And I like it. Some sick part of me actually likes it.
Norissa, get your shit together. Stop this before it goes too far.
The problem is, I can’t stop this. And to be honest, I’m not sure I even want to at this point. Blame it on the sluggish feeling from the cold or the fact that, for once in my life, I don’t have to consider repercussions. I’m no longer at the helm, and it’s the most freeing feeling in the world.
“You let him kiss the exact spot I sank my teeth into?” he asks in a low, dark voice.
His words are cold and measured.
I narrow my eyes on him before turning my head to stare into the dark forest. I can feel his eyes locked on me. His hand moves higher up my leg. I press my lips together, refusing to let one sound slip past.
“Your silence is hurtful,Heathen. I was just becoming fond of your cruelty.”
I squint my eyes shut, begging my body not to betray me any further.
His hand moves from the pulse point in my neck to grip my chin, forcing my face back toward him. “Eyes on me,” he commands.
“Adair, just let me go,” I plead. “You’ve proven your point.”
He grips my thigh, his fingers digging into the soft flesh, tugging me toward him. The juncture of my thighs now sits firmly against him. His lips pull up in a smirk as I throw my head back against the tree bark.
This isn’t happening.
He leans in slowly, and I quickly turn my face away. His breath is hot against my ear. “Remind me again how much you hate me.”
His hand slides higher still, and I stop breathing altogether.
Just when I think my time is up, his hand stops moving and instead wraps around the hilt of my dagger, removing it from its hidden sheath. He abruptly drops my leg and steps back. “I’m sure, as your major, I don’t need to remind you that weapons are off-limits for first-years,” he says, throwing the dagger into the woods.
I grip the tree for balance. I’m speechless. Instead of violating me, he robbed me.
I could have stabbed him. Instead, I forgot that I had a weapon attached to my thigh. No, I was too focused on his adept fingers on my skin. The thrill of having someone want me in such a way that they took the choice from me.
“Don’t flatter yourself, Caderyn,” he says, reading my thoughts effortlessly. “I meant we’d fuck you metaphorically, not physically.” He turns his back toward me as he walks a short distance away. “Although during practice the next few weeksyou’ll wish it was the other way around,” he says over his shoulder.
I clench my jaw and bite my tongue.
He reaches behind a tree, grabbing a blanket out of a pack that I didn’t even see. His eyes land on mine as he throws it over my shoulders. “Do me a favor and don’t die out here. I’d hate to have to carry you all the way back,” he says coldly.
His brows pull down, and his upper lip lifts in distaste as he looks me over.
I can’t figure him out. One second, I think he truly despises me, and the next, I suspect he’s just really good at hiding the fact that he doesn’t. Then we start all over again.
“I’d hate to be a burden,” I say sarcastically, my pride oddly bruised. “And stay out of my head!”
“Then learn to block me,” he says simply.
Block him? How do you block someone from your thoughts when you can’t even control your thoughts?
His eyes dart to the right, and his head slowly follows. He lets out a long exhale and rubs the bridge of his nose. “Fuck.”
A slight rustle of branches is the only indication I have before one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen steps through.
Chapter twenty-six
Beauty and cruelty often go hand in hand.
At least that’s the way it seems to go.
