Twenty-Eight
Bianca
I stood on the edge of the party, leaning against a tree. My head swam from all the whiskey and weed. I hadn’t ever been high in my life until now, so the spins and strange giddiness within me made me feel odd.
All I wanted to do was go back to my room and curl up in bed.
To hell with it all. I’d been hoping to find someone who knew something about my dad here, and it was a long shot—I knew that.
But all I’d found was more trouble than I could currently handle.
I was as good as dead. The moment David found out about my split from Hail, that would be it. Lights out, Bianca.
Then there was Dominic. Fucking Dominic .
I was still kicking my own ass for thinking he gave a modicum of a shit about me.
I guessed a night with a guy treating me like I mattered could mess with a girl’s emotions.
That was on me. I should’ve known better.
I was nothing but entertainment and an easy target for them to humiliate.
Then the bastard had to finger me in front of Vincent as a punishment.
Add to it that I was simply too afraid to talk to him about my dad and all I had left was my misery.
My life was a mess. I was a mess. Letting these guys rule me wasn’t who I was. Now, all I wanted, aside from finding my dad, was taking the kings and lords down. Levin was a dickhead. Dominic was an arrogant, panty-soaking prick, and Vincent, well, he was a mixture of the two.
And to top off the shit show of my life, Dominic took Stella, fucking Stella , upstairs.
Fuck him.
“Hey,” a voice called out from behind me.
I’d been expecting to see Aubrey, but she seemed to be MIA or fashionably late.
I peeked over my shoulder to see Fallon approaching from the dark woods, a six pack of beer in his hand. Alone. Thank God. I couldn’t deal with Hail at the moment.
“Hey.”
He came closer and leaned against the other side of the tree, the light from the bonfire barely touching his features.
“You look like you’re the life of the party,” he said, cracking open a can of beer.
“Better than the death of it.”
His lips tilted up on one side, but he didn’t look at me.
“Not out committing debauchery? Being young and dumb?” I continued, turning my gaze to the party.
There was no way anyone could see us through the dark and the crowd. There were so many students, all drunk and dancing, laughing, making out.
“Sadly, no.”
“Where’s Hail and the rest of the lords?”
“Last I knew, Hail was fucking some junior on the other side of the party while Drake and Tate were doing keg stands.”
“Right. Because Stella is upstairs fucking Dominic.”
Fallon paused, his beer halfway to his lips before he finally looked over at me. “Are you OK?” He genuinely sounded like he cared.
But I’d played that game before and won a stupid ass prize. There was something different about Fallon though. He’d always seemed genuine to me.
I shrugged. “It is what it is.”
“I saw what they did to you in the cafeteria.”
“Who didn’t?” I mumbled.
“That’s fucked up, Bianca. It’s just as fucked up as what Hail was doing to you.”
“Yeah, well, imagine what the kings would do to me if they caught me talking to you right now.”
“Then why risk it? Why do any of this shit? If I were you, I’d run and never look back.”
“And go where? My dad is MIA. My mom has lost her mind. Besides, David would find me wherever I went.” I shook my head. “I’m already dead. I’m just waiting to be buried.”
“Fuck.” He sighed. A moment later, a beer appeared from the other side of the large tree trunk. “Have a drink. We can celebrate mortality because if I get caught with you, I’ll be dead too.”
I took the can and cracked it open. “Then here’s to our funerals.” I peeked over at him to find him smiling back at me.
“I’ll drink to that.”
* * *
I threw my head back, laughing as Fallon tripped over a branch and nearly ate shit as he caught my arm to keep from falling. For a guy the size of Dominic, it was funny to watch him stumbling through the woods.
After finishing our beers at the tree, we’d taken to the darkness and finished off the six pack, both of us bitching about the lords and kings.
“Fuck.” He laughed, righting himself as we stopped.
I leaned against a tree and closed my eyes, enjoying the spinning feeling. We were deep in the woods, far from the party. The sounds from the music and partygoers had long since faded.
When I opened my eyes, Fallon was standing in front of me, a lopsided grin on his face. Then it dawned on me that I was alone in the middle of the woods, drunk and high off my ass, with a lord. An enemy.
