Battling the Enemy Read online

  “Oh, hey!” Delaney’s drunk ass piped up. “I am my own woman, dammit!” She tried to wrench her arm free of my grasp, but that wasn’t happening. “I don’t need a man. And I sure as hell don’t need either of you to be the man I need, if I needed one.”

  Christ, she was drunk.

  She whirled around towards Winston. “For years, you’ve known we were supposed to get married, and you spent all these years offering me passive acknowledgements, at best. We were friends when we were little, but as soon as you discovered teenage pussy, I wasn’t even that anymore. And now you want to give a shit? Fuck that, Winston.”

  I was next.

  Delaney whirled around towards me and let loose. “And you,” she scoffed. “For years you never even knew I existed. And if you did, you didn’t care one way or the other. Suddenly, I fascinate you, and because you’re bored with your endless buffet of pussy and ass, you want a challenge and have decided that I’m it.” She didn’t know how wrong she was. “I’m here because of you, Deke,” she punctuated. “I’m here to see what if feels like to be cool and popular. I’m here because the real me can’t possibly hold your interest for long. And for some fucked-up reason, I want that. I want you to want me, but I want you to want me for longer than it takes for you to win. I’m not the girl for you. I’m not even close to the kind of girl you’re used to.” Her hand scanned down her body like she was presenting herself. “This is the kind of girl you like, right? And this is the kind of girl who is brave enough to do…what you want her to do.”

  This conversation wasn’t for Winston’s ears. “Let’s go, Delaney,” I replied. “You’re drunk and don’t know what you’re saying.”

  She let out a bitter laugh. “I know exactly what I’m saying,” she argued. “I’m saying that you and Winston can both go fuck yourselves.”

  “Delaney-”

  My eyes shot over towards Reynolds. “Don’t,” I snapped. “Do fucking not, Reynolds. This isn’t your business.”

  “It is if she doesn’t want to be with you, either,” he snapped back.

  Like fucking hell she didn’t want to be with me.

  Chapter 18

  Delaney~

  All that booze, and for what?

  Standing in Deke’s house-sober as a goat-I was feeling miserable.

  After I had told both Deke and Winston to go fuck themselves, I had been feeling rather proud of myself. But that had faded quickly when Deke had let go of my arm and had reached for Winston. Suddenly, we had been surrounded by Liam, Ramsey, Emerson, Roselyn, and Ava, and the guys had restrained Deke, while the girls had surrounded me.

  I wasn’t sure why Winston kept antagonizing Deke, but I suspected it was to prove the point that he was still dedicated to our arrangement, even after telling him I no longer cared to go through with it. But, whatever his reasons, I needed to cement my decision before Deke ended up killing Winston, and that meant telling our parents.

  After Liam and Ramsey had separated Deke and Winston, Deke had grabbed me by my arm and drug me behind him, through the house, and to his car. He had tossed me into the passenger seat, buckled me in, and took off from Trent’s. Halfway down the road, though, I had gotten sick and Deke had had to pull over, so I could throw up the twenty gallons of vodka I had consumed.

  Okay, maybe it hadn’t been twenty gallons, but I didn’t drink. And because I didn’t drink, a half bottle of vodka was equivalent to twenty gallons in my mind.

  When I had fallen out of the car, I had ran behind a random tree that lined the sidewalk, and while I was heaving up my innards, Deke had come around, held my hair, and rubbed my back, all the while telling me what an idiot I was.

  Yep.

  No sweet, soothing words of love from Deke Marlow.

  Once my stomach was empty, and I was thoroughly embarrassed, he had put me back into the car, and he had driven us the rest of the way to his house in silence. And now, I was standing in his living room, sober, and I could feel a headache coming on the size of Texas.

  This was not what I had in mind when I had gone to Trent’s.

  Deke was shutting and locking the door behind us, and I was too miserable to even worry about being alone with him in his house. A girl who doesn’t drink should never pop her party cherry with a bottle of hard liquor. Suddenly, I wasn’t feeling as smart as my IQ and good grades indicated.

