Hers To Keep (Servite Academy #2)

Chapter 18

Chapter

Eighteen

SCARLETT

“ S o, do you want to like, I don’t know, go see a movie or something?” Ace asks, in a hushed tone, his body tensing beside me on the living room couch.

After school and the bomb he dropped on me, we came down to the beach house to hang out alone and look through the documents he brought from the office of his uncle’s accountant. Well, I’m looking through them since he already did and found nothing. Ace is just leaning back against the couch, watching me as I scan each sheet of paper, over and over, angrily coming across nothing of use. I lean back, looking up at him, as he stares down at me eagerly awaiting my response. I can tell he’s nervous. I can feel the rapid beating of his heart on my back as I lean against him.

“Are you asking me on a date, Ace Servite?” I mock, smirking at him. After his comment earlier about giving in to what I feel for him, instead of constantly pushing him away, the foolish and equally horny voice in my head shouts, fuck it, why not .

“Forget it,” he growls, abruptly standing up and causing me to fall back against the couch.

“I’m kidding,” I say, setting my laptop down on the table beside me. “It’s just we’ve never gone out on a date.”

“Exactly, isn’t that what normal couples do and shit.” He struts toward the floor length window, his hands anxiously shoved in his pockets as he inhales a deep breath, staring out at the wavering ocean, whose waves crash roughly against the shore. The sky is gloomy, a storm headed our way, closer than earlier.

“Ace, babe, we’re anything but normal.”

“I know, believe me, I know. But don’t girls like that shit. Dinner, movies, walks along the beach.” He turns back to me, a look of sincerity flashing across his cobalt irises. And in this moment, he suddenly looks his age. Like a teenager, young, carefree, and dare I say, kind. Not the cold and callous king they cower down to. Not the brutal prince I so foolishly trust.

That’s the Ace I see every time we are alone. When the world turns a blind eye, when we’re hidden from prying eyes, just us two. He’s affectionate, still dominant, but also attentive. It’s why I am drawn to him even more than I was before, why I keep coming back no matter the consequences, no matter his offenses. This little sliver of hope of the good, outweighing all the bad.

“For a guy who doesn’t date much, you sure know what it entails,” I joke, trying to lighten the mood.

“Do you want to or not? Cause I can rescind my offer and just fuck you here and now. No need to wine and dine you when I already have you.” He walks back over to me, and with every sensual step he takes my body trembles.

My mouth turns dry as I swallow, trying to hide the effect of his carnal gaze. But it’s in my eyes, obvious in the way my body shifts, my thighs squeezing together to tame the ache in my loins. All of this and he hasn’t even touched me. I mean for God sakes he isn’t even that close to me.

“A little sure of yourself, aren’t you?” I ask coyly, his grin widening as he approaches. He kneels before me, his eyes roaming over my body hidden under the school uniform I still have on. His cold, calloused hands slowly glide up my knees, moving to grip the heated flesh of my thighs underneath my skirt. I bite down on my bottom lip trying to suppress a moan, failing miserably in hiding my arousal. “What if we don’t know how?” I whisper breathlessly, sounding like I just finished running a marathon, when I’m only panting from the lustful gaze in his eyes.

Like two bottomless wells, his eyes stare deep into mine, breaking down the remaining walls and looking straight into my soul as he contemplates my worry. “What if we don’t know how to be normal? Our relationship is flawed. It was built on lies, it’s pillared by endless sacrifices, collapses constantly from continuous lies and betrayals.” I lean forward, placing my hands on his face, leaning in closer to him. “What if we actually realize, if we’re not fighting and having mind blowing makeup sex, we don’t actually like each other?”

“Believe me, baby,” he whispers against my palm cupping his cheek. “Not that I mind the hot, mind-blowing hate sex, but I can assure you this…” He grabs my right hand, removing it from his cheek, and placing it over his groin, his dick hot and hard beneath my fingers, “Does not get like this for someone I don’t like.” I look down at my hand on him, instantly feeling flustered. My eyes move up to his, and fuck if the raw look of desire in them doesn’t make me want to combust.

“Okay, what if we realize other than your uncle, this twisted ass place, and my conniving mother, we have nothing in common?”

