The Enemy Series

by M. E. Clayton

  But once we got to wherever he was taking us, it was going to be so on.

  When I had sat down on Craig Duley’s lap, it had been harmless. I’ve never slept with Craig because he was too sweet to go there with. He seemed like the make-love type of guy, and that wasn’t my deal. We shared a line of coke and that was about it.

  What I hadn’t been expecting was Ace to become so…feral over it. He looked livid and I couldn’t lie and say it hadn’t caught my attention. Okay, maybe not catch my attention so much as turned me on, and that was not a road I wanted to go down.

  Ace McIntire didn’t seem like the kind of guy who could be manipulated and led around, and that’s the only kind of guy I wanted in my life. I didn’t want one who…affected me. I didn’t want one who could control me through sex or love. I didn’t need a person in my life I couldn’t walk away from.

  Delaney was the only person who I loved in the world. She was the only person who I would die to protect. My reputation was already bad by the time I met Delaney when we were thirteen, but she hadn’t looked down her nose at me when I approached her to be friends. She accepted me based solely on how I treated her, and as the years passed and my reputation got worse, she never faltered in her loyalty towards me. Delaney was never embarrassed to be seen with me, and even though she kept to herself, the few times she did overhear people talking crap about me, she always defended me.

  The only reason I’ve never told Delaney about Peter was because, right now, she sees my personality as strong and alive. If she knew the truth, she’d see I was broken and dead inside, instead. And, as the only person in the world whom I loved, Delaney’s opinion mattered. I wanted to continue to see respect in her eyes, rather than pity.

  I was pulled out of my thoughts when I was thrown into a…uh, storage pantry, and Ace slammed the door behind him. There was only one light hanging from the ceiling, but it cast enough light for me to see that Ace McIntire was fuming.

  Too bad for him I stopped answering to anyone a long time ago. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I snapped. The room was big as far as storage pantries went, but Ace’s large frame took up a lot of space, so it wasn’t long before I found myself pressed back against a row of shelves.

  He bored down on me, and in a voice that sounded like the fires of hell, he said, “We’ll talk about the drugs later, but let me make one thing very clear, Ava.” His hand shot up and circled around my neck. “I better not ever catch you sitting on another guy again.”

  My eyes were already wide from the coke, and I’d like to blame the buzzing in my blood from the drug also, but I knew it wasn’t just the coke. It was Ace, too. But my attraction didn’t take away from my anger. “You don’t get to tell me what to do, Ace McIntire,” I spat. “You are no one to me.”

  He smirked. “Think so?” But before I could answer, his other hand reached around my back, plucked my phone from the waistband of my skirt, and he let go of my neck as he held my phone.

  “What the fuck?” I screeched. “Give that back!”

  “As soon as I take care of something,” he replied, and I could feel the steam coming out of my ears.

  “Take care of what?” I yelled. “Give me back my fucking phone, Ace.” I didn’t have a passcode on it because I didn’t care what was on it. Delaney’s contact was the only thing of importance on it, and she wasn’t under Delaney in my phone. She was under ‘MP’ for My Person, because Delaney was my person.

  Here’s the jacked-up thing. Ace was so much taller than me, there was no way I could reach my phone with him holding it over his head, and I was not going to jump for it like a fool. So, instead, I crossed my arms over my chest and waited for the asshole to finish typing his number in.

  Or, at least, that’s what I thought he had been doing.

  I was wrong.

  So, very, very wrong.

  When Ace handed me back my phone, the main screen looked the same, so I opened my contact list to delete his number, only he hadn’t programmed his number in my phone.

  Nope.

  This sonofabitch had deleted all my contacts.

  He deleted all my text messages too.

  I balled up my right hand and swung.

  He must have seen it coming because he caught my wrist with ease. He had both my wrists encased in his large, rough hands and had me back up against the shelves before I could blink. He held me immobile, and I was sick with how it turned me on.

