Kings of Anarchy (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep #3) - Caroline Peckham Page 0,65

of my chest pebble, but I couldn't bring myself to ask for help pulling on shirts, so this was the standard I lived by aside from when I attended classes.

When the allotted time had finally passed, I headed back through the gym and upstairs where Tatum was working on a school assignment at the dining table.

My teeth clenched at the sound of drilling and I had to force myself not to respond to the incessant noise and remind myself of why it was necessary. Monroe, Blake and Kyan were outside acting like a bunch of hillbilly laymen as they bolted bars over every opening window in The Temple to make sure that there was no chance of anyone breaking in via them again. Since the so-called Justice Ninja had broken into Blake’s room to steal his trophies, we had decided that the only sure fire way to protect our home required this aesthetic sacrifice.

It had taken a fucking week for the bars to be sent which was too fucking close to unacceptable for my liking but with the news of Tatum’s father’s alleged suicide breaking, this last week had gone to shit anyway. So for one, final day I was going to suck it up and try to ignore the incessant noise of the three of them playing the handyman role with the hopes that after this weekend we could return to our regular routine and the world would be set right once again. I couldn't bear to look at them using tools and doing manual labour though, so I was just trying to pretend it wasn't happening. And it had to be done. There was no way that we could leave this place vulnerable like that, especially now that some fucking little upstart had decided to aim attacks our way.

I already had more than enough plans for how I was going to deal with the Justice Ninja just as soon as I got hold of them and they'd better believe that their life wouldn’t be worth living when I did.

I crossed the room silently, moving to stand directly behind Tatum as she worked and leaning down carefully until my lips were right beside her ear.

"I know what you've done," I growled and a shriek of alarm escaped her as she leapt up, knocking her glass of water flying as she whirled around to glare at me.

"Saint! What the fuck are you doing creeping up on me like a fucking ghost?"

I lurched forward and spun her around to face the table before pushing her to bend over it with her chest pressing down into the puddle she'd created. My ribs flared with pain at the movement but I gritted my teeth against the agony in favour of fixing this problem.

"This is for making a mess, Tatum," I explained as I reached around her waist with my good hand and fumbled with the fly on her jeans.

Before I could lose my shit over struggling with it, her hands moved over mine and she quickly unbuttoned them before sliding them down over her hips so that her ass was exposed to me in the silky blue panties I'd picked out for her this morning.

"Good girl," I breathed as that act of submission made something in my chest loosen and I rubbed my palm around the curve of her ass.

My dick was rock hard and not for the first time, I found myself imagining what it would be like to take my obsession with this girl further than I had. Not that I would. Unlike Blake and Kyan, I actually respected the fucking rules she'd laid out for us. But sometimes, I was almost certain she would have liked me to break them for her all the same.

My hand clapped down on her ass and a spike of pain burst through my ribs, but the moan that escaped her made it worth it. I was aware that this didn't exactly seem to be much of a punishment for her with the way she lifted her ass and moaned encouragement, but I didn't care. It didn't matter to me if she liked it, because the point was that I was in control of her. I was the one giving her that pleasure or denying her it and she was surrendering the power over her body to me for that purpose. It was probably a fucked up thing for the two of us to enjoy but I didn't care. For some reason, we both needed