Page 13 of Cruel Abandon (Fallen Royals 5)

But it also left me restless. The email came to us first, and my chest tightened when I saw the girl. Amber Huck. Never saw her before in my life, but for a split second I thought she was Skylar. Same full, rosy cheeks and blonde hair.

Well, Sky’s hair used to be blonde.

Our department head came in and personally helped the aide from the president’s office send it to the whole school.

My heart seemed to live in my throat for the rest of the day. We didn’t have any details, but the longer I sat with the panic, the angrier I got.

At myself.

At Sky.

At Amber Huck, for being an idiot and getting herself kidnapped.

I shove all my thoughts away and focus on the positives: I had successful contact with Sky, and I didn’t kill her. The thought crossed my mind once or twice, but the fear in her eyes was enough to satiate the beast.

One thing’s for sure, though: I can’t stop thinking about the way she trembled against me. The shiver in her muscles as she struggled to break free. How fucking wet my touch made her.

And now I’m pissed all over again. My dick gets hard, and I give in to the memories. I savor every last second of our encounter as I stroke myself. I groan and lean my forearm on the tiles. I picture Sky kneeling in front of me, mouth open, and I come with a groan.

She’s a drug I’m helpless against—and I’m done following orders. I can’t just pretend she doesn’t exist.

I’ve kept my distance for six years. But no longer.

5

Sky

Whitney is awake when I come out of my room. She sits at the dining room table, clutching a mug in both hands. Her eyes are closed.

“You okay?” I ask. The fact that she’s even upright suggests something major happened. I can’t imagine what time she walked through the door last night—but then I remember that girl, and suddenly I’m glad that she even made it back, at all.

We don’t know if it was a one-time thing.

She flinches, then jumps up. “You splurged,” she accuses.

“What?”

She points to the door, where a shiny new panel sits. There’s a blue sticky note attached to it. “It scared me half to death when I came in. It started beeping.”

I examine it closer. “An alarm system.”

“Yes, brainiac,” Whitney says.

I shrug. “I didn’t do it. Did we get a notice from the building owners?”

“Nope.”

Hmm. I almost tell her about Liam but think better of it. Instead, I take a closer look at my roommate. There are dark circles under her eyes, and her light-brown hair is piled on top of her head—uncharacteristic from the girl who curls her hair before even thinking about showing her face in public.

“It’s expensive,” she says woodenly. “I researched it. There’s sensors on our windows, too.”

I grunt and pour myself a cup of coffee. “Why are you awake so early?”

She hesitates. “I thought you’d want to go to school together.”

Ah.

I drop into the seat across from her. “This is about Amber?”

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