Chapter ten Bexley
Chapter ten
Bexley
“It seems like we have two options really,” I start. “We need to scope out the building. We either stick together and try to cover as much ground as possible or separate into groups to spread out further.”
Tai strums his fingers along his jawline. “We should stick together. There’s nothing to say we can’t come back another night.”
“Except for the fact that if whoever is responsible gets wind of us being here and come back to finish the job, then we’re fucked,” Parker scoffs. “We should split up.”
“No.”
I gaze at Rylan, taking note of his strong disapproval. “Parker’s right. It’s better we split up. At least to check the outer areas of campus. Definitely together when we hit the library, though.”
That hole has been haunting me ever since we found it. Did I really miss it in all my years at Cedar Heights? What’s down there?
The Willowbrook men share a heated look, but they know I’m right. Begrudgingly, they give a simultaneous nod of reluctant agreement.
Grabbing my phone out of my shorts, I start creating a group chat. “I’m going to add us together into a chat. I’m sending a map and a copy of areas to avoid due to structural damage. No one is being rescued this time.”
Even without glancing up, I feel Lannister’s eyes burning into me. But after surviving the literal fire here, the idiot can glare all he wants.
“There,” I finish, their phones collectively dinging at the same time. “Pairs?”
“I’ll go with you,” Arch offers before pausing. His eyes flicker to Parker who shrugs, unbothered about being stuck with one of the Willowbrook members of the group.
Rylan moves closer to me. “I’m going with Bex. It makes more sense if we split into three groups of two, one person from each academy. No one is getting lost either.”
“Wait,” Tai mumbles. “Why can’t I go with Bexley then?”
“Because I beat you to it,” Rylan shoots back. “You can go with Archer.”
Archie snorts. “I’ll go with Lannister,” he says matter-of-factly, raising his eyebrows knowingly at me.
I bite back a laugh. Yeah—probably best not to put Lannister and Parker together. The only way this could get worse is if a murder occurs. That’s an extremely likely outcome with those two.
Again, Parker shrugs, motioning for Tai to follow him. “Hurry up. Let’s get this over with. We’ll cover the east side.”
Pouting slightly, Tai nods, and they disappear through the entrance doors which Arch and I cleared earlier, removing all the panel boards placed there after the fire.
“Arch, I’d feel better if you handled the quad and central area.”
He frowns. “Are you sure? I’m happy to take the west.”
I shake my head slowly. “I’ve got this. I’ll be okay.”
“What’s wrong with the west?” Rylan asks, clearly confused.
Before I can answer, another voice beats me to it.
“It’s the closest section to the auditorium.”
Rylan whips his head to look at Lannister, almost as if his best friend might be making a bad joke at a time like this. “Seriously?”
Lannister nods. “It’s fine, though. Just don’t let her run off. That’s what fucked us up last time,” he mumbles before stalking off toward the entrance.
Arch scowls at his back. “Maybe I should have let Parker deal with him after all.”
“Play nice,” I reply warmly. “To be fair, he’s not wrong. I did actually take off and leave him behind. Not my fault he’s slow.”
“I heard that,” Lannister calls out from the doorway.
“Good,” I say, twisting around to find him. “Run faster next time.”
Body warmth creeps up behind me, Rylan placing his hands on my hips. “I won’t let anything happen to you,” he murmurs into my ear. “And if you do run, we both know you wouldn’t get very far.”
I gaze at him over my shoulder with a sly smile. “You’d be surprised how fast I can be with the right motivation.”
He cocks an eyebrow. “Duly noted.”
“Come on,” Archie interjects, interrupting our… whatever this is. “Let’s get this started so we can meet back at the library. Keep your phones on loud.”
“God, the smell is horrible,” Rylan complains. “Sure brings back unwanted memories.”
Even steering clear of the auditorium section, the smell of smoke and burned wood is overwhelming. It’s worse than last time, and perhaps if I had planned this little excursion more thoroughly, I would have taken that into consideration.
I’m sure there’d be nothing suspicious at all about a bunch of people walking around an abandoned fire-damaged academy with gas masks. It’d give someone a good scare if they busted us.
Sophia would probably have an opinion about it. Aren’t masks a thing in romance books?
I wonder if I wore a Scream mask into her bedroom in the middle of the night if she’d laugh or murder me. Probably homicide—yeah, most definitely.
Scrunching up my nose, I nod. “We don’t have to hang around here for long. Just a quick look for anything out of place.”
