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Bianaca

Imoved in a daze to my bedroom, room 232.

Heath’s words…

The innate sense of truth in them…

The implications…

I slipped inside my room and shut the door behind me, pressing my forehead against the wood.

What the fuck did I do now? What did I tell everyone? Did I even dare, or would they think I was insane? Was it—

“Took you long enough, princess.”

I jumped, a scream getting lodged in my throat as I spun towards my bed. My hand fumbled with the light switch a second before warm, artificial lighting spilled across my room.

And the handsome man perched on my bed.

Aiden was rifling through my photobook, making himself right at home in my dorm room. My eyes took in his toned and muscular physique and that dark hair, which almost appeared blue in certain lights. The numerous piercings in his face glinted in the harsh lighting, drawing attention to his thick, plush lips. As usual, he wore a skin-tight, black T-shirt and black jeans. His leather and pine scent surrounded me as I stepped closer, willing my heart rate to return to a normal rhythm.

“What are you doing in here?” I demanded, though I didn’t know why I was even surprised. Aiden always found ways to sneak into my dorm room unannounced and definitely uninvited. He was darkness and sin personified, wrath and violence twined together, and I was suddenly reminded of the nine circles Heath had mentioned.

Oh god.

What did I tell him?

Aiden’s dark eyes narrowed, his pierced eyebrow furrowing.

“Tell me the truth, B. Don’t you dare fucking lie to me.”

I rolled my eyes so hard, I was surprised they didn’t get stuck in the back of my head.

Who would dream of ever lying to the esteemed Aiden, the king of the school and one of the self-proclaimed Four Horsemen?

I said that all sarcastically, of course.

But…he was right.

If I planned to escape with him and the others, I needed there to be trust between us. It couldn’t only go one way. I had to give him what I hoped to receive for myself.

I moved towards my closet, my body feeling unbearably heavy, and began to unbutton my shirt. I didn’t care that he was directly behind me, his eyes intense on my shoulder blades. I didn’t care about anything except for the desperate desire to get this damn uniform off of me. I’d burn it if I could.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Aiden’s voice spewed vitriol, but there was a slight hitch to his tone that hadn’t been there prior. Ignoring him, I unbuttoned my shirt the rest of the way and tossed it on the ground. My bra quickly followed, though I kept my back to Aiden.

Grabbing a pajama shirt from the pile of clothes in my wardrobe, I tossed it on and then shoved down my school skirt. Dressed in only an oversized T-shirt and panties, I turned to face Aiden once more.

His eyes… They were molten, laced with fire. Intense and ravenous. They burned a slow and torturous pathway down to the inside of my thighs.

“I asked you a question, princess. What the fuck are you doing?” His voice was rougher than I’d ever heard it before. Raspy, almost.

“Trying to forget this shitty day ever happened,” I responded, crawling into bed, despite him still being perched on the end of it. If it were even possible, his eyes narrowed further until I couldn’t even make out the irises.

“Did you talk to Heath?” he demanded, his hands clenching into fists on his thighs.

I cuddled beneath the covers and brought them up to my chin, my eyelids squeezing shut. “If you’re asking if I fucked him for information, then the answer is yes,” I lied, the retort escaping unbidden. “And let me tell you. The things that man can do with his—”