Broken Trust A Dark High School Romance - Tate James Page 0,33

broke loose.

Limbs flew everywhere, and I caught just the briefest glimpse of Beck’s terrifying, furious face before some asshole’s shoe caught me in the temple and the world went fuzzy. Unlike the damage inflicted on me up until then, I was pretty sure that one was an accident and most of the boys who’d been involved in my near-rape were desperately trying to get out of the classroom before Beck killed them all.

Or, that’s what I could make out from the noises, shouts, and blurry shapes moving around as I tried to both clear my vision and cover myself up.

A warm pair of hands brushed against mine as I tried to fix my clothing, and I screamed.

“Shh, Spare, it’s just me,” Evan murmured in a low, soothing tone like he was dealing with a frightened animal. Fuck, he was. “I’ve got you, little bug, take a breath.”

His arms wrapped around me as my vision started to return, but my head pounded like I was being hit with a battering ram so I squeezed my eyes shut and let Evan half carry, half drag me over to the side of the room.

“What’s going on, Evan?” I asked, trying and failing to button my torn shirt with shaking hands and slitted eyelids. “Is Beck…?”

“About to be expelled from a school we fucking own?” Evan finished for me. “Yeah, pretty much. Are you okay if I go stop him from killing that kid?”

I pried my eyes open a fraction more, peering across the classroom to find Beck punching the shit out of one of my attacker’s faces. Like, seriously laying into him. Blood sprayed with every hit, and the kid’s whole body was limp in unconsciousness. A deep shudder of revulsion ran through me, knowing what those boys had intended to do to me, and for a moment I considered letting Beck kill him. What would one more body matter? Beck’s hands were already stained beyond repair.

But … was I really that person?

“Go,” I told Evan, giving him a small push. I clutched at the jacket he’d draped over me and watched in numb silence as Evan smoothly intervened before Beck’s blood coated fist could land again. I stared at them, unblinking, while Evan spoke in low tones. Beck’s jaw was taut, his whole body coiled as tight as a bow string and his gaze … his gaze was locked firmly on me from across the room. I stared back at him as he abruptly released my unconscious assailant from his grip, dropping him to the hard floor with a painful sounding thud. Still, he stared, even as Evan continued speaking, handing him a rag from fuck knew where to clean off his hands.

Beck stalked across the room to me, and I swallowed back the terror threatening to pour out of my throat in a scream. Logically, I knew he’d just saved me. In my heart, I knew he’d never hurt me. Not really, not physically, and not intentionally. But that primal, instinctive part of me saw his iced expression, those eyes that held murderous fury, and the hulking strength of his body… and wanted to flee.

He paused when he reached me, crouching down until he was on my level, all the while maintaining that unwavering eye contact. My whole body was trembling in uncontrollable shivers, my teeth chattering, and my fingers turning numb, yet I couldn’t look away.

“Butterfly,” he breathed, reaching out a copper scented finger and stroking a tangled snarl of my dark hair off my face. I flinched. I didn’t mean to, but I was no longer in control of my own reactions. Fear had driven all semblance of logic and reason out of my body, and my arms tightened around my knees, tucking me into a tight, quivering ball.

Beck’s face tightened further—if that was even possible—and he gusted out a long sigh. “I won’t hurt you, Butterfly. I’d never…” He trailed off with a grimace and we both knew why he couldn’t finish that statement. Sure, he’d never hit me. But that didn’t save me from how badly I’d been hurt by his betrayals when it came to Delta.

“Riley,” he tried again, voice a graveled mess as he shifted slightly closer on his knees. “Please, baby, let me hold you?”

I still trembled violently and my instincts screamed at me not to trust him, but I couldn’t give a fuck. I needed Beck to erase the fear, just like he’d done every night since the plane crash. All it took