by J Bree
I clear my throat. “Your dad’s pissed because the two of you are ruthless dictators, but also manage to have morals? Jesus fucking wept. I don’t want to meet the guy. Knowing and dealing with Liam O’Cronin is enough, thanks.”
Ash snorts again and says, “Please tell me you’re going to record yourself slitting that cretin’s throat so we can all enjoy it.”
“It’s on my list.”
Harley’s hand squeezes my thigh, not missing a beat in the conversation he’s walked into. “Can we pretend for one second that you’re not the most secretive person on the fucking planet and can you tell us what’s on the list?”
I blow out a breath and share a look with Avery. “We should wait until Blaise is up so I don’t have to repeat myself.”
Avery gives me a sly look and I brace myself for the shit I know she’s about to grab a spoon and start stirring. “Ash, go shake the asshole awake. Ask him what he’d like for his last meal on Earth because I’m going to gut him for kicking me out of my own room just so he could get his dick out. Mounty, I hope he was gentle with you.”
Kill me.
Just fucking kill me now.
I tip my head back and stare at the ceiling for a second, blushing furiously and avoiding any of the eyes that are now glued on me. Blaise decides that this is the moment he will return to the land of the living, sitting up sharply, and I’m sure the look he gives Avery will earn him a knife to the kidneys from Ash or Harley.
“Leave her the fuck alone.”
The look Avery gives him is so fucking cold the temperature in the room changes. “She’s my best friend. I can ask her if I need to kill you if I want to.”
Blaise heaves himself out of bed, looking rumpled and fucking delicious, before stalking over to us. He kisses my head sweetly, cradling my cheek, and snaps back at her, “Don’t be a bitch about it. Ask her that shit when we’re not around, don’t make her feel like shit by putting her on blast. This isn’t a fucking game.”
I don’t know if it’s just the ice Avery is throwing, but the whole room freezes. I’m too damn worried to look at Ash or Harley right now so my focus stays glued on Avery. Her eyes narrow at Blaise but he doesn’t back down, and I start to sweat at the thought of the brawl that’s about to happen. This is exactly what I was afraid would happen, dammit! I open my mouth, ready to try and diffuse the fight, when a slow smile stretches across her face.
“I’m glad you’re taking your relationship seriously. Morrison is still second. You two need to step up,” she decrees, shooting me a smug look.
Blaise scoffs at her, kisses my head again, and then stomps his way to the bathroom.
Ash gives Avery a hard look. “How? I look in her direction and you have a fucking episode at me.”
Avery stands to clear plates away. “I’m not explaining myself to you, Ash. I’m doing whatever I have to do to keep our family safe and happy, even if that means gutting one of you for Lips.”
Harley moves to sling his arm over my shoulders and I take my first deep breath since I woke up. His eyes are possessive on me while he says to Avery in a tone haughty, “So we’re all being tested by you to make sure our intentions are pure? I’m not fucking worried. I’m sleeping here tonight. I’m fucking sick of spending all of my time with that skank of a teacher.”
Chapter Eight
I’m sitting in math class, keeping a careful eye on Blaise’s blushing desk buddy from across the room, when my phone vibrates silently against my leg. Harley feels it and glances around then frowns at me when it’s clear the text has come from outside our little family.
I shrug and wait for the teacher to turn his back before checking the text.
I’m coming to your stuck-up school, little Wolf. Big news, the kind that needs to be delivered personally. The O’Cronin kid can get you into the pool, right? Meet me there at 11pm.
I groan. Just what I need. Harley quirks an eyebrow at me and I flash him the screen to show him Illi’s text. His frown deepens and he nods his head a fraction.
I try to get my focus back on the sums in front of me, but the swirling pit of my stomach makes it impossible, so instead I glare at the back of the blushing girl’s head.
