Page 28 of Deviant Knight (Knight's Ridge Empire 4)

EMMIE

When I wake up with my alarm clock blaring, drool dried to my chin, and the early morning sun beginning to fill my room, I can barely drag my eyes open, let alone muster the strength to lift my arm to stop the irritating noise.

When the ringing finally gets the better of me, I flip over with a huff, expecting all my books and laptop to go crashing to the floor with my movement. But to my surprise, no thuds fill the now silent room.

I blink in confusion before I find my dresser across the room with my books stacked up, my laptop resting on the pile.

“Huh.” My brows pull together in confusion, but I soon forget about it when my phone starts ringing. “It’s too early for this shit,” I mutter to myself, pulling down the fabric that had bunched up around my ribs.

I groan seeing Calli’s name. I already know exactly what she’s going to say.

“Morning,” she sings happily the second the call connects.

I groan some kind of response that makes her laugh.

“I’m just calling to remind you to pack a bag for tonight,” she pushes.

“Cal,” I complain, my voice rough with sleep. “I already told you, I’m not coming.”

“And I already told you that you don’t have a choice.” The sass in her voice makes me smile. It’s something that wouldn’t have been there when I first met her at the beginning of the school year. The knowledge that Stella and I have corrupted her—I mean, given her the confidence she was struggling to find while being smothered by her entire overbearing family—makes me smile wider than I’m sure I should.

She’s not the only one who’s changed in only a few short weeks.

I’ve softened from the girl who barely managed to exist on that shitty council estate, who spent her entire childhood looking over her shoulder just waiting for an attack.

I might still be on my guard, but that’s only with one person. I’m pretty confident that everyone else in my life now has something better to be doing.

“I don’t wanna party with the rich pricks,” I complain.

“You won’t be,” she shoots back, taking zero offence by my comment despite being from one of the wealthiest families in Knight’s Ridge. “You’ll be partying with me and Stella.”

“Come off it, Stella will be fucking Seb in the bathroom… if we’re lucky,” I add, thinking of the less than private performances they’ve put on since they collided.

“Nah, she’s on a sex ban for the night.”

“Instigated by you, I assume.”

“Of course,” she says, smugness filling her voice.

The fact that she thinks they’ll follow those rules is amusing.

Stella and Seb are a law unto themselves.

“Cal, I really don’t—”

“Please,” she cuts me off, her voice suddenly small and unsure, “I really want to go this year. We don’t even have to stay all that long. I just—”

“Okay,” I find myself saying before I really appreciate the repercussions.

I love Calli. She’s so sweet, kind. Everything I’m not. And after all the years of being locked in her castle, she deserves to let her hair down.

And who am I to stop her?

We can drink the rich pricks’ drinks, maybe mess up their house a little, and hopefully stay out of trouble.

Nico wouldn’t let her get in trouble anyway, and no doubt he’ll be there. Just like Theo will. Ugh. My stomach twists at just the thought of his name. Butterflies I try my best to ignore the flutter in my belly as I remember him standing before me last night, caging me in against the wall, staring at my body like he couldn’t get enough.

My skin heats, my heart begins to race, and damn it all to hell if my pussy doesn’t fucking clench with the need to feel him inside me.