Page 12 of Pretty Lies (Watch Me Burn #1)

“You have no idea who I am or who’s important to me. You really pissed me off with your assumptions.”

I kept the blanket tight around me as I answered softly. “Why didn’t you hurt me then?”

That made him snort, and I heard his knuckles crack in the dark as he balled his hands into fists.

“Hurt you? I wanted to do more than fucking hurt you, Aurora. I wanted to fuck some sense into you and make you scream from under me until you didn’t even know your own goddamn name anymore.

” A shiver ran through me from his words, and when I didn’t respond, he stood and moved beside me, ripping the covers back.

“Tell me right now if I’m not allowed to fucking touch you, Rory.

You’ve got two seconds,” he growled, my heartbeat starting to hammer in my chest.

He scared me, and he’d proven earlier that I couldn’t fight him off if he did something I didn’t like, but my panties dampened at the intense look he was giving me as he waited for my answer.

Two seconds passed but he still didn’t make a move to touch me, which told me that he was telling the truth. My answer was final, even if it wasn’t what he wanted. I knew it was stupid, but I wanted him to touch me.

Deep down, I fucking needed him to.

My body burned for him, hope blooming in my chest that I could get past the memories that plagued me. We might not have been a forever kind of thing, but he could give me back some of my power and strength.

I didn’t want to feel weak anymore.

I finally answered, no louder than a whisper as I made up my mind. “Touch me.”

A growl ripped from him as he dove down to kiss me hard, and I couldn’t stop the gasp of surprise that left me from how sudden it was. He angrily ran his tongue along mine, a groan leaving him as he took my lower lip between his teeth firmly but not painfully.

“You’ve driven me insane since you stepped foot through my fucking door,” he stated as he released my lip and stared down at me.

My palms explored his warm abs as his shirt rode up, and he gritted his teeth at my touch, giving me a small amount of confidence.

“You’re making it worse. I just want to jam myself so deep inside you that you forget every other man who’s ever fucking been there. ”

Forgetting about the hands that had touched me in the past would’ve been amazing, and I was tempted to see if he was all talk or not.

Caden was dangerous because there weren’t many things he could ask for that would make me say no right now. I wanted him to take it all away so I could pretend I wasn’t damaged goods.

I hesitated before running my hands further up his shirt, my lips trailing from his chest to his neck as he sat beside me, encouraging me to straddle his lap as he palmed my ass.

Conquering my darkest demons would be nice, my nightmares no longer being able to have control over me.

“You think it would be that good? That I’d forget the rest?”

He smirked with a sense of cockiness that would look arrogant on anyone else, but it just made me hotter for him. I was melting into a damn puddle.

“I know it would be that good, baby.”

“Promise?” I asked softly, uncertainty flashing across his eyes, not really understanding the weight behind my question.

“Yeah.”

“Okay,” I whispered, reaching for the waistband of his sweats and hoping he didn’t see my hands shaking slightly. He flipped me onto my back, a feral grin on his face.

“You sure? Because I’ll be devastated if you’re fucking with me right now.”

I ignored the anxiety in my head that screamed at me to stop as I shuffled out of my own sleep shorts and shirt, a small boost of confidence hitting me as his eyes greedily trailed over my naked body with appreciation as I moved into the moonlight more.

“Caden, I trust you. I mean it,” I added, something crossing his expression that almost looked like regret, but he masked it quickly and gave me his panty-dropping smile. He was probably having second thoughts about sticking his dick in Heights trash.

“In that case, lie back and let me make you feel good.”

I was tense as he kissed down my body, but once his mouth moved over my pussy, I relaxed. He worked me up until I was a gasping, shaking mess, my limbs like jelly as I tried to move away, but he kept fucking me with his tongue until I screamed.

He cockily crawled up my body, stripping himself off and moving his hand between us to stroke himself. I didn’t dare look down in case the sight of his dick threw me into a meltdown.