Harley bumps me gently to get my attention, and asks me what the hell my problem is using just his eyebrows. Yep, I’m fluent now. I know exactly what the golden god who’s taken over my bed is saying. Only my bed, he won’t take over my body with Avery’s watchful eyes around and with all of the extra classes he’s barely making it to our room before midnight on the nights he comes to me. I’m sort of hoping Ms. Vivienne will hurry up and make a move on him so the whole thing can be done with, even if it does make me twitchy to think of her touching him.
I’m not sure I can get my eyebrows to say what I need them to in return so I shrug instead.
After class Avery laughs at me as I eyeball the fuck out of the blushing girl. I tuck my arm into hers and stomp to the dining hall for lunch, ignoring the guys as they gloat at each other over last night’s fight club.
I already know Ash won.
If the bruised and split skin on his knuckles didn’t give it away then the looks of respect and sheer terror he gets from the other students would have clued me in. I hear Blaise joking about sending Harley the video of a particularly brutal fight with one of Joey’s ex-flunkies and I make a note to get a copy myself.
For research purposes.
Ahem.
Avery grimaces at her phone before murmuring, “I don’t know why you’re glaring at that poor little sheep. It’s not like he even noticed her, and she was too shy to even speak to him.”
I roll my eyes at her. “Exactly. So if he needs help with his workbook she’s not going to be able to do shit if she can’t even speak to him. She didn’t take a single note the entire class.”
Avery chuckles. “Neither did you.”
“Difference is, the Mounty has already finished the entire Algebra unit and is now working on the Geometry workbook that the class won’t move to for another eight weeks. She’s so far ahead even Harley’s extra special tutoring can’t get close to her,” Ash interrupts, and Avery cuts me a look.
“Are you sleeping at night? How much coffee are you drinking? Do I need to give up ballet and start stalking you to make sure you’re taking care of yourself?” she hisses and I laugh at her.
We push into the dining hall and I try to ignore the looks I get. At least I don’t have to listen to the whispers while I’m surrounded by the others. The students here seem to think they’re the dangerous ones.
Fucking rich idiots.
I grab a tray for myself and Avery, ignoring three sets of glares at my independent move. I make it two steps before Ash wrestles it from me. Chivalrous dickhead. “I’m sleeping just fine. Things are calmer this year, at school at least. I’m not worried about Joey choking you or Harlow fucking poisoning you. I’m not stressing about hot assholes sitting on my couch glaring at me all day.” Avery gags at me dramatically and I smirk back. “I’m just getting ahead before everything turns to shit like it always does.”
Famous last words.
Harley arrives at our door at ten.
He lets himself in and I frown, confused about his early appearance. Avery stomps out of the bathroom, wrapped in a fluffy towel, and snarks at him, “The keys are for an emergency! If you don’t stop letting yourself in I’m going to start walking around naked!”
Harley snorts at her. “You’ll only be risking Morrison’s life. I don’t wanna see my cousin’s tits, but it’s not going to scar me for life. Morrison’s the one who’ll get stabbed for looking at you.”
Avery loosens the hold on her towel so it slips a little to call his bluff.
I groan and slap a hand over my face as the two of them glare each other down like some sort of fucked up game of chicken.
I clear my throat to try to interrupt them. “Can we just go, Harley? Please? Or do you want me to put a movie on while we wait?”
He reluctan
tly looks away and Avery crows in victory. “Grab a bathing suit, we can go for a swim before the Butcher gets here.”
I blanch. “I’m shit at swimming.”
“Well, I’m not. I’ll keep you afloat.”
I’m not proud to admit it, but the deciding factor is the very thought of being pressed up against his wet, naked chest.
Yes fucking please.
One small problem.
“I don’t have a bathing suit.”
Harley quirks an eyebrow at me. “You’re from the Bay, how do you not have a suit?”
Avery tugs me into her closet and pulls her bathrobe on, rummaging through her drawers until she finds a tiny scrap of fabric and passes it to me.
There is no way it will cover even my small tits.
I cut her a look and she smirks at me. “That asshole should be kissing my feet for giving you that. Try it on.”
It’s obscene. It’s truly fucking obscene.
