BriarEdge Academy: Second Semester Read online

  BriarEdge Academy: Second Semester

  Kit Kyndall

  Amourisa Press

  Kit Tunstall, writing as Kit Kyndall, reserves all rights to BRIAREDGE ACADEMY. Any resemblance to people or places is a coincidence. Please respect the copyright by not sharing this work. Permission of the author or publisher is required to copy any part of this work.

  © Kit Kyndall, 2019

  Cover image: Depositphoto

  Cover design by Amourisa Designs

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Blurb

  I. January

  1. Chapter One

  2. Chapter Two

  3. Chapter Three

  4. Chapter Four

  II. February

  5. Chapter Five

  6. Chapter Six

  7. Chapter Seven

  III. March

  8. Chapter Eight

  IV. April

  9. Chapter Nine

  10. Chapter Ten

  V. May

  11. Chapter Eleven

  12. Chapter Twelve

  13. Chapter Thirteen

  14. Chapter Fourteen

  VI. October

  Epilogue

  About Kit Kyndall

  Blurb

  They don’t want her there. She doesn’t care if they push her out until she finds good reasons to stay at BriarEdge Academy. The second semester is here…

  They’re so close to being able to be together openly now, but there are still problems ahead of them. While Candace cements her relationship with Lex, Dalton, Jonas, and Kip, Manion is still creeping around BriarEdge, Malone continues her campaign of terror against Candace, and Suzanne has found a new way to threaten her. Can she make it through the last challenges keeping her from being with her guys, or will their secrets be too big to hide?

  This is a series intended for mature YA and adult readers. It includes some cursing, mild violence, a few darker elements, and sex. It is a contemporary reverse harem academy romance with some bullying, including from one of her love interests. When four is better than one, #whychoose?

  January

  Chapter One

  Candace

  Thanks to Malone’s attention focused on her phone, paired with her no-doubt accidental thoughtfulness in wearing ear buds, she and Dalton were able to have a whispered conversation on the way back to BriarEdge. Together, they reached the consensus they could be discreet. They would do nothing to embarrass Hannah or Ashton, but they couldn’t imagine being without each other for the next several months.

  Candace spent the first week back in anticipation, half-expecting Malone to start vicious rumors about her and her relationships, but nothing surfaced that she heard. The rumors would be salacious enough that they would’ve been flying around the school by now if Malone hadn’t kept her silence.

  She wasn’t certain what to think of that, since she couldn’t fathom Malone not using such information against her. Perhaps Calvin had managed to reason with her, or maybe Ashton had put the fear of lost money and who knows what else into her. Maybe that was why she was silent.

  Candace hoped that was the case, rather than she was mutely plotting and building up toward something even more vicious than nasty rumors. Having spent the last several months fighting with Malone, she just wanted the rivalry to end. She couldn’t imagine them ever being friends, but it would be nice if they could at least achieve Cold War status.

  She dismissed all thoughts of Malone from her mind as she walked toward the basement meeting spot that Thursday evening. She was going to see Jonas tomorrow, but she wasn’t leaving until Friday night. She hadn’t had a chance to meet Dalton in the basement all week, and she was looking forward to being alone with him.

  Spending time together in the rec room as they got to know each other was nice, but now that they were far more acquainted, they were starting to fall into easy familiarity, and she missed being able to be physically intimate with him. There was just no way to have more than a quick kiss or hold hands while in the rec room, since the resident advisors on each floor were too quick to patrol and break up any possibility of more.

  She had just passed a door when she heard it open, and it made her shiver. It was late in the evening, though not yet curfew time. All the employees should’ve left for the day or returned to their cottages by now, though she supposed it could be custodial staff. They came on a contractual basis, but she had no idea how that worked, or what their schedules were. She’d never seen them cleaning, but the school was spotless, so they must come late in the evenings.

  Either that, or perhaps it was someone else having a secret assignation in a different room. That could be a possibility as well, yet a sense of dread swept through her as she turned to see who had been in that room. It was barely a surprise to see Manion there. She took an automatic step back when he entered the hallway completely, not shutting the door. She was certain if she got close enough, he’d drag her inside. After that, she had no idea what he’d do.

  “How lovely to see you again, chérie.” His tone was probably meant to be seductive, but it just sounded smarmy.

  She grimaced. “I can’t say the same.” She looked behind her, wondering if Dalton was already in their meeting place.

  Manion gave her a foul grin. “I see you know about the rendezvous spot. Perhaps you and I can have some time alone this evening, Mademoiselle Munroe.”

  She swallowed thickly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I…got lost.”

  He laughed, making no attempt to hide that he disbelieved her. “Of course you did. Are you on your way to meet with Lex, or your filthy brother?”

  “Stepbrother,” she corrected automatically before grimacing. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  He seemed to be in no hurry, slowly approaching, so it was a shock when he suddenly struck like a cobra, clamping his hand around her still-sensitive wrist, though it had mostly healed from the sprain. He dragged her closer, ignoring her whimpers of protest, until his face was pressed against hers.

