Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Sophomore Year – Winter
T here she was again.
Cagen's dance practice ran late, providing me the opportunity to visit Maddy's apartment early. For months, I had been shadowing her on campus, meticulously tracking her every move. My goal was to witness her natural behavior, discern her patterns, and, above all, see if she would ever drop the expertly crafted mask she wore day in and day out.
The only time she did was in the solitude of darkness. I strategically placed cameras in her bedroom and adjoining bathroom, capturing every detail.
Yes. I stalked her and did so shamelessly. So. Fucking. What.
I was the son of the strongest Mafia family in the country. This practice wasn’t uncommon for me, and no one questioned when I demanded cameras be installed in her apartment…in my girlfriend’s apartment. In fact, my father praised me.
It was all only a half-truth, though. Yes, I wanted to keep an eye on my girlfriend, but I more wanted to know what her roommate was like. I wanted to figure out her routines, her favorites, her life. If she couldn’t be in my world physically, I’d have to just watch her from afar.
Did that make me sound like a creep? Absolutely. Did I care? No.
I reveled in the sight of her red hair cascading over her shoulders during the 5:00 a.m. yoga sessions she indulged in, in the living room before Cagen was even awake.
At night, Maddy touched herself with the rainbow-colored toys that filled her bedside drawer, each moan a plea for a new life. My poor tortured soul loved getting off on the sadness that lived deeply within her body. Then she’d shower, apply lotion to her scars, and cry herself to sleep.
I knew exactly how that felt—masking sadness with physical pleasure.
Walking down the small hallway in the apartment, her heels clicked against the tile as she approached from her bedroom. I slammed the front door shut.
"It seems you find yourself early again, Mr. Solis." The warmth in Maddy’s tone wrapped me in a raspy embrace as I walked into the living room to her leaning against her door frame.
"Always," I retorted. She donned a snug baby-blue minidress with knee-high, heeled boots and oversized gold jewelry.
She was my opposite, as I was in my typical all-black attire. My black hair and deep-brown eyes adding to my Italian features. The swirls of my black tattoos peeked through the open buttons at the top of my shirt. Her head was to my shoulders, the perfect height to lean down and take her as mine.
"Going somewhere?" I asked as I stalked toward her on the other side of the small apartment.
"I’m going to get fucked up tonight with some of the cheerleaders." She gave me a little wink while swinging her hips side to side, so I got a full view of her lush curves.
"Why? You don’t even like them?"
She furrowed her brows and scrunched her face. "Yeah, I do. What’re you talking about?"
"Just a sense I have." I shrugged, taking a dangerously slow step toward her bedroom.
"Did Cagen say something to you?" she questioned.
"No." I would not let her in on my stalking secrets, er…obsession. Whatever you wanted to call it.
She crossed her hands over her chest. "Who are you to tell me who I like and dislike? You don’t even know me."
I laughed maniacally.
She went to turn around but stopped. "They are my friends. They hang out with me. They party with me." She paused. "They are my friends."
With her repeating herself, I knew she didn’t believe everything she was saying.
"Are they, Muse?" I asked.
"Have you been stalking me?" she barked.
"Yes."
"Ha-ha. You are hilarious."
"I know your last name is Ryan even though sometimes you use Kensington at school."
She balked at my confession. "How?"
"Facebook." I shrugged, not admitting I had a full background investigation done on her.
"That’s not creepy," she retorted.
I’d memorized her entire schedule after twenty-four hours and even altered a few things so we would run into each other more times than she probably would have liked. Thanks to my father’s underworld connections, I knew how to stalk my prey.
"And you are fucking my plans up," I responded, closing the distance between us.
"What plans?" Her voice was breathless as she backed into her room.
Stay in control . I was supposed to be this born leader, and dating Cagen was part of that plan. She was a popular girl, the one my father told me to be with for my image at the Alpha house, the fraternity I belonged to. If I was to be the leader of the fraternity, I needed to be dating the sorority president. The current leader was dating the current sorority president, and the tradition went years back. It was expected of me.
