CHAPTER NINETEEN
STORM
Every passing hour until sunset heightened my anxiety. Rebel would come to my room tonight. I knew it with every piece of me. However, he would not find me willing and receptive. Today had been the last straw. His last chance to act like a decent human being and not a monster. He made his choice, and now so would I.
Dinner with my family proved difficult. Mom asked questions about class and friends, which I did my best to answer. The entire time Chase eyed me with this suspicious intensity. Like he knew I was hiding something. My brother and I had never been close enough to share things like this. It didn’t matter what he thought he knew. I wasn’t getting him involved.
I thought about mentioning that I wanted to transfer back to Henderson but decided it wasn’t the right time. I would have to get Mom alone for that talk. After helping clean up the supper dishes, I retreated up to my bedroom.
I told myself that I would not give in to Rebel. That I would send him packing the moment he showed up. Unless he got on his knees and begged my forgiveness, we were done. All the amazing orgasms in the world weren’t worth the shit he’d been putting me through.
My efforts to focus on homework fell flat. Instead, I scrolled social media and tried watching a few shows I’d been bingeing. Nothing held my interest. I was a mess of nerves, unable to give my attention to anything. As the night went on, the clock ticked closer to the moment when Rebel would appear.
I turned off my light, knowing that he seemed to prefer it that way. Maybe it was so he didn’t have to look at me too closely.
Guilty conscience? Did a guy like Rebel even know guilt?
It was almost midnight when I heard the sound of him climbing onto my balcony. I shot off my bed, going to the door before he could open it.
I slid the door open and stepped out, closing it behind me. The backyard light from his side of the fence lit him up well enough for me to see his eyebrow quirk upward.
“Looks like you were waiting for me,” he said with a smirk.
I nodded. “I was. I needed to make sure you didn’t get inside this time. I meant what I said today, Rebel. You’re not welcome here anymore.”
His smirk turned into a chuckle. “Oh yeah? That’s too bad. We’ve been over this, Storm. You’re mine now. I’m not going anywhere.”
The balcony was relatively small, forcing us to stand incredibly close together. I felt the heat of his body, the tickle of his breath on my face. Still, my resolve remained strong.
“Yes. you are. You’re leaving right now. I told you that I wasn’t going to put up with being treated like trash every day anymore. I don’t understand why you keep coming to me if you hate me so much. I don’t even want to understand. I just want you to go.”
Doing my best to keep up a tough front, I crossed my arms, blocking access to my bedroom with my body. Rebel sighed, turning to gaze out across the lawn.
“I don’t hate you, pet. It’s… complicated. I have a reputation to uphold. Secrets to keep. You’re one of them. You don’t understand how dangerous it would be if certain people found out about us.” He dragged his gaze back to mine. To his credit, his expression had softened. He looked almost remorseful.
But it wasn’t enough. If anything, it made this so much harder.
“Are you talking about River?” I asked. “If it’s so dangerous for you to be with me, then maybe you shouldn’t be. Go home, Rebel.”
“There’s so much you don’t know about him and his crew. He’s not the nice guy he pretends to be.” Rebel pressed closer, backing me up against the sliding door to my room.
“I guess that’s where the two of you are different. You never pretended to be a nice guy. I should never have let you get so close.” I tried to remain strong. Doing my best not to breathe in his intoxicating scent. Not to notice how good his body felt against mine. Goddamn, why was this so hard?
Rebel pressed his mouth against my neck, biting down until I yelped. The soft touch of his tongue followed as he licked a line up under my ear. “There was no stopping this, Storm. Fate delivered you right to me. Whether or not you believe that, it’s true. You are mine.”
“What if I don’t want to be yours?” I dared to ask. “What if I don’t want any of this?”
Rebel wrapped a hand firmly around my throat. While he stared into my eyes, his other hand slipped down the front of my sweatpants, dipping inside my underwear. Sliding a finger along my slit, he pressed it inside me. I cringed as he discovered the wetness that had gathered from his bite.
“Explain this. You want me as much as I want you. You do your best to hate me, but you can’t. Your body betrays you, and you fucking love it.” His low husky tone set me ablaze. The knowing glint in his blue eyes made it hard to argue.
He thrust a second finger inside me, pumping into my pussy. My legs weakened, forcing me to grip the door handle to stay upright. I sucked in as much air as possible with his hand around my throat.
“I won’t keep doing this,” I insisted. “I deserve better. If you’re such a badass, you should be able to protect me from River and anyone else. If you can’t do that, then we are done here.”
A shadow stole over Rebel’s face. He made a low sound like a snarl before spinning me around and pushing me against the glass. Pressing against me from behind, he rubbed his hard cock against my ass while he continued to finger fuck my pussy.
“We are done when I say we’re done, Storm. And I don’t see that happening.” His fingers worked my pussy until only his weight against me held me up. “I won’t let River Harris touch you. I won’t let anyone touch what’s mine. That’s a fucking promise.”
I covered my mouth with a hand to stifle my soft moans. When I was able to speak, I whispered, “I hate you.”
Rebel swirled his thumb over my clit. I could almost feel his satisfied smile when my body jerked. “No, you don’t, but you sure are trying damn hard. I can respect that. I love how quick you are to tell me off. It only makes me want you more.”
My body responded to his touch despite how hard I tried to shut it down. He was wrong. I did hate him. I hated how easily he did this to me. How simple it was for him to get inside my head and stay there.
His soft murmurs next to my ear coaxed me to come apart all over his fingers. Like I had no control, I did exactly as he commanded. My hips writhed as I came, his name a desperate plea on my lips.
Rebel turned me back around, forcing me to watch as he licked my desire from his fingertips. He reached for the door handle, and I moved to block him.
My voice was breathy and weak when I said, “Not tonight, Rebel. I can’t keep letting you in. You have no idea what it’s doing to me.”
Tilting his head to one side, he regarded me curiously. I braced myself in case he tried to force his way into my room. I knew that if he insisted on taking me to bed, I would let him. There was nothing I wanted more right then than to have him inside me. Yet I knew that I had to be strong enough to make the right decision.
To my surprise, he relented. With a nod, he stepped back, giving me space to breathe. Immediately I missed the way he felt pressed against me.
“Fine. We’ll do it your way this time. It won’t be long until you realize that I’m right, Storm. Soon you will be begging me to stay. I’ll let you figure it out for yourself.” Rebel pressed the most tender of kisses to my lips before climbing over the balcony railing and dropping down to the ground below.
I watched him go, a shadow moving across the yard toward the fence. Only when he disappeared into his own yard did I go back inside the house. I sat heavily on my bed, my head in my hands.
Shoving my face into a pillow, I shouted my frustration. That’s when his smell hit me like a punch in the face. Goddammit. I forgot to wash the sheets. It was too late for that now.
Not that it mattered. I smelled Rebel all over me. His touch lingered in my memory to torture me. I didn’t know how I would escape him, I only knew that I had to try.