loved, also.
And as Carter embraces me in his arms, sheltering me from the cold cruelty of the world, the dawn his energy, the morning stars my solace, I know I’m deserving of his love.
I will never be the other girl again.
Epilogue
That Night
Whitmore: Before
I find her near the water’s edge. The ocean laps at her bare feet as she stares out over the horizon. She’s that place between, where sky kisses water, that perfect, fragile glimpse at absolute beauty.
A goddess.
And she’s waiting for me.
Irina’s auburn hair shimmers in the moonlight, and I long to touch it. Curl my fingers around those lovely tresses and snap her neck.
I spotted her right away that first day in my drama class. I on the stage looking down, her in the audience staring up at me with admiration.
She was too tempting to ignore.
For weeks, I fought my urge to have her. But she was a tempting little vixen, testing my willpower with her sensual, naughty looks, those teasing touches during our private sessions.
Oh, she knew what she was doing. She knew how to bring a man to his breaking point.
At sixteen, Irina had me wrapped around her dainty finger. The eight-year age gap between us meant nothing. When I finally caved and gave in to her desire, it was like nothing I’d ever experienced before.
So tender, and yet so sinfully pleasurable. Every needy desire answered that night as we fucked up against the wall of my office.
I’m hard now just thinking about it, and have to adjust myself as I stalk through the loose sand toward her.
Every night after that one, she’d come to me, and we’d fulfill our need for each other…until that little shit got in the way.
He made her question us, doubt what we are together. As if a high school boy can do it for her. She needs a man.
As if just thinking about him conjures the boy into existence, Jeremy Rivers appears on the shore next to Irina.
My hand coils into a fist. It’s still tender from where I throttled the life out of that dumb slut.
I breathe in the salt air and let it cleanse my system of all the pent-up frustration. Lanie Masters wasn’t supposed to be here—she was an accident, I admit. Her little obsession with the Rivers’ boy had become too big an interference. And well, she asked for it, didn’t she?
They always ask for it, and are so shocked when they get it.
Lanie was so pathetically hungry for attention. Jeremy wouldn’t give it to her; he’d already gotten what he wanted. Fucking dumb high school boys. What’s the point of fucking a bitch once and then treating her like shit? It’s like they don’t realize it’s a sweet piece of ass to have at the ready any time they want.
No, they’re always wanting to move on to the next conquest.
And Irina will never be his to conquer.
In a way, I think as I draw the butterfly knife from my pocket, I’m doing Irina a favor. She’ll be immortalized as the girl next door. Innocent perfection. No one has to know her dirty secrets.
But she’ll see, as I stare into those beautiful liquid-green eyes while I slice the filth out of her, that I know the truth. She’ll always be my dirty girl.
And that she was so very wrong to choose a boy over her teacher.
I flick my knife open. The blade sheers the air, the wind carries the chime across the shore where she waits for me.
Someone has to teach these girls a lesson.
Want to read more from Black Mountain Academy?
Drama, angst, love, lust, and everything in-between. Light or dark, twisted or sweet, the BMA series has something for every reader!
Check out the Black Mountain Academy webpage to see all the books available:
Cruel: A Necrosis of the Mind Duet
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Also by Trisha Wolfe
Broken Bonds Series
With Visions of Red
With Ties that Bind
Derision
Darkly, Madly Duet
Born, Darkly
Born, Madly
Living Heartwood Novels
The Darkest Part
Losing Track
Fading Out
Cellar Door: Standalone
Five of Cups: Standalone
Lotus Effect: Standalone
A Necrosis of the Mind Duet
Cruel
Malady
About the Author
From an early age, USA Today best-selling author Trisha Wolfe dreamed up imaginary worlds and characters and was accused of talking to herself. Today, she lives in South Carolina with her family and writes full time, using her imaginary worlds as an excuse to continue talking to herself.
Get updates on future releases at http://www.trishawolfe.com/
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