Page 25 of Cruel Elite (Princes of Ravenlake Academy 3)

Then, I feel something wrap around my upper arm. I move to brush it away.

Except, it isn’t a branch.

It’s a hand.

I follow the hand up a toned, tanned arm to his face.

Noah’s.

God, he’s beautiful.

He always has been, ever since we were little. His mouth is wide but gorgeous, matching the proportions of his dark eyes and heavy brows.

Even in the dark, I can see the flush of red on his cheeks that appears anytime he is too cold or too hot or worked up.

Everything else about Noah is a mystery, so God had to give him one weakness.

Suddenly, I remember we aren’t friends anymore. I haven’t spoken to him in years, and he shouldn’t be here.

Before I can scream or react, Noah claps a hand over my mouth and pushes me against a tree. His hand slides between my legs, cupping my heat.

I try to squirm away from him, but it only makes the sensations stronger.

I shouldn’t want this.

So, why does it feel so good?

“Because you’re sick,” Noah hisses, his breath warm against my ear.

No. No, I’m not.

Noah used to be my friend. My best friend. No matter what has happened between us, some deep part of me still cares for him.

That doesn’t make me sick.

It makes me human.

His knee slides between my legs, holding most of my weight, while his hands unbutton my jeans and slide my zipper down slowly. Painfully slowly.

“Caring for me makes you a fool,” Noah says as he slides his hand into my panties, his finger circling over me. “It makes you weak. Though, that’s not a surprise. You’ve always been weak.”

His voice is starting to change. The words morphing into something different, but equally familiar.

I grab his wrist and try to pull him away, but he slips a finger inside of me, and I moan, releasing the tension in my legs and letting myself fall further onto him.

“I’m not weak...” I protest.

Noah leans in and licks my ear. “You’re pathetic. You can’t do anything right.”

His voice is high-pitched now, almost feminine. Something is wrong with him, but I’m so lost in a haze of carnal lust that I can’t see straight.

“You screw everything up. Without me, you’d be nothing. Nobody.”

“Stop it.” My breath is ragged as his hand slides inside of me.

“No, Penelope.” At the sound of my name, my entire body goes stiff.

I know that voice. I’ve heard it my entire life.

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