Fury (New Adult Romance) - #1.5 Fierce Series (16 page)

“Jaret?”

“Hmm?”

“Can I trust you?”

His brows furrow. “Yeah, but that depends on what you’re asking.”

“Will you help me get my brother out of jail?”

He takes in a sharp breath, holding it. “I’m not sure I should say
yes, considering the things you’re willing to put yourself through. I don’t
want to risk my position in Alpha Psi.”

“I know. Your loyalty lies with them too. But doesn’t it also lie
with my brother?” I say, raising an eyebrow.

He looks down at the ground, fiddling with a pen he was supposed to
put in his bag. “I guess …”

“I mean, you do owe him your life, if you remember.”

“Oh, I remember all right,” he says, scratching his head. I know
this isn’t a conversation he wants to have right now, and I feel bad for
bringing it up, but it’s the only way to get him to help me.

“I can’t do this without you,” I say.

Jaret lets out a huge sigh. “All right. I’ll help you.”

I get up, smile, and walk over to him to give him a bro-shake,
“Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”

“But I won’t betray the gang,” he says, lowering his head. “I don’t
want to get in trouble, so I want this to stay under the radar, got that? I’m
not letting you pull me down with you.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it.”

“Good.” He slaps me on the shoulder. “I have to get to class. See ya
later.”

Jaret leaves me to myself, and I stare at the cup of coffee in my
hand, turning colder with every passing second. Being alone isn’t one of the
things I enjoy. It scares me, the silence around me, because it makes room for
bad thoughts. Memories of yesterday swirl through my mind, and I get sick just
thinking about what those guys were trying to do to Leafy. I haven’t seen her
since last night, and I wonder if she’s okay. I want to check up on her, I just
don’t know if she wants me to.

Part of me wants to be a better person, to be what people expect me
to be. Go to classes, study hard, walk down the right path. It’s just so hard
to do that and get my brother out. I need him.

But I want to stay in college too, and the way it’s going now will
get me kicked off campus in no time. I really have to learn to do both. Learn
to study harder, read faster. Make myself remember things.

I can’t do it alone, though. And I think Leafy might be the perfect
teacher. She could help me learn to remember. If she’s not too scared to be
around me, that is. She’s so insecure sometimes. I wonder if I can do something
about that.

Maybe I can train her, help her fight, so she can defend herself.
That would work. It’s just like a trade, only this time it’s on the good side
of the law.

I decide to take a chance and just go for it. I want to help her get
over her fear, and for her to feel safe, and she can help me succeed. It’s the
perfect match.

I get up and walk to her room. She’s just about to close her door,
so I jam my foot in the gap. “Got a minute?”

Her head lifts and when her endless blue eyes meet mine I’m at a
loss for words. A cute, shy smile is plastered to her face, and it makes me
want to lean in and kiss her. Her beauty amazes me every fucking time.

She opens the door quickly, and it slams into the wall. Is she that
excited to see me? I laugh.

“Hey,” she says with a soft, sweet voice that sends shivers down my
spine and makes my cock throb.

“Hey yourself.” I’m trying to look tough by grabbing the door,
casually leaning backwards, but I know I still look like a mess. I’m hoping my
ego can hide the cuts on my lips and maybe my smile will make her forget that
awful-looking bandage wrapped around my head. Although, she did put it on me.
Hmm … I wouldn’t say no to that. Oh, damn, here I go again with my sexual
innuendos.

She clears her throat. “What’s up?”

I can’t just barge in here and tell her what’s up. Cutting straight
to the point might be a little insensitive, but I don’t know how else to say it
either.

“Hmmm, nothing. Just thought I’d come visit,” I say. Oh, fuck me,
did I really have to say it like that?

She laughs, and that makes me feel even worse. “For no reason?”

No, it’s not, but I don’t know what to tell her either. I don’t want
her to think I’m using her, because that’s not my intention.

“Yeah?” I say. “Why? Can’t I come visit the girl who patched me up?”
There, now I don’t look like a blabbering lunatic.

