The Ritual: A Dark College Romance

I SIT SILENTLY in the passenger seat while he drives us to Barrington. My apartment isn’t on campus, but it’s definitely close enough that I could walk if need be.

“Are you going to show me what we did that night in my apartment?” I ask, breaking the awkward silence.

He remains quiet, driving through one of the many parking lots, looking for a space. I cross my arms over my chest and let out a huff. Finding a spot, he backs in. I’m reaching for the door when he holds out his phone to me. I let go of the door handle and look at him. He nods for me to take it.

Pulling it from his hand, I see it’s paused on a video. I push play.

It’s of me in my bedroom. I’m lying on my back, hands up by my head, and I’m passed out. Ryat walks into the room and over to the side of the bed. Ripping my shirt up, he places his hand on my stomach and slides it down and into my underwear. My nipples harden while I watch him push them down my legs before pushing my legs open. He then climbs on to the bed and sits between them. He starts fingering me, and my breathing accelerates while my body reacts to the video.

I watch as his fingers make me squirm in the bed, my body coming alive for him on its own. He gets rough, my body rocking back and forth, forcing me to come. He removes them and rubs them along my lips before sucking his own fingers clean.

I’m fucking panting as I watch this. It’s the only sound you can hear inside the car while I clench my thighs shut. Thankfully, there’s no audio on the video.

He then rips the shirt off me and walks out of the frame. The video stops. Without a word, I throw his phone into his lap, open the door and get out. I practically run across the parking lot to the building, needing to get away from him.

That should not have turned me on as much as it did. But the fact that I wasn’t aware he was there makes my body break out in a sweat. The way he knew what it needed, what it liked.

I make my way to my first class for the day and sit down next to Sarah. She’s got a big smile on her face. “How was your night?”

I blush and look down at my desk. Of course, she knows that I never slept with Matt but had tried. “Good. Yours?”

She places her elbow on her desk and her chin in her hand. “Amazing.”

The girl in front of me turns around, glaring. “Please tell me you two didn’t …”

“Mind your own business,” Sarah tells her.

“Maybe don’t talk so loud,” she snaps, then turns back around, throwing her hair over her shoulder just like last time.

We’re walking out of class when I see Ryat across the hall. Just like before, he’s standing with Gunner and that blonde. “Lunch?” I ask Sarah before she walks away.

“Sure,” she throws over her shoulder.

I try to get closer to them without looking like I’m eavesdropping. I rush to the side hall and peek around the corner.

She stands in front of them, both of her hands on her hips. Her short bleach-blond hair is up in a high pony, and she’s dressed in a pair of short shorts and a T-shirt with a set of black heels. Her back is to me so I can’t see her face. Gunner is smirking, and Ryat looks bored as he stares down at her.

“Cindy Williams.” I hear a familiar voice.

I jump and look over to see Matt is watching me eavesdrop. Fuck! Busted. By him of all people? “Who?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest, not expecting an answer.

He smiles a cold and collected smile. Like this was his plan to get me to talk to him. “Her eldest brother … he’s five years older than me. He’ll be president of the United States one day.”

“Yeah, right.” I laugh at that and this weird conversation we’re having. It’s the first time he’s spoken to me since we got into our fight here in the hall.

“And Ryat …” I stiffen when he says his name. “Ryat Archer will be the most ruthless and renowned judge in New York. Well, possibly in the US.”

I frown, looking at him. “Why are you telling me this?” Why is he even talking to me at all? Wasn’t he at the vow ceremony with that girl he was at the house of Lords with? Doesn’t he know I belong to Ryat?

He snorts. “Cindy Williams will be Mrs. Cindy Archer.”

My pulse accelerates at his words. Now I understand why he’s talking to me. He thinks he can hurt me. He thinks I’m such a needy, lonely bitch that I’ve already gone and fallen for Ryat after one fucking night! Seriously? So, because a guy finally fucked me, I’m supposed to love him?

He steps into me, and it presses my back into the wall. “Matt …” I warn.

Leaning into my ear, he whispers, “She will be his wife. She will have his kids. And she will be the one tied to his bed that he fucks.”

A coldness runs up my spine. Not at his words but how he says them. The dark tone in his voice sends warning shivers down my spine.

He pulls back and smiles down at me. “Just like you will be all three of those things for me.” Reaching out, he plays with a piece of hair that’s fallen out of my messy bun. “Have fun while you can, Blakely. He may be fucking you for now, but I will be the one who will have you for the rest of your miserable fucking life. And I will never let you see the light of day.” Leaning forward, he licks up the side of my face, making me taste vomit. “And you will pay for what you’ve done to me. Remember that he’s playing with you now, but I will own you. Till death do us part. And that won’t come fast enough for you.” His eyes drop to the hickeys that Ryat left on my neck, then the bruises on my arms and wrists. “You may be his slut, but you will be my worthless whore.” Then he walks off.

