16. Tristan
16
TRISTAN
“ T ristan!” Paul calls from downstairs right as I step out of the shower. “Elle’s here and she’s coming up.”
My gaze darts to the closed door of my bedroom. I can hear angry footsteps practically running up the stairs.
Tossing my towel aside, I snatch up a pair of sweatpants from the chair by my desk. I’ve barely managed to pull them on when Elle yanks the door open and storms inside. And she’s furious. Rage burns in her eyes like flames, and I can practically see smoke billowing behind her. Even before she has made it fully into the room, her mouth is already halfway open for what is no doubt a vicious accusation.
But then her gaze lands on me, and she stops short.
Her eyes take in my bare chest for a second. The muscles. The tattoos. And I swear I can almost see her eyes darken. Not in rage. But in forbidden desire.
Then that one brief second passes. With a quick shake of her head, she recovers and throws the door shut behind her as she continues to storm into the room .
“You son of a bitch!” she screams at me.
I draw back in surprise.
I don’t think I have ever heard her swear before. Even back in high school, she never said things like fuck or shit or bitch or even something as harmless as damn . It sounds strange coming out of her mouth. Strange, but not wrong.
Lifting her hands, she plants her palms square against my chest and tries to shove me backwards. “You set me up!”
A jolt shoots through me when her hands touch my chest.
Yanking my own hands up, I quickly grab her wrists and use my superior strength to force her hands away from my body.
Fucking hell, I have just finished taking an hour-long ice-cold shower in order to try to recover after our damn kiss. I can’t have her touching my naked skin like this. It messes with my head.
“You slipped a knife into my pocket!” she continues, still screaming at me. “And then you tipped off campus police.”
My gaze flicks over her body. She’s no longer wearing that hoodie. Instead, she’s wearing a thin white shirt and a pair of jeans shorts that leave her curves on full display. It’s very distracting. And an odd choice of attire. Especially since it’s a windy and overcast evening.
Suspicion swirls inside me as I try and fail to locate her phone in the pockets of her shorts. She’s not carrying a purse either.
So instead of replying to her accusation, I act on my instincts.
Using my grip on her wrists, I spin her around and bend her over. She lets out a huff as her chest connects with the flat surface of my desk. After twisting her arms up behind her back, I shift my grip so that I’m holding both of her wrists in one hand. Then I use my free hand to reach for the phone I can now see tucked into the back pocket of her shorts.
She sucks in a sharp breath as I slide the phone out. “No. Don’t?—”
I cut her off with a harsh laugh.
One glance at the screen informs me that I was right. She was trying to record our conversation. It was a dead giveaway when she spelled it out like that while also wearing something distracting and not having her phone visible in her front pocket. Damn, she really would make a terrible criminal. And a terrible snitch too, for that matter.
While still keeping her bent over my desk, I click the button to end the recording. Then I delete it too before showing her the screen.
“Nice try,” I mock.
She struggles futilely against my hold on her. “Let me go.”
Ignoring her, I lean forward and place her phone on the high shelf above my desk where she won’t be able to reach it. Unless she climbs up on the desk, that is. But if she tried, I’d be able to pull her back down before she could get it.
She wiggles on the desk again.
And because I’m leaning forward like that, her ass grinds right against my cock.
Lightning crackles up my spine.
I snap my mouth shut and grit my teeth hard as fire floods my veins. My cock hardens immediately. But thankfully, Elle doesn’t seem to realize what just happened because she simply continues struggling against my grip.
After drawing in a deep breath through my nose, I force myself to get my fucking shit together and suppress the dark desire that courses through me whenever Elle touches me .
With the phone safely out of reach, I move my free hand back down and instead wrap it around the back of her neck. I know that I should move back a little so that my thighs and crotch isn’t pressing against her ass and the back of her legs, but I can’t bring myself to do it. So instead, I convince myself that I’m remaining that close purely for intimidation.
Elle lets out a frustrated noise as I use my grip on the back of her neck to pin her cheek against the smooth wooden desk while my other hand keeps her wrists trapped behind her back.
“Did you really think that would work?” I demand.
She wiggles against the desk again and repeats, “Let me go.”
“Answer me,” I demand. “When you stormed into my room like this, how did you think it was going to end?” I give her a little shove down into the hard surface to really drive the point home. “Huh?”
“I don’t know,” she growls, frustration clear in her voice.
