"You tell me." I pushed my fingers into his chest.

"Couldn't resist huh?" He took a step towards me.

"Resist what?" I swallowed hard as he took another step.

"Touching me." He grabbed my fingers and pulled me towards him. "You want me."

"I want to know what's going on." My breath caught as I felt his body next to mine, warm and hard.

I should have known he would try and use our chemistry to distract me from why I was here. His body was playing games with me and my brain was quickly forgetting to be angry and afraid.

"What's it worth to you?"

I blinked up at him. "What's what worth?"

"The truth."

"The truth?"

"About why you're here." His face darkened as his hands fell to my ass and pushed me into him.

"Of course I want to know the truth." I stared into his eyes, unflinching.

"How badly?" He shifted and I felt his bulge pressing into my stomach hard.

I refused to take the bait. "I want to know."

"If I tell you, you have to do something for me."

I bit my lower lip. "What?"

"You have to spend the day and night with me and do what I want."

"I'm not going to have sex with you."

"I never force anyone to have sex with me."

"Then what?"

"You'll see."

"I don't know." I shook my head. Could I really trust him?

"I'm not going to hurt you." His fingers ran down my arms. "Think of it as a part of your training."

"What training?" I frowned.

"How to please me."

"How to please you?" I looked up at him in surprise, and I could tell from the look on his face that he hadn't meant to say that.

"How to please a man," he corrected himself with a frown.

"How to please Hunter?" I smiled slowly, wanting to see his reaction.

"No." His eyes flashed and his fingers tightened on my arms.

"No what?"

"Hunter is not the one for you." He shook his head angrily. “Why are women always so dumb?”

“Are you calling me dumb?”

“You’re not the first woman who has been young and dumb, and I’m pretty sure you won’t be the last either.”

“I’m not dumb.”

“You’re not very smart either.”

“Stop changing the subject. This isn’t about me and Hunter.”

“Do you think Hunter would like to know you’ve been kissing me?” He grinned. “And touching me? And allowing me to touch you? What do you think he’d think about the lap dance you gave me?”

“I’m sure he’d laugh,” I spoke slowly and licked my lips. “I’m sure he’d have been able to make me come.”

“Bitch.” Jaxon’s eyes narrowed as he stared at me.

“Really?” It was my turn to tilt my head. “I thought bitches were allowed to come as well, or is that not allowed here?”

“You’re feistier than first appearances led me to believe.” He shook his head as he stared at me. “You’ve more fire than I thought.”

“You shouldn’t play with fire.” I smiled. “You might get burned.”

“Small fires shouldn’t play with big fires.” He leaned towards me and whispered against my lips, “A big fire can consume a small fire in seconds.” His lips pressed gently against mine. “Before you know where you are, there’s nothing left of the small fire.”

“Maybe a small fire is ready to take that risk,” I whispered back, allowing my tongue to lightly run across his lower lip. “No matter the size of the fire, you get too close, you’re going to get burned.”

“Are you saying you’re going to burn me, Nancy?”

“Are you saying you’re going to consume me, Jaxon?”

“I’ve already consumed you, Nancy. You just haven’t realized it yet.”

“What game are you playing?”

“Do we have a deal?” He grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the couch.

“Yes.” I nodded, not caring what I was agreeing to. I needed to know the truth.

“You’re not being targeted per se.” His eyes stared at me with no emotions. “My father is after your dad.”

“Brandon?” I frowned.

“Yes, my father is after Brandon Hastings.” He nodded.

“Why?”

“Why else?” He shrugged. “Revenge.”

“And he’s using me to get it?”

“No, he’s using me.”

“How?”

“He’s using me to use you.”

“Why would you tell me this?”

“I don’t want to use you.” He shrugged. “Whatever I get from you has to be given of your own volition.”

“You think I’m just going to let you do things to me after you’ve told me I’m here for revenge?” I jumped off the bed. “You’re crazy.”

“You promised me that we had a deal.”

“I lied.” I stared at him for a few seconds, not moving. “Why does your dad want revenge on Brandon?”

“I thought you were going to leave.”

“If I were smart, I’d leave.”

“So you’re not smart?” His lips twitched.

“Maybe you’re not smart. Why would you tell me why I were here?”

“Because I know you’re not going to leave.” He shrugged. “You’re already too invested.”

“I came for Hunter,” I spat out, not wanting him to think that I was going to stay because of him. “And he knows me.”

“Yes, he knows you.” He nodded.

“I’ve never done this before.” I took a deep breath. I was confused and overwhelmed. I hadn’t expected Jaxon to be so up-front with me. I knew I should leave the academy and never come back, but I didn’t want to.

“Neither have I.”

“What do you mean?” I looked up at him in confusion.

“I’ve never seduced someone I like.”

“You like me?” I ignored the seduced part of his sentence. I didn’t want to think too closely about the lust running through my body.

“Don’t let it go to your head.” He frowned.

I grinned at him. “As if I would.”

“Your lips are like fire.” He jumped up, leaned forward, and kissed me.

“Because of my red lipstick?” I asked after kissing him back lightly. There was something so potent about kissing him.

“No.”

“Then why?”

“Because when I kiss you, you burn right through to my soul.”

My heart froze at his words. “What do you mean?”

