Page 31 of His To Claim

Me: A hot shower and a good night’s sleep is what I need.

Dragon Man: Now I need a cold one thinking about you in the shower.

Me: Ha-ha! See ya tomorrow, Dragon Man.

Exiting our chat, I realize I have another unread message.

9146662114: You better be careful Little Red no one stirs up this much trouble and lives to tell the tale.

An instant chill runs through my body as I re-read the message.

Little Red.

I know exactly who it is, but the question is, how the hell did he get my number? I laugh to myself at my stupidity. Well, how fucking else?

His perverted uncle is harassing me, his father literally kidnapped me and brought me here, and he’s gotten under my skin. Not in a good way either.

Deciding to ignore the message, no need to lead him on and allow him to think his fake threats scare me, I place my phone on the nightstand and continue eating my chips. Suddenly my phone rings and without looking and foolishly assuming it’s Drake, I grab the phone and answer it.

“What’s up, Dragon Man?” I say, munching away on a chip.

“Not smart mistaking me for that little bitch, nor is ignoring my messages, Red.” I nearly choke on the chip I’m chewing when I hear his husky voice through the speaker.

“What do you want, Ace?” I mutter anxiously.

“I want to know why you’re ignoring me. I know you’re home. I know you saw the message.” Sitting up abruptly, I turn to look out the window in my bedroom.Could he possibly be looking in?

I run over to the window and close the curtain. “Look, how did you even get my number?”

“Come on, Red, I thought you were smarter than that,” he says, laughing slightly. Fuck, his laugh, deep and raspy, sends a warm sensation through my body causing me to squeeze my thighs together.

Suddenly, the realization hits me like a cold bucket of water. “You were the one who dropped off the phones, not the school. That’s why they were activated. You did it.”

“No comment.”

“But why give them to the guys also?” He laughs again as if it isn’t obvious. “Because I wouldn’t take it if it was just for me.” I roll my eyes, it’s not like he can see me, but I feel so dumb for not figuring it out before. A school doesn’t just hand out free phones.

“Now we’re getting somewhere, Red. Smart girl answering your own questions,” he snickers.

I get up and start pacing around the room, so worked up I can’t possibly keep still. “Either way, we want nothing to do with your school, your hierarchy, or you. You need to leave me and my friends alone.”

“Yeah, that’s not gonna be possible, Little Red.”

I groan in frustration only making him laugh harder. “And why the fuck not?”

“Because I need to find out what you’re hiding. What is your connection to my uncle? Why did they bring you here?”

Now it’s my turn to laugh. “Well, I can assure you’re going to be disappointed to find out, well there is nothing to find out.”

“We’ll see about that. Besides, your friends and I, we’ve had so much fun together.”

My anger rises to the surface and I’m so fucking ready to let him have a piece of my mind. One thing is messing with me, but my friends are off-limits.

“Leave them alone, Ace. I mean it. Your issue is with me. Fuck it, you wanna play, let’s play. You’ll be disappointed to find I’ll win. This little game of king and queen and horse shit you and your friends play is a beginner’s game. Me and mine, we’re jaded, fuckedup little orphans who’ve been dealt a lot more than this. You want war, bring it on, Horseman. Me and my Dragon,” I laugh and hear a growl come through the phone. “We are gonna slay your little kingdom, burn it to the ground. And the only ones left standing are gonna be us. The Dragon and his Queen.”

I hear a loud grunt as I quickly hang up the phone before he can respond. Grabbing one of the decorative pillows on my bed, I tighten my fist around it and scream as loud as I can, letting the pillow muffle my rage. My heart is racing, adrenaline pumping through me and coursing through my veins.

That was terrifying yet quite exhilarating.

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