Break Me, Baby: A Reverse Harem High School Bully Romance (Silver Creek High Book 1)

by Belladona Cunning

  Yet, with just his nearness, I can feel my body respond to him. Feel my nipples press against the thin material of my camisole, like two diamonds threatening to shred the material and show him everything underneath. I can feel the blooming ache spread through my core. Just the barest amount of his scent reaches my nose, causing a pang of arousal to pulse between my legs. My clit is so hard it aches.

  “You shouldn’t be here,” I say, noting the catch in my voice. He must notice it too because a mischievous smirk pulls at the corner of his lips.

  “I’m the first to arrive,” he says, and dammit, I notice the way he licks his bottom lip and takes it between his teeth, all the while scanning my body with hungry eyes. “The other’s will be here closer to time for dinner. Here,” he states, “let me show you upstairs so you can make yourself more presentable.”

  Is he insinuating what I think he is right now? Does he really think Debra will allow him to go upstairs with me? Alone? He must really have lost what little sense he has in his head if he thinks …

  “I think that is a lovely idea.” My eyes round as they shoot toward her hunched form.

  “That’s not necce—”

  “Oh, let that boy be a gentleman and show you upstairs,” she coos, sounding so unlike herself I have to do a double take. “It’s not too often we see many like him.”

  That’s for sure.

  “I am very capable of doing it by myself, thank you very much,” I deadpan. I’ve been dressing myself since I was five. I don’t need help with any of it.

  Callum steps around the island, pressing a hand against my lower back. “I insist.”

  Of course, he does. I ruined his car, haven’t heeded his warnings, and his friend caught me at a trying to sneak a little action. He will probably get his revenge just as soon as I step through my bedroom door.

  “Unnecessary,” I growl too low for Debra to hear.

  Pressing his face against the side of my hair, I catch Debra’s eyes as she smiles wide at him. If there was a word for the way she’s gazing up at him, I’d say it’s “swooning.”

  God, she’s disgusting. So pathetic. Meeting my eyes, she rolls her before turning to her chore at the sink. The feeling of his hot breath skating across my neck gives me goosebumps, bringing me back to the problem at hand. Callum Lockridge is most definitely in my house right now.

  “If you don’t move up those stairs, then your mother will get a show she would rather not see,” he threatens.

  He can’t possibly mean …

  He wouldn’t …

  “Do not touch me.”

  “I fucking own you,” he growls in return, causing a tremble to flash through my body. I hate that I love that so much. “I could have easily turned you in for what you did to my car, then for you being at that goddamn club.” So, why didn’t he?

  “You asked for …” My eyes land on his, and what I see causes my lips to snap shut. There’s a darkness in his gaze, a malevolent aura that nearly takes my breath away.

  I don’t think he would hurt me. At least, not physically. But if what I’m seeing in his gaze right now is true, he wants to make me pay. I just wish I knew why. Yes, I know about the car. But that’s the only thing I have done toward him. Nothing else comes to mind, and trust me, I’ve spent the better part of two weeks trying to figure it out.

  If I was a stronger person, I’d ask him why. Make him spell it out for me so we can both go on with our lives. I know he doesn’t owe me a damn thing, just like I don’t. Trust me, I got that loud and clear when he left with his parents after that night without so much as a “fuck you” or “goodbye.” But to say he’s innocent in all this is a complete and utter lie.

  He’s the one that started it.

  “Just leave me alone.”

  Turning around, I quickly make my way through the living room and up the stairs. When I hear his loud footfalls behind me, I stop and chance a look over my shoulder. Except, his eyes aren’t on mine, they’re firmly on my ass.

  “Eyes up here, Lockridge.”

  When his gaze rises to mine, he smiles. It’s the type of smile that causes hearts to stop in women’s chests all over the world. A smile he hasn’t shot my way in such a long time.

  But then his next words have me seething mad. “Just wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Turns out, the product is less than sub par.”

  Bastard.

