Possessive Little Game (Crimson College #2)

Chapter 1 Niko

Niko

Username: Dragonfly

“Any requests?” I ask into the webcam, knowing there will be many.

It’s like I have them under a spell.

And this is the one place in my life where I have power like this.

Hercules2210: You’re taking requests now?

I adjust the iridescent mask covering my face, moving it up enough so he can see me blow him a kiss.

“Anything for my followers. What do you want from me?”

I shouldn’t be here.

I know it so clearly, like a hot, blood-dark bruise that aches at the slightest touch. The type of bruise I inflicted on myself, with a blow so hard it could kill.

Thanks, past me.

Fuck you, too.

A new school can be a clean slate, a fresh start, or a way to shed your old skin and start over, defining yourself as something you always wanted to be.

Crimson College isn’t going to be anything fucking like that.

I’m here in the entryway of Onyx House, surrounded by the thrum of music, chaos, and exceeding amounts of wealth.

It even smells expensive, like some aura of liquor, faint incense, and old wood, all purchased by college guys who have a taste for the finer things and access to parents’ credit cards.

The music in the main room is so loud I can feel the bassline reverberate in my bones, and I watch people dance, drink, and grind.

Typical frat house, with a better setting.

Sorry.

Society house.

Because Onyx, and all of these so-called elite private school college guys have to be special. Calling themselves a normal fraternity isn’t enough.

I run my fingers through my hair, pulling out my phone to text Sev.

Niko: Remind me again why I said yes to this?

Sevan: Do the words “free ride” mean nothing to you?

I’m here, despite everything.

And your dear, dear brothers got you in, despite your awful grades.

Don’t make me puke.

You *are* one of us, even if you hate it.

I’m not telling him the whole story.

Sevan is my cousin and the best friend I’ve got, but he doesn’t know everything about me.

Like the fact that I secretly post videos of my cock online. Or that my ex has started stalking me after going increasingly batshit insane.

Because Callum is a nightmare human. The reason I had to flee. And a problem I need to deal with at some point.

And Sevan also doesn’t know that I’m not just here at Crimson College because I got a free ride… because the real reason I agreed to show up here is a lot more dangerous.

I have plenty of money. What I don’t have is a home, anymore. Not a safe one, at least.

There are lots of things I have to talk to my cousin about now that I’m here. But it’s going to have to wait. Tonight there are other people I’m required to see.

I’m about to meet my two long-lost brothers for the first time in our lives.

Fucking.

Kill.

Me.

I stay in the entryway a while longer. Can’t stomach the thought of walking in yet. I glance around, knowing that somewhere in this house, my two half-brothers are waiting.

But they can wait a little bit longer.

I watch like I’m studying wild animals in a closed habitat. This place looks like an old-school mansion, with its beautiful carved oak banisters, fireplaces, chandeliers, and probably over a hundred years of history… and yet there are undoubtedly filthy things happening in every inch of it.

I can admit that there’s something depraved about it that gives me a thrill.

A beautiful old house being desecrated by a party like this is wickedly satisfying, after all, even if I’d rather not be here.

The dim party lights strobe from purple to red and back again.

Purple, then red.

Back and forth, those same colors of an excruciating bruise.

Doesn’t matter how we grew up. I’m not one of them. You aren’t, either.

I’ve never hated it like you do. Try to have a little fun with your brothers. Even though Weston is a complete good-boy poster child.

Go fuck yourself. Love you.

Before I head inside I raise my phone up, turn on the camera, and snap a picture of myself leaning on the wall in the entryway, one hand pushing back my hair. My ex told me the only things I was good at were sex and posing for pictures. At least I can guarantee one of those things tonight.

Maybe both.

If some frat boy wants to lavish attention on my dick.

In the photo I’m backlit from the side with purple light, wearing my crisp white hoodie as my fingers dig into my dark hair. My newest tattoo stands out in the purple glow. A six of hearts card on the back of my hand in fresh red and black ink.

I post the photo to Insta and it already floods with likes. On this public Instagram profile I’m Niko, with a curated stream of artistic pictures from my life.

But my explicit account on the CamboyChaos app is the exact opposite.

My username is Dragonfly.

Nothing’s planned or perfect.

I always wear an iridescent black and silver mask in the videos to hide my identity. I post my cock if I feel like it, or pictures of me with toys deep in my ass. Videos of me edging myself into oblivion over the course of an hour, then letting go and coming so hard it shoots up onto my chest.

