Fury (New Adult Romance) - #1.5 Fierce Series (18 page)

“You can have it.” I hold out the book in front of her, and she can
barely take it from my hands without looking like she’s about to faint. She
stutters, and I’m not sure what she wants to say, but I can sure as hell tell
she’s just as affected by me as I am by her. She’s all that’s on my mind the
moment I’m around her, and I’m going crazy with desire. Adrenaline pumps
through my body, my blood thickening my cock, stretching my pants to the limit.
She’s here, right now, and I could take her and make her mine.

I could.

But somehow it doesn’t feel right. Not after what those fucking
assholes did to her back at the Denny’s joint. Not after what I’m doing in the
gang. It feels so fucking wrong, I just … can’t.

I blow out a breath, trying to rid myself of all these hormones.
“Well, I guess we should call it a day for now. Let’s continue tomorrow,” I say
while taking a step back and opening the door.

She should leave, before the urge to throw her onto my bed becomes
too strong to fight.

She smiles shortly, caught by surprise, and draws in a deep breath.
“Yeah, sure.”

I hear a hint of disappointment in her voice. I know she wants this
as much as I do, but it’s not right and she knows it. She deserves someone
who’s nice to her, and all I’ve been is a prick. Well, it’s for her own good.
It’s better for her not to like me, if she wants to stay safe.

“Cool,” I say, trying not to sound affected. “See you tomorrow
then?”

She keeps the book close to her chest as she walks out the door. She
nods, and I nod, and it’s some sort of silent agreement not to make more of
this than it is. We both know what the deal is.

“See ya,” I say, and then I close the door before I change my mind.

Chapter
16

Threats

The next day …

I’m leaning against the wall outside of the dorm, enjoying the
breeze and the temporary buzz of joy it gives me. I’m thinking about my life
here at college and what I should do about my lacking enthusiasm for homework.
I really want to give this thing I have with Leafy a chance, although I’m
afraid nothing will help my ‘strainer brain’ with remembering things.

When I cock my head, I look at her lying in the grass, reading her
book. I followed her outside, keeping guard at a relatively safe distance. I
don’t want to come across as a pervert, watching her from afar, but I want to
be here in case there’s trouble. There’s this feeling I have that I can’t shake
off … like I’m a bit possessive of her. I
need
to protect her, and I
feel like she’s in danger all the time ever since she started hanging out with
me.

Watching her casually reading a book while enjoying the sun makes it
hard for me to concentrate, though. I like looking at her. It brings me peace.

It’s not long before I’m pulled back into the harsh reality that
life sucks. From the corner of my eye I spot Leafy’s ‘friend,’ the guy who was
also in the Alpha Psi club, arguing with a girl. They’re screaming so loud I
don’t even have to try to overhear.

“Stop! Just stop, okay?” she yells, snatching a bag of pills from
his hand and crushing it between her fingers.

“Goddammit! Now you’ve wasted a good batch!” he yells back.

“Who cares? Why do you keep doing this? I don’t want this, Brody. I
can’t take it anymore.”

“Hey.” He grabs her wrist. “Don’t back out now. It’s too late for
that.”

“Why not? What’s the point in staying? You don’t even love me
anymore.”

“Stop saying that bullshit, you know it’s not true.”

“Your ‘business’ is more important to you than me.” She makes
quotation marks with her fingers.

“I told you from the beginning that I wanted this to work. I will
sacrifice
everything
for it,” he snaps.

“Even me?” she says. I can see from a distance tears are running
down her cheeks.

He doesn’t answer, which is enough for her to storm off campus and
not look back.

I shrug. Oh well, who doesn’t enjoy a public fight?

As I turn around, there’s someone standing next to me, and my heart
makes a jump.

“You shouldn’t stick your nose in other people’s business,” Wes
says.

“Huh? I wasn’t. I was already standing here when they started
yelling at each other.”

“Hmm … Well, you’d better watch out anyway.”

The way he says it with a dark undertone makes my skin crawl.

He cocks his head in the guy’s direction. “The guy has a temper.”

“You know him?” I ask.

Wes nods. “One of the distributors. His name is Brody Forrester.
Nasty little fucker if you ask me. Looks all slick and smooth on the outside,
but when he cracks all hell breaks loose, and you don’t wanna be near him when
it happens.”

One of my eyebrows lifts. “Oh …” I didn’t see that coming. And he’s
Leafy’s friend? Shit. That makes it even scarier.

“What were they arguing about this time?” Wes asks.

“The gang.”

He nods slowly. “Figures. I wonder why she’s still with him. They
fight non-stop.”

I don’t say anything. I feel like I’m treading a thin line, and
keeping my mouth shut is the wisest thing a person can do in those situations.

“Do you have a girl?”

“Huh?” I stammer, jerked from my thoughts. “Uh, no.”

“Hmmm … Not even a little?”

“Why?”

It bothers me how he’s so interested in me now all of a sudden. I
wonder what he’s got on his agenda. It can’t be good.

“Not even that girl over there?” he says.

When his finger rises, I only need to glance to know who he’s
talking about. The frizzy girl lying in the grass, enjoying a book, oblivious
to the world around her. My Leafy.

“No, not really,” I say, my heart pounding in my throat. Fuck. How
the fuck did they find out about her?

“Oh, c’mon, I know you’ve been hanging out with her.” He turns
around toward me and leans against the wall, sticking his hands into his
pockets. “Don’t lie.”

I swallow. Fuck.

“I heard what happened with your clients at Denny’s. The Bentley
boys.”

How? Did they tell him? Of course they did! Fuck me. Of course this
would happen; why didn’t I think that thing through? Goddammit!