“Why are you trying to find excuses, Scarlett? Haven’t we been through enough obstacles, suffered through more pain than normal? Why can’t we just enjoy our time together, alone, away from all the forces trying to tear us apart?” His pleas are real and heartfelt and are felt deep within me. My heart aches for him, for all we’ve had to deal with at the hands of his uncle, and for all that’s left to come. He’s right, we must enjoy the little time we have alone because I’m afraid we have little of it left.

“I’m just, I don’t know… worried, you might not like…” He stops me before I can finish, silencing me with a gentle kiss.

“Baby, everything about you I like,” he murmurs against my lips. “This pretty face,” he adds, cupping my chin tenderly in his palm as he places soft kisses upon my cheeks. “This sexy neck,” he continues, tracing kisses across the skin of my neck down my chest, eagerly yanking open my uniform blouse, the buttons flying across the room. He pulls my bra down, revealing my right breast, my nipple hard and pointing out to him in a salute. “These fucking perky ass nipples,” he slowly swipes his tongue over my nipple, blowing slightly, his hot breath sending a painfully delicious ache straight to my already heated center. His mouth slowly comes down over the peak, sucking, and licking with his tongue running circles around the tip, making me squirm against the couch.

“Mmm,” I moan, biting down on my tongue. The pain of my teeth against my tongue is a welcome distraction from the blazing agony inside me.

His left hand moves to grip my other breast, as he squeezes and pulls, rubbing his thumb over the sensitive, taut peak. I can feel my wetness pooling in my core as his hand roams lower pushing my shirt off my shoulders, revealing my stomach, and giving his mouth access to lick my aching flesh.

“These tattoos on your silky, porcelain skin. I could spend the rest of my days tracing the ink with my tongue.” He pushes me to lean against the back of the couch, his mouth continuing its descent, till it reaches the waistband of my skirt. “And that fucking delicious scent. I can already smell how wet you are.” He lifts my skirt, his mouth moving under to meet my pussy as he teases me with his tongue through the material of my panties. He inhales a deep breath holding it in slightly before speaking. “I can close my eyes and remember what you taste like with just your hypnotizing aroma. ”

“Ace, please,” my pleas excite him as he quickly moves to pull my skirt off, taking my panties down with it. He reaches a hand down to cup me, his fingers easily gliding through my slick wetness.

“God it’s fucking beautiful, this sweet little cunt.” My legs voluntarily open wider for him, my arousal on his fingertips as he brings them to his mouth. I love it when he tastes me on his fingertips. I even love it when he brings them to my mouth, allowing me to taste myself on them. The flavor he craves, his weakness. “And it’s all mine,” he adds, bringing his mouth down, blowing softly against me.

“Yes, baby. It’s yours, only yours.”

“Hmm,” he growls. “Show me how you touched yourself last night, as I begged you to, commanded you to.”

“Ace, no, I need…” my whimper dies on my lips as he removes his fingers from me.

“Show me.”

I reach my right hand down to my pussy, gliding one finger through my plump, swollen lips. “I can’t, please. It’s too much. I need your mouth on me, I need your touch.” He groans loudly, an animalistic sound coming from deep within his throat as he covers me with his mouth, eagerly licking and lapping over my lips, sucking like he’ll never have enough. He places his hands on my thighs, pushing me open wider, and fuck if the sight of his face down on my pussy, at my mercy does something to me. I bring my hand to grip his hair roughly, eagerly pressing his mouth closer to me, my hips moving up and down, grinding against his tongue intensifying my pleasure.

I throw my head back, eager, needy, and ready for more of him. The gluttonous sinner in me yearning for all that he is. Greed, the voracious bitch living deep within me, awakens with his searing touch.

“Fuck, baby, you’re insatiable,” he mutters, the deep rasp of his voice only exciting me more. He continues to lick and suck, tugging my clit into his mouth as he bites down softly, bringing me to the edge again and again, until I come apart in a mind-altering orgasm. My body convulses around him, my pussy tightening around his tongue.

“Fuck, Ace, I need more, baby. Fuck me, please.” He moves over my body, kissing me vigorously. I can taste the sweet and saltiness of me on his tongue and it nearly makes me come again. What is it that this man does to me? He makes me behave like a wild animal, like a ravenous beast who can’t contain herself.