“That’s not it, I just …” she stammers. Her eyebrows draw together
in confusion as she looks away. It looks like something is bothering her, a
lot. I wonder what’s wrong. Maybe it’s me that’s bothering her.

I step forward, and she inches back. I knew it. Still afraid of me.
Damn it. It’s all my doing, and I know exactly why. I just can’t deal with it.
Not anymore. I’ve gotten too close to her. “You want me to leave?”

I’m asking, but I’ll only accept a ‘no.’ In her eyes I see anguish,
trouble, and something tells me that it wasn’t caused by me. She’s in need of
help.

“No, no, no,” she stammers, raising her hands like she wants to make
peace with me. I’m not here for that. She doesn’t even realize how conflicted
and despaired she looks. How much her feelings flow out of her like a leaking
faucet. I don’t have to ask to know there’s something wrong.

She keeps walking backwards, and I keep prowling forward, intent on
making her spill what’s on her mind. I’m dying to know what she’s thinking
right now. Probably that she’s afraid of me. The left corner of my lip lifts up
into a lazy smile. “I think you do. You just don’t want to say it. You’re
scared of me.”

She sucks in her lip, her breath catching in her throat when I place
my hand on the wall beside her. I’ve got her trapped underneath me, and it’s
making my cock twitch in excitement. I’m fiercely protective of her, although I
don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I see my own future in her eyes. As if she
can save me from my own life.

But she’s shivering, her eyes begging me not to hurt her. It’s
painful to see her look at me like that. Like I’d ever hurt her. She’s scared
of something that’s not even real.

“That’s it, right?” I say, my voice deepening as lust builds inside
me. My horny mind is lost in a fantasy. I want to lock my mouth on hers, grind
my cock against her hips, make her feel how much I want her.

I laugh because of the stupidity of it all. We’re both fighting our
attraction to each other, neither of us willing to admit there’s something
special going on between us. I know exactly what she’s afraid of. She’s afraid
to give in to temptation, and it’s so fucking hot, I can’t stand it.

“Even if you told me, I still wouldn’t leave. I always go against
the rules.” I close my eyes, my lashes brushing her cheeks as I whisper her
ultimate desire. “That’s why you want me.”

I step back, giving her the air she so desperately seems to need.
She’s gasping, her breath ragged and uncontrolled, like she just ran a
marathon. As she catches her breath, I watch her face, her emotions clearly
readable. Her mood shifts from shock, to annoyance, to anger. It’s funny to
watch the confusing mess that is inside her. I could unravel all the feelings
she’s tucked deep inside her. If only she’d ask.

Her eyebrows draw together and she scowls. “Stop being such a jerk!”

The look on her face makes me laugh. “Me? A jerk? Never.” She’s
right, but why would I admit that? But I like teasing her, and I’m not sorry
for it. It’s what makes her so fun to be around.

She groans, but it sounds more like half a scream, and then she
picks up a pillow from her bed and throws it at me. I laugh. It’s such a soft
throw, I can catch it easily, and it only seems to infuriate her more. Her face
is glowing red hot from rage, and I kind of like the sight of it. I’m disturbed,
I know. I just like my girls feisty.

“Stop laughing!”

“I can’t. You’re too funny when you’re mad at me.”

“Goddammit, I hate that.”

No, she doesn’t. She’s just telling herself that. It’s not all
that’s on her mind.

“Hate what? That I show you the truth about yourself? That you
secretly enjoy breaking the rules and don’t want to admit it?”

She closes her mouth, her nostrils flaring. I throw the pillow
aside.

I’m trying to see if she’ll finally break out of her shell. I know
something’s bothering her and she keeps it buried so deep inside it’s eating
her up. I don’t like seeing it, and I want to find out the truth.

So I taunt her some more.

“Stop being such a snoot and open your eyes. You saw what happened
yesterday. That’s the real world. You can’t hide behind your innocence
forever.”

