Chapter 21 – ELLIE #2
Maybe not as much as Kade, but still.
The ice cream melts faster than I can eat it, dripping pink down my fingers like blood. I'm contemplating whether to get napkins when a black car pulls up.
Sleek. Expensive. Tinted windows that turn it into a moving shadow. It stops directly in front of my bench, engine still running, and every instinct I've honed over four years of surviving Todd screams run.
But my legs won't move. I'm frozen, ice cream cone melting in my hand, watching the back door open like I'm witnessing my own execution.
Todd doesn't step out.
It's Jinx.
He's smirking, of course, like he knew this was exactly how today would turn out. When Cyrus follows, climbing out of the driver's seat, his jaw is set and he looks considerably less amused.
They walk toward me and I freeze for a second, calculating whether to run or face my punishment like a woman.
Evidently, I'm a rabbit, because the instinct to turn and bolt for the woods takes precedence and I catch the barest glimpse of surprise on Jinx's face before I disappear into the treeline.
Fuck, I am so fucked.
I run harder.
My sneakers pound against the path leading into the woods, branches whipping at my face and arms. Behind me, I hear Jinx's delighted unhinged laugh and Cyrus cursing as he presumably abandons whatever measured approach he was planning.
This is reckless. So fucking reckless. They're faster than me, stronger, and they know these woods better than I do since they've had four years to explore while I was playing dress-up in a mansion.
I'm going to get caught in approximately thirty seconds, and then what? They drag me back to the house by my hair? Lock me in that room for real?
Another thought that should scare me shitless.
Instead, adrenaline floods my system like the world's best drug, and I push harder. Faster. The trees blur past, and for the first time in four years I feel alive. Not performing. Not surviving.
Actually fucking alive.
This is what it felt like on the back of Tank's bike. Wind raking through my hair, heart stuttering, the rush of freedom and danger pushing me higher. The world narrowing down to just the rumble of the engine and the exhilarating terror of going way too fucking fast.
I vault over a fallen log, land hard on the other side, keep running. My lungs burn. My legs scream. My heart goes into overdrive to keep up with the sound of their rapidly gaining footsteps.
And fuck if the thought of what they'll do to me if they catch me doesn't make my pussy throb.
Oh yeah. I'm fucking nuts alright.
I hear the sound of bodies crashing through the underbrush. They're closer now. They're herding me, I realize—Jinx to my left, Cyrus somewhere to my right, cutting off escape routes with the efficiency of hunters who've done this before.
Have they? Chased other girls through these woods? Other women who broke their rules and needed to be taught a lesson?
The jealousy that spikes through me is so sharp it actually makes me stumble.
That's when Jinx catches me.
Or rather, barrels into me from the side like a golden-haired missile, tackling me to the forest floor in a tangle of limbs and breathless laughter. We roll three times before momentum stops us, and then he's on top of me, pinning me down with his weight.
"Gotcha," he pants, grinning down at me with flushed cheeks and wild eyes, his hair forming a curtain as it falls around us.
My chest heaves, trying to catch my breath. Leaves stick in my hair. Dirt smudges across my cheek. And Jinx hovers above me, his body pressing me into the earth, his hips cradled between my thighs in a way that makes heat pool between them.
This is it. The moment I fight back. Knee him in the balls. Demand he get off me. Remind him that I'm not actually theirs, not really, just playing along until Todd's dead.
Instead, I choose a different strategy and go completely limp.
The change catches him off guard. His grip loosens slightly, confusion flickering across his perfect face.
"So what are you going to do with me?" I ask, my voice coming out deliberately breathless. I let my eyes go half-lidded, lips parting slightly. "Now that you've caught me?"
Jinx's pupils dilate so fast it's like watching ink spill across water. "Ellie..."
It's a warning. Or maybe a plea. I'm not sure which.
I roll my hips up experimentally, and… fuck. He's hard. Already rock hard and pressing against me through layers of fabric that suddenly feel way too thick. The pressure makes us both gasp.
"What's the matter?" I grind up against him again, slower this time, watching his eyes glaze over with pure want. "Thought this was what you wanted. Me caught. Pinned down. Completely at your mercy."
"Fuck," he breathes, and his hips drop down involuntarily, grinding his erection against me. He's fucking huge. My sweet, golden retriever ex-best-friend who used to borrow my Chapstick is packing a fucking tire iron in his jeans. Good to know.