“Go on a date with me first?” he asks, his mouth lingering on my neck.

“Are you fucking kidding me? Now you’re trying to be all chivalrous. I don’t need a date, I just need you to fuck me. Fuck me hard.”

“If we don’t try, you’ll only keep questioning yourself repeatedly. You’ll have that doubt in your mind. It won’t let us move forward.”

His valid point irritates me as I nuzzle him off me. “Fine.” I say, moving to pick up my underwear he discarded on the floor, but he’s quick to grab them before me.

“No, leave them. I want you to go without. I want to smell your arousal as I’m sitting next to you. I want you to ache as I kiss you, your wetness pooling in your pussy, dripping as you walk.” And once again I’m there, at the point of no return.

“We’ll have to stop back at the Dahlia house so I can change,” I say. Slipping back into my uniform.

“But wear a dress, or a skirt, something I can easily access in case I’m not strong enough to make it till we’re back.”

“And they say chivalry is dead.” I say, turning to him and reaching up on my tippy toes for a kiss.

“Baby, I’m your Anti-Prince Charming.”

After stopping at the Dahlia House, changing into a black T-shirt dress, and throwing my jean jacket over it, we’re in Ace’s SUV headed to Scottie’s diner in downtown Hillcrest Hills for our first official date. I mentioned to Ace that I didn’t want to eat at any of the ritzy restaurants I’d stick out like a sore thumb, or where we could run into Carrington, or any of the other kids from school, so he brought me to the diner the guys and him used to frequent as kids, where she wouldn’t be caught dead.

“You ever been to Scottie’s?” he asks as he pulls into the parking lot. It’s Friday night, the town is buzzing with teens crowding the downtown streets, and couples are dining at the finest dinner establishments in town and Christmas shopping at all the boutiques and shops in the Town Square Plaza. Christmas lights are strung up all around a giant 20-foot tree that sits idly awaiting its grand reveal when the sun sets. Luckily for us, Scottie’s parking lot is practically vacant, only a few cars scattered around, the bright light of the diner’s neon sign nearly blinding us.

“Never eaten here, but Stella’s ordered breakfast for us a few times, and we had burgers the other day, although I didn’t eat mine. She says it was her mom’s favorite.” He parks the Benz in the space closest to the front entrance, quickly opening his door and rounding the front of the car.

As I’m about to open the passenger door, he throws me a death glare through the front window, daring me to open my door. He wants to be a chivalrous gentleman on this date, fine, I’ll humor him.

I sit patiently waiting as he moves to open my door, reaching his hand out for me to take. I hold on to him as I jump out of the SUV being careful not to flash any person walking by. I don’t know why I agreed to go commando or wear a dress for that matter. It’s oddly cold for a winter night on the West Coast, but as his hand lowers to my back, guiding me toward the front door of the diner, I suddenly remember why.

With just this simple amicable touch, my body is already reacting to him. What will become of me if I’m to spend hours without him touching me?

We enter the diner, walking up toward the front counter. The inside is like a retro truck stop, with license plates, highway and street signs, and car memorabilia from all parts of the United States, complete with black-and-white checkered floors.

“Wow, this place is—” I say, suddenly interrupted by an older woman dressed in a white and black checkered uniform, her short, dark brown curls bouncing as she walks toward us.

“Welcome to Scottie’s, honey, let me—” She stops abruptly, looking up at Ace, a bewildered look crossing her face. “My goodness, Wallace Servite,” she adds. “I can’t believe it’s really you.” I turn to look between the two of them, noticing a genuine smile upon Ace’s face directed at the older woman.

“Hey, Sally,” he says, reaching out to hug her.

“My goodness, my boy. It’s been years since I’ve seen you come in here.” She hugs him tightly, before grabbing his face between her hands, like a grandma would her young grandson. “Just look how handsome you’ve gotten.” Ace blushes awkwardly at Sally’s remarks. Well shit, he’s human after all.

I look back and forth between the two of them baffled by the scene before me. “Yeah, I guess I’ve been busy. Scottie around?” he asks.

