When I get out of class, I immediately head into the girl’s bathroom and lock myself inside. My heart is still racing from that encounter with Blaine.
They’ll never stop until they have what they want.
Me.
I can still hear him say the words out loud, and they make me shiver.
I close my eyes and take a breather, squeezing my own knees until they hurt.
You can do this, Crystal.
You promised Dad.
I nod and take one last breath before I pick up my bag again and exit my stall. A girl with pretty long black hair applies bright red lipstick in front of the mirror.
I wash my hands and splash my face with some cold water.
“Rough day, huh?” she muses.
“You don’t even want to know,” I mutter.
I don’t know her, but I guess she can sense my unease.
“If it’s boys bothering you, I always make sure they get exactly what they give,” she says, winking at me through the mirror. “You can do this.”
“Thanks,” I say, smiling.
She sticks out her hand. “Lana.”
“Oh, hey. You’re Felix’s sister, right?” I say.
She frowns. “How’d you know?”
“His girlfriend, Penelope, she’s my friend. She’s dropped your name once or twice.”
A smirk forms on her face. “Did she now? Hope it was good.”
“Oh yeah, she called you a tough bitch not to be messed with.”
She laughs. “Sounds about right.” She holds out her lipstick. “Here. Put this on. Makes you feel like you can conquer the world.”
I stare at the lipstick for a second before I pull it out of the cap.
“Promise,” she adds.
Maybe it’s worth a try.
I put it on in the mirror and rub my lips together.
“See?” She stands behind me and then puts my hair in front of my shoulders instead of behind. “A queen in the making.”
I hand her back the lipstick, and she tucks it into her purse. “Destroy their hearts before they kill yours,” she says, winking. “Good luck.”
She leaves the bathroom while I take one more moment to admire the girl in the mirror.
This is me.
I’m me in all my beauty, pain, and endless devotion.
And no boy will ever take that away from me.
With my head held high, I march out of the bathroom to the cafeteria where I know they’ll be. It’s lunchtime, and guys like them always hang out with the popular crowd, so I know they must be in there.
When I walk through the doors, I pause and look around. My eyes settle on a group of guys sitting at a far too large table in middle of the room with just the three of them. And my heart immediately begins to pound.
One of them wears a white cotton tank top that’s almost see-through, and he laughs as his tongue darts out to lick his piercing, just one of many that adorn his face and tattooed body. Another one leans back against his seat, his chiseled face almost angelic as he brushes aside his long black hair off his black skull shirt. And then we have the most devious of them all; a black-haired guy with a sharp nose and equally sharp eyes, veins protruding through his skin as he leans into the table to explain something, his black shirt half-open at the top.
It’s them. Those Tartarus boys that make all the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
They’re just chatting away like nothing ever happened between us. Like they didn’t threaten me because I saw them kill.
I just know it was one of them who stained my window with cum.
Was it a threat?
I swallow away the lump in my throat and head for the boys, knowing full well I’m walking straight into the lion’s den. The closer I get, the more that same aura of darkness falls over me, and I bury my hand in my pocket to fumble with the knife like it’s my only lifeline.
I march up close to their table and clear my throat. They only stop talking when I plant my hand on the edge of the table. Only Caleb and Blaine look at me even though I’m right in front of Ares, who’s seated to my left. He’s clearly ignoring me.
“Uh-oh,” Blaine mutters, a smile slowly forming as he shoves Caleb with his elbow.
After I’ve gathered my courage, I say, “One of you was at my dorm.”
Caleb tilts his head, a daring look on his face. “Are you accusing us of something?”
My eyes narrow. “One of you knows what they did.”
“Oh boy,” Blaine says, snorting. “This is going to get juicy.”
Caleb leans back so far his ripped abs become visible underneath his white cotton tank top, and they make me do a double take. “Say it then. What did one of us do?”
I swallow, a blush creeping up on my cheeks. If I say it out loud, everyone will hear.
“You left … cum on my window.”
A wild smile forms on Caleb’s face, and Blaine laughs. “What?”
