by B. B. Hamel
We slept a few hours, before waking around sunrise only to start it all over.
He was insatiable.
Technically, I didn’t owe him anything the next morning. The night before fulfilled our contract.
He didn’t seem to care, and I didn’t argue.
He put me on all fours, licked my pussy, then fucked me with my hands behind my back until I came writhing and moaning. He made me coffee then licked my pussy while I sucked his cock before riding him until we both came in shivering ecstasy.
I took a shower. He watched the whole time, stroking himself slowly, and told me how to clean myself, where to touch and how hard, until I couldn’t take it anymore and collapsed onto the shower floor with my hand between my legs, coming wildly. He picked me up, dried me off, then carried me to bed—only to get his fill of my body.
We left the trailer around ten. He’d barely have enough time to make his game, but he didn’t seem to care.
I stared out the window, exhausted and so spent I didn’t think I’d ever recover. It was like the world was all new, and suddenly I saw possibilities I never pictured. We spent two nights together and I learned more about my body in that time than I had over all the preceding years combined.
He was quiet, brooding. A little moody. I couldn’t blame him. I felt like we were leaving something important behind.
I wished I could stay in that trailer forever.
He slowed as he approached my house and cursed.
“What’s wrong?” I sat up, suddenly alert. I shook away the memory of him fucking me while I sucked on his fingers.
“Do you recognize that car out front?”
I followed his gaze. “Detective Bates.”
He sighed, but he kept going and parked out front. I stared at him then at the house. “Shouldn’t we leave?”
“It would only look worse.”
“What do we do?”
“Go talk to the good detective.”
“But it’s Saturday. What’s she doing here on a Saturday?”
“Let’s go find out.”
I looked at him, aware of my panic but unable to do anything to stop it. “What if she knows what we did?”
“Which part? Murdering Dr. Silver or fucking all night and again this morning?”
“Both.” I groaned and pulled at my hair.
“She can know about the fucking. Might even be good for our alibi.” He looked thoughtful. “Come on. The longer we sit here, the worse it’ll look.”
He got out of the truck.
I wanted to scream after him. If we didn’t go inside, maybe this would all go away—but life didn’t work like that.
I had to face my problems.
The messed-up part was, before we killed Dr. Silver, I wouldn’t have cared if Bates threw me in prison forever. All I wanted was revenge, and anything after was a blank nothingness. I had one goal, and one goal only, and once that was complete, I could face the consequences with my head held high.
Until Jarrod gave me a reason to crave my freedom.
I hurried after him. He strode to my front door and went right in. Detective Bates sat at the table with my parents, my mother looking puffy and exhausted, my father looked annoyed and closed-off. Bates had a neutral, if slightly frustrated look on her face as she turned to frown at me and Jarrod.
He spoke first. “Detective. What a delight.”
“What are you doing here, Mr. Hale?”
“Dropping Cora off after a study session.”
“Early on a Saturday?” Detective Bates pursed her lips. “I thought you had a game.”
Dad stared at me with something like anger, and Mom only seemed resigned and tired.
“He does, but we hung out,” I said lamely.
Detective Bates nodded slowly. “I was just talking to your parents here, but I think we’re finished.”
“Like I said, Detective. Cora’s been tutoring Jarrod, and we don’t know anything else,” Dad said.
I felt my stomach twist.
He was lying for me.
“All right, Mr. Boyle. I appreciate your cooperation. Do you mind if I speak with Jarrod and your daughter alone?”
“By all means.”
Detective Bates stood and gestured with her head for us to follow. She strode past and out the front door.
I looked back at Dad and wanted to say something, but he only stared down at the table. He didn’t need to cover for me, but he did anyway—and I didn’t understand why.
If he thought I needed an alibi, that meant he thought I was a killer.
Jarrod went after Detective Bates and I hurried along in his wake.
The detective stood on the driveway with her arms crossed, glaring like a pit viper. “Your parents aren’t very helpful.”
“They’re in shock about Dr. Silver.”
She snorted and looked away. “Funny how that happened. You know the files that got leaked were locked in my desk? Someone broke inside and grabbed them.”
“Seems like you should keep a better eye on important documents like that,” Jarrod said.
Her jaw worked and she glared hellfire at him. “I don’t know how the fuck you did it, but I know you had a hand in this.”
“Why would I leak documents about Dr. Silver to the press, and how would I have access?” He frowned at her, shaking his head. “Are you okay, Detective?”
Detective Bates looked at me. “You don’t have to cover for him. Dr. Silver was a sick piece of trash and I’m glad the man’s dead, but we can’t let people get away with murder. You know that, don’t you?”
“I’m not covering,” I said.
“You’re both lying about something.” She took a deep breath and let it out. “Your alibi’s too convenient. You’re the only people that know anything about it, and nobody can corroborate. Your parents say you’ve been tutoring Jarrod, although I suspect your father’s lying, but they don’t know what you were doing that particular night.” She took a step closer, staring straight at me, and I wondered if she had any clue how deep I was—how far I’d tumbled into Jarrod—and how unlikely it was that I’d ever crawl back out. “If you know something, you can tell me. I won’t blame you, Cora. You’re a victim. But he’s not.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Detective,” Jarrod said with a sharp tone, “and I don’t like the way you’re bullying Cora.”
