The Silver Swan

  “We’re supposed to be a secret, remember?” I tilt my head. “You’re not being very secretive.”

  He shrugs and licks the lake water off his plump lips. “I didn’t get to where I am by giving a fuck what people think.”

  “And where is that?” I ask, sinking closer into his embrace. I’m well aware of how this would look to our friends on the shore, but I’m so entranced by Bishop that I no longer care. Black Veil Brides’ “Knives and Pens” plays from Tillie’s Beats sound-dock in the distance just as Bishop grins.

  “God status.”

  I roll my eyes, swimming to the edge of one of the big rocks that are placed around the edge of the lake, pushing myself up and taking a seat on one that’s tucked away slightly. Bishop follows, coming to me and climbing up. I try to ignore the way his tan skin glistens in the afternoon sun and how his muscles contract with every single movement. I notice the scripted tattoo over his ribcage and nudge my head as he takes a seat beside me. “What’s the tattoo say?”

  He leans over, lifting his arm to look at it, and then leans back on his elbows, shaking the water out of his hair. “There are humans, and there are wolves, and then there is me…” He inches up to me, his lips gliding over the thin flesh of my neck. “A fucking god.”

  I close my eyes and internally fight the urge to crawl onto his lap. Prying them open, they fall on everyone back at the mouth of the lake. “You did not get that.”

  He chuckles. “Yeah, I did.”

  “I’m not even surprised.” I lie on my back, throwing my arm over my eyes to shield the sun. Little colorful dots dance behind my shut lids, and I’m just about to ask Bishop about what the whole “riddle me this” stuff was about, when I feel his fingertip glide down the side of my ribcage.

  “Bishop,” I warn through a whisper.

  “Shh,” he coos, pushing his finger up to my lips. “Just go with it.”

  “But what about the rules? We had rules.”

  “Kitty, I don’t do rules—ever. In anything too, by the way. I do what the fuck I want, and if people don’t like it, then it’s no loss to me.” His warm lips press to the crook of my neck, and I suck in a breath, my pulse picking up speed. “I want you. You want me. Stop being such a fucking girl and spread those legs.”

  Obeying his order, I slowly inch my legs wider, and he dips back into the water. Pulling my legs toward him, he ducks behind the rock and grips my bikini bottoms.

  “Bishop!” I laugh, getting up on my elbows.

  “What?” He licks his lips. “They can’t see, and who the fuck cares if they could?”

  “Ah, me?” I answer sarcastically. “This may come as a shock to you, but I don’t go flashing my hoo-ha to just anyone.”

  “Don’t say hoo-ha ever again.”

  “Oh?” I quirk my eyebrow. “Is that your cock-block?”

  “What do you mean?” he asks, dunking his lips under the water and then spitting it out.

  “The opposite of cock-bait.”

  He stops, his eyes running over my body in such a way it has me forgetting everyone that is here. “Naw, babe. Nothing can stop me from this.” He presses the cushion of his thumb against my clit, and I drop down to my back, my eyes closing but the afternoon sun fighting to break through my eyelids. “Your Betrayal” by Bullet For My Valentine starts blaring in the distance, just as Bishop pulls off my bikini bottoms and the fresh forest air whips around my tender flesh.

  My chest rises and falls, my breathing heavy and needy, wanting him to dull the ache he has started, the ache that seems to be on Nitric Oxide whenever he’s around. His warm mouth blankets my folds and my back arches, my hand slamming down on my own mouth to stifle my moans. Spreading my legs wide, he licks me from my entry to my clit and then sucks on it softly before circling my nub in his mouth with slow, pressured rotations.

  “Bishop,” I moan softly.

  “What do you want, kitty?” he murmurs against my needy clit. “I might give it to you.”

  “I… I…,” I mutter hoarsely. He presses his tongue over my clit, rubbing it vigorously until my thighs are quivering and my moans are about to scream out of my body. “I want you!” I whisper-yell. “Fuck, I want you, Bishop.”

  “My what, kitty? You can’t have it all.”

  Not seeing the truth in his words during my sex-drunken haze, I answer, “Your cock. I need it. I need you.”