  He flipped their positions so she was shoved hard against the wall, the back of her head knocking against it hard enough to bring tears to her eyes. His hand went to her throat, applying enough pressure that she couldn’t get sufficient air to scream. He pressed his face to hers, licking her cheek in a way that made nausea bubble in her stomach. She prayed for bile to come up, so she could vomit on him and perhaps dissuade him, but it seemed to be firmly settled in her stomach, churning away, but with no indication it would move higher.

  “I thought about this the entire Christmas break, chérie. I knew I was going to have you. You and a few others, but tonight’s just for you.” As he spoke, he licked her again before his free hand moved to her breast to squeeze in a punishing way. “You should have been nicer to me and not made me wait. You would’ve enjoyed this more. But it doesn’t bother me at all if you don’t enjoy what I do to you.”

  She struggled against him, opening her mouth in an attempt to draw enough air to scream. She wanted to keep fighting, but she was weakening from the lack of oxygen.

  He grinned at her, his pleasure evident. “Fight me as much you want. I like it that way.” He chuckled when her eyes widened with horror. “You young girls are such easy prey. Some of you come willingly, and some not, and my secret is…” He leaned closer to brush his lips against her ear. “I like that kind better. These are the best conquests, chérie. Do you want to know what I’m going to do to you, or should I just show you?”

  From somewhere, she managed to find the energy to turn her head enough to bite him on the lower cheek. He yelped with surprise and pulled back before
she could get her teeth really into his flesh, but it was enough for him to loosen his hold, and she opened her mouth and shouted for help. She knew she was risking getting expelled, since she had no good excuse for being down in the basement, but she wasn’t going to stand quietly while he attempted to rape her—or managed to do it.

  “Candace?” called Dalton. He emerged from the room where they were due to meet a second later, quickly taking in the sight. He rushed forward, jerking Manion away from her and holding him by the lapels of his jacket as he slammed the teacher into the wall. “I’m going to kill you.”

  Candace was gasping for breath, finally restoring her full ability to breathe, and she was aware enough to put a hand on his shoulder. “You can’t. You’ll be expelled or worse.”

  “I can’t just let this stand, Candace.” Dalton was clearly enraged.

  She took his hand from Manion’s lapel, holding it in hers for a moment and squeezing before lowering it to his side. He resisted releasing his second hand when she did the same movement again, but he finally acquiesced and put his other hand at his side too. She put her arm around his waist, and he put his arm around her upper back to hold her against him.

  Dalton was still focused on Manion though, and his anger was radiating off him in almost visible waves.

  At first, the French teacher had looked like he was going to have a heart attack, but he was quickly returning to his usual state of composure. “I don’t know what you thought you saw, young man—”

  “It was exactly what he thinks he saw,” said Candace. When Dalton growled, tensing to step forward again, she squeezed his hip. “You can’t.”

  Dalton glared at her for a moment, though his anger was clearly all for Manion. “He can’t get away with this.”

  “What are you going to do about it, Monsieur Westerly? No one will believe you.” Manion openly smirked at him. “They’ll find it far more believable that I saw you two sneaking down here and interrupted your illicit meeting. You’ll be the ones suspended, so by all means, pursue it if you’d like.”

  After a moment, as Dalton glared at him but didn’t move, he chuckled and stepped away, bending slightly at the waist in a mocking fashion. “In that case, have a good evening.” He looked at Candace, and his gaze promised he wasn’t done with her yet.

  She trembled under the force of it, but she focused on Dalton as he turned to follow Manion. She pulled hard on the waistband of the jeans he’d changed into sometime between dinner and meeting her, keeping him from moving forward. “I don’t want you in trouble, Dalton. I don’t want to be expelled, and I don’t want my mom and your dad to send us to separate schools for getting ejected from here. We have to let it go.”

  Dalton growled again before turning to her. He was clearly angry, and he started pacing in the hallway. She took his hand and led him into the sex room, closing the door and locking it. “You know I’m right. He’s a sick perv, and it isn’t fair, but we’ll be the ones in trouble if we try to pursue this.”

  “He was going to hurt you.”

  She didn’t tell him that her wrist was throbbing, and so was her breast in time with her heartbeat. Instead, she moved closer to cup her hands around his cheeks, ensuring he was looking at her. “I can handle him. I just won’t go anywhere alone anymore, but I need you to promise you won’t do anything crazy, okay?”

  After a moment, he breathed a heavy sigh. “Okay.” He ran a hand through his hair. “This is going to sound awful, but I’m no longer up for quiet time alone.”

  She flinched. “Is it because he touched me?”

  Dalton’s gaze softened. “Of course not. It’s because I’m just angry and feeling powerless at the moment. I don’t want to hurt you if I channel how I’m feeling into passion, okay?”

