In the next one, I was straddling him. The next, he fucked me from behind, his fingers biting into the flesh of my ass and my hands twisted in the sheets. In the last image, I was on my knees in front of him. My back was to the camera, but his fingers were tangled in my hair and his head tipped back with ecstasy.
"He must have used a telephoto lens," Kody told me, taking the images from my hand. "There's no other way he could have managed this. None." He started to tuck them back into the envelope before I stopped him.
"Wait," I said, my voice croaking. "Give them to me."
He did as I asked, and I flipped them over. Sure enough, on the last image were those same jagged red letters delivering another threat.
No one touches what's mine. I'll remove every part of his body that touched yours, then take pleasure in punishing you for this betrayal.
Nausea washed over me, and I thrust the photos back to Kody.
"I'm going to be sick," I announced, rushing back through the gates and crouching on the grass beside the car.
I heaved and gagged, but nothing came up.
Kody sat in the grass beside me, stroking my hair with soothing strokes and holding it back as I dry retched. He didn’t talk, and I didn’t blame him. What could he say that would possibly make this better?
“He’s going to come after you guys,” I finally croaked when I was sure no vomit would actually come up.
Kody grunted a sound. “Let him try.”
I shook my head, terror flooding through me anew. “No. No way. I’m not dragging you all down with me. It’s bad enough he already threatened Dallas…” I trailed off, feeling the guilt of avoiding my old friend so much.
“That’s why you stopped hanging out with him?” Kody’s voice was thoughtful, but his fingers still rubbed gentle circles on my back. On a whim, I leaned into his body, and he tucked his arm around me.
“It sure as fuck wasn’t because Archer threw his big dick energy around, if that’s what you thought.” I muttered the words into his T-shirt, soaking in his solid presence.
For a while we just sat like that—fuck anyone watching—but eventually I sighed and peeled myself out of his embrace.
“I need to stay away from you all,” I announced, my voice holding more resolution than shock. “Until this stalker shit is worked out, I can’t go painting targets on your backs too.”
Kody shook his head, a frown creasing his brow. “No. Not a chance. You can’t get rid of us that easily, babe. Besides, we will keep you safe from this freak, I swear to you.”
He couldn’t change my mind, though. Not when it was all so raw on my frayed nerves. I didn’t argue, but the way he sighed and scrubbed a hand through his platinum hair made me think he knew. He knew I was going to distance myself, and he wasn’t going to force the issue.
Yet.
34
I barely left the house for the better part of two weeks. Not because I was scared—even though that played a huge factor—but because I'd developed a nasty cold, probably from running around in the freezing night air with no coat and no panties after Bree's party.
One of the guys, I wasn't sure who, had arranged for all my lectures and classes to be streamed for me. It was a sweet gesture and meant that I wasn't falling behind before we'd even been at SGU for two months.
But there was another reason I was becoming increasingly withdrawn.
"Your father said he tried to call you last weekend," Archer commented as I shuffled into the kitchen wearing plaid flannel pyjamas, a thin tank top with no bra, and my dirty hair up in a sloppy bun.
I shrugged, pulling the fridge open to search for... something. Anything. I wasn't even hungry. Just bored. "I have nothing to say to him," I replied, my tone flat and cold. I'd seen his call come in and thrown my phone across the room. It'd cracked the screen and dented the wall, but I didn't much care.
"Fair enough," Archer accepted. He was sitting at one of the stools with his laptop open in front of him. It dimly occurred to me that I still had no clue what the guys were studying at SGU. Then I dismissed the thought again.
He let out a sigh, closing the lid on his computer and setting it aside. He was staring at me, and I was doing my best to ignore him while staring aimlessly into the fridge.
"The meaning of life won't magically appear between the beer and cheese, Princess Danvers," he muttered sarcastically. "Grab something and close the damn door. We need to talk."
That piqued my curiosity. Archer D'Ath, wanted to talk to me? Not argue or mock or tease? Ah, then again, that remained to be seen.
"What about?" I took the bait anyway.
He leveled me with one of those cool, blue-eyed stares. "Tonight."
Ice formed in my stomach.
"What about tonight?" Playing dumb seemed like my best option here.
Archer let out a frustrated sigh. "You know what tonight is. It's why you've been moping around the house for the last two weeks."
I folded my arms over my chest, indignant. "Excuse me? I'm sick."
"You're not. You had a cold. Colds don't last two weeks, Princess. You've been perfectly healthy all week, but now you're sulking because the anniversary of Riot Night is here and you still haven't resolved all your issues with us over what happened." His voice was flat, unemotional, uncaring. It made me want to punch him in the dick. With my boot. Repeatedly.
He was sort of right, though. Okay. He was a lot right.
After recovering from my very real cold, I'd realized how far through October we were. The anniversary of Riot Night had been coming up and I already knew I'd be the center of attention around campus. So I saw no harm in milking my cold a bit longer.
And sure, maybe I'd been avoiding dealing with the guys for a similar reason. Kody and I had talked and resolved things about my arrest. But there was the lingering question of our crazy-hot attraction to each other.
Steele and I had spent that incredible night together, but resolved nothing outside of how electric we were in bed.
As for Archer?
"Go and get yourself cleaned up," he ordered me, like I was a dog and he was my master. "We're going to a party."
My brows shot up. "What? No. No way."
Archer just gave me a bored look. "This isn't up for negotiation, Madison Kate. Go upstairs, shower, and get dressed. We leave at eight."
I slammed my can of soda down on the counter. "No."
His brows raised. "No?"
Curling my lip, I gave him a poisonous glare. "I understand this isn't a word you hear often, Archer, but it means the opposite of yes. Here, let me put it in a sentence for you. No, I'm not going to a party with you on the anniversary of the second-worst night of my life. Understood?" I made to stomp out of the kitchen, but he shot out of his seat and blocked my exit with his huge body.
"We're going. You can either get showered and changed or you can go like this." He flickered a disgusted look over my outfit. "But I wouldn't advise it. You'll stand out a bit."
Fury built inside me again, burning away some of the sulking haze that'd settled over me since discovering the stalker’s pictures of Steele and I fucking.