  CHAPTER 14

  Stomping my way up the stairs, I wait until Callum enters the room after me before slamming the door. Turning toward him, I feel a pang in my stomach at the sight of him near all my things. Having him this close without us going at each other’s throats is a weird occurrence. Also, it feels more personal, too intimate, than what it truly is.

  In the past, this is the only thing I ever wanted—for Callum to see me in my element. All I wanted, most in this world, was Callum to develop the need to know me besides the little dates we used to have and school. But now, all I want is for him to leave and never look back.

  Our relationship was good; great even. We used to talk about many things. Our dreams, aspirations—where we saw ourselves in ten years. It didn’t matter what it was; we took the time to talk about it, because nothing was too miniscule in importance.

  Just remembering how easy it used to be between us hurts my heart. His nearness still tugs at me like a piece of string tied to a puppet, but now, we’re enemies. We both want each other to hurt, to bleed, for what we did.

  Only, his anger in all of this is unwarranted, because I did nothing. I was the victim in a ploy I’m still not even sure about.

  What I do know, and remember, is that it had something to do with Callum. It just had to. Otherwise, the stranger’s words I remember make little sense in the grand scheme of things. In the fuzziness of my mind, I can remember him saying they needed to make him see, but see what? It’s all so confusing.

  “You haven’t changed a thing,” he whispers more to himself than me, but it doesn’t stop me from hearing it.

  “How would you know? You’ve never been in here,” I say, scowling.

  He smirks. “Keep telling yourself that.”

  I can’t tell if it’s a good thing or bad having him so close. I’d like to say it’s the latter, but a deep part of me fears I’m leaning more toward the former.

  My eyes trail him as he slowly walks around my room, a flare of nervous tension mounting. No, I decide seconds later. It’s definitely bad. Nothing good will ever come out of Callum being nearby.

  Pointing toward the bed, I push everything out of my mind and walk past him. “You can sit there while I get ready.” I’m about to close the door to my closet when a strong hand stops its motion. Looking over my shoulder, I see him standing there in all his glory.

  “I think the door will stay open,” he says, forcing my mouth to fall agape.

  “Yeah, I don’t think so.”

  “What?” he asks, tilting his head to the side. “You’ll show dozens of guys you don’t even know your body, but you won’t show me—the guy you planned a goddamn future with?”

  If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that’s a streak of jealousy shifting in his eyes. But I know that can’t be right, because you’d have to care before jealousy simmers in any form.

  There’s are also two things wrong with his reasoning. First, it was only the one—okay, two—times I tried to get into someone’s pants I didn’t know. I may be a little free with the goods, but I at least know who it is I’m sleeping with beforehand. Second, things change. The world evolves and we have no choice but to evolve with it. The guy I planned a future with turned out to be an asshole of epic proportions. He believed lies and rumors over the girl he supposedly loved.

  The future we planned when we were dating, became void the moment he turned his back on me. He has to see that. Right?

  He has to see there is, and will never be, a future for us anymore. Only a past filled with pain and deception.

  “That was a long time ago.”
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  “You make two years sound like a goddamn lifetime ago, Jessalyn!” he thunders, his mask slipping for just a second.

  Jerking back, I step away from him as he pushes his way into the closet, slamming the door behind him. “Strip! Now!”

  I shake my head. “No. You lost the right to see any part of me that night.”

  “Strip or I will do it for you.” He leans back against the door, waiting like he’s the king of the world and I’m the lowly servant that will break her neck to do his bidding.

  Money really does go to people’s head if they allow it.

  “I said no.”

  He uses his shoulder to push off the door. It causes me to take a step back with something akin to fear mounting in my belly. My abrupt movement leads me to notice the wetness gathering between my thighs as I shift. It’s then, I remember the ache of his presence when I arrived downstairs. The turbulent emotions it wreaked havoc on my body.

  This could get terrible, fast.

  “You need to get out of here,” I say, like I’m talking to a wounded animal.