“I doubt anyone’s here,” Rylan murmurs. “If the smell doesn’t scare anyone off, then our presence would.”
“You’re thinking awfully mighty of yourself again,” I joke. “You forget I had a Willowbrook wolf with me last time, and they still tried to turn us into charcoal chicken.”
He stops walking, turning to face me with a deadpan expression.
“I meant because of how many of us there are. At this point, I doubt we have immunity from whoever’s responsible.
They clearly don’t care about Cedar Heights being at Willowbrook, otherwise they wouldn’t have bothered with a second attempt. ”
“Good to see we’re on the same page, finally,” I mumble playfully. “I’m fairly confident everyone is sick of the merger now. Thank fuck for the cage.”
Rylan hums in agreement as the pair of us continue walking. I’m scanning classrooms and staff offices, but this close to where the latest fire took place, it’s clear too much has been damaged.
The thought does nothing to comfort me. While you can’t burn what’s already ash, I’m starting to worry our academy is beyond salvage.
Even if we had Willowbrook’s money, the only option is to pull these entire sections down and start again.
I swallow the growing lump in my throat, unaware I’m tensed up and digging a balled-up fist into my rib cage until Rylan stops again.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, concerned.
“Nothing,” I answer.
His eyebrows pull together. “Bullshit, Bex. I know this is a job tonight, but let go of that thought for two seconds and just be you. We don’t have to pretend with each other—you know that.”
My shoulders slump forward slightly as I drop my arms by my side. “It’s just hitting me all at once. It’s really gone, isn’t it?” I ask defeatedly. “They actually did it. They destroyed Cedar Heights.”
Rylan steps toward me, brushing his hands down my arms. “It’s not over until it’s over, Bex. We’ve still got time. Maybe not for you and the other seniors, but there’s still time. We’ll find the people who did this.”
To my surprise, and his, I lunge forward and close the distance, throwing my arms around Rylan’s torso in a hug. Dropping my forehead against his chest, Rylan snakes his arms around my body and gently rests his chin on the top of my head.
“We have to find them, Ry,” I mumble angrily into his chest. “And make them pay.”
He stiffens against me. “You just called me Ry.”
I tilt my head back, shooting him a confused glance. “So?”
Is it just me or are his eyes doing that thing again?
The crystal clear lagoon is morphing into an electric storm, and the longer I lock eyes with him, my stomach tightens from the heat sizzling between us.
Well, shit—I think I’m a sucker for this side of him.
A thought pops into my head, and realistically, I should take some time to work through the pros and cons. But as the tension between us crackles dangerously, all I can think is fuck rationality.
He has that effect on me. But from the way he looks ready to devour me, I’m pretty sure the feeling is mutual.
Stepping back, Rylan doesn’t try to stop me which should probably be my first warning sign. He knows what’s coming before I even move, his eyes darkening and head lowering predatorily.
I found my motivation. It’s him.
A smirk flashes across my face before I take off a split second later. Thunderous footsteps give chase and already Rylan is hot on my tail.
I deliberately choose a path away from where I know the others will be, sticking to the boundary line at the edge of the structurally damaged area.
The hallway narrows and twists, and even in the dark with only the moonlight streaming in through windows, I know exactly where I’m going.
Unfortunately for me, the chances of losing Rylan are slim because he’s keeping pace easily.
He doesn’t lose sight of me for a single second, even with all the turns and unfamiliar areas I’m taking him.
And if I’m honest with myself, there’s probably not enough motivation in the world that would give me the ability to outrun this man. Which can only mean one thing.
This is a cat and mouse game.
We both know he could have already caught me by now. He just wants to see how long I can go for—either until my cardio gives out or I give in.
It’s perfectly us. Even if running is involved.
I start to make a plan in my head because even though my body is alight with excitement and heat, desperately pleading for his touch, I won’t be giving up that easily.
Speeding up, I push myself to the fastest pace I can manage, knowing at the end of this particular section of hallway is a crossroads. To the left—the burnt, irreparable ruins of Cedar Heights. And to our right—classrooms.
As we reach the junction, I feign pivoting to the right before spinning at the last second and deviating in the opposite direction.
This area is technically out-of-bounds. But the dual opening ahead will provide some shelter if the building suddenly collapses on top of us. The familiar stairwell ahead is sturdy—housing the concrete tunnel which leads to the sporting field.
Just as long as I veer in that direction, we should stay out of danger.