When Cagen moaned my name, I imagined it coming from the lush lips my muse wore. When Cagen writhed beneath me, I imagined the way my muse would feel against my skin. When Cagen touched my cock, all I could think was how Madison Ryan’s hands would feel against my hardness.
"Nothing you need to know," I stated. "At least not right now," I mumbled, hoping she didn’t hear me. My naive little muse never suspected anything.
My muse was my good girl.
She was dressed and ready to go out with her friends, but I knew the truth. They were not her friends, courtesy of Cagen, who spilled the truth about their disdain for the way she desperately tagged along, making herself stand out like a sore thumb. She was so desperate to fit in that she would go to any lengths to get them to like her.
I took hold of her choker, relishing the weight of the imitation gold in my hands. "If you want to wear a collar, baby, you know I'd give you one."
She clenched my wrist, glaring into my eyes. We stood locked in a frozen moment that seemed to stretch into eternity before she finally pushed me away.
"Why?" she questioned, her voice pulsating with a low, urgent need.
"Why, what?" I probed, craving the taste of the words as they rolled off her tongue.
"Tell me," I demanded.
"Why…me?"
Ah. Maybe she wasn’t as naive as I thought she was. Maybe she was putting the pieces together. The run-ins we’d had. How I liked to be here when Cagen wasn’t home yet.
"You?" I wanted to bait her—see how much she knew.
"Yes. I see you around campus. I know when it’s a coincidence and when you are trying to run into me."
"Oh, really?" I was being a cocky asshole, and a part of me was enjoying it.
"Shut up." She huffed. "You know exactly what I am saying. I know more than you think."
"I know you do, Muse, which is exactly why I am asking why you are going out with those fucking cheerleaders that you know don’t even like you."
"You didn’t answer me. Why me?" Her green doe eyes expressed a need that hung in the air. "You’re with Cagen, yet you come here looking at me like you want me served as dessert on a platter. You always seem to come early. I cannot help but think there is something else here. So…why me?"
"Because the person you project isn't the same as the one inside." I raised a hand to brush a lock off her forehead. "Am I right?"
She nodded. "Then, who are you?"
She wasn't asking for my name, age, or fraternity; she wanted to know who I was beneath the surface.
"I am the one person who will control everyone in this world. I was born for a lifestyle in which others bow down to the power that I will wield. Every single person I meet is in my life because I put them there for a reason, not because I enjoy their company or whatever other trivial thing people have when they meet others. Every single decision I make is approached with precision."
"Including this one?" she asked, her hand inching closer to my cheek.
"Especially this one."
A lie. I had no idea what I was doing regarding Madison Ryan. I should’ve been with Cagen. Not watching my muse daily as she showered or nightly as she shoved her cunt full of her thick dildo. Even during the most mundane tasks, I shouldn’t have stalked her out, but deep down, I bore the weight of the truth—one day this woman would wear my last name as her collar.
However, I had to maintain the act, at least until I could regain control of my tumultuous emotions. I had to reinstate the icy demeanor in my heart because whatever this was—these feelings that had spontaneously unleashed chaos in my chest, they needed to be suppressed before I could tell her the truth. Before I could let her in.
I intercepted her finger before it brushed against the stubble on my cheek. "And you? You're scared, lonely, and sad. You seek protection here, but you're going about it all wrong. Aligning yourself with the Cagens of the world will only assimilate you into the group. However, you were born for greatness, Muse."
"Then why not be with me?" She knew she needed me and that I could give her the protection she desperately yearned for.
Now wasn’t the time. There was not a plan in place for us to be together yet. By aligning myself with Maddy, I’d be dating the second string, and in order for me to get ahead, I needed to be dating the girl on campus every man wanted.
"Because you won't be able to give me what I need right now."
She balked, throwing herself back, tripping over her heels. "W-wha-what?"
Her breaths quickened, and she clutched her chest. My instinct was to reach out and hold onto her. Her breaths evened as my fingers trailed through her hair, relishing the beautiful crimson before I met her gaze.
