the outfit? Did you dress up just for us, Plague? Because I’d cut my dick off before I put it inside you.”

  “Again,” I added and his eyes flared angrily. He opened his mouth to rebuke me but came up short because, well, it was the truth. And no one could argue with that.

  I balled my hands and waited for my dismissal but it never came.

  “Come here,” Saint said suddenly, patting his hand on the table.

  I frowned, unsure what he meant.

  “Climb up here and sit in front of me,” he growled and my heart lurched into my throat.

  I hesitated half a second longer before climbing onto the table then lowering myself down to sit in front of Saint. I let my bare legs hang either side of him and gazed at Lucifer sitting between my thighs, making my skin prickle all over.

  He took out his phone, tapping something on it before placing it back in his pocket. He took hold of the back of my right calf and I gasped as he lifted my foot up and hooked my shoe off, placing my bare foot on his right thigh as he tossed my shoe on the floor. I tried to will my heart beat to stop pounding so wildly, sure he was going to hear it if it didn’t stop.

  He lifted my other leg, repeating the process and positioning my left foot on his other thigh. My skirt was high enough up my legs that one dip of his head would give him a view of my panties and it made me feel uncomfortably exposed. I felt his muscles flex beneath the soles of my feet and something about that sent heat surging between my thighs. Shit – no.

  His right hand was still on the back of my leg and he closed his thumb over my calf bone, skimming it up to the cuts on my flesh. I sucked in a breath at the sting of pain and his mouth curved into a satisfied smile.

  I sensed Kyan shifting in my periphery but couldn’t break Saint’s gaze, stuck in his Venus fly trap eyes like a helpless little insect he was about to digest.

  A waiter suddenly appeared, rushing over and placing a bowl down beside me. The guy freaking bowed then hurried away again.

  I glanced into the bowl where three perfectly stacked yellow balls of ice cream sat inside it. Lemon. Bitter. Just like Saint.

  “Feed me,” he whispered, his breath somehow cold against my skin. My nipples hardened beneath my bra and a deep squeeze in belly told me I was in trouble. Despite his hateful interior, his exterior was so perfect, so alluring. From his raven eyes to his sculpted features. An artist would have had a field day for that face alone. But that body…

  Saint broke my gaze and clarity came rushing back in. I internally tackled the part of me that was panting for him and threw that bitch against the wall, locking her in cuffs. Keep it together, idiot.

  I turned, picking up Saint’s bowl of ice cream and a spoon, feeling eyes on me from all around. But as Saint leaned back in his chair like a king in a throne, the world around me faded at the edges. I fought the urge to curl my upper lip back then dipped the spoon into the ice cream, carving off a piece of it and holding it out to his lips. He closed his mouth around it, simultaneously pressing his thumb down on one of the cuts on my leg. A deep throb of need resounded between my thighs
in response to the flash of pain. Dammit, why was that so hot?

  I focused on my breathing as I continued to spoon feed him and he continued to prod at my wounds with every bite.

  “Hurry up, dude, we have football practise,” Blake growled. They’d clearly finished their meals before I arrived.

  “We’ve got time,” Saint said firmly and I spooned more into his mouth, awaiting the kiss of pain, but this time his hand slid an inch up my leg and his fingers caressed the smooth skin on the back of it.

  I locked my jaw and refused to let him see the electric rush his hand sent through my skin. His fingers continued to circle and his hand moved even higher to brush the back of my thigh.

  His eyes danced with the game, a smirk tugging at his lips. The bastard knew how he was effecting me and I hated my treacherous body for giving in to his venomous touch. But two could play at that game…

  I slid my feet higher up his thighs and let my legs widen as I got closer to his dick. He gave me a hard stare, not blinking as I held another spoon of ice cream up to his lips. My toes curled, pressing into the tops of his muscular thighs at the same moment that he took a mouthful and swallowed.

  His fingers curled around the back of my knee and his nails suddenly dug hard into my skin.

  I gasped, my mask breaking and Kyan and Blake swung around to look at me.

  “Close your mouth, Plague,” Saint growled, dropping his hand from my leg in an instant. “You’d better not be leaving a wet patch on my table.”

  I scowled at him as rage tore through me and all rational thought abandoned me. I lifted a spoonful of half melted ice cream to his mouth, tipping my hand so it slopped down his immaculate shirt instead.

  “Oops,” I said innocently, giving him my biggest eyes as his face turned to stone. “I guess I was just so busy getting wet for you, Saint, my hand just slipped.”

  He stood up abruptly and my heart leapt in alarm as I looked up at him. He wasn’t amused, not even a little bit.

  “Lick it off,” he snapped, stepping forward so my legs were pushed wide around his. A tremor rushed through me as he leaned forward, making me lean further and further back until his hands pressed to the table either side of me. “Now.”

  I knew everyone in the room was looking. I knew I was about to be degraded beyond belief. But I also knew refusing this was impossible. So if I had to do it, I was going to do it in a way that would hopefully rattle this monster.

  I reached up, sliding both hands behind his neck to support myself and his eyes widened at the brazenness of me touching him like that. A little thrill danced through me knowing my fingers were touching the Night Keeper tattoo on the back of his neck like it should have been forbidden or something. He was all I could see as he surrounded me and I knew I had his full attention. A feat I doubted anyone achieved on a regular basis.

  I leaned up, drawing him closer in the same movement and dipping my head to the ice cream on his chest. I ran the full pad of my tongue over it, taking my time as I made my way along the trail of yellow that ran up to his collar.

  He stepped closer to me almost imperceptibly, widening my thighs even further and driving my skirt up my legs.

  I kept running my tongue across his collar, but didn’t stop there, my heart tumbling in my chest as I ran it right onto his throat and tasted the devil himself. He was sin embodied and I couldn’t deny how good the scrape of his stubble felt against my tongue.

