Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 127146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
Beneath her fear, the anger and rage remain. I can see the flames crackle and pop. She wants to hurt me, but she knows damn well I’m not bluffing. Her cracked lips part, and I loosen my grasp ever so slightly to allow her to speak.
“Yes,” she croaks.
I release her with a satisfied smile and wipe the spit from my face. Next time she does something like that, I’ll use it as lube to fuck her ass. “Good. I’m glad we got that out of the way. And for future reference, the police won’t help you. No one will.”
“You’re so mentally unstable. You should be in a psych ward,” she growls and tightens the coat around her small frame. “If no one believes me, that’s fine. It doesn’t matter. I’ll find a way to make myself less appealing to you.”
I’d laugh if I didn’t really think she might do something like that.
I sigh. "Do what you must, but just know… whatever consequences take place are those you’ve earned.”
Sparring with her makes my blood heat. I’m addicted to it. I’ve never experienced anything like this with any other woman…and now I don’t want it to end.
“I don’t care about your consequences. You can’t hurt me any more than I’ve been hurt in my life already. All you are is a bully with a chip on his shoulder who thinks he can have anything he wants, but you can’t. Not without force. You’re pathetic.”
I yawn directly in her face. “Are you done yet? I’ve heard all that and more before.”
Bel’s rage climbs higher, and I wonder if she’s really mad at me or herself for letting things go this far. She didn’t ask me to stop, and she didn’t say no. The only person she can blame for what happened is herself. Angrily, she turns and stomps off in the wrong direction. I follow her closely because one, it’s adorable that she thinks she can dismiss me so easily, and two, I need to make sure she gets back to campus in one piece.
We walk only a few yards before she peers over her shoulder at me. “Stop following me!!”
All I can do is shake my head. “If you want to get out of here, you need to go left. It's only about a half mile back to the cars."
"Fuck you," she yells back at me, her fire making my smile widen. Perhaps I’ve found something worthy of my attention.
Letting Bel return to her dorm alone takes substantial effort, but I manage it. I was tempted to drag her back here kicking and screaming, but thought better of it. Instead, I took the rest of the evening to brush up on everything I knew about her. After a couple of hours of sleep, I rolled out of bed, showered, and changed.
Now I’m in the kitchen, getting ready to discuss the events of last night. It’s just me, the boys, and a truly glorious stack of pancakes.
Lee stands in only his pajama pants, scratching up his chest and over his shoulders. Sebastian’s in a button-down and slacks but sporting a truly glorious black eye that makes me smirk every time I see it. Aries sits at the counter with his bare feet propped up, his shoulder-length curly hair wet and dripping onto his T-shirt.
I shove them off. “Get your ugly-ass feet off the counter. We’re about to eat.”
When I take the seat next to Aries, I glance over at Sebastian. “Call it.”
He stretches his head to the side, back and forth, like he’s amping himself up for something. Then he snags an open bottle of 151 off the counter, takes a long pull, and passes it around.
“I call this Mill meeting to order.”
There are very few things we do officially or publicly. Most of them happen during the season, so we have the rest of the year to plan. But we still try to keep some of the old traditions alive. We’re the four senior members of the group, and then we have several junior members. It takes a family name and a lot of money to get invited, and of course, everyone wants in before The Hunt.
I open my mouth to ask about how the night went when a woman comes walking into the room, completely naked. We all glance at Lee, who seems unconcerned as he pours some of the 151 into his espresso.
“Charity, I told you to stay in bed.”
Her full pink lips form into a pout, and I eye the mascara lines on her cheeks before assessing the rest of her. Hell, there is mud caked around her ankles. “I smelled pancakes, and since I’m hungry, I thought you might share?”
Lee’s mouth folds into a flat line, and I grin. He rarely gets annoyed, but when he does, it’s usually a good show. With all the athletic skill he’s built in the ten years of his life, he snags a pancake off the stack and throws it at her. She barely catches it in her hands, a folded soggy mess. She glares icy daggers at him. If she thinks she’s mad now…