“Where do you think you’re going?” a voice murmurs ardently, rough hands grabbing my waist.
The air rushes out of my lungs as my back is slammed into the wall. My chest heaves from our chase but I don’t notice, only focused on Rylan who peers down at me with wild eyes.
I throw him a salacious smirk. “The concrete tunnel.”
His lips crash into mine heatedly, the two of us practically exploding at the same time. I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him flush against my body.
Hands skate down my sides, and as soon as they’re at my hips, Rylan pops the button of my denim shorts open.
I sigh into his mouth when his fingers slip inside my briefs, immediately attacking my clit with vicious circles.
My back pushes off the wall with need but I’m promptly slammed back again by Rylan as his hand dips lower, thrusting a finger inside me.
“Ry…” I mumble between kisses as I blindly reach for his hips.
I’m met with a short pause and a growl, giving me an opportunity to throw my hand inside his sweatpants and fist his erection.
Rylan snatches my wrist and yanks my hand out, holding onto it firmly and using his strength to spin me around. I crash into the wall chest-first as his warm body molds into my back, pinning my wrist between us.
He kisses my cheek when I tilt my head to the side for him, his lips dragging toward my collarbone. Distracted by his mouth on my flushed skin, he lets my wrist go, sliding his hands down the curvature of my waist.
Grabbing the band of my shorts and briefs, he pushes them over my hips, letting them fall to the ground.
“Put your hands above your head,” he orders, voice low.
When I don’t immediately comply, because fuck that, he lifts my arms and slams them into cold drywall.
He pins and holds my wrists together with one hand, cock brushing against my ass. Rylan kicks my feet apart, moving in close, and before I can taunt him with the witty remark that was on the tip of my tongue, a very different tip pushes into me.
Not a moment later, my cunt is stretched, clenching as Rylan spears his full length inside until he’s completely bottomed out.
“Fuck,” I hiss quietly, leaning my forehead against the wall.
Warm fingers dig possessively into the soft curves of my stomach as I’m held still. “I can’t fucking control myself around you,” he murmurs into my ear. “You have no idea how crazy you make me.”
“I could say the same about you,” I whisper, letting my head drop back onto his shoulder. “I am enamored with you. I hated it.”
“Do you still hate it?” he asks softly, kissing along my jawline.
I shake my head. “No. I don’t think it’s even remotely possible for me to hate you anymore. I could try with every ounce of strength I have and it still wouldn’t come close.”
His breath hitches with a gravelly groan before his hips roll back. I let out a loud cry when he thrusts back into me, still unable to move as his hands keep me pinned down.
Rylan fucks me with fast, sharp precision as I fight to stay quiet, biting my bottom lip. He can sense me holding back, suddenly dropping my pinned wrists and ripping his cock out of my warmth.
I’m spun around again, but before my back can find the wall, he lifts me up and onto his hips, impaling me again in one swift move. The two of us crash against the wall as I wrap my legs around his back, mouths colliding with a frenzy.
We never slow down, the sound of our skin hitting together echoing around the abandoned corridor. Our insane need for each other is somehow still climbing and my body bounces like a pinball between the wall and him.
“Touch yourself,” Rylan demands against my lips. “Touch that pretty little cunt for me. I need to feel you come.”
I unwrap one arm from around his neck, clutching his jaw in my hand to kiss him feverishly before letting it fall down between us.
I’m so worked up, barely hanging on, that the moment my finger brushes against my clit, I start to detonate right there. When my orgasm rips through me a few seconds later, it’s paired with a deep thrust from Rylan, and a strangled sound escapes my lips.
Rylan smashes me harder into the wall as stars burst through my vision with a frantic wave of euphoric pleasure.
“Come with me,” I beg through the gasps, cupping his face in my hands. “I need to feel you come in me.”
A carnal growl rips from his throat as the last shred of Rylan’s self-control vanishes, his hips driving into me with brute force.
CRASH.
For a second, I’m freefalling before the wind is knocked right out of me. I smash into the ground as bits of burnt wood splinter and fly around us. Rylan lands on top of me, hands landing on either side of my head as he catches himself.
Our eyes lock in momentary disbelief before the two of us slowly start laughing at the same time. Leaning down, Rylan kisses me with simmering intensity, and when he grinds his hips in a circular motion, my cunt clenches around his cock again.
And there, on the floor covered in the ashy ruins of my academy and dreams, Rylan makes me see stars again.