  “Oh, I do, do I?” he taunts, taking another step toward me. “You fail to remember that Quinn, Asher, Ellis, and I are the only four you can touch. So, it’s either me or one of them. Take your pick.”

  “None of you.”

  “You’d like me to believe that, wouldn’t you?” He peers down at me with so much heat it nearly paralyzes me. “I can practically smell your cum from here, Jess. You need a hard fucking, and until you do, your body will act like a needy slut.”

  I can’t stand here and listen to this. “Shut. Up.”

  He growls, sliding forward fast. “Make me.”

  “Callum, just please …” I trail off as a wave of desire crashes through me. It’s been weeks since I’ve gotten off by another person’s body. My fingers, while skilled, aren’t cutting it anymore. I, honestly, don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to hold out for. And that pisses me off the most. I put myself into this position by allowing my body to lead my actions. By succumbing to the allure of passion, of pleasure.

  But I can’t succumb to him. I would never get pleasure out of being with someone who hates me and vice versa.

  No, one part of that is false. I don’t hate Callum, which blows my mind. I hate the situation we find ourselves in. A situation that we could have averted if only he hadn’t done what he did to me.

  I know it’s bullshit to put this all on him, but he’s given me no choice. He refused to listen to me in the past, and I have a feeling he would refuse now if I tried to explain things to him. So, what’s the point? We were both in the wrong.

  I didn’t have to take that drink. I didn’t have to run up those stairs. I didn’t have to go to that party period.

  But I did, and that’s how we find ourselves in this predicament now.

  “The guys will be here soon. Take your pick.” His teeth practically grind to dust from the pressure.

  I thought he was lying about that before. There’s no way the guy I dated back in freshman year would willingly share me with three of his friends.

  But, then again, Callum isn’t the same as he was back then. It seems I’m not the only person who’s changed.

  A knock at the door startles me, making me slap a hand over my heart to keep it from pumping out of my chest.

  Callum smirks at that, before calling out, “Who is it?”

  “It’s Ellis.” My mouth dries at the sound of his gruff words. Ellis is the pretty boy of the bunch, looking like he belongs in Hollywood instead of this Podunk town in Georgia. “The parental unit downstairs is shifty. What’s taking so long?”

  Callum leans against a set of shelves, then grasps the handle of the closet door and twists it with a flourish. Pushing open the door, I come face-to-face with pure perfection. Ellis is all sin, with golden hair that hangs shaggy around his ears. His crystal blue eyes aren’t as harsh as Quinn and Callum’s, but there is a level of darkness in there. Only, he’s better at hiding it than the others.

  “She’s in pajamas,” he states the obvious.

  Callum releases a bark of laughter. “Before you interrupted, she was about to strip out of everything.”

  I was not about to do a damn thing. It’s as if he sincerely believes it, too. Because he’s standing there with a selfish little gleam in his eyes. A little dark part of me thinks he believes I’ll pick him over one of his friends.

  No, I’d rather not. I do still have some self-preservation, even if it is tiny.

  After everything we’ve been through, you’d think the first thing Callum did when he got back wouldn’t be pestering an old girlfriend. You’d think he would sew his wild oats with one of the queen bees, which if the display at school has any merit, he’s already done that as well.

  But that’s the thing. You’d think he would have moved on from this already. Because deep down, Callum doesn’t really want this. He just wants something he didn’t get to have before he ran off.

  I just don’t get it. Why is Callum even bothering with me? It’s just me; a girl he dated back in freshman year. A nobody. There was nothing and will be nothing special about me.

  He should have long forgotten about me.

  However, it seems he has a one-track mind of making my life hell.

  He wants to see me hurt.

  Everything happened so fast after that party. He was there one minute, then gone the next. No explanations. No apologies. He simply vanished, while still ordering my demise from afar.

  If he knew—I mean, really knew—what happened that night, I think he’d be singing a different tune. Instead of wanting my hate, he’d be fighting for my love. He would understand that something very near and dear to me was stripped away that night in the bathroom. He would understand the scene he walked in on isn’t one to take at face value, but one to dive through with finesse and a healthy hunger for revenge.