  A growl rumbled through him that almost could have been sexual and I lifted my hips, wanting to feel if he was aching for me. Before I could get close to grinding against his crotch, he ripped my hands off of his neck and I fell onto my back on the table with a loud thump.

  Laughter exploded through the air and as heat rushed to my cheeks, Saint dropped smoothly back into his seat. He lowered a hand between his thighs, subtly tugging at the material, clearly giving himself more room and a smile dragged at my lips. Victory.

  Kyan was suddenly on his feet, hauling me off of the table and yanking my skirt down where it had slid right up my thighs. His grip was almost bruising as he pulled me against him and I looked up into his eyes, finding a sea of darkness awaiting me there.

  “Let’s go to practice,” Blake insisted, getting to his feet.

  “Fine. Bring her with us.” Saint rose too and I frowned as my stomach grumbled.

  “I haven’t eaten yet,” I said, but I wasn’t sure why I bothered because clearly none of them gave a shit.

  “Well you shouldn’t have been late,” Saint said bluntly then headed past Kyan before Blake followed, shooting me a glare.

  Kyan pushed me towards my shoes and I kicked my feet into them before he tugged me back to his side.

  “You’d better start working on your smile, baby,” he purred. “You’re going to be our cheerleader at practise and I wanna hear a whole lot of pep from you when you shout my name.”

  My eyes narrowed on him as I yanked my wrist free of his grip. “Okay, baby, I’ll be sure to cheer on Sergeant Dickhole at the top of my lungs.”

  “That’s the spirit.” He smirked. “But don’t tire yourself out too much.” He shoved me ahead of him and I huffed as I stumbled into a chair. “You’re gonna be up late washing all of our football jerseys afterwards.”

  I turned away from him as my heart soared in my chest and I fought the smile that was trying to burrow its way into my cheeks. Well that sounds like the perfect opportunity to run away from this school, Sergeant Dickhole. So thank you very much.

  I waited for the football team to quit the showers before heading into the locker rooms to take one myself.

  My blood was up after that practice. It had been a good session and I always loved playing alongside my team. Not least because it meant I could tackle the little shitheads and body slam them to the ground without needing any excuse at all. In fact, they actually wanted me to do it to help them improve their game.

  That meant that three times a week, I could knock Saint Memphis and all of the other pretentious brats on the team onto their asses and the jumped up little fuckers thanked me for it.

  I scrubbed soap over my flesh vigorously, standing beneath the flow of hot water and tipping my head back so that it could run over my face and down my body.

  My cock twitched as the water raced down the length of it and I groaned in frustration. It had been too fucking long since I’d gotten laid. This place was like a damn bubble. Once we were up here for the term, that was it. No escape. I was surrounded by students and staff. And despite Miss Pontus’s clear interest, I couldn’t see me getting what I needed from her. She was semi-attractive, could have probably been a solid prospect if she knew how to dress and present herself. But even then, she was too meek for me. Too nice. I needed a girl who could rile me up and rattle my cage. One who would challenge and fight me and bring me to my knees from time to time. And that wasn’t easy to find in the real world let alone up here in the middle of fucking nowhere.

  I blew out a breath laced with sexual frustration and shut the shower off, grabbing a towel so that I could dry off and firmly thinking of anything other than the aching need in my body. I was above jerking off in the fucking school locker rooms.

  I pulled on a clean pair of boxers and sweatpants before kicking my sneakers on too and running the towel through my blonde hair. I needed a shave, but that was a problem for tomorrow…or maybe the next day. Whatever, stubble looked good on me so I didn’t give a shit. I might even let it grow into a beard just to have something to do.

  I dumped my dirty clothes into the laundry shoot and headed back down the deserted corridors to my office. I had assessments to finish up and I wanted them done before the weekend so that I could spend some time doing things I actually enjoyed. Though now that we were locked up in this god forsaken place, I had a lot less options.

  I pushed my office door open and moved to my desk, sitting down with a barely suppressed groan. When I’d made my decision about the way I was going to insert myself into this world and
had subsequently taken this job, it’d seemed so simple. Come and live in the middle of nowhere, teach a bunch of fuckwits how to take part in team sports despite the fact that they’re pre-programmed to be self-serving, cutthroat little assholes. Then use my position to get closer to the prick whose father destroyed my life, cosy on up to him, destroy his life in kind. Easy. Except it wasn’t. These kids weren’t just normal kids. They thrived on secrets and game playing, they were conniving, manipulative, even borderline psychotic on occasion. And they were suspicious of everyone. I guessed growing up around these kinds of people would do that to you, but it made getting close to them hard fucking work.

  I’d made headway in my time here, but it wasn’t nearly enough. And now the little fucker was in his final year. I needed to up my game and fast or I was going to lose this shot. And I’d worked too damn hard to do that. I’d sacrificed too much. I knew I was close to something, I just couldn’t quite figure out what.

  I leaned back in my chair as my laptop booted up and sighed as I tried to think of some new angle, some different way to come at this. But it felt like I’d already exhausted all of my options.

  A soft noise caught my ear from somewhere beyond my door and I frowned, wondering who the hell would still be here. I’d seen the football team leave as I was still packing up the sports hall after our session and no one else had any reason to be lingering in the gym this late in the evening.

  The login screen appeared in front of me and I quickly typed in my staff access code before loading the CCTV feed for the building.

  I clicked through the cameras one by one, eyeing the empty sports hall, corridors, dance studio and fencing hall before finally spotting my intruder on the feed for the store room. Tatum Rivers was standing at the back of the room using the sink intended for washing down muddy boots to clean a bunch of football jerseys.

  Though as I looked closer, she didn’t seem to be doing a very good job of it.