“She can speak for herself,” Detective Bates snapped at him then looked back at me. “This boy might’ve done something unspeakable. He might’ve done it to a very bad man, but you know two wrongs don’t make a right. Help me, Cora, and I can help protect you. Don’t go down with this boy.”
“That’s enough, Detective,” Jarrod said. “Are you arresting us?”
She stared at me, imploring and implacable, and I looked back, wondering if she really meant what she said. If I told her what we did, would she protect me? Did she really understand?
Of course it was all bullshit. Detective Bates wouldn’t make my life any easier just because she felt pity. She had a job to do and that meant finding the killer, no matter the cost. She’d happily spin pretty lies if it meant getting me to open up and give her what he wanted.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “I’m sorry, Detective, but I don’t know anything about why Dr. Silver died. I’m not sorry about that, though.”
She let out a breath. “I didn’t want it to come to this.”
“Come to what?” Jarrod asked.
“I’m going to investigate you. Both of you. Now all your dirty shit’s going to get aired out, and I’ll find out everything. I hoped we could do this easy and quietly, but I guess that’s not happening.” She shook her head and walked toward her car. “Good luck, you two. I really do hope you’re not lying to me.”
“I hope you catch whoever did it,” Jarrod said, “but you’re looking at the wrong people.”
Detective Bates only smiled sadly then got behind the wheel and drove away.
I watched her
go, heart thumping a steady slow beat.
I should’ve been a mess. Detective Bates all but admitted she’d drag us over the coals for Dr. Silver, which meant she’d find all the holes in our story and then some. We’d burn, there was no doubt in my mind.
I moved closer to Jarrod. He put an arm over my shoulders.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Thanks for trying to defend me.”
“She’s desperate.” He squinted after her. “But she’s not wrong. We’ve had it easy so far.”
“What are we going to do?”
“I’ll figure it out. For now, do nothing.”
“That’s all you ever tell me to do.” I pulled away and started pacing. “I can’t keep sitting around, hoping you’ll fix things. That’s what got us into this mess to begin with.”
“Cora, you have to trust me.”
“I do trust you. I wouldn’t have given myself to you if I didn’t.” I stopped, feeling like an idiot. Tears sprang into my eyes—not the tears of a girl overwhelmed with pleasure, but the tears of a stupid, angry, frustrated girl, ready to give up and sick of carrying her sins.
He came to me and took my hand. “I know this hurts. I promise, it won’t last forever. I won’t let it.”
“How can you know?”
“Trust me one more time. Can you do that? I have a plan. I’ve had a plan from the start.”
I stared into his eyes. It was crazy to imagine that he’d thought of this situation—but I wanted to believe him, and so I did.
“Okay. I’ll let you do what you need to do.”
“Thank you.” He kissed me softly. “I have to go. Head inside and pretend like nothing’s different.”
“Nothing and everything’s different.”
“Exactly.” He smiled, kissed my cheek. “Now go. I’ll see you soon.”
So I went. My parents ignored me when I headed into my room and curled up in my bed. I wanted to go watch Jarrod play football, but I didn’t have tickets, and I felt sleep dragging at every inch of me.
Detective Bates was getting closer. She’d find us eventually, and then what? Jarrod claimed he has a plan—but how could he possibly beat the police?
I closed my eyes and tried to push it from my mind, but only returned to that trailer again and again and the night I spent with him, the night I owed him, and all the nights I wanted to give him willingly and for nothing.
27
Jarrod
The campus was buzzing with rumors.
Detective Bates wasn’t joking. She stormed Blackwoods like a banshee, cornering everyone I’d ever spoken to and grilling them about my life, my association with Cora, and all my personal bad habits.
I handled the attention. I was used to this sort of shit from being a Horseman. You didn’t get to the top of the social hierarchy at a place like Blackwoods without enduring a lot of gossip and lies.
But Cora had never been the center of attention, and I could tell it wore on her. People whispered, said terrible things—that she was fucking me for attention, that she was whoring herself out to the whole football team, that she killed Dr. Silver in some sick and twisted sex act (which nobody believed because it was the most outlandish but it was weirdly the closest to the truth). I saw the way she suffered, how she hurried from class to class with her head down, with Robyn by her side warding off the evil stares of everyone they passed, and I could do nothing.
If I got involved, it would only make things worse.
“I know you want to help her, but you can’t,” Calvin said a few days after everything started in earnest. It was a chilly Thursday, a brisk fall afternoon. “If you start changing your patterns, it’ll look suspicious.”
“I know that.” I watched Cora from across the quad as she scurried to the library, staring at the ground. “But these vultures—” A group of girls walked nearby, giggling and staring at me. I gestured at them dismissively. “They’ll feast on Cora’s bleeding carcass.”
“And you still can’t help her. Not right now anyway.”
