Pierce bowed, pulling me with him, and I let him take control while I gathered myself. I felt like the walls were closing in on me. My darkness suffocated me and I felt like clawing at my own skin to get free, but there was no escaping this prison.
“Were these two not absolutely amazing?” I recognized Mr. Vincent’s voice over the speakers. “Please give Araya Noelle and Pierce Montgomery a special round of applause.”
The crowd cheered louder. I listened to Mark Vincent explain to everyone who Pierce and I were and how he was donating over fifty thousand dollars to the prestigious Madison Academy, School for the Blind.
As soon as Mark was done with his introductions, I slipped free from Pierce’s hand.
“Araya?” I heard Pierce call after me, but I didn’t stop moving.
I shifted through the bodies and pushed my way through the crowd. People congratulated me as I passed them, telling me how amazing I did and how brave I was.
When I shoved through the doors that led to my getaway, I gasped for breath. It was far from over, though.
I knew it was coming. When it was coming was a whole different story. I didn’t know where I was going, but I rushed down the hall, feeling against the wall as I went. I kept glancing behind me as if I expected an image to suddenly appear, but only darkness stalked me.
When I got to the sharp edge of a corner, I turned, pressing myself against the wall. I took a deep breath and my eyes closed. I breathed in deeply again and I could smell him, but I didn’t expect it, and I choked on my next breath. His body was warm and hard as it pressed against mine. His finger pressed against my lips before I could utter a sound.
Spinning me in his arms, he pulled me against his front and his arm was around my waist, fitting our hips together. His breath teased the sensitive skin at my ear and a bolt of currents ran down my spine.
He moved so quick I didn’t even realize he’d done it until I felt my hair spilling down my back and over my shoulder. Slowly, his hand moved up my arm and behind my shoulders, pulling all my hair to the side. A whimper trembled free when I felt his lips move across my heated skin.
It’d been so long since I’d felt him against me, touching me, and my body responded without any help from me. I molded against him and he growled into my neck. The edges of his teeth bruised my skin, but I wanted it. I wanted him. He twisted me around again, pushing me into the wall with his body, and his hands and mouth were all over me at once. He pulled and tugged at my dress until the fragile fabric submitted to him, revealing the curve of my breast to his greedy lips. I only half cared that we were in the hallway in plain sight where anyone could see us.
All of a sudden, Pierce’s voice echoed off the smooth walls, calling for me. I froze, pushing at Ryland, but he didn’t budge or wouldn’t. He lifted his head and then he was pulling me to the side and we were drowned in darkness.
“Come here,” I growled, and when she didn’t move, I taunted. “Come on, Hummingbird, I dare you.”
She took a deep breath and a step toward me, and it was over. Colliding into each other, we fell against the wall in the small room. My mouth came down on hers fiercely, and my fingers flexed around her ribs. I lifted her against me, and her shapely legs wrapped around my waist easily. My hands moved over her hips, and my fingers dug into her flesh, bringing her closer and harder against me. I needed her to know exactly how good this was going to be.
I’d waited so damn long to feel her like this again, and I didn’t want to wait a fucking second longer. Dropping one of her legs, I lifted the other higher around my waist.
“Tell me you want me, Araya,” I demanded against her mouth and bit her lip.
My fingers moved over the top of her thigh and the silkiness of her skin until they traced the edge of her panties. She moaned and her mouth lifted toward me.
“I want you, Ryland. I never stopped wanting you.”
“Fuck,” I hissed and pushed my fingers inside her.
She cried out, her fingers dug into my shoulders, and her head fell back. My mouth opened over her neck and I pushed harder. Her hips kept in rhythm with my fingers and her reaction was enough to make me lose it without needing to be inside her.
But I needed to feel her around me more than I needed to breathe, and that was the only thing that kept me from letting her finish.
“Not yet,” I told her, pulling away so I could undo my pants.
My lips found hers in the dark and I pushed my tongue past them and deep into her mouth. Her fingers moved through my hair, pulling and tugging at me. She was so different than the girl I’d met just months ago. She was confident, sure of herself, and it was the sexiest thing in the world.
Lifting her leg again, I pushed myself into her—slowly at first because she was so damn tight and I didn’t want to hurt her. But she started moving her hips against me and I couldn’t focus past the thought of burying myself deep inside her. I held her hips and pushed harder. She bit her lip to keep from screaming and clung to me, trembling.
I stood there holding Araya pressed against the wall, and every breath she took made me move inside her, and I was so tempted to take her again and again and again. But I knew it was only a matter of time before more people came to look for her.
I bit back a groan as I pulled out and let her legs drop to the floor. I didn’t let her go until she was able to stand on her own and then I took a step back before I could do anything stupid.
“Are you okay? Was I too…? Did I hurt you?”
I started to fix my pants and she pushed her dress down in place. She had yet to look up at me. I took a step toward her, but she still didn’t look up.
“Araya, look at me.”
She took a breath and looked up. God, she was beautiful.
“Did I hurt you?”
She shook her head and then whispered, “No, you didn’t hurt me.”
“I couldn’t control myself.” It wasn’t an apology because I wasn’t sorry for what we did.