My entire body flushes as Avery looks me over, clinically approving like I’m her own personal model, and somehow it’s so much worse than being naked. It’s technically a bandage-style one-piece, but I’ve seen micro bikinis have more coverage over the important parts. I have underboob cleavage in this thing, for fucks sake! I turn around in the mirror and, oh look, there’s eighty-five percent of my butt-cheeks.
“Let me find you something to cover up with for the walk down there,” Avery mutters, as she moves to a different drawer.
Harley lets out an exasperated sigh and calls out, “We’re not going to get the chance to swim if you turn this into a fashion parade, Floss. Just grab a sweater to wear once our… friend gets here.”
Avery ignores him and winds a silky, shimmery wrap dress around me, tying and buttoning and tucking me in until I’m positive Harley is going to have to bundle me back into it when we’re finished. When she nudges me out of the closet she snarks at him, “If you run into anyone on the way down and she wasn’t covered up, you’d stab them. You’re welcome, cousin dearest.”
Harley rolls his eyes at her, then kisses her cheek sweetly and tucks me under his arm to walk down to the pool. I wait until we’re in the hall before I burrow into the solid warmth of his chest. The rumbling noise of contentment he makes is loud against my ear.
He uses his own set of keys to get us into the building and he disarms the alarm with practiced ease. When he catches my questioning look he shrugs. “Coach knows I come here when I can’t sleep. He gets an alert saying someone has disabled the alarm and when he sees it’s my code he ignores it.”
Huh.
I didn’t know that this was soothing for him. They all have little rituals, every one of them. Avery cleans obsessively and puts things in meticulous order, Ash runs until he can’t breathe, and Blaise messes around with lyrics and drawings in his notebook. They have all learned how to cope with the dark reality of our world.
I take to my bed and cease existing two days a year.
I’m busy musing over our broken little family when Harley does that move of his and pulls his shirt off one-handed. He grins at me, the absolute asshole because he knows he has my attention now, and he pushes his jeans down his legs until he’s left in a pair of swim shorts.
Sweet merciful lord.
I would like to climb that boy like a freaking tree.
It occurs to me that I can now. Jesus fucking wept.
His grin stays in place while he waits for my soul to return to my body and it only falters when I start to fumble with the dress, gritting my teeth at the stupid thing until finally the fabric floats to the ground and I’m left in the sparse black suit.
“Holy fuck,” Harley croaks, and I barely manage to blink before he’s hauling me up into his arms and my legs wrap around him instinctively, like they were made to be. Maybe they were; I’m not questioning it. I couldn’t right now if I tried.
He holds me up with one arm under my ass, holy fucking hotness, and uses the other to gently grip the back of my neck, pulling my lips into his. Just before they touch he whispers, “We are not having sex for the first time in a pool, but fuck me, it’s tempting. That suit is the work of the devil, and she’s trying to fucking kill me. I need some frigid water to calm my dick down.”
I huff out a laugh, but before I can tease him he tugs me into his kiss. I wriggle in his arms a little, just enough that I slide down his body a fraction and feel that, yep, he really does like what he sees. I wriggle a little more, moaning into the kiss and grinding against him, so distracted by his groans that I barely take note that we’re moving. It’s only when he steps down into the water, slowly descending the concrete steps, that I break away and prepare to be submerged.
“Don’t look so scared, babe. I won’t drop you,” he teases, nipping at my neck.
I don’t want to tell him that I’d once been held underwater until my vision blacked out, and doing this with him is using a level of trust I didn’t know I was capable of. Not just going for a swim with him, but being this close to him in the water. I clear my throat, and try to chase the ghosts away.
The water is colder than I expect a pool custom built for spoiled brats to be and a little gasp rips out of my mouth before I can bite it back when the water hits my shoulders. Harley smirks at me and pulls me flush against his chest again, grunting when my hard nipples rub against his chest. He walks us deeper and deeper, until he’s swimming to keep us both afloat. I try to think weightless thoughts as the tension eases out of his face the further we drift out.
He looks so fucking relaxed.