“Don’t deny it,” I say. “One of you three did it. I’m sure.”
Blaine leans into his own hand as he perches his elbow on the table. “That’s a wild accusation, pretty jewel.”
Jewel.
My heart almost stops beating.
I haven’t heard anyone say that word in such a long time. And I hate that it’s coming from his mouth.
“Crystal,” I tell him.
“I know.” He smiles coyly at me, and for some reason, it makes me blush.
I should not be blushing at these guys, shit.
“And what makes you think we did that?” he adds.
Am I going to say it?
“Because … it was right after the Phantom party. And you guys threatened me not to—”
Suddenly, Ares grabs my wrist, fingers digging into my skin as he finally looks up at me with those bright, devilish eyes.
“Not another word.”
His menacing look makes me cower in my boots, and I almost instantly regret coming here to confront them.
I don’t even know which one of them it was. They won’t tell me, obviously.
But I need them to know … I won’t go down without a fight.
“I told you to be careful,” Blaine mutters, licking his lips.
“You want to do this here?” Ares’s low voice makes goose bumps scatter on my skin. “Fine. Have it your way.”
Suddenly, he tears me away from the table with one big swoop and pulls me toward him. I can’t even react, let alone fight him off. It all happens so fast.
One second, I’m standing my ground against them …
And the next, he’s got me pinned to his lap.
His actual freaking lap.
And he wraps one arm around my belly while the other snakes up my neck to my mouth, preventing me from making a sound.
“I warned you not to speak about it,” he whispers. “And I make good on my threats.”
He presses me into his body, and I can feel all the rock-hard abs behind his black T-shirt while his fingers splay against my belly. All the courage I gathered in the bathroom instantly dissipates while panic takes over.
“Now tell me again why you are here,” Ares murmurs into my ear.
When my lips part, his hand slowly dips into my white skirt from underneath, and I can barely breathe.
With his hand on my mouth, I can’t even squeak as he rubs me right through my panties. “Go on. Say it.”
This is insane. He’s literally playing with me in the cafeteria, in front of all these people.
“You think one of us soiled your window?” he muses, flicking his index finger back and forth. “Yet you deliver no proof.”
I whimper as he applies more pressure, trying so hard not to let anyone notice what he’s doing. But he’s going faster and faster while his hand keeps pushing me further into him until I can feel his bulge poking in my ass.
I can’t let him do this. I have to stop this.
I reach into my pocket, but the second I do, he swiftly takes his hand off my mouth and grasps my wrist.
“Ah-ah, little rose, don’t even try,” he whispers. “You’re mine now.”
“Why are you doing this?” I say.
“You tried to expose me in front of everyone here,” he answers, his fingers lifting up from my panties only to slide them aside. “So now I will expose you.”
My lips part, but nothing except a suppressed whimper escapes as his fingers slip into my wetness, and I can’t freaking breathe.
How is this happening right now?
“So tell me, girl, how do you know what it was?” he asks, circling around my slit. “Did you feel it?” His sharp nose rests against my neck, hot breath fanning the flames of the fire being stoked in my body. “Did you taste it?” I can feel him grin.
Caleb licks his lip and bites on his piercing. “How did it taste, little slut?”
“You’re sick,” I hiss.
But Ares only applies more pressure with his fingers, making it hard for me to focus on what they’re saying as the lust courses through my body.
“Don’t make a sound,” Ares whispers. “Unless you want everyone to hear you moan.”
“Don’t be shy. Tell us how you came to the conclusion,” Blaine muses. “I’d love to know.”
“It obviously looked like cum,” I answer.
Ares’s shaft twitches against my ass, and I can feel it grow harder and harder, even when I thought it couldn’t get any bigger. Oh God.
No wonder he warned me to fear him.
“You think you know what our cum looks like?” Caleb muses.
Blaine sticks his finger into his dessert and licks it straight off his finger. “Interesting.”
“You’re messing with me,” I say.
“No …” Ares says, his dark voice lulling me into slow and gradual despair as I’m forced to face my own arousal from his fingers rolling around down there. “You’re the one playing with a god.”
