Trick or Treat Page 4

  “What do you—”

  His mouth crashed down on mine, his tongue plunging between my lips, roughly sliding against my own.

  I tried to push him away, but his body closed in around me, trapping me against the wall. His fingers slid up the side of my neck and buried in my hair, angling my face to his, letting him deepen the kiss.

  And I was at his mercy.

  My conscience silently screamed at me to stop, to knee him in the balls and make a run for it. But my memories, the fifteen-year-old girl infatuated with Zach was riding the wave of lust he’d swept me up in. His kiss was possessive, his touch like fire. My body began to tremble as he licked and lapped at my mouth, tasting me.

  “Fuck,” he groaned, pressing closer. I felt him hard at my stomach. Thick and long and ready. And my body responded.

  I told everyone I didn’t care. That Zach Messiah was no one to me, but the truth was, I’d never gotten over him. I wore his betrayal like armor, refusing to let anyone in. I didn’t flirt with guys and I certainly didn’t date, not that I had options.

  The last person I had kissed, the last person who had touched me like this... was Zach.

  It was almost as if the last two years hadn’t happened and we were picking right back up where we left off. Except Zach was bigger and stronger and I was more confused than ever.

  “Zach, stop...” I breathed, managing to break the kiss long enough to speak.

  Hunger swirled in his eyes. “Make me.” His fingers splayed against the side of my throat as he dived for me again.

  I wanted to, I wanted to put an end to this madness but maybe it was the fact it was Devil’s Night, a night for reckless inhibition and mischief; or maybe it was the fact I was tired of never letting my guard down; or maybe it was simply because it was Zach. The only boy I’d ever loved.

  The only boy I’d ever wanted.

  He was here, and he was kissing me like he needed me the way he needed oxygen.

  Primal.

  Necessary.

  Vital.

  It was a heady feeling to be so desired, so wanted. And, in the end, my fickle foolish heart won out. She forced my conscience back in her little box and took the reins.

  I gripped Zach tighter, trying to climb his body and relieve the ache building deep inside me.

  “Shit, sweet pea, I didn’t think you’d give it up so easily.” His fingers dipped underneath my skirt, finding the soft flesh of my thighs.

  I stilled, my breath coming in short sharp bursts. What the hell was I doing?

  Was I really going to do this?

  “You’re trembling,” he teased, his lips twisted in a wicked smirk as he grazed my panties. “Scared, Calliope?” The way my name rolled off his tongue sounded so dirty.

  “I need to catch my breath,” I said, flattening my hands against his chest.

  “Walk away.” He tensed. “Good girls like you don’t know how to play with bad guys like me.”

  “What happened to you, Zach?” I repeated my words from earlier.

  His expression darkened. “Unless you’re going to spread your legs for me like a good little girl, I suggest you run.”

  Something inside me snapped and I shouldered him out of the way, stumbling into the darkness. But Zach snagged my camera strap, tugging sharply.

  “Don’t, please...”

  “Still so obsessed with watching.” He tsked, yanking hard. The strap tore straight off the lug and he snatched my camera up.

  “Zach, please.” I watched with horror as he brought it to his face and aimed the lens right on me. The flash almost blinded me, and I threw my arm up to shield my eyes.

  “Smile, sweet pea.” He was taunting me now, turning the tables. He knew I didn’t like having my photo taken. He knew, but he did it anyway.

  My Zach would never have done such a cruel thing.

  “Why?” My voice quivered.

  “Why?” His brow raised as he peered at me over the camera. “Why do we do any of the things we do?”

  “Zach...” My nose crinkled.

  “Yes, Calliope...”

  “You’re scaring me.” It was a game. I understood that now. Some sick game he’d ensnared me in.

  The flash went off again and I sucked in a shaky breath.

  “That dress looks good on you, sweet pea.” He stalked forward with slow measured steps. The air cracked with tension, making my heart race faster. Harder.

  “You should go back to the party,” I said unable to disguise the tremor in my voice.

