Barely: Winchester Academy Book 7 Read online

  I blink. Jesus Christ, what. I look at her, suddenly so small and so frail seeming.

  “Hang on, who’s taking care of you?”

  She swallows, looking down. “I don’t know. I mean, I’m fine. I’m at school, so… you know, a roof and food,” she mumbles.

  My jaw clenches tighter. “What about money?”

  She doesn’t answer, and suddenly, it starts to click.

  Holy fuck.

  “Brynn, were you dancing there because you need the money?”

  She nods quietly, and my heart breaks as I pull her tight to me, feeling her cry into my chest again as I hold her close.

  “Look, I need the money, okay? For tuition next semester? I mean where else am I going to get that kind of money, Principal Kane?” she sobs. “Starbucks?”

  “Jesus Christ, Brynn,” I growl.

  “The guy…” she cringes, looking away. “The guy in the suit from the club, he… I owe him money.”

  “What?!” I snarl.

  “Well, my dad does, so I do now, seeing as he’s missing.” She looks up at me plaintively, biting her lower lip.

  “That’s why I was…” she sobs again as she collapses into me, and I stiffen as I pull her tight to me again.

  “I’ve got you,” I growl softly, holding her tight. “No one is going to touch you, Brynn. I promise you that.”

  And the second I say it, with her so frail and vulnerable in my arms, I know it’s true. I know I’ll fight heaven and hell to keep her safe. I know having her here like this is a terrible idea. She’s a student, I’m her Principal, and twenty years older than her. And circumstances aside, she’s lying here half naked in sexy lingerie. And something tells me, if this got out, any claims of just wanting to help her might go out the window seeing as I just got a fucking lap dance from her at a strip club.

  …Altruism also sorta goes out the window when you are half hard hugging the damsel in distress.

  I tell myself to put that aside. I tell myself to ignore the base, caveman instinct to crave her, and take her, and make her mine. But the harder I try, the harder it is to ignore, and the harder it is to forget the way she moved on me, or the way her breath caught. Or the way she gasped as her tight little ass pressed against my cock.

  I groan, holding her tight and stroking her back. The blanket falls away, and my fingers brush bare skin. I freeze for a second, conflicted, but when my hand moves back against her skin, she sinks a little tighter into me.

  “Principal Kane—”

  “I’ve got you,” I murmur as she breathes and holds me tight. “I’ve got you.”

  I’ve got her alright. And no one is going to touch her or harm her. Not a fucking chance. Because now she’s mine to protect.

  …I’ll just try and ignore the fact that my damsel in distress in wearing lacy, see-through lingerie and is making my cock rock hard.

  4

  Brynn

  “C’mere, I’ve got you.”

  I know I should be freaking out about this. And, okay, I am. But I’m freaking out about the fact that a mob boss just almost assaulted me, and the fact that my high school Principal just saw me stripping, giving him a freaking lap dance.

  What I’m not freaking out about is this—the fact that he’s cradling me in his arms, in his house, wrapping me in a blanket as he stands. No, I’m not freaking out at all. In fact, the feeling of warmth, and protection, and safety is unlike anything I’ve felt in a long, long time. But then, there’s another part to all of this. It’s the part that had me step into that room back at the club instead of asking another girl to cover. It’s the reason being in Principal Kane’s arms isn’t making me freak out. It’s the reason it’s making me warm.

  Because Principal Kane—Colton Kane—isn’t what you might picture when you think of high school principal. Principals are supposed to be staunch, stuffy. Maybe a little shabby looking. Maybe smelling like stale coffee. But Principal Kane is none of those things. To start with, he’s freaking gorgeous, and I do mean jaw-droppingly, heart-stoppingly, fashion-model gorgeous. Strong, chiseled jaw covered with a scruff of five o’clock shadow, haunting bright blue eyes, dark hair, tall, broad shoulders, and muscled arms and chest. He’s the kind of hot that makes your knees weak and your pulse beat a little faster.

  Needless to say, I’ve been daydreaming and fantasizing about Principal Kane for far longer than I’ll say out loud.

