CHAPTER TWO
CODIE
I gaped at Stray, wondering if I was tripping out or if he was really there.
Dressed in faded blue jeans, a white T-shirt, and a black leather jacket, he looked like my drug addled mind’s greatest fantasy.
His black hair was short but long enough on top for a girl to get a good handful.
The intense rage in his wild blue eyes confirmed that I was not imagining him.
“I’m taking my girl home. What’s it to you?” The guy next to me clearly had no idea who he was speaking to, otherwise, he would have known that he taunted death.
Stray was one of the Graveyard Kings. I’d had the misfortune of getting to know him because of my friend Storm’s relationship with his friend Rebel.
Stray liked to flirt with me, doing his best to drive me crazy.
I’d never fallen all over him like so many other girls did. That only made him try harder.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, feeling and sounding like I had a mouthful of molasses.
Ignoring me, Stray fixated on the guy at my side. “She is not your girl, and she’s not going anywhere with you.”
There was no hesitation. Stray’s fist was a blur as he punched the guy straight in the face. The guy stumbled back, grasping his bloody nose. He seemed genuinely shocked. He really didn’t know who Stray was.
Wintervale wasn’t all that big. A western Canada town of about thirty thousand. Large enough to have a Walmart but too small for a movie theatre with more than five screens. How did he not know?
The Graveyard Kings had a reputation. They were known as the campus crime lords.
They were notorious for running a black market crime organization.
From drugs to weapons and even organs, the Kings would get a buyer anything for the right price.
I’d always thought most of those stories were simply rumors that had been greatly embellished.
Storm had confirmed there was a lot of truth to those tales.
“What the hell is your problem, man?” My would be companion did his best to save face. He threw a punch back at Stray. A punch that Stray happily took with a grin on his face.
“My problem is you, asshole. Did you come here looking for an easy victim? Someone you could drug and have your way with because no woman would willingly touch you?” Stray caught the guy in a headlock, holding him tight.
A frantic rush of adrenaline chased some of the fog from my mind. I tried to form words, to somehow explain away the situation. What was I even trying to say? I didn’t know.
I watched in shock as Stray brought his knee up into the guy’s face.
His fury was relentless. Over and over he hit the guy.
Once he fell to the ground, Stray pulled him back up by his shirt, not content to stop yet.
Several other people gathered outside had started to form a circle as they watched the brawl.
There wasn’t much of a fight. Stray easily dominated the situation. A knee to the stomach, a head butt to the face, and more punches than I could count finally laid the guy out on the ground. I didn’t know if he was unconscious or dead.
Someone shouted something about calling an ambulance. Stray leaned down over his victim, nudging him with a toe. Shallow breaths made his chest rise and fall. Maybe it was just me but Stray seemed disappointed.
Grabbing hold of my arm, he dragged me away from the scene. “Come on. I’m taking your ass home.”
He pulled me along so hard that I stumbled in an effort to keep up with him. “I can’t leave yet. Luna is still inside.”
“Sure looked like you were leaving with that idiot. What the fuck were you thinking, Codie?” Stray’s quick pace didn’t falter. When I almost fell to my knees, he slowed down enough for me to regain my balance.
Every time I’d been around Stray he’d been lighthearted and fun-loving. A relentless flirt who made himself laugh. This was not that version of him. He was angry. Blood stained his knuckles. Although I knew the Kings were capable of violence, I’d never witnessed it personally myself.
“I don’t know. I was trying to have a good time. How is it any business of yours?” My initial reaction was to fire right back at him like I always did. “What are you even doing here? I didn’t think you came to these raves.”
“If I wasn’t here, that sick fuck would be doing God only knows what to you. Do you even know that guy?” Stray led me to where his black Mustang was parked on the street. Opening the passenger door, he tried to push me inside.
Clinging onto the car’s frame, I resisted, my head swimming. “Not really. Why should I go anywhere with you? Maybe you’re as bad as he is. How do I know you’re not going to have your way with me?”
Stray spun me around, pressing me against the car. With a hand on either side of me, he held me in place. “When I have my way with you, I won’t have to drug you to do it. I didn’t come here to drug you and rape you, Codie. That guy did. I had no idea you were so reckless.”
He was too close. And he smelled too fucking good. Like sandalwood and something else. Something musky and masculine. Riding the high of so many drugs in my system, I found myself wondering what he would feel like on top of me.
Remembering that this was Stray and I didn’t allow those thoughts about him, I planted both hands on his chest and made a futile effort at shoving him away. “Yeah, well, there’s a lot you don’t know about me, Stray. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”
He laughed right in my face. “Was that what you were doing? Forgive me. From my point of view, it looked like you watched him drug your drink, and you fucking drank it anyway. Do you have a death wish or something?”