  “Yeah, and why should I do that?”

  “Tilly seemed more than willing to—”

  “Not. Interested.”

  “You seemed pretty close earlier.”

  “Were you watching me, sweet pea? Were you sitting there wishing it was you with my hand up your skirt?”

  Zach was almost upon me. He held the camera off to the side now, his finger right on the release button. “Were you jealous?”

  Click, click, click, the flash went off in rapid succession.

  “If you wanted me to touch you, you only had to ask.” He’d cornered me again, leaning in and brushing his lips over mine.

  “Don’t,” I pleaded.

  I needed to keep my head straight, and I couldn’t do that with Zach so close.

  “You still want me,” he breathed the words against my skin. “I can practically feel how turned on you are.”

  Oh God.

  I smothered a whimper.

  Zach leaned in, letting his mouth hover over mine. The flash went off again. He was taking photos of us, together. Kissing.

  “What are you—”

  His tongue darted into my mouth, curling around my own. But this time, I didn’t concede. I bit down hard, his pained grunt filling the space between us.

  “Fuck, Calli.”

  I used the moment to my advantage and slipped out from between him and the wall.

  Zach lunged after me, but I took off running, straight across the hall into another bedroom. It was empty, no built-in closets or hidey holes for me to disappear into.

  “I’ve missed this, Calli.” Zach’s voice echoed throughout the desolate space. “I’ve missed you. Fuck, I’ve missed you.”

  He might as well have reached into my chest and fisted my heart. Zach hadn’t missed me, he couldn’t have.

  Not when he’d spent an entire year ignoring me.

  Yet, hearing him say those words did something to me, something deep inside.

  “Come out, come out wherever you are.” His voice bounced off the walls. “I think we should play a little game… Trick or treat, baby?”

  It sounded like he was getting further away, but I didn’t want to risk him sneaking up on me again. I pressed myself into the darkest corner and waited. The smart thing would have been to leave, but Zach knew I wouldn’t go without my camera. That’s why he’d snatched it off me, to use as leverage.

  A bargaining chip.

  But the question was, why?

  The silence was deafening. Only the thud of my heart beating beneath my chest rang in my ears as I waited for Zach to find me.

  Because he would.

  Because I wouldn’t leave this godforsaken house without my camera, and he knew it.

  Damn Madison and her bright spark ideas. I’d known the second she’d told me Zach was going to be at the party, it was a bad idea.

  I just hadn’t anticipated how bad.

  I’d let him kiss me.

  I’d kissed him back.

  But God, his lips felt so good moving against mine. His kisses were treacherous though.

  He was treacherous.

  I needed to keep a clear head and not let him get too close again because being close to Zach was like riding the Tilt-A-Whirl. He completely disarmed me, made me giddy. He lured me into a false sense of security before ripping the ground from under me.

  “I know you’re here somewhere, Calli. And when I find you...” The words hung in the air, sending a ripple through me.

  He almost sounded angry... but at what, I didn’t know. I wasn’t the one who had cast him aside and obliterated his heart.

  That was all on him.

  So why did this feel personal? Like we had unfinished business?

  I felt him enter the room before I saw him. He moved like a cat with silent agility. It was probably all the training and conditioning he did for basketball.

  “I know you’re in here.” He said the words softly.

  “I want my camera back.” Steeling my spine, I stepped out from the shadows. He turned slightly, fixing his stormy eyes right on me.

  “Maybe I don’t want to give it back, maybe I want to negotiate.” He took another shot of me, the flash lighting up the dark space.

  “I won’t play your games.”

  If I did, I had a feeling Zach would destroy me.

  And I couldn’t let him do that again, no matter how good his lips felt on mine.

  “So I didn’t hear your breath hitch when I touched you?” He stalked closer. “I didn’t see lust glitter in your eyes?” I felt his warm breath flutter over my face. “I didn’t feel you fisting my t-shirt, pulling me closer?”

