by Caitlyn Dare
I look around, wondering who might have something stronger than this vodka, and that move is enough for me to know that I need to leave.
"Have a good night, yeah? I'll catch up with you tomorrow or something." Without saying another word, I take off, and by some fucking miracle he doesn't even try to call after me.
The winding driveway that seemed to take forever to get down when we first arrived is even longer on the way back. But the farther away I get from the party, the more the tension seeps from my body, and I know I'm doing the right thing.
The campus is in silence when I finally get back almost an hour later, my feet aching from the late-night walk and my bottle of vodka long empty.
I start stripping out of my clothes the second I get into my dorm and fall face-first into my bed, drowning in my regrets.
My weekend doesn't get much better. I wake the next morning to the sound of Alex banging on my door, demanding that I get up and go for a run with him.
He's a fucking puppy that just doesn't give up.
Knowing it's the only way to get rid of him, I rip the door open and allow him inside.
"Why the fuck do you look so good? You only got in a few hours ago," I ask, turning my back on him and pulling on a pair of sweats and a clean shirt.
"Good genes?" I don't need to turn around to know he's shrugging. He's forced me to spend enough time with him over the past few months that I know his tells.
"How was the rest of the night?" I ask as I follow him out of dorms and down the stairs.
"Meh, nothing too exciting. I wasn't lucky enough to find a mystery girl in the woods to play with.” He smirks. “You gonna tell me who it was yet?"
"Just some chick from college. Can't even remember her name," I lie. In reality, every time I woke up last night she was right there in front of my mind, her hungry, hazel eyes haunting me.
"You got your dick wet though, right?"
I glance over at him as we take off running through the fields out the back of campus.
"Nice, Alex. Real fucking nice."
"Jesus, Bex. When did you turn into such a prude? I know you haven’t exactly been swimming in pussy since you got here, but fuck."
I scoff. "I haven't been swimming in pussy? At least I've had some fucking offers."
"I've had offers." He spits.
"Sure you have."
"I was chatting to that Annabel who was in my AP English lit class last night."
"She was probably taking pity on you, asshole. If she didn't suck your dick then you don’t have a leg to stand on." I glance over as his lips part to respond but no words come out.
"Fuck off,” he finally grumbles.
"We need to get you laid, man,” I quip. “It might get you off my back then."
"Don't talk shit, you love me really."
"Sure." I roll my eyes to myself and pick up the speed, knowing that he'll be right alongside me.
I might give him shit, but the truth is, I'm jealous of him. He's the nice guy that everyone likes, he doesn't take shit too seriously, and although he might want a girl, he doesn't make a big deal about not having one. He just takes life as it comes. I wish I could be that easygoing. If I were, I might not have landed in this shithole with my tail between my legs and forced to live with a strange man I've never met before, let alone call family.
We run until our legs can't take us any farther, and then we stop for a takeout coffee and walk the distance back. We might only be on our second weekend living in dorms, but already it seems like it could become something of a tradition.
I’m not thrilled about the idea of Alex waking me up for exercise every weekend, but I need it. Now I'm not practicing every day of the week, I need to make the effort to at least keep some kind of routine in my life.
"You coming to tonight's party?" he asks as we push through the main door of our building.
"No."
"Are you going to be this boring for the next four years? If you are, just be honest with me now and I'll find a new best friend."
"When did I agree to be your best friend?"
He shrugs. "I appointed you the position a while ago, didn't you get the memo?"
"You're a fucking idiot," I mutter, letting myself into my room. "I'm done for the weekend. I've got a shit load of homework to do."
He shakes his head at me in disappointment. "I know you're scared, Bex."
My breath catches in my throat at his words. I've never said anything like that to him. "What are you—"
"I might not know the truth about how you ended up here, but I know you're scared, and I know you're trying to outrun it. But hiding in there,” he glances over my shoulder to my room, “and refusing yourself the chance of enjoying it here, isn't going to help."
