Page 12 of Battling the Enemy
The bell rang, and I grabbed Linnie’s hand and dragged her with me to third period. I’d miss Delaney during fourth period, but after fourth it’d be lunchtime, and I expected Delaney to be sitting with us at our table. When we got to class, I saw that Delaney was sitting in the front between two other girls. There was no room for me or Roselyn and that wasn’t acceptable.
As Roselyn marched towards the back where we always sat, I walked over three students until I was standing next to Delaney. I grabbed her backpack and book off the desk with one hand while my other hand wrapped around the back of her neck. I squeezed and pulled her out of her seat literally dragging her struggling and cussing through the row of students.
“What the hell, Deke?” she yelled. I ignored her as I walked her up the steps towards the back.
“Mr. Marlow?”
I didn’t bother looking back. It’s not as if Mrs. Joy was going to interfere. “Delaney was lost, Mrs. Joy,” I called back. “I’m just helping her find her way.”
And then Delaney Martin really got my dick hard. “You motherfucker!” she ranted.
I took a seat, and with my hand still wrapped around her neck, I forced her to the seat next to me. Linnie was sat on my other side, wisely not saying anything. “Sit your ass down, Delaney,” I snapped. “Sit the fuck down or I swear I will drag you out of this school and no one will hear from you all week.”
Her bright brown eyes were shooting out sparks, but she wasn’t stupid. She knew I could do what I just threatened and that no one would stop me. There’s a chance Ava might, but I knew Delaney wouldn’t want to put Ava on my bad side.
Delaney sat down and slammed her book on the desktop in a show of rage and defiance. She didn’t bother to look at me when she said, “Go ahead and think you have me under control, Deke,” she hissed. “But rest assured you donot.”
My arm shot out and snaked a fist full of her brown hair in my hand and I twisted her head towards me. I had my lips mashed to hers in a bruising, forceful kiss. She opened her mouth to let out a grimace at the pain, and the second she did, I bit down on her bottom lip until I tasted blood. The warmth that flooded my tongue made me damn near delirious with need.
I pulled back and, have you ever been so enraged that tears burned in your eyes? Well, right now, that was Delaney Martin. The look in her pretty brown eyes was pure unadulterated rage and hate for me, in this moment.
There was no way she was sleeping anywhere but in my bed with me.Ever.
Chapter 8
Delaney~
In a surprise move, five minutes before the bell rang for fourth period, I had jumped out of my seat and ran out of the classroom before Deke could stop me. I ran out past the teacher and didn’t stop until I was safely secured in the girl’s restroom. Windsor had three different girls’ restrooms, so I ran to the farthest one from class and Deke’s locker.
It might have been cowardly to flee like that, but the rage I had been feeling all through class gave me no choice. It was either run or beat Deke Marlow within an inch of his life.
I knew the more I fought, the more it called onto his predatory instincts, but what else could I do? I wasn’t going to just follow him blindly, nodding my head like a tool. Or maybe that’s what I needed go do for him to lose interest.
When I had suggested I let him be my first as long as he left me alone afterwards, I had suggested that for a lot of reason. Even though I still had another four years to commit before I couldn’t change my mind, if I married Winston, I planned on being faithful even if he wasn’t. I might not be marrying him for love, but that didn’t make marriage vows any less sacred. A part of me kept going over Ava’s suggestion of having a fling with Deke before giving myself to Winston for life, but I wondered if I’d be better off not knowing what I was missing. I didn’t suspect Winston would be horrible to me or even horrible in bed, Lord knows the boy’s had enough practice if the rumors were to be believed, but I didn’tfeelanything with him. Winston didn’t inspire any emotions out of me; not love, like, lust, excitement, anger, jealousy, warmth…nothing.And I had a feeling that if I let Deke in my bed, and then had to settle for Winston afterwards, I’d be sorely disappointed for the rest of my life.
“Delaney?”
I whirled around and there stood the guy occupying my thoughts. “Winston,” I breathed out. “This is the girls’ restroom. What are you doing in here?”
He walked towards me until he was standing in front of me, looking down into my face. Winston was an attractive boy, with his dark brown hair and startling blue eyes, but he just did nothing for me. “I left class early so I could catch you by your locker and I saw you running this way.”
“Let’s go talk outside,” I suggested. The bell had rung a few seconds ago and I knew girls would be coming in soon to use this restroom. He followed me outside and we kept walking until we found a little alcove on the side of the building. I pressed my back up against the wall and looked up at him. “Why were you going to wait for me?”
The look he gave me would have cut through a lesser person, and it gave me pause. In all the years I’ve known Winston, I’ve never seen him upset. This was new. “Why the hell do you think, Delaney?” he snapped. “There’s a goddamn video of Deke Marlow kissing you and you slapping the shit out of him.” I closed my eyes and sighed. When I reopened them, Winston’s expression hadn’t changed. He still looked pissed. “What the hell is going on between you and Deke Marlow?”
I dropped my backpack on the ground next to me and crossed my arms over my chest. “Nothing is going on between me and Deke,” I denied. “And, even if there was, what business is it of yours?”
His dark brows shot up. “Are you serious? We’re supposed to get married one day,” he reminded me. “Anything you do is my goddamn business.”
I laughed at that. “Are you serious?” I didn’t let him answer. “You haven’t made my life your business since the day I met you, Winston. And now, suddenly, you give a shit?”
“You’ve always been my business, Delaney,” he repeated. “You’ve just never had any business to get into, until now.” His eyes darted to my split lip; Deke’s bite mark.
Wow.
Talk about some nerve. “So, suddenly, you’re jealous?” I asked. “You’ve slept with half the school and you want to stake claim now that someone is showing me interest?”
His jaw ticked and I could tell he didn’t like being called out on his behavior. “Delaney, if you wanted to spend your high school years sowing your wild oats, I would have understood. Just like you gave me the freedom I needed, I would have done the same,” he said, lying through his teeth. “My problem is you wait until we’re seniors, when our arrangement is getting closer, to start getting involved with other guys.”