  He yanks my body and I fall into the water with a loud splash, the ice-cold lake only enhancing the sensitivity of my nipples. Wrapping his arm around waist, he props me up and surfaces me on the water. I wrap my hands around his neck, squeezing my legs around him, and slowly sink myself down on top of his thick head. His eyes roll back—fucking roll back—and my pussy clenches at the sight alone, but my finger comes up to his lips, where I run it over the plumpness roughly. He hits my hand away and shoves me against one of the rocks before trying to pull out of me. I clench around him, pulling him into myself during his outward stroke.

  “Fuck,” he mutters. “So fucking tight.” His hand comes up to my throat. “But I fucking hate you.” He pumps me again. “Hate what you are.” He pulls out and then pushes in roughly, so rough my back starts to sting from the friction. He kisses me urgently, sucking my bottom lip into his mouth. “Hate who you are.” He pounds into me, raw and consistently, my back aching from the grazes, which is almost unbearable, but I’m so lost in our cage, a cage that’s entranced by Bishop’s voodoo sex magic, I don’t care. His hands come to my thighs, where he spreads me wider. “I hate you, kitty, and that’s why you will always just be another fuck for me.”

  I rub myself against him. “I’m… I’m…” I wanna say a stupid bitch, but what comes out is, “…going to come!” I let go, my body shaking, my brain fuzzy, my vision blurred, and my hearing frizzled. My orgasm takes every drop of my energy and sucks it into a hole of nothingness with empty feelings.

  He follows closely, his cock pulsing inside of me as I continue to milk him.

  His shoulders turn slack as he leans back, searching my eyes. “I’m flattered you hate me that much.” I roll my eyes and push away from him. He lets me go, and I try to hide my disappointment. Do I want him to chase me? Possibly. I have too much pride to accept him just letting me walk away, but I also know this is Bishop. It’s obvious just how unattainable he is, and him gracing me with his presence is what I should be happy with. I scoff inwardly. Fuck that.

  “Hey.” His hand catches mine just as I get out of the lake and back onto the rock. I look at him over my shoulder, and he stills. His eyes settle on my back. “Shit.”

  I look over my shoulder. “Those will heal.” I shrug, stepping off the rock and walking away from him, opting for the short trek back through the tree line of the lake to get back to the girls instead of swimming back. “My feelings, on the other hand…,” I whisper angrily under my breath. My feelings shouldn’t even be in the equation. I know this, but he doesn’t. He’s made it crystal clear he doesn’t want more, so I should just walk away now before I get hurt—or break.

  “Madison!” he yells, jogging up to me. I ignore him, carrying on my walk. Am I being ridiculous? Yes. Do I care? No.

  “Hey!” He tugs on my hand, spinning me around to face him. “What’s wrong?” His eyebrows draw in. He looks genuinely confused.

  I shake my head. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it.” Then I turn around again and start walking back toward the girls.

  He tugs on my hand again, only this time I fall against his chest. He looks down at me, making me feel small with a simple glare. “What. The. Fuck. Is your problem, kitty?”

  I exhale. “It’s nothing. I guess I always knew you hated me, but I didn’t know the severity of it.”

  He tilts his head. “So why are you sulking, then?”

  I push at his chest, but his hand comes up and catches my wrist. “Stop the fucking bullshit, kitty. Tell me what’s wrong!”

  “Why do you hate me so much?” I blurt out. “Why? Why did you say you
hate what I am and who I am—as if you’ve known me forever?”

  His jaw tics, but his grip doesn’t loosen. “Maybe I fucking have. Ever thought about that?”

  I pause, slamming my mouth shut. “What do you mean?” I ask after a moment.

  He pushes me this time. “Maybe I’ve known who you are for some time.” He starts walking back toward the mouth of the lake.

  I run up to him, falling into step behind him. “What the fuck does that mean?”

  “It means you should just stay away.”

  “No.”

  “What?” He spins around to face me. “What do you mean no?”

  “I won’t stay away from you just because you said so!” I retort. “Tell me!”

  He steps up to me, his eyes cold, his jaw stone, and his lip slightly curled. “You don’t know anything.”

  “So fucking tell me!” I shout at him, searching his eyes and ignoring the shiver of goose bumps that have spiked over my skin. “God, Bishop,” I whisper in defeat. “Be honest with me.”

