RULING CLASS Read online

  Contents

  Ruling Class

  DESCRIPTION

  DEDICATION

  CHAPTER ONE - COOPER

  CHAPTER TWO - CADEE

  CHAPTER THREE - COOPER

  CHAPTER FOUR - CADEE

  CHAPTER FIVE - COOPER

  CHAPTER SIX - CADEE

  CHAPTER SEVEN - COOPER

  CHAPTER EIGHT - CADEE

  CHAPTER NINE - COOPER

  CHAPTER TEN - CADEE

  CHAPTER ELEVEN - COOPER

  CHAPTER TWLEVE - CADEE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN - COOPER

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN - CADEE

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN - COOPER

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN - CADEE

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - COOPER

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - CADEE

  CHAPTER NINETEEN - COOPER

  CHAPTER TWENTY - CADEE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE - COOPER

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO - CADEE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE - COOPER

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR - CADEE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE - COOPER

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX - CADEE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN - COOPER

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT - CADEE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE - COOPER

  CHAPTER THIRTY - CADEE

  CHAPTER THIRTY ONE - COOPER

  CHAPTER THIRTY - TWO - CADEE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE - COOPER

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR - CADEE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE - COOPER

  BREAKING NEWS

  COURT REPORT

  EDUCATION NEWS

  ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX - CADEE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN - COOPER

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT - CADEE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE - COOPER

  CHAPTER FORTY - CADEE

  EPILOGUE - COOPER

  END OF BOOK SHIT

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  RULING CLASS

  Edited by RJ Locksley

  Cover Design by JA Huss

  Cover Photo: Wander Aguiar

  Cover Model: Andrew Biernat

  Copyright © 2020 by JA Huss

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN-978-1-950232-54-3

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Find Julie at her website

  www.JAHuss.com

  Chat with Julie

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  On BOOKBUB

  DESCRIPTION

  Cadee is right where she wants to be. Deep inside the inner circle of High Court royalty with Cooper at her side. The dark secrets of the tomb are within reach, but nothing is free in the elite world of the blue-blood rich and this time… everyone must pay a price.

  You want the diamonds?

  You want the mansion?

  You want the lake, and boats, and the cars?

  You want the security?

  And the man?

  Then you do what you’re told.

  I live in his castle.

  I sit at his feet.

  I wear his collar.

  I am his offering.

  The Chosen Ones… the Ruling Class.

  They are a breed apart.

  And yes, that pedigree matters.

  Not just anyone can rise above and become their equal.

  It takes sacrifice.

  Bully King is a new-adult, dark, bully romance from New York Times bestselling author JA Huss. The ruling class will challenge Cadee far beyond her comfort level. She might think she’s just playing along to get the truth about who she really is, but this secret society filled with blue-blood elites has a way of making her want to serve.

  DEDICATION

  Being a creative is hard.

  Super. Fucking. Hard.

  And it’s temping to look for shortcuts.

  Very. Fucking. Tempting.

  So here’s to all you powerful

  Amazing

  Creative bitches

  Who do not

  Lie

  Or cheat

  Or steal

  Your way to success.

  You’re a goddamned rock star.

  CHAPTER ONE - COOPER

  The night is thick with heat the way most August nights are around here. Thick like the water from the lake doesn’t stop at the shore, but instead follows you around like something lost and seeking.

  It’s quiet too. Just three sounds, really. Waves lapping up along the long-forgotten beach behind the Old Alumni Inn, my fast-paced heartbeats, and a set of ragged breaths.

  Our bodies are slick with sweat and they sway as one in the massive rope hammock that hangs from the porch rafters. But it’s the kind of sweat earned through pleasure. Proof that not even the humid August night will keep us apart.

  The porch and hammock are the best things about the room Cadee and I claimed at the inn. The room itself needed a lot of work, something we figured out that night she came to save me because it started raining sometime around four AM and water rushed in from hidden holes within minutes.

  The Old Alumni Inn has been abandoned for ten years for a reason. And all of us were having second thoughts by dawn.

  Believe it or not, it was Isabella who became the inn’s champion. Whenever one of us balked at the work that needed to be done on the place just to make it livable, she would point out an architectural detail or some piece of history proving it special and savable.

  “We don’t need special,” Selina had said. “We have one more year. Who cares where we live?”

  Isabella did, that’s who.

  And Cadee. Since it was her million-dollar payout from Dante footing the bill and she is a freshman, not a senior.

  We were all cut off from our money and privilege within the hour after I had my final say with my father. But we knew that was coming and it had been three weeks between the purchase of the inn and my sunset speech at the tomb. We worked hard during those three weeks. And the two since, as well.

  And even though I had my doubts too, it’s working out OK.

  I have grown fond of the loose floorboards and the peeling plaster. Maybe seeing the place through Isabella’s eyes instead of my own.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  Cadee’s question makes me smile in the darkness as the crickets pick up their summer song and, little by little, erase the quiet and turn it into something else while we continue to sway in the hammock.

