Monsters' Gift (Crude Hill High Book 2) Read online

  At first, I stared at the ground. The scent of wet grass was heavy in the air. Slowly, I drew my gaze up to stare at the school.

  In the dark, it looked haunted.

  With my arms folded, I just stared. Drake got out of the car and joined me. “You okay?”

  “I’m fine.” I whispered the words, not wanting to make too much of a sound. It could wake the dead.

  Licking my lips, I stepped away and then decided to take a step toward the imposing building.

  “I hated this place,” I said.

  “I think we can all safely say we hated this place.”

  “Really? Even you?” I asked.

  He smiled. “I … this was not just a place for kids of monsters, Em. This was a place where assholes like my father dumped the kids they didn’t want to own up to.”

  “You’ve got a lot of issues when it comes to your father.”

  “He’s the one who gave me a lot of crap. He hated me and I guess I loved him, but that quickly turned to hate.” He blew out a breath. “Damn, you know I pass this place so often and I don’t even take the time to look at it.”

  I forced a laugh. “I’ve done nothing but think about this place. I hated this place, but it was by far better than my home life.”

  “How come?”

  For a second, I was confused, because I figured he knew about my past but then it wasn’t like he was cushy with the Monsters back then.

  “My dad, he’d beat me and put me through virginity checks. My driver hated me and to make my life worse, he’d lie and say guys were sniffing around me, or he’d be this arrogant prick, and he’d get to watch me being punished.”

  “Tell me he’s dead?”

  “Oh, he’s dead all right. It turns out my father had been plotting to oust the Monsters. He got caught. My brother, mother, all of my family, and the driver, they were all killed.”

  “You were spared.”

  “Yep. I was sent to England with Ashley. Her mother was having an affair with my father.”

  Drake laughed. “And you guys are friends?”

  “Her mother was in the firing line as well, Drake. Me and Ashley, we’re the only two who made it. We were supposed to die that night all of those years ago. It’s only because of their sons that we’re still alive.”

  “Well, that answers the question about why you’re so worried and so loyal to your friend.”

  “She’s worth it. She has been there for me every single step of the way.” I sighed. “I’m sure you know all about loyalty.”

  “Here we go. You still think I’m a traitor?”

  “I don’t know what to think when it comes to you. But I don’t trust you.” I unfolded my arms and screamed at Drake just as a man clocked him around the back of the head with a wooden baseball bat.

  Drake didn’t even have time to move. He fell, hitting the ground with a thud. I stared into the eyes of Marshall Keller.

  “I knew we should have killed you when we had the chance.”

  The rage in his voice took my breath away. Rather than try to understand why he was so pissed, I turned on my heel and started running.

  It was a big mistake. Within seconds, he was on top of me, shoving me to the ground. I let out a scream, hating that I was on my front. He grabbed my hair, jerking my head up, and I whimpered at the pain.

  “I’m going to take every single ounce of pleasure in killing you.” He licked my cheek, making me gag. Rather than fight, I acted as though I’d fainted. Literally slumped to the ground. Women did that all the time in movies because of fear, right? This was what I was doing. I was afraid. My body was nothing more than a dead weight, but it did the trick. I noticed when he wasn’t so heavy on top of me, and he fumbled for something. I hoped it wasn’t his damn belt. I reacted quickly, suddenly pushing my weight and spinning over.

  The action jerked him away from me, but it didn’t get the job done.

  We were a tangle of limbs, and he managed to get his hands wrapped around my neck, cutting off my air supply.

  At first, I gripped his hands, but he was close enough to me that I was able to clock him around the face. I jabbed at him, once, twice, and then I tried to poke him in the eye. My vision was slowly fading. I kept on fighting, trying to get him to get off me.

  I was going to die on the school grounds, and fear lodged inside me. I didn’t want to die. There was a life with my men. I hoped they all knew that I loved them so damn much. Even though I was pissed and tried my escape, I loved them all.

