We go back to not looking at each other while I think about that. “What did you mean when you said I was yours?”
He shrugs. “I don’t know.”
Wait… what?!?
“You don’tknow?!” I ask, a little annoyed. “Then why did you say it?”
“Because it’s true.” He says it so casually, so smoothly, that it’s hard to disagree, even though that’s insane. “I want it to be true. I think of you as mine. I feel… possessive. That’s a feeling that I’ve only recently decoded.”
He feels possessive of me?
I-I think I just flatlined. I have no idea what that means, what it implies, and I don’t think I’m brave enough to ask. But god, he’s ringing me like a bell, I’m vibrating on a frequency I never have before. And it’s terrifying. The possibilities for pain are endless. So I take what he said, and I let it get twisted. Twisted into something bad, because that’s got to be the truth of it. It’s got to be something bad, or else it wouldn’t be happening to me.
“So, what?” I ask. “I’m property of the bratva now? Am I being conscripted?”
“No. Not unless you want to be. Right now, your job is still technically Kira’s fiancé, but you’re going to be staying with me, where I can keep an eye on you. I think you need it.”
“I don’t want to be your prisoner, Young-gi.”Uh, yes I fucking do, but let’s not unpack that particular box right now.“I don’t want to be chained, I don’t do well in captivity, alright? Like a junkyard dog. Think of me like that.”
“You are a bit mangey,” he jokingly agrees, and when I squawk, I hear the amusement in his voice as he keeps talking. “You think I’d keep you locked up? No, Tommy. If you want to go somewhere, you tell me, and we’ll make some time.”
“Oh yeah?” I ask, goading him, making it clear that I think he’s bluffing and he’ll still try to make all these decisions for me. He hums his agreement, and I roll my eyes. “Then I want to go out. Dancing. Tonight.”
I’m saying it almost before I decide to, because holy fuck, I need to go out and get some help from Maggie. I need to get some relief. It’s been weeks, maybe months. I haven’t even had an orgasm in my sleep like I sometimes do when it’s been a longtime. I need some fucking help because with Young-gi around me, I’m getting a serious case of blue balls, and the rollercoaster that my arousal takes me on is grinding down on my self-control.
“Dancing?” he asks. “Didn’t you just get into trouble there?”
“I have friends there. And I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with them, and they’re probably worried. And I want to make sure Georgie’s okay.”
“What makes you think they’ll be out tonight?”
“It’s a Saturday,” I laugh. “I could’vediedyesterday and they’d still go out tonight, and pour one out in my honor.”
“Not very good friends, then.”
“No,” I agree. “But harmless. They mean well. They use me, but not for anything bad. They just like that I protect them, and they make me feel, um, happy,” I settle on. “And they’re all I’ve got. The closest to friends I’ve ever had.”
He takes a second to think it over, going as far as checking the time. Eleven p.m., plenty of time for me to get some relief. And holy fuck, I need it so bad.
“Alright, Tommy,” he says, slow and stern, letting butterflies loose in my stomach. “You want to go there again for some reason. Fine. But you’re going to tell me what it is.”
I blanch, squirm, hug myself. I’m glad we aren’t looking at each other. I slide away a step, but he reaches over and brings me back. I huff, but allow it, and I tell myself I’m not pleased with that small possessive action. Not at all.
“I just want to see my friends.”
“Tommy.”
“I just want to hang out with them, and let off some steam. That’s not a lie.”
“Then why don’t I believe you?”
“Trust issues, probably,” I snark. Then I backpedal when he turns his head and looks down at me, all threatening and hot. “Alright, okay, I’m just teasing. Jeez. Can we go or what?”
“What is it that you want there?” he asks. “What is it you think you need that’s there, and not here?”
Shit.Why is he asking it like that? Like he actually gives a damn? Like he’d solve my problems for me if he knew what they were?
Yeah, right. He can’t solvethisproblem. Although, I wish he’d fucking try.