  And right now, I’m in those big, strong, muscled arms. I’m curled up against that broad, strong chest, and I can tell you, there’s nothing staunch, stuffy or shabby about him. And he smells wonderful. Like man. Like his cologne or aftershave or whatever that is he’s wearing was scientifically designed to make me go weak in his arms.

  Oh, right, and an hour ago, I was grinding on his lap, my pulse racing and my eyes wild behind my mask, knowing it was Colton Kane I was grinding on. Knowing it was his bulge I felt throbbing between my legs. His very large, very thick, very making-me-wetter-than-I-should-be bulge.

  I shiver at the memory, swallowing and feeling my face go red as he strides through his huge old Tudor-style home. The Principal’s residence is actually on Winchester’s campus, and it matches the older brick and ivy aesthetic of the rest of the school. But I’ve never been inside here, and my eyes go wide as he effortlessly carries me through the gorgeous mansion. We climb a flight of stairs to the second floor, and my pulse beats quicker as he steps into a huge and modern looking marble, white tile, and chrome bathroom.

  “Do you want to get cleaned up?”

  I nod, not able to or still not trusting myself to say words as he gently sets me down and pulls the blanket tighter around me. He opens the big glass and iron shower and reaches in to turn the water on. I watch as he takes a big fluffy white towel down from a shelf and hangs it on a hook by the door.

  “Sit tight.”

  I just nod as he ducks out of the bathroom, coming back a minute later with some neatly folded clothes which he sets down on the vanity.

  “These are going to be enormous on you, but…” he clears his throat before he unfolds a fuzzy pink, definitely girl-styled robe with red hearts and a princess from a Disney movie on the back of it.

  He shrugs. “I, uh, I bought it the other day for my cousin’s daughter’s birthday. She’s obviously younger than you, but I think it might fit.” He smiles. “Well, better than my clothes.”

  I smile a small, tight smile, blushing. “Thank you, Principal Kane,” I say softly. “For… I mean… for all of it.”

  He just nods, his eyes locking with mine and making my breath catch.

  “How about we keep ‘Principal Kane’ for school and you can just call me Colton.”

  I smile, heat teasing through my cheeks. “Colton. Thank you.”

  “Of course. Take all the time you need. I’ll be downstairs when you’re done. And then we can figure this shit—” he clears his throat. “We’ll figure this out.”

  I nod, and when he steps out and closes the door, I realize I’ve been holding my breath. I let it out in a rush, shivering and feeling a heat creep through me. I turn, looking at myself in the mirror and cringing at the smudged eyeshadow and smeared makeup.

  Wow, great. I get rescued by the super-hot, super growly older guy I’ve been crushing on for forever, and I look like a hot mess. Perfect.

  I drop the blanket and blush at the sight of the lingerie. I quickly peel it off, and when I open the door to the shower, hot steam billows out and over me. The water is hot enough to make me gasp and then melt under it, closing my eyes and letting the heat sink into my skin and muscles, erasing the night I just had.

  I reach for the body wash, which slips out of my hands to the shower floor. I swear, and I bend down for it, when suddenly, that feeling of faintness from before washes over me. I gasp, black spots dotting my vision, and before I know it, I’m flailing as the ground comes up to whack me in the head.

  I groan, blinking as stars flash through my vision. The door to the bathroom slam
s open, and I gasp as Colton comes rushing in.

  “Brynn!”

  I curl up, wrapping my arms around myself as he swings the shower door open. His eyes slide over me, and something wild burns in them as he takes one half second to drink me in before he tears his eyes away. He grabs the towel from the hook and covers me with it, stepping under the spray of water himself to pick me up and wrap me tighter in the towel.

  “I—I don’t know what happened,” I murmur, frowning and rubbing the bump on the back of my head. “I think I just lost my balance.”

  “You’ve had a wild night,” he says gently. “Could be shock or adrenaline.”

  He pulls back, his eyes blazing into me full of concern and tenderness, and I swallow thickly as heat teases over my skin.

