Mad Love (Slateview High Book 3)

by Eva Ashwood

  “Shit, that’s the best sound in the world.” Bishop’s voice was thick and heavy with desire. “Do it again for us. Don’t stop.”

  I didn’t. My clit was still throbbing with aftershocks, but my fingers kept moving, circling around it as I brought myself back toward the edge again.

  “Bishop,” I choked out. “I want you inside me at the same time. I want you both inside me. I want you to fill me up with your cum.”

  “Jesus.”

  Low grunts punctuated that word, and I could tell from the sounds reaching my ears that they were all getting closer too. It’d been too long for all of us.

  “I’d like that, Princess,” Bishop murmured. “I’d grab your hips and hold you steady so we could both fuck you hard. Could you take it? Could you take us both?”

  “Uh-huh.” I was whimpering, losing the ability to speak in full sentences as the need inside me built again. “Misael too. I want all of you. Please… please, oh fuck, please.”

  Before the words were all the way out of my mouth, I came again, my whole body shuddering as euphoria flooded my veins.

  My panties were soaked through, wetness dripping from my core and smearing my thighs, and the frantic movement of my fingers drew the orgasm out into one long wave of pleasure, making my breath hitch as if I’d had the wind knocked out of me.

  But I still didn’t stop. My clit was pulsing, almost painfully sensitive, but I kept touching myself. I wasn’t done yet. My boys hadn’t come yet. And I was still hungry for more.

  I rolled over onto my side, pinning the phone between the pillow and my head so I could free up my other hand. My fingertips brushed across my skin, lighting up my nerve endings as my thighs squeezed together, trapping my hand between them as I rode my own touch with hungry undulations of my hips.

  “I want to hear you come,” I rasped. “I want to picture it. I want to feel it.”

  “Fuck, Cora.” Kace swore under his breath, and I had a feeling he was on the verge of driving over and breaking into my parents’ house no matter how dangerous it was.

  “Come for me, Kace,” I whispered, my heart thudding against my ribs. “Imagine it’s my mouth. My tongue. Imagine how deep you’d go. You’d make me cry. And I’d love it.”

  A choked grunt came through the line, and then the sound of deep, ragged breathing.

  “Jesus fuckin’ Christ, Princess,” Bishop grated. “Who taught you to talk so dirty?”

  “You did.” I bit my lip, sliding two fingers inside myself. The stretch was nowhere near as satisfying as one of their cocks, but I let my imagination take over, grinding the heel of my hand against my clit. “You taught me to be dirty. You showed me how much I like it.”

  Misael gave a low, animalistic grunt that I recognized as his release, and a second later, Bishop let loose a stream of curses. I fucked myself hard and fast with my fingers, and when the fourth orgasm hit me like a speeding car, my body jerked so hard the phone slipped away from my ear.

  For a second, I couldn’t move. Could barely think.

  But I missed the sounds of the boys breathing; I needed that connection with them. After groping around on the bed near my head, I located my cell phone and held it to my ear, grinning when I heard the boys again. They were all breathing hard, and Bishop finally let out a choppy laugh.

  “Well, fuck. Jerking off on a couch next to my two best friends. It’s not the weirdest Friday night I’ve ever had, but it’s close.”

  “Fuckin’ worth it,” Misael groaned, sounding so happy and satisfied that it made my heart swell.

  It had never been a question that the three boys would share me. I had developed feelings for all of them at the same time, and they were all such a tight-knit unit that I didn’t think any of them had questioned it either. But this was a first for all of us, and I loved that they trusted each other enough—and cared about me enough—to do it.

  “Yeah.” Kace’s voice was a bit softer than usual, a bit sweeter. “But I still miss you, Princess.”

  “A-fuckin’-men,” Misael agreed.

  “I miss you guys too.”

  My body was drifting toward sleep again after the intensity of the sensations that’d torn through me. But I wasn’t ready to let go yet. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye.

  “Thank you,” I whispered sleepily, my eyes drifting closed. “For calling. For everything.”

  “Always, Princess.”

