Chapter 10
TEN
Joseph Beaumont’s room is easily the size of the house I used to share with my mom.
It has a kitchen, sitting area, a giant Cal King bed, and he has a private bathroom, which is the only thing I’m truly jealous of.
Joey drags me toward the bed, and I go with him begrudgingly.
I’m waiting for him to let my wrist go, so I can make a run for the door.
I size Joey up and I know, without a doubt in my mind, that he would have no problem sexually assaulting me.
His drug use makes him a bit of a wild card, so I don’t know how hard he would fight me if I tried to shake him off.
I could scream, but I don’t think that would work all that well.
The walls in the dorms are pretty thick, the other boys are probably at the party, and even if someone heard me, it’s likely they wouldn’t want to take on the psychotic Beaumont sibling for a poor scholarship student.
I’m on my own.
Joey sits on the end of the bed and pulls me down next to him. His eyes are still dancing wildly around the room, bouncing off everything they touch. “Have you ever been fucked on a mattress that costs more than a Bentley?”
I jerk away from him when his lips touch my ear. What a dumb question. I’d never tell him I am a virgin. I won’t hazard a guess about what he’d do if he found that piece of information out. I decide to just be honest with him. If he attacks me, I’ll have to take my chances with my knife.
“I’m not fucking you.”
He chuckles and kisses my neck. I cringe away from the feeling.
His fingers are still clasped around my wrist, tight enough that I can feel the bones grinding together, and with the tingling in my fingers I know it's pretty close to snapping. Writing assignments will be a bitch if he breaks it. I slip my free hand into my pocket and grip my knife, but I don’t pull it out just yet. I give it one last try.
“Joey. I’m not having sex with you. Let me go.”
He grunts and yanks my arm until I sprawl backwards onto the bed, covering me with his own body.
The hand I have wrapped around the handle of my knife is trapped between us, and I can feel his erection digging into my thigh.
Instinct tells me to scream, but I choke it back.
I put the scared, inexperienced seventeen-year-old girl into a box, and I let the Wolf take over.
The Wolf is calm and patient and can wait for the right moment to go for his throat.
“Just lie still. You might find you have less trouble at this school once you’ve been fucked by me.” His lips crush mine, and I can feel his tongue force its way into my mouth.
I’ve never been kissed before.
It’s disgusting.
I might never kiss a guy again if it’s always like this.
I arch my back deliberately and he purrs at me, obviously thinking I’m melting for him.
It gives me just enough room to pull the knife out of my pocket and press it against his groin.
I’m aiming for his femoral artery, but I know he’s more worried about his dick when he pulls away and gapes at me.
There’s a comical look on his face, and I know it's only there because the cocaine has taken hold.
“Get off me,” I say softly.
The vein in his neck is flicking, his blood pumping like crazy. He’s frozen for a second, just staring down at the knife pressed against the hard line of his cock.
He finally releases my wrist and stumbles back. I can see the high is really setting in, and for once in my life, I’m grateful for cocaine. I don’t want to think about how he would fight back if he were lucid. He runs a hand over his face and laughs.
“Fuck it. It’s not like I need the money, I was just hoping for the bragging rights.”
Money? Bragging rights? What the hell is he going on about? I shoot him a glare and raise the knife toward him as I edge toward the door. Maybe Ash had been right, maybe I should have taken his warnings a little more seriously. Clearly, Joey is more than a psychopath. He’s also deranged.
“What the hell are you talking about? I wasn’t going to give you money.”
He laughs again, and I flinch at the cruel edge to it. “My family earns more money in a minute than your worthless bloodline ever has, so clearly, I didn’t mean your money. If you fuck me, I’ll win the sweep.”
“What fucking sweep?”
He smirks. His pants have a clean cut in them from my knife, and I can clearly see the outline of his erection in his dark boxers. A dark thrill of panic shoots through my blood, and I look back up at his face quickly.
“First to fuck you gets the sweep. There’s currently a hundred and forty grand on the line, and it’s climbing daily. I thought it would be worth a quick fuck even if you are Mounty trash.”