"You have no idea what you're talking about." I turn my back on him, ready to slam the door in his face and put an end to this conversation.
"Like fuck you don't, Bex,” he snipes. “Whatever it is, you can talk about it, you know. I won't judge. I just want you to enjoy yourself. You won't get a do-over these next four years."
"Whatever, man,” I grumble. “Enjoy the rest of your weekend."
Exactly as I intended to do, I lock myself in my room and only emerge for our Sunday morning run—where Alex thankfully steers clear of our previous conversation—and to get food.
"So what debauchery did you get up to?" I ask him as we walk toward the Romulus Building for our first class of the day.
"Nah, nothing exciting. Troy got caught with his pants around his ankles last night, though. Some chick was giving him mixed signals, apparently."
"The only signals that asshole gets from girls is that they want to drop to their knees for him."
"Yeah, well. This one didn't. Fucking moron." He laughs as we pass other students on our way to class.
I've only been in this building once before, so I have to take note of the room numbers to make sure we stop at the right one—only before I get to the one we want, my eyes land on a girl. One I remember all too well.
"Mia." Her name falls from my lips without instruction from my brain as I take her in. She's wearing a black AC/DC shirt, a pair of ripped skinny black jeans, and, unlike Friday night where she'd been crying, her makeup is dark and sultry, flawless against her pale skin. Her hair is exactly the same, though, her dark blonde curls almost like a curtain around her in her attempt to hide. Only, I soon realize that there will be no hiding for her.
I don't know at what point I leave Alex behind, but in seconds, I'm standing before Mia, ready to apologize once again for what happened on Friday night.
It wasn't until I lay thinking about her Saturday afternoon that I realized how she might have felt with me rejecting her as I did. I need her to know that it wasn't her, that she didn't do anything wrong. It was all me and my fucked-up head and life that forced me to walk away.
The second she looks up, her breath catches as recognition dawns on her face before her eyes widen and her chin drops in shock.
“Mia, I—”
My words are cut off when a pair of tattooed hands wrap around her body, and when I look over her shoulder, I find she’s been pulled back into Cade Kingsley’s body.
His angry eyes lock onto mine, narrowing slighting as our stare continues. “This douchebag giving you grief, babe?” He smirks.
“What the fuck?” I glower as realization slaps me in the face. “You’re with this asshole?”
4
Mia
I widen my eyes at Bexley, silently telling him to back down. Anger swirls in his baby blues, but I see the flash of hurt there.
Crap.
This is not how I wanted him to find out, but after the other night at the party, I’d assumed he didn’t want anything to do with me.
I knew I shouldn’t have done what I did—throwing myself at him like that, begging him to take me—but I wanted to be in control of when and how I lost my virginity. And deep down, I wanted to punish Cade for agreeing to this whole charade.
&nbs
p; He’s an Electi.
The Electi.
He won’t go against their most sacred ceremony. It’s how couplings have been decided since the beginning, back in the 1800s when Gravestone was founded.
Male heirs of Quinctus pair with a prosapia. According to my father, nobody knows exactly how Quinctus arrive at their decision or who places the name in the calix, but the decision is always final.
“Danforth, right?” Cade says with an air of arrogance, as if Bexley is beneath him. I guess in Gravestone’s strange hierarchy, he is.
“Something you want to tell me, babe?” He practically smirks the words, but I feel the slight pinch in the way his fingers dig into my waist. Cade isn’t pleased about Bexley singling me out, and what he says in the next two minutes could determine his entire life here at Gravestone U.
“I… uh,” I stutter over the words. Cade stares at me with his soulless black eyes, and a shiver runs down my spine.
“Relax, man,” Bexley says, breaking Cade’s hold over me. “We’re in the same econ class. I just wanted to ask Mia if she had the notes from last week.”
“You’re in class with this fucker?” Cade asks, and I nod.
“Look, Kingston—”
“Kingsley,” Cade growls.
