Hers To Keep (Servite Academy #2)

Chapter 17

Chapter

Seventeen

ACE

T he way she flaunts her hips side to side as she struts my way in those knee-high socks and short schoolgirl skirt, makes my dick dangerously hard for her. I adjust myself, hoping my erection doesn’t scare her away before I do what I came here to do. Talk to her first, fuck her second.

“Well, well, the prodigal king has returned. So nice of you to bless us mere mortals with your presence, my lord,” she mocks, and if I didn’t know her better, I’d almost believe she’d go as far as curtsying to me.

As if she’d show submission of that sort.

“You’re funny,” I say, moving toward her and wrapping my arms around her waist pulling her in for a quick kiss.

She pulls back, raising her brow as she waits for my next move. “You said we needed to talk. This isn’t talking.”

“Walk with me,” I say, pulling her toward me, ignoring the jealous stares and snarky whispers of those around us, who watch us leave like the perfect couple we are. I thought about waiting till we were in the safety of the beach house, away from prying eyes and silent eavesdroppers, to spill the news I’d found out, but the anticipation of telling her gets the best of me.”

“Someone’s blackmailing my uncle,” I blurt out, as we walk hand in hand toward the beach. She turns to me, stopping in her tracks, wide eyes confused by my words. “It’s where I went. To talk to the man he first believed was blackmailing him. He has a list of potential extortionists, but none of the names on it looked familiar to me. I did however find someone there,” I add, clarifying my earlier statement.

“You went to investigate who is blackmailing your uncle?” I nod answering her. “Was this another mission on his behalf, or mine?” she asks, sounding slightly irritated.

“He doesn’t know where I was. I went there to find out if this has anything to do with why you’re here or why he’s after you.”

“Of course he knows you went. He knows everything. You think he didn’t notice you weren’t in school for over a week. He probably knew before you left and then planted whatever information he wanted you to find.” She turns exasperated, throwing her hands in the air as she speaks.

“Elena Masters, does that ring a bell?” Her face pales as she looks frantically at me, and I know she realizes who it is.

“Ms. Masters, the social worker who––”

“Who put you in that foster house because he asked her to. He wanted you and Jade close in case he needed leverage against your parents.”

“But how… why did she?”

“She’s his ex-girlfriend, but she hates him just the same. She said after he asked her to move you and Jade, she quit her job and cut all contact with him. Supposedly she helped him out of fear of what he’d do to make sure you and Jade were brought there, with or without her help.”

“That was stupid, even for you, to go alone and risk getting caught.” I can see the hint of worry in her eyes, hidden under all her frustration. “Something could have happened to you.”

Her eyes lower watching me as I slowly approach her. “I’m okay, baby, nothing bad is ever going to happen to me, or to you for that matter. I promise.” On my way back, I decided not to tell her any more information I discovered, or who else was there in order to not further worry her. If she knew who it was, that found me snooping around, she’d surely have a meltdown. I’ll just keep the rest of it to myself. Though I knew she’d want to dig deeper, so I brought the list of potential suspects Hargrove gave me, even though I already know who is in charge.

Does that make me a liar, once again, withholding information from her? Yes, but it’s for her own good. And I won’t apologize for trying to protect her.

“Don’t say things like that. Don’t make promises about things you have no control over.” She steps away, dashing toward the path that takes us down to the beach house.

I reach my arm out grabbing her, slowing her down enough for me to speak. “How about this then,” I say as she tries to pull away, but I pull her closer, tenderly caressing her cheek, tracing my finger down to her chin, gripping it softly, and tilting her face up to meet mine. Her blue opal eyes staring back at me try to explain what they feel, as she struggles to speak the words to tell me herself. “As long as I’m here I will do anything and everything in my power and make all sacrifices to ensure you’re never harmed.”

I place a chaste kiss upon her lips and instead of pushing me away as I believed she would, she deepens the kiss. Her hands move slowly upward as she grips the back of my neck pulling me closer, closing the gap between our bodies.

She kisses me frantically, her body taking over her mind which surely is telling her to step away. But then she pulls back abruptly, a dark desire pooling in her eyes, as she gazes wantonly at me. The lust radiating from her eyes shoots straight to my cock which is grinding into her, loving the warmth between her legs. The warmth I feel seeping through the fabric of her panties, and my jeans. Her stare burns deeper as she feels my erection pushing into her trying to break free from its confinement in my jeans.

“I shouldn’t feel this way about you,” she whimpers breathlessly. “I should hate you, for all that you’ve done to me, for all that’s happened to me as you just sat back and watched. It’s why I’m in this predicament, why I’m being punished for my thoughts, my actions. It’s because of you and this burning need to have you.”

“Lust isn’t a sin, Scarlett, it’s an emotion. The strongest of emotions, with the strongest influence of all, a total loss of self-control. You can’t hide your lust from me. It’s in your gaze, in your body language, in the rapid beating of your heart, in your unsteady breathing. You want me as much as I need you. Why continue to fight it, instead of just embracing it?”