Page 8

Colton

I’m playing with Star in my room when the doorbell rings.

Fuck.

Haven made plans to come over this evening, but she’s a half hour earlier than I was expecting. Leaving Star on my bed with a couple toys, I dash through the house. By the time I make it to the top of the stairs, I realize I’m already too late.

“You have a very lovely house,” Haven is saying, and my stomach fills with dread.

“Thank you,” my father responds coolly. “Has Colton given you a tour yet?”

“Not really. I’ve only seen a few rooms.”

“Well, then allow me—”

“I’ve got it.”

My father turns, and when he sees my glare, his hand drops from Haven’s shoulder. As I descend the steps, Haven’s face brightens. I keep my rage leashed, hidden behind a relaxed smile. He fucking touched her. He was going to lead her away from me and tell her god knows what.

I can’t blame Haven—never her. She has no idea who my father is. No idea how much of a danger he poses to someone like her. No, my anger is directed solely at him. The smug look on his face tells me he knows he’s gotten under my skin, and that only makes me want to strangle him more.

“Hi.” Haven slides her arms around me once I’m close enough.

“Hey. You’re early.”

“Yeah, sorry, studying didn’t take as long as I thought, and I was anxious to see Star.”

With an arm still around Haven, I angle her so I’m in between her and Mark. “You’ll see her after I show you around. How about that?”

She grins. “Sounds good.”

Without another word to my father, I turn her away and lead her farther into the house. Only when I hear Mark’s office door close do I loosen my hold on Haven.

“That was your dad?” she asks.

“Yes.”

Haven’s hand slides into mine, her skin soft against my calloused palms. “Everyone says he’s really powerful.”

“For now.”

Tilting her head to one side, she looks up at me. “He’s controlling, isn’t he? Of you.”

“For now,” I repeat.

She doesn’t need to know the full details of my plans. Hell, even Lucas doesn’t, despite him apparently being part of the Glass Rooks now. When it comes to something this important, this delicate, no one has my full trust. They’re told the bare minimum of what they need to know, and that’s it.

As I lead Haven through the mansion, she doesn’t say a word. Most likely, she can sense my growing resentment for Mark. I’ve barely known her for a month, but I’ve already noticed her knack for picking up on people’s emotions.

A protective instinct, I think.

Before taking Haven up to my room, I lead her into the backyard. It’s the only place I know for sure that Mark can’t hear us, and I need to make sure she understands what I’m about to tell her.

Beside the pool house is a rose garden that my mother planted before she passed away. Miraculously, my father still has enough of a heart to keep it tended to instead of pulling it out. This was her favorite place to sit in the springs and summers.

“This is pretty,” Haven says as I guide her down a stone pathway through the bushes.

“I thought you’d like it.”

There are a few late bloomers still on the bushes, and Haven brushes her fingers against the silky pink petals. One of the things I’ve noticed about her is that she tends to gravitate toward places like this. Quieter spots, typically with trees and flowers. She seems the most relaxed when she’s outside.

“Haven.”

“Yes?”

“My father is a dangerous man.”

She smiles at me. “Aren’t you?”

“I’d never hurt you,” I say softly. “I can’t say the same for him.”

Disbelief flickers in her eyes, chased quickly by fear.

Taking her hands, I guide her to sit on a wrought iron bench with me. The rose bushes hide us from view of the house, and Mark would never think to look for us out here. “Him and I have been at odds with each other for years.”

“Why?”

That pulls a bitter laugh from me. “A lot of reasons, angel. He’s not who he used to be. When I was younger, he was… well, I wouldn’t call him good, but now he’s pure evil. I don’t want that anywhere near you.”

“What are you saying?”

“I need you to be careful around him. If things go my way, you’ll never be alone with him, but I can’t always predict what he’s going to do.”

She goes stiff. “Alone with him?”

“He might try to separate us so he can speak to you more freely. If he does, I need you to promise me that you won’t talk to him.”

