Chapter Thirteen

Dust motes float through the air, creating a halo around Kyson's head as they settle, but we both know he is far from being an angel.

"What happened to this place?" I glance around, fighting the urge to sneeze due to the dust and who knows what else.

"Basement kept flooding. Pastor went to jail."

"To jail?"

"Was having an affair with one of the members of his youth group. Knocked her up and killed her to protect his secret. His reputation."

"That's terrible."

He hands me a bottle of red Gatorade. "To help with the taste." He takes a couple of pills.

I should ask what they are, but I don't.

The truth is, I could do with some mind numbing myself. I don't have a clue what to do about this Matt situation. He swears nothing is going on with him and that girl, but deep in my heart of hearts, I can sense he's lying to me, like I am him.

Perhaps lying is the wrong word. But an omission of guilt is the same thing I suppose. I haven't told him about whatever is happening between Kyson and me. Except I don't even know what to call it. Are we friends? Are we enemies? The lines are blurred.

I take a drink of the vodka and Gatorade. He was right. It masks that terrible taste, but it still burns going down my throat. Heat settles in my belly and coats my cheeks. I take a seat on one of the pews, still in good repair, as Kyson lights some candles, giving the eerie room a warm glow. The scent of mildew permeates the room, as the candles serve no purpose other than providing dim lighting.

The heat of his gaze penetrates my senses. Electricity crackles in the room between us. Doesn't it always seem to, though? He crosses the room, sitting next to me. His thigh presses to mine, setting my skin ablaze. Kyson smells of sweat, smoke, and fresh cut grass as he presses closer to me.

"What's with the shirt?"

"I borrowed it from your closet because I saw the school mascot on it. I didn't realize it had your number on it or that it belonged to Britney. And no, I wasn't snooping in your room."

"You didn't nose around, not even a little bit? Look under my bed for my skeletons?"

"Nope. I didn't have time."

"Ah, now that I believe. You've royally pissed Britney off, you know."

"Oh, believe me, she was sure to show me in front of the whole band and pep section." I grin and he throws his head back, roaring with laughter. I love when he laughs like this. Real and carefree.

Our gazes lock and a swarm of bees swirls in the pit of my stomach.

Slow as dripping honey, his face inches closer to mine. His breath fans over my lips, and I close my eyes in anticipation of his kiss. It's all wrong, immoral even, but Kyson has this strange effect on me. One that makes me forget every bad thing he's ever said or done when his lips touch mine. Subtle yet dominating, prodding his tongue along the seam of lips, he demands entrance. Our tongues meet and I lean into him, desperate for whatever he wants to do to me.

The world disappears and I fade into him. There's only us in the bubble of this abandoned church. The low glow of the candlelight. The soft pattering of rain against the roof. Creepy yet romantic. Thunder rumbles right over us and I jump.

Kyson laughs and pulls away to take a drink and I do the same.

My body hums with excitement and warmth as I take another sip. "I don't understand you," I tell him.

"I'm a complicated guy."

"You can say that again."

"I'm a complicated guy," he repeats, then yanks out my ponytail. "You're nothing like I expected."

"Why is that?"

His gaze moves up and down on me. "Well, besides the obvious. You're not as uptight as you want people to think. Somewhere in here," his palm hovers over my heart, "there's a wild and stubborn streak that you don't show everyone." His hand slides down my side to finger the hem of the tee. "But sometimes when you smile, I see it in your eyes."

"You don't know the girl I am now. I've only been here a few days."

"I know you. Same as you know me." He strokes a finger along my cheek, and I shiver. "How am I going to survive a year of this…of you?"

"I keep asking myself the same question," I whisper against his lips as he kisses me again. Will I ever not want to kiss him? I moan into his mouth, answering my unspoken question, and that alone should terrify me.

The buzzing of my cell phone echoes around us. I stare at the screen. Matt's calling.

"That your boyfriend?" Kyson licks his lips, distracting me from the fact that he's answering my phone. "Dahlia can't come to the phone right now," he says huskily and abruptly hangs up.

I glare at him while reaching for my phone. "Give me my phone."

"Come and get it." He shoves it down the front of his pants in challenge.

"You think I won't?"

He arches a brow, knits his fingers together behind his head, leaning back on the pew. A dark tendril of hair falls across his forehead all swoopy and sexy. He's the ultimate bad boy.

Two can play this game. I call his bluff and slip off the pew and to my knees between his legs. I smile up at him as he stares down at me, all smug, loving the sight.

Pulse spiking nervousness courses through my veins. I place a hand on each of his thighs and ask one more time, "Please, Kyson? Give me my phone."

"Rule is simple. You want it. You gotta take it."

"Fine. Whatever." I roll my eyes and hesitate at his zipper. I can't believe I'm doing this.

"That's it, lil' doll. Grab it." His lips pull upward, and I want to wipe that smug expression from his face.

"You wish."

"I do." He closes his eyes. "Be a pal and make my dream come true. Give me a kiss right on the head."

