Page 21 of His To Claim

Scarlett Steele. An alluring angel with long dark hair, the silkiest porcelain skin, and wide eyes in the prettiest shade of blue draped in long, thick lashes. A captivating enchantress with the most luscious, kissable lips, and a body you’d only find photoshopped on swimsuit models in magazines. A sultry vixen. A vision like nothing I’ve ever seen before. An exquisitely beautiful work of art. A perfectly sculpted masterpiece. I could go on.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, Carrington’s hot, with long blonde hair and a rack that used to drive me crazy. The other girls here at Servite are also not bad looking, but I’ve yet to find one like her.

Scarlett’s something entirely different. Like her own species of the perfect woman. And that mouth on her. Fuck, she’s feisty, sassy, with a snarky attitude and filthy mouth. The perfect woman. My perfect woman. Not at all what I had in mind when the four of us were told some poor foster kids from the shitty neighborhood next door were coming to our school.

To say she caught me off guard, would be an understatement. She’s more than I bargained for, more than I expected to find when she walked out of my father’s office earlier today.

When I overheard my father, the Headmaster of Servite Academy, and my uncle talking about bringing some troubled, foster kids from the slums of Pleasant Hills to “perfect our school’s image,” I never imagined someone that looked like her. Like a sweet, innocent angel and a devious rebel all wrapped up in a perfectly shaped and tempting package. This isn’t how it was supposed to go. She isn’t supposed to cause a ripple in our order.

But now she’s here, breaking every damn rule we’ve set in stone and causing this shift in our reign by challenging us in front of our loyal disciples. She’s tough, gutsy, and sexy as hell, in her tiny cut-off shorts and miniscule bikini top, her toned abs on full display and her small but plump breasts and perky nipples visible through the thin fabric of her top.

And all that ink.

Fuck me. The girl is covered in tattoos flawlessly placed across her skin, and something about them has me wanting to run my tongue and trace over every single black line drawn on her body. From her neck, down her back, to her waist, up her abdomen, around her breasts, and in between those fucking thighs. I’m instantly hard just thinking about her squirming beneath me, curving her back, and moaning breathlessly as I lick over every inch of her skin.

Fuck. I shift in my jeans trying to cover my hard-on.

But there’s something about her that doesn’t sit well with me. Something about her that doesn’t quite make sense. The real reason she is here.

My uncle implemented this entire program to bring her and her sister here. He went through a lot to ensure they arrived, pissed off a hell of a lot of important people and donors to the academy, all to ensure that she attends Servite. But one question remains.

Why? Why go through all this trouble? Who is she? What is she? Why is she here? He won’t tell me if I ask, and I know she knows more than she’s letting on. She’s hiding something. She’s lying about her connection to my Uncle Wesley. And I will find out what secret she’s keeping from me.

As for my uncle, Wesley Servite, ex-chief of police, now head of security, defense, and law enforcement for Servite Academy, well, he’s hiding more than you could ever imagine. He graduated top of his class at Servite Academy eighteen years ago, and went on to attend Holland University, one of the top three Ivy League universities, majoring in criminal justice. Upon graduating from Holland with a master’s degree, he joined the police academy and quickly moved his way up the chain of command. After nearly twelve years, he stepped down and took a more prestigious position here at Servite. He still has an in with the Hillcrest Police Department and as you may have guessed, he’s as corrupt as they come. He’s pretentious, arrogant, and has a troubling superiority complex.

Servite Academy is just the front for the actual business my father and his little brother run. Their true business being the manufacture and distribution of illegal pharmaceuticals throughout the streets of Pleasant Hills, Hillcrest Hills, and all the neighboring towns. They are what keeps the shitty neighborhoods from improving, the addicts from sobering up, the crime rate from dropping. Their drugs fill the streets, corrupting the minds of its inhabitants, feeding into poverty and crime. But I know there’s something more. Something more nefarious. Something me and my boys have not been let in on yet.

My father, my uncle, Stephan Silver, and Malcolm Smoak at the helm of an illegal, corrupt, and heinous empire. But where does she fit in all this? I can’t ask my uncle; he won’t answer me. I need to get it out of her one way or another.