“Oh. Um, why?”

“Because he’s nothing but a liar. You can’t trust anything that comes out of his mouth, no matter how convincing it sounds, all right?”

“I…” She frowns but nods. “All right.”

“If he ever tries to get you alone, you call me. Immediately. He’s dangerous, angel, and I don’t want him hurting you.”

She looks terrified now, and while I hate scaring her, that’s what I want. If she’s scared, that means she understands how serious this is.

“Tell me what you’ll do if Mark tries to talk to you alone.”

“You—Colt, this is—”

“Tell me. This is important, Haven.”

“All right, all right. I… I’ll try to get away from him, and I’ll call you.”

“And?”

“And I won’t listen to anything he says.”

One of the many knots in my chest loosens. “You promise me?”

“I promise,” she whispers, staring up at me with those innocent brown eyes of hers.

“Good girl.” I kiss the tip of her nose, watching as a blush creeps across her cheeks. “I’m just trying to keep you safe. I promise, angel, I’ll always protect you.”

Haven’s lips turn upward in an adoring smile. The late evening sunlight hits her face just right, casting her in a golden glow. She’s so fucking captivating that I can’t bring myself to look away.

My fingers twist around a loose lock of her hair. “So beautiful.”

Her blush deepening, Haven drops her gaze so she’s staring into her lap. That won’t do, so with a bent knuckle under her chin, I lift her face up so she has to look at me.

Leaning in, I murmur, “You’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever met, Haven Ashford. I swear it.”

Her lips part, and when I gently pull her into me, she follows without resistance. Whenever I’m close to Haven like this, I love watching the way she reacts. My girl turns pliant, and her eyes get all foggy. She can’t help but be affected by me, and the best part is that I don’t even think she notices.

“I’m going to kiss you,” I whisper. “Pull away if you don’t want me to.”

Someone better would probably wait for her to verbally consent, but I can’t. I’ve been more patient with her than I’ve been with anyone in my entire life. Besides, I like keeping her in this state. It’s like she’s under a spell, and all I had to do to cast it was give her a morsel of my attention.

So, without another moment’s hesitation, I close the distance between us and press my lips to hers. The tiny noise she lets out is one of suppressed longing. It’s been building up inside of her for too long, and now, finally, I get to unleash it.

It takes Haven a moment to gain her bearings, but then her lips begin to move against mine. I’m pretty sure she’s never been kissed before, especially since she’s clutching my arms like I’m her lifeline. When I pull back, her quiet, disappointed whine only confirms it.

“More,” she whispers, leaning toward me.

“More,” I agree.

Before I kiss her again, I pull her onto my lap so she’s straddling me. She gasps in surprise but doesn’t move to get off.

“C’mere,” I murmur before threading my fingers through her hair and sealing my lips to hers. She comes easily, obediently, and it has heat rushing through my veins and sinking downward.

My hands slide down to her hips, and I press her body into mine to feel the warmth of her pussy against my hardening cock. The softest moan falls from her lips when she feels it, and her hips roll into mine. The friction makes her whimper, but then she stops abruptly.

“I—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. It just… happened.”

At the breathless way she says it, I smile to myself. All it took was a little kissing, and she’s already panting. She gets worked up so easily for me.

“Do it again,” I tell her. “It’s all right.”

It’s more than all right. She has no idea the things I want to do to her.

“You… want me to?” she asks.

“God yes, Haven. Go ahead. Rub your pussy against my dick until you’ve soaked through my pants.” My lips trail along her neck. “I want to feel it.”

She makes a cute, disturbed sound before pulling back. “Colton!”

This is more than I intended when I kissed her, but now that we’re here, I don’t see any reason to stop. “I know you want to, angel. Don’t pretend otherwise. Now do it again.”

Squirming, she looks away. “I can’t.”