Fire spreads across my cheeks. He's ridiculous, and yet the allure has me wondering what the act would feel like. Is he big, thick, and veiny? I lick my lips, wondering how he tastes there. Would it be like my friends have said? Salty and slightly bitter?

The sound of his zipper going down seems amplified in the silence between us as a storm rages outside, but it's not nearly as wild as the one brewing inside me. I'm at war with myself. Torn and ragged, my desire bashes against my mind, begging yet daring me to live a little dangerously for once. But that's the problem with straddling the edge of anything too long. Eventually you're going to fall. I don't have anyone to catch me when I do.

Therefore, I continue the delicate balance of this game of love and hate. Slipping my fingers inside his pants, I try to avoid his erection, but the heat of him is there and I brush my fingers over his crotch while seeking out the smoothness of my phone case.

A hiss of pleasure escapes him, and I want nothing more than to force more noises from him. My cell rings again and I quickly slip it out of his lap.

"Hey," I answer, twisting away from Kyson as he wraps a fist in my hair, yanking me backwards, until I'm crashing into him and the pew. The act catches me by surprise and my phone goes sailing through the air and lands with a sickening shattering sound.

"Where do you think you're going, Dahlia? I'm not done playing with you." Kyson keeps his hold on me as he crashes his mouth down on mine. All tenderness has left him as the ugly monster that controls him rears his ugly head, reminding me that whatever good there is in him will always be shadowed by the bad.

He chips away at my self-worth with every brutal stroke of his tongue in my mouth. Wedged between his thighs as though I'm praying to his altar, he takes more than I want to give, but I don't dare try to stop him.

I'm weak. So I stay fallen on my knees on the cold damp floor with his fingers gripped tightly in my hair and I submit.

"Let me feel your hands on me," he says, as desperate and broken as I feel.

I fumble with the button on his jeans and grip him over his boxer briefs.

"Not like that. Skin to skin," he coaxes, shoving my hand inside his underwear to really touch him. His hot flesh weighs heavily in my palm. My movements are clumsy and jerky, but if he minds, he doesn't vocalize that. The only noise coming from him is breathy pants.

No, he's burning for me.

I couldn't deny him if I wanted to.

Tonight, I'm a bad girl doing bad things with the last person I should dare to be intimate with. I stare at his dick, entranced by the pearly bead of liquid at the tip.

Kyson smiles at me, swiping his thumb over the head, then smears the fluid across my lips.

I gasp at the dirtiness of the action as warmth pools in my lower belly.

Thunder claps as the church doors swing open and Gauge and Remy enter, followed by more people. Kyson is quick to tuck himself back in his jeans before they get close enough to see what we were doing.

Crunch. A heavy boot steps on my cell phone, destroying the device completely.

"You found it," Kyson announces, jumping to his feet, nearly bowling me over in the process to scoop my broken phone up from the floor. I grab my drink from the pew, taking a shaky drink.

Did they see anything? Were they watching?

I avoid making eye contact with any of them.

"Is this a private party or can anyone join?" one of the other guys from the football team says.

"What happened to the Romos party?" Kyson questions, his gaze flickering to me momentarily.

"Shit was mid. No liquor. No easy lays besides the bitches we've already fucked. Was on our way to the lake house to get drunk when we spotted your car. I've been wondering where you disappeared to. Should've known you'd be here playing seven minutes in heaven with your cousin." Remy howls with laughter.

"Shut the fuck up. She's not related to me, dumbass."

"All right. Sure. I'll bite. What were you really doing here, then?"

"Oh, Kyson. Don't stop." Gauge pumps his hips in a vulgar motion.

"Dahlia wanted to pray."

"Yeah, to your dick." Gauge high fives, I think his name is Blake.

Smoke fills the air and I watch their group pass around a joint, noticing Kyson doesn't take a hit. There aren't any other girls with them, and I don't want to be here any longer. The guys are getting wasted and more obnoxious by the second.

I hedge toward the door, only for Remy to block my escape. He braces an arm across the exit. "Where are you sneaking off to? You know, I do appreciate a pretty girl who knows her place is on her knees."

"That's cute. So which one did you blow? Was it Blake or Gauge?" I smirk as his jaw drops.

"You forgot the keys." Kyson dangles his keys in front of my face as he presses up against me from behind. His lips brush along the back of my neck as he shoves his other hand in my back pocket, shoving my broken phone there. "I'll be your lookout. You'll get lost if you go alone. She has to do a little tinkle. I've got a flashlight in my trunk."

"You going to hold her hand? Isn't that sweet?" Remy rolls his eyes but moves from the door.

I stomp outside with Kyson following close behind. "Just be cool and we'll leave once they are too drunk to notice."

"Why? Aren't you the leader of your pack? The alpha wolf?"

"The guys are harmless. A little stoned and a lot drunk. They say stupid shit, but you're safe with me."

"When I'm with you, I'm far from safe."

I'm anything but…