Fury (New Adult Romance) - #1.5 Fierce Series (17 page)

Enough fantasies for today. “Anyway, I know just how.” Now’s the
time to bring up my amazing plan. I’ll teach her, if she teaches me. It’s not
wrong if we both take advantage of each other, now, is it? “But it’ll cost you
something,” I add.

She freezes, jamming her legs together like she just heard me say
the craziest, most outrageous thing. Of course, my eyes swipe over her body,
taking in those thighs as that’s where my attention is drawn when she’s acting
prudish all of a sudden. Damn, she’s got some nice legs, though. I can’t wait
to sink my teeth into her.

“I’m not some kind of―”

“Bookworm?” I interrupt her, just in case she was about to say
something she’d regret later.

She lingers on her words for a second. “Excuse me?”

“That’s what I need,” I say, trying to get it through her head.

“You. You need me?” She points at herself like she can’t believe
what I’m saying. What does she want me to do? Beg her? No way that’s ever going
to happen. I don’t plead for anything; I make girls beg for mercy.

But … I suppose I should ask her a little more nicely. “Help me with
studying.”

Her eyes widen and her mouth drops open. Is it really that hard to
believe that I could use her help?

“Well … this is new,” she jests.

Oh, fuck me, now she’s the one teasing me. Well, I’m not playing
around this time. “Don’t look so surprised. I told you, I think it’s important,
but there are other … things in my life right now that make it … difficult, to
say the least.” I clear my throat. “So, are you in or not?”

“Uh … Yeah, sure.”

I glance sideways and pick up a book lying on her bedside table. “If
you help me with this, I’ll teach you how to defend yourself.”

“All right. Deal.” She lurches forward, trying to grab the book, but
I’m quicker. It’s already way up in the air, and I’m seeing her jump up and
down, her tits swaying in her shirt again. Gotta love that.

A wicked smile forms on my lips as I realize everything is turning
out exactly the way I wanted. “Great. Then let’s get started.”

I always get what I want.

Chapter
15

Trying to Make the Best of It

She follows me into my room, trailing behind me. I place her book on
my desk, while checking out the clock. Jaret will be back in a few, and I don’t
want him to know I’m doing this. Not because I care about him seeing me study,
but because of what he could tell the gang if he saw me studying with Leafy.
It’s her I’m worried about. He can’t know she’s helping me. If he tells the
rest of the gang, she’d be in danger. Not to mention the fact that they can’t
know I have other things on my mind besides dealing drugs. This needs to stay
between the two of us.

“We’ve got an hour or two. My roommate will be back by then.”

“What does him coming back have to do with us studying?” she asks,
looking around.

I sit down on my bed, running my fingers through my hair. “Can’t
have him see me read a book.” I’m just making it up as I go along really. I
couldn’t give a rat’s ass whether he sees me with a book. I care about her
safety.

She squints, and a smile forms on her face that’s just so cheeky.
Curious. Sexy. Hmm …

“What? Are you serious?” she says.

I’m fucking serious about wanting to take her in my bed, yeah. “I’m
dead serious.”

She leans against the table, her hips swaying, showing me her
deliciously curved body. It’s making me hard just watching her defiance. “It’s
just a book.”

Of course it’s just a book, but I have to keep the gang in mind
here. They won’t accept me spending time on something other than dealing. “Not
to them. They’d kick my ass if they saw me trying too hard. Nah, I gotta fit
in.”

“With who?”

It frustrates me no end when she’s so persistent. Maybe I should
just shut her up with a kiss.

I sigh. What am I thinking? “No one.”

I’m not going to talk about it any further. I’m not wasting any more
of the little time we have together. I want her to come sit next to me, so I
pat the bed and say, “Sit down.” My voice is hard, unrestrained, and I know
it’s because of her. The continuous battle with her feelings for me makes me
want to lay her under me and settle this once and for all with a good fuck.

She pussyfoots her way to me, careful not to touch me as she sits
down. Coward.

“It’s healing quite nicely,” she says, checking out my wounds. Nice
way to avoid having to talk about kissing me, which I know she wants badly. I
can tell from her hungering eyes she can’t wait to put her lips on me. Too bad
she’s not listening to her own desires.

She pulls up one of the bandages, and I wince. “Yeah, about that, do
you think we could take off the bandage? I don’t really want to go out into the
world looking like I have a war wound,” I say.

She laughs. “Sure. I didn’t know you were that insecure.”

Insecure, my ass. I don’t want the gang to see this. That’s all.
“I’m not. I just don’t want them to ask any questions.”

Her eyes narrow as she starts peeling off the bandages layer by
layer. I follow her every movement, taking pleasure in the fact that her tits
are yet again right in my face. I can’t help looking at her perky tits. If she
keeps flaunting them like this, I might rip off her shirt and lick them. I
wonder what shade of pink her nipples are.

She rasps her throat, and after checking if my wound is okay, her
cheeks flush as she moves back to her side of the bed again.

“Are you afraid they’ll ask you why you were in a fight?” she asks.

Ha. She doesn’t even know how ridiculous that sounds. Of course they
know. She just doesn’t know. “Oh, no. They know already.”

“Then what? You’re afraid to look weak?”

Fuck. She’s really digging now. I don’t want to admit it, but it’s
true, but it’s not for the reasons she thinks. I hate the way she makes it
sound. I’m not afraid to look weak. I just know the gang won’t accept it. I’m
driven to climb up in their ranks, and I will sacrifice everything I have to
get there, even my pride.

“What does it matter what they think? You were the one who told me
that the only thing that matters is what
you
think of yourself,” she
says calmly.

