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“I thought you’d learnt the rules by now, sweetheart. If I say we’re staying in this room until we graduate, that’s what we’re doing,” I tell her.

She looks like she’s about to argue, but before she gets herself into trouble, my phone pings. Removing it from my pocket, I curse when I see who the text is from.

After I’ve finished reading the message, I let out a long sigh as I place the phone back into my pocket, suddenly feeling incredibly twitchy and anxious. To distract myself, I wrap my hand around the back of Harper’s neck, before grabbing hold of her hair, and tilting her head back to meet my gaze once more.

“Luck appears to be on your side, sweetheart. I have to go to a meeting with my father, so you can go to class,” I say, before leaning down and pressing a kiss to her neck, loving the feel of her fluttering pulse beneath my lips.

When Harper replies, the confidence she mustered before is long gone, and her voice trembles as she stutters over her words. “Th-thank you. B-But…I-I don’t… I don’t have any clothes.”

I let go of her hair and take a step back, trying to cast my mind back to a few nights ago to remember what I did with her dress. Once I’m no longer in close proximity to her, Harper pulls in a ragged breath, and once again tries to steel her nerves to seem less affected by me.

“You cut the dress off me as soon as we got back from the ceremony. I’ve been naked ever since,” she tells me, pointing to the scraps of white fabric on the floor in the far corner of the room.

My smile grows as memories of that moment flash in my mind, reminding me of the terror in her eyes as I slid my blade against her delicate flesh. “I remember. Don’t worry, I’ll find you something.”

I head straight for my walk-in closet, and once I’m inside, I look around to see what would work best. Then I spot the black hoodie I was wearing the other day, thrown over the back of the chair, and I quickly grab it, offering it to Harper.

She reaches out and accepts the hoodie, her brows pulling together as she looks at it in confusion. “Is this it? Surely you have something else for me to wear with it?”

My fingers brush against her arm as I snatch the soft, worn hoodie from her grasp. With my other hand, I grip her hip and pull her close. She lets out a startled yelp as I slide the hoodie over her head. As she guides her arms into the waiting sleeves, she takes a deep breath against the fabric, obviously inhaling my scent.

The fabric falls over her perfect body, and I straighten it before taking a small step back, admiring all of her. My cock twitches in approval at the way she looks, like she’s drowning in my top. It’s far too big on her, the bottom reaching well below her mid-thigh, almost the same length as the dress she wore.

Seeing her in my clothes does something to me that I’ve never experienced before, and I can’t get over how fucking sexy she looks, despite the large hoodie hiding all of her curves. But I know they’re there, hidden beneath something that smells entirely of me.

“It’s the same length as your dress. In fact, you’re probably more covered up,” I tell her, whilst mentally working out if I can fuck her once more without being late to meet my father. I already know the answer is no, but she’s so tempting.

She places her hand on her hip, cocking it once more as she says, “Lawson, I can’t go out like this. I’m not wearing any underwear.”

With a menacing step, I bend down until my lips are close enough to whisper in her ear. “If you’d rather, I can leave you tied up here in nothing but a ball-gag.”

She pulls back, the scent of her perfume momentarily filling the air as she stares at me. Her pupils dilate in a silent gasp when she realises how serious I am.

Before I agreed she could go to class, I considered whether I should tie her to my bed and leave her here, naked and waiting for me to return. Now I’m reconsidering it, and it sounds like a fucking great idea.

Harper lets out a huff as she scowls at me. “Fine, I can go like this.”

“Good girl,” I tell her before pressing my lips to her cheek. “Wait here while I get ready.”

She takes a seat on the bed, and I quickly rush around, getting ready to leave. Luckily, I had a shower earlier, so I just need to freshen up and get dressed. As I pull on my dark jeans, black T-shirt, and grey hoodie, I can feel Harper’s eyes tracking my every move.

I keep my eyes fixed ahead, so she won’t feel awkward about being caught checking me out. I want her to be attracted to me, to crave my touch, and I sure as shit won’t let her feel ashamed of it.

I stop in front of the mirror and run my fingers through my hair in a failed attempt to tame it. It looks like I’ve spent the weekend getting fucked, and refuses to be straightened, so I quickly pull on a baseball cap backwards, hoping that will flatten it down enough to be presentable by the time I get to my father’s.

Once I’m ready, I hold out my hand to Harper, and as she slides her fingers into mine, I have to hide the shock I feel when it’s almost like my palm is tingling from being in contact with hers. I wonder if she feels it too, as she sucks in a soft gasp, but quickly covers it with a cough.

I try not to think about it too much as I lead Harper through Crowhurst House, heading straight for the front door. As it’s Monday morning, the house is much busier than normal, with everyone getting ready to head to class. Or some making the walk of shame, having spent the weekend at the house following the Gifting Ceremony celebrations.

I can feel everyone’s eyes on us, and I pull Harper closer, wanting to shield her from their lecherous gazes. If anyone lingers for even a second too long, I might pull the blade from my back pocket and stab someone in the eye.

Fuck, when did I become this overprotective? Then again, she’s mine, and I don’t like to share.

Harper doesn’t just allow me to pull her closer; she actually nestles against my side, as if she’s using me as a shield, and I almost puff my chest out with pride that she trusts me enough to take care of her.

As we walk through the large entrance hall, the front door within our sights, we’re frozen in our tracks by a loud, high-pitched voice that can be heard over all the others.

“Well, look what we have here. It’s a dirty whore, looking thoroughly fucked and used,” Tillie squeals as she rushes over to stand in front of us, her ridiculously high heels making an awful clicking noise on the hardwood floors.