Deviant

Chapter 31

Elias

I’m standing by the window, watching Henry wheel Chris’s dead body in a cart toward the gate’s entrance, when I hear a knock on my door.

My forehead creases at who it could be since everyone hates my guts for killing Chris.

After Henry instructed us to leave that godforsaken white room, I saw how they looked at me. I could feel their hate… their distrust seeped into my skin as I passed them by and headed back to my room. Usually, shit like that wouldn’t bother me, but to see that wary look on the face of people I actually cared about fucked with my head more than I would have liked it to.

But I get it.

Of everyone in the group, Chris would have been one of the last people I imagined killing. His best friend, Big Mike, on the other hand, I wouldn’t think twice about snapping his neck in two.

But Chris… yeah… He deserved better.

But he went after Roe… and no one goes after what’s mine.

“I’m coming. Hold your fucking horses,” I grumble when whoever is at the door starts knocking again. However, when I open it and see Rowen standing on the other side, my heart does this weird thing in my chest… it starts beating.

“Thought I told Five not to show anyone where my room was.”

“I guess she likes me better than she likes you.” She shrugs.

“Guess so.” I scowl.

“May I come in?” she asks but struts into my room before I have time to answer.

“Please, make yourself at home,” I grumble, closing the door behind her.

I cross my arms over my chest, watching her scour the room attentively. I’m not sure why she’s so interested in where I’ve been laying my head at night since she’s the one who kicked me out of her room. When she said that shit, I had half a mind to bend her over my knee and remind her of who between us can shell out orders. However, she had just told me how Nora died, and I thought maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to put some space between us. I needed time to process, and I couldn’t do that with her around, not when her mere presence twisted me up inside.

Rowen makes me feel… things.

Things that I still can’t quite wrap my mind around.

Hating her was so much easier than whatever I’ve got bubbling in my chest right now.

Ah… simpler times. If only we could revert to a time when shit actually made sense.

“What do you want?” I ask point-blank since she doesn’t look to be in a hurry to tell me why she showed up at my door.

“To talk,” she replies, sitting on the edge of my bed.

I take a good, long look at her as she places her hands on the bed behind her, her long chestnut hair cascading in waves down her back. In her snug mini-skirt and form-fitting top, accentuated by six-inch killer black boots, Rowen certainly doesn’t resemble the sweet little angel she pretended to be back in Blackwater Falls anymore. No, that girl had been frightened by her own reflection in the mirror. This is a woman—confident and determined—ready to take control of her life, even if that means facing me.

“To talk?” I arch a brow while keeping my distance from her.

Rowen sitting on my bed, can only lead to one thing, and if she came here to talk, then best I give her a wide berth and let her.

“Yes, to talk,” she confirms, her gaze lowering to the white bandage on my arm. “Does it hurt?”

Looking at you?

Fuck, yes.

My arm?

Not so much.

“I’ll live,” I reply, leaning against a small desk by the window.

“Everything happened so fast, I don’t think I properly thanked you for helping me with my challenge. If you hadn’t been there to guide me through it, I’m not sure I could have done it on my own.”

“You would have managed just fine without me.”

“I don’t think so,” she mutters softly, still staring at my bandages. “I don’t like the idea of hurting you.”

“Why? When you’re so fucking good at it?” I grumble under my breath.

“What?”

“Nothing,” I retort, feeling all sorts of frustrated. “Is that it? Is that why you came here? To thank me?”

“No, I also wanted to apologize.”

“Apologize?” I parrot the word like I’ve never heard anyone say such a thing to me before.

“Yes,” she says, standing up and walking toward me.

Shit.

I stay rooted to my spot, my jaw clenching when she stops just within my arm’s reach.

“I wanted to apologize for how I reacted earlier. After you…”

“You mean after I killed Chris? Yeah, I know what I did, Roe. Spare me the reminder,” I grumble, using her poor choice of topic to my advantage to brush past her, but when Rowen grabs hold of my hand, I stop in my tracks just to relish in her touch.

“You did what had to be done,” she replies behind me. “Would I have liked today to have gone a different way? Of course, I would have. But Chris wasn’t well. He genuinely believed this was just a game and that I wouldn’t get hurt, no matter what he did to me. No one else stood up to protect me. Only you.” She leans her head on my arm as she says the last part. “I guess, along with an apology, I should be thanking you for that, too.”