“We don’t have to fuck if you don’t want to. You don’t look sure, and I don’t want to push you,” he said seriously, picking up on my nerves.

“I want this,” I replied quickly, making him chuckle. He was oblivious to my desperate reason for wanting his touch, and I knew he’d stop this if I told him, so I kept my mouth shut.

“I like it rough, but I’ll start slowly for you since you’re nervous. Are you on the pill?”

“Yeah, why?” Nerves tingled through me at the question because I knew straight away where the conversation was going. I was clean, but I had no idea if he fucked girls regularly without a condom.

I didn’t have time to question it though.

“Thank fuck,” he groaned, startling me as he pushed inside me without another word. It burned, and my entire body tensed with discomfort as I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from crying out.

He stilled once he was fully seated inside me, looking down in the dim light with confusion at the pain and fear that was most likely showing on my face.

“You okay? Has it been a while?”

I nodded, trying hard to fight off the fear that threatened to spill out of me. Memories hit me all at once, the pain and terror consuming me and making me feel like I was right back there in the past.

Caden’s face softened completely when he realized I was freaking out, and he stroked my cheek affectionately, taking my nerves as inexperience. I guess it was a bit of that too.

“I’ve got you, okay? I’ll be gentle, I promise. I won’t pick up the pace until you want me to.”

I seriously needed a minute before I had a complete meltdown and embarrassed myself.

When I relaxed after a moment, he started moving again, and I had to admit that he knew what he was doing. My nails dug into his back as the panic subsided and I took in his scent and touch, forcing the fear from my mind.

He wasn’t him .

Caden groaned the harder I dug my nails in, burying his face in my neck and sucking hard on the sensitive skin just below my ear, causing me to let out a little moan that seemed to encourage him to go faster.

His hips picked up the pace, and when he knew I was okay with it, he went even harder, lifting one of my legs over his shoulder to get deeper.

I didn’t know sex could be this good, his fingers digging into my thigh and surprising me when an orgasm started to build so soon.

The angle of his thrusts changed, and his pubic bone rubbed against my clit, sending me over the edge so suddenly that I screamed his name.

My arms and legs clung tightly to him as he hammered into me, my nails tearing his back up in the process, which seemed to turn him on even more.

I panicked as he moved back and flipped me onto my stomach, lifting my ass up as he slid back inside me, his balls slapping against my clit as he fucked into me hard.

I felt caged in and exposed, the panic rolling through me like a wave.

His sweaty chest pressed against my back as he kissed down the side of my neck, and just as I started to relax again from his reassuring touches, his hand slid around the front of my throat.

I tried to buck him off as his fingers tightened, pure terror coursing through my veins.

This had been a really stupid idea.

“Caden—”

“I warned you I like it rough, but I won’t hurt you. Trust me, remember?” he murmured in my ear without moving his hand, and I shivered as he licked along my neck and bit my shoulder gently.

His fingers flexed and released my throat, never holding on tight enough to cut off my airways, and the fear ebbed away piece by piece. I’d never understood why people liked this position, but the rougher he became, the more I wanted to let him have his way with me completely.

There was something fucking wrong with me.

The arm he had around my middle moved slightly so that his hand could dip between my legs, and I gasped as his fingertips rubbed my sensitive clit, making him growl.

“You feel so fucking good.”

I was going to come again, my core tightening as my toes curled. My back arched and he groaned, releasing my throat and forcing my chest down to the mattress to slam into me so hard that I saw stars.

I let out a loud scream as an orgasm ripped through me, and he finally buried deep, coming inside me before slumping over my back to catch his breath. I laid under him, panting as I tried to get air into my lungs, not having the energy to overthink the situation.

He rolled off me after a few seconds, gently pulling me into his arms to place soft kisses down my throat. I knew I’d be bruised and sore in the morning, but I didn’t mind. It was worth it.

I’d proved to myself that I could move on from those memories, even if I wasn’t one hundred percent over it. Baby steps.

When I remained quiet, he chuckled softly in my ear. “What’s on your mind? I can hear the wheels turning.”

