His hand cupped one of my breasts, pulling on the nipple. I angled my hips higher to get more of him, to feel every single inch.
He pounded into me, his hand curving over my hips, the touch rough and then gentle. I got lost in the sounds of our sex. I went deep, my mind and body feeling part of his, as if we were one.
He grabbed my chin and turned my head around to stare deep in my eyes as he slammed his cock home. “We’ve got all night to do this.”
I closed my eyes in ecstasy.
THE NEXT DAY neither of us wanted to get out of his warm bed, but by seven I was back at my place showering. Declan was skipping classes to go talk to his father. He’d been tense most of the morning and didn’t want to say why, so I let it go.
After my first class I had a small break so I went to the Tau house to see Blake. It was ten by then and most of the brothers were up stirring around from whatever Halloween debauchery they’d gotten into the night before.
I asked where Blake’s room was and made my way up the stairs. I knocked briefly and when no one answered, I eased into the darkened room. He’d pulled the shades down and then tugged the curtains all the way closed. I smirked. Preparing for the next day hangover?
I heard a grunt, and my eyes went straight to his bed. That was when I noticed he wasn’t alone. Long, curly red hair was splayed out, half on his pillow and half still under the covers. I froze and squinted to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. A girl’s arm popped out from the covers and I saw a ring I’d made.
Shelley and Blake? It seemed crazy, but then I remembered all the time they’d been spending together. Here at the house … the parties.
Neither had seen me yet, and I couldn’t stop the silly grin that spread across my face.
I eased back out of the room on tip-toes, not daring to call attention to myself or embarrass them, but I practically rubbed my hands together in glee when I thought about how I was going to surprise them both with my knowledge.
I clicked the door shut and left.
THAT AFTERNOON I finished my shift at the bookstore and headed back to the apartment. My mind and body yearned for Declan, but just as I pulled in the parking lot, he was pulling out, a passenger inside a Lexus with an older gentleman who was the spitting image of Declan and Dax. Father? Where were they going?
I debated on calling him and just then he sent me a text.
I love you so fucking much. I need you bad, but my father is demanding I go to dinner to talk money. I’ll be home soon.
But he wasn’t.
I waited for him. And waited.
At midnight, I gave up and went to bed, crawling beneath the cold sheets.
Where was he?
A METALLIC SOUND reached my ears. I looked around the dark bedroom, checking out the balcony door, but it was shut. It hadn’t come from that direction, I decided, my attention instead focusing on my bedroom door that led out into the apartment.
It came again, a gentle scraping noise.
I tried to put a name to it and decided it was like the sound someone makes when they scratch metal with a sharp object.
Declan? My heart warmed, and I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face.
The sound came again, this time sharp and clear as a bell, and a malign tingle went down my spine.
Something was wrong, very wrong.
I was fumbling around on the nightstand for my phone when the overhead light clicked on, blinding me.
I held my hands up to shield the light and blinked.
Gasped.
A hurricane ripped through my chest.
Colby.
His hands twitched, calling attention to a roll of duct tape and a small silver knife. His nose had a slight bend to it, testament to the night Declan had broken it.
He rushed me and I scrambled up to a sitting position, but my reactions were sluggish.
He lunged over me and I twisted away on my stomach, aiming for the end of the bed, but he caught my ankle and yanked me back. He flipped me over to my back and covered my mouth and most of my nose with his hand. “You were always a bit of a handful.”
I struggled and his grip tightened, the pressure against my mouth hard enough against my teeth that I tasted the copper.
He laughed, a jagged, breathless sound. “And don’t act so surprised to see me. After all, you sent your mom and her boyfriend to blackmail my father. Did you really think I was going to let that ride?” His nose flared, anger sparking in his gaze as he put his nose next to mine.
“You really should have called me back and talked to me. We might have been able to figure this whole thing out, but you didn’t, and now I have to talk to you in person.”
God help me, I couldn’t breathe. Not really. Small amounts of air sucked in and then rushed out of my nostrils. Dark spots danced in front of my eyes, and I clawed at his hands, my nails digging in to get some muscle, but he laughed and elbowed me in the ribs.
Whoosh.
The room spiraled.
He was going to kill me. Here in my bed. He was going to finish what he’d started two years ago.
My lungs burned, ready to explode.
My body ached for air. God, help me. Someone, please.
I whimpered and kicked up at him, trying to find purchase on his shoulders, his legs, anywhere. That didn’t work, so I tried to buck him off me, my hips still able to move.
He tsked and maneuvered me up on the bed and straddled my chest with his legs. “I’m going to take my hand off your mouth so you can breathe, but if you scream, I will knife you right here, do you understand?”
I nodded, fading fast, adrenaline the only thing keeping me awake.
He eased his hand back a millimeter at a time until finally I had more air.
I opened my mouth and gulped in fresh oxygen, filling my lungs.
Yes, air, air, air!
He shoved my chin up to close my mouth and slapped a piece of duct tape over my mouth as his other hand imprisoned my wrists.
I grunted, not able to move. My eyes watered. Death loomed.
Don’t give up! the girl inside me yelled. You did once. Never again.
I flailed around, using my elbows like Declan had taught me to knock him in the nose. He screamed in pain and pounced on me harder, using his knee to pin me in place on the bed. He fished around in his pocket and pulled out a zip tie and tied my wrists together. Sweat dripped from his face into my eye, and I cringed.
I sucked air in through my nose, imagining the picture I made, my wrists bound, a piece of duct tape across my face as I lay crosswise on my bed. Memories from another bed flew at me, things I didn’t want to remember.
Straightening his shoulders and rolling his neck, he paced around my room.
He wiped a shaky hand across his mouth. “I had plans, Elizabeth. Hell, I had plans for the good life and then you start calling Father and his assistant, telling them lies about us. You’re a little slut and you want to backtrack and tell everyone that I raped you.” He barked out a laugh. It was weird and off.
His eyes flared wide, the bloodshot veins like roadmaps. Was he high?
He crossed his arms. “Father called me all high and mighty and asked me all these crazy questions about you. He was already pissed at me for getting kicked out of school, you know, and his words to me were to ‘take care of it.’ Now, maybe that meant paying you off, but you see, I really think he meant for me to do whatever necessary to make sure your little story never reaches the papers or the police.”