by Sam Crescent
“Someone is very happy to see me,” he said, sucking on her nipple.
No one had done this to her. He was the first and only one to be with her, and that did something to him. Virgins weren’t a conquest for him. The prospect of being with a virgin didn’t fill him with excitement. When it came to Pru, though, he liked that she didn’t know anyone else.
Pushing all of his confusing thoughts and feelings aside, he focused on her. Touching her body, kissing her, wanting her. Every single part of him was excited at just being with her.
Moving between her thighs, he pulled down her panties and spread her legs apart.
“Drake?”
“It’s okay.”
She nibbled her lip, and he saw how scared she was.
He kissed back up her body until he was at her mouth, taking her lips, and he knew he didn’t want to rush this with her. How crazy was it that he didn’t want to rush? He was more than happy to take it at Pru’s pace. It didn’t mean he couldn’t get her used to his touches.
When he cupped her pussy once again, she gasped, holding his hand. “Drake?”
“I’m not going to hurt you. I’ve promised you I won’t do anything that you don’t like.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know what I can do to you, and believe me, you’re going to like this.”
She stared at him with that cute little frown.
“You’re still doubting me.”
“It’s hard not to. You’ve got all these other girls screaming how good you are, but what if you’re not? What if the only reason they say those things is so you’ll buy them nice things?”
“Do you want me to buy you nice things?”
“No. I don’t want anything from you, Drake.”
“Money is a huge incentive.”
“For what? To do something illegal and wrong?”
He groaned. “I don’t want to argue with you. I’m just saying a lot of people will pay a lot of money for bullshit.”
“I’m not like a lot of people, Drake.”
“I know that.” He kissed her again. “I don’t want to argue.”
She still held his wrist. “I … I’m not ready.”
He pulled his hand away. “Then I’ll stop.”
“Just like that?”
“I’m not a rapist, Pru.”
“I know that.”
“You didn’t think I’d stop.”
“I honestly don’t know what to expect from you. I’m sorry.”
He sat back. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m many things, but forcing myself on you, I’m not going to do that.” He sat back and groaned. “I’ve got other shit to do.”
He got off the bed and began to put his clothes on.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Pru pull her panties on and then she wrapped her arms around him. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologize.”
“I do. This isn’t what I intended. I mean that. I like it when you kiss me. I’m not ready for something more. It scares me.”
“Do you think this is easy for me? I don’t have a fucking clue what I’m doing. This isn’t me, Pru. This isn’t the kind of bullshit I’m used to.” He pulled out of her arms, tugging on his shirt.
“You’re just going to run away again? Like that? Just because I won’t spread my legs for you?”
He turned toward her. “I need to clear my head.” He left her bedroom and made his way out to his car. There was no reason to drive it so he crossed the road and started to walk. No one stopped him, which he liked. No one would be willing to get in his way, and they often moved to avoid him.
He wasn’t the kind of guy to search for conflict. It just always had a way of finding him when he least expected it.
Apart from Pru.
She didn’t move out of his way or give him a break. She would stand and fight. To get around her, he would have to walk or knock her down to keep on moving. This made him stop and glance back. He’d been walking in a straight line but he could barely make out her house. With hands on his hips, he looked back, wondering what the hell he was going to do.
****
The only guy Pru had ever chased down was Sean. Since he was her best friend, it had never meant anything to her to go looking for a guy.
Leaving her house, she saw Drake had left his car. She didn’t even care what that would mean to people passing by her house. She had to see Drake again.
Pulling her hair up into a tight knot, she walked across the street. She saw a couple of kids playing and she went around them. She’d watched Drake come this way, and now she was chasing after him.
It was Drake Connor. Why the hell was she chasing after him? It made no sense, and yet, here she was, doing all the chasing. When she saw him, standing there, staring at her, hands on his hips, she stopped running, slowing down to a walk. “Drake.”
“Do you have a reason to follow me?” he asked.
“No.” She stepped up to him, putting her hands on her hips and looking right at him. “Look, I get there’s something going on here. I don’t understand it. I don’t even know if I want to. You’re used to girls falling all over you. I’m not going to be one of those girls. I’m not going to fall for you and let you do whatever the hell you want. I’m not ready for sex. If that’s what you want, then you’ve got to find some way to get it. It’s not going to be with me.”
“And if I don’t want it with anyone else?” he asked.
“I don’t know, Drake. We’re not friends.”
“I’m not offering you friendship. Can’t we just be this?”
“What is this?”
“I don’t know. I don’t fucking know!” He grabbed the back of his head, pacing. “We can’t do this in public. No one can know about us.”
Pru laughed. “We really should get inside. We’re probably scaring the neighbors or something.” She didn’t want to have to deal with a whole host of questions. “We can take time to figure this thing out.”
“Yeah, that does sound like a solid plan. Do you want me to follow you?” he asked.
“Come on, it doesn’t matter now. We’ve been seen together.” She reached out, taking his arm, ignoring the sting as she walked with him back to her house. There was no one on the street. The kids playing just a few moments ago had vanished.
