I listen to the breathy sounds and moans coming from the other room.
Someone in there is having a hell of an amazing time.
WHACK!
The whip comes down so hard I moan out loud. It burns and stings my skin and makes my cock burst with need. Fuck.
But my body … God, my body can’t take it anymore.
“Enough,” I mutter, breathing out heavy breaths.
“I’m not done yet,” Nathan barks.
My knees almost cave in on me. “I can’t … Banana.”
Nathan growls but throws the whip aside anyway.
I sink to the floor and lie in a puddle of my own sweat, blood, and tears. A smile slowly erupts on my face. Every inch of my body is doused in tingles and happiness, like lightning zinging through my pores.
“Even now … you’re still smiling?” he asks.
“You know I love it.”
Nathan scoops me up from the floor and takes me out of the cage, settling me down on the couch. He grabs some ointment from the top shelf and rubs it into my skin. I hiss from the pain.
“Does it hurt a lot?” he asks.
“It’s fine,” I answer. “I can handle it.”
“You were too late calling out the stop word,” he says.
“I know,” I reply, smiling.
He sits down beside me on the black velvet couch. “Then why didn’t you?”
“I know you needed it.” I rub my lips together. “You needed the release more than I needed to quit.”
He suddenly pulls me close and wraps his arms around me, hugging me tight.
And it’s all I need to pull through.
I know his pain, this need to hurt, the anguish in his heart, and I’m willing to take all of it.
“I can take your pain,” I say. “What I can’t take is your regret.”
He pushes me away again and tips up my chin. “Thank you.”
His forehead leans against mine, and honestly, it’s moments like these that make it all worth it.
Suddenly, someone unlocks our door and steps inside.
There’s only one guy here with a key to this room.
“I hate to break up the private party you guys have going on in here,” Kai says, “but you know there’s a hole in the wall, right?”
Nathan just stares at him, indifferent. “So?”
Kai leans against the doorframe. “Someone was watching.”
Nathan shrugs. “Let them. I don’t care. Do you?” he asks me.
I smirk. “Fuck no. Maybe they got off on the violence.”
When I think about it, I already get hard, and looking at Nathan, so does he.
“O…kay.” Kai swallows away the lump in his throat. “And you don’t want to know who it was?”
“Why? Is it important?” Nathan throws him a glare.
“Um…” Kai pauses, and my brow rises from how he fumbles with his words. He never fumbles. “No, not particularly. Anyway, did you guys find enough goods?”
Grinning, I get up, but Nathan grabs my wrist. “Whoa, you’re not nearly steady enough to walk yet.”
“I know my limits,” I reply, and he releases me. “It’s fine.” I walk off to the closet and shove my key inside, opening it up as Kai walks closer. “Ta-daaa! I present to you the loot.”
Kai rolls his eyes. “It’s not an online game, Milo.”
“Felt like raiding to me,” I retort, grasping a stack of the credit cards I stole from the wardrobe section. “This has to be worth at least a couple of thousand. And we’ve got stacks.”
“They’re gonna ask questions downstairs, you know,” Nathan says.
“While they just got wasted?” Kai scoffs. “I doubt it.”
Nathan gets up from the couch. “Eventually. If not tonight, then tomorrow.”
“Hey … we’re doing this for you,” Kai says, eyeing him.
“I know,” he replies, swallowing his pride. “Thank you.”
“Yeah, you don’t have to worry,” I say, throwing my arm around his neck. “We’ve got you. You’re our boy.”
“Not my boy,” Kai says, winking. “But he can sleep here.”
“So are we done for tonight then, or do we need to collect more?” I ask.
Nathan turns to me. “You’ve done enough.”
“Fuck no,” I say. “I’d rather stay ahead of those threats.”
“I think this will be just enough to ward them off,” Kai says, counting the money. “For now.”
Nathan breathes a sigh of relief.
“Go enjoy the party before everyone finds out their cash is gone,” he adds, and he stuffs it all back into the closet and closes it, tucking the key into his pocket. “I’ll see you all later.”
“Where are you going?” I ask as he casually strolls out the door.
He lowers his mask over his eyes again. “I’ve got a … rendezvous with a particularly interesting friend.”
Lana
“Lana, I’ve been looking all over for you,” Irina says.
I pull my pillow away from my face and look at her, but her words doesn’t really register.
“Have you been here the entire night while we were out partying?” she asks, leaning against the doorjamb.
Well … yes. After what happened, I didn’t know where else to go, so I came straight to the sorority and hopped under the shower. But no amount of rinsing can get rid of this taste in my mouth.
“Sorry, I had to leave. Felt dizzy so I came back to my room to crash,” I lie.
