Page 59 of Breathe Like Hell

The rest of lab was uneventful, and Micah left only a few minutes after telling me I needed to quit looking at him like I wanted him to fuck me. My group successfully collected the rest of our data with the recycle valve closed, and were able to leave before the lab period was technically over.

I lingered at my locker until everyone else had left, then darted through the hall and around the corner towards Micah’s lab.

The door was unlocked when I arrived, and he glanced up upon my entrance.

Before I could process, he was on me, pushing the door shut and locking it.

“Dakota Masters,” he scolded, pinning me against the door with a hand on my throat.

“I—I’m sorry…”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” he murmured, dragging his mouth along my jaw, one large hand going between my legs to cup me. “You need it that bad?”

“Yes…” I tilted my head back. For a second, I thought he was actually going to give me what I wanted.

“Little slut, so desperate to get her pussy filled. Doesn’t even care who sees.”

“I just needed⁠—

“He doesn’t make you come like I make you come,” Micah cut me off, not needing to further specify who he was talking about. Mason. “I know he doesn’t. That’s why you’re so needy. He doesn’t know how to take care of this pussy like I do.”

I honestly thought Micah could make me come without even touching me, just the force of his gaze on my bare body, his kapnos infiltrating my senses, his voice telling me when and how to breathe. I shivered at the thought.

“Then take care of it,” I whimpered, clutching his shoulders, trying not to grind on his palm. Take care of me.

“Do you think you deserve that?”

I forced myself to look him in the eye, and we were standing so close now, all our breaths shared, that I swore I could almost see past the steel blue of his irises. If I stared long enough or hard enough, maybe he’d give me some piece of himself. Maybe I’d learn one of the corners of his maze—a way out or a way in, I wasn’t sure.

I didn’t look away. Neither did he.

“What can I do to deserve it?” I whispered, answering his question with one of my own. “I want to deserve it.”

“I don’t know.”

“Tell me,” I insisted, pushing up on my tiptoes to be closer to him, my heart straining in my chest, ricocheting off my ribs.

“Be patient,” he answered finally, his voice soft and low. “Wait for me.”

“I can do that.” I nodded, squeezing my arms around the back of his neck, leaning into him with every inch of me. He was so tall and strong.

“I don’t think you know what I’m actually like. It’s not good.”

“I’m not good.”

He hesitated, as if he wanted to disagree with what I’d said on instinct, but we both knew it was true. The entire reason we were in this predicament was because I’d cheated on him for weeks, so there wasn’t much argument in favor of me being a good person.

“You forget I knew that for a while before I ever confronted you about it,” Micah started, tilting his head as looked down at me. “I’m not a morally upstanding person, so it’d be unfair for me to expect that from you. I think I’ve been upfront enough about that.”

“Why didn’t you confront me?” I’d been meaning to ask him, because it didn’t really make sense to me why he would keep that to himself. He could’ve started this punishment so much longer ago, could’ve stopped me from doing so many things with Mason.

“I wanted to see how far you’d go with it, to what extent you were comfortable lying to me. That way I know what to expect in the future, how much I can really trust you. And I got my answer.” His voice twisted, getting cold and mean and arrogant, his grip becoming harsh on my body. “You were content lying to me with his fingers inside of you. That feels pretty fucking far to me.”

I wanted to scream.

I wanted to hit him.

I wanted him to hit me.