On that account, I post completely on impulse.

And I meticulously keep both fanbases separate.

My Dragonfly profile feels more like me than the public one where I show my face.

In my actual life, I’ve gotten used to feeling unwanted, with each private prep school eventually kicking me out, my father abandoning me, and my mother most likely wishing I’d never been born.

I got in constant fights while playing hockey, and off the ice sometimes too.

“Troubled” was the kindest word most authorities used to describe me.

So I’ve channeled my strengths into a place where they’re very wanted. I’ll give fans my cock any day. It’s real life that’s the bitch.

“You made it!”

The voice comes from in front of me as I’m replying with heart emojis to some of my Insta followers.

I lock my phone and slide it away.

When I look up, a tall, dirty-blond jock is heading my way.

“Weston?” I ask.

He gives me a hesitant smile, nodding as he holds out his hand.

Fuck.

He’s actually getting emotional about this.

“I can’t believe I’m meeting my brother for the first time,” he says.

As he shakes my hand, something seems to overtake him and he comes in for a full hug instead.

I’m caught off guard. My whole body tenses.

But Weston is clearly processing his feelings, even though I feel almost nothing about meeting new family for the first time in my life.

“Half-brother,” I correct him as he pulls away.

And you’re the lucky one who actually got to have a father, growing up.

Guess that’s just how the poisoned cookie crumbled.

Weston waves a hand through the air. “Half-brother is still half my blood. Doesn’t matter. We’re family. Come in, let me introduce you to Hunter.”

I suck in a deep breath of air, nodding.

I need to play nice.

Need to not cause trouble for once in a new place. Lie low, and not get fucking kicked out.

I follow him deeper into Onyx House, past the main room and toward the back, where some guys are hanging out playing some sort of drinking game with a big bottle of absinthe in the center of the table.

A few of the guys look up at me, clearly recognizing that I’m new.

I'm never a fan of going to parties where I don’t know a single soul, but there’s a unique bitterness about it when two of those people are your half-brothers and they still feel more like strangers than anyone else.

“Hunter,” Weston says, finding his other brother.

Hunter looks up. He looks a lot like Weston but with lighter blond hair and a slightly thinner frame. He’s in the corner next to another jocky guy who has his arm draped around him.

Hunter steps toward me, looking at me like I’m some sort of science project.

And suddenly both of my half-brothers are a part of my world.

“Welcome,” Hunter tells me. “This feels unreal.”

I nod. “You could call it that.”

An insane chain of events led me to this. Hunter and Weston share half of my blood, but there’s a reason I’ve never met them until this moment.

A long time ago, our father cheated on their mother while she was pregnant with Weston.

I was the result of that cheating.

A surprise baby, about twenty years ago.

I was forced to live a life as a secret child. Unwanted. Dad gave my mother millions of dollars so that we’d never speak a word to Weston and Hunter or their mom, and I got a good share of that money, too. Mom and I were under a tight, binding contract:

Never come into contact with your half-brothers or their mother.

Never disclose that you even fucking exist, Niko, and you and your mother will continue to get a million dollars a year.

Our father sure knew how to keep a secret from his family.

Until he died last month.

And everything fucking blew up.

The contract was broken, and Hunter and Weston found out I exist.

“It’s the first time we’ve ever had a new member join halfway through the semester,” Weston’s explaining now, with a sparkle in his eyes. “We’ll have to get you up to speed on our traditions. We value honesty above everything in Onyx.”

Weston begged to get me into Crimson College, one of the most prestigious places in the country, just because he knows the college president and saw me as a charity case.

I said yes because I’m stupid.

But also because I need it.

I need to get the fuck away from my old life because my ex has clearly decided to go full psycho. It’s safer here, and I’d rather choke on the barrel of a gun than ever live with Callum again.

Weston starts telling me excitedly all about the Onyx traditions, their values, and how much fun I’m going to have, and I feel like I’m suddenly plunged into a different world.

“The winter formal party is coming up soon,” Weston’s telling me now. “The first of the two big society winter parties.”

“Then there’s the New Year’s party a few weeks later,” Rayne adds.

“It’s the best,” Weston says with a smile. “Then, once spring comes, we do lots of charity events. Car washes, bake offs, speed dating.”