  We were almost chest to chest, my camera off to the side of us. He brought it higher as he stared down at me, his smirk taunting me.

  Click, click, click.

  “You still look at me with stars in your eyes. Even after what I did to you. Even after what you did to me.”

  “What—” The question died on my lips as his hand glided up the side of my neck. A shudder rolled through me, but it wasn’t fear. It was something else, something much worse.

  I hated his cruel words, his deceitful touch, but not as much as I hated myself for wanting it too.

  God, I was messed up.

/>   Because they made you that way.

  Because my father neglected me, because he made me feel worthless every single day of my life, and then when he proved just what a piece of shit he really was, Callum chose him. He chose him and never looked back.

  Tears burned the backs of my eyes, but I stuffed them down.

  “Was it all a lie?” I whispered into the darkness. “Did you ever lo—” My spine stiffened as I corrected myself. “Did you ever care about me?”

  “Does it matter?” His fingers moved to my cheek, stroking the skin there.

  “No,” sadness welled in my chest, “I guess it doesn’t.”

  He leaned down, ghosting his lips over mine but I pressed them together, refusing to let them in. “Open up, sweet pea.” The words rumbled in his chest. “Let me taste you. I really fucking need to taste you.”

  The desperation in Zach’s voice wrapped around me and refused to let me go. He was lost, fighting some invisible war I didn’t understand.

  “Calliope, please give me this.” His plea broke something inside me.

  It broke me.

  “Good girl.” His tongue plunged between my lips and I knew then, I’d lost whatever this was.

  I couldn’t resist and I didn’t want to. I wanted to remember what it felt like to be wanted, to be worshipped and adored.

  God, I wanted to remember.

  “Zach,” I whispered as he backed me up against the wall, his mouth all over mine. Hard and bruising. Relentless.

  The camera went off again, but it didn’t stop me from kissing him back, from winding my fingers around his neck and dragging him closer.

  “One night,” I breathed. “You get one night.”

  It wouldn’t even be a night. It would be a moment.

  A single moment of madness where I stopped fighting the constant war inside my head.

  “I need to feel you, now, Calli.” His fingers raked up my thigh. But then he pulled away, and bent down, placing my camera on the floor. When he lifted his head again, I saw it. The anger streaking across his eyes like flashes of lightning in a storm. Zach hated me. Almost as much as I hated him.

  Maybe even more.

  Only, I didn’t know why.

  “Are you really going to let me do it?” His voice was cold again. “Fuck you in the dark while your friends party down on the beach?”

  “They are not my friends.” I chose to ignore his question despite the way it reverberated through me, shredding my heart.

  “No, you never did play well with others, did you?” Zach stroked the side of my neck while his other hand disappeared higher up my skirt, until he was there. Cupping me. Pressing his thumb against my clit in a way that had my head dropping back against the wall.

  “Are you wet for me, sweet pea?”

  “Why don’t you find out?” My brow arched, a bolt of confidence shooting through me.

  “You’re different.” It came out resigned.

  “So are you.”

  A dark look crossed his expression. “Oh, you don’t know the half of it.”

  “I—” The word got stuck in my throat as his fingers hooked inside my damp panties and slid through the wetness.

  “Jesus, Calli.” He leaned in, nipping my earlobe. Zach slowly pushed a finger inside me. “You’re so fucking tight. Didn’t you let anyone else in here?” He pulled back to look at me and I pressed my lips together, forcing the tears down. “Fuck, you didn’t... No wonder you want it so bad.”

  His words hurt, but nowhere near as searing as his hands felt on me.

  Pressing a hand to wall beside my head, Zach stared at me as he began working me with his fingers. His thumb dragged slow torturous circles over my clit until I was a writhing mess, lost in devastating sensation.

  I’d always known my heart belonged to Zach Messiah. I just hadn’t realized he would break it more than once.

  But I let him.

  I let him take what he needed because I needed it too.

  I needed every last touch before he left me cold and empty once more.