"It’s not our time, Muse. One day, I’ll come to collect." I lifted her by the back of her thighs and moved her away from her room as she screeched.
"No," she said, as I placed her back on the floor in the living room, but I kept my one hand wrapped around her waist so she couldn’t move.
"No?" The corners of my lips lifted. "See what happens when you say no to me again."
"I will not be second string to anyone."
"You already are." I tilted my head toward Cagen’s door so she knew exactly who I was referring to.
"You’ve hidden yourself for years, Muse." I took one more step closer to her as she backed up toward the edge of the living room. "You are scared of something. You need the protection of a large group to keep you safe, which is why you try so hard to blend in, but you aren’t them."
"You don’t know me." She kept backing up, mere inches from hitting the wall behind her.
"I want to protect you. I will be the only person there to offer that to you, so it’s in your best interest to take my word."
She laughed it off like I was telling a joke, then turned serious. "No one has ever been there for me."
My phone pinged, alerting me to a text message, so I pulled it from my pocket. It was a message from Cagen.
"She’s coming home." Her voice sounded a little breathier than usual.
She scanned behind me, toward Cagen’s door. I took the last few steps toward her, closing her into the corner.
"No. She got caught up with her professor, and is going to be another hour."
Those beautiful big green eyes stared up at me, then she gulped before choking out, "You should go."
"You know I am not going to do that."
"No." She paused. "You need to go."
"What did I say about saying no to me again?"
Her chest rose and fell in quick succession. "W-what?"
"On your knees, Maddy."
As I lifted her chin with my thumb, her lips parted.
"I-I cannot do this." Tears brimmed her red eyes as she behaved like my good girl and dropped down. "She is going to hate me."
"Everyone already sees you as an imposter, Maddy. This won’t make them hate you any more."
Tears fell down her cheeks. Her breaths quickened, but my good girl didn’t move from her spot.
Dropping to my knees, I leveled my gaze with hers, confidence radiating from me as my hand crawled up her thigh.
"You're practically soaked, reveling in the fact that you outplayed your roommate and schemed to have her man kneel before you," I declared, my tone dripping with arrogance.
"No, I'm not." She shoved me, but I gripped her wrists and held them above her head. Meanwhile, my other hand ventured higher, pushing aside her dress to reveal a lace thong that left little to the imagination.
"If you're not, I'll stop," I taunted, a wicked grin spreading across my face, as her flushed cheeks contradicted her denial.
She emitted a small groan.
"Tell me, Muse. Are you wet thinking about how you won this war? You are better than them. You always will be."
I slid my finger beneath the lace thong and grazed her clit. The heat from her core told me she was wet without me needing to plunge into her, and my cock twitched at the thought of her tight cunt begging me to taste, feed, and pleasure it.
Before I thrust myself in, I gazed into her emerald-green orbs. She knew she was fucked.
Emitting a low growl, I shoved my fingers into her pussy.
Holy shit.
She wasn't just wet, she was drenched for me.
"Muse," I murmured.
"Oh. My. God," she screamed, tears streaming down her face. I wasn’t sure if these were tears of pain or from the pleasure of my fingers drumming inside her. Either way, I was savoring every morsel of her. "I-I need you."
I was losing myself in her, losing every single strand of control I thought I had over this situation as she writhed beneath my fingers. I kept imagining how her lips would part as my cock stretched her pussy. She would feel so fucking good once she had a taste of darkness—once I had a taste of her darkness.
"When was the last time someone made you feel this good?"
"Jesus Christ, Walsh. Are you always this m-m-mouthy?"
I chuckled as I continued my assault on her cunt.
I was going to lose it and fucking come in my pants if this woman didn’t stop the symphony of moans emitting from her swollen pink lips.
"You are such a bad girl. Look at me." She tried, but the wetness kept flowing from her eyes. "Do you like knowing you’re unraveling beneath me? Knowing you got the guy."
"No. I didn’t—Ah, fuck," she cried as I inserted another finger inside of her.
As she contracted around my hand, I pulled out and dangled my fingers in front of her lips.
