I let it go until the very last second, until I can feel his thighs tensing, his struggle stopped as his cock nears the point of no return, until I know that if I keep going for just a few more seconds he’ll finish, sticky cum all over his shorts and thighs. I could make him, could humiliate him like that, just like he’s done to me. Just like they all have.
It’s tempting. But the idea of denying him his pleasure is even better.
At the last second, I swing off of him, climbing to my feet and backing up. He just lays there for a moment, panting, his erection painfully obvious through his shorts.
“Fuck!” he yells, and I can see it lurching, pushing against the fabric as it strains for touch, for friction, for something to push him that last little bit over the edge.
“I wasn’t trying to hurt you,” I tell him flatly, staring down at him. He starts to push himself up, but I don’t go back into a fighting stance, or back away. “I get that it’s painful for you, Jaxon. I get that you lost something that can’t ever be replaced. I have too—twice now. I know how that grief can tear at you, can threaten to make you into a person you never thought you’d be. But I can tell you something else, too.” I narrow my eyes, my gaze never wavering away from his. “Don’t ever try to do what you did yesterday again. If you do, we’ll fight again, for real. And I’ll cut your fucking cock off instead of grinding on it. Got it?”
Jaxon stares at me, his mouth opening slightly in disbelief. “You’re going to fucking leave me like this?” he manages, and I laugh.
“Yeah, I am. And don’t worry. I won’t fuck you again until you ask me to. Or better yet, until you fucking beg.” I glare down at him. “But don’t even think of taking it from me, either. Because that won’t go any better for you than trying to be violent with me will.”
I don’t give him the opportunity to say something back. Instead I just turn on my heel, leaving him there as I stride away, slipping back through the ropes and leaving the gym—and Jaxon—behind.
I want him, still. My body is throbbing with desire for him, but I’m not going to let him rule me. He can treat me like I’m worth, just like Dean and Cayde have learned to.
Or he can never touch me again.
8
ATHENA
Ithought my Monday was going to go uneventfully. I haven’t really seen a glimpse of Jaxon since our encounter at the gym yesterday—he’s been making himself scarce apparently, around me at least. Which is fine, I’m in no mood to deal with him. We all have class on Monday, and for just a little while, I start to think that maybe nothing unusual will happen today. Maybe I can come home, do my homework, and get a decent night’s sleep.
I’m not all that surprised to hear a knock on my door around nine that evening though. Whatdoes surpriseme is seeing Dean of all people standing there in a black hoodie and black sweatpants, a determined smirk on his face.
“Come on, Athena,” he says, his eyes narrowed and dark. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”
Something about the expression on his face makes me more than a little unsure as to whether I want to know what it is. But he hovers in the doorway, his blue eyes as intense as I’ve ever seen them, and I let out a sigh.
“I have homework,” I tell him lamely, and Dean laughs.
“Homework? That’s what you’re worried about right now? After what you showed us last night?” He shakes his head. “I think your grades are the least of your—or our—worries.”
“So you believe me.” I lean back in my chair, looking at him. “You think this is all real.”
“Yeah. And it’s made Cayde and I see all of this in a different light for sure.” Dean rubs a hand over his face. “I know we haven’t always been good to you, Athena. We’ve tried to make up for that since we brought you back here. And I think you know that. But now—” he shakes his head. “Now we’re going to help you get your revenge. Because this has gone too fucking far.”
Something in his tone lights a fire inside of me. I stand up before I realize it, nodding. “I’ll grab my jacket,” I say, my reservations suddenly fading. “Let’s fucking go.”
Dean’s car is already parked out front, and he opens the door for me, going around to slide in on the driver’s side immediately.
“Is Cayde coming?” I ask, looking around, and Dean shakes his head sharply as he puts the car into gear.
“No,” he says firmly. “And we’re not going to tell him anything about this, either.”
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.” Dean presses down on the gas, pulling out onto the highway as I look out of the window towards the darkened campus.
It doesn’t take long for it to become clear that we’re going a decent ways away. Dean stays tight-lipped throughout the drive, his hands clenched on the steering wheel, driving well over the speed limit as we head away through campus and through the town. As we drive, I realize for the first time that I’m actually coming to trust Dean. He’s driving me out to who-knows-where on a dark night, but I don’t feel afraid of him, or worried that he might have something planned to dotome, instead of with me, that I won’t like.
I don’t know exactly when I went from fearing Cayde and Dean to trusting them, but I’m not entirely sure it’s a bad thing. Right now, I think I can use all the allies I can get.
We drive all the way through town, out towards the highway that leads to the coast.Where the hell are we going?I wonder as I see the trees flying by, the memory of Dean and I parked out in the forest coming back in a rush that leaves a fizzy tingle in my blood.
Before long, he turns down the road that leads to the country club, and I look at him in surprise. “What the fuck are we doing?” I ask, startled. “Dean, why are we here—”