Page 34 of Make Me Lie (Rich Demons of Darkwood 1)

I’d been through a lot in my life, the sort of stuff that wasn't even featured in horror movies because it was so dark and twisted that the audience probably would've fainted dead at the sight of it. But this? This I had no experience with beyond what I’d done with Cain… And Stellan years ago. I didn't know what it meant, but I'd survived all of that, and being in this room was making me sick.

"Too much for you, sweetheart?" purred Remington. I bit the side of my cheek so I wouldn't react like I knew he wanted me to. The blonde and redhead were beginning to crawl towards Stellan, and I realized that Paxton was still fisting himself, the only one a girl hadn't approached. Was there a reason for that? I filed that away to look into later and rolled my shoulders back. The redhead chose that moment to push Stellan’s shirt up and began to nibble at his skin. The blonde was playing with the redhead's breasts at the same time, and I watched as the redhead’s tongue slid around Stellan’s nipples at the same time the blonde’s tongue slid around hers. My face curled up in disgust, and I knew that I had messed up and let a flicker of hurt show in my eyes when Stellan’s face lit up with victory.

"Don't look so sad, darlin'," Stellan said mockingly. "I'm sure the girls wouldn't mind you tagging in. I bet they could teach you a thing or two; I doubt you've improved very much from your last performance.”

I lost my mind at that moment and picked up my wine glass, still filled to the brim with red Cabernet, and splashed it all over him. The blonde and the redhead yelled out indignantly, pushing away from him as wine dripped all over them as well. I set the now empty wine glass back down on the table before I threw the actual glass at him, my hands trembling as I did so. I left the room without looking back.

I didn't think I'd have trouble playing games with all of them, but I hadn’t come close to anticipating that. If that’s what I had to be subjected to… there was no way I was going to deal with that for the rest of the semester.

As I walked back to my room, some of the other members’ doors to their bedrooms were open, and laughter followed me down the hallway as I passed by. Evidently, they all knew what was happening in that room. Hell, I wouldn't put it past any of them to have cameras in there so they could watch the show as well.

I slipped inside my bedroom and locked the door behind me, leaning against it and struggling to get my emotions in check. I wouldn’t cry. I couldn’t. I grabbed the skin in between my thumb and pointer finger on my left hand and squeezed, trying to center myself like I’d been taught, creating a mental wall between my emotions and the rest of me so that they couldn’t leak out.

Once the urge to cry went away, I let go and stalked to my bed, throwing open my laptop and logging into my email. I wrote a note to the Dean’s secretary, requesting an urgent meeting for tomorrow morning. I’d explain everything to him. They’d find me a room somewhere else. I wouldn’t have to put up with this.

I should have felt better as soon as I sent the email, but I didn’t. I still felt dirty from what just happened, from listening to the girls’ fake moans, the panting breaths from the guys, the smell of sex and desire in the room. If I could have ripped off my skin I would have.

I ran to the shower, turned on the water, and waited for it to reach a scalding temperature. There was a connecting door to another room, Paxton’s room unfortunately, so I locked both.

Then I stepped into the blazing-hot water. I lifted my face to the water, pretending that it was possible for all of the sins coating my skin to be washed away.

I tried not to think about it, tried not to picture what Cain's hand had looked like wrapped around his huge dick. I tried not to think about what Paxton had sounded like as he'd watched.

But I couldn't help it.

The images were burned into my mind. In my fantasies though, the other girls hadn’t been there. It was me on my knees in between Cain's thighs. It was me crawling on top of Stellan's lap. It was me spread across the table while Remington's tongue slid up my skin.

As if someone else was controlling me, my hand slipped down my body, sliding over my erect nipples, moving down my soapy, slick skin until I was leaning back against the cold tile, dipping my fingers in and out of my wet heat as I pretended that it was someone else touching me there. I slowly circled my clit as I remembered what Cain’s lips had felt like as they danced across my skin at that party. My breath came out in gasps as I fell down the rabbit hole into a fantasy that never should've entered my head. Heat built inside of me, spiraling higher and higher until my orgasm was a breath away.

And then the door that connected Paxton's room to the bathroom, the door that I had locked, flew open and crashed against the wall right as I fell over the cliff, pleasure surging through me.

My shriek was mixed with a moan as I dove for my towel to cover myself.

But it was too late.

Paxton was standing there in the doorway, his gaze dancing all over my skin. I could feel it everywhere, like it was actually his hands caressing every inch of me.

"Have a good shower?" he asked mockingly, making me feel naked even though the towel covered me down to my knees. "No need to cover up on my account. You don't have anything special."

He was such a liar. Even now I could see the hunger in his gaze. I deliberately dropped my towel, and that hunger turned into a living, breathing thing, threatening to scorch both of us as he looked at me like he wanted to eat me alive.

"Nothing special, Pax?" I asked with a smirk. "Your dick thinks I'm special."

He opened his mouth and then closed it again, a tic in his cheek like he had a million things to say in response but was holding them all back. I slowly and deliberately reached down to grab the towel, making sure that my assets were in perfect display with every move I made. I winked at him and then sashayed my way out of the bathroom. It was only when I was safely behind my locked door that my bravado dropped, and I sank to my knees as adrenaline coursed through me.

Had I really just done that? This place was making me lose my mind. Morning, and my meeting with the Dean, couldn’t come soon enough.

I quickly got up from the floor and got dressed, slipping on a pair of sweats instead of the tank top and short pajamas that I usually wore to bed. I needed an extra layer tonight.

But as I slid underneath my sheets, I knew it was going to be a long night. It was obvious that the guys wouldn't stop until they'd ruined my nights just as much as they had started to ruin my days.

Mission accomplished, I whispered to myself as I closed my eyes and tried to think of anything but the look Paxton had in his eyes tonight.

* * *

The next morning,I marched across the enormous grass lawn that sat in the middle of campus, determined and ready to do anything to get a new room assignment. I was not leaving the Dean's office until I'd gotten him to help me. My stomach dropped as a group of girls all holding steaming cups of coffee saw me and deliberately went down another path to avoid having to walk by me.

It was funny, but last night's events had almost made me forget how much I was hated on this campus. I didn't let myself start to spiral downwards though. Sure, it would've been nice to have some friends. That was obviously one of my goals I’d had when I endured the months of recovery after my surgery, a surgery that I really should get my money back for since my cover had been blown almost immediately. I could do this though. I could get a room somewhere, keep my head down, not go anywhere for the next couple of years. I would get that degree and then I’d get the hell out of here. None of it would matter again.

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