Lessons in SECRET (6 page)

After school, I head to
the Foundation so Ellie and I can debrief. I have to pretend like I
don’t know her when we’re at school, and we can’t be seen out
together anywhere, so this is our first chance to talk this week.
She’s definitely made a splash around campus. While I’m playing
myself, she’s playing an exaggerated version of the tough girl I
know she is. And Kurt’s practically foaming at the mouth.

“Hey girlie, how are
you doing?” she asks as I walk into her office.

While mine looks like a
library, hers looks like a bar. Or a family pub. That’s where she
was working when Helen Wilson found her—her family’s pub. She
wasn’t twenty-one yet, but she’d been tending bar for years.
She’s as street smart as I’m book smart, but her intelligence is
above average as well. What you see with her is definitely not what
you get. So yeah, her team works at booths that look like they should
be drinking in them, but she’s not someone I’d ever
underestimate.

“You saw my
‘breakdown’?”

“Oh yeah. It was
perfect.”

“I just have to be
initiated now. With Kurt.”

“Fuck. Why didn’t
you just let me go in first, or get recruited first?”

“You want to sleep
with Kurt?”

“Of course not, but I
could handle it. It’s just sex for me.”

“What’s just sex
for you, El?” Aiden asks, walking into the room.

“None of your
business, Aiden,” she tells him with a scowl.

“So that’s how it
is?”

“It’s how you made
it. You don’t want me? Fine. I get it. But you have no right—or
claim—on me, so who I do is none of your concern.”

He looks like he wants
to argue, but he knows she’s right. Ellie’s made no secret of the
fact that she wants him. She’s been clear since the moment he
walked into the building with Matt and Nate. But for some reason, he
thinks he can’t have her. So he won’t touch her. He just touches
all kinds of other women in front of her. I’m honestly surprised
that he’s still standing. Or alive. I know he was Special Forces,
but Ellie’s not someone I’d ever mess with.

“See you around,
then.”

“Did you have
something you needed
from me
?
You came in here, after all.”

I see the hope in her
eyes, and it nearly kills me. I can see that he’s having similar
thoughts. “I just wanted to make sure that everything was going
okay. That you were okay.”

“Why?”

“Because I had to.
Are you…okay?”

“Aiden,” she says,
taking a step towards him.

He steps back, closing
his eyes for a moment before speaking. “Don’t, Ellie. Don’t
take it wrong.”

Her eyes turn cold as
she tries to hide the hurt that had flashed in them a moment ago. “I
won’t. I’ve learned that nothing about me is right where you’re
concerned. As for your question, I’m fine. Perfect. Couldn’t be
better. Your conscience can remain clear while you fuck the female
population of the city.”

He wants to speak. I
can see that he wants to tell her what she means to him. But he
doesn’t. He just nods at us before turning to walk out the door.

Ellie lets out a small
cry, and I go to her immediately. She sobs in my arms for a few
minutes, before shaking herself. “I’m sorry you had to see that.
We need to focus on you, and the mission. Not my failed love life.”

“He wants you, Ellie.
He’s just fighting it for some reason. He’ll come around, just
like Matt did with Reina.”

“Matt hasn’t come
around. He’s planning on a year.”

“I don’t know if
that’s still his plan. Since they’ve been exclusive, he’s
been…nicer to her.”

“True. But I heard
him telling Nate that nothing’s really changed, other than he’s
getting lucky every night.”

“Matt? Matt said
that?” Reina asks. Oh hell, neither of us heard her come in.

“Umm…maybe?”
Ellie says, trying to diffuse the situation.

“I should’ve know.
I
do
know. It’s
been this way for years. Why would a stupid ring change things?”

“He loves you, Rei.”

“He loves my body,
Isa. I hope he enjoys it for the year. Because once he divorces me,
I’m done. And if any of you see me start to give in, slap me. I
give you and the other girls permission to slap the shit out of me if
I go near Matt Corrigan once the year is up.”

“Don’t hold back,
Princess. Tell them how you really feel.”

Oh God. Could this day
get any worse? First Ellie and Aiden, and now Reina and Matt are
about to go at it. Sleeping with Kurt isn’t looking so bad in the
grand scheme of things.