My breath hitched as he came closer. He reached out and brushed a lock of hair from my face.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said softly.
I stared up at him, feeling dazed. “Might save me a lot of pain if you just got it over with.”
He shook his head as sadness and pain painted his features. “Maybe for you, but it would kill me if something happened to you.”
I swallowed.
“I keep thinking about that night in Hail’s room,” he continued quietly. “I was so fucking angry you had to do that. I wanted to kill them and take you away from it.”
“Why are you a lord?” I asked, cocking my head.
He gave me a sad smile. “My dad is one of Ivanov’s men. An enforcer. By default, it looks like I’m supposed to be too.”
“That sucks.”
“It does.” He inched closer until our bodies were touching.
“Can’t you leave?”
“Where would I go?” he murmured. “You and I are a lot alike. At least blood doesn’t bind you.”
We stood staring at one another beneath the moonlight. It seemed Fallon had it just as bad as I did. And for that, my heart ached for him.
“Bianca?”
“Yeah?”
“Can I kiss you?” His dark brows crinkled, his voice soft.
The question took me by surprise. Why would a lord want me? Was it some sort of trick? I was far too buzzed to think this through logically. I just wanted to feel better, no matter who it was with, so I nodded wordlessly.
He leaned in. My heartbeat thundered in my ears. A moment later, the soft brush of his lips against mine made butterflies flutter to life in my chest. I fell into the kiss when he deepened it, his arms snaking around my waist, bringing me closer as the warmth from his hard body rushed over me.
I was crazy. Certifiably insane as I parted my lips and let my tongue dance with his.
Fallon knew how to kiss, I’d give him that, but he could also fuck me and leave me for dead when he was done too.
Something deep in my guts told me Fallon wasn’t like that though. He was different from any of the lords and kings. Maybe it was my drunk and horny intuition reasoning with me, or maybe it was my anger imagining Dominic deep inside Stella at the moment, an enemy.
To hell with it. If Dominic could fuck someone from the lords, so could I.
And Fallon wasn’t anything to scoff at. Sexy.
Tall. Muscular. Full lips that made my stomach flip in excitement, and a body that was all hard muscles.
His soft, dark, wavy hair made him appear sweet as sugar.
Not to mention those sparkling eyes of his.
Yeah. Fuck Dominic De Santis and the rest of the kings.
I moved my hands beneath Fallon’s dark Henley, feeling all the corded muscle beneath.
“Did I tell you how fucking gorgeous you look tonight?” he breathed out between kisses as his hands moved from my waist to my bare thighs.
“Tell me,” I said breathlessly.
“I was hoping to get you alone so I could show you.”
I pressed my lips to his, fumbling with his belt, not knowing who this girl was, but not hating her either.
I pulled his thick length from his pants and stroked him.
He groaned against my lips before knocking my hand away.
With ease, he lifted me up, and I wrapped my legs around his waist as he pressed me against the tree trunk.
We kissed passionately, completely lost in each other.
As far as I was concerned in that moment, Fallon was in the gray area with me. Neither a lord nor a king. Maybe we’d break away and make our own kingdom.
His fingers moved along the thin silk of my panties before he pushed them aside. The firm touch of his fingers sliding through my folds to my clit made me moan in his mouth. He found my happy place and rubbed against it, making me more breathless.
“Bianca,” he rasped. “I want you. Come for me.”
His sudden dirty talk made the heat in my belly flare, sending it straight to my clit, making me come hard with his next touch.
This was Dominic’s fault. He’d brought me to the brink and denied me.
Having Fallon finish what Dominic started gave me a sick sense of satisfaction and sweetened my release.
I rode Fallon’s hand, my body still trembling when I came down from the high he brought me to.
Combined with the floating feeling from the alcohol, it was euphoric and perfection.
“I want to feel alive again. Please,” I said, my voice choked. Drunk, angry Bianca was nothing like sober, compliant Bianca.
He kissed me again, this time, his hard length threatening my entrance.
I tensed as he pushed forward, the burn from his cock stretching me making me gasp.
“Ah,” I cried.
“I’ll make the pain worth it,” he said, thrusting deeper into me as he rested his forehead against mine, both of us breathing hard.