“That’s what I meant.” Bexley holds up his hands. “No hard feelings, yeah? I just wanted to ask Mia if she had the notes, that’s all.”
“Yeah, well, she doesn’t have any. Do you?”
People have stopped to watch now, the air charged with tension. It isn’t every day someone stands up to Cade Kingsley and lives to tell the tale, but Bexley doesn’t seem in the least bit intimidated by him.
“I—” The words die on my tongue as Bexley steps toe to toe with Cade, his lip curving into a smirk all of its own. “It’ll only take a second, man. I’ll just borrow her and then bring her right back.”
Oh God.
My heart lurches into my throat right as my stomach flutters wildly. I can’t believe he just said that.
Cade’s eyes slide to mine in question. It’s our first day together. I’m his now. His girl… his property… his captive.
“I-I don’t have any notes, sorry.” I force myself to meet Bexley’s furious gaze.
“You don’t, huh?” Bexley says, but I can barely hear him over the roar of blood in my ears. “That’s a shame.”
Another beat passes, thick and heavy with silence. Then a tremor goes through the hall and they appear. Cade’s inner circle: Ashton, Tim, Channing, Brandon, and Brandon’s twin sister, Sasha. They move like a unit, slicing through the morning crowd like a sharp blade.
“What’s this?” Ashton asks the second they reach us.
“Danforth was just being a conscientious student. He needs Mia’s notes.” Cade drawls the word, making it sound dirty.
“Notes, huh?” Ashton slings his arm around Bexley’s shoulder and pulls him close. “I heard Mia takes the best notes, if you know what I mean.”
I swallow the bile rushing up my throat.
“Ash, don’t be a dick,” Sasha scolds, shooting me a reassuring smile. It does nothing to ease the knot in my stomach.
I almost didn’t make it in this morning. I was a bag of nerves, wondering how today would play out. I wasn’t a particularly rebellious child. I worked hard at school and tried to make my parents happy, even if I couldn’t readily accept Gravestone and all its secrets. But ever since hearing my name called at the Eligere, the need to rebel burns through my veins like acid, as if my soul knows it’s wrong.
Cade’s fingers slip under my AC/DC t-shirt—the least feminine thing I could find in my closet this morning—and begins caressing the skin there. My eyes flutter closed as I inhale a sharp breath. Most girls would pay to be in my position, having the King of Gravestone U feeling them up in the hall, but nothing feels right about his touch.
Not a damn thing.
“Get the fuck off me.” Bexley shirks out of Ash’s hold and runs a hand through his thick, dirty blond hair. “We’re not friends,” he says dryly.
“No, we’re not.” Cade stiffens. “Little word of advice, Danforth. You should remember that.”
“I’m not scared of you, Kingsley.” Bexley’s eyes flicker to mine again, but this time, Cade notices.
“Don’t look at her,” he growls. “Don’t you dare fucking look at her.”
“Bex?” Alex Shaw approaches us, concern glittering in his eyes. “What’s going on?”
“You’d better tell your boy to walk away, Shaw, before I make him.”
“Fuck you, asshole.” Bexley looks ready to lunge for Cade, but Alex grabs his arm.
“Come on, man. I’m fucking starving.”
Like me, Alex has lived in Gravestone his entire life. He understands the order of things, the social hierarchy, even if he doesn’t know everything.
Bexley glares at Cade, as if he’s deciding whether to stand and fight or walk away. I want to scream, “Fight for me,” but I don’t.
I can’t.
I belong to Cade now. If I’m going to survive this, I need to play my part and buy myself some time to figure out how I’m going to get out of it in one piece.
“Bex,” Alex hisses, and he finally moves.
“Yeah, let’s go.” His icy gaze lingers on my face a second before he spins on his heel and takes off down the hall.
“Well, that was fun,” Ashton remarks. “Think we need to be worried?”
“About Danforth?” Cade balks. “It’s him who needs to watch his back.”
“Mia, why don’t you come with me?” Sasha says. “I was going to grab a coffee before class.”
