Corrupt - Douglas Penelope (книги .TXT) 📗

He wiped his finger under his nose, pulling it away and going back in a couple more times, looking at his fingers.

He was bleeding, and his eyes were watering.

Damon still stood over by the island, pinching a lit cigarette between his fingers and blowing out a cloud of smoke.

Will sniffled, a bit of blood smeared under his nose as he approached me. “Move.”

But I just kept my shoulders squared and held his eyes, staying put.

He watched me, shaking his head in warning. “Michael, don’t do this.”

When I didn’t move, he reached around me, trying to get at her, but I shoved my hands into his chest, pushing him back.

They might try to kill me, but they wouldn’t get to her otherwise.

“You’re choosing her?” Kai charged. “After everything? She’ll screw you over just like us. We trusted her, too.”

“You trusted me?” she burst out, coming around and holding their eyes. “I was your friend? Do you normally kidnap your friends against their will and drive them out into the middle of a nowhere for a little fun?”

I narrowed my eyes, my heart picking up speed.

And then I turned to look at my friends. “What the fuck is she talking about?”

Three Years Ago

I BOLTED FROM THE WAREHOUSE.

My stomach was in knots and tears streamed down my face, probably making the black stripe run, but I didn’t care.

How could everything have felt so good one minute and so fucking horrible the next?

I ran down the stairs, holding my arms over my chest to keep warm. I glanced over to the booth where the guys had been sitting, but I saw that it was empty. Were they gone?

They just left me here?

I tried not to feel hurt that Kai, Will, and even Damon had abandoned me, too. Just like Michael.

I walked over, seeing that my sweatshirt was still there. I gritted my teeth and grabbed it, whipping it out of the booth and charging for the front entrance.

“Assholes,” I growled in a whisper.

Slipping it over my head, I pulled up the hood and stuffed my hands into the middle pocket.

And I stopped, my hand immediately closing around a hard, rectangular object. I pulled it out, seeing that it was the phone Will had been carrying with him all night. The one he recorded all their pranks on.

I glanced back inside, trying to figure out how I’d gotten the phone. But then I noticed how long the sleeves were and that the hem fell all the way to the tops of my thighs.

I had the wrong sweatshirt.

I cocked an eyebrow, stuffing the phone back into the pocket and making my way through the parking lot. Will must’ve taken mine accidentally.

He’d be lucky if I didn’t toss his damn phone—and all their memories—in the trash.

The rain had calmed, only a light sprinkle now, but the chill crept into my bones, and I considered calling my mom to pick me up.

But I immediately tossed the idea. I didn’t want her to worry about what I’d been doing out so late, since she believed I was sleeping at the Crists. And plus…I couldn’t face anyone. I needed to walk and be alone.

He’d almost been mine.

When he’d followed me upstairs in that warehouse, just like I’d hoped he would, I anticipated his touch the whole time. I begged for it in my head.

Just one touch, and I would know he wanted me like I wanted him, and I could be happy.

And then his hand came around my neck, and he pulled me into his chest, and I was his. It was done. Now I knew, and there was no turning back. No stopping.

Why did he ruin it?

He’d told me today in the catacombs that he wanted what he wasn’t supposed to have. He wanted to live without rules and defy everyone else’s expectations, and what did he do? He gave into them instead. He tied my hands and his.

He let the fear of his father and the threat of his brother hold us back, and what was worse, he wanted to put the same restraints on me that he was trying to shed.

I didn’t want anything planned. That wasn’t Michael, and it wasn’t me. I wanted the thrill and the playing, the drama and the fights, the passion and the craving.

I wanted to fucking frustrate him and drive him wild, but I couldn’t do that when he tried to micro-manage everything.

I wanted it all to be out of our control, because we had no choice but to dive in.

But that was short-lived. He pulled back, held back, laid down rules…

Fucking rules? How could he do that? That wasn’t us. We weren’t going to care what others thought, and we wouldn’t ask permission.

And in the span of sixty seconds I went from being the heartbeat in his chest to feeling like nothing more than his little plaything, pliable and unimportant. I damn-well knew someone like Michael Crist wasn’t going to stay celibate for a year, waiting for me to turn eighteen, either. I knew he wanted me. I felt as much when he ground between my legs.

But just because he denied himself from having me didn’t mean he’d deny himself altogether. I wasn’t that naive.

Tomorrow he’d ignore me, and it would be as if this night had never happened. I’d want to be invisible in his presence, and even though I shouldn’t be, I’d feel embarrassed around him.

I dropped my head, strands of my hair spilling out of the hood as I walked down the dark road, the glistening blacktop reflecting the moon’s light.

I missed him already. And hated him.

A horn blared from behind me, and I whipped around, my heart jumping as I backed away, making sure I was off the road.

I stilled, seeing Michael’s Mercedes G-Class, and waited as it pulled up next to me.

Damon drove.

“Come on,” he told me. “Get in. We’ll take you home.”

I backed away, spying Kai in the passenger seat with his mask on. Will sat in the back, slouched down and looking two seconds from passing out. I didn’t see Michael.

I shook my head. “It’s not that far. I’m fine.”

I turned to keep walking, but Damon called after me, “Michael told us to make sure you got home. I don’t care what happened between you two, but we’re not letting you walk. Get in.”

Stopping, I looked ahead at the pitch black night on what I knew was a six-mile walk. So they hadn’t left me then?

My anger softened. My pride may be hurt, but that was no excuse to be stupid.

I averted my eyes, not wanting him to see how grateful I was, and opened the back door, sliding into my same seat.

Damon immediately laid on the gas, speeding down the road as Combichrist’s Feed the Fire played on the stereo.

I narrowed my eyes on Kai, noticing his mask and drawn hood and wondering why he was so quiet. Giving Will a sideways glance, I noticed his hooded eyes as he leaned back on the headrest. Turning my eyes back up front, I looked up, seeing Damon watch me from the rearview mirror.

“Why are you wearing your mask?” I asked Kai.

But it was Damon who answered. “The night’s not over yet,” he replied in a teasing tone.

But I suddenly felt unease creep into my chest.

We raced down the lonely highway, getting closer and closer to my house, so I pushed my concern away. They might be heading out elsewhere for more fun, but they were taking me home. Damon was always creepy. It was just my nerves.

“You want him, don’t you?” Damon stared out at the road. “Michael, I mean.”

I stayed silent, hardening my jaw and turning my eyes out the window. Damon wasn’t interested in anything but fucking with my head, and even if he did want to just talk, I had no intention of confessing to Michael’s friends how big of a fool I’d just made of myself.

“Shit,” Will groaned, his tired body swaying with the car. “She’s ready to ride a fence post with how horny she is for him.”