“Oh you know Scottie, the old man never takes a day off. Scottie honey, look who came in to see us!” Sally calls out, an older gentleman, who must be at least sixty, with almost all white hair, comes out from the back kitchen.

“What’s all this fuss about, woman? You’re going to scare away all the customers,” he sneers, as he comes toward us.

“What customers?” Sally asks, rolling her eyes as Scottie walks up behind her. I look around to find the diner nearly empty, with just a small crowd of people toward the back. Seems to be a family of four at one table, an older couple in their sixties, about Sally and Scottie’s age, and a group of teenagers stuffed together in another booth. My attention turns back to Ace as Scottie moves to hug him, affectionately patting him on the back.

“Well, if it isn’t the youngest of the Servite men. Man, son, you haven’t been in here since you were all scrawny and freckled.” I turn to Ace, raising a brow at Scottie’s mention of his less than godly appearance as a child.

“Oh shut it, old man, you know this darling boy was nothing less than angelic. Not a flaw in sight, from his curly blond hair to the dimples in his cheeks, to the cute little smile with his missing front teeth.” I laugh at the mention of Ace with missing teeth, and both Scottie and Sally turn to me, noticing me for the first time tonight.

“Come on, Sally, you’re embarrassing me,” Ace says, looking over at me and grinning widely. “Don’t believe a word they say, babe. I was always devilishly handsome.”

“Well my goodness, who is this darling angel you’ve brought to us, sweetie?” Sally asks, directing her attention to me.

“This is Scarlett, my girlfriend,” he says, and the word girlfriend still sounds surreal coming from his lips.

“Hi,” I utter awkwardly, reaching a hand toward Sally. “It’s nice to meet you.” Sally steps forward, wrapping her arms around me and embracing me in a gentle, warm hug.

“Oh, we’re huggers here,” she says, squeezing me tighter. I can’t help but chuckle lightly, the smell of apple pie and cinnamon emanating from Sally, flooding my nostrils.

“Let the poor girl go, you’re going to break her. Look at her, it looks like she hasn’t eaten in days, she’s so thin.” Scottie groans from behind her. These two are hilarious, continuously squabbling. They remind me of Grayson and Sarah from the foster house. They aren’t as old as Scottie and Sally, but we’d always joke around that they fought like an old married couple.

“Oh nonsense, let me enjoy this. Ace hasn’t been here in years, let alone would he have ever brought in a girl before. This one must be special,” she says, winking at me .

Ace wraps his arm around my shoulders, pulling me in closer to him. “She is, and I brought her to have some of your famous cherry cobbler.”

“Well then, why are we still standing here, let’s get her some proper food?”

Sally walks us over to a booth on the right-hand side of the diner, opposite from the customers eating to the left. Not sure if Ace requested some privacy, or if Sally assumed we’d need it. Ace motions for me to take a seat, as he slides into the booth across from me.

“Here you two go, best seats in the house. I’ll leave you some menus. You call me when you’re ready.”

“Actually,” Ace calls out before she walks away. “We’ll have two of Scottie’s famous cheeseburgers with crinkle fries and two Neapolitan shakes,” he says, ordering for the both of us. “Oh, and we’ll share a slice of cherry cobbler with French vanilla ice cream. You can bring the pie over when we’re done with the burgers.”

“All right, coming right up,” she says with a delighted smile, as she walks off toward the kitchen.

Ace turns to me, appearing slightly anxious, surely waiting for my snide remark about him ordering for me. But I kind of found it romantic. Must be all the sugary pie fumes I’ve inhaled since walking in, but he seems so happy here. Carefree. I don’t think I’ve seen him smile this much. It’s hypnotizing to see all the fears and challenges he faces daily just disappear.

“What?” I say, as he continues to stare at me awaiting my response.

“Just surprised you don’t have a snarky comeback for me. No, why did you order for me Ace, I can make my own decisions.” I burst out laughing at his attempt to mock me, trying to mimic my voice, but failing miserably.

“Guess we’re both trying something new.” He smiles widely, his dimples making their rare appearance. “So, Scottie and Sally? They seem sweet. ”

“They’re the best. Like the grandparents I never had. Well, I had them, still have some, but they’re nothing like Scottie and Sally.”