A hundred and forty grand?! That’s more than four times the amount my mom used to earn in an entire year at the docks, and these pompous dicks are throwing it away on a stupid bet?
I see red. I see so much red that I think about slapping his handsome, cruel face.
I think about stabbing him too, but then I count down slowly from five until my vision clears.
This boy is way too dangerous for a scholarship girl to mess with without a plan.
If I want to end him, I’ll have to be more subtle about it.
And now…
Now I want to end him.
The walk back to the girls’ dorm is much more tense now that I don’t have a rich dickhead to clear the path of teachers.
I have to duck and weave, and I find myself thankful that Hannaford is a big, old, castle-like building with lots of alcoves and statues to hide behind.
I sigh with relief when I make it, and sneaking past the other juniors’ rooms is easy.
I get to the sitting area across from my door when I see Avery straddling some guy, making out with him like she’s starving for oxygen and he’s the best option she’s got.
I don’t have the same problem I did with Harley, so I sprint to my room. Once I’m safely locked inside, I give myself a minute to freak out about Joey and how close I came to something terrible happening. When the minute is up, I change into my pajamas and climb into my bed.
I don’t sleep.
I thought about skipping classes this morning because it’s the last school day before the long weekend.
However, I don’t want to ruin my perfect attendance record, and I refuse to let what happened after the party affect my scholarship.
I spend double my usual time on my makeup, because you can see every sleepless minute carved into my face, until I finally give up and head straight to class, skipping breakfast. My stomach is rolling with the remnants of the tequila from last night, and I’m sure if I touch food, I’ll hurl.
Silver lining, though; I’m early enough that I’ve even beaten the teacher to History, so I enjoy the brief quiet.
Collapsing into my chair I rest my head against my textbooks.
I’m sure I look hungover, but I can’t summon enough energy to care.
When the teacher arrives I give her a little wave without looking up.
She doesn’t seem to be concerned that I’m expiring at my desk.
Then I feel the chair next to mine pull out and Harley drops into his seat.
I glance up at him, and he looks too healthy, too happy, just too much. I give him a glare.
“Did someone have a big night?” he asks, way too loudly and with far too much cheer. I want to hurt him.
“Feel free to choke,” I reply, and he grins at me.
Avery is already at her spot in front of us and she looks down her nose at me with a smirk. As the class starts, she flips her hair at me. I spare her a second of my time, long enough to wonder if she has anything else planned for me, before I push her out of my mind.
I manage to pull myself together enough to get through the class. My stomach gurgles toward the end, and Harley keeps shooting me these looks until I’m squirming in my chair.
“Enjoy the show?”
He doesn’t look at me when he says this, and I know it’s on purpose.
He’s taking notes for the assigned homework, but I’ve already finished it, so there’s no need for me to bother pretending.
It takes me a second to remember what I saw last night in the woods.
I can’t think about any of it without remembering Joey’s dick pressing into me and his body pinning me to the bed.
My wrist is still aching, and I’m a little worried he’s sprained it.
“Not particularly. Though if you want my opinion, I’d suggest you start using protection. The girls at this school get around even more than Mounties do, and you don’t want to catch something that makes your dick fall off.”
He smirks and leans in toward me. He smells amazing. Usually, I’d secretly love feeling the heat from his torso against mine, but I’m just not in the mood for his shit today.
“That’s why she was only sucking me off.”
I lean away from him and shoot him a glare. I don’t find his banter amusing. I certainly don’t want to high-five him, except maybe slapping him would be cathartic. I decide to change tactics instead.
“Did you know there’s a price on me? That’s why I’m being stalked by guys at this shitty school.”
Harley’s smirk falters on his lips for a second, and then it’s as strong as ever. “Everyone knows about it. They also know Joey staked his claim on you.”
Staked his claim, like I’m a slab of fucking meat. I feel the grip of that white-hot rage taking me again.
Harley must see it too, because his face splits into a grin. “Like I said, Mounty, if you hit Joey, I’ll take that memory to bed for the rest of my life.”
“Fuck hitting him,” I whisper back, and Avery turns to glare at us both.
It must kill her that I’m next to Harley in nearly all our classes. She can’t contain him or control him if she’s not right beside him.