Penthouse Prey E-Book

Emma Castle

• Herausgeber: Kingsley Lockwood Literary
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 109

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Welcome to the Primal Club where all your darkest fantasies come to life…

Quinn Huxley never expected to run into Devlin Rayburn, the boy who bullied her in high school, ever again. But twelve years later, he walks back into her life offering her the one thing she can’t refuse: one night with him and he’ll save her parents’ failing business.

All she has to do is come to the opening night of Devlin Rayburn’s private, elite penthouse club and play his little game. She thinks she can handle him, but the moment she steps into his glittering world and discovers what his game is, she’s trapped…by her own desire.

Run, little princess, run…

He will chase her, catch her and claim her until she forgets everything outside herself but him and the pleasure he can give her. But when the night is over, will either she or Devlin be able to walk away from each other?

*This is a short, spicy novella that involves primal chase play

Leseprobe

Penthouse Prey

THE ORIGIN NOVELLA

PRIMAL CLUB

BOOK ONE

EMMA CASTLE

Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

About the Author

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Copyright © 2025 by Lauren Smith

All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitutes unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

ISBN:978-1-967219-01-8

ISBN: 978-1-967219-02-5

Prologue

“You don’t belong here.”

The warning made Quinn Huxley’s body freeze. She shuddered as she clutched her locker door and tried to ignore the tall, glowering, gorgeous figure next to her. The midday sunlight streamed in through the windows at the far end of the corridor, illuminating the crush of students moving through the halls of Braxley Preparatory, the elite private high school Quinn attended. She didn’t have to look around the sea of navy-blue blazers and khaki pants to know she had no allies that would come to her aid when her locker neighbor bullied her.

“Go home, Huxley, or else.”

The audacity of his voice blazed through her, turning the ice in her veins to rage. She slammed her locker shut with a deep breath and faced her tormentor.

“Leave me alone, Devlin.”

Devlin Rayburn’s cruel but oh-so kissable lips twisted in a wicked smirk. Waves of his dark-chocolate colored hair fell into his gray eyes. He brushed them away as he continued to watch her. More than once, she’d lost herself in visions of reaching up and brushing his hair from his eyes with her own fingers, but she didn’t dare touch him. Ever.

He knew just how to crowd into her space, to lean one shoulder against the wall of metal lockers and pin her to the floor with his storm-filled eyes and his sexy smirk. As much as he scared her sometimes, and as much as he infuriated her, it didn’t stop her from having daydreams about him—about what it would be like to be the object of his desire rather than his derision. If he ever looked at her with a gaze filled with lust for her, she’d melt into a puddle at his feet.

“I told you to be careful, Huxley,” he whispered in warning. His breath stirred the fine hairs on her neck as he leaned close to her.

He reached up and brushed his hand against her cheek, making her flinch. Not because she hated his touch—she didn’t. That was the problem. Devlin had been bullying her ever since she attended her first class at Braxley Prep. She was a sophomore and Devlin was a senior. She shouldn’t have been on his radar. But he’d heard about her, the poor partial scholarship student who transferred to his school. He had bullied her from the first minute they’d met. As much as she hated him, she reacted to him, to his touch, his taunts, his dark whispers, with hunger. He was too beautiful, too real, too raw, not to inspire the most wicked dreams, even for her innocent mind. She’d never had sex, never even kissed a boy before, but when she dreamed about Devlin, she became a wild, wanton creature that lived to experience pleasure at the touch of his hands, his mouth, his body.

“Fuck off.” She shoved his hand away, and he caught her wrist, jerking her into him.

His body was hard and hot. The heat he gave off came through his white button-up shirt and the navy-blue coat he wore, embroidered with the emblem of their school. He made the uniform look sexy as it clung to his broad shoulders and trim waist. He was taller and more muscled than most of the other senior boys.

“I’m not playing, Quinn,” he hissed. He rarely called her by her first name. It was too intimate and they both knew it. “No one wants you here. It’s dangerous to be an outsider.” His gray eyes were always full of storms, dark and thunderous. She wondered if she would ever see them clear like a winter morning. It took her a moment to realize he truly was trying to warn her, not threaten her. But she couldn’t quit and leave this school. Her parents had given up too much for her to be here.

She met his gaze, pitching her voice low but strong. “Well, too bad. I have the right to be here. Just because the rest of you are rich, entitled pricks, doesn’t mean I can’t be here.”

For a second, a smile flirted with the edges of his lips. “You’ve been warned.” Devlin released her and slammed his own locker shut before he stormed off.

Only three more months. That was all she had to survive before Devlin graduated. Then maybe the bullying would stop.

She made it halfway down the hall before she realized she’d forgotten one of her books in her locker. Devlin had rattled her so much she’d left her advanced placement chemistry book behind. She turned and rushed back, her fingers still trembling as she twisted the combination on her lock and opened it. Once she had her chemistry book safely tucked in her backpack, she shut the locker and headed off toward the library. The bell in the hall rang, indicating the lunch period had started. If she hurried, she wouldn’t miss too much of the break to study and eat a quick lunch.

She always like to spend the lunch break in the school library since she didn’t fit in with most of Braxley’s student population. It was easier to focus on her reading and assignments when she didn’t feel the eyes of the entire school on her like she was some sort of pariah. The librarian, Ms. Conway, knew Quinn wasn’t a favorite of the popular kids at the school, so she looked the other way when Quinn wanted to eat her lunch there.