Arriving back home, she didn’t go to her bedroom but to her kitchen. “What do you want to drink?”
“Coffee, unless you’ve got a beer.”
“No beer. Dad hasn’t been shopping and whenever my mom goes, she always forgets it.”
“By mistake or on purpose?”
“She’s always saying it’s by mistake but I doubt it. If it was just by mistake, she’d only miss it once, huh? I’m not sure. Oh, well.” She flicked the coffee maker on, so very aware of him in her kitchen.
He didn’t speak and she chanced a glance over at him to see him watching her. “What?” she asked.
“Nothing. Your kitchen is really small.”
“Of course it is. It has to be.” She rolled her eyes. “We don’t all have millions to waste on big homes.” She shrugged.
With the cups waiting to be filled, she turned toward him.
“Rules then.”
“Rules are good,” she said. “No one can know anything about us.”
“It has to be top secret,” he said.
She chuckled. “It feels a little over-dramatic. We’re just two high school kids and yet we’re acting as if we’re doing something wrong.”
“We are,” Drake said. “We’re planning on hooking up and it’s against my parents’ rules. What about yours?”
“They adore Sean. I think if I was to have any kind of boyfriend-like material, it would be him.”
“Don’t talk to me about him. Seriously, he’s off-limits for anything.” Drake slashed his hand across in front of him and she nodded.
“No Sean, got it. I don’t want to hear about all your conquests either.”
&
nbsp; “No previous girls, got it.”
“I’m not going to be with anyone else. We’re secret but we’re also exclusive.”
“I hate to break this to you, Pru, but we’re not fucking.”
“I don’t care. You’ve already made it abundantly clear it’s where we’re going. I’m not going to risk getting any kind of diseases.”
“I do know how to take care of myself, you know.”
She was going to retaliate but instead held her hands up, counted to ten, and forced a smile. “We can’t argue. Unless you’re doing something to keep up appearances.”
“This sounds like a good one.” Drake crossed his arms across his chest and smirked. “Are you going to give me more details?”
“When we’re alone and together, we can’t argue like this. We either agree to disagree or we move on. If we’re in the company of other people, I don’t want you to treat me any differently.”
“Are you giving me permission to bully you?”
It sounded stupid even to her. “Yes.” She wasn’t looking forward to being on the receiving end of his brand of bullying but she also had to keep up appearances. If Drake suddenly started to treat her fairly, others would want to know why. “Why not?”
Drake smirked. “I can’t believe you’re giving me permission to hurt you.”
“It hasn’t bothered you before. Why would you care now? This is only going to be until we head to college next year.”
“You’re going to college?”
“I want to. I don’t know where yet. I’m keeping my options open.” He wouldn’t want to know the truth. Sean wanted her to go to the same college as him, but that meant being miles away from home, which sounded awesome, and it truly did, but for her, she wanted to be a little closer to her parents.
“Isn’t that something you’d have figured out?” Drake asked.
“You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But no. I haven’t made any plans.” This summer was about her making a final decision. Her parents only wanted the best for her, even though they were on a limited budget. Anything she wanted would have to come through a scholarship.
“Moving on. What other conditions you got?” Drake asked.
“You can’t push me either. I’m not ready for sex.”
“I can’t even believe I’m discussing this with you.”
“I don’t have anything else to add.”
“Let me get this straight, we can’t be with anyone else but each other. I can’t push you into fucking, but I can’t be with another girl. No one else can know about us. Behind closed doors, we’re good and friends, but to the outside world, I hate your guts and can bully you.”
“Yes, that sounds about right. What do you think?” she asked, biting her lip.
“Whatever. Can I kiss you now?”
Just as she was about to tell him to go right ahead, the door to her home opened.
“Raincheck?”
Chapter Thirteen
Just for the summer
“So, I was thinking we could go and see a movie tonight. What do you think?” Sean asked.
Pru glanced at her friend. She stood at his bedroom window overlooking his yard. He had a nice place and his parents were able to afford a gardener.
“Pru, is there anyone in there?”
She pulled out of her thoughts as Sean came over to her, waving a hand in front of her face. “Sorry, I was kind of off in my own world. What?”
“What’s with you lately?”
“Nothing is with me.” It had been three days since she and Drake had made that agreement. Three entire days of her thinking the absolute worst about her own decisions. There was no one for her to talk to other than Drake and he’d been shockingly silent.
“Are you sure? You’ve been … quiet.”
She chuckled. “Are you trying to tell me I’m a bit of a loudmouth?” she asked.
“Trying to?” Sean asked, laughing.
“Hey, don’t be mean.” She tapped his arm playfully.
“In all seriousness, you’d tell me.”
“Of course. You’re my best friend. I’d tell you anything.” The lies rolled off her tongue and she felt sick to her stomach. “You know, I think I’m going to head out, actually. It’s nothing bad, but I’m not feeling so good.”
“Do you want me to drop you off at home?”