  Ace’s hold on me should have had me paralyzed with fear and terrified with memories. He’s the first guy who has ever put hands on me in such a forceful manner since Peter and I should have been hysterical and rabid.

  Instead, I was turned on and close to begging for more, and it was sick; I was sick.

  My stomach churned with the knowledge that his tight grip on my wrists was making me practically drip down my thighs. And the worse part about it was, it was his jealousy and possessiveness that was getting me worked up. If he was just being charming and charismatic to get me into bed, well, that’d be one thing, but this? This act that I mattered beyond this game we were playing?

  Yeah, I hadn’t been lying when I told Delaney that the most dangerous thing for girls like us was a guy who made you feel like you mattered; a guy who gave you worth.

  “You motherfucker!” I yelled. “You deleted all my contacts?!”

  “Because you no longer need them!” he roared back in my face.

  I felt like I was becoming unhinged. I’ve only known this guy for two days. I’ve only known him for two days, and here he was…changing things. “You had no right,” I seethed.

  His amber eyes glowed, and the asshole was beautiful with it. “I know you hate me, Ava,” he hissed. “I know you hate me, and I know why. And, hell, I don’t blame you. Your mother is a piece of shit, just like my father. But this isn’t about them, Ava. It’s about us.”

  I straightened to my full height and did my best to stare him down. “There is no us,” I hissed.

  Ace’s gaze rolled down my body and back up to my face before saying, “You are in some serious denial if you think there’s nothing between us, Ava.”

  Before I could tell him to fuck off, the pantry door opened, and we heard a gasp. “Oh, sorry!” Ace turned to face the door, and I tilted my head to see Marcy Glenn standing in the doorway. “Oh, Ava,” she said in a drunk chuckle. “I was just looking for more snacks.” Marcy was Christof’s girlfriend, and we got along fairly well.

  “Sorry, we-”

  She tapped a hand at me. “Oh, no worries. Although I’m kind of surprised,” she said chuckling. “You usually make use of the rooms in the west wing.”

  I could feel Ace’s entire body still with palpable tension, and I didn’t understand why. He overheard the argument with my mother. He even commented on how I said I liked to fuck. He saw how I was dressed for the party. Did he think it was all an exaggeration?

  “Thanks, Marcy,” I replied. “I’ll make myself comfortable once Ace and I clear up a little misunderstanding.” His grip tightened on my wrists, but I ignored it.

  “Okay,” she said, smiling. “I’ll come back for the snacks.” She shut the door and, once again, Ace and I were alone in the pantry.

  I looked back up at him and continued where we left off. “Look, Ace, I don’t know what you’re thinking or what…” I shook my head. “There is no us and you deleting my contacts doesn’t mean shit. I have them backed up.”

  I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t for him to lay his cards on the table so early. “I want you, Ava,” he confessed. “I want you and there will be no other guys as long as I have you.”

  The nerve.

  I tried to wrestle out of his hold, but he just held more firm. I had to put a stop to this; to him. I was already feeling out of sorts with the attraction and jealousy, I couldn’t afford anymore mixed up emotions where Ace was concerned. I needed to stay away from him. Maybe I could rent a motel for the summer. Or take a trip.

  �
��You don’t have me, Ace,” I argued. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but you’re going to have to get your kicks with someone else.”

  He looked dazed. Like…like he wasn’t exactly sure what was happening when he said, “There is no one else, Ava.”

  I stared up at him, and his words sounded absolute.

  I had to shut this shit down.

  Chapter 10

  Ace~

  She was causing me so much turmoil, it was a wonder I could still function. But, then, that’s what all girls do, don’t they?

  They cause turmoil.

  They go about minding their own goddamn business, not realizing the havoc they’re creating with the male species. A man falls in love and everything before that moment no longer exists. A woman falls in love and she just piles it onto all the other million things she’s got going on. When a man falls in love, his entire existence shifts. When a woman falls in love, she just digs in and says, “Okay. I got this.”

  Now, I’m not saying I’m in love with Ava Hill, because it’s only been two days, but I’m not saying I’m not, because why else would I be feeling this un-motherfucking-hinged?

