Suddenly he pulls out, his hot, slick cock landing on the cool skin of my abdomen, exposed where he has my dress pushed up. He’s still hard, his rigid length throbbing against me.
“What are you doing?” I gasp, my fingers clutching his shoulders. “I was almost there.”
“Say it, and I’ll let you cum,” he growls.
“What?”
“Tell me what I want to hear.”
I pause a second, and then I give in.
“I’m yours,” I whisper, my thighs shaking around his hips.
“That’s right, my little slut. Your body is mine. Your cunt is mine. Your orgasm is mine. Even your black cherry soul is mine. And I’m going to fuck you until you scream it for the whole world to hear.”
He takes my mouth again, his tongue claiming mine while he slides back into me, filling me with one powerful, dizzying thrust. I swear I see fucking stars, and I never want to come down. He pumps into me in an addicting rhythm, one that makes my toes curl and my hands fist in his jacket, gripping him like he’s the only thing anchoring me to this world when he pushes me over the edge and I spin out, consumed with pleasure as the climax washes over me.
I hear myself telling him what he wants to hear, crying his name, telling him I’m his, that I’ve always been his, that I always will be.
And I tell myself what I want to hear, too, that it’s just the orgasm talking.
eight
Harper Apple
Afterward we fuck, we drive to the river. It’s chilly for October, so we climb into the back seat of the Escalade. I don’t have a blanket, but Royal takes off his jacket, and we lie together on the seat.
I turn toward him, circling my finger around the back of his ear. “Do you need to go to the hospital?” I ask. “You probably need stitches.”
“I’m fine,” he says. “It’s just a scratch.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, leaning in to press my lips to his.
“You didn’t shoot me.”
“I’m sorry I freaked out.”
“I think you’ve earned the right,” he says, flattening his hand on my lower back and holding me tight against him.
“I’m sorry… For what I did, too,” I say. “For telling Mr. D… Everything I did. Especially about the Hockington. Did Baron already know?”
“No,” Royal says quietly. “Only Dad knows. Knew.”
“So, I did expose you to someone,” I say, swallowing hard. “I’m sorry. I was scared, Royal. I didn’t have anyone else, and I was scared of what you were doing to the Darlings. Not just because it hurts them, either. It hurts you. I wish you’d stop. That there’s some way you could at least move on, even if you don’t forgive.”
“You thought you were telling one of them,” he says. “You knew how I felt about them.”
“You thought I was one of them,” I say. “I just… I wanted to get out of this town, Royal. It’s been my dream since I knew what dreams were. I’ve never even left the state. I just wanted to go to college. It’s the same reason I was blowing Mr. Behr. Not just because I wanted a good grade so he’d be proud of me or some shit. I wanted the grades to get into college. That’s why I took the scholarship from Mr. D… From your dad. I would have done anything to get out of Faulkner.”
“You still can.”
“I know,” I say. “It’s just not the same now. I want to help people here, too. Not just leave them on their own.”
“Why?” he says, pressing his lips to my forehead. “They never did anything for you.”
“I just do,” I say, thinking that I said something similar to Preston. “And I know my reasons aren’t an excuse for what I did. But that’s my explanation. I knew I was going too far when I told him your secret. I just didn’t have anything else. I was desperate, and I thought maybe it would get rid of your dad. I hate that you do that for him.”
“I don’t,” he says. “I told you, I stopped.”