The redness that creeps across Haven’s cheeks has me wondering if that cult instilled some shame in my girl. I want her to want me with the same ferocity that I want her with. Deep down, I think she does. She just needs someone to break through the protective shell she’s trapped in.

“That’s all right,” I say with a reassuring smile. “I’ve got you.”

With an arm locked around her waist, I slowly push her dress up her thighs. Seeing all that soft skin drives my mind wild, and I almost shove her to the ground so I can take my time kissing up and down her thighs before burying my head between her legs.

But no. I think, with Haven, I’ll have to work her up to something like that.

So I tease her inner thighs with light touches, watching the wave of curiosity and mild discomfort that plays out on her features. I don’t want to push her too far too fast, but I know she wants this. She knows she wants this.

“What are you doing?” she asks shakily.

“Making you feel good.” I push her panties aside, and my fingers slip through her desire. Fuck. She’s already soaked.

Haven frowns in confusion. “Making me feel—oh! Ohh. Colt, what—how—”

I capture the rest of her broken question with my mouth on hers. As I gently rub her clit, she gasps in shock and goes back to clutching my shoulders.

“Colton,” she squeaks out. “Colt, stop.”

I slow my fingers to a halt. “What?”

“What do you mean, what? What are you doing? Why does it feel…” She swallows. “Why does it feel like that?”

“Like what?”

“Um. Good?”

I don’t understand why she’s phrasing it like a question until I take in the look of pure confusion on her face.

Oh.

Oh, shit.

Oh my fucking god.

“Have you never done this before?” I ask slowly.

“W-what?”

“Have you never touched yourself like this?”

She shakes her head, and that insecurity that’s followed her around since day one shines in her eyes. “Is that bad?”

“No,” I answer quickly. My fingers move against her clit, just so I can watch her eyelids flutter and her lips part again. “No, it… it’s perfect, angel.”

“Perfect?” she whispers doubtfully.

“Mmhmm.” I kiss her. “Let me teach you what your body can do. Will you let me do that?”

She swallows, hesitating. “Will it hurt?”

“Hurt? God, no.”

“Okay. Then… then yes.”

“Good.”

Again, I kiss her. God, she’s so fucking perfect, and she has no clue. I love that I’m the first boy to do this to her. I love that I’ll be the first one to make her come, before she’s even done it to herself. I love that every time she touches herself after this, she’ll think of me.

A surprised moan escapes Haven’s lips as I move my finger in circles over her clit. Her chest is heaving, and her expression is half lust, half shock. She doesn’t know what to do with the new sensations I’m pulling out of her.

“Just relax into me,” I murmur. “Focus on how it feels, nothing else. That’s it. That’s my girl.”

“Colt,” she whimpers.

“I wanna show you something else. Can I do that?”

“M-more? I… I don’t know if I can handle more.”

“You can,” I tell her soothingly. “I’ve got you, remember?”

Gulping in air, she nods.

Haven has a lacy black bralette on under her dress, most likely a decision influenced by Athelia’s fashion choices. It looks fucking beautiful on her, but right now, I’m only interested in what’s underneath all that fabric.

With my free hands, I push the straps of the dress and bralette off her shoulders. Haven immediately goes tense, but I reassure her with a kiss to her cheek.

“Let me make you feel good, angel. You want that, right?”

“I do,” she whispers as I continue working her clit. “But I— ahh. Oh my goodness, Colt.”

“Hey, hey, look at me.” When she does, I smile at her. “Stay with me, all right? You want this. I want this. That’s all that matters.”

She bites her lip, and just when I’m sure she’s about to protest, she nods. One of the many things I’ve noticed about her is how easy it is for her to get stuck in her head. She’s had so many morals and opinions imposed on her for so long that she doesn’t know how to decipher right from wrong, truth from untruth.

But this? There isn’t a need for any of that shit when my fingers are drenched from how much she wants me. The only thing that matters is mutual desire.