  She nodded, secretly relieved herself. She loved Dalton and wanted to be with him, but sex was the last thing on her mind right now. Even the thought of it was enough to imagine just how bad things could’ve gotten with Manion, and she couldn’t dwell on those thoughts, or she’d be a sobbing mess and definitely not able to continue on as though nothing had happened.

  By much mutual unspoken agreement, they left the room and headed back upstairs. Dalton refused to leave her even for a moment, so they tiptoed out of the basement stairwell together, not running into anyone until they reached the first-floor rec room.

  Then he took her over to a couch, glaring at a freshmen couple who were there until they moved and sat down as he pulled her down beside him. She put her head on his shoulder, drawing strength from him. Tears threatened to overwhelm her, and she looked up when a hand touched the top of her head. She gave Lex a trembling smile.

  He knelt beside her. “What’s wrong?” He looked at Dalton. “Is she okay?”

  Candace nodded. “I’m fine. Really. Thanks for not just assuming Dalton did something to upset me.”

  “I didn’t even consider that he had,” Lex said a little stiffly, and perhaps with his own element of surprise. He looked around before lowering his voice. “I knew something had to be wrong when I saw you cuddling with Dalton though. As far as I know, you guys are still under wraps?”

  She nodded, abruptly realizing she was far too familiar with Dalton. Fortunately, only the freshmen couple had seen them sit together before they left the rec room, and she hastily put some space between them. Dalton grumbled about it, but he didn’t try to stop her.

  It was her turn to try to stop him as he bent forward to whisper to Lex what had happened. She didn’t need Lex to know as well, not wanting to keep the two of them in check. Part of her wanted to urge them to go beat the crap out of Manion, but she knew that was a horrible idea. She told them that when they started talking about confronting him.

  “You can’t just let this go,” said Lex. “You need to go to the headmaster.”

  Candace shook her head. “He’s not going to believe me.” She briefly remembered the video she had of Manion creeping around the dance, but she wasn’t certain it was compelling enough evidence to convince Hastings of anything, especially coming from her.

  Perhaps she should ask Octavia to deliver it to him, but she doubted her friend would want to get involved with anything related to Manion. Octavia seemed to prefer to pretend the problem didn’t exist.

  “At least let us warn him off,” said Dalton as he cracked his knuckles.

  She shook her head. “I can’t trust you just to warn him. I don’t want either one of you in trouble for me.”

  “This has to stop.” Lex looked as resolute as Dalton.

  She frowned at both of them. “Promise me.”

  They traded a glance, looking disgruntled, but as she badgered them for the next few minutes, they both eventually nodded their capitulation. She wasn’t certain she believed them, but she had to. It wasn’t like she could follow both at all times to ensure they stayed away from Manion.

  Chapter Two

  Candace

  She was missing Jonas badly, so Candace left Friday evening with her weekend pass, though technically, she was supposed to wait until Saturday morning. Isis promised to cover for her, so she sneaked to the gates after dark. They weren’t locked, so she was able to get through them and walk a half-mile from the school before ordering her Uber. Gabe was the driver who took her to the Underell farm, and Jonas came to meet her.

  He took her case and carried it as she followed behind him to his room after greeting his parents. After he’d set the bag on the bed, she turned to him. “What’s on this weekend’s agenda? Are we going to help your dad—” She couldn’t get out the rest of the question. Jonas had slanted his mouth over hers, preventing her from talking. That was just fine, and she greeted him with a deep kiss.

  At some point, she expected the kiss to lessen as he withdrew, but all he did was deepen it. It didn’t take her long to realize the first thing on their agenda, and she was completely fine with that. She’d missed him so much, and he’d clearly missed her too—and things had changed now. She was eighteen, unlike t
he last time they’d been together. Now, there was no gray area about them having consensual sex.

  Jonas’s mouth moved from hers finally to sweep down her neck, his teeth nibbling every few seconds before his tongue soothed the slight sting. It was an amazing sensation that made her shiver, and she moved closer.

  “Cold?” he asked with a small chuckle against her throat.

  “Hot.” She let her hands roam over his chest, feeling his muscles. It wasn’t as though she’d forgotten them, but it was good to feel them again. Memories of being with him weren’t nearly as satisfying as moments like these. She reminded herself they just had to get through five more months, and then they could be together whenever they wanted.

  He distracted her from those thoughts as he started unbuttoning her shirt, stripping off the flannel to toss over his shoulder. A shiver went through her again, this time slightly due to the temperature change with no shirt, but she knew he’d warm her up soon enough.

  Feeling the need to reciprocate, she grasped the hem of his shirt and pushed it up to his armpits, tugging until he voluntarily moved back long enough to strip it off himself, since she couldn’t get it the rest of the way over his head without his cooperation. Then her fingers stroked across his chest and down his stomach before she put her hands on his waist and drew him back to her again.