“No, I prefer the walk. It might help make me feel better.” She grabbed her jacket. “I’ll talk to you soon, right?”
“Yeah, of course. Let me know you got home safely. You know I don’t like you walking out all alone.”
“I’ll be fine. Believe me.” She gave Sean a quick hug before leaving his home. What she really needed to do was clear her head. She didn’t go straight home but instead walked to the private land that was once a park. It was nearly thirty minutes away from her home, but it was torn down years ago since addicts would leave used needles in the sand pits.
After much-heated debate, the park was torn up, moved, and the ground was closed off, ready to be used for a building site that never actually happened. The company that bought the land ended up going bankrupt and the last Pru heard, the possession of the land was still being argued in court. So until a resolution was found, nothing could be done to it, which was a shame.
It was a huge piece of land. Homes would be a waste but a nature reserve or something else would’ve been far more fitting to the space. Still, it helped her to sit and think. No one would be stopping by, and as she lay down on her back, staring up at the sky, she had to wonder about what she was doing with her life.
In a matter of months, she’d be entering the last year of high school, preparing for the day she’d go to college. She had to make so many decisions and on top of everything, she had Drake to deal with.
“You know you shouldn’t be out here alone,” Drake said, taking the spot next to her.
She didn’t gasp or scare. When she glanced at him, he smiled at her. “I shouldn’t be surprised you knew where I was.”
“True,” he said. “I seem to know where you are all the time.”
“You followed me from Sean’s. It’s not hard to guess.”
“Yeah, and you’re still seeing that asshole.”
“Don’t, Drake.”
“Don’t?”
She sighed. “Why do you have to keep bringing him up? I told you you’ve got nothing to worry about. We’re friends. We’re only friends. Nothing else is going to change that. I promise you.”
“And what if I say differently?” he asked.
Pru chuckled. “You can say whatever you want to say. It’s not going to suddenly change anything, is it?” She shrugged. “I don’t want to argue or fight with you over this.”
“We’re going to anyway until you do as you’re told.”
Pru flopped back to the ground and stared up at the sky. The colors were so clear and bright. Soon they would be full of fall clouds, of the threat of lightning, thunder, rain, and storms. She loved summer clouds. The heat offered a calmness that was also silently deadly. With the heat, it brought its own bunch of problems. What would she be doing come fall? When they were both back in high school? Already, they were complicating their relationship and Drake was making this far more difficult than it actually needed to be. She didn’t understand.
Sean had been her friend for so long. He’d been the one constant in all of her life during Drake’s bullying. Was that why he wanted him gone? Did he feel threatened by her best friend? It made some sense, but she had told him, repeatedly, nothing was going on. She hadn’t told Sean about her time with Drake. What was the point when their relationship was supposed to be secret?
They weren’t dating. They had shared a few kisses and had seen each other nearly naked. That didn’t mean anything. Not in this day and age. She knew her peers were doing all kinds of crazy stuff. For so long, she’d been living a rather boring life. Hanging out with Sean, watching movies, or just driving around, not really doing anything.
This, wi
th Drake, was the most adventurous she’d ever been. Glancing at him, she found Drake staring right back at her. “Stop telling me what to do.”
“Or what?”
Before she had could come up with a witty comeback, he moved on top of her. He ended up between her spread thighs. His hands were beside her head, trapping her against the ground.
“What are you going to do to me, princess?”
She smiled. “Princess? I thought I was trash to you?”
“You are to everyone else, but not today. Not when no one else is looking.”
Should she like their secret relationship?
It’s so brand new, it doesn’t matter if I like it or not. It’s what is going to happen.
She reached out, touching a strand of his hair. “You need a cut.”
“Not yet.”
She stroked a finger down his cheek, crossing over his pulse and resting it across his chest. His heart raced beneath her hand and she was utterly fascinated by it. “Kiss me,” she said, hungry for his lips.
Drake slammed his lips down on hers. One of his hands went to her head, gripping the back of it as he ravished her mouth. The other locked their fingers together, holding her hand directly above her head. His tongue traced across her lips and she let out a moan, giving him access. This time, Drake groaned and he nipped at her bottom lip.
“I have no idea what it is you do to me.”
“Shut up and kiss me,” she said.
He tugged on her hair, making her tilt her head back and giving him as much access to her as possible.
She didn’t fight him. There was no reason to. More than anything, this was what she wanted. “Yes,” she said as he broke the kiss to trail his lips down to her neck. She sank her teeth into her lips, waiting for more. Closing her eyes, with her head tilted back, she didn’t have to think about what she was doing. She could only bask in the feelings he inspired.
“I want more, Pru.”
“Not yet.”
He groaned and his hands moved up to cup her breasts. She didn’t push him away. He didn’t scare her. His touch only ignited the pleasure within her.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she forgot about all the expectations from her and took what she wanted. At this moment, who cared that he was her bully? Who cared that he didn’t want anyone to know about them? Neither did she and when it came to Drake, she was no longer going to think about what she could or couldn’t have. These stolen moments were everything to her.