I don’t want Illi to come and ruin this moment.
“I’ve missed you. I hate being back at school,” I say, trying to swallow the lump in my throat at my admission. I try to duck my head away, but Harley cups my cheek and forces me to look at him.
“I miss you too. I fucking hate that dumb slu—fuck—skank for picking me. I was supposed to finally spend the year with you and instead I’m dodging hands.”
I pull back from him and fix a stern gaze on him, ready to climb out of the pool and hunt the bitch down, but he shrugs it off. “She keeps stroking my arm and my shoulder. It’s not enough to get her under Floss’s thumb, but it pisses me the fuck off. Fuck, I don’t want to talk about her. Grind on my dick some more, that’ll distract me.”
He gives me this wolfish grin and I cackle at him, so blissfully smug that he wants me just as much as I’m dying for him. I wriggle against his chest again and lean forward to swallow his groan. I’m still not confident in much more than kissing, but his reactions to everything I’m doing spurs me on, like maybe my enthusiasm is enough to get me through this without looking like an inexperienced fool.
Harley swims us over to one side of the pool and perches my ass on a little ledge so he can settle between my legs without me dragging him under the water. He moves to kiss my neck, sucking on the skin below my ear, and I try to grind my hips into his but he holds me still with one hand and a firm grip. Fuck it, I need more.
“No sex or nothing but kissing?” I whisper and he jolts away from my neck. My cheeks are on fire, but the stunned look on his face makes it worth pushing past my nerves.
He stares at me for a second and then says, his voice nothing more than a rasp, “Fuck.”
Right.
I was kind of expecting more than that, but before I can die of pure mortification, he’s kissing me again and grinding his dick into me like he’s on a mission. I’m one hundred percent on-fucking-board, and I suck on his tongue until he’s panting and groaning, pulling my hips closer until I’m a shaking mess. His fingers dance along the seam of the swimsuit and I nod, trying not to break away from his lips, but good lord, if he doesn’t touch me right now I’m going to die.
The bathing suit is so skimpy he can hook it with one finger and tug it aside, he’s groaning again as his fingers slide reverently through my slick pussy lips, stroking me like he’s savoring the feeling. My breath catches in my throat and the smoldering look he gives me only makes
it harder to breathe.
“We can stop,” he whispers, stroking the hair away from face with the hand he isn’t cupping my pussy with.
I think about inflicting violence on him out of sheer frustration and grit out from my clenched teeth, “If you do, I’m going to stab you.”
He smirks at me then grinds the heel of his palm into my clit, pushing a finger into me, and his hips jerk forward when I clench around the digit. He pumps his finger into me, curving it to rake over my G spot, and my head drops back as I moan. He adds another and moves to rub my clit with his other hand, tight, maddening circles until my hips are jerking and twisting wildly. The water seems to heat up around us, like the heat we’re throwing off our bodies is changing the temperature of the pool. I can’t think straight, and my whole existence is centered around what he’s doing to me, and I think I’m going to die if I don’t come soon.
“Fuck, you’re going to make me come in my shorts like this is the first pussy I’ve ever touched.” His voice is nothing but need and fire, and I shiver, catching his lips with mine to suck on his bottom lip again. I’m so fucking addicted to the taste of him.
It shouldn’t be a compliment, but I’m fucking preening at his words, even through the haze of my own impending climax. The only problem is, I don’t want him to come in his shorts; I want to make him feel as good as his fingers being buried in my pussy make me feel. It can’t be that hard, right?
I gulp.
Then I remind myself that I’m not afraid of anything, let alone a dick. Even if it is way bigger than I thought I’d be handling and attached to one of the hottest guys to ever walk the Earth. Deep breath. I slip my hand down his incredible abs and into the waistband of his shorts. He groans like a dying man as I wrap my fingers around his dick and, sweet merciful lord, I will take that sound to the grave. He wasn’t lying, he’s throbbing and searingly hot in my hand like he’s a few firm pumps away from coming. I’m going to give it a shot.
