Black Promises (Blackwoods College)

I crouched down at the edge of the woods. The fence line was ten yards away, and the house another forty yards further.

“What do we do now?” she whispered, leaning forward on her toes, staring at the house intently. Every fiber of her body strained in that direction, and the man we planned on killing was inside, right this second, probably alone.

We could do it now if we wanted.

But no, not yet. I came out here to scout the location, but also to do something else.

I turned to her suddenly and pushed her backwards. She let out a surprised gasp as she slammed down into the leafy, rock-strewn grass. I straddled her, pinning her wrists down above her head, holding her still as she tried to struggle, her face showing fear, and shock, and something else.

Excitement? Desire?

I leaned forward and whispered in her ear, “Stop fighting me, freak.”

“What the hell are you doing?”

“One last test.”

She sucked in a breath then slowly let it out. “What the hell are you thinking? You scared the crap out of me.”

“Good. I want you scared. We’re about to do a very scary thing.”

“Get off me.”

“Not yet.” My lips brushed her neck. Fuck, she was so tempting. I could take her right here and now—rip her virginity from her tight, beautiful body.

But that wasn’t the deal, and I kept my word.

She glared at me defiantly. She was at my mercy and she knew it, and yet she wasn’t letting it show.

“What do you want from me?” she asked, chin tilting up. “You got your contract. How much more do you need?”

“There’s a difference between wanting something hard and doing it. Do you have any idea how much blood comes out of a human body?”

She shook her head. “No, I don’t, and I don’t care. Dr. Silver—”

I moved my lips to brush against hers. She stopped talking, tongue pressing against her teeth.

She wanted me to kiss her. I bet if I reached down between her legs, I’d find her dripping wet.

My little freak wanted me to fuck her rough here and now.

“You want me to kill him, but actually seeing it happen is going to be pretty fucked up. Bodies are ugly and disgusting, especially when you tear them apart. He’s a monster, but he’s still a living human being, and taking a life is no small fucking thing.”

“You’d know? You talk like you’ve done this before.”

“I haven’t, but I’ve fought enough to know what’s going to happen. I’ve seen broken bones and bleeding mouths and heads and eyes and lips. You’re a clean little virgin.”

“There’s nothing clean about me,” she whispered and struggled, but I held her tight.

My freak. My lovely, lovely freak.

“I need to know you won’t panic when the time comes. When I cut his throat or smash his skull, you’re not going to run.”

“I’m not going to run.”

“Swear to me. No matter what happens, you’re in this. No matter how ugly it gets.”

“I swear it. I want this, Jarrod.”

I wasn’t sure if she meant Dr. Silver’s life—or the prize she’d give me after.

I released her then. I wasn’t satisfied, but I never would be. She rubbed her wrists and sat up as I reclined beside her. Silence dropped over the night until the back door opened and a dog skittered out into the yard, sniffing around.

We both froze. The dog was a good-looking yellow Labrador with a perfectly groomed coat and a handsome square face. He sniffed the air and I swear he stared right at me for a few long seconds—

Then released a bark.

Cora flinched.

The dog barked again. And again. I didn’t think it could see us, but maybe it caught our scent. It came closer to the fence, still barking—

The back door opened again and Dr. Silver himself stepped out. “Hoagie! That’s enough, Hoags. Get inside.”

Hoagie’s hackles were up. It showed its teeth.

“Good boy,” I whispered.

“Hoagie! Come!” Dr. Silver’s tone was sharp.

Hoagie turned and trotted over. Dr. Silver let the dog inside, grumbling, and slammed the door behind him.

“Oh, fuck,” Cora said, letting out a breath. She was sheet-white.

I stood and offered her my hand. “That’s enough for tonight.”

She took it and I led her back into the woods.

“How the hell are we getting past that dog? He knew we were out here. There’s no way we’ll get inside.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ve got a plan.”

“You keep saying you’ll figure it out, but I haven’t seen anything yet.”

I snorted and smirked at her. “Do you have any better ideas? From what I can tell, you’ve been daydreaming about killing this asshole for years, but you haven’t done a quarter of the leg work that I’ve done in the last week.”

She glared at me, but didn’t argue. “You still haven’t told me how we’ll do it.”

I sucked in a deep breath and let it out.