Page 48 of Sinful Desires

A manic laugh escaped me. People could wonder all they wanted. There wouldn’t be any proof. “I’ve gotten away with a lot worse than this,” I retorted. “Now get the fuck inside before I carve up that pretty little body of yours.”

Although I couldn’t see her, I could feel the fear radiating off her body and it called to me like a melody. I wanted to defile her in every way, shape and form.

Slowly, she lifted the handle to the cellar and stepped inside, leaving me to follow behind her. Before she was even down the steps, I closed the door and locked the latch. Here, she could scream all she wanted, and no one would hear a thing. It was the perfect place to torture someone.

I’d leave her there for a couple days, let her think that she’d been forgotten. But I wasn’t anywhere close to being done with her. I wanted to prolong this for as long as possible. Until my impulses took over and resisting became impossible. By the time it was all said and done, Aspen would either join me in the darkness, or she’d shatter into a million pieces, losing her sanity in the process.

The following day, I dropped down into the seat next to Hunter at our usual table. The cafeteria was bustling as always and for once, the chatter of students was soothing to me. Placing my food in front of me, I inhaled the delectable meal. Today was hamburger helper, and if there was one thing this school could do, it was preparing decent meals.

I shoveled a bite into my mouth right as Collin and Foster joined the table, sitting on the opposite side of us.

Working out this morning had been euphoric. With the left-over adrenaline from the fight last night, and then the whole thing with Aspen, I was feeling amazing. As I took another bite, my gaze slid over to Aspen’s usual table. Gia and Raven had their heads bowed together and they seemed to be in a deep discussion about something. I smiled around my fork as they both stood, and started making their way over to us.

Hunter tensed up immediately as his eyes locked on his mistress. He started looking around for signs of Jessica being near, but when he saw none, he relaxed a little.

“Have you guys seen Aspen?” Raven demanded in a tone that left little room for arguments. Unfortunately for her, that wouldn’t work on us.

Foster rolled his eyes. “Why would we have seen her? Isn’t she your problem?” The annoyance was evident in his tone.

“Because” Gia cut in. “She’s been missing since the fight last night. She doesn’t just disappear. Especially not when she doesn’t know anyone else.”

“Well, she’s not here obviously,” he retorted, leaning back in his seat. Foster’s gaze traveled between the rest of us as he searched for signs of whether we knew anything or not. I was usually good at hiding my emotions, but this time, I didn’t really give a fuck. So, I let the small smile reveal itself, indicating that I knew exactly where she was.

Collin’s gaze bored into the side of my face, heating my skin. But that was the least of my problems. It wasn’t like he’d go against me. We had rules. Foster shot me a knowing look, but there was no mistaking the small twitch of his lips.

“Do you know something,” Gia questioned, narrowing her eyes at me.

I shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not.”

“They’re not going to tell us anything,” Raven murmured, nudging her friend. She shot Hunter a dirty look before she led Gia away from our table.

Returning my attention back to my food, I took a bite, groaning from how good it tasted.

“What the fuck did you do?” Collin demanded, leaning over the table. “Did you hurt her?”

I rolled my eyes, not interested in playing into his little ‘hero’ act. He was way too attached to this girl for having just met her. Aspen was mine. That was one thing he needed to have drilled into that hollow head of his.

“Is she lying somewhere bleeding out?” he continued—his voice full of desperation. “Is she even alive?”

Heaving a sigh, I rolled my eyes. “Relax Romeo. She’s safe.” For now.

“That’s comforting,” he retorted, sarcasm dripping from his words. “Just like Amanda was safe?”

“She was safe,” I defended.

“She was bloody and battered,” he bit back in astonishment. “Is that what you call safe?” His fingertips were digging into the edge of the table as if he was using it to ground himself.

“She was alive. So…yeah.”

“Enough,” Hunter cut in. “You’re both acting like children.” He turned to look at Collin before continuing. “You can be pissed about this all you want, but it’s not going to change anything, so stop being a little bitch about it.”

Collin ground his teeth together in frustration. “I think it’s a mistake.”

“Think whatever you want,” Foster intervened. “But Hunter’s right. You don’t get a say in this.”

“I didn’t realize we claimed people like they were property,” Collin retorted, anger flashing across his face.

I snorted in amusement. Collin has always been the more rational one out of all of us, but he wasn’t a saint. As soon as Aspen pissed him off in some way, he’d be perfectly fine with torturing her with the rest of us. The problem with him was that he liked to obsess. He couldn’t help it. But eventually, Aspen wouldn’t look so shiny and new and things would go right back to normal.

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