But I don’t want her to know that someone on this campus knows I’m a killer.
And that he used me in exchange for his silence.
“You feeling okay?” she asks, sounding concerned.
“Yeah,” I reply, smiling as I tuck my hair behind my ear. My hand briefly lingers near the missing ribbon, and I swallow away the lump in my throat. That fucker has two of them now.
I wonder if she’ll notice.
“I can fix you something to drink if you want,” she says. “Or get you an ibuprofen.”
“I just need some rest,” I say. “I had a good time, though. Thank you.” I clear my throat. “Did you dance with a lot of guys? Snatch some hot dude to make out with?”
“Oh yeah, some hot guy started dancing with me halfway through the night.” She kicks off her heels and holds them with two fingers. “He was so fucking ripped that I had a hard time keeping my hands to myself.”
I smirk. “A successful night, then.”
“God, it was so good. I’m just missing my fur coat, but I don’t care. I’ll see if I can get it tomorrow. I’m way too drunk to care.” She giggles. “All I can think of is that dude with his hot suit.”
Suit.
My veins grow icy cold.
“Well, anyway, good night!” She sashays off, stumbling through the hallway as I turn around and face the ceiling, hearing my own heartbeat in my ears.
Fuck.
It must’ve been one of them. A suited-up guy is too much of a coincidence. No way any of the other students here at Spine Ridge would show up to an informal party wearing one. Was it one of his friends, or was it him? Did he see me dancing with Irina and Brooke and decide to go after them instead to get information about me?
“Fuck,” I mutter, punching the bed, but it doesn’t reduce my anger by even a little, so I grab my pillow and scream into it.
Some fucker out there knows exactly who I am and that I kill people for fun. And not only that, he fucking used it against me and turned me into a wet puddle with my own fucking knife.
It feels like the entire ceiling is caving in on me.
Why? Fucking why?
All I wanted was an outlet. I’m the princess of the family, the one who needs to excel, the one who’s supposed to take over my father’s grand business because he deems my brother irresponsible. He chose this college, not me. I was just here to study and be steamrolled into the company.
I just needed the release.
This one part of me that no one has to know about.
And now they do.
Sighing, I get out of bed and march downstairs toward the kitchen to grab a chocolate bar, munching on it until it’s all gone.
“Wow, and I thought you wanted to lose weight,” Jason says.
I frown when he steps into the kitchen, still wearing that white mask he got at the party. I threw mine in the trash immediately when I got home.
“How’d you get in here?” I ask.
“Hey, Lana!” Brooke waves from the hallway, her lipstick smeared and one of her broken heels in her hand.
“Well, that explains it,” I mutter, and I take another bite.
“Where were you? You disappeared on us out of nowhere,” Jason says, lifting the mask so it’s on top of his head.
“I’m gonna go upstairs and crash. G’night!” Brooke yells from the hallway.
“I was exploring the Phantom building,” I say.
“And? Did you find something interesting?”
“Nope,” I lie.
Not gonna bother him with the nitty-gritty details, especially not when I’m still trying to keep up that good-princess persona I have going for me.
“Bummer. I’d hoped skipping out on more dancing with me would’ve been worth your trouble,” he muses as he plants his hands on the counter beside me, trapping me. “Because I definitely missed you.”
“Did you, now?” I muse, raising a brow as I put my hands around his waist.
“We don’t need a party or the music to dance.” He lowers his mask again.
I snort. “Why are you still wearing that?”
“I like it,” he replies. “Doesn’t it make me look sexy?” I giggle as he puts my hair behind my ear, his hand lingering to cup my face. “And I don’t need to dance at a party to know I want to kiss you.”
As his lips touch mine, a memory flashes through my mind of the guy in the suit licking the rim of my ear, making me turn away. God, that fucker has already invaded my mind.
“Something wrong?” Jason asks.
I pick up a wineglass and take out the bottle of wine from the cupboard. “It’s just that I realized I haven’t even gotten drunk tonight. And I don’t want to be the only sober person on campus right now.” I pour in the entire glass and chug it down.
“Well, pour me some too, then.” Jason grins as he slides a glass across the counter. I fill it up and hand it back.
“There you go.”
“Thanks,” he says, and he takes a sip.
I chug mine down in one go. “Another one.”
“You’re really going for it, aren’t you?” he muses.
“Yup,” I reply, feeling miserable.
I grab my chocolate bar and take another big bite to ease the tension. “I … Let’s just go upstairs.”
“Your bed? No way I’m gonna say no to that.” He puts down his glass, grabs me, and drags me away so fast I drop the chocolate on the counter.
“No! My chocolate.”
“I’ll give you something better.” He winks.
Oh boy.