“You’re welcome,” I say over the loud sound of my beating heart.

She then slides in front of me, keeping her hand on mine, as her other finds purchase on my bare chest.

“I need to know one more thing before I leave,” she whispers, staring deep into my eyes. “After everything I told you the other day… now that you know the truth of what really happened that night… with Nora… with everything… I just need to know… do you hate me?”

There’s an underlying meaning to her question… one that I don’t know if I’m ready to answer.

“Isn’t hate the whole premise of our relationship?” I ask, taking the easy way out.

“Is it?” she counters, slaying me with those two little words.

I gently cup her cheek, and as her eyelids flutter closed, she releases a deep sigh as if she had been holding her breath since she entered my room.

“No,” I admit, deciding to go with the truth this time. “It’s not.”

“So what does that leave us with?” she rasps, still unable to look at me, fearing my response.

“It leaves us with this.”

And before I lose my nerve or let doubt and confusion continue to muddle my thoughts, I do the one thing that has always felt right… I kiss her.

Rowen flings her arms around my neck, letting me take… take… take everything she has to give in this one kiss.

And as our kiss deepens, and her fingers run through my hair while mine dig into her hips, I breathe her in, her scent intoxicating my very bloodstream.

“I’ve missed you,” she confesses while I nibble at her lower lip. “I’ve missed you so much. These last three days without you have been…”

“Agony,” I grunt before silencing her with my mouth. I hungrily swallow every little moan she makes as my tongue wrestles with hers.

She knows I don’t need permission to take what’s mine, what should have always been mine, and instead lets me run full rein over her mouth and body.

“Elias,” she whimpers when just kissing isn’t enough to soothe the ache in between her thighs.

I grab a fistful of her hair and pull her head all the way back just so I can lick the slope of her throat. “Tell me what you need, Roe. I need to hear you say the words,” I growl before sinking my teeth into her neck.

“Elias,” she moans again, grabbing my hard cock through my pants just to end her suffering.

I swat her hand away and growl, “Say… the… words.”

“Fuck me.”

Every inch of my body comes alive as if with those two words, she’s breathed life back into my cold bones.

“Good girl,” I praise, halting her by the waist, her legs wrapping themselves around my hips. I turn us toward the window and slam her back against it.

“I want the whole world to see why they can’t fuck with what’s mine,” I grunt before gripping her chin to look me in the eye. “Because make no mistake, Roe, you are mine.”

Her eyes go half-mast as if I’ve just recited the most beautiful poem she’s ever heard.

“Elias, please,” she begins to beg, going out of her mind with want.

“I’ve got you, baby. I’ve got you.”

I don’t think too hard about why I just called her that, and instead order her to hold on tight, long enough for me to pull down my sweatpants and hike up her skirt until it’s bulged around her waist.

“This isn’t going to be pretty,” I warn as I slide her panties to the side and find her pussy already slick with need. “I’m going to fuck you hard and fast. Nod if you understand?”

Rowen nods obediently, her gaze hungry and desperate.

“Please….I need to feel you inside me.”

Fuck me, but hearing Roe beg for my cock just became my favorite melody in the whole fucking world.

“Say that again,” I groan as I rub the crown of my cock with her juices. “Beg for my cock. Let me hear you say it again.”

“Elias,” she moans, her lips scorching me from within as she plants sweet little kisses over my neck, chin, and cheek until her mouth is right at my ear, her sweet breath causing a shudder to run through me. “Stop playing games and fuck me already.”

My cock doubles in size at her command, and without further warning, I thrust deep inside of her, moaning out her name as I do.

Fuck.

Just as I promised her—or threatened, not sure anymore—I fuck her good and hard against the windowpane, the damn thing rattling so hard I’m almost afraid it’s going to break.

But I don’t give a fuck.

Not while my doe-eyed girl takes all I have to give and then some. Taking a page from my handbook, she bites into my shoulder while I fuck her so hard I no longer know where I begin and she ends. My hands are gripping her so tight they’ll leave gorgeous bruises that I get to kiss in the days to come. With my teeth, I pull her shirt down just enough to sink them into the swell of her breasts, needing to mark every inch of her, declaring to the world that there isn’t a part of her body that doesn’t belong to me. Needing to catch just a little bit of the show we’re putting on, I grab her by the throat and hold her against the window just so I can watch my cock slide easily and effortlessly inside her tight cunt.