I fidgeted for a moment before speaking, trying to fight off my anxiety. I wanted to be left alone to deal with my emotions, but I also wanted to be held by him.

“Can you stay in here with me tonight, or does that break your booty call rules?” I held my breath while awaiting his answer, preparing for the rejection.

He tucked me even tighter against him, his voice a whisper. “I’m not going anywhere. You can’t break the rules if there are no rules, baby.”

I smiled against his chest as he pressed a kiss to the top of my head, feeling safe despite the anxiety bubbling below the surface.

I drifted off to sleep in his arms with a false sense of security, managing to get one night of sleep without too many nightmares.

Caden

I’d lied to her, this was totally breaking my fucking rules about booty calls. I never cuddled. Ever. This was how girls became clingy and I ended up with problems.

I should’ve gone back to my room the second she fell asleep, but something kept me here. It didn’t make sense, she annoyed the fuck out of me and I wanted her gone, but I didn’t have the heart to walk away. It was just for one night.

It was the least I could do since I was the reason her father had hit her. I shouldn’t have pushed him.

I told myself she was just a bit of fun until I got Mom to leave Max and kick them out, but I found myself enjoying her company. Usually, I spent most nights alone in this massive house unless the guys were over, but now, I at least had her noise in the background to make me feel less lonely.

Mom worked her ass off, she was the owner and CEO of Holloway Industries, one of the largest finance companies in America. On top of that, she also had a lot of property and business investments, so it wasn’t like she was running off to party.

Her days were filled with meetings, paperwork, and travel. I had a good life because she’d given it to me, and I appreciated her endlessly for it.

It wasn’t like she’d never made time for me, she’d always prioritized me over work when I was younger, it was just now that I was older that I felt like all she did was work.

My boys weren’t so lucky.

Tyler was always alone because his parents were pieces of shit who’d only had a kid to carry their family name and to use as an accessory at red carpet events when he was a baby, and Jensen’s dad was the only parent around in his life, but even that was a rare occasion.

He only came home to make sure Jensen hadn’t burned the house down, or to escape one of his flings, I was sure of it.

Lukas’ mom was always home, but she was weird as fuck and gave me the creeps. We didn’t spend a lot of time at his house because she wouldn’t leave us alone.

Pretty sure she was hoping one of us would fuck her because she’d only gotten worse once we turned eighteen this year.

Lukas spent most of his time at Jensen’s house to escape her, but I also thought it was to stop Jensen from being alone.

Regardless of our different bloodlines, they were my brothers, and I was so glad that they had my house as a safe place.

Rory jerked in her sleep, making me frown. She seemed to have nightmares whenever she slept, but she obviously wasn’t going to tell me what they were about.

Jensen had offered to tie her up and scare the truth out of her, but Lukas had a few things to say about that plan. I doubted Jensen would go through with it anyway, he’d softened towards her in the last day or two.

Any other girl he would’ve torn apart by now, but he’d been running around keeping her safe. It was fucking weird.

I didn’t see the problem with the scare tactic, it wasn’t like we were going to torture her.

I was an asshole, not a member of the Bloody Psychos, who were one of the local street crews.

Those guys were brutal, and I was glad we remained on their good side.

I’d heard a lot of rumors about what happened to those who got on their bad side, and it wasn’t pretty.

Lukas might have kept trying to tell us about her past in front of her, but he clammed up the moment we were in private. He wasn’t going to tell us what demons she was trying to hide behind that tough girl mask without her okaying it, it seemed.

He said the shit between them was old news, but she was definitely holding a grudge against him. The guys were right, this wasn’t a bad breakup, there was more to it, and he had a strange sense of loyalty to her that rubbed me the wrong way.

We’d never had secrets between us, but they were building now that Rory was here, I could sense it.

I’d find out where his loyalties lay once I broke her and sent her on her merry way with her piece of shit father.

One way or another, she wasn’t going to be my problem for much longer.