Liar, that little voice that doesn’t mind any of this whispers.
“We can’t be with you every minute of the day.”
Thank heaven for that. I bite my lip to hold in that response.
Luke tips his head as he notices my lip. I release it and lift the apple to take a bite. Please be poisoned. At least my death will be quick.
Instead, the apple is sweet and light, unlike my current lunch companions.
“You’ll ride to school with one of us. Stay in the library and study while we have football practice. Be driven home or to wherever we require you to be after that.”
“Wherever you require me to be?” The words taste bitter on my tongue.
Luke’s smile is just a hint cruel as he leans on his elbows across the table toward me. “We own you, unicorn. You go where we want, when we want. You wear what we say and you do what we tell you to.”
My heart is pounding. I can almost feel the rest of the horsemen leaning in to hear my response. They take up all the air around me, sucking it from my lungs. I feel like a gazelle surrounded by wolves and I can’t see a way out of this.
“No.” The word bursts out of me. I can’t hold it in anymore. I set the apple down on the table and go to push myself back, but Eli’s hand goes to the back of my chair, holding me in place.
I swivel to glare at him, but he just calmly moves my apple in front of him.
Luke’s smile grows broader. Like he likes it when I’m defiant, like it gets him off. Noted. “What do you mean, no?”
Jack moves to the chair on my other side, sitting facing me and blocking me in at the same time. He might as well say checkmate.
“You can’t justownme.” There’s more to it, but I’m trapped and I really don’t want to put on a repeat performance for the students watching us. I’m pretty sure jeans wouldn’t cut it for Luke’s sadistic spankings. If he spanks me again, people will expect a spanking show every day. I’m not willing to provide our school with that much entertainment.
I want to run. I want to get as far away from these guys as I can before they take anything more from me. So far, they haven’t taken much. Nothing I can’t handle, but if they control where I can go…
My mind stutters to a halt.
Fuck, they could take me anywhere, and I’m supposed to shut up and go with four guys who have told me they want to fuck me. Yeah, I’m not that stupid. They’ll claim I didn’t try to get away. I chose to go with them. I’ll be trapped. They’ll keep taking from me until there’s nothing left.
“What are you scared of, kitten?” Eli’s almost gentle voice pulls me from the stare down with Luke.
I turn to face him. His brown eyes seem soft, but I’m not fooled by any of these guys. Their only loyalty is to each other. “I’m one girl against four guys. I’m guessing you can imagine what I’m afraid of.”
It’s not like they’re subtle about what they want from me. I just don’t know what all they want from me. How far are they willing to take this?
Eli captures a lock of my hair, and I wince, expecting a pull, but his fingers just drift softly down to the end. “Do you think we’ll force you?”
His brown eyes focus on mine. He’s not saying they won’t. He’s asking if I think they will. I glance around the table at these four guys. Again, no one has ever come out and called them rapists before. No gossip has ever been spread saying they forced someone. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t capable of it or they haven’t made the victim terrified of coming forward. Their fathers have deep pockets when it comes to keeping their sons out of trouble.
I return my gaze to Eli. Currently, he seems like the lesser evil of the group. “You guys aren’t exactly known for being nice guys.”
Jack trails his fingers up my arm, leaving sparks under my skin in his wake.
I jerk my gaze to him. His blue eyes capture me as he trails his fingers back down to my hand. This is a major problem. Their touch doesn’t repulse me. Not at all.
“Nothing will happen without your say-so.” Jack speaks the words with such conviction, but can I trust what he says? Can I trust what any of them say? Do I dare to?
Just yesterday, Luke swore not to touch me and then caressed my ass with his hand. So yeah, I’m not exactly going to trust what these boys are trying to sell me. They seem to want me submissive and willing.
“I don’t understand what you want from me.” That’s what frightens me the most. I don’t know the rules of the game they’re playing. How can I beat the game if I don’t know what to do to win? Do I win if I keep my virginity?
“We want to own you.” Luke’s strong voice pulls my attention back to him. “In return, we’ll protect you.”
“Protect me from what?” I raise an eyebrow. I’ll come back around to the owning part, but seriously? “The only people I’ve ever needed protecting from are you four.”
