Chapter Seven
“Look what I got,” Dwayne said.
Hope pulled her bag out of the locker and turned toward him. He held a piece of paper up. “Is that your math test?”
“Yes, and I got a B. Look at that. I totally nailed it.”
She smiled. “Congratulations. See, I knew you’d nail it.” She clapped her hands for him, and laughed as he took a bow.
“I think we should celebrate.”
“Okay, how?”
“Party.”
Shaking her head, she finished grabbing her stuff from out of her locker. “Not happening. I don’t do parties.”
“You know that’s weird, right? Besides, it’ll be a party at our place.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Will your uncle really go for that?”
“I’ll ask him tonight. Besides, he’s heading out this weekend, so we’ll have the entire place to ourselves, and he doesn’t need to know.”
The thought of keeping something from Beast didn’t sit well with her. The weekend they’d just shared meant something to her. She didn’t know if Beast felt the same way, but she couldn’t bring herself to lie to him.
“Come on, Hope. I’ve had parties without him knowing before. Don’t tell him, please.”
“I don’t feel comfortable with all of this. He’s done so much for me.”
Dwayne rolled his eyes. “Come on, Hope. Live a little. It’s not going to be long before you’re old, covered in wrinkles, and wishing you had something to do with this party.”
She burst out laughing, shaking her head. “You’ve got to ask him first. I’m not going to be part of making him mad.”
“Whatever.” Dwayne winked at her and told her he’d see her later.
Releasing a breath, she got through the rest of her day without any other sign of Dwayne, which she was pleased about.
By the time school ended, she saw Caleb waiting to take her home. Dwayne was nowhere in sight.
“Are you here to take me home?” she asked, stepping up to him.
“Yes. Beast is on business right now, and he’ll be home when he’s ready.”
He opened the door for her, and she didn’t argue even though it was in the back of the car.
Putting on the seatbelt, she noticed a couple of people paid a little more attention. The car was a nice one, and probably of a popular make. She didn’t know. She’d never been one for cars.
After her parents died, she’d actually worked out the expense on running a car, and that had been put in the “never” pile.
“Beast wanted me to tell you that he hoped you had a good day.”
She smiled. “Thank you.”
“Did you?”
“Yeah, it was okay.” She nibbled her lip.
“Do you know what you’re doing with my brother?” Caleb asked, drawing her attention back to him.
“Excuse me?”
“Don’t pretend that I don’t know you and my brother are a thing. You’re a lot younger than the women he usually screws, but I guess he has a thing for innocence and that kind of thing.”
Her cheeks heated. “I don’t really feel comfortable.”
“Look, you’re one in a long line of women he’s screwed. Graduate from high school, get the fuck out, and go to college. That’s my advice. Don’t have feelings that you’re going to get married, have lots of babies, and all that shit. Women don’t deserve to be part of this life, at least not women like you.”
He pulled up inside the main gates.
“I’m not being a bastard on purpose here. I think you’re a great person, and that for me is the problem. Great people in this life have a tendency to find themselves dead.”
She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I … the rumors?”
“They’re true. Beast is probably going to be pissed I told you, but we’re not good men, Hope. There’s no hope of ever finding anything good inside us so don’t try. Find what you love, and then stay the hell away from us otherwise you’ll be joining both of your parents at the cemetery.”
Hope didn’t linger. She climbed out of the car and made her way toward her room. Closing the door behind her, she leaned against it with her heart pounding. That was Beast’s brother, and he was warning her about it, and she couldn’t think, not right now.
Closing her eyes, she saw the smile on his lips that weekend as she made him laugh. She couldn’t recall seeing him smile all that much.
Yes, she was playing with fire. Their age difference alone confirmed that, but she liked him. She’d been attracted to him from the very beginning. Even now, after Caleb’s warning, she still wanted him, and that wasn’t ever going to change.
Stepping away from the door, she dropped her bag, heading straight to the bathroom. Removing her clothes, she climbed beneath the warm spray, thankful as it seemed to wash away all of her worries.
Whatever was going on between her and Beast, it wouldn’t last.
In time, she wanted romance and love. She didn’t just want sex. Right now, she could handle his rules without too much worry. Placing her hand on the tile, she recalled the feel of his hands on her body, touching her, stroking between her thighs, building a fire that only he could put out.
The water began to turn cold, and she quickly pulled out of her haze and changed into a set of pajamas. It was early, but she didn’t want to leave her room. There was comfort there and no confusion.
She was tired of being confused.
Pulling out her books, she spread them open, and for the next three hours she just sat on her bed, studying.