Gently, I pull her dress down, taking her bralette with it. Her breasts look like they’d fit perfectly in my hands, and her nipples are hard and begging to be sucked on.

“Promise me you won’t hurt me,” Haven whispers, and I realize her eyes are squeezed shut.

That gets me to stop. Fuck, she looks downright terrified, and I can just barely feel her trembling against me.

“I already told you I wouldn’t,” I remind her. “You’re safe with me, Haven. I’d never hurt you.”

“Okay.” But she’s still tense.

“Hey.” I squeeze her waist. “Do you need me to stop?”

“Y—no. No. I want to… want to keep going. Please.”

“Angel, look at me.”

Slowly, she forces her eyes open.

“I don’t want you to be scared of me.”

“I’m not. I’m not, I just—” She chokes in a breath. “I need you to distract me.”

“All right. I can do that.”

While watching her closely, I begin stroking her clit again. She stares at me helplessly, like she’s drowning and I’m the only one who can save her. Maybe I am.

“Lean into me,” I command, pressing into her lower back with my free hand. When she obeys, I dip my head down and lave my tongue across one of her nipples.

“Ahh! Colt!”

Perfect. She needs a distraction? This is the best one I can think of.

As I close my lips around her nipple and suck, Haven drops her head back with a groan. She rolls her hips into my hand, grinding her pussy against my fingers, and I wonder if she even realizes she’s doing it.

“Look at you go,” I murmur when I pull away. “Taking matters into your own hands. I think I like you like this.”

“I didn’t—I didn’t think it was supposed to feel good,” she pants.

“So you have done this before?”

Her hips stutter, and she hesitates, but then she shakes her head. “N-no. I mean when I learned about it, in class and all. I thought… I thought sex was just for making babies.”

“Mmm, no.” I add a touch more pressure to her clit. “Obviously not.”

“Obv… obvious…” Her eyes roll back, and she lets out another moan.

Watching her, touching her like this, I don’t think my dick has ever been so hard. It feels like I’m about to burst, and she’s barely even done anything to my cock. But knowing that no man has ever touched her is doing something to me, and I have no intentions of stopping it.

God, I could fuck her right here. All I’d have to do is unzip my pants, and I could be inside her in two seconds flat. The possibilities from there are endless. I could make her come so many times she cries, or I could just hold her, not even moving, and see how long she can take it before she starts begging me to fuck her.

“Colt,” Haven whines when I roll one of her nipples between my fingers.

“Shit, you’re close, aren’t you?”

“Close? What does that mea— ahh, oh my goodness.” Gasping, Haven tightens her grip on my shoulders. “Colt—Colt, what’s happening? It feels—I don’t—”

“It’s all right,” I whisper in between tiny, reassuring kisses. My dick is practically throbbing in my pants, that’s how turned on I am. “Just let it happen.”

Her nails dig through the fabric of my T-shirt, and then a sharp cry fills the backyard. Haven’s body convulses against mine, and something about the way she throws her head back does me in.

“Oh, fuck. Haven, you—shit, angel, fuck.”

My body tumbles into an orgasm of its own, and I choke on my next breath as cum floods my briefs. A guttural groan leaves my throat, and I swear my vision goes blank for a solid three seconds. Still, I don’t stop rubbing Haven’s clit—not until she’s literally pushing my hand away while squirming from the overstimulation.

With an exhausted moan, Haven collapses against me. We’re both breathing hard, and I wonder if she noticed the cum spot on my pants. Shit, I hope not. I haven’t come in my pants in years.

“What… what was that?” Haven whispers shakily.

“An orgasm.” I kiss her head before burying my face in her hair.

“Wait, what?” She pulls back, confused. “I didn’t think girls could have those.”

“Obviously, that’s not true.” I move my lips against her. “You did so well, angel.”

“It felt like I was gonna explode.”

“It’s supposed to.”

“I had no idea I could do that,” she mumbles tiredly. “Colt, that was… oh my goodness.”

