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

by Caroline Peckham

  I took Tatum’s hand and drew her with me as we headed for the barn. Four enormous fuckers were working the door, but they recognised me instantly and let us in. I didn’t even have to pay entry. Half the people here had come to see me fight.

  The scent of stale sweat and cheap beer hung in a cloud of tobacco over the whole place and I grinned to myself as I remembered the few times I’d dragged Saint here. It was like looking at a penguin in the desert. I still liked to crack out the photos every now and then and laugh myself shitless over them.

  Eyes turned our way as I headed for the bar at the back of the enormous barn, glancing at the upper level where people were hawking and screaming for whoever happened to be fighting in the ring right now. I couldn’t see the actual ring through the crowd in front of us, but by the screams of the crowd I was willing to bet someone was having their ass handed to them.

  Denise was wiping the bar down with a dirty rag as I approached, her tattooed tits spilling out of a bra that was too tight and her midnight hair falling around her shoulders. She was a fairly good fuck but as I looked at her now, I wondered what it was I’d found so attractive about her before.

  “Who’s this?” Denise asked, jerking her chin at Tatum with a sneer on her face that didn’t hide her jealousy.

  “Tatum. She’s my girl,” I replied easily.

  “Hi,” Tatum said brightly, like she hadn’t noticed the super bitch vibes being aimed her way, but like fuck had she missed that, she was just playing a classier game.

  “That’s Denise,” I said, deciding to play a game of my own. “We used to have sex.”

  “Used to?” Denise balked. “I’m pretty sure you’ll be ditching the beauty queen and tying me to the silo again by the end of the night. Pretty girls don’t know how to fuck like me.”

  “No?” Tatum asked. “I guess not. But I can suck cock so good that dirty boys like Kyan forget their own names, isn’t that right, baby?” She leaned closer to me and cupped my junk as all the blood in my body ran to my dick. Like seriously, every fucking drop of it. And the way her eyes widened said she liked what she felt beneath my jeans.

  I groaned hungrily, grabbing her ass in those tight leather pants and yanking her against me with a grip firm enough to bruise.

  My gaze was on her lips and she licked them in a way designed to keep those filthy words that had spilled from them on my mind. I really wanted to put that claim to the test.

  Denise slammed two glasses down on the bar to remind us she was still there and Tatum’s hand slid from my cock as if it had never been there in the first place.

  I growled hungrily as I looked back at Denise as she poured two measures of Jack into shot glasses for us. There were two things on the menu here. Cheap beer and whiskey. The choice had blown Saint’s mind when he’d come. Not in a good way.

  She slid the glasses towards us but as Tatum reached for her drink, Denise leaned forward and spat in it.

  My hand fisted in her hair before Tatum even got her gasp all the way out. I yanked Denise around and slammed her head back on the bar so that she was staring up at the barn roof and struggling to get free. I picked up the tainted shot and spat in it myself before holding it out for Tatum.

  Her eyes lifted to mine and whatever she found there was enough to make her spit too. I grinned at her as my heart pounded for that.

  “Hold the shot, baby,” I encouraged and she took it from me without question.

  Denise continued to struggle against my hold on her, cursing my name and growling plenty of other colourful things at me, but I ignored her as I grabbed her jaw and forced her mouth open.

  I didn’t even have to say a word before Tatum poured the spit filled shot straight into Denise’s mouth and I slammed her jaw closed again as I forced her to swallow.

  “No one insults my girl,” I snarled in my deadliest tone and Denise shivered beneath me as several more punters backed away from us.

  “And let’s be honest, sweety,” Tatum said in a tone almost as dangerous as my own. “That’s not the dirtiest thing you’ve had in your mouth tonight. But you might wanna take the hint – Kyan is mine. So back the fuck off before I’m forced to really hurt you.”

  I knew it was just the part she was playing, but fuck me, I actually liked the way it sounded when she claimed me like that.

