Conor Thames (Blackwater Boys Book 1)

by R. J. Lewis

  Shaking his head, he ambled back to the bed and collapsed into it. He turned to the little body dead centre of the mattress. Smiling contently, he wormed to her and splayed out her hair on the pillow. She was on her side, fast asleep. He brushed his nose along the back of her head and inhaled her shampoo scent. It was fruity and fresh and feminine as fuck.

  He wrapped his arm around her, testing out the position with hesitation. It felt awkward at first, like he was going to swallow her whole. He was too big, she was too small, but the position clicked somehow. He gently pulled her to him, until the back of her head fit right under his chin. He waited a few moments for her to squirm away, or for him to get tired of it, but…

  He shut his eyes. Okay, he could get used to this. It was like the romance movies. This was cuddling. This was how you kept a girl. You throw the romance gestures her way, tell her how beautiful she was, go on dates, get her some flowers (he would do that this week) and feed her.

  You feed her, and feed her, and feed her, and feed the fuck out of her.

  Fuck, it was like keeping a fucking pet then.

  Only the pet spoke back and could run away and there was nothing he could do to get it back.

  Okay, so it wasn’t like a fucking pet then.

  Well, he wasn’t totally hopeless. He hadn’t lived under a rock. He remembered a teacher saying once how love was like watering a plant. Or wait, it was like tending to the plant and not watching it fucking wilt. Right?

  Or did it need the sun too? It couldn’t be in the dark. It needed water, but not too much. That was like giving a girl too much attention, and that was white knight shit.

  Thames wasn’t a fucking white knight.

  Thames let out a long sigh. He was handicapped about the most obvious things. He wondered how he functioned in normal society until he reminded himself…no, you don’t function in normal fucking society.

  He was too tired for this shit. He would think of wooing her tomorrow.

  “Thames?”

  He opened his eyes, surprised to hear her voice. “Hmm, dove?”

  “You’re holding me tight.”

  “Mm, yeah.”

  “Too tight.”

  Shit. He immediately let go, not realizing how tense his thoughts had made him. When he went to move his arm off, Charlotte brought it back down around her.

  “Like this,” she murmured tiredly.

  “Okay.” Was all he could say.

  She fell back asleep, and he laid there, eyes wide open, absorbing the skin on skin contact.

  Oh, how lonely he had felt in that cell.

  How vacant he was and hadn’t known it.

  He couldn’t go back now that he knew this was what he was missing.

  This…connection.

  This…warmth.

  Yes, Thames could get used to this.

  Chapter Twelve

  Charlotte

  The last time I’d been in Conor’s house, he’d taken me into his office and told me I had the power to bring him to his knees.

  It was early morning and we were in that office now, and I was running my fingers idly down the spines of books as he unlocked his cabinet and rummaged around. The house may have been clean but there was shit still lying everywhere. It needed some desperate attention. I couldn’t help but inventory the things that needed to be done to put it back into good shape.

  “Conor,” I said, glancing at his concentrated expression.

  “Yeah, babe?” he replied unreceptively.

  “This house needs to be sorted.”

  I was about to turn my body in his direction when I saw the lump of cash he pulled out. Immediately, I turned my head away, my peripheral catching him pocketing it. He slammed the drawer shut and put the key back in the doorknob.

  “I should’ve gotten this place cleaned up for you while I was away,” he said, turning to me, annoyed with himself. “If I’d known you were practically homeless, I’d have made a room for you in here, next to those books you keep touching.”

  I smiled. “I’m not a leech, Conor.”

  “Now why do you have to say that?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t expect you to put a roof over my head.”

  “What if I wanted to?”

  A laugh began to bubble up, but it died a quick death at the seriousness in his expression. Now, I was stumped for words. I leaned my back against the bookshelf and crossed my arms, keeping a content smile on my lips. I would pretend I didn’t see the cash. What cash, anyway?