“See?” I groan, watching my cock slick with her desire. “See how well your pussy swallows me whole? How much it loves getting fucked by me?”

“Yes,” she wails, her eyes falling to the back of her head, her legs starting to shake around her waist.

“Fuck, you’re soaked, baby. Does that turn you on? Knowing that your tight cunt can’t get enough of my cock?”

“Oh god,” she moans out, her pussy strangling my cock in such a way that I almost go blind on the spot.

“That’s it. Fuck, Roe. Take it. Take it all,” I moan, my grip tightening around her throat while I relentlessly pound into her with everything I’ve got.

And as she belts out my name from the top of her lungs while I hit that tender spot within her walls, I follow her over the precipice, knowing that when I wake up, she’ll still be in my arms.

I release my hand around her neck so that I can cradle her in my arms, Rowen’s limp-sated body instantly melting into my embrace.

“Where are we going?” she asks, half asleep, half awake, when I start walking us across the room.

“To the bathroom.”

“Why?” she yawns, so exhausted from her orgasm that she can’t keep her head up, needing to nestle it on the crook of my shoulder.

“Because… I’m not done with you yet.”

“You’re not?” she coos, sounding more alert.

“Fuck, no. We’ve got years of catching up to do, and we’ll start with me teaching you the benefits of shower sex. It’s going to be a long night. Hope you came prepared.”

“We can’t stay in bed forever,” she says sweetly, pressing a tender kiss to my chest.

“I beg to differ. For the next two days, I’m not leaving this room,” I reply, running my fingers up and down her back.

“Is it because you want to spend time with me, or is it because we’re hiding from the others?” she asks knowingly.

The damn woman is starting to read me like an open book.

When I don’t answer, she lifts off the bed to straddle my waist, giving me a better view of her full breasts and perky nipples. But it’s the way her wild hair frames her gorgeous face that really leaves me tongue-tied.

She can read me all she wants.

Flip every page until she can recite every chapter by heart.

I couldn’t give a fuck

Not as long as it means I get to wake up to her beautiful face every morning.

“They’re our friends. We can’t hide from our friends,” she insists, running her nails down my chest just to hear me hiss.

“Those fuckers downstairs are no friends of mine.”

This time, she really sinks her nails into my flesh, coaxing me to wince.

“Andy is your friend. Just as Harper and Abbie are mine.”

“Speaking of Abigail, be careful with that one. She might look all sweet and innocent, but she’s more than what meets the eye,” I alert, just to get her to move off the topic at hand.

“Funny. There was a time you said the same thing about me.”

“Was I wrong, Roe?” I arch a teasing brow, only to have her nails sink into my flesh again, Roe only stopping when she sees me bleeding.

Her stare darts away from my displeased expression to the tiny wounds she inflicted on me, a mischievous smile tugging at her lips.

“Tell you what? I’ll take care of that,” she points to the blood now dripping down to my navel, “If after, we go downstairs to have breakfast with our friends.”

“You think I care about a little bit of blood?” I show her my bandaged arm where I purposely cut out a piece of my own flesh for her, to drive my point across. “I think you’ll have to devise something better to convince me.”

“Oh, I think this will convince you plenty,” she taunts before crawling down my body to lick every droplet of blood on my chest, down my navel until her mouth is inches away from my hard as steel cock.

“Should I go on?” she goads, knowing that she’s won.

“I could use a little more convincing,” I taunt back.

But as soon as she uses her wicked tongue to lap the precum off the head of my cock, I know that there’s no escaping having breakfast with those other assholes.

She knew I’d lose this battle before it even began. And if this is how she intends to solve all our future disagreements, I’m beyond fucked.

Thankfully, by the time we get downstairs, everyone is mostly done with their breakfast anyway. The minute Big Mike sees me entering the room, he throws me a menacing glare and then storms out, saying he’s lost his appetite.

David, Ruby, and a very amused Mackenzie follow him seconds later, leaving only Andy, Harper, and Abigail.

Fine by me since they are the only ones in this house I can tolerate anyway.

“It’ll blow over, E. Just give them time. You did the right thing, even if they don’t want to acknowledge it yet,” Andy says before opening his arms wide and pulling me into a hug, apparently having forgiven me for killing Chris.