“Hey, I don’t blame you for trying to do the right thing,” he says,
placing his hand on my shoulder. It feels uncomfortable and disgusting as he
digs his fingers into my shirt. “You probably had a very good reason for it.”

“They were harassing her,” I say, my lips barely separating as I
speak.

He lifts one eyebrow. “And that’s why you got into a fight with
them?”

“I won’t let them rape anyone. That’s not part of the job.”

“No,” he says, his demeanor suddenly changing. His eyes narrow, his eyebrows
draw closer together, and he squeezes my shoulder so hard I have trouble not
wincing. “Your job is to give them what they want.” His voice is unusually calm
and authoritative. Bone-chilling.

“Sorry.”

He stares at me for a second with a blank look on his face. Then he
bursts out into laughter. “Look, kid, I admire your chivalry and dedication
toward protecting the weaker sex, but that girl is not worth the risk.”

My stomach churns, and rage storms through my head. The more I hear
him talk, the angrier I get. He’s messing with me.

“Besides, your role here in Alpha Psi is far more important.” He
squeezes my shoulder some more and leans forward. “If that girl poses a threat
to our business, we have no choice but to make it go away. Distractions aren’t
good for our workers.”

I swallow away the gut-wrenching fear building up in my body. Holy motherfucker.
They’re threatening to hurt her.

He inches closer, whispering into my ear, “Do you understand that?”

For a moment we stare each other down, both squinting, while I duel
the raging fury inside me trying to escape.

“Do you?” he repeats.

“Yes,” I hiss, clenching my teeth together afterward. His face is
right up in mine and I want to give him a fucking head butt as a way to tell
him the truth, but my brain kicks into gear right on time. I need to hold on. I
can’t be kicked out of Alpha Psi now, otherwise I’ll never find out who the
leader is and I’ll never get my brother back.

“Good,” Wes says, letting out a breath and releasing my shoulder.

“So you’re not kicking me out then?” I say.

He chuckles like it’s all fun and games. “What kind of a brotherhood
would we be if we did that to rookies after their first mistake? But you’ll
have to regain our trust, though.”

“How?” I snap, wanting to know the answer as soon as possible, so I
can get the fuck away from him.

“You’ll fight in the arena in a couple of days. I’ll let you know
the exact date and time.”

“That’s it?”

“No. I also want you to do a drug trade with a very special client
of mine.”

I raise an eyebrow, curious as to why he’s making it sound so
special. It’s almost as if he’s trying to trick me into something way, way
worse than just the arena.

“Let’s just say that we’ll know for sure if you’ll be able to handle
this job or not once you’ve completed your assignment.” He takes a piece of
paper from his pocket and hands it to me. “You’ll be delivering a bag of
cocaine to a lady named Jennifer. She’ll meet you outside the fence tomorrow
night. You have enough in your stash?” he asks.

I nod.

“Great. Then let’s keep it at that. I’ll check up on you later.” Wes
turns and raises his hand to wave at me while walking away. “We’re watching
you,” is the last thing he says before he turns the corner.

Fuck. They’re always watching me. They know goddamn everything!

I want to punch the wall again, and I have trouble restraining
myself. I don’t have the luxury of fucking this gig up again. They’re fucking
messing with me. Trying to get to me by threatening to hurt her—the girl I
want. Fuck, she’s really in danger.

I pace around outside, blocking out the sun with my hands. I can’t
let them do that to her. Shit! It’s too late to keep her out now, and it’s my
fault. The only thing I can do now is train her, help her become stronger, so
that maybe she can save her own life if I’m not around to protect her. She
needs to be able to hold her own, because they’ll attack her when she least
expects it. They always do. Bastards.

I jog over to Leafy, determined to get her fit and ready in case
they do come for her. No, I know they will. We both have to be prepared for it.
It’s only a matter of time.

She looks up at me as I block the sunlight. I get to my knees and
snatch the book from her hands.

“Hey!” she protests. “I was reading that.”

“Yeah, ‘was.’ And now you’re not,” I say, and I hold out my hand. We
don’t have time for small talk or wasting time on books. “Get up.”

She grabs my hand and I pull her to her feet in no time, making her
tits bounce, which obviously attracts my attention. Focus, Hunter, focus.

She blushes. “What’s this for?” she says, frowning.

“Time for some training.” I snatch the blanket from the ground and
roll it up.

“What, now?”

“Yes, now. My classes are finished, and by the looks of it so are
yours. We don’t have much time, so let’s make the best use of it.”

“B-but I have to study and―”

Dammit! Now’s not the time to worry about grades. “But, but, but,” I
snap. “If you wanna learn how to defend yourself, you gotta put in the effort.”

She scowls, and it’s definitely not one of her best looks. “I was
busy. You think I’m just going to adjust to your schedule?”

Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. You’re in fucking danger, and I want
to protect you the best I can, which means teaching you the ropes. I’m just not
going to tell her that, because that would scare the living shit out of her.
“You can read a book anytime you want. I can’t do this with you anytime I want.
If I could, I would, trust me.”

I throw the book and the blanket away, making sure we have enough
room to spar. I take off my jacket and get pumped up by jumping up and down a
little, rubbing my hands together in the process. “C’mon,” I say, rubbing my
hands together. “I’m ready for you.”

“What? In these clothes? I’m not dressed for sparring,” she says.

I sigh and laugh at the same time. “You won’t be dressed for it when
they attack you again either. Now c’mon.” I signal her with my finger.

I swear, if she doesn’t start soon, I’m going to get a whole lot
less nice. And she doesn’t want to see me when I’m angry. I get all up in her
private space, and she’s clearly not into that. Not yet, at least.

She frowns, annoyed, and places her hands on her thighs in protest.
I roll my eyes. “Well? Are you going to come at me or what?”