Page 87 of Dare To Take

“Careful, Princess. Someone might think you’re trying to get me thrown out of school.”

“Please, just—”

“Oh, so you’re begging now?” Movement out of the corner of my eye tells me students are starting to fill up the hallway. I drop my hands and step back.

“Go on, then. Fucking beg. On your knees. Like the good little cock-sucking bitch you are.” My lip curls when her cheeks turn red. “No? But isn’t that your favorite position? On the floor, with your mouth open and tongue out. Eager to have it filled by a dick? Like a good girl?”

The shock in her eyes fades away, and anger replaces it, burning like a fire I can feel over every inch of my skin. I let my gaze move over her face, down her throat, over the swell of her breasts.

“Do you get off on being degraded, Princess? Is that it? Are your nipples hard right now? Is your pussy wet? If I pushed a finger into your panties, would you soak it?”

She pushes away from the lockers and bolts down the hallway.

“There’s nowhere you can run, Hellcat,” I call after her. “You woke up the monster, and now he’s fucking hungry.”

***

I spend the evening with my sculpture. Kellan drops food off outside the door but doesn’t disturb me, and my alarm has gone off warning me that it’s close to curfew when I finally lock up and go back to the dorm building. The path connecting the two buildings is dark and I wonder if the lights, which usually illuminate it, are broken. If that’s the case, it’s unusual for them to not be fixed already.

“Hey, Monster.” The female voice, muffled by … something … comes from my left. “Catch!”

My hands automatically lift to catch the white ball that hurtles toward me. It’s soft, warm, and wet when it hits my hand, and I frown down at it.

“Maybe this wet pussy is more to your liking …”

The lights flare back to life, and I find myself staring down at a …

“What the fuck?”

For a second, I think it’s an animal and I drop it. Closer inspection tells me it’s not real. It’s a stuffed animal. A white cat … partially soaked in what looks like blood, but I think is red paint.

I turn in a slow circle but can’t see anyone. Whoever it was—and I’ve got a good idea who that is, because there’s only one person who’s going out of her way to antagonize me right now—has taken advantage of my distraction to bolt.

Unfortunately for her, I know where she fucking lives … and now it’s after curfew, there will be no one around to witness my retaliation. I crouch to pick up the stuffed animal and set off for the dorm building.

It’s silent when I enter, and the lights are low. I take the stairs two at a time, bypass the exit for my floor and walk out on the third. When I reach room 3B, I don’t knock. Most people don’t lock their doors once they’re inside. I turn the handle and throw the door open.

It bangs off the wall and slams shut behind me. My palm hits the light switch, flooding the room with a bright artificial light and my gaze searches out the girl pretending to have been startled awake beneath the blankets on the bed.

“Are you fucking twelve?” I throw the stuffed animal at her. “Was this supposed to scare me? Is there something fucking wrong with you?” I stalk closer to the bed as she scrambles up, eyes landing on the sticky wet mess the toy has made on her sheets and widening.

“What is that? Is it an animal? Did you kill an animal, Eli? Oh my god!” Her voice rises in pitch with each word.

“Stop fucking pretending you didn’t throw that at me.”

“But I—”

“What was supposed to happen? Was security supposed to arrive and find me with it? Are they supposed to think I’m just out there in the dark slaughtering fucking kittens when everyone’s asleep?”

“No, I—”

I’m next to the bed, my fingers around her throat before she finishes speaking. I use my grip on her throat to hold her down on the mattress and lower my face, so it’s close to hers.

“Listen carefully, Hellcat, because this is the last time I’m going to say this. You. Will. Not. Win. This. War.”

I squeeze, cutting off her air supply and keep my attention on her face until the fear seeps back into her eyes and she claws at my wrist, lips parting as she desperately tries to take a breath.

“Stop fucking with me. Next time I won’t be so nice, and this …” I smear my red-painted hand across her cheek. “This won’t be fucking paint.”

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