“The fuck is this?” I ask, pushing him away from me.

“What do you mean?” he counters, confused. “Do you mean the hug?”

“Yeah, the hug!” I ask, feeling awkward and shit.

“I thought maybe you could use one after yesterday’s clusterfuck.”

“Hold up?! Have you never been hugged by a guy before?” Harper interrupts, her eyes shining with utter giddiness. “Because that would explain so much. I mean, SO much.”

I growl instead of answering her, shoving a chuckling Andy aside as I hurry to take my seat at the table.

Unlike me, Rowen isn’t shy with her hugs, giving one to Harper and Andy, and then another to Abigail before she plants her fine ass beside me.

Five rushes to do her routine taste test while I fume under Harper’s scrutinizing gaze.

“What?!” I grumble when her stare becomes too unnerving.

“I just have to know,” she slams her palms on the table playfully. “You’ve really never been hugged by another man before?”

I stare at Rowen, needing her to save me from this torture.

“Do I really have to answer her? I mean, how much do you really like this chick?”

“Hey!” Andy and Harper shout in unison.

“I like her a lot. She’s kind of my best friend, along with Abbie.” She winks at young Abigail.

I wonder how much of a bestie she’d still be if Rowen knew she was packing a knife under her shirt.

“See? Now you have to answer me. We’re practically family,” Harper beams.

“You owe me. Big time,” I growl at my woman.

“Oh, I think I’m more than good for it.” She winks before biting into a strawberry, licking the juices from her lips suggestively.

“Fine,” I concede, my hard-on forcing me to shift in my seat. “No. I never hugged another man before. If you haven’t noticed, guys aren’t my thing. I’m only into girls. Actually, scratch that. I’m only into one woman, to be precise.”

“Okay, first of all, aww!” Harper coos. “That might be the sweetest thing I ever heard come out of your mouth. And secondly, you don’t have to be into guys to show them affection. Didn’t your dad ever hug you as a child?”

“No.”

“Your brother?”

“Fuck no.”

“A teacher? A coach? A guy friend?” Harper asks, looking troubled.

“My boss, Rick, gave me a side hug when my mom died. Does that count?”

“Dude,” Andy utters, shaking his head at me, and when all the women in the room just stare at me with sad frowns and pitying looks stitched to their faces, I’ve had just about enough of this topic. “That’s okay, E. I can be your first,” he adds, wiggling his brows. “And like I told Rowen, once you’ve had a piece of this, you’ll never go back.”

I want to curse at the fucker, but all I end up doing is barking out a laugh at the goofy faces he makes.

My laugh must be contagious because the girls all join in, too.

“See? Aren’t you happy that we came?” Rowen whispers in my ear, her hand on my thigh.

I want to tell her that she’s the one that makes me happy, but the words get stuck in my throat, refusing to come out.

So, instead, I bring her hand to my lips and give it a kiss.

“Yeah, I’m glad we came.”

Two hours later, I regret letting Rowen seduce me into joining our friends for breakfast.

“Don’t be such a sourpuss, Elias. Aren’t you the least bit curious to see what these rooms are hiding?” Harper asks after I’ve groaned my discontent loudly enough to draw attention.

“If I had to choose between this harebrained scheme of yours to spending the rest of my day in my room with my face in between Rowen’s thighs, I think you know which one I’d pick.”

Rowen’s cheeks immediately turn pink while Abbie hides her face from secondhand embarrassment for her friend.

“He’s not wrong.” Andy shrugs. “I mean my head in your thighs… not my head in Rowen’s,” Andy quickly tries to clarify before he ends up in the doghouse with his girl.

“We all know what you mean, Andy. Now give me that key. You’re taking too long,” she says before snatching the master key she lifted off Seven last night from his grip.

Apparently, while Rowen and I were making up, Harper and Andy were up to no good.

Somehow, they got it into their heads that if they stole the master key that opens every room of the house, they might be able to find out who is behind The Scourge. It’s been over an hour, and so far, we haven’t found jack shit.

When Harper opens the door and swings it open, we discover a room full of nothing more than books.

“Ooh! A library!” Abigail squeals in excitement like she just hit pay dirt.

She practically skips inside, rushing over to one of the many bookshelves aligning the room.

“Might as well go in,” Rowen says. “I mean, look how happy she is. It won’t take a minute.”

“You said that last time.”