  “Fucker!” Drake was there, thrusting a knife into Marshall Keller’s throat, and I didn’t have time to move away as blood spilled from the wound and a dead Marshall fell on top of me.

  I breathed in hard and deep.

  Drake helped me to push his body off.

  With a hand at my throat, I took deep breaths, but it hurt to do so.

  “They’re coming, Em. I promise, they’re coming.” He pulled me into his arms, holding me.

  His arms were the wrong ones. I only wanted my men.

  ****

  River

  I was never going to forget the way Emily looked when we found her last night. We called our doctor to run some tests on her.

  Marshall hadn’t crushed her throat, but it had been a close call. Way too fucking close for my comfort. I didn’t like it and as I sat in her bedroom now, watching her sleep, I thought about how close we’d come to losing her.

  Drake also hadn’t left.

  “I thought you said you didn’t have any feelings for her?” I asked, not taking my eyes away from my woman, not for a second.

  “I don’t.”

  “Then why the fuck are you still here?”

  There was a brief silence and I chanced a look toward him.

  “I fucked up last night. Emily could have died because of me. I didn’t want that to happen, ever. There is no way that man should have gotten the best of me and yet he did.”

  “He hit you over the head with a baseball bat,” Emily said.

  I looked toward her.

  Her voice sounded raw. Considering the bruises all around her neck, the fact she could talk was a bonus.

  I got to my feet, leaning over her, kissing her head.

  “I don’t think your dads approve of me as yours,” she said.

  I laughed. “Don’t joke around.”

  “Kind of have to. It’s funny if you think about it. Your parents can’t stand me. Isn’t it every girl’s dream?” she asked.

  Shaking my head at her, I sat down. She looked at Drake. “Thank you.”

  “I’m sorry, Em.”

  “You didn’t know he was there.” She sighed. “Thank you for not being completely knocked out for longer.”

  I didn’t care about Drake or his feelings right now. The only person I cared about was this woman right here, in this bed.

  “Will you go and let the others know she’s awake?” I asked.

  Drake left seconds later.

  “He feels guilty,” she said.

  “Good, he should.”

  “He didn’t know.”

  “Em, you nearly died. He told us what happened. Marshall nearly killed you.”

  “But, and this is a big but, he didn’t. I’m still here.”

  “In pain.”

  “I’m used to the pain.”

  I got up and kissed her head again. I was about to sit down, but she grabbed my shirt and pulled me to the bed. “Don’t leave. Sit with me. I love you, and I don’t want you to leave me.”

  I smiled. I couldn’t help it. I still had my shoes on, but I didn’t bother to remove them. Instead, I held her close, wrapping my arms around her.

  “I don’t want anything to ever happen to you,” I said.

  “Nothing is. I think I’m proving to be a little invincible.”

  “Em, you came close to being strangled.”

  She sighed. “I know. Marshall had it in for me. I guess that means two down, right?”

  “Yes, and we have a feelin
g the other two are not going to be far behind.”

  “What do you mean?”

  I didn’t get a chance to answer her question as Vadik, Caleb, and Gael spilled into the room, all of them looking relieved to see her awake. She’d been awake when we’d gotten to her, but since the doctor looked her over, she’d been out for the count. I understood their worry. I was terrified when Drake called us. We could have lost her today.

  “Are you okay?” Gael asked, coming to the bed.

  “I’m fine.”

  “You don’t sound fine,” Vadik said.

  “Well, I had a man trying to kill me. Forgive me if I don’t look my best.”

  We all chuckled, but we all didn’t see the humor. Our dads were the worst kind of men. Well, not the worst, but they knew our weakness. Emily. We didn’t want to live without her.

  Stroking her hair, I pressed my face against her head and breathed her in.

  “Are you going to tell me why you think the others are suddenly going to come out of the woodwork? Marshall and Ace are now dead.”

  “Yes, which leaves Dean and Daniel,” Gael said.

  “Your dad and yours,” Emily said, looking toward Caleb.

  “Yep.”