  We hung up a moment later, but I kept the phone cradled in my grip, and I fell asleep that way, comforted by the knowledge that I wasn’t alone.

  Twelve

  Another two weeks passed before my father decided I’d been sufficiently punished for my outburst at the restaurant. I had half-expected him to keep me on lockdown for the remainder of the semester, but of course, that didn’t fit with the illusion of a perfect family with a perfect life he was trying so hard to maintain.

  It probably helped that I had decided to play along with his game, and had made myself the picture of contrition every time I was in his presence. I snuck into his home office two more times while he was out of the house, printing off a few things and keeping them hidden under my mattress.

  I wasn’t exactly sure why I did it, or what I planned to do with the things I’d printed. He’d been careful to keep his tracks covered, so nothing on his computer or his inbox was directly incriminating. I wasn’t sure anything I’d found would be solid enough to become real blackmail material, even if I was brave enough to attempt to blackmail my own father.

  My gut twisted every time I thought about possibilities like that, making me feel nauseated and shaky. It was terrifying to even think of imploding my family like that, but it was even more terrifying to consider what my dad might do if backed into a corner. He’d shown me quite clearly that he didn’t like to lose, and that he would go to extreme lengths to get what he wanted.

  But he liked to pretend he was reasonable and magnanimous, so in the face of my apparent penitence, he agreed to let me go back to school. He even gave me back the Aston Martin, although that too was probably more for appearances than anything else. He couldn’t stand the idea of his daughter not keeping up with the other children of the elite.

  My three week absence had been noticed by everyone at school, and in my absence, the contingent of people who hated me seemed to have grown in both strength and numbers. It almost felt like more of a punishment to have to walk the halls of Highland Park Academy than to listen to Katherine quiz me on the contents of my textbooks.

  By the middle of my first days back, I could already feel my patience straining at the seams. In my last class of the day, I snuck my phone out of my bag and pulled up a new text message.

  ME: I have to get out of here for a little while. Can I see you guys?

  BISHOP: We’re close by. We’ll come pick you up at 3.

  I knew they worried about me driving my fancy-ass car into the neighborhood I’d lived in with Mom for a few months, so I didn’t put up a fight.

  ME: Okay. I’ll be out front.

  Then I shot a text to Mom telling her that I had to stay late at school for a prom committee meeting. I knew Dad had demanded that she not let me go places outside of school, but with the tension still so thick between them, I was pretty sure she wasn’t about to go tell on me. They were hardly a united force when it came to parenting.

  As soon as the class ended, I scooped up my bag and bolted for the door, making my way through the throngs of people in the hallways until I reached the front of the school and jogged down the steps.

  Unfortunately, I was so excited to get outside that I didn’t see Marissa until she stepped in front of me as I hurried down the sidewalk. She’d been president of the We Hate Cora Club ever since I’d punched her in the face, and her open sneer told me her feelings toward me hadn’t changed one bit.

  “Watch where the fuck you’re going, you slut!” she hissed, her lips curling back in an expression that closely resembled a snarl.

  Before I could respond, a
deep voice from behind me made pleasant goose bumps rise along my skin.

  “No, you watch where the fuck you’re going.”

  Bishop, Kace, and Misael stepped up beside me, moving like a rolling wave toward the redheaded girl in front of me. They stopped when they reached her, all three of them towering over her.

  “Watch who the fuck you’re talkin’ to while you’re at it,” Misael added. “There ain’t shit you have to say to Cora that she wants to hear, get me?”

  Marissa blinked. She was partially obscured from view by the three boys between us, but I could see several expressions flit over her face as she tried to come up with a response.

  I could see her reaching for entitlement and superiority, but she seemed to be having a hard time latching onto them in the face of the sheer intimidating presence of these three boys. Finally, she shot a glance at me, then scoffed derisively and walked away—a little bit faster than she needed to.

  Suppressing a grin at the fear she couldn’t quite hide, I poked Kace in the back. “You guys didn’t have to do that. I have her handled.”