If I’d let her come, it would’ve been endgame for both of us. I needed to regain the smallest amount of power I had left before she fell apart in my hands. My entire life was unraveling in ways I wasn’t expecting. This was never in my plans.
"I need to come," she stated as I dropped her hands from above her head, then she grabbed my shirt, and I traced her thick lips with my cum-soaked fingers.
"Open your mouth. Taste your betrayal," I commanded, pulling down on her jaw to part her lips, and she obliged. That was my good muse—doing what she was told.
She was unraveling and had no control, but truthfully, I didn't either. I both hated and enjoyed the fact that this redheaded woman was unfurling my plans, and I had no desire to make any of it stop.
She’s going to kill me , she mouthed as she licked the pads of my fingers, taking in the taste of her cunt.
"You like it." She shook her head, but her body told me another story while she sucked on my fingers. My cock twitched in anticipation. The little fucker thought it was his turn, but I had to push her further so she wouldn't escape effortlessly. Finally, I found someone who matched my deep desires and dark needs—a partner who reveled in the pleasure of embracing our true, wicked selves beneath the disguise of goodness.
"You love that you’ve taken the big bad wolf on campus and gotten him to drop to his knees and bow to your sweet pussy. Do not lie to me. Do not lie to yourself." Then I lifted and unzipped my jeans. From the living room window, I had a small view of the front of the building and could see every single person coming and going.
My control came crawling back in after being lost within the folds of her aching and needy little cunt. It was truly the first time in my entire life I wasn’t calculated in my thinking. I was going on instinct and what felt good. If Cagen had walked in on us, she would have destroyed me, my reputation, and everything I’d worked for.
"Please, Walsh," my little muse protested as my thick, pulsating cock came into her view. I let out a low chuckle.
"Don’t be scared, little one. You’ll do such a good job taking me in your mouth." Without another word, I slammed my cock to the back of Maddy’s throat. There was nothing gentle about it—or us.
She gagged on my cock as she opened her mouth as wide as she could, but I was relentless and gave her no time to catch her breath. Her hands pressed against my hips.
"Hands behind your back," I demanded. As if my skin was on fire, she obliged, pinning them behind her.
"Look at you taking my cock like my good girl." I threw my head back, and my fingers tightened around her wrists. "Your mouth was made for me. You look so beautiful on your knees taking me."
"Mmm, Walsh."
"Shh, don’t speak. Loosen your jaw. Relax, Muse."
She stared into my eyes.
Was that admiration? She relaxed her jaw, rolling her tongue as she glided up and down the shaft of my dick.
She pulled me out of her mouth. My cock hated the mere seconds of it not being wrapped with her lips. "You think you’re winning here, don’t you? But what you don’t realize is whatever this is, I’ve already won, because now that you’ve had a taste of what I can do for you you’ll never be satisfied with anything else."
"I’ll find someone just like you," she countered.
I growled and grabbed her jaw, slamming my cock back into her mouth. Her head bobbed as Cagen pulled up in her white Honda Civic.
There were two ways I could approach this situation. I could slow down and take the ten minutes I knew it would take Cagen to get her bag and come upstairs. Then spray Maddy’s face with my cum so it would be covered when she walked in.
It would cause a huge scene and put Maddy in her place, punish both of us for this indiscretion, and ultimately fuck up my grand plan in my life. The guys at the Alpha house would lose any respect they had for me since I was no longer dating the most popular girl on campus and screwed her over. I would lose my father’s respect, because the gossip train from Isles to Dansport is deep.
But I could be with Maddy. I could claim her as mine and flaunt her around, but there would be no one to flaunt her to.
The logical decision would’ve been to push her off me as soon as I marked her. She would say nothing because she was still too engrossed in wanting to fit in. I would get to continue dating Cagen. She’d carry this act on her shoulders as embarrassment. The moment I pushed her away, she’d hate me.
However, there was a bigger plan in action, and I needed to think with my brain and not my cock. So I thrust a few more times before pulling out.