“I know. Same here.” I guide her back into an upright position so I can slide my hand between her legs again. Even though I just finished, I can’t get enough of her.

Haven jumps when my fingers brush against her clit. “What are you doing?”

“Need to make you come again,” I breathe out. I need to watch her this time—need her to associate this feeling with me and only me.

Haven melts into me as I go back to gently stroking her clit. God, I love doing this to her. If I could, I’d keep her locked up in my room so I could have her like this whenever I wanted.

“I want to fuck you,” I say against her lips. “I need to be inside you, angel. Need to know what it’s like to have this soaked pussy of yours squeezing around my cock.”

Haven goes rigid in my lap. At first I think she’ll relax after a second like last time, but then she lets out a terrified sound and pulls back. “Colt, I—no, Colton, I can’t.”

I stop but don’t pull my fingers away. “What do you mean?”

“It’s wrong.” It comes out almost like a whispered question. She’s confused, I think. Lost in her own mind now that she’s not as distracted.

“It’s not,” I tell her gently.

She shakes her head, more frantically this time. “It is. It is. It’s… everything is all wrong. This is… I can’t do this.”

Panic mixes with guilt in Haven’s eyes. Her breaths are short, and she’s pushing at my arms, trying to free herself from my grasp. But I can’t let go. I just can’t.

She pulls her dress back up and fixes the straps. “It’s not… it’s not supposed to go like that. It’s never gone like that. It’s—”

“What do you mean, it’s never gone like that?” I pull my hand from between her legs, knowing I need to at least do something to make this easier on her. “You have done this before?”

“What? No—yes— no! I’ve never… I’ve never done… that.”

“Okay, then why is it all wrong?”

“Because he—because I—it—oh my god, Colton. Colt.”

My heart stops at the way she sobs my name. She sounds exactly the same as the first time I found her having a panic attack. Hell, she’s looking at me the same way, too. Like she’s afraid of me, but also like she can’t breathe without me.

“Hey.” Still holding her with one hand, I use the other to cup her cheek and thumb away her tears. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“It always hurts,” she whispers.

“What does?” I ask. I’d think she was talking about sex, but she literally just said she hasn’t done this before. Unless… is she lying?

Instead of responding, Haven shakes her head. Her breathing is so panicked that I doubt she’s getting much air in. Whatever has her so worked up is scaring her enough to force her body to shut down.

“Haven,” I say slowly, and she winces at the darkness that seeps into my voice. “Tell me what you’re talking about.”

“I can’t.” She shakes my hands off of her and moves to get off me. “I should go. I have homework—”

With a firm grip on her hips, I pull her back down. There’s no way in hell I’m letting her off my lap. Not when she just made me come without even touching me. “You still haven’t seen Star.”

At that, she lets out a hopeless sound. She’s desperate to get away, to hide. Some other guy would probably be pissed at how she’s reacting, but my ego can take the blow. I know Haven, and I’ve seen the way she looks at me. This isn’t about a lack of attraction to me. It’s stemming from something much deeper, much darker.

“Just tell me,” I prod gently.

“No! Please let me go.”

“I can’t. Not with you this worked up.”

“Then I—” She tries to stifle a sob. “Colt, I can’t. I can’t talk about it. Please.”

“All right.” I still haven’t let go of her, but I nod. “If that’s what you need, I’ll drop it.”

Sagging in relief, she whispers, “Thank you.”

My hand travels up and down her back, and I add enough pressure that she falls into me. We stay like that until her breathing has evened out and her panic seems to have faded.

“Can I see Star now?” she asks once she’s fully calmed down.

“Of course.”

Scooping her up, I stand and then set Haven on her feet. She really does seem mostly okay now, thank fuck, but whatever spooked her has a tight chokehold on her. I may have let it go for this evening, but I’ll get to the bottom of whatever is scaring her.

And then I’ll fucking eradicate it.