  “Ice cubes.” And then the hammock is rocking hard as I extract myself from our tangled bodies.

  “What? Where are you going?”

  “Hold, please.”

  Then I go back inside and pull on a pair of shorts, enjoying her confused giggle as I leave our room and go downstairs to the kitchen.

  Everything creaks as I walk through the house. Floorboards, stairs—hell, even the railing rattles as I grab the substantial artichoke-shaped finial cap at the landing and jump down the remaining four steps.

  Someone is in the kitchen and I’m surprised to find Ax standing in front of the new stainless-steel fridge, lit up by the interior light, holding a jug of milk up to his lips. I stop before he sees me and look at his upper body. At the tattoos—not only the familiar rampant lions across his chest, but the demons and devils all up and down his arms. Then my eyes drift to the scars on his back and I shake myself out of the spell he casts.

  “Dude.”

  Ax turns, caught, and laughs into the jug—which is just gross—but keeps guzzling. Then comes up for air, wipes his mouth with the back of
his wrist, and grins at me.

  “How many times have I told you not to drink from the fucking jug, Ax? We all drink that milk.”

  He caps the milk, slides it onto the shelf, and closes the door so the only light left is filtering in from a side porch. “How many times have I told you not to fuck Cadee on the fucking porch?”

  “It’s hot out, man. Way too hot to have sex inside.”

  “Hey.” Ax’s broad smile comes with a shrug. “I don’t care where you fuck her. And you should not care how I drink my milk.”

  “One has nothing to do with the other.”

  He cocks his head at me in the near darkness. “Doesn’t it?”

  “What are you doing up?”

  “Well.” He sighs. “I was jerking off to you two—”

  I laugh. I know I shouldn’t, but I do.

  “—and then when we were done, I wanted some fucking milk.”

  “We, Ax?”

  He gives me a one-shoulder shrug. “I like to get the timing right, ya know? Kinda brings it all home in just the right way.”

  “Dude. I can’t. It’s way too hot to deal with you right now.” I open the freezer, take out the ice-maker tray, and carry it over to the counter so I can search for a bowl.

  But Ax has been different since we moved into the inn. He takes his shirt off now. That’s the most obvious change. What his mother did to him over the years wasn’t really a secret. He’s had those claw marks on his back since he was a little boy with spiky brown hair. And the way he tells it, they were there when he was born.

  But they weren’t.

  And there are others that weren’t there when he entered the world either.

  He’s happy now. I can tell the difference. To Ax, the inn is something different. Something good, even though it’s a falling-down mess. It’s a new start, a second chance, and a fresh perspective.

  So do I care that he drinks milk from the jug?

  Not one fucking bit.

  I find a small stainless-steel bowl and dump the ice into it, then return the ice-maker to its proper place in the freezer.

  When I turn back to him, he’s leaning against the kitchen counter with his arms folded across his chest, wide, evil grin on his face.

  “What?”

  He shrugs. “I always knew it was you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Cadee. Ya know? She was always into you.”

  “Sure.” I pick up the bowl of ice. “Yeah. I guess.”

  It’s not true though. She was into all of us and he knows it. But hey, if he’s stepping back so she and I can give this a real go, I’m not gonna point that out.

  He’s making an effort for me. Which is more than I can say for Lars.

  I turn and start heading for the stairs.

  But Ax calls out, “Don’t let him get to you.”

  I pause. Just stop under the elaborately carved cornice of the hallway, but don’t look back at him. “He’s not getting to me.”

  “Lies. You and Lars have never seen eye to eye.”

  Now I do turn. “That’s not true.”

  “Hey.” He puts his hands up like he’s surrendering. “He and I have never seen eye to eye either. Lars is…” But he hesitates.

  “What? Lars is what?”

  “Invested, Cooper. He’s invested. Why do you think he’s at home tonight instead of here?”

  I shake my head at him. “It’s part of the plan. That’s all. Plus, I’m not gonna tell the guy to walk away from his family. So he wanted to go to his family reunion and see his grandma? Good for him. I’m glad he went.”

  “Oh, I’m sure you are.”

  “What’s that mean?”

  “Come on, Coop. Everyone can tell that Lars is jealous.”

  “Listen—”

  “No, you listen.” Ax takes three steps towards me. “Watch out for him. That’s all I’m gonna say. Just watch out for him. And if you’ve got a secret you want to stay that way? Well, you better hold it tight when he’s in the room.”

  I sigh. “He’s got all my secrets already.”

  “Maybe. But if you get any new ones, just hold them close.”

  I know I should stay here with Ax and talk this through. We should make decisions. Come to conclusions. But it’s hot, I’m tired, my dick is still a little hard from the amazing sex I just had with Cadee Hunter, and I’ve got a bowl of melting ice cubes in my hand.

  So I just nod. “Noted.” Then I turn away and start for the stairs.