For a second she winces, and in that moment of disgust I know I’ve
hit the spot. It’s yesterday that’s bothering her. The guys tried to rape her,
and she never got a chance to let it out. I feel sorry for her, and it pains me
to draw her out even further, but I have to. She needs to let it all out.

“You can’t shut it out. You have to deal with what happened. Face it
head on. It’s the only way to stop it from happening again,” I say, this time a
little less crudely.

“And you think I can face it head on?” she yells, folding her arms,
her breath sounding like that of a dragon breathing fire. “How can you say
that? You make it sound so easy. Like I should just get over it. I was almost
raped last night!”

Hearing those words is so painful, I can barely keep my mouth shut.
I want to scream with her. And then I want to find those guys and tear off
their limbs one by one.

But I stay here, firm, like a rock. She needs to see that I can be
more than what she thinks of me. That she can find comfort in me like I can
find it in her.

Tears roll down her cheeks, and she steps back into the shadows of
the room. I step closer, gently placing my hand on her arm, tugging her closer.
She’s finally letting go of all the fear, the anger, the hurt, and I’m the
cushion on which she can let it all out. I know how important it can be to have
someone to lean on, because for me that person was taken away from me the
moment they put him in jail. And I don’t ever want her to feel that too.

She buries her face in my chest, and I hold her as close to me as
possible. I pet her hair, shushing her, but my body’s quickly heating up from
her touch. Having her in my arms like this lights me on fire, making me hyper
aware of her body folded into mine, but I can’t let my cock distract me right
now. This is not the time.

My shirt is getting wetter by the second, her tears flooding out
like she just opened all the gates to her emotions. I feel like I need to be
there for her now, just like she was there for me when I needed her, even
though I couldn’t accept her help. We cling to each other in a desperate
attempt to feel loved. I’ll be here for her. I won’t let her fall.

“Shit …” she mutters.

“What?” She shouldn’t be talking right now, but I don’t want to be
blunt.

“I didn’t want to cry.”

I chuckle, but slam my mouth shut once I realize I am. It’s stupid.
I shouldn’t be laughing about this, but neither should she be worried about
crying. It happens. I cried in front of her too. There’s nothing wrong with
that. Crying relieves the agony, it numbs the pain. And she really has nothing
to fear. Unlike me.

“Do you?” she asks.

I can’t believe she’s asking me this question. She saw it happening
with her own eyes. I think she’s just trying to make me feel better about
crying in front of her, which is sweet but silly. “When things happen, yes.
You’ve seen it,” I say.

Her sigh is dragged out with numerous hiccups in between. She shifts
in my arms and rests her head against my chest. It feels nice to hold her like
this. It makes me forget everything that’s happening, makes me completely
focused on her. Although I’m not exactly sure if that’s a good thing. I don’t
want to drag her into my mess, but I don’t ever want to see her being taken
advantage of again. She needs to be strong, fit, and powerful. She should fight
for her life, for her honor, for the people she loves, just like me. And I
think I can show her how.

“I could help you, you know,” I say.

“With what?” she says, leaning back while wiping her tears away.

She looks up at me for a second. Her eyes are all red and swollen,
but she still looks fucking beautiful. When she’s not making me rock hard,
she’s turning me into a pile of mush.

One thing’s for sure though: I’m not leaving this room before she
says ‘yes’ to me helping her. “Teach you some moves.”

She stares at me in befuddlement, her lips parting. “What … you mean
… You want me to learn how to fight?”

I gently push her forward, trying to get her to really look me in
the eye. To think about what I’m saying. She needs to learn how to be strong.
“Do you want to stop those assholes from taking advantage of you again or not?
I’m not always going to be there to save you.”

Well, I’d love to, of course. There’s nothing I’d rather do than
protect her and show her I’m capable of doing good. I can’t help but say, “At
least … not unless you want me to.” My eyebrows raise as I think about swooping
her up into my arms and throwing her onto the bed, kissing her plump pink lips.