And he's completely fucking flustered.
I always knew Jinx liked guys, but I guess there's part of him that likes girls, too. Or at least me.
His hands move to my wrists, pinning them above my head with enough force to make me gasp. But it's not pain. It's something that makes my back arch and my thighs tighten around his hips.
"You're playing a dangerous game, Princess," he mutters in a raspier voice than I've ever heard from him, but he's grinding against me now with intent, his cock hard as steel between us. "You have no idea what you're starting."
"Don't I?" I roll my hips again, matching his rhythm. "Seems pretty obvious to me."
He leans down, his mouth so close to mine I can feel his breath ghosting over my lips. "I could take you right here. Right now. Make you come on my cock before anyone could stop us."
The threat makes me clench around nothing, makes me wet enough that I'm sure he can feel it even through our clothes.
"Then do it," I challenge.
For a second—one perfect, terrifying second—I think he actually will. His eyes go dark, predatory, and his grip on my wrists tightens just shy of painful. I can feel him trembling with the effort of holding back, his whole body coiled like a spring about to snap.
Then Cyrus's voice cuts through the moment like a bucket of ice water.
"Jinx. Off."
Jinx freezes, his eyes clearing slightly. But he doesn't move. Doesn't release my wrists.
"I'm not a fucking dog," he says through his teeth, eyes locked on me.
"Now," Cyrus snaps, closer than before. "Before Kade finds out you're dry humping his—our—property in the fucking woods."
The possessive correction makes my stomach feel tight, but Jinx just grins down at me, feral and beautiful. "Might be worth it."
"It won't be when he sets you on fire."
That gets through to him. Jinx sighs dramatically but rolls off me, leaving me sprawled in the dirt and leaves like some kind of woodland sacrifice. My body immediately mourns the loss of his heat, his weight, the delicious pressure of him against me.
I prop myself up on my elbows, trying for casual even though I'm pretty sure there's dirt in my hair and my pulse is still racing. Cyrus stands a few feet away, arms crossed, looking thoroughly unimpressed with both of us.
But he's hard. And the outline of his cock through those designer slacks is every bit as impressive as Jinx's. And a bit thicker, I think, but I'd have to take off his pants to be sure. For science.
"Done with your little woodland romp?" His voice drips condescension.
"We were just playing," Jinx says, offering me his hand.
I ignore it, pushing myself to my feet without help. My legs shake slightly—adrenaline or arousal, hard to tell—but I force them steady. "I was running. He was chasing. Seemed fair."
"Nothing about this is fair, Princess." Cyrus steps closer, and there's something different in his eyes. Dangerous. "You broke the rules. Snuck out. Tested our boundaries on day fucking one."
"So?" I lift my chin, even though my heart's hammering. "What are you going to do about it?"
Wrong question. I realize it the second his expression shifts from disapproving to darkly amused.
He moves faster than I expect, his hand shooting out to grip the back of my neck like I'm a kitten he's scruffing. Not painful, but firm enough that struggling would be pointless. The dominance in the gesture makes my knees weak.
Apparently, I have a thing for that. A thing for being gently manhandled in a way trust fund boys from college can't quite manage. After all of Todd's bullshit, it makes no fucking sense.
Then again, maybe deep down, it's because I know they're safe. I know they're not capable of hurting me. Not really. Not in a way I wouldn't like.
"What I'm going to do," he says, voice low and controlled, "is march your disobedient ass back to the car before you make this worse."
"I'm not—"
His fingers tighten slightly. "You used to be smart, Ellie. What happened?"
Maybe he's right. Maybe the girl I used to be wouldn't have pulled this stunt. Would've known that testing them this early was idiotic.
But that girl also didn't spend four years having every choice stripped away. Didn't understand that sometimes the only power you have is in choosing how you lose it.
"I had to sign a contract like I'm fucking livestock," I snap back, trying to twist away from his grip. "Maybe that affected my judgment."
Cyrus doesn't budge. He just starts walking, forcing me to stumble along beside him or risk falling flat on my face. Jinx trails behind us, and I can feel his eyes on my ass, the heat of his stare as tangible as his warm hands were minutes ago.
"We offered you a choice. You made it." Cyrus steers me through the trees so efficiently I can't help but wonder if he's done shit like this before. And the thought actually makes me jealous.
Not afraid. Not horrified.
Jealous.