Chapter One: The Homecoming

Carter's heart hammered against his ribs as he pushed through the doors of the Grand Luminaire Hotel, his hands shaking with nervous excitement.

"Sophie?" He called out, grinning like an idiot as he stepped inside their hotel room. "Sweetheart, I know I said the proposal was for 9:00 PM, but I couldn't wait..."

The smile slowly faded away from his face as he looked around the room. The rose petals he'd spent an hour arranging were scattered. The champagne he'd pre-ordered sat half-finished on the table, and there, on the bed he'd covered in her favorite flowers, was Sophie. Her dress bunched around her waist, her head thrown back in ecstasy as she moaned and shook with pleasure. And beneath her, hands gripping her hips possessively, was... Dallas Cross.

"No," he gasped.

The expensive diamond ring that'd cost him nearly his entire savings dropped from his hands, as his dreams of being a happy father and husband fizzled away. Sophie took one startled look at him and scrambled off the bed, desperately pulling her dress down.

But Dallas took his sweet time. He stood up slowly, fixed his belt, and when he finally turned around, that evil, vicious smile was already in place — the same one that had tormented Carter long ago, sending him running down the school halls in the opposite direction. Hot, ugly memories started rushing back from the life he tried to leave behind.

Seven years. It'd been seven years since Carter had last seen Dallas Cross, and time had transformed him. Dallas had always been tall, but now he was massive, easily six-foot-six of pure, mean muscle. His impossibly broad shoulders strained against his expensive shirt, his presence filling the room and towering over everything, making everyone else look like tiny, meaningless creatures in front of a god.

Except none of that mattered then. Whatever momentary madness of attraction Carter was having was buried deep under red-hot rage exploding through his chest.

"You've put on a bit of weight since I last saw you," Dallas half-growled, his low, gravelly voice pulling Carter out of his daze. "What have they been feeding you in that shitty place you ran off to?"

"Carter, baby, please..." Sophie was crying now, mascara running down her cheeks. "I didn't mean for you to find out like this. We... I was going to tell you..."

"Tell me WHAT?" Carter's voice cracked, as he pulled his eyes away from the magnetic, freakishly tall beast of a man to look instead at the love of his life. "That on the night I'm supposed to propose to you, on our anniversary, you're in bed with the one person on this planet who basically destroyed everything I've ever cared about?"

"It's not like that..."

Dallas only grinned. "Come on, Carter. That's dramatic, even for you."

"Then what is it like, Sophie? How long has this been going on for?" Carter took a step toward her, choosing to ignore Dallas's taunts, his whole body shaking with shame and humiliation and rage and hurt — so much hurt. "Because from where I'm standing, it looks like you let my childhood bully fuck you right before I was going to ask you to spend the rest of your life with me. So please, please explain to me what it's actually like!"

Sophie sobbed harder, covering her pretty face with her hands. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I never wanted to hurt you..."

"I quit my job abroad, I moved back here to my hometown after seven years just so I could start a family with you. We were supposed to have kids," Carter whispered in disbelief. "Don't you know what he did to me in high school?"

"What are you talking about?" Sophie asked.

"Don't you remember? I told you about Audrey, about Bianca, about every girl he... And you still..." His voice broke. "How could you do this to me?"

"Maybe you should ask yourself why they always choose me," Dallas said, toying with him. "What is it about you, Carter, that makes them always look elsewhere?"

Carter, blinded by fury, crossed the distance between them in three quick strides and grabbed the front of Dallas's shirt. He yanked hard, hauling himself up onto his toes, and even then, even with all his strength behind it, Dallas barely moved. The height difference was staggering. Carter had to crane his neck just to look him in the eye while Dallas stood there completely unfazed.

"Get out," Carter snarled, his face only inches from Dallas's. "Get the fuck out of this room before I kill you. I swear to God, Dallas, I will fucking end you if..."

Dallas's eyes grew soft for a tiny second — but only a second — and then the devilish smirk came right back. "Don't you remember what happened the last time you tried to do that?"

Even more memories rushed back, and Carter remembered Jessica Freeman. His then-girlfriend of eight months, sweet and smart and funny and everything Carter had thought he wanted. She didn't care that he was a stick-thin loser nerd who constantly got bullied and beat up by Dallas and his army of football players. She'd loved him all the same.

Until the winter formal, when he'd found her in Dallas's car. She looked up and saw Carter at the window, giggled an embarrassed "Sorry," and went right back to choking herself on his cock, while Dallas kept his dark eyes trained on Carter — grinning, winking at him, daring him to do something about it.

And he did. Carter usually prided himself on being calm and level-headed. He never caused any trouble, not like Dallas or his cronies, but that night he was finally done. He yanked the driver's side door open, pulled Dallas out by his neck, and hit him so hard in the face, over and over again until he could feel his knuckles break and bleed.

Dallas lay there, his back to the ground, blood trickling out the side of his mouth, and that fucking grin never went away. Not once. Not while Carter hit him, not when he stopped to bury his face in his hands and sob deep, shameful tears, and not while he got suspended while Dallas walked away with barely any scratches. His father's money funding the whole school would ensure no consequences ever touched him — not that time, or any of the other times Dallas had bullied and humiliated him.

Carter shook him furiously... or tried to, but it was as useless as trying to shake a mountain.

"You've spent all those years making my life hell. I even moved to a different country to get away from you, and now, on the one night that was supposed to be perfect, you're here? Fucking my fiancée in my proposal suite like it's just another game to you?"

"It's not really a game if I always win, is it, pet?" Dallas said, and something flickered in his dark gaze — hunger and want and unbridled desire that made Carter's skin crawl with disgust.

Sophie looked between both men in confusion, wondering just how well they knew each other, but not daring to say a word.

"I hate you," Carter hissed while Dallas just raised one stupidly perfect eyebrow. "I hate you so fucking much..." His voice broke as he whispered, "What the fuck is your problem, man? We were friends when we were little. Best friends. Until one day you just decided destroying me was your life's mission. So tell me... tell me why. What did I ever do to you that was so terrible you had to spend a decade making me pay for it?"

Dallas's expression hardened, and a low, inhuman growl rumbled from deep in his chest, vibrating through Carter's hands where they gripped his collar. His lips pulled back slightly, and Carter saw teeth that were far too sharp and dangerous for comfort. And his eyes, for just a heartbeat, flashed bright red!

Carter stumbled backward, his hands releasing Dallas's collar as if he'd been burned. Dallas straightened slowly, his massive frame seeming to grow even larger in the dim light. The smirk was gone now, replaced by a cold, flat look.

"Careful, pet," Dallas said quietly. "I'm not who I was seven years ago. Don't make the mistake of thinking I am."

"What the hell are you?"

"What's the hurry?" Dallas buttoned his jacket slowly, practically stripping the smaller man naked with his dark, heavy gaze. "You'll find out soon enough."

He moved toward the door, and this time Carter stepped aside. Dallas paused in the doorway, looking back to give one last sadistic smile.

"Welcome home, Carter. I'll see you soon." And then he walked out.