  He looked over his shoulder at me, his moss-green eyes blazing with fierce pride. “Oh, we know that, Princess. Just figured we’d save your right hook for another day.”

  The other boys both laughed, and he draped an arm around my shoulder as they led me toward their car. We got in quickly, and as soon as we pulled away from the school, I looked around at all of them.

  “So, where are going?”

  “One guess.” Misael grinned.

  I rolled my eyes. “Nathaniel’s?”

  “Got it on the first try.”

  I laughed. The truth was, I didn’t mind going to Nathaniel Ward’s place. It was certainly more comfortable than going back to my own house, where tension choked the air constantly. For such a massive place, my parents’ house somehow managed to feel incredibly claustrophobic.

  And honestly, I would’ve gone anywhere as long as it meant I got to be with the Lost Boys. It had been way too long since I’d seen them, and my body buzzed with joyful energy just being in the same space as the three of them.

  When we arrived at Nathaniel’s place thirty minutes later, the butler didn’t bring us up to the office as usual. Instead, he escorted us deeper into the house on the first floor, stopping in a large sitting room. Nathaniel was sitting in a chair near an ornate fireplace, and Josephine perched on one arm of the chair.

  His arm was draped possessively around her waist, and she had her head bowed, speaking low into his ear. Whatever she said made him smile, and it wasn’t an expression I’d ever seen him wear before. It made him look almost boyish.

  The butler nodded to us and slipped out, and I wished he would’ve walked with a heavier step or announced our presence or something—although I was sure the fact that he didn’t was due to the fact that the Lost Boys had become regular fixtures around here. But when Josephine and Nathaniel got wrapped up in the bubble of each other, it was hard not to feel like an intruder on a private moment.

  Is that what I’m like with my boys?

  Probably. When I was with them, the rest of the world often seemed to fade away, becoming nothing more than a dull blur in the background. I didn’t notice or care if we drew stares. None of that mattered.

  Bishop stepped forward, and as he did, the couple looked up at us. Josephine’s gaze landed on me, and she smiled brightly. Nathaniel nodded approvingly at the men.

  “Good. I’m glad you’re here. Claudio Vega will be coming for dinner this evening, and he requested that you three be there.” His gaze shifted to me. “You as well, Ms. Van Rensselaer, if you’d like.”

  “Um, sure.”

  I grinned. I liked being included in the Lost Boys’ lives, and I could have dinner and still not get home too late. Maybe I was a little stir-crazy from having been locked up for three weeks, but it felt fucking amazing to be out of my parents’ house.

  “You’ll need something to wear.” Josephine rose from the arm of the chair in a graceful movement. “We’re close to the same size. Come with me. I’ll find something for you.”

  I cast a glance at my three boys, and they all nodded. It wasn’t that I distrusted Josephine, although her husband still intimidated the hell out of me. But this was the boys’ world, and I trusted their judgement on these things. They all seemed comfortable with the idea of me staying, probably because our first meeting with Claudio had gone well.

  “Sure,” I said, turning back to Josephine. “Thanks.”

  “Of course.”

  She headed for the door, gesturing for me to follow her. Then she led me up the stairs, turning in the opposite direction from Nathaniel’s office. When she stepped inside what I was pretty sure was their bedroom, I hesitated, chewing my lip.

  “It’s alright. I won’t bite.”

  She chuckled, and I shook my head, laughing at myself. “Right. Sorry.”

  “There’s nothing to be sorry for.” She smiled at me, then crossed to her closet and began rifling through it. She shot a look over her shoulder at me. “How are things at home? The boys missed you these past few weeks.”

  My heart thudded unevenly against my ribs. If Josephine had noticed my absence in their lives and observed that the boys missed me, it must’ve been pretty fucking obvious. The time apart had been torture for me, and I hated to think of them in pain too.

  “It’s… okay.” The word sounded like the lie it was. “I don’t know. I’m not sure what to do.”

  Sympathy and concern crossed Josephine’s face. “I’m sorry, Cora.”