A god?
The arrogance.
I—
Suddenly, he exposes my most sensitive spot and touches the tip, and an actual moan leaves my mouth.
I swiftly cover my mouth with my hand to prevent other noises from spilling out. But the damage is already done because I can definitely see the arrogant grins on Caleb’s and Blaine’s faces.
“I warned you, you would fear the day you would get your first orgasm from me,” Ares whispers, his fingers expertly teasing me, circling around until it almost feels like I’m going up a roller coaster of sexual ecstasy. “I’ll make you wish you never looked at me.”
He flicks his finger across my nub over and over in a way that I’ve never felt before, not even by my hand.
What is this? How is he doing this?
I can’t even think straight. That’s how consumed I am with what he’s doing to me. What he did before during the party was only a mere tease compared to this.
And it’s just his hand.
I can only imagine what his dick can do.
It prods into my ass, and I realize just how thin the layer of fabric is between us. The thought nearly drives me insane.
I should not be thinking about him like this at all.
What is wrong with me?
Ever since he touched me at that Phantom party, I’ve been unable to touch myself without thinking of him, and now he’s forcing me to go there again, with his fingers swiveling back and forth.
All in broad daylight, in front of everyone here.
And he won’t stop.
“Wait,” I mutter, feeling the rush as I go higher and higher toward that cliff.
“No,” he hisses, going faster and faster until my whole body zings with need.
The edge of no return … and it’s too late to stop.
My body tenses up against his, and when his lips drag along the back of my neck, I nearly faint from the amount of arousal coursing through my veins.
Oh God. I don’t want to do this in front of all these people.
His lips quirk up into a smile.
Suddenly, he pulls away, leaving me on that edge, desperate and ready to plead.
“What …” I mutter, confused.
His hand splays against my thigh, fingers still wet, a reminder of what he just managed to do to me.
“How does it feel to be brought to the brink of destruction by a god?” he murmurs. “Does it make you want to plead and beg for mercy?”
I’m writhing in place from the mounting orgasm waiting to be unleashed, but he’s leaving me hanging, just like before, and I’m about ready to pull the knife from my pocket and jam it into his chest.
But then I’d be branded a murderer … In front of all these people.
He grins against my neck. “Then beg.”
“F-fuck you,” I say through gritted teeth.
He releases my wrist, only to shove two fingers so far inside my mouth that I gag. “Bite, and I will rip these panties to shreds and fuck you right here on this very table.”
My heart begins to race at the idea of his length slamming into me.
“Now suck.”
“I can’t,” I growl back.
He slaps my thigh so hard I squeeze my legs together.
“Suck.”
I do what he says, but only because I have no choice. I can still feel the sting of his hand and my own desire pooling between my legs.
But the groan that emanates from his body nearly makes me explode without even being touched.
“How does she suck?” Caleb asks, licking his bottom lip. “Like a good little slut?”
Holy shit. A slut? What is wrong—
My thoughts short-circuit when Ares’s tongue draws a line from my hairline to my collar. “Better.”
Caleb groans too, and his hand dives underneath the table. I can only imagine what he’s doing down there, and I gulp when he narrows his eyes at me, watching me intently as Ares’s dips his fingers in and out of my mouth.
I cough when he finally pulls them out. “Every time you deny me, I will make you remember to fear me. Understood?”
I shudder in place as his hand slides down my chin and curls around my throat, squeezing enough to remind me not to reach for my knife.
“Do you want me to have a hard-on in the middle of the cafeteria?” Blaine murmurs at Ares. “Because it’s too late now.”
“Take care of it later,” Ares growls. “I want to prove a point here.”
His hand that was on my thigh slowly trickles down my legs again and slips underneath my panties, causing a wave of desire to flood my body.
“You’ve thought of me, haven’t you?” he whispers. “You fantasized about these fingers dipping in and out of you just like that night at the Phantoms. Admit it.”
“No.”
That’s a hard lie.
But I couldn’t possibly admit to myself that I tried to finish myself off after he left me hanging and couldn’t. Let alone the fact that I could never admit it to them.