  “Come on,” Deke barked as he grabbed my hand and pulled me behind him.

  I followed because I seriously didn’t have the physical or mental strength to battle him. Why did people do this? I wasn’t even experiencing a next day hang over yet, and I didn’t want to.

  Once we walked up the stairs to his bedroom, he left me standing in the middle of the room as he pulled a shirt from his closet. “Deke-”

  “Don’t, Delaney,” he snapped. “I’m one irritated nerve away from laying you across my lap and spanking the shit out of you like an out-of-control child.” My lips curled in and I wisely kept my mouth shut. He thrust his shirt in my hands and pushed at me until we were both walking into his en suite bathroom.

  I looked around and the bathroom matched his bedroom with the dark black and grey tiles. His bedroom had light grey walls, a dark grey bed set, and black furniture. It all looked very sleek and expensive. His car was white, so I never expected his room to be decorated in dark colors. Uh, not that I had given his bedroom much thought, that is.

  I stayed silent as I watched Deke yank open a drawer and pull out a value pack of toothbrushes. He pulled one out and dumped it next to his in the toothbrush holder. “Take a shower, brush your teeth, and do whatever else it is you do to get ready for bed, and then come back into the bedroom,” he grumbled.

  “Deke-” I tried again.

  “Goddamn it, Delaney,” he barked. “Another word and I swear to God…”

  “Sorry,” I mumbled, properly chastised. I stayed where I was as Deke took two towels from a built-in cabinet next to the shower and placed them on the counter. The second he walked out of the room, I locked the door and started to take off the ridiculous clothes I had on. They weren’t even my real clothes. They were an old outfit that my mother had bought me one day while in Paris. She thought it was cute, but it had just been further proof that she didn’t know me at all.

  I undressed, turned on the shower and got in, letting the warm water sooth away all my bad decisions from tonight. It wasn’t until I reached for the shampoo that I realized I was going to smell like Deke, and that realization had my tummy feeling hollow.

  It felt hollow because I liked that idea.

  I showered and used Deke’s shampoo, conditioner, and body wash and I felt like such a girl afterwards. When I stepped out of the shower, dried off, and then put on his shirt, the feeling had intensified. Deke’s shirt fell all the way to my knees, and it felt like such a girlfriend thing to be wearing his clothes.

  I brushed the hell out of my teeth and tongue until I felt all my vodka regret had been scrubbed away. After that, I searched the drawers for something to brush my hair. I found a brush and took my time detangling my hair. After I was done, I looked into the mirror and gave myself the biggest pep talk in history.

  Finally, I unlocked the door and walked out to find Deke sitting on his bed, watching television, in a pair of basketball shorts and nothing more.

  Sweet Christ.

  He stood up and I couldn’t help but notice he still looked pissed. I felt stupid saying, “Uhm, I don’t have my purse with me or anything, so…uh, I don’t have a scrunchie for my hair…”

  Deke placed his hands on his hips, looked up towards the ceiling, and let out a breath so deep, I could hear it clear across the room. He didn’t say anything as he brought his head back down, gave me a quick look, and then walked out of the room.

  Well.

  I sat on his bed because I didn’t want to add to my nerd status by just standing around looking like a dweeb. I had no idea where he’d gone to, but if he was as pissed off as he claimed, it was quite poss
ible he left me here to just go to sleep.

  A couple of minutes later, Deke returned with a scrunchie, and my heart dropped.

  This asshole was giving me a scrunchie that belonged to another girl.

  A scrunchie another girl left at his house. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the stress of this past week, maybe it was dealing with Winston, the overwhelming association with Deke’s friends…whatever it was, I could feel the tingle in my nose that suggested tears were about to make an appearance.

  Who does that?

  Who gives a girl another girl’s property? I mean, that takes insensitivity to an entirely different level.

  I stood up, and he reached out to hand me the scrunchie. “Uhm, no thank you,” I mumbled. I may feel…defeated whenever I was around Deke, but I wasn’t a complete weakling. And I would not be wearing anything one of his other conquests left behind.

