The water hit me with shock and I gasped as I came up, swallowing a mouthful, coughing and sputtering.

Cruel laughter echoed along the trees as a cry tore out of me. "My books!" I turned frantically, taking my bag off my shoulders to hold it up above the water before everything got drenched, but it was ripped out of my grasp by Quinlan, who dangled it in front of my face with a shit-eating grin.

He tore my bag open and grasped the thick tome of papers I had spent weeks working on because Mrs. Belarus was still living in the archaic times and would only accept hard copies, and not use her damned mail.

Worse yet, she wanted the references on each page handwritten, with arrows and quote marks and everything. The deadline was in two days. I couldn’t do it all again in time to meet that time or I would fail.

I couldn’t fail.

"This precious to you, sweetheart?" he crooned. He threw my bag over at the edge of the pool. "Come get it."

Water leaked into my shoes, my clothes, my panties as I tried to wade over. "Give it back, Quinn. What are we, five?"

His blue eyes crinkled playfully, and just as I lunged to get it out of his grasp, he tossed it over my head.

I shrieked in fear, but Mercer caught it just before it hit the water.

He let out a hoarse laugh, brandishing his fangs at me. "You know, I never thought I would come to see a day when anyone would be more terrified at the concept of getting their books wet, than being stuck in the same space with us." He tore off the first page and let it sink into the water. "Pretty, little nerd, aren’t you?"

I swam over swiftly, gulping down more water, gasping for air. "Give me that!" I yelled in frustration, lunging for it.

But at the last second, he held it high above his head, farther than I could reach, and I collided into his bare chest.

My nipples tightened, from the cold or the proximity, I couldn’t tell, and I recoiled on instinct.

But Mercer’s hand banded around my waist under the water.

And he grabbed my ass.

It wasn’t so much as the action than it was the way he did it. His large hand covered my left butt cheek, parted it from the right and lifted me up by it. His fingers grazed the crack and I felt his middle finger slide over my butthole.

I slapped him. His head jerked to the side as I panted. "Don’t ever touch me like that again."

When he looked back at me, I saw that rather than be pissed, he was... excited. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

His tongue stroked his bottom lip. "Oh, I’ll touch you, Adams. And you’ll enjoy it."

Without taking his eyes off me, he tossed my paper in the air. And my gaze jerked with it as Jericho caught it easily.

I stumbled in the water.

Jericho scared the hell out of me. I didn’t know what to say, how to say it, or how to move. His amber eyes were dark on me, waiting. When I didn’t move, he narrowed his gaze. "You must not want it all that badly then."

I jerked forward as he began to dip it into the water. "Stop. Stop! What do you want?!" I cried.

He cocked his head. "Me? You want something. What are you willing to offer up for it?"

I knew what this petty game of blackmail was. I knew what came next. It was the part where I told them I would do anything.

My mind whirled around the possibility of starting that paper from scratch, and I knew there was no possible scenario that I would finish it. Failure meant risking my scholarship with an imperfect score.

Jericho knew the exact moment I came to the conclusion and his lips curved into a dark smile. "Take off your shirt, Adams."

I stilled. "W-what?"

His eyes were hard. "Did I stutter?"

My fingers trembled at my side. I considered begging. But I didn’t even know what on earth I was apologizing for. "No."

He dropped my paper.

It happened in slow motion. A panicked "No!" ripped out of me, and he caught it just as the edge hit the water.

He blinked slowly. "Now. Let’s try this again, shall we?" He licked his fangs. "Take off your shirt."

My heart pattered harshly and I bit the inside of my cheek until it drew blood as I raised my hands to my shirt in jerky, angry movements. My throat tightened as I swiftly unbottoned my shirt. Tears stung my eyes.

Quinlan tutted in displeasure, his blue eyes going black. "Not so fast, ma cherie. Slowly. Put on a show for us, like you did your little boyfriend."

Of course. This was still about Cole.

I tried to go slower, but my lack of experience was obvious in every tremble and jerk of my fingers. Hot, humiliating tears burned behind my eyes as I freed my shirt from my skirt and took it off.

Mercer made a satisfied sound somewhere behind me.

Jericho extended an arm to me and curled a finger. "Come here."

My body actually jerked towards him in obedience before it dawned on me with horror just what I had just done. I shuffled back and slammed into a hard chest.

Quinlan’s fingers wrapped around my neck. "Where the fuck do you think you’re going?" He squeezed, leaning down to catch my earlobe between his teeth and I gasped when he pulled teasingly. "Growing a little bit of shame now, are we? A little too late for that."

And then, he grabbed a fistful of my hair and pushed my head into the water.

My screamed was drowned out by the torrent, and so was the wretched sound that slipped out of me when Quinlan pressed his thigh against me and lifted my skirt.

I flailed, but he held me in place calmly as I felt his smooth fingers slip between my thighs and press on my nub.

The light touch sent a bolt of unwelcome pleasure through my body. He fingers slid along my panties as my lung burned for air, and I felt the first bare touch at my entrance.

One light stroke along me was all it took for fire to ignite in my blood. I shut my eyes, squirming against him to get away before he discovered my fighting was to prevent him from going any lower and discovering the truth.

Just as I felt myself begin to choke on the lack of oxygen, Quinlan hauled me out of the water. And he whispered something against my ear in French that I didn’t understand, but sounded heavily like a threat.

Before shoving me into Jericho.

Every molecule in me screamed to run, but I didn’t think I would’ve, even if I had a clear path to. His face was made of stone and my legs were unsteady.

He was so large, he towered above me, staring me down underneath thick moon-white lashes. "Get rid of the skirt."