King of Hawthorne Prep

“Tell me you want this, Summer.” There’s a tautness to his voice, as if he won’t last much longer.

“I do, I want this.” As if to emphasize the words, I tangle my legs around his waist. The motion sends him sliding deeper inside my body. “I want you.”

He groans as his lips settle over mine. Our tongues mingle as the taste of my arousal explodes in my mouth.

“It’s going to hurt,” he warns, pushing further inside.

“I know.” There’s a part of me that is nervous about the pain that he’s about to inflict. But I also realize that I wouldn’t have it any other way. In order for Kingsley to make me his, this needs to happen. He needs to pierce me so that our bodies can be joined.

My breath catches when the head of his cock butts up against the thin membrane of my hymen. With short sharp strokes, he prods it. Our breathing synchronizes as his gaze stays locked on mine.

The way his thickness caresses my inner muscles sends ripples of pleasure throughout my core. I groan and wiggle beneath him, needing more. The feeling continues to build until another orgasm explodes. As I cry out, he withdraws before slamming inside me and forcing his way through the thin barrier. When I scream, his lips seal over mine, swallowing the cry of pain and taking it deep inside his body.

He holds himself impossibly still, allowing me time to adjust to the intrusion. “I need to move,” he bites out, his voice whipcord tight. “I have to make you mine.”

Yes.

God, yes.

I want that just as much.

Even though pain radiates inside my womb and tears sting my eyes, I need him to take me. With every thrust of his hips, a little more control falls away until his lips lift from mine and he throws his head back, groaning out his release.

My gaze stays fastened on his face, needing to see the pleasure as it washes over him in heavy waves. It’s a heady sensation to realize that I’m the one who made him lose control.

Me.

The sharp bite of pain, the sting of his intrusion, was well worth it. I couldn’t imagine our joining unfolding any other way. Kingsley marked me in the most primal of ways and in return, I’ve done the same.

When he collapses on top of me with a huff, I wrap my arms around his ribs and pull him close. With our bodies locked in intimacy, I’ve never felt more bonded to another human being.

“Now you belong to me,” he whispers harshly against my ear.

“And you belong to me,” I repeat.

And nothing will ever change that.

Chapter Thirty-One

There is no gradual awakening for me the next morning. One minute, I’m deep in slumber and the next, I’m being ripped from a dream. My eyelids spring apart, and I stare at the face hovering inches above my own.

“What?” I slur, barely coherent.

“You need to get up,” Austin snaps.

I don’t think so.

“No,” I grumble, eyelids already drooping as I float back into sleep.

All I want to do is roll over and burrow under my blankets until the sun is high in the sky. I’m exhausted. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this tired in my life. I shift my thighs, and a dull ache flares to life between them.

Oh.

A smile curls around the edges of my lips as I remember the way Kingsley made love to me last night. I wanted him to mark me as his and that’s precisely what he did. I have zero regrets about experiencing sex for the first time outside, under the brilliance of the stars. It was beautiful and perfect. Exactly the way it was meant to be.

Austin shakes my shoulder and my gaze flies to him. “Get the fuck up, Summer! It’s important!”

Oh, for goodness’ sake! Why is he even up? It must be the butt crack of dawn.

“Whatever it is, we can talk about it later,” I mumble.

“Hell, no!”

“Why? What’s so important?”

I screech when he rips the covers away from my body before tossing them to the end of the bed. “Mom and Dad were in the study having a meeting with our neighbor. He just left.”

I’m about to unload on Austin when his words puncture the grogginess filling my brain.

“Neighbor?” I sit up and frown. Last I checked, we weren’t on friendly terms with anyone in the subdivision. Not a damn one of them can be bothered to wave when we drive by.

“Kingsley?” My heart skips a beat. Why would he be here, talking to our parents?

My brother’s upper lip curls. “No, dumbass. His father.”

“Keaton?” My brow furrows as the questions he pelted at me last night flood my consciousness and the same unease fills me. “Why?”

Something indecipherable flickers in his gaze. “You need to get down there and find out.”