  Deke smirked, and I wanted to do him violence. I’d never been particularly physical or violent before, but Deke brought out that side of me. He made my irritation levels skyrocket, and it was like I wanted to take out every life frustration I’ve ever had out on him.

  “My hair can just-”

  “It’s Emerson’s or Roselyn’s,” he said. “There’s a shitload of them in the game room.”

  I could feel my face flush with embarrassment at my presumptions about what went on in his house. I reached out and took the scrunchie. “Thanks,” I mumbled.

  He crossed his arms over his chest before saying, “I’ve never had a girl over here, Delaney. Except for Em and Linnie, you’re the only girl who’s ever been to my house.”

  Em and Linnie?

  The personalization caused butterflies to take up residence in my stomach. Saying his nicknames for Emerson and Roselyn was taking this to a seriously personal level. Deke’s reputation preceded him, so I didn’t consider anything we’ve done sexually as personal. He hadn’t done to me anything he hadn’t done with a dozen other girls. But using Emerson’s and Roselyn’s nicknames with me was super personal.

  After throwing my hair up in a wet bun, I shrugged a shoulder and said, “It’s none of my business who’s been here and who hasn’t.”

  Deke stepped to me and he made sure to scan the length of my body before his eyes settled on mine. “Everything that has to do with me is now your business, Lamb,” he replied.

  I decided to test him.

  “Okay,” I challenged. “So, then, are the rumors about you, Liam, and Roselyn true?” His face became an instant mask. “So, then, I guess everything that has to do with you isn’t my business.”

  He looked down at me, and I knew immediately where I stood with him. And it was behind Ramsey, Liam, Emerson, and Roselyn. Deke might want to sleep with me, but I was beginning to realize that my assumption about being a challenge was spot on.

  “Don’t ever ask me about Roselyn again,” he said impassively-emotionlessly.

  I was such a goddam fool.

  Chapter 19

  Deke~

  I never imagined I could feel so many different emotions all in one night.

  I had gone from cool, and chillin’ at Ramsey’s, to frantic and worried when Ava had called, to surprised at seeing Delaney drunk and dancing, to pissed off and wanting to kill Reynolds again, to sympathy when Delaney had thrown up everywhere, to anxiousness when I finally got her back to my place, to irritated when she tried to explain herself, to horny when I thought about her naked in my shower, to consumed when she had walked out of the bathroom in only my shirt, to tired when she quietly mumbled that she didn’t have a hair tie, to cocky at her jealousy when she thought the hair tie belonged to another girl, to raging mad when she had asked about Roselyn.

  A couple of months ago, a video of Roselyn and Liam having sex surfaced where Liam explained, quite clearly in the recording, how I had been an extra in the bedroom. That video and the person who took it had been taken care of, but while no one outside our group had seen the video, rumors of its existence had still started. We all had done our best to shut the rumors down, but there were still mumbles here and there.

  Last year, Liam, Roselyn, and I had entered into a ménage relationship that lasted about a year. It had been born out of the need to protect Roselyn from her fuck of a stepbrother, but it had grown into love for Liam and Roselyn. And for me, Linnie had become one of my closest friends. And as much as I cared about Delaney, I would not be telling that story. It was Roselyn’s story to tell, and if she never felt comfortable with Delaney enough to tell her, well, then, so be it. But the story wasn’t going to come from me.

  There was also the issue of Delaney’s take on the truth. Would she be jealous of Roselyn? Would she insist I could no longer be friends with her? And, if she did, how big of a hypocrite would I be when I wanted Delaney nowhere near Winston and she hadn’t even slept with him?

  I could admit I was at a loss on how to handle this, but I knew I’d never betray Roselyn and Liam by sharing a secret that wasn’t mine alone to share. So, I switched gears. “What were you doing at Trent’s party tonight, Delaney?”

  She sat back on my bed, and no lie, seeing her on my bed was fucking with me. I hadn’t lied when I told her I’d never brought a girl here. Even when I was sleeping with Roselyn, we hooked up at her house or Liam’s, but mostly at her house. It was easier to pass our cars off in her driveway as that we were there to see her stepbrother, Brandon. Roselyn didn’t have a reason to be at mine or Liam’s house.