“Like you’re
telling Nate that you’re only happy about getting lucky every night
with me? Well guess what? Your luck’s run out. My body is off
limits to you.”

Matt’s mouth drops
open, and he’s gone pale. “For how long, Rei?”

“Forever, Matt.
For-fucking-ever. So get used to your hand since you can’t cheat on
me.”

“How is it cheating
when the Ice
Princess
isn’t giving it up?”

She punches him so hard
that his head snaps back. “You know what? Go ahead and fuck
someone. In fact, go fuck the whole damn country for all I care. Just
know you won’t be fucking me ever again.”

She runs out of the
room, while the three of us just stand there in stunned silence. I’m
the first to break that silence, because I can’t stay silent, even
if blood is gushing pretty steadily from Matt’s nose. “How dare
you, Matt? Haven’t you messed with her enough? She doesn’t
deserve the way you treat her, like she’s nothing.”

“I know. And for the
record, Double G, she’s
everything
to me. Every. Fucking. Thing.”

“Then maybe you
should tell her that.”

“Yeah, maybe I
should. But I can’t.”

He walks out before I
can tell him that he’s smarter than the way he’s acting. Ellie
and I agree that we need to help them however we can. Matt may be an
ass, but he’s like a brother to all of us. So while Reina has our
allegiance, we won’t shut him out completely, either. We talk about
school and strategize the best way for her to allow herself to be
recruited. She can’t seem eager, but she can’t fight Kurt too
hard, either. We come up with a solid plan, and call it a night a few
hours later. I’m still worried about Kurt and the initiation, but
after today, I realize that things could be much worse. At least I
have Mase.

Isa

I didn’t want to
dress too sexy for what is probably going to be the day I have sex
with the head of a teen prostitution ring, but I also don’t want to
look like a nun. I compromised by wearing a short blue dress that has
a subtle print, and a high V-neck. My hair is in my usual braid, and
I’ve got my blue cowboy boots from Tegan on my feet. I don’t know
if they’ll give me the extra courage I need to go through with
this, but they can’t hurt.

Right after I walk into
the main building, Kurt grabs me and pulls me into an alcove. “Are
you ready, Isabelle?”

“As I’ll ever be,”
I tell him truthfully.

“Wait for me at your
locker after school. And be prepared for the show.”

“Show?” I ask,
swallowing hard.

“Plans have changed,
but there’s no way I’m not going to watch.”

“I don’t get a say
in this, do I?”

“Nope. From now on,
your life belongs to us. Don’t forget that.”

“I won’t.”

I also won’t forget
that I need to find out who his mystery boss is. The guy who’s
pulling the strings. Max admitted that there’s someone else, which
is actually a no-brainer. Kurt’s too cocky to keep this going on
his own. He likes to brag, and seeing him the past few weeks has made
me realize that although he seems to give everything away, he’s
been holding himself back. And it’s killing him. If I can play this
right, I should be able to get all the info I need from him. Then I’m
taking them both down, and getting these girls the help they need.

No one throws anything
at me, or tries to humiliate me throughout the day, but I’d
honestly prefer that. They’re leaving me alone because they know I
“belong” to Kurt, and that doesn’t sit well with me. At all.
I’d rather fight them—I could totally take that asshole football
player who was trying to cop a feel earlier this week—than have
them look at me like I’m something less. Because even if I
was
going to be sleeping with people for money, I’m still a person. A
good person. Good people do things they have to in order to survive
all the time. That doesn’t make all of them bad, it just makes them
desperate.

I’m leaning against
my locker after school when Kurt and Grace walk up to me. She’s
still looking like she wants to kill someone, although he’s
smirking at me. “Ready?”

“You already asked me
that this morning.”

“Yes, but I wasn’t
sure if you’d try to chicken out now that you have no idea what to
expect.”

“As you’re so fond
of reminding me, I have no choice. I really never did. You wanted me,
and now you’ve got me.”

“Not like he wants
you,” Grace mumbles.

“Shut it, Grace.
Unless you want me to take you out of rotation.”

“You wouldn’t. You
can’t!”

“I can. We have the
lovely Isabelle now, and we’ll have that Ellie chick soon, too. So
watch your mouth, and get over your jealousy.”