“Elias Larsen, are you pouting?” she teases.

“I don’t pout,” I grumble.

“Tell that to your face,” Harper sings as she bypasses me.

“I’m really starting to hate your new bestie,” I groan.

“Well, I love her. Best get used to her.”

But just as the words leave her mouth, it dawns on Rowen that I don’t have to get used to anyone. Because maybe in a week or two, Harper might not even be alive.

“Hey, why don’t we find a quiet corner and make out a little. I bet you never did that in high school,” I tease, needing her to think about anything other than the impending death of our friends.

She gives me a noncommittal nod and lets me grab her hand to pull her inside. Her mind is still troubled when we hear Harper call out to us from the back of the large room.

“Guys! Over here! Come check this out!”

I give Rowen’s hand a little squeeze as I lead her to where Andy, Harper, and Abigail are all staring at a large wall full of golden plaques.

“What is it?” Abigail asks curiously, running her fingers over one of the plaques in the first row.

1931 – Duncan Wilson – Chosen

Abigail reads the curious description aloud. “I wonder what it means?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Harper claps in excitement. “We just found the records of every person who ever won The Scourge. It just has to be.”

“I think you’re right, babe. Look,” Andy says before pointing to one of the plaques further down the line.

2022 – Lewis Clarkson – Chosen

“We all know that Lewis must have won that year because his whole family just up and left town in the middle of the night. You only do that if one of your family members wins The Scourge. That’s the only way anyone can leave Blackwater Falls,” Andy adds, just as excited. “This must be The Scourge’s Winner’s Wall.”

“Something isn’t adding up, though.” Harper chews on her lip suspiciously.

“What do you mean?” Rowen asks, sounding just as interested as our friends are with the wall.

“Look for yourself,” Harper says, pointing to the name a few rows down from Duncan Wilson.

1937 – Patrick Murdoch – Volunteer

Rowen’s back visibly stiffens while Harper starts reading row after row of names, all with the word volunteer attached to them.

“It continues like this until the early nineteen-fifties, each name tagged as a volunteer, and then suddenly it stops, and the word chosen begins to pop up again. From what I can see, not many volunteers show up after that,” Harper muses, her eyes glued to each plaque.

“Does that mean that people actually volunteered for The Scourge?” Abigail asks, confused, obviously trying to piece the puzzle together like Andy and Harper are doing. “Why would someone willingly put themselves through that?”

“Who knows why people do what they do?” Harper shrugs as she continues to read each plaque on the wall. “Greed. Desperation. Boredom. Your guess is as good as mine.” But just as she gets to the last few rows, she stops. “Shit.”

“What? What is it, babe?” Andy asks her as Harper quickly turns her back to the wall, covering it from our view.

“Nothing. On second thought, maybe it’s time that we left. Seven is bound to catch on sooner or later that her key has gone missing. Best not to be here when she starts looking for it.”

“You’re acting weird,” Abigail utters what we are all thinking.

“Am I? Must be the heat. Are you guys hot? It’s boiling in here, isn’t it? We should really talk to Henry about that. I mean, it is October, for crying out loud.”

“Babe, you’re starting to freak me out.” Andy frowns worriedly.

But while all of us stare at Harper like she’s lost her marbles, Rowen doesn’t look at all surprised.

“You’re hiding something,” she says, eyeing her friend suspiciously. “Something that you saw on those plaques spooked you. Am I right? What did you see? Tell us.”

“Rowen,” Harper pleads. “Remember that time you told me that ignorance is bliss? Trust me when I tell you it is. You don’t want to see this. Just trust me, okay?”

When I see Rowen wavering, preferring to trust that her friend has her best interest in mind, I step in the way.

“Harper, move.”

“Elias, listen when I tell you that you don’t want me to do that.”

“If there is anything on that wall that involves Rowen, then she needs to know. Secrets are poison, Harper. They are the reasons why we’re all here in the first place. So, step aside before I make you.”

“Make me,” the brat has the nerve to say, digging in with her heels.

“With pleasure.” I pick her up and plant her next to Andy so he can deal with his woman while I give room to mine to check whatever the fuck is on that wall.

But the instant my gaze lands on the plaque Harper was trying to hide, I kick myself for not listening to her.

2009 – Sarah Hawthorne – Volunteer

Not only did Rowen’s mom volunteer for The Scourge, but she won.