  She pulled a dress from the closet and crossed back to me. It was beautiful, elegant and well-made, but different than any of the dresses that hung in my own closet. It was more striking. More daring.

  Just like Josephine herself.

  She held up the gown in front of me and nodded in satisfaction. “Perfect. You can change in there.”

  She directed me to the en suite bathroom, and I quickly pulled off my skirt, top, and blazer, then slipped into the dress. It fit surprisingly well, and I turned from side-to-side, gazing at my reflection in the mirror.

  I looked like me, but… different. The dress was black, with a light sheen to the fabric and detailing in gold thread that bumped it up from just a classic black cocktail dress to something else entirely. It hugged the curves of my body, subtly showing off the soft dips and swells, and the flashes of gold as I moved highlighted my blonde hair.

  It was stunning.

  And it made me look older, somehow. More self-possessed. I liked it.

  When I stepped out of the bathroom, Josephine’s gaze landed on me, and she smiled, the corners of her eyes crinkling slightly. There was something almost like pride in her gaze, and it made an unexpected swell of emotion rise in me. It was a look like a mother might give her child, although I couldn’t remember the last time my own mother had looked at me like that.

  It occurred to me for the first time that Josephine and Nathaniel didn’t have children. Or at least, none that I was aware of. Was that by choice or by circumstances outside their control?

  I wasn’t about to pry by asking, so I just smiled shyly and spun in a circle, letting Josephine see her handiwork. “What do you think?”

  “I think it’s perfect.” She beamed at me. “I think I may just have to give you that dress, since it’s obviously so much better suited to you than to me.”

  “Oh, no.”

  I waved a hand, trying to brush her off, and she chuckled. She pulled a pair of shoes from her closet and brought them over to me, and when I slipped them on, it brought us to nearly the same height.

  She gave me another once-over before nodding approvingly. Then she surprised the hell out of me by wrapping her arms around my shoulders in a gentle hug.

  “I wish I could give you more help or better advice, Cora. I’ve been somewhere very close to where you are now, and I know how terrifying and confusing it is. But remember this: you’re not alone.”

  Thi
rteen

  Josephine sent me back downstairs while she picked out her own outfit for the evening. It felt strange to walk through the house unaccompanied by the butler or even my own boys. It was a level of trust and comfortability I had never expected to achieve with the Wards, and I had to remind myself to keep my guard up, at least a little.

  When I found the stairs that led back to the main floor, I stepped down them slowly, listening for the sound of voices. I could hear the boys and Nathaniel in the sitting room, talking amiably amongst themselves, but the moment I stepped inside the room, the conversation died out.

  Bishop, Misael, and Kace all rose to their feet, the movement seeming almost unconscious. As if they’d been pulled by some magnetic force, they stepped toward me, their gazes raking over my body with such hunger and possessiveness that I felt my cheeks warm.

  “You look…” Misael shook his head, seeming at a loss for words. “Damn, Coralee.”

  Nathaniel’s focus shifted from the boys to me and back again, and although there wasn’t the same heat in his eyes as I saw in theirs, he wore an expression of approval.

  “Join us, Cora. Please.”

  He gestured to the couch near the fireplace, and the three boys escorted me back to it, their small touches traveling through my body like liquid lightning. Josephine joined us a little while later, and the six of us fell into a surprisingly relaxed conversation as we waited for Claudio and his people to arrive.

  By the time the butler ushered Claudio inside, I had almost completely forgotten that the people I was spending time with were hardened criminals. Nathanial’s sheer power and charisma still terrified me a little, but he had a surprisingly wicked sense of humor, sharp and dry.

  As soon as Claudio arrived, a subtle shift seemed to take place in the atmosphere, and the true purpose of this dinner clarified in my mind once again. This wasn’t just a small dinner party. It was a negotiation between two criminal factions.

  We were ushered into the dining room, and I tried to keep my glances subtle as I took in Claudio and his men. He’d brought a few of his own people, and although their postures were relaxed, I could feel how alert they were. They were bodyguards of a sort, meant to protect their leader as he walked into what could become enemy territory if the negotiations went south.