That’s…too good to be true. Too easy. The letter says I’ve lost my scholarship. There’s no way he can just fix it. Is there?
The way he presented his question makes my insides tighten in trepidation. He didn’t say he would fix it. He said he could.
That means there's a price for it.
My jaw’s tight when I ask, “Would you do that?”
His grin broadens into a full smirk as he leans over the table.
Suddenly, I wonder why I ever thought he was nice, or gentlemanly, or safe.
One look at that wolfish grin, those intense golden eyes fix on me, and I know he’s none of those things.
I think I know what he’s going to say before he opens his mouth, but Cross manages to surprise me. “Tell me what it’s worth to you.”
This is worse than I imagined. I thought he’d made a lewd demand. Putting it in my lap makes it more insidious. Not coercion, or blackmail. A deal. Compromising my morals for my future.
I swallow. “What do you want?”
Cross leans back on his seat, still smiling. “I want you to tell me what you’d do for a second chance, Lily Trueman.”
The answer’s as horrifying as it is simple. “Anything.”
I probably shouldn’t admit my vulnerability to the wolf in front of me, but at the same time, what have I got to lose?
4
CROSS
Poor little mouse dangling at the end of my claws. She’s terrified, because she said the truth. She would do anything to stay. And a good thing too. I want her to remain right here until I’m bored enough to stop watching her.
For that simple reason, I decide to take things easy on her. I could ask for what I truly crave, but she’d run back home with her tail between her leg.
Instead, I tell her, “You’ll get on your knees for me three times. When I ask for it, you drop everything and come running to me like a good girl.”
That should be enough for me to get bored of her. It’s rather peculiar that I haven’t stopped watching her yet. But she’s sointeresting. Nondescript in class, politely listening, barely weighing in. She clearly isn’t passionate about marketing. I’ve watched her long enough to know she’s the life of the party with her friends, drinking, cursing, dancing like a light in the darkness. And then there’s her cosplays, so well stitched to offset every single one of her curves.
Despite the button down and jeans, the bloody headband and bangs, Lily Trueman’s not boring at all.
But it’s been the better part of four months since our first meeting. I know everything there is to know about the chick. If I’m still watching her, it’s because I need a taste.
She’s too busy staring to reply, so I add, “Of course, I’ll handle your little problem first, so you can be sure I’ll deliver. And I’ll trust you will fulfill your end of the bargain. Enthusiastically.”
And it is a bargain. Three blowjobs for a term in Rothford? The best hookers in the country don’t make that kind of cash. She knows it. But the thing is, Lily Trueman is as far from a hooker as a nun. I can see her warring with the notion, her green eyes full of storms.
She’s not stupid; she knows I could have asked for so much more. “That’s it? You want me to suck you three times, nothing else?”
I chuckle. She knows I gave her an easy way out. “Yep. I like that mouth of yours. You’ll have to paint it red, though,” I demand on the fly, for no other reason than I think it’d suit her.
She’s not given me an answer yet, but we both know what she’ll say.
I once again decide to make it easy on her. She doesn’t have to say yes if it’s killing her. “Shake on it, darling?”
I offer her my hand.
She looks at it like it might transform into a snake and sink its fangs into hers, but at long last, she extends her palm.
I’m having too much fun, so I bring it to my mouth and kiss the knuckles. “Nice doing business with you. It seems I have some work to do.”
