Taken II Read online

  Taken II

  Esme Devlin

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Epilogue

  Epilogue

  Also by Esme Devlin

  Chapter 1

  SCARLET

  First days always suck, but the first day at a new college, in a new town, sucks the most.

  And shit was about to get so much worse for me.

  This is a brand new school in a brand new town and I don’t know a single soul. I called my mum this morning, assuring her that I would be fine, I’d make friends, I’d study hard. I told her I could do this. She seemed convinced… so convinced that I almost actually convinced myself.

  I haul my ass up the stone steps, my hands full with a load of books, not paying any attention to where I’m going — as usual. I prefer to keep my eyes low on the ground; that way I can pretend the place is less… peopley.

  People have always been a bit of a problem for me. Not saying I dislike people, I’m just more of a stay at home with a book kind of girl. And that’s exactly what I’m thinking about when it happens.

  I collide with a hard body coming the opposite way and almost tumble right back down the steps. I would have, if I’d tried to keep a hold of my books, but I had the good sense to drop them and instead grab on to the railing beside me. “Shit.”

  “Why don’t you look where the fuck you’re going?” A stern voice sounds above me.

  How rude.

  “Why don’t you look where you are going?” I say, as I glance up. My breath catches in my throat as the most stunning pair of blue eyes bore down into me. They’re gorgeous, but they’re also filled with hate.

  What the hell is his problem?

  Then, as my gaze shifts from his eyes to the rest of his face, I realize I know him. Everyone knows him. Or at least, everyone knew him back in high school.

  Jason Dixon.

  Your classic all round popular asshole.

  He’s a couple of years older than me so I never really crossed paths with him, but I heard enough about him. Girls tripped over themselves to be near him, geeky kids like me tripped over themselves to get away from him.

  And now I’ve just barged right into him.

  Yay, go me.

  He takes the next step down casually, those piercing blue eyes never leaving me for a second. He’s eyeing me up like I’m an annoying bug and he wants to stamp his foot on me and grind it for good measure.

  I eye him up, too.

  He’s tall, even more so with him being a step above me. I’d guess he’s at least a foot more than my 5 feet 2in. His dark hair is clipped short at the sides, kept longer up top, and combed back off his face. My eyes travel lower, and I notice he has the body to match his height — this guy is all in proportion. Wide shoulders and thick arms, complimented perfectly by his white polo shirt that’s buttoned up to the neck.

  He looks like every Mom’s worst nightmare.

  He’s the guy your father warns you to stay away from.

  And he’s looking at me like I just pissed off the wrong guy.

  “I go wherever the fuck I want without looking, and smart girls would do well to stay out of my way.” His eyes are dancing now as he takes the final step down towards me and still towers above my head.

  I swallow hard, taking a step back towards the railings — almost out of instinct — but then I tell myself to stop being such a pussy. I know a bully when I see one, and we’re not in high school anymore. I am a smart girl, and I know the worst thing you can do when face to face with a bully is cower away in fear. I stick my chin up, exactly the way I imagine a defiant person would. “Well, maybe try not to be so surprised when you bump into people.”

  I want to pick up my books and get the hell off these steps, but that would mean breaking the eye contact and getting down on my hands and knees. That would make him feel big. That would make him feel like I’m beneath him. And that shit is like crack for bullies.

  So instead I stand there on my step, looking up at him, the both of us wondering who will break first. His nostrils flare as he breathes right into my face, and I wonder how such a handsome face can be filled with so much hate.

  “Jason?” A girl's voice, soft and feminine, coming from the bottom of the stairs.

  The guy takes one final look at me before turning around, and his face changes instantly. The malice has gone, and now he’s grinning down at the girl who’s standing at the foot of the stairs.

  I appear to have stumbled across a friendly psychopath.

  Brilliant!

  Just how I planned my first day.

  And I’ve not even stepped a foot inside the building yet.

  I watch as he puts his arm around the little blondie standing there, and she fires me a dirty look before he pulls her away. His team of friends follow him, and they head off around the corner of the building.

  I bend down, pushing my hair off my face and picking up my books. Then I make my way to my first class, hoping that I’ve not just made myself an enemy before I’ve made even a single friend.

  The morning classes go by in a blur and I try to adjust to the way things are in this place. It’s a strange feeling — going from being an actual person with a name in high school, to now being something that’s not even a number. The classes are huge, and the lecturers don’t give a single fuck if you listen to them, or you text the group chat on your phone, or you get up and walk right out of the lecture.

  Very strange.

  But I’m sure I’ll get used to it.

  So far I haven’t met a single friend, and I realize I’m not even sure how to make friends. I can’t really remember the last time I was in a situation like this. So at lunch I head out of the main building and I sit in my car to eat my sandwich. This seemed like the most sensible way to avoid people. And Jason. I definitely intend to stay out of his way.