  Tatum reached out for the shot intended for me and knocked it back with a savage look in her eyes which I wanted to bottle.

  “I thought we were meant to be having fun tonight, baby?” she asked, mocking me. “Can we get on with it?”

  “Fuck yes.” I dropped my hold on Denise and left her to scramble upright behind us as I took Tatum’s hand again and we dove into the crowd.

  Sweaty bodies in plaid shirts and leather jackets surrounded us and we carved a path between them, sometimes having to shove them aside as we went and even throwing the odd punch to make sure they moved. There were a lot of people wearing masks and latex gloves and I wondered if that shit would really be of any use to people who were packed together like sardines. I was just hoping that no one here was infected or I was pretty sure we were already fucked.

  Tatum took it all in her stride, looking just as at home here as any of these fuckers, though her skin was certainly cleaner and her clothes more expensive. But she didn’t look rattled. Didn’t even look disgusted. In fact, she was lit up from the inside out and riding on the same high that I was always chasing by coming here.

  “Hey, sweet thing, how much for a ride on your merry-go-round?” a rough voice drew my attention and I turned to look just as Tatum threw a punch into the throat of the big motherfucker who’d spoken.

  He dropped like a sack of shit as she snarled at him. “Keep your hands to yourself, asshole!”

  “Did you just touch my girl, Merl?” I snarled, dragging Tatum behind me as Merl tried to push his way to his feet. I threw my boot into his chest with a brutal kick to knock him back down.

  “Fuck!” Merl cursed. “I didn’t see you there, Kyan. I was only checking out the goods.”

  “He grabbed my ass,” Tatum hissed and I kicked him again as rage spilled through me like a vat of acid.

  “No one touches what’s mine,” I growled, kicking him again and again as he tried to crawl away from me.

  A circle opened up around us as people watched and even exchanged the odd bet but before I could really go to town on him, Tatum caught my hand and dragged me around to look at her.

  “I think he got the message,” she said in rough voice, her heated gaze telling me she didn’t mind me stepping in to be her hero one bit. Not that she’d exactly needed my help, but that only made her hotter. “Don’t let him ruin our night.”

  I actually fucking smiled at that. Our night. Like this really was a date and I wasn’t just some asshole taking his pet for a walk.

  “If you say so, baby,” I agreed and I didn’t miss the way people were looking at us. But fuck it, Merl was already down and bleeding, I could do better than beating him up and in that moment I was enjoying the feeling of her hand in mine enough to let my issue with him go. For now anyway – the next time I saw him, he’d be in a whole world of pain.

  I turned to spit on him for good measure before tugging Tatum into the crowd again as we started to close in on the ring.

  I had to shove a few people aside and cursed at them until they got out of the fucking way.

  We finally made it through the crowd to the edge of the ring where two huge guys were stumbling away covered in blood.

  “Mike!” I shouted, drawing the attention of the asshole who ran this operation and his face lit up like he was seeing Santa on Christmas Day, not just some fucker who won every fight he entered. But that was why he loved me. The odds against me were so good that idiots threw their money at the bets in the hopes of winning big and the odds for me winning were shit because everyone knew I’d win. But they poured money into that all the same, just to see a tiny return. So basically when I fought, he made a shit tonne of mone
y and the crowd were all in.

  “Kyan!” he cried like we were old friends. His two front teeth were missing and his belly hung low over his waistband. He caught sight of Tatum and swept his faded baseball cap off as he bowed low to her. “And you brought a real lady down here too!”

  “Naw, she’s just as dirty as me, aren’t you baby?”

  “Dirtier,” she agreed, her eyes lighting as she looked out at the ring.

  There were hay bales stacked around it to keep the crowd back and more than a few blood splatters lining the filthy wooden floor. It was so fucking beautiful, I was damn near brought to tears.

  “You wanna wait the next round out?” Mike asked. “I promised a doubles round next. Or you can just pick a teammate if you wanna go in now?”