By the time she got to the library, she was greeted by the smell of old books, which filled the floor-to-ceiling shelves. Braxley was over a hundred years old, and it had some truly incredible books in its collection. Quinn loved to dig through them when she’d finished her required reading for the day.

The circulation desk was empty as she passed, and Quinn paused at the sight. Ms. Conway usually guarded her books as if they were her children. For a librarian not to be stationed at the circulation desk—it was odd and unnerving.

“Ms. Conway?” Quinn called out.

No one answered. Maybe she’d gone to lunch? Quinn slowly turned away from the empty desk. She pushed her concern aside and headed for her favorite spot at the very back of the library, where the stacks opened up to make room for a small reading table.

Quinn sat down at the reading table and opened her lunch. She ate while she worked on her homework, finishing her chemistry and moving on to her English assignments. Deeply buried in the play of Hamlet, and the plight of Ophelia, she nibbled on the crust of her peanut butter and jelly sandwich, the last bit of her lunch.

Then she heard voices. Male voices she recognized. Senior boys, specifically the ones who hung out with Devlin.

“One of us has to do it. We’ve got to put her in her place.”

Quinn sucked in a breath. That was Dylan, one of the other jerk seniors who had more than once shoved her into a mud puddle right before class. His words were met with murmurs of agreement from the other senior jerks he called his friends.

She heard more hushed voices, a few dark chuckles, but even though she strained to make out the words, the book that separated her and the senior boys swallowed up the sounds.

“I’ll do it.” That was Devlin. His deep voice was imprinted on her body and soul.

What the hell were those assholes up to?

“We want to watch.” One of the other senior boys chuckled. A violent chill shot down Quinn’s spine. Whatever the hell they were planning … it wasn’t good, and she knew they were talking about her.

“No. I don’t want you watching. But you can listen. She’s probably in the last row eating her lunch. You fuckers stay here.”

Oh god …What the hell was she supposed to do?

Quinn was trapped. She had no place to retreat to. The reading table where she sat was at a dead end, behind the last row of bookshelves. She froze as Devlin came around the corner of the bookshelves and spotted her. For a heartbeat, they simply stared at one another.

Senior and sophomore.

Bully and bullied.

Predator and prey.

“I tried to warn you, Huxley,” he said softly, dangerously, as he took a step closer to her.

Quinn’s heart raced as her eyes tracked his every move, his every breath.

“But you wouldn’t listen.” He’d removed his school blazer and wore just his khaki trousers and his white button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up past his elbows, exposing muscled forearms that rippled as he clenched and unclenched his fists at his sides. His blue and green striped school tie was loosened, given him an entirely too appealing appearance.

She shoved her chair back, knocking it to the ground with a crash. Devlin lunged for her and she dove back, screeching in panic as he moved to block her way out. The chuckles that came from the other side of the stacks sent fear spiking through her. They knew he was going for her.

“Get her, Rayburn!” someone jeered.

What was he going to do to her?

In her momentary distraction, Devlin caught Quinn by the waist, dragging her back against him.

“No! Let me go!” She tried to jam an elbow into him, but he dodged her blow. The jeers from the other side of the stacks grew louder, as if her struggles were firing those jerks up. She clawed at Devlin’s arms, fear stabbing through her chest, making it impossible to breathe.

His powerful arms banded around her, preventing her from escaping as he lifted her, carrying her toward the reading table. He set her down just in front of it. With one hand still gripping her around her waist, he swiped his other hand over the surface of the table, sending all of her books and papers flying. Then he gripped her by the back of her neck and bent her over the table, face down. She still wasn’t getting any air into her lungs. They were too tight with panic for her to inhale. Her vision dotted black at the edges. Was she dying? Was this how it felt? This spinning, breathless loss of sight?

“Breathe, baby,” he urged softly. “Breathe. I won’t hurt you.” Despite his firm hold on her neck, his thumb moved soothingly over her skin, as if he wanted to calm her down.

His soothing touch and words actually worked. Her breath returned, even if it was shallow and quick. He crouched over her, the heat of his body encompassing her back and bottom. She jerked instinctively, trying to throw him off her, but he stayed molded to her, his weight keeping her pinned. He continued that damn circling motion of his thumb on her neck, making it harder for her to want to keep fighting. His lips caressed her ear as he whispered.

“I’m going to make it look like I’m fucking you. If you’re smart, you’ll play along. Do this, and you’ll be safe the rest of your time at Braxley because they’ll know I own you. Got it?” His grip on her neck loosened slightly as he rubbed that dangerously gentle thumb over her pulse. “Nod if you agree. If you don’t, I’ll let you go, but one of them will fuck you for real, Quinn. It’s your choice. Me or them.”

She panted, her breath coming shallow with panic. Her heart beat so loudly it deafened her eardrums. His breath drifted across her neck and cheek, matching her own quick inhalations.

Devlin fisted a hand in her hair and lifted her head up a little to see her face. Her mind raced as she tried to figure out what to do. Let him pretend to fuck her, or face it for real with one of the boys she really hated?

“You…” she whispered desperately. “I choose you.”

Triumph and approval flashed in Devlin’s gray eyes. “Good girl.”

Good girl