Page 2 of Dare To Take

“I told you. I didn’t do it. Someone planted that phone in my locker.”

“I want to believe you, son. I really do.”

“Then fucking do it. I’m telling you I did not upload that video. I did not have that phone in my possession.”

He falls silent, and we walk along the hallway to the staircase. His hand touches my arm just before I put my foot onto the first step.

“Why were you in her bedroom that morning?”

“I was returning something to her.” That isn’t a lie.

“Her diary. The one you read out in front of the entire class?”

“No. A different one.”

He sighs. “Oh, Eli.”

I shrug. “I wanted to know if she was aware of Elena’s plan to marry you.”

“And what did you find?”

A soul desperate to be seen, to be touched, to be desired.

“Nothing about you.”

Chapter 2

Arabella

He kisses me hungrily, his fingers sinking into my hair to anchor my head in place. I pull him closer, grab a fistful of his t-shirt, and kiss him as hard as I can. He tastes of peppermint, and his heady scent is familiar and comforting. His strong arms keep me captive, while his mouth devours mine.

My head spins with need.

His lips roam along my neck as he lifts me by the waist. Hoisting me up against him, his hands cup my backside, forcing my legs to wrap around his waist. I’m burning up with the need for him to touch me in the way I want. Eager to feel his body merging with my own.

A hand slips under my t-shirt to close around my breast. He’s breathing hard against my ear. Rocking forward, he rubs the length of his cock against my entrance. Everything within me clenches, and I claw at his shoulders in a silent demand for more.

“Say my name. Let me hear that hate, Princess.”

I open my eyes, and meet a smoldering green-eyed gaze …

I jerk awake with a start, and look around, heart pounding.

Eli isn’t here. I’m alone in the bedroom.

How can I hate him so much that it hurts but at the same time want to rip his clothes off and fuck him? I must be out of my mind.

I flop back onto the narrow bed and throw an arm over my eyes to block out the sunlight peeking in through the gap in the curtains. Battling to slow my heart rate, I try to blot out the desperate, needy throb between my legs.

It’s been two weeks since I fled the house in the Hamptons—fourteen days since my life became a dumpster fire burning out of control. I haven’t been in contact with anyone. I’m too frightened to switch on my phone after the video was released. To make matters worse, my period is late.

My hand slips down to my stomach, and panic consumes me. I took the morning-after pill the second I found a pharmacy but what if it hasn’t worked? What if I’m pregnant?

A few months ago, I’d had my life planned out. Then Eli Travers came into it, turning everything upside down. Destroyed my safe, quiet world.

Everything has changed. I’ve changed. I’ve come to a dead end, and I no longer know how to go forward.

Please, don’t let me be pregnant.

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