Chapter 5
COLLINS
Irritation swarms under my skin, warring with the need to do something, say something. To figure this out and fix it. I cannot let Roman have me. There’s no way I’ll let that snake take me. And I cannot let Maeve sign off on this proposal.
I am not Sloane. I am not someone who needs to be held, pushed or made to do something in order to behave. I’ve spent my whole life behaving.
My stomach knots as we turn down the hall to my room, my trusty shadow following right behind me. Stopping halfway there, Hayes knocks into my back. “I’ve got it. I don’t need an escort.”
“Wouldn’t be doing my bodyguard duty if I just left you, would I, viper?”
God, I hate that fucking name. Vipers are gross, and ugly. He’s basically been calling me something horrible since we were children. Clearly, he’s never thought highly of me.
“Good thing I don’t need a bodyguard.”
“Everyone needs one. Maeve’s orders.”
“Awesome,” I snap, earning a bemused expression. “Don’t tell her about tonight. I don’t need her freaking out.” Or signing my life away.
“Don’t go down there first thing in the morning, flipping shit,” he says, smirk firmly in place. “She hates being told what to do. Come to think of it,” he muses, rubbing his beard. “You all have that in common. Must be an O’Brien trait.”
It’d be the only thing my older sister and I have in common. We all couldn’t be more different.
“Fuck you,” I growl, narrowing my eyes. That grin just grows.
“You know, you say that a lot. Maybe it’s a subconscious thing?” He steps close, smelling fresh like the woods behind our house after a rainstorm. “Do you want to fuck me, Collins? Even just a little bit?”
Swallowing, I try like hell not to punch him. Not like I know how. Pops never taught me to fight like he taught Maeve.
“Unfortunately for you, I have standards. You’re beneath them.”
Chuckling, he pinches my chin. “I could be beneath you.” He shrugs and I glare, cheeks darkening. “See? You even like it. Just tell me this, ever think about me when you’re…” he trails off, looking to my door, dropping my chin.
“When I’m, what?” I cross my arms, already done with this conversation. “Thinking about killing you? Pushing you off a cliff? Be specific.”
Stepping closer, his lips brush my ear and I freeze, body locked in place.
Not from fear, but something just as dangerous.
Because Hayes is hot—royally, exquisitely hot, in a way men shouldn’t be.
With strong hands, a chiseled body and vicious blue eyes, he is a walking thunderstorm ready to unleash torrents of chaos all over my life.
And he is chaotic. Came into my life randomly, pushed into my boundaries and demanded to be a part of it.
“When you’re touching yourself, viper. Is it my name you call out just as you cum? Is it my cock you think about when that toy enters you?” He tsks when my mouth opens, thoughts scattering. Because… holy. “Maybe even my tongue when you flick that pretty clit of yours?”
Shoving him away, I inhale, chest heaving at the images. And they’re really good images. “You’re such a pig. Trust me, you’re not the one I think about.”
He looks at me, leaning against the hall. His gaze sinks deep, hidden under the skin like an anchor to my soul. “No? Then who do you think about, viper? Another one of those boys you like to sneak around with in the library?”
I still, murderous thoughts overrunning my head. Forget hot—now he’s just an ass. “What did you say?”
“You can’t honestly think no one knows.” He mock-gasps, holding his chest. “You do? Poor thing. We all know what you do in those rooms. Hell, I think you must know we suspect and give into the exhibitionist in you. Plenty of glass windows to peer through for a front row viewing.”
My neck heats in rage. Maeve wouldn’t mind if I kill him, right? She’ll find another best friend. Maybe one who isn’t such an asshat.
“Hayes,” I growl, coming up to his side. God, he’s so tall, I must look like a rabbit compared to him. “Whatever you know, you don’t.”
There’s no way he knows. Pops never knew what I did in the library. He wouldn’t have let me out if he did.
He had me under lock and key, suffocating me under his love. If he knew I ran into those study halls to find some kind of relief, to rebel against the confines he put me in?
If he knew, I would have never seen sunlight again.
Another secret Hayes knows about me.
“Oh, I know plenty.” He winks, enraging me further. “I know your favorite color is blue, you organize your underwear according to color and time of the month, and that you fuck guys in the library during study breaks. That about cover it?”
I shove my hands at his shoulders, his body barely moving.
“I swear to God, if you’ve watched me—”
“Don’t you like being watched?” His tone lowers and chills break out over my arms. “Sitting in that room, skirt hiked high, head back as some fucker gets to play with that divine pussy? You chose that spot to be on full display, viper. Just like at the club, you wanted that audience.”
Swallowing, I narrow my eyes, breathing hard. God, the images. “I’ll end you.” I try so hard to summon Maeve’s death glare. “You forget. I’m trained in saving people’s lives. I can certainly take them.”
Biting his bottom lip, Hayes taps my chin playfully. “You’re really cute when you think you can threaten me.” He inhales at my temple, smile touching my skin like a zap of electricity. I blink to focus. “But I’ve been threatened by scarier guys than you, viper. You don’t scare me.”
“I should,” I mutter, pulling away.
Shrugging, he slides his hands into his pockets. “Probably. But I’ve always liked dangerous things.”
Aggravated, I throw off his jacket, tossing it at his head. “Go away.”
He barely bats an eye, catching it with one hand.
“Remember, don’t do anything stupid with your sister,” he calls out, watching me turn away. “I know how that mind works. How it spins. Don’t try to fix this. You need to stop and really think.” Stop and think? That’s like the one thing I always do.
“And just let her sign my life away?” I snort. “Yeah, right.”
Stalking to my room, I try like hell not to let his gaze unnerve me. It hits me, a strike against a boulder, and my shoulders react, hunching.
“I’m serious, Collins,” he says, voice a rumble. “Don’t do anything rash. Take some time. Breathe.”
My hands shake as I grab the door handle. How dare he speak so condescendingly to me?
“Maybe when you think about me tonight, using that toy on yourself, you’ll calm down, yeah? But you should know that I don’t stop at just one orgasm,” he calls out and my cheeks burn. “I like to make sure my partner is thoroughly satisfied. So don’t just stop with one, okay?”
“Fuck off, Hayes.”
Slamming my door, I press my forehead to the door, body humming with need and embarrassment, I ignore his laugh.