Page 37 of Tainted Saints

“I’ve got bio, but you best be prepared to catch me up on every-fucking-thing later!” Aoife whisper-yells at me before she rushes off.

“Where are the others?” I ask Lan as he comes to a stop before me. His eyes blaze heat as he looks me up and down, and I feel the flush creep up my cheeks at the look of approval in them.

“They’re waiting somewhere else. We didn’t want it to be too obvious,” he tells me, darting his gaze around us before he takes hold of my hand and tangles our fingers together.

I blow out a slow, measured breath as the tingles from his touch race up and down my arm. I’ve never reacted this way to anyone before, my body suddenly aching for him in the most primal way.

Get a fucking grip, Aspen. You’ve known him for like a week or so. This isn’t real.

“Come,” he orders, and I swear my core pulses at the command which immediately makes me think of the way he made me explode last night without so much as a word.

I follow him, our hands wrapped around each other, and we head into the woods that surround the school. The sound of nature takes over, the birds singing in the trees calming me as our footsteps break twigs and rustle leaves. The path is well-worn, and I wonder how many times Landon has come this way before.

Soon, we reach a clearing, and I spot Forest resting on a fallen tree while Blaine has his huge arms folded in a pose as he takes in his surroundings. They look gorgeous, Forest wearing his hoodie and denim jacket combo, his dark jeans hugging his thick legs and tucked into brown cowboy boots that make me smile. Blaine is also wearing black jeans, black boots, and has a black hoodie on, no coat. I inwardly curse myself for forgetting his leather jacket that’s hidden in the closet in my room.

Forest glances up at our approach, and before I know what’s happening, he’s sweeping me up in his arms as his lips crash down on mine.

My hands come up to tangle in his hair as I sink into his kiss, my mouth opening for him when he demands entry with his tongue. He pulls me so close that I can feel the heat of his body all along the front of mine, and I have a vision of us last night in my room, naked, our skin touching everywhere. Heat flares across my body, and I whimper when he starts to pull away.

“Fuck, I missed you, sugar,” he breathes against my lips. “Leaving you this morning was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in a long while.”

No matter how much my mind screams at me that I shouldn’t be kissing him, not in public where anyone could see and report back to the Ambassador, I pull him towards me again, fusing our lips together. My body tells me I’m full of shit, and we kiss until someone clears their throat.

Forest pulls back but keeps his arms around me as he looks over his shoulder.

“If you’re quite done?” Lan’s sardonic drawl fills the space, and I blush even as a giggle slips past my kiss-swollen lips.

“Only because you made her laugh, Daddy,” Forest replies, giving me a quick kiss on the tip of my nose. Releasing one arm and keeping one around my shoulders, he leads me to the fallen tree trunk. He settles me down on it, sitting so close that the whole side of our bodies touch, and then wraps an arm around my shoulders again, like he just can’t bear to be apart for too long. I allow myself to melt into him, my entire body relaxing. Then Blaine is in front of me, holding out a travel thermos.

“I made you another protein shake,” he tells me, bending down and placing a soft kiss on my lips as he hands me the cup. “Make sure you drink all of it,mi princesa. It’s got added nutrients and vitamins.”

My chest feels like it expands a thousandfold at his words. “Thank you, Blaine.” My voice is thick, but I can’t help it. No one has ever taken care of me the way these guys have, and it makes me feel all warm inside knowing that Blaine made this nutritious shake just for me. Taking a sip, I moan in appreciation. “So much nicer than the one my mother made me drink this morning.” His face splits into a wide smile that steals my breath away for a moment, he’s just so damn beautiful, even more so with the imperfection of the scar down his cheek.

Reaching out, I trace my fingers down the length of it, and although his stare intensifies, he doesn’t flinch. “What happened?”

He heaves a breath, his chocolate eyes boring into mine as a flash of pain makes them darken. “My father.” He doesn’t expand, but my eyes fill with tears at how cruel the world can be, when we’re given parents who never deserved the joy of children.

“I’m so sorry, Blaine. You didn’t deserve that,” I whisper, my fingers falling away from his scar to cup his cheek. His eyes close briefly, his face leaning into the touch before he straightens up.

“We don’t often get what we deserve in this life,mi tesoro,” he tells me, then stands so that he’s got a view of the clearing around us.

My brows dip as I think about his words, wishing with all my soul that they weren’t true.

“We believe that your father is running some kind of illegal gambling ring,” Lan states in the silence, and my gaze snaps to him, my eyes wide. Talk about ripping the Band-Aid off, Jesus.

“What? Why?” I ask, trying to figure out why he’d need to do something like that. “It’s not like we need the money.”

“Boredom, maybe,” Lan suggests, shrugging his broad shoulders. “Either way, we have been trying to find out what it is and when it takes place, and it would make sense that Senator Pennington is involved, being one of your dad’s closest friends.”

My head shates slightly, my eyebrows furrowing, then raising as my heart thuds painfully in my chest. I focus on Forest, the conversation I overheard earlier playing back in my mind. “Could it be something to do with the pound?”

Forest’s spine snaps straight, his brows dipping. “What do you mean, sugar?”

Taking a deep inhale, deciding to trust my gut, I tell them the truth. “This morning when I walked past his study he was yelling at someone about stealing pets if need be, and that they needed to be able to fight.” All three of them are laser-focused on me, poised like predators, and I shiver at the intensity. “Not the spineless whelps they’d been supplying apparently. Then he told the person that their position at the pound wasn’t guaranteed, he threatened them.”

“Motherfucker!” Forest thunders, leaping to his feet and pacing the forest floor. “That spineless, no good piece of shit!”

“What?” I ask, my body quivering at the rage that pours off of him. Strong arms wrap themselves around me from behind, and I stiffen until the woody scent of Blaine surrounds me.

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