“I assume you used to come here often as a kid?”

“We all used to come when we were kids, actually with Stella’s mom, Denise. My mother would’ve never stepped foot in a place like this, and my father well, unless it was some high-profile event, he never ate with us. But Denise was kind, even with us who weren’t her precious Stella.”

“Must have been a lonely childhood—you and your sister all alone in that giant house.” I scoff, sounding more hateful than I had planned to. It’s wrong of me to judge him based on the little I actually know of him.

“I think that’s what made it lonelier. Which is why the guys and I got so close. Everyone believes our parents pushed us together, coerced us into being friends, but ever since we were kids, we have had so much in common. All three of us, a burden to our parents. Conceived and brought into this world to become loyal soldiers, valiant crooks, whichever way you’d rather look at it.” He fists his hands together, as he squirms nervously in his seat. It makes him uncomfortable to speak of his childhood, but he’s willing to share it with me. “But what we went through, we went through together. They became my brothers, and everything was slightly more bearable because we did it together.”

It’s the first time he’s truly shared anything with me, especially about what things were like for him growing up. It feels almost like an actual date, unloading childhood traumas and parental dramas, so I decide to pay back the deed unleashing some of my own demons.

“Things were similar for Jade and me. We were both about four years old when we met. We became easy friends at first, as most little girls do; we were friendly. Then as the years progressed, most days and nights we were left all alone at the house, and we had no other choice. Her brother Roman, who’s only like three years older than me, would make sure we were fed, but beyond that he was a ghost who lived with us. He rarely spoke with Jade, and it was as if I was invisible. On rare occasions when he looked my way, it was as if he resented me, hated me. I can only assume it was because of my mother. She was such a bitch to him. Whenever she and Chaz would fight, he’d take it out on Roman, beat him incessantly. Over the years it amounted to a few broken bones, countless bloody noses, and a hell of a lot of black eyes.” I pause, just as Sally brings over the cheeseburgers and milkshakes, which smell amazing. Suddenly I’m salivating, my stomach grumbling and reminding me it’s been hours since I last ate.

“Here you two lovebirds are. I got you a side of ranch, just like you always asked for. Let me know if I can get you anything else,” Sally says, setting the plates in front of us. The cheeseburger looks incredible, the smell of bacon and grilled onions overwhelming my senses.

“Thank you,” we answer simultaneously, as she leaves heading off toward the other side of the diner. I reach over to grab the mustard bottle from the edge of the table just as Ace reaches for the ketchup.

“Mustard?” he questions me, obviously judging my choice of condiment.

“Ketchup?” I ask, doing just the same.

“I like to mix it in my ranch,” he explains, squirting the tomatoey concoction into the container of ranch dressing. I nearly gag as he mixes the two together with a fry, bringing the drenched potato to his mouth, just as I drizzle the mustard over my fries.

“I hate ketchup,” I answer, setting the bottle back on the edge of the table.

“I hate mustard,” he answers back, doing the same with the ketchup.

“See, already so much we don’t have in common,” I murmur quietly, but I know he heard me, his body stiffening across from me.

We sit in silence for a moment, both of us salivating at the smell of the food before us. I open the cheeseburger, removing the tomato, before closing it and slowly biting into it. Damn if it isn’t the best thing I’ve ever eaten. I was right to assume it had bacon and grilled onions but am surprised to find it also has Swiss cheese, pickles, and avocado.

“This is the best damn thing I’ve ever tasted. I swear I can nearly orgasm just by eating this,” I murmur in between chews, burger juices shamelessly flowing out of my mouth.

“I can think of one thing that tastes slightly better, especially when it orgasms.” I look up at him nearly choking on my burger as I come across the lustful gaze in his eyes. “But I guess this makes it to my list of top three best things I’ve put in my mouth.” I throw a fry covered in mustard at him, rolling my eyes at his crude remark.

“You’re a dick,” I say, taking another fry and bringing it to my mouth. They’re equally delicious. Crisp, crunchy, and seasoned to perfection.

“My dick is at the top of your list. Why thank you, I’m humbled,” he mocks, and I roll my eyes at him, ignoring him as I continue to eat. “So you and Jade remained the best of friends?” he asks, taking a big slurp of his milkshake. “I swear she scares me, like she’s got this equally crazy and terrifying look in her eyes.”

