The Fallen Ones (Holloway University #1)

25. Lily

Chapter 25

Lily

C aleb wasn’t returning my calls or texts. He avoided me. I was desperate to get him to respond, but there was just nothing. I was nearly ready to go to his house and demand we talk, but I also knew Caleb was the sort of guy who needed time when he was upset.

I’d said some really dumb stuff to him. Hell, I’d done some really dumb stuff that night. Kissing him. Saying he was gross and like a sibling.

I groaned as I stood waiting for a barista to finish making my latte at the little cafe near campus. My thoughts were all over. I’d never meant he was gross. I meant the situation was. And it wasn’t even that.

I thought he hadn’t kissed me back because he thought it was gross or that I was. To soften the blow, I’d voiced it from my perspective and apparently it had hit a nerve.

“Penny for your thoughts, baby sister,” Damien’s voice tickled my ears.

I turned to him, surprised to find his darkness lurking in a small cafe.

“Go away,” I muttered, turning forward again.

“Can’t. I’m here to get caffeinated,” he replied.

I glanced at him, taking in how he looked. All black. His messy hair falling across his forehead, his dark eyes filled with secrets I knew he’d never tell. Long, sooty lashes. Flawless skin.

“Lily?” The barista called out my name, snapping me away from Damien. I stepped forward and took my drink from her and turned to go. Damien’s hand shot out and gripped my bicep to stop me.

His eyes met mine in a penetrating stare that made my breath catch.

The barista called his name and without letting me go, he reached over and took his drink.

“Come with me,” he said in a deeply seductive voice that made goosebumps pop up along my skin.

“I don’t think I will?—”

“I don’t believe I asked what you wanted. I told you what I wanted,” he said, pulling me along.

Not wanting to make a scene, I let him lead me outside and to his Mercedes. He opened the passenger door and turned to me.

“Get in.”

“I think not.” I let out a laugh, letting him know he was insane, but he raised a dark eyebrow at me.

“Get in or I’ll put you in.”

We stared at one another for a long moment before I sighed and slid onto the leather seat. He closed me in and got behind the wheel and started the engine.

“Damien—”

“Seatbelt. Safety first,” he said, backing out of his parking spot. I stared at him for a moment before snapping my seatbelt into place, my heart in my throat.

He hit the gas and his fancy car surged forward through town.

“Where are we going?” I murmured.

“For a ride.”

“Why?”

“Because I feel like we don’t spend enough time together, baby sister.”

“Stop calling me that,” I said, gripping my latte tightly.

“Why? You don’t like it?”

“It’s not true,” I snapped a him. “I haven’t been your sister for a long time.”

“You were also my little devil,” he said, not bothering to look at me as he made a turn that took us out of town. Damien scared me on a good day. On a bad one? Absolutely terrified.

“Damien, take me home,” I whispered as the scenery began to change the further we got outside the city.

He let out a soft laugh. “Drink. You don’t like when your coffee gets cold.” He lifted his own cup to his lips and took a drink before placing it in his cup holder. I mimicked, my heart bounding hard in my chest. Damien was unpredictable. He always had been, and that made him even more dangerous.

“What’s going on with you and Caleb?” he asked as I glanced at the speedometer. We were going seventy with no signs of slowing.

“Why are we going so fast?” I asked, swallowing hard. Carefully, I put my drink in the cupholder, not wanting to add burns to my body when we crashed.

“Answer my question.”

“Answer mine,” I snapped back.

He let out a soft, wicked laugh and pushed the gas, the car hitting seventy-five.

“Damien, please.”

“Answer my question.”

“Nothing is going on with us,” I said, my voice trembling.

“Nothing? You never fucked him?”

“No,” I said, gripping the oh shit handle on the door, my anxiety setting in.

“No?” He laughed again. “I don’t believe that. Pretty girl like you and a handsome guy like him. I’m sure you’ve fucked him.”

“I’ve never,” I practically shouted at him.

“Kiss him then? You ever do that?”

The night with Caleb flashed through my mind.

“Y-Yes.”

“Did you like it?” his voice grew softer, an edge of fury to it.

“I-I… he didn’t. He didn’t kiss me back. Please slow down. You’re scaring me.”

“You kissed him and that was it? He didn’t kiss you back?”

“Yes. We’ve not spoken since. I upset him by telling him it was gross. That it was like kissing a sibling.” The words sounded awful as I repeated them, but I was desperate to get Damien to slow down, and I knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t unless he was given what he wanted.

The needle on the speedometer was at eighty-five now. This road was too narrow, too dangerous, to be going so fast on.

“Damien, please. Please slow down,” I choked out.

He slammed on the brakes, the car sliding sideways before completely stopping in the road.

My breath came out ragged as I sat numbly in my seat.

“Tell me something, my sweet baby sister. Was it gross when you kissed me?”

I blinked at his words.

“That was…that was a long time ago,” I whispered.

He turned toward me, that darkness I’d come to know so well shining in his eyes.

“Then maybe I need to refresh your memory.”

Before I could protest, his lips were on mine. I didn’t move beneath his kiss, my body having lost its ability to function.

Vaguely, I heard the sound of his seatbelt unlatching before he shifted closer to me, pressing me hard against my seat.

With a firm grip, he held my face. If he cared about my lack of action, he didn’t show it.

At least at first.

With a soft snarl, he bit my bottom lip, making me cry out. He took that opportunity to deepen the kiss, his tongue sliding against mine.

As hard as I fought, I was losing as his fingers tangled in my hair. As his hand moved down to cradle my face before he was making a hand necklace around my throat and squeezing.

My lips twitched beneath his until I couldn’t take it anymore. I let go and kissed him, earning a soft groan of approval as he tugged me roughly towards him. He explored my mouth with his tongue. His lips moved expertly against mine, demanding. Taking. Owning. I let out a soft whimper against his lips, causing him to groan softly.

Just as suddenly as he kissed me, he stopped, his lips a breath from mine as I sat trying to rake in my breath.

“Tell me now how gross it is to kiss your big brother,” he whispered against my lips. His hand trailed to my thigh and beneath my skirt. I didn’t dare move as I stared into his dark eyes, my chest heaving.

His fingers moved along my panty line before he worked his way beneath the cotton and burrowed between my legs.

I let out a soft cry as he ran his finger up my very wet slit before he pulled his hand out and sucked his damp fingers into his mouth.

“Your pussy is soaked for me, little devil,” he said in a soft, seductive voice. “The next time I hear you say kissing your sibling is gross, I’m going to hold you down and fuck you until you’re screaming my name. Understand?”

My body trembled at his words, my bottom lip wobbling. He was still a breath away from me, his eyes locked on mine.

He ran his damp finger along my bottom lip, his eyes following the movement.

“Tell me,” he whispered.

“I understand,” I finally rasped.

“Good girl,” he praised softly. “No more saying such things. I don’t like it when you do. You’re mine. You always have been, baby sister.” He pulled away from me without another word, leaving me shaking in my seat. He put the car back into gear and turned around, neither of us speaking the entire way back to my apartment.

A half hour later, he pulled up to the building and stared straight ahead as I fumbled to grab my purse and now cold latte.

I opened the door to get out, but he grabbed my wrist to stop me. I looked back at him, my breath coming in soft gasps again.

“I’ll see you tomorrow night at the party, right?”

I nodded, my head spinning.

He said nothing else and released my arm, setting me free.

I climbed out and closed the door. I was barely away from the car before he raced away, his tires squealing.

And all I could do was watch him leave, not sure who the hell I was or what the hell that was but knowing I wouldn’t get over it anytime soon.