Page 40 of Kingston
For an instant, she allows me to glimpse how my words flay her. But then she blinks once, twice, and the dauntless girl who’d had the balls to walk into Hawthorne Hall in the first place reappears with a smirking twist of her lips. “Ditto, asshole.”
My brows lift in surprise, but I let the disrespect slide. I did fuck the hell out of her, so I’ll let her have that outburst if it makes her feel like she’s in control.
She’s not.
As she gathers her clothing and quickly dresses, I shake my head. This girl is not who I thought she was. Elliot has some dark secrets.
And I’m going to uncover them all.
TWENTY-TWO
CANNON
The angry,possessive beast inside me knows exactly what happened in the poker room once Kingston shut us out of there. It’d only been about ten minutes they were alone, but when they rejoined the group, her pink lips had been puffy and swollen. And her lashes were the slightest bit spiky with tears. Not the upset kind. More like what happens when a chick has to breathe around a dick for minutes on end while she’s blowing someone.
My jaw tightens, and all the muscles in my body go rigid imagining her mouth onmycock. Kingston knows I have a thing for her. But despite all his talk about her not belonging here, he sure was quick to pull her onto his lap tonight. I sort of get it. He’s doing it to freak her out. However, I think he’s struggling with how to deal with her because he likes what he sees. He’s mixed up, torn in three opposing directions—what he believes to be right, what he thinks he should feel, and what he actually wants.
And, as usual, Kingston gets what he wants, consequences be damned.
When the three of us were together in my room with Elliot the second night she was here, I thought… Ugh, okay, so maybe we’d all been too fuckin’ hot for her. I lift my hands and rake my fingers through my hair. Stress isn’t good for me, and I know it. But I don’t see how to fix this. Especially with Kingston treating her like she’s a—
“Did you see where they went?” Archer joins me at the top of the stairs, his hands on his hips.
I shrug, blowing out a breath.
“Might have gone to bed.” He winces a bit because he, like me, knows it’s a foolish guess. Unless of course, they’re together. Kingston had a look in his eyes. I don’t think he was done with her yet, despite everything we’d already put her through with the video. Her running from him may have been the worst thing she could have done.
“Midnight snack time!” Joel grins like an idiot and pats my shoulder as he passes Archer and me, heading for the kitchen. “Thanks for a fun evening, guys.”
“Yeah. That was the most fun I’ve had at a brother party… ever.” Stuart laughs loudly. “If that’s the shit girls do when they’re alone, you know she’s gotta be ripe for it.” He stops and delivers a couple thrusting motions to emphasize his point.
I scowl hard at him as Archer voices my thoughts aloud. “Shut the fuck up, you tool.”
Alec skirts around us, too, snickering, and ducks out of the way before I can punch his arm. Because, yeah, that tricky bastard sees murder in my eyes. I didn’t like the shit they said down there. And we may have told them they aren’t to speak to Elliot about it, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t going to be complete assholes to her anyway. I know how shit goes in this house and can feel the chaos levels rising already. I’ll be keeping my eyes trained steady on all these guys.
Just then, the door to the bathroom in the hallway pops open, and Elliot steps out, pink-cheeked and hair tousled, with her hand clutching the front of her tank top. It’s clear she wasn’t expecting an audience, as her face blanches for a moment before flaming to a brilliant red. Barely breathing, she lifts her other arm so now both hands grasp the fabric in front of her.
Is her shirt… ripped? Before I can get a better look, Kingston appears right behind her. What. The. Fuck? “Go on,” he grunts, and when she doesn’t immediately move, he soundly smacks her ass, all the while keeping his eyes on Archer and me.
I see it coming before Kingston does. Elliot whirls around and slaps his cheek before walking the gauntlet to get to the staircase. She darts past us, as well as the fucknuts in the kitchen area, running as fast as she can to the front of the house.
My brow furrows, eyes glued to the fast churn of her legs and the way her plump ass bounces as she jogs. I don’t fucking like this turn of events one bit.
Dane and Zeke enter the room in time to witness her mad dash up the final few stairs. She disappears into the upstairs hallway, and, shortly after, Zeke lets out a low whistle, eyeing Kingston thoughtfully before he shakes his head and heads for his bedroom. Fucker knows better than to question what he saw. Dane stops for a moment, brows drawn together, gaze flicking between Kingston and the stairs that facilitated Elliot’s escape. Wisely, he also says nothing, though the disapproval in his eyes is clear.
Kingston stalks toward us slowly, his lips twitching a bit as he rubs his pink cheek. He narrows his eyes, his gaze not landing on any one of us. “What the fuck are you looking at?” And without another word, he barges past us, too, following Elliot up the stairs.
Alec, with his midnight ham sandwich in hand, opens his mouth to say something, but Archer, joking attitude gone, holds up his hand. “Nope. You don’t want to say a fucking word. Hit the sack, but before you do, go ahead and add this to the stuff you’re not allowed to mention to Elliot.”
With Archer set to watch them depart, I can’t stand still anymore. I storm up the stairs, jog down the hallway, and stop outside Kingston and Elliot’s side-by-side rooms. Are they together?
When I hear movement in his room, I don’t bother to knock, I barge right in.
The bedroom is empty, but Kingston ducks his head out of the en suite a second later. He’s already stripped down to his boxer briefs. Playing it off like I didn’t just see him exit the bathroom with Elliot, he grunts, “What’s up? I was about to hit the shower.”
Not for a second do I think Kingston feels any shame about what went down tonight. Most of it he would see as punishments fitting the crimes.Sassy mouth? Suck my dick. It’ll shut you up. Couldn’t obey a simple instruction? We’ll show the entire brotherhood how you flagrantly and unapologetically defy us. Serves you right.But what happened in the bathroom, that couldn’t possibly be due to any wrongdoing on her part. I know exactly what he did. The slight craze in his eyes betrays him.
And it only feeds into the anger building inside me.