  “You better find someone else, Ace,” she sneered. “I’m not looking to be your summer fling.”

  “You’re not?” I knew she was lying, but she’d die before admitting it. Ava’s defenses were the stuff wars were won from.

  Her drugged up gaze flashed, and I knew she was pissed off, but I could also smell her in this confined room. Ava was turned on even if she didn’t want to be; even if she denied it.

  I let go of her wrists and, before she could stop me-and thanks to that ridiculously short skirt-I ran my right hand up the inside of her thigh until my fingertips were coated with the moisture on her thong, because Ava was wearing a goddamn thong underneath that short skirt.

  Her small, feminine hands snaked out and latched onto my forearm, halting further movement. Her eyes were blazing with the effects of coke, lust, shame, and pure fury. Staring down at this stunning creature I had no doubt Ava Hill would carve a motherfucker up with no remorse, whatsoever, if she needed to.

  Ava was…feral; violent.

  I had no idea what happened in her life to make her like that, but Ava’s black heart was genuine. It wasn’t for show. It wasn’t for shock value. It wasn’t…fabricated.

  I stepped to her, trapping our hands and arms between our bodies, and leaned down so my lips caressed her right ear. “You keep telling me what a dirty, little slut you are,” I taunted darkly. “Why don’t you spread those legs apart and prove it, Ava?”

  “Fuck you,” she snarled, and I’d never heard so much emotion packed into two little words like that.

  Ava was no match for my physical strength regardless of how strong her backbone was. My hand traveled upward, her nails digging into my wrist, until my finger slid in between the fabric of her thong and the slickness of her center.

  Ava was soaking fucking wet.

  “That’s all I’m trying to do here, baby,” I continued to taunt. “I’m trying to fuck you.” I leaned back to look at her; challenge her. “But, for all your declarations of living with your legs spread open, you’re proving to be just the opposite.”

  Her lip curled and the hate on her face was real. Her hate for me was pouring from her soul. “I am a slut,” she claimed. “I just don’t want to be your slut.”

  I slipped a finger inside her body, and let me tell you, if Ava was a slut, she was a special sort, because her pussy was snug and swallowing my finger tightly. “Then why is your pussy leaking like a faucet?” I questioned. “Why are you so fucking wet if you don’t want me to fuck you?”

  Remember when I said she was feral?

  “That’s from sitting on Craig’s lap,” she spewed, razor sharp and lethal. “I was hoping to bounce on his dick tonight, but you ruined that.”

  I slid another finger inside her and her whimper gave her away. If I had any chance at saving my sanity, I had to ignore her words and listen to her body. Her nails dug deeper into my wrist, but now Ava’s head was thrown back, her eyes closed, and she was riding my hand.

  She was riding my fucking hand.

  “Look at me,” I ordered. “Open your fucking eyes and look at me, Kit.”

  Her eyes flew open, and while she moaned, she didn’t disappoint. “Quit calling me that,” she snapped.

  “It’s short for kitty cat, because you are one wild, feral hellcat, baby,” I admitted. “And I’ll call you whatever the fuck I want to call you.” I inserted a third finger, and her cry had me wishing my dick was out. “You’re mine to call whatever I want, Ava.”

  “Ace,” she sobbed as she came all over my hand. The pulsing around my fingers held them captive, and it amazed me that, for someone who claimed that she got around, she came quickly and easily.

  I pulled my fingers from her pussy and I licked them clean, desperate for the taste of her. “Don’t fucking tell me there’s nothing between us again,” I warned.

  The hate was still there in her big blue eyes, but I could see the…calculations behind them too, and before I could figure them out, Ava had her hands on my jeans, unbuttoning them. “My turn,” she said, her voice husky and lustful.

  “No, Ava. I don’t need-motherfucker,” I hissed as her hand wrapped around my dick. “Goddamn it, Ava…” My hands were fists in her hair and, because I’m apparently a weak sonofabitch, I closed my eyes, let my head fall back, and let Ava sink to the floor and suck my dick.