“Really? You thought you could just come in here, shove me in the chest and get me to confess to something? Maybe threaten me a little too?” I tighten my grip on the back of her neck. “Did you really think I would let you walk out of here alive if you did that?”
“You almost got me expelled!” she yells at me, her cheek still pressed against the desk. “Do you know how hard it was for me to convince them that the knife wasn’t mine? Especially after that thing with the drugs?”
I snort.
“That guy Davidson hates me,” she continues. “He wants me expelled even though I haven’t done anything!”
“Poor you. ”
“Yes! Because it’s all your fault.” She stomps her foot on the floor in anger. “And now, I’m one more mishap away from getting expelled. Two strikes, they said. The third one, and I’m out. Permanently.”
“Good. Then you’ll be gone before the end of the week.”
She goes suddenly dead silent and still beneath me. For a few seconds, I swear she’s not even breathing.
A vicious smile curls my lips.
Once I’m sure that she has finished processing my words, and understands the power I now hold over her life, I release my grip on her and take a couple of steps back. She remains bent over the desk for another few seconds. Then she slowly pushes herself off the wooden tabletop and straightens.
I wait for her to try to get to her phone, but she doesn’t even look towards it. Instead, she keeps staring at the pale green wallpaper visible behind the desk. Her shirt is rumpled and her hair is slightly mussed, but she doesn’t even bother with it. I watch her as she draws in an unsteady breath. Then she at last turns around to face me.
“You wouldn’t,” she finally says. But it’s soft. More like a whisper. And her big brown eyes are wide as she stares at me.
I stare back at her with a merciless expression on my face. “I lost my scholarship because of you.”
She swallows, and then shakes her head desperately. “I didn’t know that would happen.”
“I don’t care.”
Panic flits across her face, and she throws her arms out. “Isn’t it enough? You’ve already gotten me kicked out of my sorority and ruined my chances at making new friends by writing ‘rat’ across my door. Isn’t that enough?”
“No.”
Anger surges up in her eyes, pushing out the panic. Dropping her arms back down to her sides, she clenches her jaw while locking furious eyes on me. “You won’t succeed. I know what you’re doing now. I’ll see it coming before you can set me up again.”
“Really?” I let out a mocking laugh and flick a dismissive glance up and down her body. “I’ve done it twice already without you noticing it. You really think I can’t do it a third time?” Scoffing, I shake my head at her. “You forget, I have the odds in my favor. You need to stop my every attempt. But I only need to succeed once.”
The color drains from her face.
My mouth twists into a cruel smile as I add, “And then it’s bye-bye Bercester U.”
She draws in an unsteady breath. Then she swallows. And when she speaks, her voice is hoarse. “What do you want?”
I say nothing. Only stand there on the wooden floorboards, staring her down with hard eyes.
Her breathing changes. Becoming faster, and shallower. She licks her lips.
The sight of it sends an involuntary ripple of heat through me. I ignore it.
“What do you want?” she repeats, taking a step closer. Pure desperation shines in her eyes now. “Do you want me to beg?”
She gets down on her knees. Right before my feet. Tilting her head back, she stares up at me with pleading eyes.
The sight of her kneeling before me like that makes my head spin.
“Please,” she begs. “Don’t do this. I’m begging you.”
My cock hardens, and pleasure sweeps through my body like a searing wave.
Fuck, I love watching people grovel. But it’s even more satisfying when it’s her . It’s intoxicating beyond belief to watch her, a girl who has always held the world in her hand, get down on her knees and beg me, someone who has never had any real power over anything, for mercy. Her entire life belongs to me now. And she knows it.
“What do you want?” She keeps staring up at me with those desperate, pleading eyes. “Just tell me what you want and I’ll do it.”
“What makes you think I want anything?”
“Everyone wants something.” She blinks, as if struck by a sudden idea. “Money. Do you want money?”
Fury spikes through me like a bullet. Of course that would be her first thought. In her world, a little money solves all problems. But it’s too late for that now. Even if she gave me some money, it still wouldn’t be enough to settle my debt to the White Serpents. The amount I owe Bracken is way too high.
Bending down, I draw soft fingers up her throat. A shudder ripples through her body.
In a flash, I close my hand around her neck.
“Money?” I echo, my voice harsh. With a firm grip on her throat, I force her to keep her head craned back as I lock merciless eyes on her. “You can’t buy yourself out of this one, sweetheart.”
Then, just as abruptly, I release her and straighten.