  “What’s the plan?” I asked, changing the subject swiftly. It felt like the wrong time to tell him I was planning on leaving Blackwater. That I’d been accepted to university in the city and in a few short months I would be gone to study a subject I probably would give no shits about. Oh, and the student debt would be a pleasant cherry on top. But it was worth it being out of this fucking town. There’d been no reason to commit to a place when my time here was short.

  Conor wasn’t stupid. He knew when I was dodging a topic and his eyes narrowed curiously. He didn’t press the matter. Thank goodness.

  “You got school, right?” he asked. “That’s important, I take it.”

  “Symbolic now,” I answered on a shrug. “No one really shows up anymore except to plan Prom and attend the final assemblies. Oh, and to sign each other’s yearbooks in dramatic fashion, but we all know they’re not going anywhere.”

  “Savage, dove. You planning for Prom too?”

  I scoffed. “Hardly.”

  “Not much.”

  “Hardly meaning flat out no.”

  His lips curved up. God, he looked good, though tired still. “You’re not going? You’ll regret that.”

  “I would rather eat monkey dicks than go to Prom with those assholes.”

  He chuckled and moved to me. I scanned him quickly. He was in Nike pants and a plain black tank. His shoulders were bare, and he was jacked with muscles I never even knew existed. He stopped in front of me, smirking, knowing I’d shamelessly ogled the fuck out of him.

  I stared up at him, hiding my smile. “What?”

  “I think you would look beautiful in a dress.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I think it would be cute if you got your hair all done up and your nails pink and pretty. You could go to a bomb salon and have your make-up drawn on. You wouldn’t need much. You wouldn’t need anything, really. You’d put those bitchy high school girls to shame with your natural beauty. You’d show off those fucking freckles that make my dick all hard.”

  “I can do all that for you,” I replied on a grin. “I don’t need to go to a high school function. They’ll all get loaded and fuck each other anyway. I was privy to a lot of juicy information before I was the outcast, and I know that’s all they want to do.”

  “You wouldn’t be going for them.”

  I made a face. “Conor, I don’t want to go to Prom.”

  He nodded respectfully. “I get it. I’m just parting with my opinion.”

  “I think it’s sweet you want me to go, but I don’t care for it. I’d rather be in bed with you. We’ll watch Titanic or something.”

  “Why Titanic?”

  “Because Rose and Jack.”

  “Doesn’t she kill him in the end?”

  I squinted my eyes at him. Was he serious? “He couldn’t fit on the floating door, Conor.”

  “She shouldn’t have jumped the lifeboat.”

  My squint strengthened. “You’re ruining Titanic, Conor.”

  Smirking, he randomly grabbed a fistful of my hair and pulled, angling my face up to his. Then he dropped his mouth to mine and kissed me fervently. I sighed peacefully, wrapping my arms around his neck, bringing him closer.

  Pulling back, he rubbed his nose against mine, muttering, “You would make a beautiful Prom date.”

  “Jesus, Conor, enough with that.”

  “You’d be hot with a little cute tiara on and a Prom Queen sash draped over that tight little body.”

  My che
eks burned, and a giggle escaped me. “Queen Reject, you mean.”

  “That’s even hotter.”

  “No one would vote for me.”

  “I would rig the election for you.”

  He kissed me again, lightly this time, with eyes half-parted.

  In all seriousness, I had absolutely zero desire for Prom. I just wanted to get the fuck out of high school and live my life forgetting my final year at St Helens. I didn’t want to roam this fucking town and bump into the jerks that tormented me. I couldn’t stand the mere thought of being in the same place as Billy. All of it was unfathomable.

  “So, we going to school, pup?” he asked against my lips.

  “I’d have to pick up my uniform at Jamie’s.”

  “You have time to wash the one you wore last night.”

  “I need my make-up too.” And my birth control pill. “I can’t go to school looking like an androgynous frog.”

  “I like androgynous frogs.”

  I pulled a straight face and he smiled. “Fine. I’ll take you to your friend’s place.”

  “Thank you.”

