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He fucks me slowly. Lovingly. Like he wants this to go on for as long as humanly possible.
Hot lips graze the back of my neck and it feels like my soul is being ripped in half.
I clench around him as my fingers dig into the sheets. “More.”
Drake releases a throaty curse and finally moves like he is losing that fine edge of control. Shattering pleasure claims me hard enough that stars dance across my vision.
He comes with a shout, weight pressing against my back as he collapses against me. His arms push under my body to press me closer to him as he rolls us on our sides. We cuddle like that, neither of us speaking because there isn’t anything left to say.
I feel warm. Protected. The monsters in the dark can’t get past through the circle of his arms. Our breathing slows, matching inhales and exhales as we lie together in the dark.
Eventually we have to face the world. But for just a minute, I can almost convince myself that this story has a happy ending.
Chapter Sixteen
“How the fuck did she get away?”
All the seniors are in the living room while Brady paces in front of the unlit fireplace and rages at us. Nolan and Cole are seated on the couch while I slouch in an ancient wing-backed chair. Vaughn leans against the wall with most of his weight resting on his crutches. He doesn’t like to sit because of how hard it is for him to get up again. The others are spread around the room, leaning, balancing on bar stools pulled out of the kitchen.
“Idiots.”
There’s some grumbling at that. The mood is as annoyed as it is somber. None of us are used to being treated like naughty schoolboys in our own house, especially by someone who was one of us only a few months ago.
If Brady notices the angry looks that he’s getting, it doesn’t seem to bother him.
“I didn’t realize I was dealing with children,” Brady continues, voice mocking.
It certainly didn’t take long for him to drop the cool guy act. His suit is rumpled and his hair sticks up in every direction as he pushes his hand through it, the movement frustrated.
Apparently, the stress is getting to him.
“Most of you didn’t even stay out there until dawn. You can’t call it the Gauntlet if we give up chasing pledges after an hour,” Brady snaps, his voice rising in pitch. “I’ve never seen a more pathetic group of seniors in my damn life.”
“I don’t know what you think we were supposed to do. It was dark and freezing. I’m not going to spend all night running around outside.” Cole slouches on the couch with his arm laid over the back, expression pouting. “I was freezing my nuts off out there, man.”
Brady glares around the room, gaze lingering on me for a brief second before moving on. “Olivia Pratt is making all of you look like fools. You know that, right?”
“You didn’t catch up to her either,” Nolan grumbles. He eyes the bar on the other side of the room, but seems to think better of making himself a drink in the middle of a lecture.
“I’m not the one hoping to get Initiated,” Brady snaps back. “Drake was the only one who stayed out as long as I did, the rest of you were worthless.”
All the pledges made it back to the house before dawn because the seniors had their attention focused on finding Evangeline. It wasn’t difficult for me to sneak back out through the storm drain and meet up with Brady like I’d been searching the woods all night.
“Olivia isn’t going down easy, that’s been obvious for a while.” I hold Brady’s gaze when it swings back to me. The wooden spokes of my chair are hard against my back, but I resist the urge to shift into a more comfortable position. “The Gauntlet was never going to be enough.”
“I guess you would know.” Brady holds my gaze for another second before he looks away to glare around the room. “The rest of you need to step it the fuck up if you want any chance of still being a part of Havoc House after graduation.”
Cole looks like he swallowed something sour. “This is bullshit.”
Brady gives him a dangerous look. “Watch your mouth.”
“You need to watch your shit, Brady. Olivia Pratt only became a problem because of something that happened when you were a senior.” Cole looks angrier than I’ve ever seen him, and he isn’t someone who gets angry easily. “I’m wondering if you’re here to clean up the mess that you made, might explain why you’re trying so hard.”
The look on Brady’s face is downright dangerous as he faces off with Cole. “What the fuck did you just say?”
I fully expect Cole to back down, but he just crosses burly arms over his chest and leans back.
“I think you heard me,” he says.
