Page 54 of Made for Cyn

“What are you doing?” I cry.

“Punishing you,” he says, pulling his belt from his pants.

Pushing to my feet, I back away, but he cocks his head to the side. “How much do you care about your brother?”

“Wh-what?”

“Someone should have called child services on your parents a long time ago. I mean, is your brother even in school right now? And how about the fucking orgies at the compound? They do drugs out there, Rain?” His mouth pulls back in a cruel smile.

My heart is pumping so heavily in my chest, I can feel it in my throat. I’m afraid to move, afraid to stay, fucking afraid. “I don’t—”

“That’s against the law, you know. But you’re here with us now, Rain. And I’ll teach you where your fucking parents never did. Now turn around.”

“Or?” I whisper.

“Or I fuck up your brother’s world. And you’ll get your punishment anyway,” he says grimly, his thin frame trembling as he stares at me with greedy eyes.

Chapter Nine

It’s Sunday. I hide away from the world, curled in a ball on my bed as shame pulls at my belly. Although all he did was hit me with the belt over my clothes, it was no secret he was aroused because he didn’t bother to hide it through his thin pajama pants. Now I’m terrified by the possibility of what he might do next.

I don’t know if what he’s saying is true, but I do know my parent’s style is not traditional, and I don’t want them to get in trouble. Yes, they did some kinky stuff that I’ve always refused to think about because—gross. And Prophet Jim condoned drugs because they brought you closer to the earth or something stupid like that, but my parents never harmed us.

What would happen if John reported them? And what if, god forbid, they placed Joey here?

No way. I can’t let Joey be hurt, not because of me. He’s young and sweet and good, and I’ll figure something out, but not that. Still, I’m not sure what to do, and the possibilities circle my brain for hours until I finally fall asleep.

Sometime later, my phone pings, and I see a message from Cyn, and that’s when I cry because John took something that should have been a precious memory of a moment that I remember forever and ruined it, not that Cyn’s behavior helped much in that scenario.

I want more than he’s willing to give, and I was foolish to agree, and now I’ve pushed him into an exclusive booty call scenario when I should’ve just agreed to the one time.

Besides, my skin crawls with shame at the thought of Cyn knowing what John did. Ignoring the text, I turn away, wincing with every subtle movement because I know I have bruises all over my back and butt without looking.

???

School on Monday is excruciating because every time I sit, the full throb reminds me of the other night, and by lunch, I’m so achy I want to go home—except home isn’t safe for me anymore.

Cyn looks me over moodily from his table, but for once, I’m not interested in what he’s doing or with whom, and instead, I sit down again and hide my wince while I stare at my meal dully.

“What’s with you?” Iris asks, plopping down beside me.

She gave me the third degree for leaving her at the party, and I was forced to lie about how I got home, claiming I couldn’t find her and hitched a ride with Oscar, who doesn’t know I lied, and hopefully she’ll never ask.

Technically, I don’t even know if he was at the party, but I sure wasn’t going to explain the events that did take place, so my only option was to lead her off course.

“Nothing, I just don’t feel well.”

“Shark week?” she asks as Cyn looms above us.

“Yes.” I lie because I can’t very well have him demanding sex when I have bruises all over my ass.

Besides, I decided to end this. So why does my traitorous heart feel like it’s going to explode out of my chest with just one meaningful look? I’m so screwed.

He raises a brow but doesn’t comment as he holds out his hand to me. Iris stares between us with narrowed eyes, and with a silent sigh, I take his hand, assuming he’s going to take me somewhere to talk. Instead, he leads me back to his table, sits down, and pulls me into his lap.

I’m sure I’ve got the attention of the whole school, but I’m too caught up in Cyn’s motivations to look, not to mention my backside is flaming once again.

“Hey, Lil’ B,” Jig says playfully.

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