Page 15 of Dare To Fall

“Open up.”

She glares at me.

“I’m not above force-feeding you, Hellcat.” I tilt my head and smile. “I know a lot of ways to get you to open your mouth for me.”

I’m goading her, and from Kellan’s eye roll, he’s picked up on it as well. Her eyes are hot, fiery with anger, as she parts her lips and lets me slide the spoon into her mouth. My dick is hard as fucking stone when she licks her lips.

“Good girl.” I fill the spoon again, and feed her another mouthful.

The air in the room turns heavy with anticipation as she takes each spoonful from me. Our breathing is in sync, my eyes locked on her lips as her tongue snakes out again to catch a grain of rice. And then the moment is shattered by her cell vibrating.

She immediately stiffens. Kellan snatches it up before either of us can move.

“Your clothes have been delivered to your room. You’re to take a photograph when you’re dressed and reply to the number with it.”

Her face pales, and she presses her fingers to her lips. “I can’t.”

“You can.” Kellan’s voice is firm. “If you want this to be over, you have to do this. You need to give us time to figure out who it is. We can’t do that if you stop responding.”

“Ari.” I wait until she looks at me. “Whatever they want you to throw at me, I can take it. I know it’s not you.”

Chapter 8

Arabella

“But what if they want me to do something bad?” I croak. “I almost killed you with that coffee.”

“That wasn’t your fault.” Eli’s voice is firm.

The guilt inside won’t let it go, twisting me up inside. “I handed it to you. I watched you drink it.”

“They made you do it.”

“I wanted to say no. I didn’t want to do it.”

“Breathe, Bella.” Kellan reaches across to touch my arm.

The dorm room door opens then, and my heart jumps in panic. Before anyone can move, Miles slips in, closing it behind him. He leans back against it, his attention on the three of us.

“I managed to sneak away.”

“Miles.” I lunge at him.

“What the—” He catches me with a grunt. “Hey, it’s okay.”

I hug him tightly. “They hurt you because of me. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have dragged you into this mess.”

“If you hadn’t, then Kellan would never have figured out what was going on.”

Cupping his face between my palms, I examine the bandage on his forehead. “Let me see.”

He rolls his eyes. “It’s fine.”

“Don’t act all macho with me. Tell me the truth.”

He grasps my wrists and lowers my hands. “It hurts like hell, but I’ll survive.”

Miles curls his arm around my shoulders, guides me back to the table and to my seat, then he moves around to drop onto Kellan’s lap.

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