Caleb grins like he knows more about it than I want him to. Is it that visible on my face?
“You’re a terrible liar,” Caleb muses.
“F-fuck—”
Before I can finish my sentence, Ares sinks his teeth into my shoulder, but he stops right before he punctures me in the same spot as before.
“You remembered me,” he says. “I can feel you tense up.” His fingers pause despite my body wishing he’d continue. “Terrified I might bite you again?”
“I don’t fear anyone,” I say through gritted teeth.
“No? Let’s see if you can still sport that smile after I’m done with you.” He teases me so much I’m beginning to sweat. I look around at the people walking by, wondering if they notice or can even be bothered by what these boys are doing. But I’m too far gone to even care anymore, as the arousal takes over my body.
“That’s it. Feel that need coiling around your heart?” he whispers. “The one that begs for you to let go and give in to me?”
“No,” I say through gritted teeth, staring at Caleb, who’s still rubbing himself in front of me.
“Liar.” Ares rolls the tip of his finger around my entrance, making me yearn for it, and I hate it. But he won’t give it to me. “I can taste your fucking fear on your skin, Crystal.”
“I’m not afraid,” I hiss back, trying to ignore the swirls of his finger as he coaxes out my wetness.
“No? Are you not terrified to show everyone in this room just how badly you want to come?” He pulls away and leaves me feeling bereft. “Because you will. You will show all these people what it looks like when you fall apart. Your only choice is how loud you’ll be.”
He swirls around my nub again, making it thump with need, and I’m so close to falling apart that I clutch the table in front of me, trying to keep it together.
His hard-on bobs up and down against my ass, and he moans into my ear. “Now, what’s it going to be, little rose? Are you going to come for me? Or should I fuck it out of you?”
Oh God, no. Please, anything but that.
“God, this is too hot,” Blaine murmurs, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down.
“We’re watching you,” Caleb muses, biting his lip as he jerks off underneath the table. “Do you want others to look at your pussy too?”
“No,” I swiftly respond, barely able to focus on his voice because of what Ares is doing to me.
Ares’s raspy voice almost pulls me over the edge. “Then beg.”
I can’t. I can’t take it anymore.
“Please …”
He’s already pushed me beyond what I can handle.
“Please, what?”
I’m falling apart at the seam.
“Please … let me come.”
The groan he lets loose makes me shiver in place.
He pulls out his left hand, releases my throat, and dips his right hand between my legs, shoving my panties aside so he can finger me.
Oh my God. All this time, he was toying with me with his non-dominant hand?
Just a couple of flicks is all it takes for me to reach the peak.
I shove my own two fingers into my mouth and bite down as I come so hard I nearly squeal out loud.
My head tilts up as the lights on the ceiling turn into stars in my eyes, my whole body feeling like it just floated away into space.
Good God, I don’t want it to stop.
Ares slows his pace, and it’s almost like I’m being dragged from heaven by the devil himself.
He pulls out of my panties and grasps my fingers, tearing them away from my mouth, only to bring them to his. I’m too shocked to even react as he licks off the blood with a wicked grin on his face.
He leans in to whisper, “You will never have enough. Like an addict, you’ll spend the rest of your life wondering when you can get another hit. And you will get … nothing. Unless you beg. Because that is your punishment for looking at me and giving me that rotten smile.”
His hand vanishes from between my thighs, my body still quaking from the orgasm.
My brain finally kicks into gear, and I shove him away, jumping off his lap so swiftly I stumble and fall to the floor.
He tilts his head at me, gazing down at me with disdain, while his bulge protrudes through his pants like it’s ready to rip through me.
“Look around you,” he says.
And when I do, my whole face turns as red as a beet.
Everyone’s looking at me.
Gossiping.
Laughing.
Talking.
About me.
I swallow and crawl up from the floor, scrambling away, but I still can’t help but glance over my shoulder at him.
“Go on. Run, little rose. Run.” His dark face haunts my very fucking soul as he makes a fist with his hand. “Before you get plucked and crushed.”