“You’re so tight. Damn, Bianca.”
I wound my arms around his neck and kissed him once more.
He pulled out and pushed back in as I cried out against his lips. Over and over, he stroked until he was fully seated inside me, breathless.
“This is my new favorite place,” he said, kissing along my jaw, his fingers skimming the thin strap of my dress until he eased it down.
He repeated it on the other strap so he could push the top of my dress down, revealing my breasts.
The tree was rough against my back and sure to leave marks, but I couldn’t find it in me to care.
With a lazy smile, he pulled away enough, still buried inside me, and tugged his shirt over his head, revealing glorious planes of muscle beneath the moonlight.
“I want to feel every exquisite inch of you. I’ve dreamed of this moment since I met you.” His lips brushed against my shoulder as he shifted inside me.
I brought his face up to mine again and kissed him.
His movements picked up. Each hard thrust stoked the fire within me as he fucked me against the tree, skin slapping skin, moans and cries echoing in the night until I was spiraling around him, coming so hard I swore the stars dotting my vision were brighter than those in the sky.
A low groan erupted from him as his cock twitched deep inside me, filling me with his release. Breathless, he rested against me, his face buried in my neck.
I closed my eyes, spinning, but feeling satisfied.
“I don’t want to leave,” he mumbled sleepily.
I raked my fingers through his hair, his long waves weaving around my fingers, feeling safe for the first time in a long time.
“Me either.”
“Want to lie beneath the stars with me?” he asked, finally moving to gaze down at me.
My heart fluttered, and I nodded. He smiled sweetly before withdrawing from my body, leaving me to feel empty.
He placed me gently on my feet and tucked himself away before grabbing his shirt and straightening it on the ground.
I pulled the straps of my dress up and tugged my skirt down, watching him.
Fallon turned back to me, offering me the smile I was becoming familiar with. “It’s not much, but I’ll keep you warm.”
He held his hand out to me, and I took it, allowing him to guide me to the ground where he drew me into his arms, his warmth radiating through me.
We lay in silence for a few moments, my head on his chest as he looked up at the stars in the small clearing above us.
“You should know, this wasn’t just a one and done thing. It meant something to me,” he murmured. “I wanted you the moment I laid eyes on you.”
“You mentioned that,” I said softly.
He let out a soft laugh. “Yeah. It was a dream come true when Hail made you suck my dick. I mean, I wished it was just me and you, but I was so fucking torn, wanting it and hating everything about it. I guess I’m not much of a good guy.”
“You’re better than anyone else I know,” I said, cuddling closer to him.
He gave me a squeeze.
“Do they… the kings. . . do they. . .”
“Fuck me? Make me suck their dicks? Hurt me?”
“Yeah,” his voice was choked.
“No. I did it with Dominic. Sex. It was my first time. I haven’t done it with Vincent or Levin. Levin hates me, and Vincent. . .well, he listens to what Dominic tells him.”
We were both quiet for a moment before I spoke again. “I did it because I was scared. I needed help. I went to the kings and asked for their help against Hail. I thought he’d end up killing me. He hurt me so much.”
“I know,” Fallon said, his arms tightening their hold on me.
“I-I don’t know what’s worse. Hail’s brand of punishment or Dominic’s. The night we had sex, he was gentle and sweet. He acted like he cared. I guess I thought that translated into something it wasn’t because tonight he took Stella upstairs.”
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.” He kissed the top of my head again. “We all have a part to play, I guess.”
“What’s your part?” I waited for his answer as he grew quiet.
“I don’t know,” he said in nearly a whisper. “I’m winging it. If anyone found out I was out here with you. . .I worry for your safety. It was selfish of me to do this—”
“I wanted it. I needed it,” I cut him off. “Please don’t regret it.”
“Regret it?” He chuckled and tilted my chin up so I was looking at him. “I’m going to replay this night in my head until the day I die so I can die a happy man.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely, princess.” He placed a gentle kiss on my lips before looking back to the stars, a tiny smile on his face.
I closed my eyes and breathed out as I rested my head on his chest. I was smiling too. It would wear off in the morning.