RYAT

“WHY DIDN’T YOU choose me?” Cindy asks, her hands on her hips. “I know my name was on that list,” she snaps at me.

I say nothing. Not every girl gets chosen. We have fifteen seniors this year and hundreds of women’s names on the list. That’s why some Lords choose to have more than one. The list of women willing to be a chosen is a mile long.

Gunner laughs at her words. “Why the fuck would he pick you as his chosen? He’s stuck fucking you every day after his graduation until he dies. Why would he add a year to that prison sentence?”

Baring her teeth, she lets out a growl and spins around, stomping off down the hall.

“Man, you are going to hate being her husband. She’s going to be a miserable bitch.” He slaps my shoulder, watching her sway her ass down the hall. “I’d keep her gagged twenty-four seven, strapped to a board down in the basement.”

“That’s the only plan I got.” My parents arranged my marriage to Cindy Williams years ago. I was a senior in high school, and she was a junior. We lived in New York; her family lived in California. We took a family vacation to the Alps with them. Both of our fathers are Lords. And her two older brothers as well. Her father wanted her with a fellow Lord, and when my father told him I was going to have my freshman initiation the following school year, wedding bells started ringing.

We spent two weeks in the Alps. The first night there, she found her way to my room and woke me up with my dick in her mouth. I spent more time in bed fucking her than I did out skiing. She’s okay when her mouth is full, but when it’s not, all she does is run it. Nonstop.

“So, what are you going to do?” Gunner asks, getting my attention.

I look over at him. “About what?”

“The ice queen. She’s probably already on the phone with daddy, ratting you out that you chose Blakely instead of her.”

I wave him off. “Let her. Nothing they can do about it.” My father knew I was told to choose Blakely. He understands I had no choice, and he also knows that what he and my mother have arranged with the Williamses isn’t going anywhere. Right now, my focus is to fuck up Matt and his pathetic life. “I got the right girl.”

Gunner slaps my chest. “Speaking of your girl.” He points down at the end of the hall.

I see Blakely walking in the opposite direction with her head down, gripping a stack of books in her hands to her chest. “See you back at the house of Lords,” I tell him and take off down the hall. “Blake?” I holler at her, but she keeps going. “Blakely!” I call out her full name when she chooses to ignore me.

Catching up with her, I grab her shoulder and spin her around. She looks up at me, and she’s got tears in her eyes. I frown. I just dropped her off an hour ago, and she totally avoided me. I knew her watching me get her off would get her worked up. “What’s wrong?”

She looks back over where I was just standing and then back at me. Without answering, she begins to walk off again.

“Blake?” I snap, grabbing her arm. She tries to pull away from me, so I tighten my grip and drag her into a nearby room that just happens to be empty.

“Don’t touch me!” she screams, dropping all of her books to the floor as I shut the door behind us.

“What in the fuck is going on with you?” I demand, getting in her face.

Her eyes narrow up at me right before she slaps me. “Fuck you!” she shouts. She goes to do it again, and I grab her wrists, spinning her around, and wrap my free hand around the front of her. I pin both of her arms to her chest, her back pressed to my front. “Fuck all of you.” She sniffs, then her body softens against mine, and she starts crying.

“Hey.” I let go of her and spin her around to face me, knowing something is seriously wrong. She drops her head, and I grip her chin, forcing her to look up at me. “You better tell me right fucking now what’s going on with you.”

Her bloodshot eyes search mine, and then she shakes her head, her nostrils flaring. “I took an oath to let you fuck me, Ryat. I don’t have to give you anything else.”

My teeth grind. “It doesn’t work that way …”

“Says who?” She snorts, yanking away from me. “You?” Her eyes drop to my shoes and run up over my jeans and T-shirt. When they reach mine, they’re full of disdain. Then she quickly picks up her books before walking past me toward the door.

I step in front of her and slap my hand against it, blocking her exit. “Blake …”

She looks at me, her blue eyes now blazing with fire. Something has happened that has pissed her the fuck off, and I don’t like that she won’t tell me what it is. “Unless you plan on ripping my clothes off and bending me over a desk, we’re done here,” she states, arching a brow.

This bitch is challenging me.

My cock is already hard at her little attitude, but I’m also speechless. Who knew Blakely was such a firecracker? I didn’t. Matt always made her sound like a little flower that he had to protect from the softest breeze.

I let go of the door, raising my hands in surrender and stepping away. I’ll let her leave right now because I have a better idea of how to remind her where she stands with me. I’m not Matt. I won’t put up with this shit.

She yanks the door open and storms out, her heels clanking on the floor as the door falls shut, closing me in the classroom.