AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Of all the people to take an interest, I was surprised it was Ares.
All the guys had a vested interest, but he was the one to ask.
Specifically, I was surprised he chose to talk to me. He barely said two words to me since that day down in the workroom. If I thought he was distant before, then he was even more so now. He didn't even bother to smirk or curl his lip at me. In fact, he seemed to be trying hard to avoid me. That was difficult when we were all living under the same roof, but he managed it most of the time.
When he actually asked me a question, it took a couple of moments before I could answer.
"It's almost ready," I replied. "With everything that's going on, and trying to keep up with my studies, I haven't had as much time as I'd hoped, but it's nearly there."
Now that Greta had settled into her new second job—she was going to keep driving her courier van as well—things started to calm down somewhat.
He stepped further into the study and looked over my shoulder, at the screen.
"Looks like a cat walked on a keyboard."
I think he meant it as an insult, but I laughed. "It does, doesn't it? If I asked my computer to read it out loud, it wouldn't know what to make of it. But if I fed it into another computer, it would screw it up."
"That's the idea, isn't it?" He pulled over another chair and straddled it backwards, his arms resting on the back of the chair.
"Basically, but at this point they could clean it up. If it could get past their security systems. There's a way to go before it'll do what we want it to do."
"Sounds like fucking with people's heads is easier than fucking with their computers." His eyes went from the screen to me.
"Probably. Modern computer systems are designed so people can't get past them with things like this. Human brains are both more complex and more simple."
"That's true," he agreed. "It's easy to mess with people and scare them, but wiping all the information that's in there…" He tapped the side of his head with the tip of his finger.
"That's a virtual impossibility. Especially when it comes to forgetting things we want to forget. That stuff is harder to dislodge than most things."
"Are you speaking from experience?" I asked gently. If he wanted to open up to me, I'd give him the chance to do that.
For a moment, I thought he might actually tell me, but then his expression shut right down, tighter than ever.
"We all have baggage. I bet you still remember that night in the forest after the masked ball. The way you felt when we appeared. Or did you stumble on us when we were already there?" He didn't give me a chance to answer.
"Do you think about the way Mannix sliced open Eric's throat? The way Ice stabbed him in the eye while I held him down so he couldn't run? Do Ice's words haunt your dreams, little mouse?"
In spite of myself, I shivered.
"I think about all of those things. Even knowing what I know now, it still gives me the creeps." It most likely always would.
I found my arms wrapped around myself. "Why are you asking about it?"
He smiled, clearly pleased he got to me the way he had.
"Just making sure you haven't forgotten what we're all capable of." He sat up and stared me down.
"I was there in the warehouse, remember?" I managed to keep my voice even. "I think you're saying that because you're scared."
He scoffed. "What do I have to be scared about, little mouse?"
I leaned towards him. "I think you want to fuck with my head because you're scared to fuck with my body. I think you're pissed off at yourself for touching me the other day. I think you're even more pissed off because you want to do it again. And again."
I moved closer. "And again."
His hand shot out and wrapped around my throat. His eyes were like chips of blue ice.
"Grinding against you one time doesn't mean I want to do it again. I got caught in the moment. All that blood, all thatpain. It made my balls so heavy, my cock so hard. I needed release and you were there. That was it. Don't read more into it than there is."