  Pulling back, he took me by the hand like he couldn’t bear to keep his hands off me. I saw his mood shift the second his eyes met mine.

  “Did I hurt you last night, Charlotte?” he asked, quietly.

  The question was so out of left field. I blinked at him a few times. “Absolutely not.”

  It was the truth. He lit up my sky like fireworks last night. It was a hard-dominating fuck, but fuck, I needed it.

  He studied me, and seeming satisfied with my response, he nodded shortly. “I was pent-up, dove.”

  “You don’t need to explain yourself,” I quickly said. “I know what Billy did. I saw it, Conor, and I’m sorry he riled you up like that.”

  His face hardened. “He go to your high school?”

  “He’s a year older than me.”

  “Do you know what kind of car he drives?”

  The question made me tilt my head to the side, confusedly. “Why?”

  He shrugged once. “Curious.”

  “It’s like a sedan.”

  “Toyota?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Colour?”

  “Like a deep grey.”

  His face remained hard, unreadable. “Okay.”

  “Why are you asking?”

  “Like I said, babe, curious.”

  My heart beat quickly. “Have you seen it?”

  He stole a kiss from me. “No. I just like to know what to watch out for.”

  I had a quick shower before we left. Conor poked his head in one too many times, looking over me like he was ravenous. We could have fucked, but I needed to be at Jamie’s house when he was still there to collect my stuff.

  Stepping out of the shower, Conor cornered me. He played it off innocently, telling me, “Here’s some after-fuck clothes.”

  But as I went around him in my towel to change, he blocked the bathroom entryway with his arm out. I smiled at him, raising a brow in question. His other hand shot out and separated the towel around me, letting it fall to the floor.

  “We don’t have time, Conor,” I panted as he pressed kisses along my bare shoulder.

  “We don’t have time to fuck,” he corrected. “But, see, I’m addicted to your pussy, Charlotte, and you don’t take long to come.”

  Just as he was a dominating lover, he was equally selfless. He pressed me against the wall and slowly kissed down my body. Then he raised my leg over his shoulder and buried himself, lapping at my sensitive skin until I cried out his name.

  I got dressed after with a dazed smile on my face, and he was cocky as hell.

  After another make-out session in front of the high school that had hundreds of heads turning, Conor smacked my ass and kicked me out of the truck. The school bell had gone off, and I was running in, heading straight to my locker. I was flushed and red from his lips. The pressure of his hands could still be felt everywhere as I zoomed down the hall in record time.

  Laura was standing beside my locker, staring down at her black nails when she heard my flats approaching. Her head shot up, and she squealed at the sight of me.

  “Tell me everything!” she screamed.

  Smiling, I gave her a tight hug. “But we’re late to class.”

  She pulled back and pointed around us. “So is everyone else. No one gives a fuck anymore.”

  I glanced at the students packed in the hallway, a lot of their attention turned to me. I ignored them and faced my locker, unlocking it with a sly smile on my face. Laura gripped my arm tightly.

  “Tell me! Jamie said you ran off with Conor Thames, and I am dying, Charlotte. I need to live vicariously through you, goddammit.”

  “Yes,” I confirmed. “I ran off with Conor Thames.”

  “Holy shit.”

  “I know.”

  “Everyone to their classes!” a random teacher bellowed out, storming down the halls. “Just because it’s the end of the school term, that does not permit you to be lazy. Off to class now, or I’ll be handing out detention.”

  Laura rolled her eyes. “Can we talk at lunch, or is he gonna snatch you up again?”

  I grinned. “Lunch sounds perfect –”

  “That goes for you too, Charlotte Miles.” The teacher stopped in front of us, searing me with her judgmental eyes.

  I shot her a lost look. “I don’t even know who you are.”

  “Get. To. Class.”

  Her hard tone literally carried zero weight. She could give me detention all she wanted. I wouldn’t show up for it. Nobody would this late in the game. I turned to my locker and secretly smiled at Laura. She squealed quietly before running off down the hallway in the direction of her class.