  “Yeah, that’s it, Calli, ride my hand.” He went faster, harder, pumping in and out of me like he wanted to see me shatter.

  “God,” I moaned. “It feels...”

  “I know, baby. I know.” Zach dragged his tongue up my cheek before kissing me hungrily. But I couldn’t breathe, it was too much.

  He was too much.

  And just when I thought I couldn’t take anymore, I flew off the edge, clenching around him as I cried his name into the darkness.

  Zach didn’t let me catch my breath though, he didn’t give me time to think as his hand went to his jeans and he popped the button, pushing them down over his hips. His big strong hands went under my ass and he lifted me up, pressing me against the wall. I felt him at my core, hard and ready, and I half-expected him to thrust into me without warning. But at the last second, he stilled, his expression softening.

  “Are you sure?”

  Was I?

  No.

  Maybe.

  I didn’t want to be that girl, the girl who let her ex whatever-we-once-were-to-one-another fuck her in a cold dark abandoned building.

  But I didn’t want to say no either.

  “Are. You. Sure?” he gritted out when I didn’t answer.

  I couldn’t say it.

  For a second, as Zach glared at me, the muscles in his jaw working overtime, I thought he might stop this madness. I thought he might lower me to the ground, hand me back my camera, and apologize for letting things go too far.

  But my Zach was long gone, and I was hardly surprised when groaned, “Fuck it,” and slammed into me.

  My ankles locked behind his back, relishing in the feel of him. Liquid lust coursed through me. I felt drugged. Drunk on him. High on the feel of him moving inside me.

  “Zach...” I panted.

  “Yeah, baby?” he crooned against my shoulder as he thrust harder. Faster. Not caring that my back was scraping against the bare wall.

  “Why does it feel so good?” I choked out.

  “Because you’re mine, Calliope.” His hand went to my throat, pinning me there. “You’ve always been mine.”

  Lies.

  More lies.

  I was his once before he got bored with me. Before he decided I wasn’t what he wanted.

  But no more words passed between us as he continued to fuck me against a wall in the darkness of Travers House while my classmates partied on the beach below.

  “Fuck, Calli...” he groaned, his fingers digging into my hip. It would leave bruises, but at least then I’d know this was real. At least tomorrow when the sun rose and life went on, I’d know that just for a second, I had experienced what it was like to be the center of Zach Messiah’s world again.

  Waves of pleasures built in my stomach, spreading out into every nerve ending until I was shaking above him. “Zach, I’m...”

  “Ssh, Calli, baby, I know what you need.” He yanked down the neckline of my dress and started kissing my breasts, drawing a peaked nipple into his hot mouth. I cried out, barely able to stand the intensity of his touch.

  “Come for me, sweet pea. Now.” He raked his teeth against the sensitive skin and bit down hard, and I came apart. “Jesus...” he rasped, still rocking into me in deep strokes. “Fuck, Calli... fuck,” he hissed as his body tensed and he jerked inside of me.

  We remained there, me trapped above him, him still and silent, our chests heaving between us. My skin was damp, my thighs sore in the best kind of way.

  “Zach,” I whispered, breaking the tension enveloping us.

  “Fuck,” he seethed, pulling out of me and dropping me to the floor. A warm trickle ran down my thigh.

  “We didn’t use a condom.”

  “No shit.” His eyes stayed narrowed on mine as he dragged a hand through his hair.

  “It’s okay. I’m birth control.”

  But it wasn’t okay. He was in college. I knew what that meant. I knew he probably had a line of girls all wanting their shot with the star baller.

  “I’ll get tested,” I said, my brain already switching to self-preservation mode.

  “Shit, Calli. You think...” His jaw clenched. “I don’t usually do that.”

  “You mean you don’t make a habit of screwing your ex-friends against the wall without a condom? Good to know,” I hissed, readjusting my skirt and trying to clean myself with the material.

  God, what I had been thinking?

  You weren’t. I never did much when Zach was around.