But then, as if there wasn’t enough in my way, there’s the issue of the pet at her side. That damn dragon boy, Damon Drake, always in her shadows is going to be a problem. He obviouslywants her, it’s clear as day. The way he stands over her protectively, possessively. Hell, if she were mine, I know for sure I wouldn’t let any fucker near her. But they’re a team, a family, maybe even a couple. But I can assure you they won’t be for long. One way or another, I’ll make sure of that.

I need to find out who she is, what she is, why she’s here. I need to unravel the mystery that is Scarlett Steele, and I just might have a hell of a time unraveling her.

I hear Bass’s footsteps approaching as he walks into the house, the front door closing loudly behind him. I came inside when I saw her getting hot and heavy with the dragon boy down by the beach. Something about seeing his hands all over her exposed body, where mine belong, made my blood boil. I shouldn’t give a fuck, she’s nothing to me. But she’s somehow crept her way under my skin. Which is baffling because I just met the girl.

And I have a feeling she knows it. She turned around and stole a glance from me before turning back and kissing the damn dragon. I know she did it deliberately. I felt her shift in energy when we were close. The way her breathing faltered, her heart rate quickened, and her body reacted to me. She’s somehow figured out the effect she has on me. She knows she’s gotten under my skin and that I quite like her being there. But if she knows she has an advantage, that can be a problem. Around here no one has the upper hand on us.

“You disappeared,” Bass says, coming over to the bar I’m leaning against facing the party raging outside. The view is amazing from here, the sun now completely set and the moonlight illuminating the sky reflecting off of the ocean. Bright lights along the stone path in front of the beach houses light up the sanded area where the partygoers stand.

Bass grabs a bottle of tequila and two shot glasses from one of the glass shelves behind us, pouring one and sliding it to me before pouring himself another. Not looking up at him I down the shot in one swift gulp before he’s even finished pouring his own, sliding itback for him to refill it. He chuckles, shaking his head gently, but says nothing.

“Those new kids from Pleasant Hills are gonna be a problem,” he says after downing his shot in one full swig as well.

I respond, not bothering to turn around to look at him but I keep my eyes on the people outside crowded along the private beach. Partying like their lives depend on it, these are the people who bow down to us. The ones who follow our every command, the rules we set for them, never once questioning our motives.

“The guys are harmless. A couple of punks if I ever saw any. Think they’ve seen everything because they grew up parentless and poor in the slums. The girls, they’re feisty and catty, but in the end they’ll conform. It’s her, she’s gonna be a problem.” I catch a glimpse of her with her group standing along the edge of the water.

The three guys, fierce protectors at her side, the two girls, her loyal friends, sisters, and another I hadn’t seen standing with them before. Stella Silver, the quiet girl next door. The loner who hides in the shadows and watches everything and everyone, in a place like this somehow staying out of the limelight she was born into. How does the cautious introvert fit into all this?

“Yeah, she’s something else. Man, did you see how she made Carrington her little bitch, thought she was gonna blow a fuse. Fuck, I would have paid to see her headlock Kins that way. Might still just for the fuck of it. I’m sure she’d be down for some extra cash or a good time,” he says laughing.

“What’s your cousin doing with them?” I ask, ignoring his remark. Stella Silver is Bass’s cousin, who has pretty much always stayed behind the scenes. She’s not involved in the family business and as far as we know has no idea what it truly entails. Her father didn’t have such an important part in the legacy as Bass's father but she’s a Silver. Of course, she’s one of us being family and all, but she had a falling out with the girls when she told Bass his ex, Kinsley, was cheating on him.

Naturally, Bass was grateful to Stella for opening his eyes to the deceit and immediately ended things with Kins giving her the boot and cold shoulder. Stella’s always been loyal to Bass, but the girls, well let’s just say they’re less forgiving.

“Who, Stella?” he asks as he looks out the window toward them. “Well, rumor has it she’s the girls’ roommate. Her quarter was the only one available as she usually has it to herself being a Silver and all.”

Interesting. Stella already has it in with Little Red. We might use that to our advantage.

---