  Silence. I look back at his face, catching him watching me closely. “You’re not ready. But I will tell you this…” He pauses, licking his bottom lip. “Not everything is as it seems. We—The Kings—don’t play games for shits and giggles. There’s a reason why we do what we do when we have to, and trust me, kitty. You’re lucky you made it out with your life intact—for now.”

  “What?” I whisper in shock. I told him to be honest, but now he has given me even more questions to ask.

  “As much as it looks like we’re trying to hurt you…” He pauses again. “As much as we have hurt you, it’s all for your own good.”

  “What the fuck does that mean?” I rake my hair out of my face, my breath quickening. “Bishop, that’s just giving me more questions.”

  “Do you trust me?”

  Instant. “No.”

  He gives me one of his panty-melting smirks. “Good. Do you trust Nate?”

  Hesitation. “N—no.”

  “Your judgment isn’t as shit as you think, then.” He steps up to me, gripping my fingers with his and pulling me into his body. “Believe it or not, though, we’re doing this for your own good, and it could quite possibly put us in danger too.”

  I rub my temples. “You’re giving me a headache,” I murmur into his warm, hard chest.

  “Well then, we’re even, ’cause I have something else that’s aching.”

  I shove him, a small smile pulling on my lips. “So you hate me that much, huh?” I ask playfully, as we walk back toward everyone.

  “Yes. I won’t lie about that, but that’s only because I have unanswered questions, suspicions, and a whole lot of facts that are in front of me. But it just so happens… you get my dick hard.”

  “Hmm,” I murmur, just as we step out onto the sandy area. “And men say girls are complicated? That right there, Bishop Vincent Hayes, was a grade-A clinger warning!” I mock him, my mouth open.

  He stops his walk, scowling at me with his lip curled up. “Say what?” Then he charges at me, grabbing the back of my thighs firefighter-style and flinging me over his shoulder.

  I scream out loudly, hitting his ass with my hand while everyone chuckles in the background. “Bishop!” I yell at him, just as he tosses me into the air. I swim around midair just as my back and butt hit the hard water with a loud splash, and little bites cover my ass.

  Thirty minutes. That’s how long I spent with Bishop. And he has bruised me in more places than I can see.

  “SO ARE WE JUST GOING to ignore the fact that you and Bishop Vincent fucking Hayes are obviously banging?” Tatum states, pulling on her cutoff shorts.

  I tug on my little black shorts, buttoning them up, and then throw on a loose white boyfriend suit-shirt, tucking one side in. “I mean, I don’t know. We’re just sleeping together, but you can’t say anything. And when this all blows up in my face, you’re still not allowed to say anything!” I look pointedly to both Tatum and Tillie.

  “I didn’t say anything.” Tatum shakes her head, a small smile playing on her lips. But then her smile falls. “But please be careful. They’re dangerous, Madi.”

  “I know how to take care of myself,” I reassure her with a smile. Looking to Tillie, I nudge my head. “What’s up with you and Nate?”

  She stills, pulling on her boyfriend jeans. “Nothing.”

  I narrow my eyes. “Bullshit.”

  She exhales. “I don’t know. We slept together last night.” She looks to Tatum nervously.

  Tatum stops what she’s doing, looking at me and Tillie. “What? Oh, please. Like I care. I was serious when I said I used him just like he used me. I wish you all the sexy times in the world, I promise.”

  “Okay,” Tillie says relieved. “But he’s… I don’t know. Confusing.”

  “Duh, it’s Nate. He’s a dick,” Tatum scoffs.

  “No, that’s not it,” Tillie murmurs. “I mean, he’s obviously a dick and all that, but to me, not so much.”

  “Hmm.” I stare off into the distance. “Interesting.”

  Tillie laughs, tying her pastel pink hair up in a high ponytail. “It’s nothing.”

  I bend down, pull out the bottle of Grey Goose, and then throw the red cups in the middle. “So this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind when I said we should all go camping.” I roll my eyes. “This isn’t the camping I usually do.”

  “We know that.” Tatum grins. “You should have brought your guns!”

  A horrified expression pulls across my face. “What? No way. That’s not—no. That’s going against everything my dad taught me growing up.”