  Emily sighed. “You’re making me work for answers here, and I’m the victim. Can’t you at least, I don’t know, help me out?”

  “Earl put out a call, a reward if you will,” Caleb said, perching on the edge of the bed. “Anyone working for your fathers will be given a reward to come clean and for information. We’ve had five people within two hours of him putting out the reward.”

  “I thought you were hunting them down?” Emily asked.

  I held her a little tighter.

  “Earl wants to leave. He wants to take Ashley and have this business over with. He’s not going with stealth, but speed.”

  Emily tensed in my arms. “But?”

  “Emily,” Caleb said. “If this works, then it means Earl kept his part of the bargain.”

  “What about Ashley?”

  “She’s happy,” Caleb said. “I’ve checked. Drake has been gathering information and Ashley is being treated like a queen. She isn’t in any danger.”

  Tears filled her eyes and I wanted to do whatever was necessary to take them away.

  “I want to talk to Ashley. Do you think you can arrange that?” Emily asked.

  Caleb nodded. “Of course. We still have two problems, and he promised he wouldn’t go anywhere else until the matter is resolved.”

  “I can’t believe you guys are working together over this,” Emily said.

  “Neither can we. Don’t forget, we’re still in shock as well. He wanted your virginity.”

  Emily laughed. “I know. His obsession for a virgin is scary. It makes me wonder if he’s even any good in bed.”

  We all tensed up and Emily shook her head. “I don’t mean I’m going to try him out. Wow, what kind of woman do you think I am? I’ve already got four men. I worry about Ashley.” She dropped her gaze, wiping beneath her eyes before lifting up to look at me. “And today, when Marshall was strangling me, all I wanted was to get back to all of you. I don’t want to live my life without you guys in it. I love you more than anything else in the world.” She sniffled.

  She sat up, pulling away from me. Then she turned toward me, cupping my cheek and kissing me. I sank my fingers into her hair, holding her close, wanting her and only her. She pulled away, kissing Gael with the exact same passion, before going to Vadik, finally, Caleb. She showed us her feelings with a single kiss.

  I smiled.

  “I love you all so much. I don’t want to ever be anywhere than where I am right now.”

  “Good, because we were never going to let you leave,” Caleb said. He stroked her face and Emily sat back.

  “However, we are going to need some ground rules,” she said.

  We all groaned.

  “You were only buttering us up and letting us think you’d play nice.”

  She laughed. “I think it will work for all of us. I don’t want you guys to push me out. I get that I’m a woman, and I’m not part of your little crew. I do, but don’t manhandle me to the bedroom. It pisses me off. I can protect you as much as you can protect me. I’ve proven myself to you time and time again.” She glared at Caleb. “Yes, I’m talking to you. No more marching me into a bedroom because you think it’s the best place for me. It’s offensive and rude.”

  “I will only ever act in a way to protect you.”

  “Yeah, I’ve got a feeling you’re going to be my biggest rule-breaker,” she said.

  I couldn’t help but laugh. Even though her voice was croaky and less than twenty-four hours ago someone had tried to kill her, she was back to being our woman.

  “Is that your only rule?” Gael asked. “I don’t like sticking to a whole lot of them. I enjoy breaking them.”

  “You’ve all got to promise me you’ll kiss me every single chance you get, love me more and harder each day. Never get jealous. To love each other, and to never fight.”

  “We can’t promise you we won’t ever fight,” Vadik said. “It’s in our blood.”

  “Well…” She stopped as though to think for a few seconds. “Then you have to agree not to do any permanent damage. I don’t want any of you to be in pain or hurting. We’re a family now, right? We’re all together and this means we’re all we’ve got for the rest of our lives.”

  I took a deep breath and waited for the others to respond.

  “I agree,” Gael said. “It’s not like any of those are going to be hard.”

  One by one, we all agreed to her terms.

  Emily came toward me, straddling my waist. “Your throat,” I warned.

