Brax pushed up and sat beside me, knees pulled up, his forearms resting against them. He stared straight ahead, into the darkness. I sat up, too, close to him, but not touching. I kept quiet, staring at the blanket I sat on and inadvertently rolling the deceitful silver band around my ring finger. What did Brax think of me now, I wondered? Revulsion? Anger for keeping it from him? I had no choice now but to continue. “Rumors surfaced about what happened that night, and especially when Kelsy’s father got involved. Kelsy made sure he wasn’t going to look bad, though. I guess when it came down to me or him, he won.” I stared at Brax’s broad shoulders and tapered waist. Still, he looked straight ahead. “I was shunned by people I’d known my whole life. Labeled a slut. And had I not wanted this,” I spread my arms wide, indicating Winston, “so desperately, I may have let them win. But I did want it. I worked hard for this scholarship. So I just …” I pushed out a breath. “Dealt with it.”
Brax rose then, and strode to the chest-high wall at the ledge of the roof. Clasping his hands behind his head, he stared into the night. I stood too, and took a place beside him. I found I was suddenly speechless then, and humiliation flooded me. I didn’t know what to say.
Brax turned then, and leaned back against the wall, spreading his thighs wide and pulling me between them. With strong fingers he gripped my face, tilted my head, sought answers with just his eyes that flashed a palpable fury before speaking. “That prick raped you. That’s what you’re fuckin’ telling me, Gracie?”
The word was an ugly one; I hated it. A part of me still refused to believe that’s really what Kelsy did. “I’m telling you that he didn’t force me. According to the dozens of phone pics that circulated around school? I was more than willing.” I couldn’t meet his gaze now. “I just don’t remember—”
Brax’s hands gripped my shoulders, his fingers digging in. As he towered above me, he stared down, and the ferocity in those wraithlike eyes held more power than I’d imagined. He was so, so mad. “Gracie.” He shook me. “Look at me, dammit.” He drew closer. “Would you have had willing sex without the Ecstasy?”
I looked at him, and didn’t hesitate. “No.”
A cold, icy hardness fell over Brax’s face; it shifted everything into something primal, full of raw rage. “Then that’s rape, Sunshine. And I don’t give a fuck about him or his powerful father.” His fingers dug into the bones of my shoulders. “He’ll pay for it.” Blue eyes hardened to shards of glass, and his raspy voice held no threat, no excitability. Only a savage, raw quiet guarantee. “That’s a fuckin’ promise.”
Raising my hands, I held his face. “I didn’t tell you all this to gain your pity, or for you to jeopardize your scholarship, your future, just for you to seek revenge for my sake.” I fastened my gaze to his, wanting him to see what I tried so hard to explain. He went motionless, eyes searching mine. “I didn’t want anything left unspoken between us. No secrets. You told me your past. This is my mine, Brax. I don’t want it dug back up. I want it to stay buried, back in that old life of mine. I lived it once, and that was more than enough. You see,” I pressed close against him, pulled his face closer to mine. “You saved me. You led me out of a dark enclosure, a place I’d grown pretty comfortable hiding in. A prison, where I’d lost who I was.” I smiled, and it felt good. It felt real. “You set me free, Brax Jenkins.” Pushing to my tiptoes, I brushed my lips over his, but barely. “You stole my fear, then my heart. You made me want to feel again—”
Brax crushed his mouth against mine, and the violent possessiveness in his kiss shocked me, thrilled me at once. His arms completely encircled me as he pressed us together, engulfing my body. With those perfect lips he nudged mine open, traced the sensitive seam, then pulled my bottom one in as he sucked it with a slow, erotic taste that forced a groan from my throat and a fire to smolder in my lower belly. My fingers entwined through the curls that hung soft and messy at his collar, still damp from his shower, and I breathed in his scent; Brax swallowed my exhale, the sensation leaving my insides quivering, wanting more. His big hands slid over my backside, pulled me hard against him, and an ache so violent burned at the feel of his hardened state of arousal. He pulled back, his eyes searching mine, and without words I dragged my fingers down his arm, reveling in the hard muscles and strength beneath my palm, entwining our hands. We moved, both knowing what the other wanted, I think, and Brax bent and swept up the quilt and pillows with one hand. Silently, we left the rooftop, entered the darkened stairwell, made our way to my dorm room. My fingers shook as I pushed the key in the door, and Brax took it from me, lowered his mouth to my ear. His warm breath brushed over the shell, the sensitive skin of my neck, and I shivered.