I paced back and forth like a caged lion. I wasn’t lying to Cora when I said I had a plan, but it was slow to unfold. My head spun with different scenarios, each one worse than the last.
I had to rush things. There was no other choice.
“Is there a way to send the cops an anonymous tip?”
“I’m sure there’s a number you can call.” Calvin eyed me warily. “What are you going to do?”
“Find it for me if you can, and if you can’t, I need your connections again.”
“You know you’re pushing my good will.”
“I’m aware of that.” I glared at him. “I’ll give you whatever you want.”
“You know what I want.”
Robyn. My cousin. I looked away.
“I need them to search my uncle’s office. Not the one at home, but the one at work.”
Calvin ran a hand through his hair and frowned at me. “What will they find if they do that?”
“Can you just make it happen?”
“I’ll try.”
I felt bad pushing him into helping, but I needed his connections. We hadn’t all been born absurdly wealthy.
“Des and Addler are getting suspicious,” I said, not looking at Calvin. “Des asked me if I needed anything. And Addler said he knew a good lawyer that’d take my case if I wanted.”
“They mean well. Don’t tell them anything.”
“I won’t. Goddamn detective. She’s not going to learn anything interviewing all these people.”
“She’s doing it to flush you out.”
“I know.” I groaned and stretched my back. “She’s going to find some things out though. About my fighting.”
“You’ll look violent. It’ll be another strike against you.”
“Not much I can do about it now.”
“Don’t worry. You’ve always been a troubled youth.” He gave me a tight, lopsided smile, then gestured with his head. “Come on, let’s get to class. I hate the way everyone’s staring.”
“Yeah, tell me about it,” I muttered, but I followed him.
I kept my distance, despite my overwhelming need to be close to Cora. I kept thinking about our time back in my trailer, her body against mine, her breath in my ear, her skin on my skin. She looked heavenly wrapped in my sheets, wearing nothing but a thin sheen of sweat, grinning like she’d never been so happy before in her life—I’d never seen something so perfect.
Which was why I couldn’t let them take her away.
I held out for one whole day. I should’ve gone longer—should’ve been stronger—but if you were given a taste of something so incredible, would you be able to keep your distance? I couldn’t even if I wanted to.
I caught her in between classes. I knew her schedule well enough to wait on a bench tucked to the side of a shade-covered path between buildings. It was quiet and not busy, and when she came around the corner with her backpack hiked up and a scowl on her face, I stepped into the path and smiled.
She looked at me and smiled back.
“Sit with me.” I gestured at the bench.
She came over, her smile still there. It broke my heart and made my blood sing all at the same time.
“I thought we weren’t talking for a while.”
“I guess I couldn’t help myself.” I didn’t know how I was supposed to act—she didn’t owe me herself anymore, and yet all I wanted was more. I felt like I’d gotten one single glimpse of something better, of a life where I could be the person I always wanted to be, where my hunger and pain were muted and quiet, and I was afraid it would all slip away.
I moved closer to her. My leg against hers. She didn’t pull back, only stared up into my face.
“Is this smart? Should we be doing this?”
I touched her cheek. Fuck, the answer to both questions was no.
“I don’t care. I couldn’t stay away.”
Her cheeks turned pink. Even after seeing every inch of her and sliding
myself so deep into her pussy that she came like a torrential downpour, she still managed to feel embarrassed.
God, it was adorable and sexy and vulnerable and real, and I loved it.
“Robyn says you’ve been in a bad mood lately.”
“I’ve had a lot on my mind.”
“Have you heard from the detective?”
“Not yet, but she’s sniffing around. Are you holding up okay?”
She glanced away toward where a small group of guys walked past, too engrossed in their own conversation to notice us.
“People are staring at me.”
“Rumors are nothing. It’s all smoke.”
“But I feel like I’m choking on it.”
I leaned down and kissed her gently, just my lips against hers, lingering for a moment longer. Soft and plump and perfect.
“You need to hold on for a little bit longer.”
“How long? I don’t know if I can handle this forever.”
“A few days. I have a plan.”
She gripped my hand and squeezed it hard. “You always have a plan.”
“It’s in motion. Calvin’s helping.”
She frowned and shifted even closer. “Is that safe?”
“We can trust him.”
“But I can’t imagine he’s helping for free.”
I smiled. What a smart girl. There was a reason I couldn’t get enough of him. “Let me worry about that.”
“You’ve done too much already. This was supposed to be my idea and my revenge, but I feel like I dragged you too deep into it, and now you’re saving my ass.”
“It’s a lovely ass. I wouldn’t want it to go to waste.”
“Stop, you know what I mean.”
I kissed her again. I couldn’t help myself. She seemed to like it, despite not owing me a thing anymore.
“Just trust me. When we did what we did, I had a contingency plan.”
“Even back then?”
“From the very start. I knew it might come to this and I’m not going to let them take you from me.”
She went quiet and still. Maybe I said the wrong thing—suggesting that she was mine might’ve gone too far. I didn’t know and I didn’t care, because in my heart, in my body and blood, every inch of her belonged to me.