When she needed to clear her head, she stepped out onto the veranda that looked out over the garden.
She heard moaning, and saw Dwayne with one of the girls from school below her in the garden. Quickly stepping back into her room, she shuddered. She wasn’t interested in seeing other people have sex.
Going back to her studies she didn’t stare at the time until she saw that it was nearly nine, and her stomach started to growl.
Getting up from bed, she made her way downstairs and went to the kitchen. She paused when she caught sight of Beast, shirtless, rummaging through the kitchen. Staring at his back, she saw several silvery scars that looked like they came from whips.
“Who did that?” she asked.
“My dad. It was all part of his punishment, and how to keep a brat in line. I don’t think it mattered if you were a good or bad kid, it’s what he did.” He turned toward her, holding stuff to make a sandwich. “Hungry?” he asked.
“Yes.” She nodded, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Are you having second thoughts yet?”
“About?”
“Last weekend?”
She shook her head. “No. Erm, Caleb, he … said some things.”
“Let me guess, he pretty much told you that my world isn’t suited for women like you?” he asked.
She saw the grasp he had on the butter knife he was using. “How true are the rumors?” she asked.
He smiled, and it was then that she realized she hadn’t a clue about the man he was, or who he claimed to be.
The stories were all around town. Everywhere she turned there was idle gossip, but then she compared it to the stories about what happened to her, and they were so damn wrong. Now though, she began to second-guess herself.
“Why don’t you just ask me questions, and I’ll tell you what you want to know, and what you’re not allowed to know.”
He put some ham and cheese onto a sandwich, closed it, and took a bite.
Something was happening here, and she wasn’t entirely sure what it was, only that it scared her.
“Have you ever killed someone?” she asked.
“Yes.”
She paused, and took a breath. “Were they innocent?”
“Does it matter?”
“I don’t know.” She took a step back, rubbing at her forehead. “I … I’m going back to my room. I can’t. I’m sorry.”
She didn’t say anything more, and made her way to her room, a little disappointed that he didn’t follow. Dwayne stood just outside of his door as she went to the next set of stairs leading her to floor.
Neither of them said a word as she began walking to her room. Everything had changed the moment she agreed to tutor him.
****
Beast was pissed. Finishing off his sandwich, he pulled out two slices of bread and began to make Hope some food. She’d not eaten, and he’d heard her stomach growling. He was pissed off, and when he was in that mood, it made him say and do things that he often regretted.
“You need to leave her alone,” Caleb said.
He threw the knife he had, and it went straight past his brother’s face, hitting the wall and clattering to the floor.
“You must be getting old.”
“I didn’t miss.” He grabbed another knife and finished up her sandwich, adding slices of fruit and some cake he saw. “You’re not to talk to her about shit you don’t understand.”
“What are you hoping to achieve with her, Beast? She’s an innocent. She thought the idle talk around town was just fucking rumors.”
“I don’t give a fuck what anyone else says, Caleb. You’re not to tell her shit, or to confuse her.”
“She’s eighteen.”
“She’s fucking mine!” He glared at his brother, and movement out of the corner of his eye drew his attention to Dwayne. “You got a problem with that?”
Dwayne held his hands up. “I don’t know what is going on, and like always I’m the last one to find out.”
“You’re not like our father,” Caleb said. “She’s … weak. She didn’t grow up with this, and what do you think’s going to happen when she discovers the involvement you had with her parents?”
Beast stared at his brother and his nephew. “I’m not giving her up. She doesn’t find out about that, and if either of you says anything, you better hope I don’t feel like I need to lose a brother.”
Picking up the plate of food, he made his way toward her room.
Nothing was going to make him give her up.
He didn’t knock on the door; he entered and found her sitting on the bed, staring at the books in front of her.
Closing the door behind him, he watched her for several seconds. Neither of them spoke, and he liked that she didn’t always feel the need to talk. He wished she would talk now, though, so he knew what was going on in her mind.
“I’ve killed people that needed to be taken care of.”
“What about the cops?”
He shook his head. “I’ve got men who turn a blind eye.”
She nodded. “Are you like the mafia?”
“No. I’m not.”
“What is it then?”
“I’m a guy that inherited responsibilities. I have legitimate businesses, and I have some that I don’t want to talk about. My father taught me everything that I know, and after he killed my mother, I took care of him.”
Her mouth opened and closed.