I’m about to move, but Cade tightens his hold on me. Our eyes meet, and he smirks. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
“No, I don’t think I am.” The words spill out before I can stop them.
His lips twist with amusement, but I don’t miss the anger simmering in his eyes. Cade Kingsley doesn’t appreciate insubordination.
He leans in, his warm breath caressing my cheek. “Don’t play games with me, Mia. You won’t like what happens when I’m pushed.”
Sliding my trembling hand to his chest, I stuff down the ball of emotion in my throat and muster the best smile I can. “Have a good day, your Highness.” My lips graze the corner of his mouth.
I start to pull away, feeling smug at my little outburst, but Cade snags me around the waist, crushing me against his chest and plunging his tongue into my mouth. Clawing at his t-shirt, I try to push him away, but he has me in a vise-like grip, his fingers digging into my hips enough to leave bruises. Cade doesn’t just kiss me, he devours me. Every lick of his tongue is a dark promise of what will happen if I disobey him again.
I swallow the tears burning my throat.
“Cade, man,” someone says, and I think it might be Channing.
“Just getting some sugar off my girl to get me through the day,” he murmurs against my mouth, tugging my bottom lip between his teeth and biting gently. To anyone watching, we might look like two people unable to keep their hands off each other, but this isn’t that.
Finally, he releases me, and I stagger back, flushed head to toe with anger.
“You—”
“Nah-ah, babe. Play nice.” His eyes narrow in warning.
“Come on, Mia.” A hand lands on my shoulder, and Sasha gently leads me away.
We walk in silence down the hall toward the coffee shop in the building’s entrance. “Are you okay?” she asks me.
“What do you think?”
Her weak smile drops. “I think Cade is an ass.”
Laughter bubbles in my chest. It’s the best thing she could have said to me.
“But I thought you two were—”
“What, friends?” She shrugs. “I mean, we are. I don’t really have any choice in the matter. But it doesn’t mean I approve of everything he does.”
“He’s just so…” I don’t even have words to describe how cocky and arrogant he is. He w
alks the halls of Gravestone U as if he owns the place, and in some ways, I guess he does. I’ve only been here a week, but I’ve known for years the power and sway Cade Kingsley holds over people.
He’s the head of the Electi. The heir of the Kingsley line. With Mr. Kingsley dead and buried, the entire Kingsley legacy rests on Cade’s shoulders…
And now mine.
God, I can’t even stand kissing him, let alone the prospect of being with him.
“Mia?” Sasha says as we move down the line.
“I just can’t believe this is happening. My name wasn’t supposed to be in the calix. It’s a mistake, it has to be.”
“Q doesn’t make mistakes,” she whispers. “You know that.”
“There’s a first time for everything,” I grumble as Sasha orders two lattes and a granola bar for herself.
“Is that okay?”
“Fine, thank you.”
Sasha lets out a small sigh. “I tend to act without thinking. But everyone likes lattes, don’t they?”
“I do.”
“So tell me about yourself, Mia Thompson.”
Is this really happening? Is Sasha Cargill, daughter of Phillip Cargill, really asking about me?
“What do you want to know?”
“Let’s start with why Bexley Danforth was ready to throw down with Cade over you.” Her brow lifts as she collects our order and guides me over to a table.
“I…” I swallow hard, wondering for a second just how much I can trust her. My gut says I can’t, not when she’s in Cade’s inner circle. But she helped me escape that whole situation; that must count for something.
“Relax,” she adds, sensing my hesitation. “I’m not interested in what or who you were doing before the Eligere.” Suggestion drips from her words.
“It’s not like that. Bexley is in one of my classes.” I decide to glaze over the real truth.
“So, back in the hall? That was about homework?” Her brows pinch.
“Bexley… he saw something at the party.”
Realization dawns in her dark green eyes. “Cade and the guys…”
“Yeah, I heard they taught Vincent Males a lesson down by the lake.”