“I’m not complaining,” she said softly. “How’d you know I’d be here?
“I didn’t know. I’m here because my… I’m here for a work thing.” I didn’t want her knowing I worked with J.D.
“Were you backstage? Was that you?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you say anything? Why didn’t you tell me or talk to me? You just sat there not saying anything.”
Her voice had gotten higher by the end of her sentence, and she was angry… which in turn made me angry.
“What did you want me to say, Araya?” Her name sounded foreign and bitter on my tongue. “It’s not like I could-”
I ran my fingers through my hair, frustrated. This wasn’t going how I wanted it to.
“It’s not like you could do what, Ryland?” she demanded.
I pulled her against me. “This!”
My lips crashed onto hers and I pushed them open with my tongue. My fist wrapped around a handful of her hair and I held her to me. I couldn’t get enough of her. I wanted more. I was always left wanting more.
“And this.” My lips moved down her neck, biting at her skin softly. She let out little growls, her fingers moving through my hair, tugging on me. “Or this.”
I pulled down the strap of her dress. She wasn’t wearing anything underneath and I covered her breast with my hand and dragged my thumb over her nipple. She let out a small cry and her back arched.
“Ryland.” She moaned.
“I’ve missed the way your body sings for me, Hummingbird.”
I bent over, taking her nipple between my lips and sucking it into my mouth. She moaned and pressed into me. I bit gently, pulling and tugging until she was squirming against me. There was nothing I wanted more than to pull her down on top of me and lose myself in her.
“Tell me, Hummingbird,” I rasped against her skin. “Tell me how I was supposed to do this in front of your boyfriend.”
She shoved at me hard. I didn’t expect her reaction and that made it easy for her to
push me away. I fell back, feeling dazed and dizzy. She pulled her dress back up and breathed hard. Her face was red and her hair fell in messy waves down her back, and I realized she was angry, but she looked sexy as hell.
“My boyfriend?” she hissed. “What are you talking about? Who?”
“That guy you were dancing with.”
“Peirce? Peirce isn’t my boyfriend. I dance with him. He’s my partner.”
“He looked like a lot more than that to me.”
Her eyes narrowed at me. “Well, you’re wrong. How could you think he was my boyfriend after everything we…? You think I would’ve just had...?” She waved her hand back and forth between us. “I thought you knew me better than that, Ryland.”
“I haven’t seen you in months! You told me not to wait for you, so what was I supposed to think?”
“You were supposed to know that I love you and I left because I needed to do it for me. How dare you punish me for that!”
She found the door handle before I could stop her and she walked out. I was right behind her, running into her back right outside the door.
“Araya... there you are.” He looked at me critically.
“Peirce... I,,,”
“I’m Ryland.” I held my hand out around one side of Araya.
“I’m sorry. Pierce, this is Ryland. Ryland, Pierce.”
“Nice to meet you, Ryland.” He gripped my hand in a way that said it wasn’t nice to meet me at all. “I didn’t realize you two knew each other.”
“I knew Ryland before MA.”
“Oh... in the back... you didn’t say anything to Araya.”
“I was surprised to see her,” I said dryly. He looked behind me into the closet and then back at me. “Well, it looks like… I’m sorry, what was your name again?”
He smirked. “Pierce.”
“Right. Looks like she’s in good hands. It was nice to see you again, Araya.”
She didn’t say anything as I moved from behind, but I could feel her eyes staring into my back as I walked away from her.
“Fuck!” I roared, pounding my fist against the wall.
Walking away from Araya like that and leaving her with him was like ripping out my own heart. Every beat was painful and I thought my chest was going to cave in.
I couldn’t escape the need to punish her. Punish her for leaving me, for not being miserable at that fucking school, and for that stupid look in that douche bag’s eyes when he looked at her. I had no right, but I couldn’t see past my own anger.
Seeing him dance with her... It’d been so intimate that I wanted to rip off his arms for touching her. I hadn’t been able to stomach the end of their performance. It’d been too much, and since I didn’t find life in prison so appealing, I knew I had to get out of there.
I couldn’t get the look of Araya’s face out of my head when I accused her of leather-douche-bag-face being her boyfriend. I knew in my heart they weren’t together. I knew that even before I accused her of it, but I couldn’t ignore the fact that she hadn’t told him about me.
Despite that, nothing had changed between us. She was still mine. I knew it. And I knew I would regret this in the morning if I didn’t go back to her right now.
“Fuck!”
She was here. What was I doing?
“I told you I’d make your life miserable.”
J.D.’s comment ripped through my thoughts and stalled my exit. I turned around to see him coming toward me, his face twisted darkly.
“What are you talking about?”
“I dangled something in front of you that you can’t have and it’s killing you. Enjoyed your performance, by the way. Your mother and I are so proud.”
My eyes narrowed. “You knew she’d be here…? I don’t understand… Why’d you do it? What makes you think I won’t go after her right now? Leave this place. Leave you.”
“Easy, Ryland. If you were going to do any of that, you wouldn’t be standing here right now. She’s happy and that happiness has nothing to do with you. I know you better than you think, son. You won’t sacrifice her happiness for your need for her. You don’t have it in you.”