  I’m sitting in the driver's seat with the windows down and the radio on, watching the world go by while I eat lunch. When I finish, I turn the music down and pull out my book, thinking I’ll spend the last half-hour getting lost in a romantic adventure about pirates. Lame AF, but whatever. I love the whole villain who turns into a hero thing.

  I’m getting just to the part where the chemistry is practically dripping from the pages when something flies passed my face and lands on the passenger seat. My heart jumps, thinking at first it was a butterfly or something — which I’m terrified of — but then I see it’s a crumpled sheet of paper.

  This revelation does nothing to slow my heart rate down.

  Slipping the postcard which holds my place inside the book, I push it down in-between my legs while I pick up the piece of paper. I take a quick look around before opening it, but I don’t see anyone who’s looking at me.

  Unfolding the paper, I see it’s a handwritten note with thick black block capitals.

  SOON

  I try my best to look casual, even though my heart rate is speeding up again and the palms of my hands feel clammy. I take another look around — a closer look this time. There’s definitely no one in the car beside me. The windows of the big truck are tinted but I would still notice the shape of a head if there was one. I check behind me, and even in the direction opposite to where the paper came from. I see nothing unusual, and I certainly don’t see the one person I’m looking out for.

  Jason.

  I decide to head back into the main building. Safety in numbers, and all that shit. I suspect that someone is watching me, but since I don’t know wh
o and I don’t know where, what choice do I have?

  I roll the windows up and grab my things, leaving the books from this morning’s classes on the back seats. Then I get out of the car, still looking around just in case. This has majorly creeped me out.

  I’m pushing the button on the handle to lock my car when I see a shadow appearing on the ground beside me, and I pivot quickly to face the direction of it.

  Blue eyes stare down, making my breath catch in my throat.

  This time I decide to get in there quickly before he gets the opportunity. “What do you want?”

  He smirks at me, one hand reaching out and leaning on the side of my car. He’s close… too close for this not to be intentionally threatening. “I want to continue where we left off this morning.”

  I shake my head at him. I want to step back, I want to back away, but his eyes are daring me to do it. He wants me to feel intimidated, and now I know what he wants, I really don’t want to let him have it. “Oh, you mean before your little girlfriend told you to come? Do you always run when she calls on you like a well-trained pet?”

  “One — she’s not my girlfriend. And two — I left when she called me because if I’d stayed, I probably would have snapped your pretty little neck.” He watches my reaction carefully and I hope that the shiver which has just ran straight down my spine wasn’t obvious.

  “And yet you came back for more?” I raise an eyebrow and try to act like his words don’t concern me. Maybe they shouldn’t, maybe this guy is just some mouth who likes to throw his weight around with harsh words. Or maybe I’m wrong… maybe this guy is just as dangerous as he claims to be, and I’m walking on thin ice.

  I wish I had a friend so I could ask them.

  “Can’t say I didn’t enjoy it when you stood up to me. It’s been a good few years since anyone’s had the balls to do that,” he says, the hint of a smile playing on his lips.

  “Yeah, well I don’t know you from Jim. You could be anyone. You could have skill with your fists or you could just be good at threatening innocent people.”

  I’m not about to admit that I remember him from high school. That would probably just inflate his already too big ego even more.

  He takes a step closer to me and I try my hardest not to move. I have to tilt my head pretty damn high to get a look at him now, he’s so close. He looks down at me, his eyes scanning my face like he’s part amused, part intrigued, and part angry.

  “Innocent you say? Are you referring to yourself?”

  I shrug. “Well, how many other people have you threatened today?”

  He smiles this time, chuckling. “I lost count, none have been that memorable until you.”

  “Yeah, well, enjoy the memories,” I tell him, pulling my books in close to my chest and walking away. I cross the road separating the building from the car park and I don’t look back when I hear him laughing manically.

  I survived my first day.

  Even if it was… eventful.

  One down, and only four more until the weekend.

  That’s what I tell myself as I lie down on my bed in my new room, throwing the big pile of accounting books down beside me.

  I should really pull out the rest of the books, sort through my notes and try to put a good system in place for this year. I came here with the intention of being super organized and focused. I want to do well. But there are still boxes of my things piled up in the corners, and clothes to unpack and put away, and… I can’t stop thinking about the guy with the blue eyes. Jason Dixon.

  I’m going to do everything in my power to avoid him.

  And I’m definitely going to stop thinking about him.

  I’ll just call him a complete asshole in my head a few times to get it out of my system.

  I get up from the bed and start unpacking the clothes from my suitcase, but it’s completely useless. What did the note mean? What is going to happen soon? Was it a threat?

  So, I may or may not have had a bit of an attitude with him this morning… but he had an attitude with me first.