  “You…” I shake my head. “Colton, you don’t have to do any of thi—”

  “Yes, I do,” he growls.

  The bathroom goes quiet but for the sound of the water pelting down over us, his eyes burning into mine as he towers above me, holding the towel around me. His white dress shirt clings to him transparently, molding itself over every single inch of his muscled body and giving me a glimpse of tattoos on his chest and shoulders that I’d never have imagined he had. Water pours down both of us, standing barely a foot apart—his shirt and jeans clinging wetly to him, my towel sopping wet around me.

  The moment hangs, both of us just looking at each other in silence, my heart racing and heat teasing through me before he eventually clears his throat.

  “I’ll be outside.”

  I nod, swallowing as I force a smile to my lips. Colton steps out of the shower, dripping wet as he reaches for another towel to hang on the hook outside the shower door. He glances at me, those blue eyes flashing, before he steps out and closes the bathroom door.

  My breath comes out in a whoosh, and my skin tingles with heat from more than just the water. I close my eyes, my heart racing at, well, everything that’s happened tonight. But mostly, what’s happened with him. For a second, I allow myself another fantasy. I allow myself to image he didn’t just leave the shower. And when I slide the sopping wet towel from around myself and drape it over a hook in the shower, I imagine it’s him peeling it away from me and letting his eyes drink all of me in.

  My principal saw my tits tonight.

  I blush at the memory, but at the same time, there’s this naughty, illicit thrill that teases through me. I bite my lip, feeling a pulse of heat pool between my thighs before abruptly, I stop. I frown, opening my eyes and shaking my head.

  Get your shit together.

  I wash off quickly, ignoring the thoughts that try and force their way to the front of my mind as I rinse off and turn the water off. I step out and dry off with the super cozy towel before I pull on the clothes he left for me. I look in the steam-proof mirror and giggle at how ridiculous I look. The t-shirt is so baggy it might as well be a sleeping bag, and the shorts look like they’re more like boxers, with the legs so wide I could probably fit both of mine in one of them.

  I tuck the shirt into the shorts though, trying to make them look at least somewhat flattering before I catch myself.

  Great, now I’m preening and primping for my super-hot, twenty-years-older-than-me Principal. I blush, almost wishing I had makeup with me, but that’s downstairs in my purse. Instead, I pull my hair back as much as I can with a hair tie I’ve had around my wrist. I glance in the mirror again, blushing when I see how obvious my nipples are through the shirt. I pick up the pink princess robe and slip it on, and it actually does fit great, so I tie it around myself, take a breath, and step out of the bathroom.

  I head back down the staircase he carried me up, back through the house, and into a huge, modern kitchen.

  “How’s your head?”

  I smile wryly at the sight of him standing there with a mug of something hot in his hands, now wearing slightly baggy grey sweatpants and a perfectly fitting white t-shirt.

  …And good lord do they look good on him.

  “It’s good, thanks,” I smile, before I blush. “Sorry for, uh… you know.”

  He raises a brow, and I bite my lip.

  “Flashing you.”

  He grins, chuckling lowly. “Hey, nothing I haven’t seen before.”

  He freezes the instant he says it, like he’s just realized the implications.

  “I…” he frowns. “I didn’t mean you, Brynn, I just mean…” his frown deepens, and I grin.

  “You just mean it’s not the first time you’ve seen boobs.”

  He grins. “Something like that.”

  He gestures at the kettle sitting steaming on the big Wolf Range stove behind him.

  “You want some tea or anything?”

  “Tea sounds good,” I say quietly.

  He nods, turning to pour me a mug before he steps over and passes it my way.

  “Thank you.”

  “No problem.”

  We sip in silence for a second before he clears his throat.

  “We need to get the police involved in this, Brynn. What that man was doing was exploitation and blackmail. Both are illegal, and—”

  “No,” I say quickly, shaking my head. “No, no police.”

  He scowls. “Brynn, this isn’t a game. Those guys meant serious business back there.”

  “I know that,” I whisper. “But if I go to the police, what does that do for my dad?”