  When I made it to English class, I spotted Reid straightaway. Seated at his desk, his eyes had been pinned to the door. The second we made eye contact, he smirked cruelly at me. I could have run up to him and seethed, but I just smirked back.

  With Conor back, I felt stronger than ever before.

  Reid’s smirk wavered a little. I went straight to my desk and took a seat. For the first time in weeks, Miss Landry wasn’t late today. She was sitting at her desk, watching me. There must have been an imaginary sun the way she was squinting at me. She looked pissed and…insulted? I wondered what internal dialogue she was having. I could read her expression almost.

  Why you? It said.

  Why not me? I returned, brow arched.

  You’re…you. And I’m…me.

  No, I challenged. You’re just nice legs, and I’m everything.

  Okay, so it was an imaginary conversation that probably was far off the mark, but it made me grin just the same. I was on yet another high.

  I smiled like Ralphie from A Christmas Story in front of his teacher. Only this time, no bad grade was going to put me in a sour mood.

  The pointless class flew by. When the bell rang, I practically skipped out of class and in the direction of the stairs.

  “Enjoy it while it lasts, Charlotte.”

  I stopped and turned my head back. Reid was right behind me. He flew to my side, and instead of blazing on by, he kept to my speed, glaring at me.

  “Go away, Reid,” I snapped, taking the stairs.

  “You saw him yesterday,” he ranted, so close his arm was touching mine. “He can’t even contain himself, Charlotte. He’s going to go back to prison before the week’s out.”

  I rolled my eyes and shot him a confused look. “Why are you talking to me all of a sudden? I have nothing to say to you. I know what you were doing yesterday, bringing Billy along to get a rise out of me –”

  “He works for my dad, so what? He came because he wanted to. Not my fucking fault.”

  I paused in the middle of the stairs and turned to him. My giddiness was slowly being replaced by slow burning rage. “You know I hate Billy. You wanted to get to me, admit it!”

  “Even if I did, what’re you gonna do about it?”

  “Obvi
ously nothing. You can bring him around all you want, but Conor will fuck him up if he keeps pulling that face at him.”

  He looked disgusted. “Do you hear yourself? You trying to justify what Thames did because of a fucking look?”

  He was really pissing me off. “No, Reid, it’s not just a look with Billy. It’s a thousand words behind that look. He’s a bad person.”

  “And Thames isn’t?”

  “Conor hasn’t hurt me.”

  Reid let out a cruel laugh. “Yet. He hasn’t hurt you yet. It’s like watching a fucking trainwreck in slow motion.”

  “Fuck off, Reid.”

  I continued down the stairs, and he followed, keeping up with me.

  “I did fuck off, Charlotte,” he growled. “I fucked off the second I found out you threw a year of our relationship in the shitter for a violent sadist you spent one fucking night with.”

  Ugh. We reached the bottom and I spun around to face him. “I tried to apologize to you, Reid. I grovelled countlessly and you just threw it in my face every single time!”

  “You apologized but you never said it was a mistake!” The veins in his neck had protruded. He was red and livid and emotional too.

  “I don’t regret my night with Conor, but I regret that it happened during our relationship.”

  “Did you stop to even think about me?”

  “Yes, and no. I was selfish, and I was riveted. I don’t know why you’re demanding these answers out of me now.”

  “Because I hated you and now I just want to understand.”

  His answer was brutal and honest. Guilt swallowed me whole. I went still, watching his face fall with pain. I swallowed hard.

  “You said you didn’t care,” I pushed out between trembling lips. “You said you hated me over and over again. You called me a whore, and everyone laughed. Everyone.”

  He looked away, the shame visibly clouding his face.

  “I should hate you for what you put me through this last year,” I whispered, brokenly. “But I’m going to forgive you, Reid, because I can’t carry this anger around. It’s poison. I am putting everything behind me, and I am getting out of here.”

  His eyes widened. “You’re done with him?”