  I didn’t care that we were in a pantry closet where someone could walk in at any time, or that she wasn’t sucking my dick for pleasure. I wasn’t stupid-weak, yes-but stupid, no. Ava was on her knees to prove a point, not sure what that point was right now, but I knew it wasn’t because she wanted to please me. Ava Hill would just as soon stab me to death as make me cum, so I knew this wasn’t a sexual thing.

  This was a power thing.

  But I didn’t care.

  Ava was on her knees with my dick in her mouth, and the feeling was so euphoric, the feeling transported me back to the first time a girl ever put her lips on my cock. I never thought anything would ever feel as good as when my dick was touched sexually for the first time by a female hand, but nothing before this moment compared to how Ava was working my cock.

  “Goddamn, baby,” I groaned as I looked down at her, and took in every movement of her hand, my cock disappearing in her mouth, and the vibrations dancing along my shaft with every moan from her sweet, hot mouth.

  She eased up off my dick and looked up at me, eyes watery, lips swollen, cheeks flushed, and asked, “You like that?”

  Again-I knew she was fucking with me. I knew this was a game, and she wasn’t really asking me that because she cared if I was enjoying her. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if she took me to the edge then stood up and walked out.

  And because this was a battle of the wills…

  “Come on, Ava,” I coaxed. “You know I like it. Now, get back to sucking my dick, baby. Show me what a good little whore you are.”

  The corner of her lip lifted, and I knew I was in trouble.

  Ava lowered her head and went back to swallowing my dick, only this time, she did it with all the precision of a professional. She worked every inch of my cock and had me at the edge in no time. My fingers curled into her scalp, and I was there. “Ava…I’m going to cum,” I warned her.

  She didn’t care.

  Ava swallowed me until I was growling her name and emptying everything I had down her throat. I watched as she licked me completely clean and I knew I needed to get her home. I needed to spend all night inside this girl and, right now, I didn’t care if I made it out alive or not. Ava was a power I wanted to harness all for myself.

  She stood up as I tucked myself back into my jeans. I watched, wary and waiting, as her fingertips danced across her lips and she smirked. She cocked her head and delivered her sexual blow. “Now, we’re even,” she stated, all matter of fact.

  “
Goddamn it, Ava-”

  She threw her head back and laughed. It was dark and evil and cold; just like her. “Did you really think that meant anything?” she asked condescendingly. “You’re hardly the first guy to make me cum, and I’ve lost count of how many dicks have been in my mouth, Ace.” She threw me a fucked-up wink. “I just didn’t want to have to owe you anything.”

  I reached for her to kill her, but she ducked under and was out the pantry door before I could catch her. “Ava!”

  I ran out of the pantry, but she had been swallowed up by the crowd. I stood in the kitchen of a house I’ve never been to and I was surrounded by people who I didn’t know. When I finally made it outside, it was just in time to see Ava wave her fingers at me from the car window of a dude she was taking off with, and she was laughing.

  I was going to fucking kill her.

  Chapter 11

  Ava~

  I was locked inside the safety of my bedroom, but I was feeling anything but safe.

  The entire night has turned into one big shitstorm, and I wasn’t so blind as to not accept some of the blame. I let my confused jealousy turn me into an exaggerated version of myself. I had no problem sleeping with a guy, but taking Ace to the edge like that, swallowing him down, and then walking away had been calculated and deliberate.

  I had been so pissed by his highhandedness, but so turned on by the sheer nearness of him, I let him finger me to orgasm, and because I had wanted so much more, I turned the tables and transformed one of the best orgasms of my life into a tit-for-tat. I lumped the experience in with all the others I’ve had before him. I made him believe he was common when I knew he was anything but.

  The part I hated most was the dominance he displayed. His controlling demeanor should have me running the other way. I should feel scared by his forcefulness. I should feel wrecked over the loss of control he brought out in me. I should freeze when he imposed his will on me.