Well, she’s got me there. I frown, looking down at the floor. She
confronts me with the things I’d rather not think about. “I said that because
it’s true, but my situation is a little more complicated than that. I need to
be fit and ready, at all times.”

“For what? Fighting?”

I ball my hands into fists and let out a huge sigh. I feel like
there’s so much resting on my shoulders right now, and I don’t want to dump it
all onto her, although I’m dying to let it out. I look at the bruises on my
hands, and I’m suddenly aware of the pain in my head. It’s like her questions
bring back the pain or something. Or maybe I was just denying it was there
before.

I reach over to my fridge and take out a bottle of water so I can
cool my face.

“I fight because I have to,” I say.

“Why?”

Goddammit. Why does she keep bugging me with this? Why can’t she
just let it go? Is it that important to her to know what I’m doing? It sounds
like she’s worried about me all the time. She shouldn’t be. It’s not her
problem to deal with.

“Stop asking so many questions. I saved your ass. That’s the only
thing you need to know.”

She shifts in her position and leans away. Shit. Maybe that was a
little too blunt.

“Thank you for helping me back there. If it wasn’t for you, I’d be
…” She pauses for a moment, and I know exactly why. The word ‘rape’ frightens
her, and it should. It’s fucking insane to think they almost did that to her.
“How come you were there anyway?” she asks.

I really don’t want to tell her. I realize it might be my fault they
went after her in the first place, and I feel so fucking guilty about it. If
only I was paying attention and didn’t answer the phone, I could’ve intercepted
them, and this whole thing would never have happened.

 “I was watching them. Still pissed I didn’t spot them leaving the
joint. Otherwise I would’ve been there way quicker,” I answer.

But fuck me, it did happen, and now we have to live with the
consequences.

“You were watching them?” she says, surprised. Shit, maybe I’ve said
too much. I don’t want her to know, because I don’t want to give her more
reasons to despise me. The best thing to do right now is just shut up and let
this be, so I stop talking.

“Well, your wounds look like they’ve healed quite nicely. Should be
no more than a couple of days before the scars are completely gone.”

She’s changed the topic. Good. Saves me from having to be a dick.

I try to lighten the mood by making a stupid joke. “Too bad. I kinda
liked the idea of looking like a pirate. Yaaargh!” I make a hook with my
fingers and wink at her. She blushes and giggles, and the sound makes me lick
my lips.

She opens the books stacked beside her on the bed and picks up a
couple of papers and a few pens. She immediately starts outlining all the work
that I haven’t finished and how long it will take to get it done. She’s
meticulous and organized, and she easily figures out the best route to take for
me to catch up on all my classes. It’s amazing to see the way she makes this
all so easy. It shouldn’t surprise me, but it does. She really is a big help,
and I appreciate it.

I’m working my way through a book with her help, reading the
passages out loud, trying to force my brain to remember. It’s just no use. Each
time she quizzes me I fail, and it’s fucking embarrassing.

I groan and throw the book across the room in frustration. I can
never fucking get it right! Dammit. “Enough for today. I’m fucking tired
already.”

“But we haven’t even started yet,” she says.

She gets up and walks across the room. I sigh and lie down on the
bed, staring at the ceiling. I’m done trying to make my brain do things it
can’t. I thought if I sat down with her it could work, but I’m starting to
wonder if it really will. Can she really help me? Or are we just not going
about it the right way?

I get up and see her standing near my bookcase, checking out all my
books, her fingers drifting over them like they’re treasures to her. They
probably are. To me, they’re just books I used to read, but can’t remember a
thing from.

Her curly hair drops down her shoulders and gently wafts back and
forth, and it complements her beautiful body. I like looking at her; the way
her feet barely make any sound as they touch the floor, the curves and lines of
her body, the way she explores my secrets with great interest. Her luscious,
perky ass catches my attention as she shifts her weight from one foot to the other.
Thoughts about grabbing her ass and pinning her to my bookcase shoot through my
mind. I can’t stop looking. And I can’t stop licking my lips in anticipation of
what could happen if I just took what I wanted. And what I want is her.

I’m not even thinking about it before stalking toward her. I want
her so badly, the wantonness is taking control of my mind. Consuming me. I need
to be close to her, need to know what she’s thinking when she sees the real me.
I need her to tell me she’ll accept me the way I am.

Before I know it, I’m up against her back, breathing in and out like
the horny motherfucker I am. I’m enthralled by her pinewood scent and inhale it
as much as I can. She’s like a drug to me, one that can take away the pain. I
need her.

She’s frozen in place, her breath hitching in her throat. I watch
her fingers linger on a book, and I say, “I used to read a lot when I was
little.”

“I can see …” she mumbles.

“You like books a lot, don’t you?” I lower my head and lean over her
shoulder, trying to peer into her vast eyes. She’s shivering in place, her body
giving in to temptation by leaning against mine. Hmmm … I love the feel of
that. Makes me want to dig my fingers into her hip and grind up against her.
It’s hard not to.

She takes in a sharp breath, but it’s not because of what I thought,
which was me. “Oh my God! You’ve read
Harry Potter
? God, it’s been ages
since I last saw that book.”

I laugh, and she turns around with her eyes wide open and her lips
parted in a way that makes me want to push my tongue inside her mouth.

But the way she talks makes me think she’s surprised by the fact
that I actually read. “I told you, you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.
Reading is … difficult. But if I have the patience, I enjoy it.”

I step closer, towering over her, giving me a sense of power. It’s
hard not to take advantage of the situation right now, but I’m holding back as
much as I can. I don’t think it’s wise to start this with her. We both might
want it, but that doesn’t make it okay.

I reach for the book she was looking at and take it out. If she
likes it so much, she should have it. There’s not much I can do, but if this
makes her happy, then why not?