Page 50 of Brutal Game

Her words haunted me. At the time, I’d refused to feel regret over what I’d done to her. Making her take Vixen and lose all of her inhibitions had been a great plan; letting my teammates participate so we could all humiliate her together had seemed even better. Judah, especially, had egged me on once he’d learned what she’d try to do to us. And making her so desperate, so horny, that I finally got her shirt off? Getting to see that part of her, and her knowing she’d played a role in it by taking the Vixen in the first place? Perfection.

Seeing her tonight, so broken and so free, had woken something feral inside me. Touching her, playing with her, watching her writhe on the table with an audience surrounding us had been equal parts hot and horrible.

But when it came down to it, when Judah and Levi had reached out to play with her tits, I’d lost my everloving mind. And I hadn’t gotten it back.

No one else was going to touch her. No one else should’ve seen her. As I thrust inside her from behind, as I bounced her on my cock, as I finally got my hands on those sweet, soft tits with their hard, fat little nipples, as I felt her come around me, again and again, as I fucked her raw,there was only word in my mind, on repeat:

Mine.

Which meant that it had been a mistake, letting any other man see her naked.

It wouldn’t be happening again.

I tried to recover, but my breath had gone missing along with my mind. Inhaling and exhaling deliberately to slow my heart rate, I caressed Aviva’s bare breasts, enjoying the ripples of her aftershocks. Indulging myself for a moment, I nuzzled her hair and considered my next steps.

As my fingers traced her chest, I encountered skin that felt raised and a little rough. Before I could explore further, Aviva let out a bloodcurdling scream and began to fight me like a wildcat. Confused, I grabbed her around her waist, ignoring the scratching and hitting. Finally, she cowered against me, arms wrapped around herself, like she was terrified.

I shushed her, rubbing her back. The come down from Vixen could be fairly drastic. Although Mason Calloway, my counterpoint at our rival school, had drugged his girlfriend with it, and she’d gone to sleep after.

Dave Lawson, the goalie who’d replaced Asher, cleared up the mystery of the bump on Aviva’s skin.

“That’s some scar,” he said, snapping me out of my own Vice-induced haze.

Everything in me froze solid.

“What scar?” I asked.

At that, Aviva screamed again, struggling against me like a cornered animal. I gathered her tighter.

“How could you? I hate you!” she railed against me.

I ignored her. “What scar?” I demanded again.

Nick McPherson,mybackup, raised his chin. “See for yourself.”

Dread skittered in my chest. Aviva used my distraction to shove away from me, crawling down the table. Before my brain could catch up, I grabbed her by the ankle and dragged her back toward me.

“You aren’t going anywhere, princess,” I told her, but I was gentle as I flipped her over onto her back and dragged her arms away from her chest.

I saw it. There was no way to miss it, now that she couldn’t hide it with a high-necked tanktop or turtleneck. The scar was a long, dark, red-brown raised line of bumps and ridges. It ran from her sternum, up her cleavage between her breasts, ending below her right collar bone. Whatever it was from, it was old. A part of her body, and a secret she’d hidden from everyone. Fromme.

Until now.

Now, not only did I know her secret—all these motherfuckers did.

Guilt replaced the dread inside me, but instead of skittering around, it stabbed me directly in the gut.

“I hate you, I hate you, I hate you,” Aviva was still saying. Soft sobs shook her body, and tears filled her open eyes. Shedidn’t close them, maybe because she wanted me to see how hurt and angry she was. It didn’t matter that in this moment, she was deeply broken—she’d never been more beautiful.

And all these motherfuckers were witnessing it.

Not for any longer.

“Shut your fucking eyes,” I ordered.

All of my teammates shut their eyes—except for Judah, Levi, and Isaac.

“You, too,” I said, and all three did. Isaac was the last to do it, glancing at Aviva with sympathy and me with derision before closing his own.

---