“That’s Jade for you, actually a spot-on description of her. I’ll have to tell her you said that—I’m sure it will make her proud. But deep down, like really deep, where no one has ever gone, she’s harmless.” I join him, slurping up the deliciously sweet flavors of chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla. “But to answer your question, no. There was a time Jade and I couldn’t even fathom being in the same room.”

“That sounds nearly impossible. She’s practically your bodyguard.”

“My protective wolf. When Chaz got arrested, my mother was a mess. Angry, distraught, truly psychotic. She would take all her anger and frustration out on us, mainly Jade. She was always jealous of her. Jade looks so much like her mother, and Chaz was enamored with Amelia. So because of my mother’s envy and heavy hand, Jade resented me. The worse things got, the more we realized we could only get through it if we had each other. Then we became inseparable. True sisters. We’d stand our ground, fight back and things got somewhat easier. Then Chaz came back and my mother all but forgot about us.”

“How did you end up at the foster house exactly?” I’m surprised he doesn’t already know, with his uncle being the culprit behind it all, and that he saw Elena and she all but confessed her part in it. But I realize it might just be an act, him not wanting to reveal to me how much he knows, regardless, I decide to play along.

“The morning of my fourteenth birthday, a group of Hillcrest Police Officers stormed into our house. They were looking for Chaz and my mother. Your uncle was there, claiming they’d robbed and murdered the Mayor of Hillcrest, and they were supposedly on the run. He questioned us, but Jade and I genuinely didn’t know what was going on. Then a lady from social services–who we now know to be Elena Masters–came and took us. Though not before your uncle could make his threats. It’s funny how we’ve come full circle, he and I.”

His body tenses as I speak of his uncle, rage clouding his silky blue eyes.

“So in the three years at the Grayson’s you heard nothing of Chaz or your mother?” he asks, relaxing slightly.

“No, I didn’t hear from her, or him for that matter. Till he and your father came to take us from the foster house and brought us here. That day is when he made the comment about knowing my mother, which was the first I’d heard of her in three years. I never spoke about her, nor Jade or her father. It was a past we both wished to forget. In his office on our first day here, your father and uncle assumed our parents would try to contact us now that we were at the academy. But the night he had you kidnap me?—”

“Hold you for questioning,” he jokes, winking at me.

“Whatever, that’s when I heard my mother’s name again. When he threatened me and told me I had to help him lure her out—the night of the Halloween Masquerade. Then again, when he made me follow you to The Gallows, and finally…” I pause looking down at the fries before me, swirling one nervously in the mustard, “The night I saw her for the first time again was at the dinner he had arranged at Servite Manor. The night Chaz…” I look away, fighting the tears that threaten to come out.

“I promise you I will do whatever it takes to prove to you I didn’t kill Jade’s father.”

I shake my head, holding back tears that threaten to spill. “It doesn’t matter, regardless, he’s dead, and I have yet to tell her. She’ll hate us both when she finds out, and she will find out. He’ll make sure of it,” I say, referring to Agent Servite. “Lilith worshiped Chaz, everything she did was to make him happy, or jealous. Either way, everything was for him, about him. She was devastated, utterly manic when they arrested him. Which is why it’s so hard for me to believe that it was all fake, that she could so easily give him up, blame everything on him.”

“My uncle doesn’t speak much of Lilith in our presence, but the times I’ve overheard him and Bass’s father…” He reaches his arm across the table, taking my hand in his. “Your mother is a con artist. The worst of her kind—cunning, manipulative, a wonderful actress. I wouldn’t put it past her to have orchestrated this whole ordeal.”

“Lilith may be a con, but she’s no fool. She’s not just a pawn in all of this. I know there still is so much more she hides, a bigger part she holds. But my part in all of this, her connection to Hillcrest and your uncle, that’s what I need to find out. I’d like to believe it was all an act, that she’s doing all of this to protect herself. That he has something on her, used the same threats he’s spewed at me, but I know that can’t be true. She’s a selfish monster, a vile serpent inciting chaos wherever she goes, and I won’t give up until I bring her down.”