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Pull her to me.

Crush our mouths together.

It’s not a gentle kiss. It’s fury. Hers as much as mine.

She grips my shirt, twisting the fabric in her fists. I taste salt on her lips from her tears, and I hate that I was the cause of them.

Except tasting them…

It awakens something merciless in me, drives something sharp through my chest.

I back her against the wall but then stop. “Fuck.”

She lifts her eyebrows. “What?”

“Not here,” I say through clenched teeth.

I yank her out of Hazel’s room and bring her to her own room.

And I kiss her again.

27

ELLA

For a while, there is no Vexley House.

No Audrey.

No Charlotte or Tiffany.

No stripped bed.

No silver dress on the floor.

No gala.

No Quenton Stanley.

Only Nathaniel. Only me. Only the sound he makes when I dig my nails into his shoulders. The sound I make when he pushes me onto my bed and lifts the skirt of my uniform.

“God, those fucking white panties,” he growls. “How are they sexier than the skimpiest thong?”

I’m not sure what to say, so I say nothing.

I say nothing as he removes my panties.

I say nothing as he spreads my legs.

And I say nothing as he slides his tongue over my pussy.

But I gasp. I grab the comforter with both hands, squeezing.

“Has anyone ever eaten you like this, Ella Hart?” he says against my flesh. “I took your virginity with my cock. Am I taking it with my tongue too?”

I can’t answer. I can’t even think. Emotion coils deep within me, but it’s nothing compared to the visceral feelings swirling around me and through me.

His tongue, his lips, even his teeth. They work me over, and just when I think I can’t take it anymore⁠—