"Lean back. Push your tits together," I demanded, pulling her straps of her dress down and aiming into the center of her plush tits. She obliged as I used my hand to pump my orgasm out, exploding onto her chest.
"You like that, don’t you?" she murmured through a raspy, sensual tone.
"Fuck," I groaned, draining every ounce as quick as possible.
I adjusted my cock, lifted my jeans, and shoved it inside. "Get up," I commanded.
We both looked toward the jingling door handle. I was grateful for my forward thinking when locking the deadbolt.
"Cagen." Maddy jumped up, adjusting her dress.
"The deadbolt is locked," I said, shifting my dick in my pants so Cagen wouldn’t see how hard I was.
Maddy reached for me, and I grabbed her wrists, stopping her.
"One day, Muse, you will be mine." I pushed away a rogue lock of hair from her forehead.
"Go in the shower. Wash up and finish yourself off with that thick veiny dildo you like to suction to the walls, Madison."
She stilled, shock etched into every feature of her face. "How do you—" The corners of my lips twisted into a smirk.
"Remember? Your worst nightmare."
After a moment, she whimpered out, "M-my name is Maddy."
I released a low, ominous chuckle. "No, it was Maddy. That's the facade you hide behind. But with me, you are Madison. I've seen the depths within you; I know the real you."
"You don’t know me at all. I only sucked you off."
"Was that all it was to you?" I asked, inching closer to her.
"Yes."
My tone softened. "You wear the face skillfully, but you don't need to hide from me, Muse."
The knocking intensified as Cagen's shouts pierced the air.
"Aren't you scared I'll tell her?" she whispered.
"No, you'd never."
"How do you know?"
You want to protect me, too. I wanted to tell her that. I needed her to know we offered it to each other, but I kept that secret to myself.
Lifting my hands to her face, I lowered to where my lips hovered just above hers. Every fiber of my being craved to kiss her, but I understood that once I did, nothing else would ever taste as sweet.
"Because I just do, Madison." My gaze shifted to the door. "Go," I commanded.
She nodded, scurrying into the shared bathroom, immediately blasting the shower.
I was not above cheating. I knew early on in my life that I would do whatever it took to get to the top, even if it meant I had to lie, cheat, or steal.
What I did was fuck up my own ruthless laws. I didn’t do this because it was a step to get what I wanted. No, I did what I did because I was selfish. If I had some moral code, I’d feel bad for Cagen, as I was about to open the door and lie to her face. Then I took one more look over my shoulder to Madison’s shut door and knew I’d never hurt her.
I could never get her out of my mind. Because what she had done tonight—what we had done tonight—only solidified that she would be mine one day.
I sauntered over to the door, unlocking it and composing myself before opening it with a practiced smile. I kissed Cagen on the cheek as she questioned the delay.
"Sorry about that. Had the TV on, lost track of time," I stated.
Cagen asked about Maddy's whereabouts, and I gestured toward the sound of running water from the other room.
"In the shower," I replied, hoping my nonchalant demeanor masked the tension in the air.
Cagen, ever perceptive, sniffed around, and I panicked, fearing she could smell the lingering scent of sex wafting in the air. Swiftly changing the subject, I pinned her to the wall, kissing her deeply, desperate to divert her attention.
"I missed you so much," I confessed, and she giggled, reciprocating the sentiment. I seized the opportunity, leading her into her bedroom, where I pulled up her miniskirt and opened the zipper of my pants.
My cock was still sticky and hard, but I plunged inside her pussy, and she reared her head back, moaning.
Closing my eyes, I could hear her moans and see the way her lips parted. I could taste her cum covering my fingers.
As I fucked my girlfriend, I hoped my muse was listening. I hoped she heard the way I could make her feel when the time was right. I just needed to think about the bigger picture for the time being. It was already a huge misstep, something I never would have dared attempt, and I needed to cover my tracks to make sure Cagen suspected nothing.
The image I wanted to portray to everyone was crafted with precision in a meticulous and efficient way. I was the big bad wolf Little Red Riding Hood was warned about.