She draws in a shuddering breath, her eyes wide as she stares up at me.
I scoff. “If I were you, I would simply do my best to please me from now on.”
She swallows. Silence descends on the room. Somewhere downstairs, clanking sounds echo. I just study Elle, wondering what she will do now.
Her gaze drops down to my bare chest, and then to my crotch for the briefest of moments before she looks up to meet my gaze again.
Raising her hands, she tentatively brushes her fingers over my naked skin along the top of my pants.
A lightning bolt shoots up my spine, and it takes all of my willpower to suppress a sharp breath. My head spins and I can’t for the life of me figure out what the hell is going on as she slips her fingers underneath the fabric of my sweatpants.
I flex my fingers, trying to center myself, as I press out, “What do you think you’re doing?”
Her eyes search my face, and whatever she sees there only seems to confirm something for her.
“Pleasing you,” she replies.
And before I can even open my mouth to respond to that, she wraps her hand around my cock and frees it from my pants. It hardens immediately in her hand.
She draws her hand up and down my shaft once. Then she leans forward and takes my cock into her mouth.
My brain malfunctions.
White lights flicker across my vision as she slides her lips over my pulsing cock and then swirls her tongue over my tip.
Pleasure like I have never felt before crackles up my spine like bolts of electricity. Fuck, I think I’m going to pass out. Are my lungs still working?
She slides her hand up and down the base of my cock while she works her lips and tongue.
Fire flickers through my veins, and my hand shoots out, gripping her hair. She seems to take that as encouragement and leans forward, taking me deeper into her throat.
Pleasure pulses through me.
Fucking hell, this was not at all what I meant when I told her to please me. I meant that I wanted her to grovel. To beg and plead and to place her life in my hands.
But God damn, the feeling of her lips around my cock is like nothing I have ever felt before. It makes me feel as if my body is thrumming with lightning. As if my soul is going to burst apart from the sheer pleasure as she works her perfect mouth.
My fingers tighten in her soft hair as she sucks my cock as if her life depends on it.
The pleasure inside me builds to unbearable heights.
Then she takes me deep into her throat.
And release explodes through me.
She keeps her lips around my pulsing cock as I come down her throat. Her eyes water at the strain of having my thick shaft down her throat, but she doesn’t pull back. And the sight of it makes dark desire pulse through me like shockwaves.
I want to taste her. I want to throw her down on my bed and spread her wide open for me. I want to fuck her. I want to hear her scream my name and feel her cunt tighten around my cock as she comes while I fuck her like she’s mine. I want to?—
My thoughts come to a jarring halt as reality crashes into me.
What the fuck am I thinking?
Why would I want to eat her out? Why would I want to fuck her?
Holy shit, I need to get her out of here. I need to get her out of my life. Now.
Using my grip on her hair, I push her back until my cock slides out of her mouth.
She swallows. And then uses her thumb to wipe at the corner of her lip .
That small gesture sends another flare of forbidden desire through me.
Fucking hell, what is this girl doing to me? I need to end this now. I need to get her the hell out of my life before I do something I will regret.
“Alright,” I say. But my voice comes out sounding hoarse, so I clear my throat before continuing. “Fine. I’ll stop.”
She blinks in surprise, and her hand falls away from my cock. I quickly pull my pants back up.
“You will?” she asks, her eyes now full of light.
“Yes. If you do one last thing for me.”
“Anything.”
“Two days from now, I need you to go to the old, abandoned gym that was used by St. Mary’s school. Do you know where that is?”
“Yes.”
“There will be a duffel bag outside by the door. Pick it up and walk into the gym. And don’t look inside the bag.”
Worry flickers in her eyes, and she licks her lips again. I have to flex my hand to suppress the burst of desire that courses through me at the sight. Why does she have to lick her lips so fucking often?
“Will there be drugs in it?” she asks, that worry bleeding into her voice as well.
I just stare her down with hard eyes. “Do you want this deal or not?”
“Yes,” she replies quickly, and then nods several times for emphasis. “Yes.”
“Good. Then pick up the duffel bag without looking inside, and walk into the gym. Then just stand there and wait. Someone will come and meet you. They’ll take the bag and you will leave. Understood? ”
“Yes.” She licks her lips. Again . God damn it. “And then you’ll leave me alone?”
It takes everything I have to keep a neutral expression on my face, and to keep my gaze on her eyes instead of her damn lips.
“Yes. After that, you and I are done.”