Son of a bitch. I didn’t realize it had been Stray that I felt watching me inside. My temper flared. Who the hell did he think he was?
“You were watching me? What gives you the right? That’s pretty fucked up itself, Stray. You need to stay away from me.”
“And you need to get your ass in the car. Now.” Stray’s piercing stare locked on me.
We engaged in a stare down. Even though my head still swam and I felt unsteady on my feet, I refused to let him order me around. A hint of a smile tugged at Stray’s lips. That only made me want to resist more.
“You’re quite the little wildcat, aren’t you?” He looked me over, his gaze lingering on the swell of my cleavage before dropping to my thighs. “I knew you would be. Since you want to do this the hard way.”
Leaning into the car, he opened the glove box and withdrew a zip tie. He slapped it around my wrists in seconds. Ignoring my protests, he lifted me off my feet and forced me into the car. I was still swearing at him when he closed the door and rounded the vehicle to the driver’s side.
“What about Luna?” I demanded, grasping at straws.
“Not my problem. You should’ve thought of that before you let some asshole drug you and lure you away. I’m sure she’ll get an Uber or something.” With a shrug, Stray started the car. He paused to buckle my seatbelt in place before driving away.
I watched the warehouse as we left it behind. “I can’t believe you were watching me. Please tell me this was the first time.”
My head rolled back against the seat. It grew increasingly more difficult to keep my eyes open and focused. It was nothing short of a miracle that I’d managed to hold a conversation this long.
“Sure, if that’s what you want to hear. It was the first time.” He slid a sidelong glance my way, studying me in the dim interior light.
“You’re usually not so uptight,” I commented, the words coming unbidden.
“You’re usually not so stupid. What were you thinking? Why did you finish the drink when you knew it was drugged?”
I didn’t know how to answer that. Nobody had caught me making such a reckless move before. I’d never been called out for my behavior because it had always been a secret.
“I don’t know. Maybe I was bored. I needed some excitement. Why do you care so much anyway?” I tested the zip tie holding my wrists together. I’d seen a video online on how to get out of these things. Too bad I couldn’t remember it now.
Stray didn’t answer my question. Instead, he said, “If you’re looking for trouble, you found it. I may seem like a playful jackass but you have no idea what lurks below the surface. How bad do you want to find out, wildcat?”
I wrinkled my nose, shaking my head. “You really need to stop trying so hard with me, Stray. I’m not interested in being another notch on your bed post.”
My defensive reply was the best I could muster. I didn’t want him to know that his question had bathed my insides in heat and undeniable curiosity. What kind of beast lived inside Stray Hurley?
“So you keep saying. When I get done with you, you’ll beg me for it.
Think I haven’t noticed the way you look at me when you think I’m not paying attention?
You’re just dying of curiosity, aren’t you?
You try to pretend like you’re too good for me, but we both know it’s an act.
Tonight proved it. You’re fucking depraved, Codie. ”
My mouth dropped open. I’d never been called anything so vile.
“Anytime I’ve ever looked at you, it’s been with absolute disgust. I am too good for you, Stray. You need to accept that.” I tightly gripped the door handle with my bound hands. I needed to get away from him.
He glanced at the frantic way I clutched the door. A smirk crossed his face. “Settle down. I’m taking you home. What are you going to do? Leap out of the car onto the street? I fucking dare you.”
Part of me wanted to do just that, if only to prove him wrong. Somehow, a shred of rationality kept me from doing something that stupid. Stray wasn’t worth it. He was nothing more than an arrogant manwhore who thought far too highly of himself.
As we drew closer to my apartment, I frowned as a sudden realization hit me. “Wait, how do you know where I live?”
“I wouldn’t worry about that. You should be far more concerned about what that guy was going to do to you.
If I hadn’t been there, you’d probably be fighting for your life right now.
” Stray turned onto my street, pulling up in front of my building.
He parked the car and turned to me, watching me struggle with the zip tie.
Everything began to spin. The world started to darken. I blinked furiously, trying to focus. “Are you fucking stalking me? That’s seriously messed up. I knew there was something not right about you.”
Stray scoffed. “Something not right about me? I’m not the one seeking out sexual predators. Do your friends know about your weird little kink? Does anyone?”
“That’s none of your damn business. Nothing about me is your business. Now get this off of me.” I held my hands out toward him. All I wanted was to get away from Stray, call Luna, and pass out in my bed.
He surprised me by pulling out a small switchblade knife and cutting the zip tie. I let out a startled gasp when he suddenly grabbed me by the throat, holding me in place.
Leaning in close so that his lips almost brushed against mine, Stray murmured, “If you’re looking for someone to make you feel like prey, beautiful, I’ll be more than happy to play the part.
But when I fuck you until all you can do is scream my name, you will be sober, and you will never forget it. ”