Page 7 of Wicked Knight (Knight's Ridge Empire 1)

She doesn’t scream. She doesn’t fight me. She doesn’t react in any way as I press harder against her.

“You shouldn’t be here,” I snarl quietly.

“Yet here I am anyway.”

Her nostrils flare as she sucks in a breath.

“Why? Why are you here?”

“Why are you here?” she parrots.

“This is my fucking school, Doukas. My fucking empire.”

Despite the fact that she’s at my mercy, her only reaction to my statement is to throw her head back and laugh like what I just said was the funniest thing she’s ever heard.

In my moment of confusion, I make a mistake. A fatal fucking mistake, because my grip on her lessens, allowing her just half a second to move, and she fucking takes it.

My eyes widen and she faces me a beat before she moves. Pain erupts between my legs and her hands press against my chest, pushing me back to the opposite wall.

My eyes water and my balls feel like they just fucking exploded as I bend over, cupping them.

“Do you remember what I said to you that night?” she asks, her shoes clicking against the tiled floor as she walks over to me.

Unable to stand, I drop to my knees. The only part I’m able to see of her is her blurred calves.

Lowering down to her haunches, she looks me dead in the eyes, her light blues shining with excitement and achievement.

“Do not underestimate me, asshole.”

Not giving me another second of her time, she stands and marches away.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing? Let me the hell in,” a female voice barks from outside the door the second Stella pulls it open.

“I think your boy might need some assistance,” Stella says as other footsteps filter through the room.

“What the fuck?” Theo barks, standing over me and drilling holes into the top of my head as Alex reaches for my arm to pull me up.

“It’s nothing,” I grunt, the pain once again overtaking my body as I try to stand.

“Fuck off. Who is she?”

I look between my two best friends. I should confess, but also… I want to keep her all to myself to play with right now.

“Not here,” I seethe.

“We’ll find out,” Alex warns.

“I don’t doubt it. But right now, what I really need is ice.”

“Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

“You wanna skip on the first day?” I ask, my brows lifting at Theo’s suggestion. It’s something we’re more likely to hear from Alex or Nico. Theo is never one to skip. “We’ve not got training tonight, so no one will miss us.”

He’s got a point.

“Let’s go,” I mutter, more than happy to leave Stella to navigate Knight’s Ridge alone for the afternoon, wondering if I’m going to pop back up again at any moment.

“I’ve got weed,” Alex announces. “It’s good shit. Maybe it’ll loosen you up a little.”

When we get to the door, as expected, I find Nico and Toby guarding the entrance, scaring off any girls who might look like they want to enter.

“Those two are going to be fucking trouble, man,” Nico says to Theo, nodding toward the end of the corridor just before two girls disappear around the corner.

My teeth grind at the sight of her light hair and the sway in her step.

Turning up here was a bad idea. But what she just did was really fucking stupid.

And I’m going to make sure she regrets it.