Broken Trust: A Dark High School Romance(27)
“About to be expelled from a school we fucking own?” Evan finished for me. “Yeah, pretty much. Are you okay if I go stop him from killing that kid?”
I pried my eyes open a fraction more, peering across the classroom to find Beck punching the shit out of one of my attacker’s faces. Like, seriously laying into him. Blood sprayed with every hit, and the kid’s whole body was limp in unconsciousness. A deep shudder of revulsion ran through me, knowing what those boys had intended to do to me, and for a moment I considered letting Beck kill him. What would one more body matter? Beck’s hands were already stained beyond repair.
But … was I really that person?
“Go,” I told Evan, giving him a small push. I clutched at the jacket he’d draped over me and watched in numb silence as Evan smoothly intervened before Beck’s blood coated fist could land again. I stared at them, unblinking, while Evan spoke in low tones. Beck’s jaw was taut, his whole body coiled as tight as a bow string and his gaze … his gaze was locked firmly on me from across the room. I stared back at him as he abruptly released my unconscious assailant from his grip, dropping him to the hard floor with a painful sounding thud. Still, he stared, even as Evan continued speaking, handing him a rag from fuck knew where to clean off his hands.
Beck stalked across the room to me, and I swallowed back the terror threatening to pour out of my throat in a scream. Logically, I knew he’d just saved me. In my heart, I knew he’d never hurt me. Not really, not physically, and not intentionally. But that primal, instinctive part of me saw his iced expression, those eyes that held murderous fury, and the hulking strength of his body… and wanted to flee.
He paused when he reached me, crouching down until he was on my level, all the while maintaining that unwavering eye contact. My whole body was trembling in uncontrollable shivers, my teeth chattering, and my fingers turning numb, yet I couldn’t look away.
“Butterfly,” he breathed, reaching out a copper scented finger and stroking a tangled snarl of my dark hair off my face. I flinched. I didn’t mean to, but I was no longer in control of my own reactions. Fear had driven all semblance of logic and reason out of my body, and my arms tightened around my knees, tucking me into a tight, quivering ball.
Beck’s face tightened further—if that was even possible—and he gusted out a long sigh. “I won’t hurt you, Butterfly. I’d never…” He trailed off with a grimace and we both knew why he couldn’t finish that statement. Sure, he’d never hit me. But that didn’t save me from how badly I’d been hurt by his betrayals when it came to Delta.
“Riley,” he tried again, voice a graveled mess as he shifted slightly closer on his knees. “Please, baby, let me hold you?”
I still trembled violently and my instincts screamed at me not to trust him, but I couldn’t give a fuck. I needed Beck to erase the fear, just like he’d done every night since the plane crash. All it took was a tiny nod, and he gathered me up into his arms, sweeping us up off that dirty, blood splattered classroom floor.
Deep shudders of relief rolled through me, and I buried my face in his chest to hide the tears streaming down my cheeks. Reality was smashing my state of numb fear to pieces.
I’d almost been raped.
Gang raped. By boys at my school.
And for what? Money? One of them mentioned a pay off, so I could only imagine Katelyn—or whoever had set this up—had offered a serious monetary reward for defiling me. Given how rich the students of Ducis Academy already were, it had to have been an astronomical amount too.
“Hey,” Evan called out as Beck carried me out of the school in long, purposeful strides, “This is going to require Delta intervention, Beck. I’ve called our paramedics but…” I could hear the pained groan in his voice that suggested some of Beck’s victims—my attackers—weren’t faring too well.
Beck’s grip tightened around me, and his chest rumbled with a sort of growling, angry sound. “I’m not leaving Riley alone,” he snapped back. “Go grab Dylan, he can deal with Delta.”
Evan muttered something I didn’t quite catch, and Beck stopped abruptly, spinning us around—I presumed to face Evan. “I said no. Get Dylan. I’m taking Riley to my house.”
“No,” I protested, pushing back slightly from his chest to frown up at him. “No, take me home. I want to be in my own room.”
Beck’s jaw clenched, and I could see how badly he wanted to argue with me, but clearly thought better of it when he nodded sharply and continued across the grass to where his car was parked in its usual spot.
He placed me gently in the passenger seat and buckled my seatbelt when my hands shook too much to grasp the clicker. When he was seated behind the wheel, he leaned over and clasped my face between his hands gently, and I noticed the slightest tremble in his arms as he met my gaze. “I won’t let them touch you again, Butterfly,” he said softly. “Never again.”
Tears ran unchecked down my cheeks, and I didn’t care. Beck had seen me at my worst anyway. “Please take me home,” I managed to get out, my body shaking. “I need to burn these clothes, and shower.”
Beck’s jaw tightened, but he just nodded and released me, starting the car up and leaving the parking lot. He drove slower than I expected, but he should have known better than to baby me like that.