“I’m telling you this because you’ve seen darkness, Hope, and you’ve come out of it. You’ve heard the rumors, and I’ve told you before I’m not a nice guy. I’m not the Prince Charming in this story. I never have been. I never will be. I’m the kind of guy your mother warned you about.” He laughed. “I shouldn’t even be here right now, and I certainly shouldn’t have fucked you. I don’t know what it is about you to be honest. I can’t get enough of you, and even when I try to stay away, I find myself drawn back to you.”
He put the plate on the dressing table and moved toward the bed. One by one, he closed her books, and she didn’t fight him.
Her gaze was on his, and he saw she was taking deep breaths. Her shirt pressed against her tits, showing off her hard nipples, and his cock responded. He wanted to fill her pussy, flood her with his cum, and watch as her pussy leaked it out. There were so many dirty things he wanted to do to her, and he would.
Beast intended to make her crave him just as he did her.
He held out his hand, and without hesitation she placed her hand in his. “What I can promise you, Hope, is you’ll never see this life. It’ll never touch you. You’re safe here, and I can guarantee that.”
Putting his hands on her hips, he tugged her forward.
“Do you want me to leave? Do you want me to forget how good your pussy felt wrapped around my cock, and that you wanted me to teach you?”
“I don’t want you to leave.” She placed her hand on his chest, her fingers tracing over his heart. “I want you to promise me that when I graduate, you’ll let me walk away.”
He gritted his teeth. That was going to be next to impossible, but he had ways and means of making what he wanted happen.
“I agree.” It wasn’t the first time that he’d lied, and he doubted it would be his last.
Hope called to a part of him he’d long thought dead. He wanted to be a better man for her. The women he fucked, he didn’t care about, and he never had.
She was the only one that made him ache.
Teasing the edge of her shirt, he tugged it over her head and dropped it to the floor. Cupping one of her breasts, he teased the nipple, relishing her moan as he pinched the hard bud. “All I’ve been able to think about all day is these tits bouncing as you ride my dick. I want that. Do you want it?”
“Yes.”
He took possession of her lips, pushing her back to the bed. She sat on the edge, and he stepped out of his pants, kicking off his shoes.
Gripping the waist of her bottoms, he took them off, and groaned as he saw the evidence of her arousal. She hadn’t even bothered with panties, and he liked that. Skimming his hands down her thighs, he spread her open and slid a single finger inside her.
She was tight, incredibly so, and he wanted to taste her.
Going to his knees before her, he held her hips as he took her clit into his mouth. She cried out his name, and he smiled, licking and sucking at her nub, wanting her to come on his face before he got what he wanted.
Her fists at her side, he drew her first orgasm with a few strokes of his tongue. Climbing onto the bed, he guided her so that she straddled his lap. Holding his cock still, he watched as she slowly took him in deep, her cunt squeezing his dick as he went to the hilt inside her.
Returning his grip to her hips, he held her steady. Her gaze was slightly hooded as she looked at him.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” she said.
“I’ll show you.”
“It’s not just that. I shouldn’t be here with you.”
He stared at her, wondering if he should be insulted by that, but saw the confusion in her gaze.
“Do you want me to let you go? I can stop, and you can live your life. I won’t force you to do anything.” He only wanted her if she wanted to be here. He’d been and done many things in his life, but he wasn’t a rapist, nor was he an abuser.
Her hands moved to his shoulders. “I don’t want you to stop. Show me what you like,” she said.
Keeping hold of her hips, he showed her how to take his cock. Her hands were on his shoulders as she took over rocking her pussy on his cock. Stroking his hands over her body, he leaned back and watched as her tits bounced. He loved the way she arched up, and each time he hit that special place inside her, she seemed to purr with each stroke.
Beast saw the scar on her stomach. The single hole that had been healed, and he skimmed his fingers across the wound. They both had scars put there by others.
The only difference, hers were partly his fault as he’d supplied the gun. He’d never have hurt her, and he hadn’t for a second known what that guy was going to do.
Her father had been a two-bit crook, an addict, and he’d not really cared for the reason why he wanted the gun, only that he owed more money.
Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, he basked in having her in his arms. His own little Hope that he never intended to give up.
Gripping her ass, he took charge, filling her pussy, jolting her as he got deeper and deeper inside her.
Sliding his hands around to her front, he found her pussy and teased over her clit.
“You’re so fucking beautiful, baby. There’s nothing else I want to see than you riding my cock.”
“Please, Beast.”
“You want to come?”
“Yes.”
Stroking her clit, he watched and felt as she came apart, giving him her second orgasm of the night.
She brought him to his first, and he flooded her cunt with his cream. Part of him hoped that she got pregnant because he finally had something that he didn’t want to give up.