“Your heat has my internal organs out of sorts.”

“Maybe you do have a heart after all.” I smiled at him gently. Maybe that was why he had told me. Maybe a part of him cared about me, even in this short amount of time.

“More like a hard-on.”

I shook my head. “You’re disgusting.”

“And you love it.” He grinned and leaned forward to kiss me again.

“Tell me why your dad wants revenge against Brandon.”

“Your dad is a hypocrite and a cheat.”

“Why?”

“How much do you know about you dad?” His eyes glossed over. “I understand you just recently met him.”

“So you do know about my past?” I stepped back from him. “You did know me on the train.”

“I knew you on the train.” He nodded. “I knew you when you walked to the train station. I knew you when you received the letters.”

“You’re Mr. X?”

He nodded. “Disappointed?”

“I thought it was Hunter.”

“I know.”

“How?” I nibbled my lower lip and shivered. “This is really creepy. You’re really creepy. You’re a f**king stalker.”

“You love f**king, don’t you?”

“Excuse me?”

“You love to use the word f**king. Fucking this, f**king that.”

“You’ll never hear the words me f**king you though.” I smiled at him sweetly, and he pulled me towards him roughly. My br**sts crushed against his chest and my breath caught. “What are you doing?” I gasped as his hands roughly squeezed my ass.

“I’m waiting.”

“For what?”

“For you to beg me,” he whispered in my ear, and then I felt his teeth nibbling on my earlobe. “I’ve told you before, Nancy, but I’m going to tell you again. I’m going to love watching you beg me to f**k you.”

Chapter Five

Jaxon

Nancy’s mouth dropped open as I massaged her firm ass. She squirmed against me, and I had to stop myself from pushing her onto the ground and undoing my zipper. Sex would be the undoing of Nancy, just as it was with all women. I’d lulled her into a false sense of security by letting her know some of the truth. It was bound to come out at some point. Now that I’d proactively told her the truth, she would have some sense of trust towards me.

She’d be stupid to trust me—especially after I’d told her that my father was after revenge. Any smart person would have fled and not looked back. However, Nancy—like most women—had a false sense of confidence. I never understood why women trusted so easily, even when blatantly confronted with the truth. I couldn’t name how many women I’d told that I wasn’t looking for a relationship. How many times I’d said, “I don’t love you.” How many times I’d never called. Yet they always came back for more. Always expected something to be different. I didn’t understand why women didn’t believe men when we told them that we were wolves.

I’d give it to her; she had more spunk than I’d thought she have. She was sexier than I’d imagined as well. Even now, with my hands all over her, it wasn’t enough. I wanted more of her. I needed more of her. Yet I knew that I didn’t want to hurt her. I didn’t want to be a casualty of what my father and I were going to do to her father. I was going to change the plan. I had to.

Though I think my father already knew. I was pretty confident that he’d already moved on to plan B. I shouldn’t have told him that there was a complication. My father didn’t have a heart. There were no complications in his life. He took care of them quickly. I was pretty sure he’d already moved on. He wasn’t counting on me anymore. That made me angry for more than one reason. I wanted to bring Brandon Hastings down as much as he did. I just didn’t want Nancy to get hurt.

I felt my head pounding as I realized that she’d already gotten to me. She was the first woman to ever make me think twice about what I was doing. She was already under my skin and I barely knew her.

I knew that I needed to scare her if I wanted to ensure that she didn’t get hurt. I’d have to show her part of the real me. I’d have to take her down my road. I knew my father would expect it. He’d be watching and waiting. I knew that he wouldn’t hesitate to change things up. He’d already gotten the ball rolling.

I felt my insides heating up as I thought about Nancy’s conversation with Hunter. There was no way I was going to sit by and watch her with him. No way at all.

I looked into her eyes then and smiled at the defiant gaze on her face. I’d have fun with her, break out the ropes and the whips. Turn the kink up. See how far down the road she’d go. See how many games she’d play. See how far to the dark side I could take her before she finally gave in and relented. Then I’d let her go. Hopefully, by that time, we wouldn’t be too far into the game that we both got lost.

Chapter Six

Nancy

"I'm never going to want to sleep with you." I turned my nose up at Jaxon and ignored his smirk.

"Let's test that theory." He smiled and took a step towards me, his eyes staring into mine with such intensity that my body shivered at his gaze.

"It's not a theory. It's a fact."

"Is that true now?" He ran his fingers across his temple.

"Yes."

"I want you to take this phone." He reached into his pocket and handed me a phone.

"What's this for?"

"I want you to have a bath tonight." He stared at me. "I want you to call me from that phone right as you step into the bath."

"Why?" I frowned.

"You'll see."

"I'm not going to send you a na**d video of myself."

"I don't want a na**d video."

"What do you want then?"

"You'll see." He looked at his watch. "You can go now."

"What?"

"I've got things to do."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Think about what I told you."

"I don't get it. If your father hates Brandon and he's trying to bring me down to hurt him, why should I trust you?"

"Because I trusted you." He shrugged. "I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Why not?" My breath caught. Did he like me?

"Because contrary to what you might believe, I don't like to see innocent people paying for the actions of their fathers.”

"Scared what you might have to pay for, huh?"