  I need to remember that. I need to get it into my head that this is just Callum showing his true colors, thinking he can rule over everyone that attends Silver Creek High.

  Well, he’s not about to get his wish with me.

  I have a feeling he gave me that ultimatum because he thought I would choose the lesser of four evils. Like he thought he knew me and what I would choose. But like I said, I’m not the same girl.

  I’ve changed, transformed into the spiteful bitch I am today.

  It’s about time he realized that.

  Before I can think better of it, I spout out, “I want Ellis!”

  Ellis’ eyes widen as Callum’s narrow, both of their gazes shooting toward me. Shifting in my spot, I peer over at the both of them. I see Ellis trail his gaze over my body hungrily before it’s gone just as quickly.

  Instead of taking pleasure in my pain and seeing me like his, his cheeks redden, and he shifts his gaze to stare at the wall. His reaction releases the knot in my stomach I didn’t know was there until now. It makes me breathe easier.

  “That’s not …” Callum begins to say before Ellis interrupts.

  “I can stay and watch her.” Something tells me he doesn’t want to do this, though. Call it a sixth sense or whatever you will, but I can tell. Ellis isn’t on team Callum in forcing me to do their bidding. I’d even dare to say that Ellis gets no joy out of this, period.

  Callum is silent for a moment. He ponders over it in his head before turning his seething gaze on me. “You’re lucky, little mouse.” Then slaps Ellis against the shoulder in a hastily manner once he turns away. “Get your fill, man. She owes about ten grand, not counting the shit we got from rescuing her from that old prick.”

  Ten thousand fucking dollars? Holy shit! I thought it might be a pretty penny to fix his custom paint job, but hellfire, I didn’t think it would cost that much. That’s more than what my car cost when my father bought it last year.

  And saving me from the old man? He should just, you know, chuck it up to be a goddamn good Samaritan.

  But, then again, nothing should surpri
se me with him. Anything Callum owns is pricey, including his good deeds.

  Once the door to my room opens and shuts, I train my eyes on Ellis. I expect his earlier reaction to be a ploy for me to pick him, but his next words have me almost breathless with need.

  “I’ll wait on your bed. You can change in here or your bathroom.”

  Tilting my head, I reply just as he’s getting ready to leave, “You don’t want to see me?”

  It’s a stupid question, I know. Still, that doesn’t stop me from asking.

  Ellis intrigues me now more than ever. Which, to be honest, could be a terrible thing.

  “Do you want me to watch?” He glances back over his shoulder, smiling. It’s not the smile, sneer, or smirk Callum tosses my way, and as hard as I try to fight it, I can feel myself melting for Ellis. It’s hard not to melt for any of them, but at least Quinn and Callum’s frigidness helps. I’ve still yet to see Asher and Ellis in all their glory. But I have a feeling when I do, I’ll be in for a rude awakening.

  “You’re different from Quinn and Callum.”

  “Because I don’t want to force a girl to strip for me?” This time, he turns fully toward me. “There’s one thing you should know about me, Jess.” He says my name with such softness, I squirm under his gaze. “When I get a girl to undress and take my cock, it won’t be against her will. She’ll beg for the whole thing while choking on it.”

  I’m about tempted to beg now. Jesus fuck.

  His eyes penetrate me to the bone as he takes me all in. I study him closer, taking in his rugged band t-shirt, ripped jeans, and combat boots. He doesn’t look like he comes from money, but it’s clear from the way he carries himself that he does. He kind of reminds me of … me.

  He’s an enigma. The type that doesn’t flaunt his money around town, even though it seems to be the status quo with so very many of them. He’s more subdued, quiet. He watches everything around him like a hawk, then uses the information for later. He’d be a wallflower if he wasn’t so damn scorching hot.

  I don’t know what spurs my actions, but I can feel a timid smile drifting across my face before I reply, “You and me? I think we will get along just fine.”