Trapped (Bullied Book 4) (Bullied Series) Vera Hollins (best large ereader txt) 📖

his kisses grew more heated. His hands explored my waist, chest, and hips, making me feel more wanted than ever.

“If you only knew how good you feel,” he said. His eyes roamed all over me, so dark, so full of lust, eliminating all doubts that he really liked my body with all its curves. “You’re gorgeous.”

And I believed him. The way he looked at me, the conviction behind his words…the lust that matched mine… It was so easy to push everything aside and live in this moment.

He moved his hand and cupped me down there, and I sucked in my breath. Our gazes locked on each other.

“Blake,” I whispered, confounded but reveling in his touch.

“Let me touch you.”

I looked away, biting into my lip. “I…”

“Let me give you what I’ve wanted for so long.” He increased the pressure, and it was deliciously addictive.

I moaned, leaning into his touch inadvertently, but I couldn’t let it happen. I couldn’t.

“Just this once,” he said, kissing my neck, and I was so close to letting him do it. So close…

But it was pointless. I pushed against his shoulders. “No. Stop.”

He groaned. “Jessie, please—”

“No. Not like this.” I gave his shoulders another shove, and he drew back, breaking the contact between us. I ignored the furious throbbing of my core as I slid off the hood and stopped a safe distance away. I turned to face him. “You didn’t answer my question—what is this? What do I mean to you?”

He let out a loud sigh. “What do you want me to say?”

I scowled at him. “What do I want you to say?!” I pointed at my chest. “I’m not someone you can just use and discard later, Blake!”

“I’m not using you! Fuck!” He kicked the front tire and glared at me, his artery pumping furiously along his neck. “I’m still trying to accept the fact that I can’t hate you anymore. It was so easy back then. I hated you and everything made sense. You were my enemy and I was perfectly fine with that. But then hate turned into something…something else, and now I have no clue what to do with it.”

“How about treating me with respect first? Because I’m also struggling to accept that, for some twisted reason, I’ve fallen for my bully!” I clenched my cold hands, fighting against the tears. “And what makes it even harder is that all I get from you are half-truths, riddles, and even more riddles. It’s too much for me.”

He looked to the side. “I can’t tell you the truth.”

A tear slid down my cheek, and I brushed it off quickly, turning to the side so he wouldn’t see my face. “Of course not.”

“There are so many things you don’t know, but I’m not ready to tell them. I don’t think I’ll ever be ready.”

Another tear escaped my eye as guilt about invading his privacy converged inside me. I wasn’t being completely up-front with him either, and now, more than ever, I felt horrible for knowing something he hadn’t willingly shared with me—something he probably, as he’d just said, wouldn’t ever be ready to share. Hiding it from him didn’t feel right at all.

“I’m not the one for you,” he continued. “I don’t know why we started feeling different toward each other, but we’re not meant to be.”

He drove another, final nail into my heart. I’d always known this, but it was much more painful hearing it directly from him. I turned to face him, masking my pain with a neutral expression.

“We’re not meant to be,” I echoed in a flat tone. “Why?” I asked, for the sole purpose of finding closure.

He grabbed the back of his head. His face had a look of utmost agony, and somehow I knew his next words would tear me down.

“Because I have a promise to keep, one that will most likely get me killed, but this promise is the one I won’t ever break.”

The thumping of my heart in my ears was too loud. A promise that will most likely get him killed.

“A promise? A promise of what?”

“A promise of revenge.”

Blake didn’t elaborate on what he meant by that. He returned to his car instead, which was my cue that the night was over, and we continued to Melissa’s place in complete silence. I had trouble keeping my tears at bay.

He was going to do something that could cost him his life, and I couldn’t do anything against the fear that possessed my heart. I couldn’t stop ruminating on it, struggling to connect all the pieces of the puzzle.

I was sure about one thing—it must have everything to do with Emma and their kidnapping. I recollected the fragments of Blake’s conversations I’d heard and his reaction to Bobby Q. It could be far-fetched, but what if Bobby Q had something to do with the kidnapping? No, he had to be part of the puzzle, just like those photos I’d found in Blake’s room. Then again, what was Blake doing? What was his plan for revenge and when would he execute it?

And that promise of revenge…was it a promise to Emma? Or someone else?

One thing was clear: he wasn’t going to back away from it.

It hurt knowing that. I wanted him out of harm’s way, but how he looked when he said those words…the fire in his eyes… He was determined to do it, and it didn’t matter what he felt for me. He was holding back because for him, his revenge came first.

I was supposed to distance myself from him and stop carrying this constant concern for him, but it was impossible. I knew there was nothing I could say or do to help him, but that didn’t stop me from conjuring up various scenarios after he dropped me at Mel’s place and drove off without a word. I had a feeling he would get in serious trouble.

I spent the whole night tossing and turning on Mel’s sofa, thinking about everything that’d happened in