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Don’t you remember me, $ugar Doll? I was your first.
That asshole. My desire for Asher transforms into only hate as I ball up the paper in my fist. I’m not going to deal with his shit for the next four years. I yank the door open, and Hudson is in the hallway between Asher’s room and mine. He looks startled to see me and turns around, heading for my door.
Smirking like a jerk, he says, “Were you waiting up for me?”
“It’s you sending me these messages.” I hold up the crumpled-up paper. But when he narrows his eyes to read it, I pull it away quickly. “You know what you wrote.”
His face displays his confusion. “What did I write?”
I step into my room, holding the door open for him to enter. If the hall is going to listen, they’ll have to make an effort and stick their ears to the wall.
My finger is in his face. “You’ve been sending me fucked-up messages since the day I arrived on campus, and you better stop.”
“Oh, that is so lame. It’s not even bullshit.” His scoff turns into an infuriating smile. “I have not been sending you secret messages. Didn’t I tell you to your face what I thought of you?”
He did. “I don’t believe you,” I snap as I cling to my anger. “You’re stalking me, and it will stop tonight.”
Hudson’s gaze hardens on my face, and too late, I realize that maybe it isn’t a good idea to let him inside my room. For all I know, it could have been anyone, and now he knows too much. I try to walk past him, but he grabs my upper arm, holding on tight. Hudson pulls my face near his, and I have no choice but to lean into his body for balance. I feel his physical strength, and it makes me feel emotionally weak. Hudson cares fiercely for his family, and I wish I had that again. Someone to protect me.
Gradually, I lift my eyes to his, and I hold back the tears. His expression softens as he stares at my hopelessness. I want to shout in his face that it has nothing to do with him. It’s just me remembering what I’ve lost and won’t get back.
“It wasn’t me,” his voice is low but not tender, “and don’t try this shit again. It isn’t over.”
“It wasn’t my fault.” I try to pull out of his tightening grip. “I don’t control Howland. I’m sorry, but I’ve lost too.”
Hudson watches me with a quizzical look that lowers to my parted lips. My breathing is too ragged to control. His hand tightens until he pulls me into a kiss. My mind goes blank as his lips press down harder and hungrier than before. He wants to destroy me, and the possibility increases his desire as he wraps me in his arms. Craving power, I part my lips wider, and he slips in his tongue as I hold onto him, feeling the strength in his arms. I want to be strong, but the only way I can is through control.
I press against him, tempting him to want me so bad that he won’t destroy me. I’ll make him helpless, and he won’t be able to do anything but want me. His body stiffens, and I let him pull back. There’s a cruel look in his eyes, as if I have tricked him. And he only realizes it now. Like a defiant child, he wipes his mouth on his sleeve.
“Nothing’s changed,” he snarls as he grabs the door. “You think you can make me forget. It’s not over, Charlotte. It won’t be over until Howland owns up to it.”
Chapter 24
Asher
It’s been a couple of weeks since the exams, and Hudson keeps pushing his luck and striking my buttons. Does he really expect me to learn and not memorize it long enough for the exam? Fuck him. It’s just an excuse to bait me into a fight. First, Hudson will quiz me on random facts, no matter where we are or what we’re doing. Then he sneers and hits me for getting it wrong. The dumbass is pounding on my triggers, and I’m not going to put up with this shit. I left home because I resented being the whipping boy.
Hudson hits me again when I tell him the answer to his question is your mother, you fucker. Jaxon grabs hold of my fist before I plow it into Hudson’s sneering face.
“Better get used to it, my boy.” Hudson laughs. “And don’t ever mention my mother again. You don’t know anything about that because you were hatched.”
Hudson doesn’t know that he sounds like my uncle. He doesn’t know that my vision is turning red, and I’m counting down to going off. “I’ll take you out if you do that again,” I tell him. My tone is serious as hell.
“Biker boy.” He scoffs and then looks at Jaxon. “And the man-ho.” He laughs too loud. “I wonder what the girls in the dorm call me?”
“Pencil dick,” I smirk.
His smile drops fast. “You talk to Charlotte?” Hudson asks.
“Nah, I took an educated guess.” I glance at his crotch and then laugh.
We three are hanging out on the Alphas’ porch with outdoor heaters blasting to keep our feet from freezing into meat popsicles. Though Sam says we can hang out inside the house, we don’t belong in there yet. I don’t want to get too comfortable in someone else’s house, so that’s why I stay out here. I don’t know why Jaxon and Hudson don’t go. They fit in more than I do.
“You should dial it back, Hud,” warns Jaxon. “I might not be around next time to stop him.”
“Ash won’t take me out.” He waves it off as if we were playing. “Besides, he dishes it out ice cold.”
I smirk, hunching over my takeout burrito. “You got that right, my MF bro.”