  His scowl deepens, his arms folding over his chest.

  “Pardon?”

  “No, I just mean, my dad’s already in a ton of shit. But if I bring up the fact that he’s tied to mob guys too?” I shake my head, aware of how stupid this sounds. “Look, my dad did bad things, but he’s still my dad, you know? I don’t know why he ran, but I want to give him a chance to make this right before I throw him under another bus.”

  I make a face. “That sound ridiculous, given what’s going on with him, doesn’t it?”

  But Colton just shakes his head. “No, I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it.”

  He takes a deep breath. “So those guys back there were mob?”

  I nod. “I’m so sorry. I never wanted anyone else to get caught up in—”

  “It’s fine, Brynn.”

  “They’re dangerous.”

  “I can handle myself,” he growls quietly. “But I’m assuming they know you’re a student here?”

  I nod, and he swears under his breath.

  “You think they’d come after you?”

  My face pales, a shiver rattling through me. I want to say no, but I know that’s not true. Not when there’s this kind of money owed to a guy like Lorenzo Tonelli. Slowly, I nod.

  “I’m… I’m not sure.”

  He nods, a growl rumbling in his chest as his eyes burn into me.

  “Fuck it,” he finally mutters. “You’re staying here.”

  I blink, my heart jumping into my throat. “What?”

  “You can’t go back to the dorms. At least not tonight, and not until we figure this out. So, you’re staying here.”

  “With you?” my voice breaks, and I cringe, but he just smiles.

  “I mean, I have a guest room, Brynn.”

  I blush furiously as I nod, our eyes meeting.

  “Principal—Colton, I—I don’t want to get you—”

  “I’m a big boy, Brynn,” he growls quietly. “I can take care of myself. And you.” He nods. “You’re staying here, at least for the tonight.”

  I nod, a hot shiver teasing through my core as I rake my teeth over my bottom lip.

  “I really don’t want to put you—”

  “You’re not,” he growls. “And that’s final. You’re staying here, Brynn. You’re staying with me.”

  …I probably shouldn’t be as warm or as excited as I am when he says that.

  5

  Colton

  The gun is cold and heavy, and I scowl as I turn it over in my hands. Surprisingly, given my background and my career before I moved into education, I only k
eep one gun in my house. It’s typically always locked in the safe hidden in my office, but tonight, it’s out. Tonight, I’m giving it a once-over, and checking my ammunition while Brynn is back in my kitchen having a bite to eat.

  I’m not scared, but maybe call it “on edge.” After all, I just beat the shit out of two mob guys, and threatened a third who seems like he might be pretty far up the ranks. None of them know who the hell I am, but it doesn’t hurt to be careful. And besides, they do know who she is, and I meant what I said before. She’s staying here, and she’s mine to protect. And I will protect her.

  For a minute, as I check the chamber of the Desert Eagle, I’m back in Mosul. For a second, the study fades away, and I’m back with my unit getting ready for a night raid on a Taliban compound on the outskirts of the city. I blink, the memory fading as I finish checking the handgun and set it down on my desk.

  I don’t have many flashbacks or memories these days of my Special Forces days. And it’s not something many people even know about. In fact, no one at Winchester does, that’s for sure. And that’s how I’d prefer to keep it. The past is the past, and the demons and darkness from that time in my life can stay there.

  There’s a knock at the door to my study, and I swiftly re-wrap the gun in its cloth and place it back in the lock box.

  “Come in.”

  I lock up the box as the door opens, and Brynn steps in sheepishly as I smile and turn to place the box back in the safe. I swing the door shut and turn back to see her looking away.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude on anything.”

  I smile, shrugging. “You aren’t. How was the sandwich?”

  She grins. “So good. I haven’t had peanut butter and jelly in forever.”

  “Hey, all part of the five-star service here.”

  She giggles, and fuck does the sound of it get my pulse racing before I catch myself.

  Stop that. I can’t go there, even in my fucking head, with her. Not with how old she is, or how old I am. Or the fact that she’s a student, or…