Page 29 of Let Us Prey
Okay, maybe I’m cursed after all.
“Can I say uncle?” I sigh, in no mood to be poked by a grumpy wolf. “I’ve had probably one of the worst weeks of my life, and that’s saying a lot.”
Cassius observes me silently before setting down his phone and rising to stand. He slowly circles his monolith of a wooden desk until he’s standing in front of me—looming, actually—like a big gray storm cloud of muscles and doom. Bash is tall and fit, but his twin is built like a brick house, and I feel my mouth go dry as he rolls up the sleeves of his dress shirt.
Hera have mercy—not the exposed forearms!
“I shouldn’t have to explain this,” he smoothly states in that deceptively calm tone of his. “But what you do or don’t want doesn’t mean shit.”
An ember of irritation flares to life in my gut as I glare up at him. “And what if I refuse to be your little helper,Sir?”
He flinches, as if my words actually bother him, before smoothly reaching behind his back to grab something off the desk. Somehow I know what’s coming for me, and I snatch my hand away just in time.
The metal edge of the ruler hits my desk with enough force to send a reverberation to my seat.“WHAT THE FUCK?!”I scream, clutching my hand to my chest protectively. “In what universe would you think doing something like that was okay?”
“Ooh, we got here just in time, girls! It looks like the show's about to start.”
I can’t control the low growl that escapes me at the sound of Heather E.’s nasally voice, and the responding chorus of titters from the others.
Desperate to soothe my racing heart, I breathe deeply through my nose, focusing on the deep gash left in my desk by the ruler. As I calm, I’m surprised to notice the mark is nowhere near where my hand had been. The realization that this psycho simply wanted to rattle me simultaneously warms me and raises my ire.
“All right, Blondie,” Cassius pointedly ignores my reaction and projects his voice so the rest of the class can hear his instructions. “Jiggle that sweet ass over to the board. We’re all going to talk about why predators are better than prey while you write it out for us.”
I scoff. “You mean with the hand you just tried to break?”
He levels me with a dark stare that makes me shiver for reasons that have nothing to do with fear. “If I wanted to break your hand, I would have done it. But yes, I want you to usethathand, and I want you to think about how Icouldhave made it hurt. Every time your pretty little manicure wraps around thatthickmarker at the whiteboard—and whatever else you do with your hand later—I want you to remember who it belongs to.”
Whatever I do later…
My brain finally catches up with what my professor is suggesting and I feel my face go up in flames. I suddenly can’t get out of my seat fast enough as I scramble toward the whiteboard, and away from his knowing grin.
“All right, morons,” Cassius booms, his attention blessedly off of me. “What makes us better than prey?”
“Money, duh,” Heather C. sings out, her gum smacking to the beat of her idiocy.
“Wrong, Fish Face,” our professor shoots back, just as fast, and I can’t help fighting back a laugh, despite myself.
I decide to be the best teacher’s pet I can, and write ‘WRONG, FISH FACE’ in huge letters on the board. Heather C. squawks indignantly, but Cassius simply glances my way, nods once in approval, and turns back to the class.
Hey, maybe I like this game after all.
“Uh, we’re stronger?” my potential ally, the fisher cat hesitantly calls out, his beady eyes landing warily on the ruler still brandished in our professor’s hand.
Cassius grunts noncommittally. “I’ll give you half a point for that. Yes, many predators are stronger—especially the larger breeds—but don’t underestimate prey when they’ve been backed into a corner. I’ve seen a godsdamn gazelle kick its way through a rock wall to escape a lioness before.”
He looks expectantly at me and I add ‘kind of stronger, but only if you have big dick energy’ to the board. I swear, I see a ghost of a smile twitch under my professor’s beard, and my brat pussy pulses along with the phantom ache in my hand.
“What about you, Miss Drew?” Cassius perches on the edge of his desk, ruler tapping against his tree trunk of a thigh. “You must know why we’re all better?”
Better thanyou.
The unspoken addendum to his sentence echoes throughout the deathly quiet classroom. I see the Heathers eyeing me hungrily, while Todd watches with a disinterested expression. It’s as if he doesn’t care one way or the other what happens to me. My hand is now actually throbbing as I clench the marker so tightly my knuckles turn white. To think I everlovedsuch a worthless POS—that I saved my virginity forhim—makes the irritation scratching beneath the surface dance dangerously closer to wrath.
My bunny is rippling over my skin, but not because I want to flee. No, this is anangrybunny—a bunny I don’t recognize at all—and for a moment, my vision goes red as I start to lose control.
“Delores,” Cassius’ commanding tone wrenches me, gasping, back to reality. “Focus and answer the question.”
He’s standing now, his head cocked and expression bordering on intrigued, but all I register at first is that his precious ruler has fallen to the floor.