  Delaney looked up at me from the bed and hit me with the truth. “I was trying to forget the clusterfuck you’ve turned my life into,” she replied. “I was also hoping to hide from you a little longer.” So, I was right. She had been avoiding tonight.

  I stepped towards her until I was standing right in front of her and she was forced to open her legs, so I could fit in between them. I stared down at her and it wasn’t lost on me that she was in the perfect position to suck my dick. Suddenly, the night of the beach party came back and the look on Delaney’s face as Melissa had sucked me dry.

  I had never wanted a blowjob from a girl so badly in all my life.

  It was all I could do to focus on our conversation, but I did my best. “Why?” I asked. “You already know how this is going to pan out.”

  She shook her head. “It’s so easy for you, because you’re used to taking whatever it is you want,” she said. “My…decision to be with you affects more than just if I orgasm.” I didn’t like how she was reducing what we had to the basics of sex, but I let her continue. “I have to deal with Winston and the fallout from our parents now that…now that I’ve changed my mind about marrying him.”

  Delaney will never know what her words have affected. “What’s the worst that can happen?”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” she deadpanned. “Maybe not pay for my college? Maybe disown me? Kick me out of my home?”

  I reared back. “All that just because you don’t want to marry Reynolds anymore?”

  “That arrangement wasn’t made out of some deep parental need to see Winston and me happy in life, Deke,” she sneered. “That arrangement was made, so our parents’ businesses could combine and become a medical powerhouse. Do you honestly think they’re going to take kindly to me messing that up for them? Especially, since I’ve gone along with their plans all these years?”

  She had a point.

  She had a point, and if her parents were like the rest of the parents of Sands Cove, her happiness wasn’t paramount to what they wanted from her.

  I reached down, cupped her face in my left hand, and all thoughts of her parents and Reynolds vanished. Besides, her parents’ retaliation wouldn’t matter in the scheme of things because it was now my job to take care of Delaney. And that included paying for college or moving her in if she did get kicked out of her house. Hell, I’ll probably move her in with me any damn way. Roselyn lived with Liam, and Emerson lived with Ramsey, so why wouldn’t Delaney live with me? We were all legal adults, after all. And all those th
oughts made me realize I was tired of waiting.

  “Are you still scared?” I asked even though it wouldn’t matter. I was taking Delaney tonight, and I didn’t care if she was an emotional wreck. I probably should, but Delaney showing up at Trent’s party showed me just how much I needed to lock her down and put an end to her…indecisiveness.

  She didn’t avert her eyes. “I’m not sure,” she admitted. “I think…my problem is with what comes afterwards.”

  I ran my thumb across her lower lip, and I could feel my dick rising. I wanted inside her pussy like I wanted to take my next breath, but I wanted her lips wrapped around my cock more. I wanted her to fulfill her fantasy from that night in the trees. And it didn’t matter that she’s never given head before. I knew-I absolutely knew-her lips wrapped around me was going to be the best thing to ever happen to me.

  Motherfucker.

  I was in love with Delaney fucking Martin.

  I knew I wanted her. I knew I was going to have her. I knew I craved her and wouldn’t be without her as long as she called to me. But I knew it was love because I knew she could give me the worst blowjob in history right now, but because it was her-because it was her-it’d be the best I ever had.

  Delaney would be the best everything I would ever have.

  “Do you want to know what comes afterwards?” I asked. “Because I’ll be happy to tell you, Lamb.”

  Then she did something I hadn’t anticipated.

  Delaney opened her lips and took my thumb into her mouth. Her gaze never wavered as she flicked her tongue around the tip of my digit. “Are you sure?” I asked. “I need you to be sure, and I need you to say the words, Delaney. I need the words because I won’t stop once I get started, and you won’t be able to stop me or change your mind.”

  She pushed my thumb out of her mouth with her tongue. I watched as she took a deep breath before saying the words that would change both our lives forever. “I’m yours,” she whispered. “I’m yours until you’re done with me, Deke.”