“You’re wrong. When it comes to Araya, I’m nothing but selfish.”
“Maybe so. Maybe you’d leave with her tonight... but would she want to go with you? Would she give up dancing, school, her independence to be with you?”
“She wouldn’t have to give any of that up to be with me. I’m not going to keep her prisoner from the things she loves.”
“Then go after her. She’s back in the ballroom with her... What is he to her exactly?”
He was calling my bluff and trying to psyche me out at the same time. I didn’t want him to win. I didn’t want to give in to the doubt he was trying to plant. I hated that he could get into my head and I hated myself for letting him.
The ride back to MA was quiet. I could feel Pierce looking at me. I could practically hear him thinking, wanting to ask me, but waiting for me to explain what happened tonight. I was pretty sure he’d already figured out that my crappy performance was because of Ryland.
I didn’t want to talk yet, and I hadn’t quite figured out how much I was willing to tell him. Everything had become ten times more complicated after tonight, and I didn’t know how to handle it or if I could even fix it.
“Are you warm enough?” Pierce asked.
It wasn’t any one of the hundred questions I knew he wanted to ask, but it was probably better than nothing.
“Yes, thank you.”
I pulled myself tighter into a ball and stared out the window. Not because it was cold, but because it felt like I had a better hold on myself than I actually did. The car was nice and warm inside and it felt like we were driving in a globe of heat. It was as dark outside as it was on the inside, and that always made me feel better and less alone.
“I’m sorry for tonight, Pierce. I-”
“You have nothing to be sorry for, Araya.”
“I ruined your-”
“Don’t, Araya. You didn’t ruin a damn thing for me. Do you hear me?”
I felt better knowing he wasn’t upset about the performance. I smiled and nodded without looking at him.
“You did amazing, all things considered…”
I wondered what all things considered consisted of, but I didn’t ask. We were on the path of a somewhat safe subject and I wanted to leave it like that.
“Thank you. You were amazing yourself.”
“We make a great team.”
He had shifted in his seat to watch me and my reaction, but I remained dormant. My only reply was another small smile. He didn’t push me or the subject, and the rest of the car ride remained silent. I laid my head back against the seat and closed my eyes. It wasn’t meant to keep Pierce from talking to me, just my way to let everything sink in.
I could tell when we reached the main gates of MA, as Pierce slowed the car. I didn’t open my eyes yet. We drove through the foregrounds of the school until we reached student parking. Everyone who paid for one was assigned a parking spot near the dorms. Pierce found his spot and pulled in, turning off the car.
His seat rustled as he sat back, turning off the engine. He didn’t move or say anything, so I pretended to still be asleep. I still wasn’t ready to talk and I felt faking sleep was the best way to get out of that. Seconds of silence went by before I felt him move the hair from the side of my face. I held my breath, too nervous to move.
“Araya?” he finally whispered. “We’re home.”
I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. It was the darkest of dark around me. I turned toward Pierce and smiled.
“I must have fallen asleep,” I said, hoping I sounded convincing.
“Yeah, must have,” he said in a way that betrayed the fact that he knew I hadn’t really fallen asleep at all. Thank goodness it was dark enough that he couldn’t see me blush.
“Thank you for driving us.” What else was there to say?
He laughed. “Well, it
was either that or go in that gross-ass van with Mr. Cray. He can clear the room like no one’s business.”
I laughed. He was trying to lighten the mood and it was working. “I have no idea how to respond to that.”
“It’s probably best. Hold on and I’ll come around to get you.”
He was out the door before I could respond. Seconds later, my door opened and I trembled slightly as the cold air swirled around me. His fingers closed around my hand and he helped me from the car. His hand tugged on the bottom of my jacket and I realized he was trying to zip it up.
“There. Now you won’t freeze on the way to your room,” he said teasingly when he zipped it.
He took my hand again and we walked side by side toward my room. We made small talk about the night. It remained strictly about what happened before and during the performance. We walked fast because it was cold and reached my building within minutes.
We climbed the steps to the entrance and I grabbed my keys from my pocket. The front doors were always locked and the only way in or out was with a key.
“Thank you for walking me to my door.” I reached the top step and stopped, turning toward him. The light above the doors shined down on us. It was bright enough that I could make out his blurred shadow.
“You thank me a lot.”
I laughed. “You do a lot for me.”
“I like you, Araya.” He took the step below mine and we were face to face. “That guy tonight, you know him?”
I wanted to be honest with Pierce and that made it easier to answer his questions. “Yes,” I said, looking down.
He lifted my chin. “There’s no reason to feel bad, Araya. Is he the reason you’re not ready to date yet?”
“Yes. Things are... complicated, but they’re not over between us... not completely.”
He nodded. “As much as I want to, I saw the way you looked at him tonight, and I don’t think I could compete with that.”
“I like you, Pierce. You’re the second sweetest guy I know, and maybe if Ryland had never been a part of my life, you and I... But he is, and after tonight, I know he will forever hold my heart. I’m so sorry, Pierce.”
The Grace In Darkness Page 9