  I only gave as good as I was getting.

  Surely, you can’t threaten someone for that?

  I decide to give up on the clothes and go for a walk instead to clear my head. There’s a decent coffee shop a ten-minute walk away, I can grab a take out, stretch my legs and get some fresh air. I put my shoes on and grab my purse as I head out the door.

  It’s dark outside, there’s a bit of a chill now that the warm sun has set but I know I won’t feel it as soon as I start walking. So I plug in my headphones, I turn the music up and I set a quick pace.

  I only passed this place in the taxi ride in, I’ve never actually been here before but I have a good idea of the general direction. At least, I think I do. I cross over the car park at the back of the building and although it’s full, it’s pretty quiet. It takes me a little longer than I expected to get to the coffee place, but since it was the walk I was going for and not the coffee, it’s fine.

  I order myself a large caramel latte to go, and plug myself in again for the journey back to the campus.

  Chapter 2

  JASON

  I want to say it was her eyes, but that would be a lie. Her lips? Maybe. Could have been the way her hips swayed from side to side when she walked without her even meaning to do it. Could have been the way her semi-sheer black shirt revealed just enough of those perfect tits to make me think of ripping it apart.

  It could have been any of those things, but I think it was most likely a combination of all of them.

  And whatever it was, it was little more than the initial hook.

  What got me addicted was the way she stared me right in the eye and stood up to me, like I wasn’t a foot taller than her and twice as wide. Like I didn’t own the whole fucking college.

  Like she was laughing at me.

  No one’s ever dared do that before, and fuck, it had my cock throbbing in anticipation.

  Yup, anticipation.

  Synonymous with expectation.

  Because the girl with the raven hair and the pretty lips is mine. She doesn’t know it yet, and maybe that’s a good thing.

  What she doesn’t know can’t keep her awake worrying at night.

  I’m standing in line waiting for a hipster barista to finish off the soya chai gluten-free fucking sprinkles latte she’s arsing around with when I spot her.

  Her.

  I’m not even supposed to be here.

  The girl I’m meant to be seeing tonight, Jadyn, asked me to pick her up a cappuccino on my way over, and like the gentleman I am, of course I agreed. More chance she’ll part her thighs for me if I at least pretend to make an effort.

  But as soon as I spot the little crème caramel with the espresso hair in front of me, all thoughts of Jadyn and her milky spread thighs run out of my head.

  She hasn't noticed me.

  Good.

  She’d have probably run too, if she had noticed me.

  No, the girl is lost inside her own world, walking towards the exit with her music turned up and her eyes low on the ground.

  Fuck the cappuccino.

  I leave the queue and follow her out of the coffee shop, looking both ways at the door to see which direction she’s heading.

  She’s just a shadow in the streetlights, hunched up against the chilled wind as her small frame battles against it. I turn my collar up and follow her, not a fucking clue why, but I can't take my eyes off her.

  She’s walking in the direction of the campus. Maybe she has a room in the dorms there, that’s my best guess.

  Spotting my BMW 3 Series reflecting in the glow of the lights, I cut across the car park and the thing comes to life when I press the button on the fob.

  I get in and start the engine, barely taking my eyes off her. I’m out of the carpark a second later, pulling the car on to the road and slowing my speed as soon as I catch up.

  I roll the window down.

  She glances over, notices it’s me, and roll
s her eyes.

  “Can I help you?” She doesn't stop or even slow her pace, she just takes the music out her ears and keeps walking, eyes pointed straight ahead.

  I can't help laughing at her nonchalant attitude.

  “Shouldn't I be the one asking you that, princess?”

  She glances over to me. “You want to help me?” Her tone is dry as fuck, but her voice is sultry like silk.

  “You going back to the campus?”

  “Yes.”

  “Get in then,” I tell her.

  She stops walking, and I hit the brakes. Her eyes rake over me, she’s higher than me up on the sidewalk so I take the opportunity to look at her, too.

  “I’m good,” she says, nodding her head and continuing on. I let the car roll forward again.

  “That wasn’t a question, princess. It was an order.”

  She turns on me abruptly and my foot hits the brakes again.

  “You in the habit of ordering around complete strangers?” She cocks her eyebrow and tilts her head to the side expectantly.

  “Always,” I bite back.

  She does this little half-laugh thing, and I’m not sure wether it’s cute or sexy.

  “And how does that usually work out for you?”

  “Get the fuck in the car and I’ll show you.” I nod my head towards the passenger seat, not taking my gaze off her for a second.

  She rolls her eyes, thinking this is a game.

  I like games, but I’m not playing one now.

  “I’m not really one for getting into strange men’s cars,” she says. “Good night, Jason.”

  And with that, she turns on her heels and starts strutting down the sidewalk like she owns the fucking thing.

  “You never told me your name?” I shout after her.