Page 26 of Study Games

I groaned into her neck with the thought of sinking into her wet, tight heat, but I knew I couldn't rush her. Plus, we were in public, which didn’t bother me, but I had a damn fine idea it would freak her out if I found the nearest fence, bent her over and, fucked her to within an inch of both out lives, twins be damned.

“Stop that,” she murmured playfully.

Her fingers tugged at my hair when I marked her up a little more, intent on securing my place in hell for ruining the pretty skin I’d jerked off over the memory of too many nights to count. Hell, even the night I filled my Jacket with itching power and made her wear it did it for me. That was fun. I’d rubbed myself raw afterward for the pure pleasure of making her cry.

No. She had no idea how fucked up I could be in my own kinks. But that wasn’t all I could be.

I squeezed her curves, letting my fingers sink into her flesh and wished there wasn’t the barrier of our clothes between us. She arched a little, humming her pleasure at the contact against my lips. My cock thickened, aching as she pressed into me, but it was my heart that tore, needing to know I could steal more than a single kiss from her.

Flirting with Waverly did it for me. She’d been an easy target to tease, riling in the cutest damn way. Somewhere along the line my head hadn’t worked out when the teasing became flirting, and flirting became something more…addictive

I'd fallen for the smart, geeky girl who cut through all of my bullshit layers, so similar to hers, and saw me without realizing it. Now I had her in my arms I didn’t want to let her go.

“How about I stop if you let me help you, Waverly. Whatever the fuck is going on, you don’t have to battle this alone.” Them. I held her tight as she stiffened, knowing I'd release her if she asked, but not wanting to hear the words I knew were coming.

We didn’t have the foundation for this—hell, there was no we. Trust didn’t come into the few hours a week I stole from her, and suddenly, a study session was nowhere near enough.

“Of course I do,” she said neutrally, straightening in my arms to extract herself from my grip.

I warred with myself for a full minute, then broke every rule I’d ever set for myself.

“Fuck it. I don’t want to let you go. I will if you ask,” I amended when alarm flared in her pretty, midnight deep eyes. Tomorrow, maybe. “But I– fuck, you taste good,” I murmured, running my fingers over her cheeks, trying to erase the Laurent twin’s touch. Whatever the hell was going on between the three of them, my anti-hero sense hated it. The way they looked at her, like they owned a part of her they should never have a claim on…everything about that scenario screamed all fucked up and wrong. The sort of wrong I wanted to throw a claim around her alone. “Let me help you.” I paused. “Please. And I don’t beg, Waverly.”

“Don’t you?” She tipped her head to one side, a speculative look in her eyes before she shook her head, her hair flying around her face. “Why?” Her brow dipped, she stared up at me, all defiance and independence and strength and desperation at once belaying her last question. “Why would you want to help me, unless it's to bully me later?”

I cleared my throat. “You're right. I haven’t been kind to you. I brought your phone back and I wanted to…” I hadn't planned this speech out, either. Where the hell was my head?

“Take me upstairs and fuck me?” she suggested, just a shade too bright.

I focussed on her, every sense sharp. “No.” But what a thing to jump to, unless…

“No? Wasn’t that what that kiss was? To test the waters, see how pliable I am?” She smiled sweetly, but a bitter look akin to resentment lit her eyes. Mistrust.

“What are they asking you to do in payment?” I asked, watching her face carefully, unwilling to find out what task they set her just yet. Baby steps, for her and for me.

“What?” A breath laced with shock came hot on the heels of her skin paling.

Her breath stalled, and I wound my arms tighter around her.

Fucking assholes.

“You want to tell me upstairs, or here?” I asked, giving her the option. “And when you’re finished, let me work out a way to make you safe from them.”

It hadn't been a big stretch–the Twins were well known for being the campus wraiths, and they reveled in that reputation, feeding the monster they became.

Waverly–she had trust issues, hid her body and mentioned a sex tape when I handed her phone back. Plus the way they touched her…that moment was burned into my memory and I’d do whatever I had to do to earn her freedom from them.

“How did you..?” She stared at me a little wildly, the whites of her eyes showing. Waverly pressed her hands to my chest, her fists clenching in my shirt beneath my Jacket, but she didn't push me away. Not yet.

“There were a couple of hints you’ve dropped. Trust me, Waverly. Please? I know that’s a stretch but…I’ve been on the other end of their bullshit train, been hospitalized with broken ribs and later for self-harm because I hated myself so damn much for not fitting the mold.” I grimaced, freeing one hand to flick back the cuffs on my black shirt to display the monsters inked over my wrists, gnawing my way inside. She mirrored my expression when she saw the gore depicted there but true horror didn’t etch itself across her beautiful features until I pressed her soft fingertips to the hash of ugly scars concealed beneath. “I get it. I get you, far more than you think. Let me help.”

Her breath hitched as she stared up at me, true understanding widening her eyes. I wanted to memorize that look too, freeze her in place and draw her perfection in my graphites.

“What?” Her eyebrows rose as she leaned into me the smallest amount. My heart thumped heavy in my chest. “Tell me. Everything, Jax.”

“Let me in.”

She puffed air in my face, and I smiled down at her as she whispered her words to my lips. “Said the wolf to the granny.”

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