  “I don’t care. I don’t want to miss a single chance with all of you.” She took possession of my lips. “Unless, of course, you’re not up to the job?”

  I gripped her ass tightly. “Emily, you could never be a fucking job.” I pulled her down and slammed my lips down on hers, kissing her harder than before.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Gael

  My cock was rock-hard.

  We hadn’t discussed us being present when she was fucked by one or more of us. I’d seen her with Caleb, and I’d been the first one to freely get my cock out and to watch that pretty show.

  Like now, fuck, she looked so beautiful. Those perfectly large tits with tight nipples, they were a dream.

  River, he licked and sucked at those buds, and I already had my dick in my hand. I’d changed from the tight confines of the trousers into a pair of sweats. Working my cock up and down, I rubbed my pre-cum into the length and groaned. River laid Emily down on the bed and took care of her panties, tearing them from her body.

  Her neck was badly bruised. I had stayed to see Marshall’s body get taken care of. Dean and Daniel, they were close, I could sense it.

  My dad, I’d gotten used to the kind of pain he caused, and I knew he would gladly take Emily away from me. He’d see pleasure in my pain. When he finally came out into the open, I wanted to be the one to finally kill him. I’d wanted to a couple of years ago.

  Caleb’s plan to hurt them in that way hadn’t been mine. He’d been the one to decide their fates. I knew I should have fought harder, but I’d wanted them to suffer. Even though we’d taken over from the empire, their fear still ruled. Slowly, we’d obliterated all of their traces, at least, we thought we had, but we’d been mistaken.

  Pushing those thoughts to the back of my mind, I forced myself to only think of the now. Our woman, spread on the bed, within touching distance with River, who had his face pressed into her pussy.

  His mouth made her scream and whimper. My mouth watered for a taste of her. I knew how good she was, and as she came, it was the most beautiful sight. Her chest flush, her nipples tight. Every single part of her, perfection. I wanted her so much, but I knew I was going to have to wait my turn.

  River was rock-hard, and he lifted Emily so she straddled his waist.
I moved from the bed to get a better angle. He spread her cheeks while she grabbed his cock, and slowly, she started to sink onto him. This was better than I could have imagined, and she took him so prettily. River didn’t let go of her ass but used it to guide her up and down his length.

  At first, he started to go fast, to take her deeper. She whimpered, moaned his name, and he sped up, forcing her down onto him as he thrust up. Emily wrapped her arms around his neck, holding as he fucked her. I worked my cock, and I knew Caleb and Vadik were doing the same. All of us knowing we wanted where River was right now, but waiting our turn.

  When River finally came, his pleasure filled the room and I saw how tightly he held her. There would be bruises on her hips from his control.

  “Thank you,” River said.

  She kissed him deeply, and much to my surprise, climbed off him. She turned toward us, her gaze going to all of us. I didn’t have time to look elsewhere as she came toward me. Emily was full of surprises tonight as she slowly sank to her knees before me. She pulled my sweatpants down so they fell to my ankles and then her mouth was over my cock.

  I let go of my shaft, sinking my fingers into her hair and feeling her tight lips swallow me up. I thrust inside her, hitting the back of her throat, only for her to pull away and then bob back in.

  She worked me over and over, and I was so close. I wanted to last for her, but with how perfect her mouth was, I didn’t have any control. I came, spilling between her lips and sliding down her throat. She let out a moan as she swallowed every last drop.

  Fuck!

  Perfection.

  Sheer fucking perfection. That was what she was.

  I loved her more than anything in the world. Dean’s and Daniel’s days were numbered. I didn’t want her to go on living afraid. We had a life to lead. Seven long years to catch up on. It was time for us to start living them and not staying in the past.

  ****

  Vadik

  I had a feeling I knew what Emily was going through. She almost died tonight and it scared her. As I watched her suck Gael, I understood what she meant. When Drake called us and told us what had happened, I’d been so fucking scared. I hadn’t agreed with Caleb putting her in her room like a scolded child, but he meant well. Fear made us all do shitty things.