  “I’ll do it,” Tatum said suddenly, her gaze snapping back around to us.

  Mike scoffed a laugh. “You can try your luck in a ladies bout if you really think you can handle yourself, but a sweet little thing like you is better off waiting back here for your fella to finish up. You can kiss him better when he comes out victorious.”

  “Fuck that. I want in,” Tatum demanded and the dangerous look in her eye said she meant it. I swear my dick was hardwired to that fucking look.

  “This isn’t some pretty fight with rules, baby,” I warned her as I looked her up and down. “There’s no gloves, no mouth guards, no one to say you can’t break some bones.”

  “What’s the matter, Kyan?” she taunted. “Are you just afraid that I’ll prove my balls are bigger than yours? Or is it that you really are Saint’s little bitch and you’re afraid to bring me back to him with bruises and busted knuckles?”

  I growled at that suggestion. And in all honesty, the thought of her with bruises and busted knuckles was just a turn on. Fuck what Saint had to say on the subject. I turned back to Mike with a smile that offered no argument.

  “You heard the girl, she’s in. And if you want me to fight tonight there won’t be any complaints on that.”

  Mike’s face paled as his gaze slid over Tatum’s small frame and she arched an eyebrow aggressively. He cut a glance towards the two big motherfuckers who’d just entered the ring on the opposite side, wetting his lips nervously.

  “You accept responsibility for this, Kyan,” he warned. “I don’t want you screaming in my face when she gets hurt.”

  “I’d be more worried about those guys,” Tatum scoffed and fuck me, I wanted her more in that moment than I’d ever wanted any girl.

  “It’s on me,” I agreed, turning away from Mike and shrugging out of my leather jacket.

  Tatum followed suit and I drank in the sight of her in that homemade crop top as she raised her arms to tie her long hair in a knot and gifted me a view of the base of her bra and the curve of her full tits. I positioned myself so that I was the only one seeing that slice of temptation and she rolled her eyes at me as if to say it was my fault she was dressed that way. Which it was. And I was perfectly fucking happy about that too.

  I lifted the rope for her so that she could step into the ring and snapped a photograph of her to taunt Saint with later. Or maybe jerk off over. Or maybe both.

  I tossed my cellphone on the chair with our jackets before I followed her, not worrying about anyone stealing them. No one here was dumb enough to fuck with me.

  Mike called out the odds as the crowd went wild at the sight of the fuckable blonde chick stepping into the ring with a look on her face that said she was going to kick some serious fucking ass.

  “Do you think you can work with me to win this, baby?” I asked her, stepping close as she eyed the opposition.

  “I guess you can help out if you want,” she teased and I laughed. Really fucking laughed. In fact I’d been damn near grinning all night in her company and it wasn’t a feeling I was used to.

  Mike’s crew finally stopped taking bets and the look on his face said it was an exceptional haul which was perfect for me as I needed that money.

  He reached up to ring the bell and at the glorious fucking sound of that ding, I leapt into the fight.

  Tatum was right beside me, throwing her fists at her guy with a snarl of rage that had me wondering if she was imagining he was me or Blake or Saint. Either way, it was hot as fuck.

  I focused on my own opponent as he swung at me, throwing my fists against his flesh with savage abandon as the call of the bloodlust sang to me.

  I free fell into the bliss of delivering and receiving pain, feeling that beautiful ache as my knuckles split open as they came into contact with his face.

  Within minutes he was bleeding and I was bathing in it, punching again and again as he fought back fearlessly.

  A cry of pain caught my attention as Tatum was knocked to her ass by the other fucker, her bottom lip splitting and staining her red lips redder.

  I wheeled away from my guy to help her up but she didn’t need me, springing to her feet and throwing her heavy boot straight into the guy’s gut as he lunged. He coughed as the air was driven from his lungs and she darted around him, punching him in the temple hard enough to send him flying.