I see that she wants to
fight him, but she doesn’t. “I’m sorry, baby. I’ll be good.”

“And right now, so
will Isabelle. Let’s go.”

We walk down the hall,
and stop in front of Mase’s office door. This isn’t right. What
are we doing here? ”Come in,” he calls out, when Kurt knocks.

Kurt ushers us inside
and then locks the door. I fight to catch Mase’s eye. He looks
uncomfortable, but resigned as he pushes his chair away from his desk
and turns it sideways. I’m still confused until Kurt speaks, and
what he says sends chills down my spine.

“On your knees,
Isabelle.”

“Wh-what?”

“Everyone’s
favorite teacher is getting the pleasure of that nice, sexy mouth of
yours on his dick. So drop to your knees and start sucking.”

“I-I…”

“Isabelle, come over
here. I promise I won’t bite…this time. And please don’t bite
me.”

“Does everyone…you
know…get initiated like this?”

“No. They do not. I
worked out a deal with Kurt.”

“Why?” I know why,
but I feel like I need to play my part. And stall a little because
I’m freaking out inside.

“I’ve watched you
in class, and I’ve
wanted
you. I want more than this, but it’ll do for now.”

Mase sounds so calm.
How the hell can he be so calm? He knows I haven’t done this
before, because I wasn’t ready to do it to him yet. And now I have
to not only perform this intimate act on him when I’m not ready,
but I have to do it in front of Kurt and Grace. Now I know why she’s
so angry.

I take a deep breath,
and force myself to think clearly. I don’t know how he did this, or
what he promised Kurt, but I understand that he’s trying to protect
me. I can’t mess this up. For the mission, or for myself. I square
my shoulders and walk to him, dropping to my knees in front of his
chair.

I reach out and undo
his belt, then the button of his khakis. My hands shake a little as I
pull down his zipper. I’ve done it a bunch of times now, but never
when I was on my knees. Or in front of other people. I feel hands in
my hair, and then Mase is taking out my braid, and creating a curtain
with my hair to shield what I’m about to do from the other eyes in
the room. I still can’t look at him, because I’ll break if I do.

“What are you doing,
man? I can’t see with her hair down like that.”

“All you need to see
is that she’s doing it. I’m not putting my dick on display for
the world. Or little girls who think I’m going to fuck them because
they show some cleavage.”

I hear ice in his voice
that’s never once been there when he’s talking to me. If I’m
being honest, it almost scares me a little to hear him like that.
Then I think about how he’s being this way to shield me, and my
nervousness dissipates. I push down his briefs and take him in my
hand.

This part is easy. I’ve
made him come with my hands before. I close my eyes, and take a deep
breath before bending over and darting my tongue out to give him a
little lick. He tastes like Mase. I don’t know how else to describe
it, but that’s it. Him.

He leans down to
whisper in my ear. “It’s just us here, Isa. Just us. They can’t
see what you’re doing, and I’ll probably kill Kurt if he speaks
up again. I’m sorry it has to be like this, but I couldn’t let
him touch you.”

“Thank you,” I
whisper back, and then I just close my eyes and do it.

I lick his shaft from
bottom to top, and then take him into my mouth—just a little,
enough for him to moan into my ear. I know he’s holding himself
back from just thrusting into my mouth. Being gentle for me. I show
him my appreciation by opening my mouth wider, and taking him all the
way to the back of my throat.

I’m surprised that
I’m liking this. A lot. He’s pulling my hair tight, as he tries
not to make any noise, which is way hotter than it sounds. To know
that he’s shielding me while at the same time, keeping his sounds
for me alone, well that just makes me fall a little more for him.

I reach down and cup
his testicles in my hand, rolling them across my fingers while
pumping him with my other hand, and sucking hard with my mouth. It
takes less than a minute before he stiffens beneath me, and grips my
head, hard. “Isa,” he breathes as he comes in my mouth. I swallow
down everything he gives me, and lick my lips as I let him go with a
pop.

We’re both breathing
hard as I keep my head down while moving his clothes back into place.
He pushes my hands away to zip himself up and re-fasten his belt. I
look up into his eyes, and he smiles at me, letting me know I did it
right. I start to smile back when the clapping begins.