  “Well, maybe we could all go together sometime. I’ve never shot a gun.” Tillie stares off into the distance.

  “That’s a better idea!” I point, widening my eyes at Tatum.

  “What?” Tatum feigns innocence. “Just saying… maybe you could shoot Bishop, and people would think it was an accident.” We all start laughing. Clutching my stomach, I wipe the tears off my cheeks.

  “You know,” I say, pouring in the vodka and then opening the orange juice. “When I started at Riverside, I had no idea what to expect. All my other schools? It was difficult.”

  “How so? You’re probably the coolest chick I’ve ever met,” Tillie says, and then looks to Tatum. “No offense.”

  Tatum clutches her heart in mock hurt and then giggles.

  “Because I just didn’t… fit in. Girls would just flat out hate me.” I shook my head. “Anyway, the only school I sort of did fit in—but somehow still didn’t—was in Minnesota. And that’s only because I was dating the quarterback.” I laugh. “He was popular, and everyone hated that I was the girl he chose, but they didn’t voice it.” I take a swig of my drink. “At least not until we broke up.”

  “Well, if it’s any consolation,” Tatum murmurs, sinking her drink, “no one has liked me as much as you two do either. But… I’ve never liked them either, so it worked out well.”

  I smile, holding up my drink. “To us!” We clink and then swallow our drinks.

  Tatum lies down. “Are we being unsociable by not being out there drinking with everyone else?”

  I lean back on my elbows. “Probably, but we never liked any of them before we came here, so who cares?”

  “Knock, knock!”

  “Don’t come in. We’re naked!” Tatum laughs dramatically.

  The zipper rips open, and Carter steps inside with a grin. “Aw, I’m disappointed.” He drops down beside me. “Why are you girls hiding out in here?”

  I giggle, leaning up and pouring more vodka and orange juice into my cup. “Because we can.”

  “Oh, I see.” Carter grins. “My beer not good enough for you?”

  I look at him, noticing where Bishop’s eyes are dark green and smoldering, Carter’s are bright and lively. Where Bishop’s bottom lip has a slight pout to it, Carter’s are average at best. Where Bishop’s skin is soft, tan, and glistens in the sun, Carter’s is pale white but has a slight bl
ush to his cheeks that is—undoubtedly—adorable. Carter also has a single dip in his chin too that I also find adorable.

  I look back into his eyes to find him looking at me with a smug grin. “Like what you see?”

  I see Tatum whips her head toward us out the corner of my eye. I take a drink. “Meh.” I shrug. He elbows me playfully and we both laugh. I know Carter was with someone else last night, just like I was, but I don’t care. I don’t have any emotional attachments to Carter. I don’t hate him. I don’t anything him. He’s just pretty to look at sometimes.

  “So.” Tatum rolls onto her stomach as I grab another cup and fill him up. “I heard you hooked up with Jenny Prescott last night?” She wiggles her eyebrows for added effect. “I heard she can do this little trick with her—”

  “Stop,” Carter laughs, almost choking on his drink. “But yeah, she does a trick.”

  “Oh, gross,” I mutter, looking to Tillie.

  “Jealous?” Carter grins at me. Oh, dear.

  “Definitely not.”

  His smile falls slightly.

  “I can back her answer, because she was with—”

  I hit Tatum with my leg.

  “Oh?” Carter quirks. “With who?”

  “No one. With myself.” I smile at him.

  “Oh, I see. No kiss and tell?”

  I zip my lips and throw away the key. “Never.”

  He leans back on his elbow, taking a sip of his drink. Bishop and I never had the conversation about how open we are about sleeping with other people, even though that’s not how I am at all. And even though I did make him say it just before sex, I don’t think that counts. Carter looks up at me. “Whoever it is, be careful, yeah?”

  I look down at him, very aware of how close he is to me. I nod. “Of course.”

  He smiles sadly then takes another drink, just as the tent entrance pulls over and in walks Bishop, Nate, and Hunter.

  Bishop looks to Carter, his jaw slightly clenched, and suddenly, I feel guilty. Why the hell do I feel guilty? There were no promises made between us. But even so, I can say without a shadow of doubt that I don’t like being near any other guy but Bishop. Having Carter so close to me doesn’t feel right, but having Bishop sucking on my flesh does.