  He crashed to the ground just as my guy recovered enough to come at me again and I stumbled back a step as he took advantage of my distraction. I fought back savagely but he’d caught me on the back foot and I stumbled away again, my back colliding with the heavy post which marked the corner of the ring.

  He bellowed in my face as he threw a punch at my jaw, but I jerked away from it before catching his T-shirt in my grip and yanking him towards me as I swung my forehead down on the bridge of his nose.

  The snap that followed was almost drowned out by his screams as he fell to the ground and I started kicking.

  On the other side of the ring, Tatum was straddling her opponent, slamming her fists down into his face repeatedly as he fought to block her attacks.

  Mike started counting as the two assholes remained on floor and after three long seconds, the glorious sound of the bell rang out and the crowd roared at our victory.

  I abandoned the asshole who was groaning beneath me and strode straight towards Tatum, dragging her upright and grinning at her. I hoisted her into my arms and lifted her to sit on my shoulders as we yelled our triumph to the crowd and she raised her arms in victory, not giving one shit about the blood dripping from her lip.

  This girl, this fucking girl! I was all lit up inside and buzzing like I was high on something, but the only thing it could be was her. And I couldn’t get enough.

  Before we’d finished our celebrations, a new sound blared out over the crowd and I fell still as the police sirens echoed through the air.

  Everyone fell silent in a heartbeat and in that pause in between the chaos, a voice called to us through a megaphone.

  “This is the state police! You are all in breach of the lockdown orders set in place by the Governor of Sequoia!”

  “Fuck that,” I muttered, yanking Tatum back off of my shoulders as the crowd started screaming and running for every exit.

  I grabbed her hand and dragged her back towards Mike, snatching our jackets and my phone before taking the fistful of winnings he held out to me. He was gone before I could blink and I dragged Tatum into the crowd as we took another route out of here.

  “Are they gonna catch us?” she gasped.

  “Fuck no,” I laughed, pulling her faster as we ran on.

  People were screaming, crying, police were shouting and making demands, some poor fuckers fell and got trampled but none of it mattered. Only me and Tatum Rivers did.

  We ran to the bar which was abandoned and I picked her up and tossed her over it before following myself. I pulled open the hidden door behind the bar where they stashed the booze. I’d fucked Denise back here more than once and I knew the escape route for when I was done with her.

  Tatum let me lead her through the dark space, knocking the door closed behind us and I led her past crates of beer and whiskey before making it to the small door on the side of the building.

/>   I slowed for a moment, easing it open to check for cops before yanking Tatum out behind me and making a run for it.

  “You there!” an officer barked behind us. “Stop!”

  “Fuck you!” I yelled back and Tatum laughed wildly as we raced away.

  I didn’t know if he’d given chase, couldn’t spare a moment to check.

  We just ran and ran until we reached the parking lot where hundreds of people were diving into cars and trying to make a getaway despite the fact that the police had clearly blocked off the road which led in here.

  We made it to my bike and I tossed Tatum’s jacket into her arms as she leapt on, throwing mine on too before stuffing the cash and my cellphone into my pocket and retrieving my bike key from it.

  “I said stop!” the cop bellowed just as I started my baby up and she roared loud enough to block out the rest of his words.

  I flipped him the finger as he ran at us and Tatum laughed again as we shot away.

  “Hold on tight, baby, this one’s gonna be bumpy,” I growled in her ear as I directed the bike over the field which ran to the left of the track.

  She screamed as we thundered over the dirt and stones, but it wasn’t in fear. That was excitement, real and pure.

  Her hands gripped the handle bars beside mine and my gaze snagged on our matching split knuckles as my dick hardened against her ass.

  “You’re something special, you know that, Tatum?” I growled as we left the chaos of the barn behind and I cut across country towards the road.

  “I know,” she replied cockily and I laughed again.

  My dick was straining against my jeans, aching for a piece of her and the way she pushed her ass back against me told me she knew and might just want a piece of me too.

  “Can you feel how hard I am for you?” I asked her.