  “But just so we’re clear,” Ax says softly behind me, “I agree with him.”

  I pause, one foot already on the bottom step. “About?”

  “It was a dick move, Cooper. I understand why you didn’t say anything when it happened. Maybe I’d have the same thought, if I were you. So I get it. But you…” He pauses to shake his head. “You’re an asshole for not reporting Dane and helping Cadee get her justice. And you’re gonna have to live with your silence for the rest of your life.”

  I huff out some air. And I want to turn around so bad and tell him… things. Explain myself. Get pissed and defensive.

  But he’s not wrong.

  Say what you will about Ax Olsen. He’s got a lot of issues and faults and he makes mistakes regularly. But he’s never been a liar. He knows the difference between right and wrong and when he finds himself on the wrong side of things it’s always a deliberate choice.

  That’s true for everyone. But most people don’t admit it the way Ax does.

  So once again I say, “Noted.” And I go back up the creaky stairs.

  Up here the darkness is so complete I have to slide my fingertips along the long hallway wall to keep my bearings and even when I step into the bedroom and there’s a little sliver of rising moon shining through the window, it’s still dark enough for me to trip over some discarded clothes on the floor.

  “Be careful,” Cadee says from the porch.

  “I will,” I whisper back. It’s a good reminder, but I’m not really talking to her. Just myself.

  I push through the screen door that leads to the porch, being careful not to let it slam, and then walk over to the hammock.

  “What’s that?” Cadee asks playfully.

  “Ice,” I say. And then I grin wide and allow Ax’s words to drift away. The middle of a dark, hot night is no time to revisit past mistakes. That’s what the light of day is for.

  “Oooooo. What are we gonna do with it?”

  I hand her the bowl and she hisses air through her teeth—“Cold”—then sighs as I drop my shorts and make the very careful descent into the hammock with her. We swing, and sway, and laugh a little, trying our best to be quiet as I get myself situated.

  She’s cooled off a little in my absence, but the heat between us returns as soon as we’re skin on skin again. I have one arm underneath her so she’s lying almost flat and tucked up against my shoulder. Then I take the stainless-steel bowl and set it on her bare belly.

  “Oh, shit, that’s cold.”

  “That’s the point.” I reach for an ice cube. “I want to keep you next to me. And I know that this heat will win in the end if I don’t intervene. So this is me intervening.” I hold the ice cube over one of her breasts and it begins to drip immediately.

  She lets out a quick, short breath as the cold water drops onto her nipple and trickles down the curve of her breast to pool between them. “Hmm. This is interesting.”

  “Interesting?” I chuckle, then lower the ice cube to her nipple, rubbing it back and forth across the tiny peak.

  “Maybe… nice is a better word.”

  “Nice is better. But that’s not quite what I was going for here.”

  “Hmmm,” she murmurs, laughing a little. “Then I will just be quiet and let you do your thing.”

  I suck in a deep breath, wanting to say… things. The way I wanted to say things to Ax. Because I don’t want her to be quiet anymore. Especially with my encouragement.

  “Do I get to play with the ice? Or wi
ll that spoil your plans?”

  “I don’t have any plans, Cades. I’m just trying to make you love me.”

  “Awwwww.” She leans up and places one hand on the side of my cheek, kisses me. “You don’t have to worry about that, Cooper.”

  Maybe not. She does—at the very least—like me a whole lot.

  I’m not really worried about her love or like.

  What I’m really trying to do is make her forgive me.

  “Shhhh,” Cadee hushes. “I can almost hear you thinking. It’s too late, and hot, and perfect to be thinking about anything but this ice you brought me.”

  She’s right.

  I place my ice cube against her lips, tracing the outline of them in the sliver of moonlight that has traveled millions of miles to land here on our naked bodies tonight.

  Her lips pucker against it and her light brown eyes twinkle as they lock on mine. Then she reaches for a cube and begins to trace the outline of my shoulder. The cold is immediate and the water sliding down the curve of my biceps feels a lot like relief.

  I am suddenly, overwhelmingly, completely happy.

  I remove the bowl from Cadee’s stomach and balance it on my leg. Then balance my ice cube over her belly button.

  She hisses a laugh, then almost immediately sucks in a long breath as the cube melts and begins to trickle over the side of her hips. Suddenly her body shivers and little pinpricks pop up on her tanned-brown skin.

  I pick up another cube and this time I rub it around her nipples until they bunch up in tight peaks. Then I lean over and kiss her lips. They’re still cool and wet. And when her tongue slips inside my mouth and begins to tease me, I get a little lost in Cadee Hunter.

  I want this night to last forever.

  One perfect night with a sliver of moon, and the heavy air, and the heat of late summer.

  One perfect night of calm water, a creaking rope hammock, and a chorus of crickets.

  One perfect night with my girl in the woods.

  Because pretty soon she’s gonna figure out the real me.

  She’s going to see what everyone else sees.

  And she’s gonna realize… I’m just not worth it.